Bell Business

Is Everybody Drunk?

I'm right now watching C-Span2 and Sen. Robert Byrd is speaking. He is fucking out of his mind drunk. It is unreal to watch this guy go on, barely able to speak, and nobody is going to cut him off. He is DRUNK. What the hell?
I just watched a video from Crooks and Liars of Tom Delay ranting about Harry Reid. Delay was clearly drunk, yet they kept the cameras rolling and let him speak (as best he could) about his vague understanding of treason.
It seems to me both parties should have a guy nearby to just bail people out of situations like this.

"Sorry, the senator needs to take his medication..." Something like that.

 

I really am expecting this guy Byrd to collapse any second now. He is fucking sloshed. This is appalling. Look, I know he's 90 years old. I don't care. My grandpa was 92 when he died, and I could tell when he was hammered.

Of course, now Kay Bailey Hutchinson is talking. She seems sober, but she is just as embarrassing. "My gosh, what if we had pulled out of WWII?" Good point!

By the way, we're not "fighting for freedom." Seems like some people are still confused about that. No one in Iraq gives a shit about our freedom. The 9/11 hijackers didn't give a shit about our freedom. And for that matter, George Bush (Jr. or Sr.) does not give a shit about our freedom.

Someone please get Senator Byrd some coffee.

UPDATE: I AM AN ASSHOLE. I've been meaning to amend this post for a little while. I was actually going to just delete it, but thought I would leave it up to sort of make a point.
I've since watched Byrd quite a few times and am quite convinced that I was totally wrong about him. It was a stupid, knee-jerk thing for me to say. I think I had just seen some Tom Delay interview (he WAS drunk) and then I saw Byrd, and so I pulled a really stupid post out of my ass.
Anyway, I thought it would be better to keep the post up with this correction rather than just take it down and pretend it never happened.
My sincere apologies to Sen. Byrd. I was wrong. And I am an asshole.

(All other remarks in this post stand.)

Threads and Such

It takes a village to make a pot pie.

I've been getting a little braver about leaving the URL for this blog on comments I leave on various sites.

Baby steps.

Every time I do I instinctively want to go back and rewrite all the posts, because they're not all so well thought out or whatever. Anyway, that never happens, because I am VERY LAZY, and I am easily distracted by shiny things, like C-Span3.

Anyway, it occurs to me that people might be visiting this blog and I don't even know it. (I'm through offering hams, if you're wondering) So, if that's the case, I urge any new visitor who would like to have a discussion about something to PLEASE POST A COMMENT! I will check the site every day, and if the comment appears on a post that's on the main page I will see it and respond.

I'm making this plea because it seems like a lot of times I want to get involved in a discussion thread, and there's already like 300 comments on it, and by the time I get on, no one's really talking anymore.

Here at Bell Business, you can be pretty much 100% guaranteed that yours will be the only comment, and it will receive the attention it deserves. Maybe we'll agree on something, and commiserate together! Better still, maybe we'll be at odds and start our very own flame war!! Sounds exciting, right?

If you're looking around the site (God help me) and you see something on an older post that you'd like to talk about, leave a comment on one of the main page posts referencing it. That's just a surer bet that I'll see it.

Anyway, I'm probably talking to myself here, but on the off chance that I'm not, I would love to agree/argue with you anytime.

Sincerely,
Bell

Tillman Hearing

I'm watching this Pat Tillman business on C-Span3 (something that should be broadcast on all major networks, not just C-Span3) and it just occurs to me that this administration fucked with the wrong family. Tillman's mom and brother Kevin are incredibly smart and well-spoken, and they're  clearly not going to stop until they get to the truth.

It was comforting to Waxman at the helm of this hearing as well.

The most sickening moment for me came when Tillman's mom talked about how they were disparaged in the press (by the army) because they were not Christian.  As if that had anything to do with the army, and the administration, LYING about Tillman's death for political purposes.

I feel myself becoming more and more cynical by the day.

(Here's a positive side note - I've noticed that when Waxman chairs hearings, he doesn't invoke God when he asks people to swear to tell the truth. Kudos.)

Anyway, go Tillman's. Keep pushing. (and thanks Jessica Lynch for bravely standing with them and testifying as well. Lynch's story is every bit as sickening and preposterous as Tillman's)

Here's a link to the Pat Tillman Foundation, in case you would like to donate. I don't know much about them, but I like this family based on what I've seen today, so they're worth checking out in my opinion. (From what I can tell, it's not about their quest for the truth, but rather inspiring young people and continuing Pat's legacy)

I Don't Understand

I'm watching some congressional hearing about the new war appropriations bill led by Obey, with Murtha, and some others I can't remember (and am to lazy to rewind). A republican was just on who quoted Bush about the needing the funding by April nonsense, that was debunked by the Pentagon. He then attributed the remarks to the army. Then Murtha spoke, and just rattled off some numbers about how much the bill allocates for the troops.

Aren't these supposed to be debates? Shouldn't the correct reponse have been, "Your facts are innacurate"? And why is nobody talking about the real reason this bill is going to be vetoed? It's going to be vetoed because it has a TIMETABLE. And Bush says we shouldn't second guess the generals. But it is SO EASY to prove that Bush second guesses the generals at every turn, including the implementation of his surge strategy. Why can't our representatives seem to say this. Are they really that inept?

I really feel like I'm missing something here. It just doesn't seem that difficult. Wouldn't it be easy to get some very respectable (recently retired, natch) military figures to say that the bill is reasonable? And even if that's not the case,  can't they just call out Bush and his defenders on his hypocracy?

I really just don't get it. It's depressing.

Now Ted Stevens is speaking. There's been so much complaint about pork in this bill, and they have the "bridge to nowhere" guy getting all high and mighty about it? Pathetic. We should be mopping the floor with these idiots.

I'm going to end this post on a high note. Here is Sister Rosetta Tharp, KICKING ASS on her SG, singing "Down By the Riverside." You know I'm not so much your go-to God guy, but I do enjoy gospel music. And this ROCKS.

Sister Rosetta Tharpe   (I know, in the image she's playing a Les Paul. In the video she's playing an SG)

Barney Frank Kicks Ass

I realized while showing this to my wife that I am complete dork. This clip is C-Span porn. It's gold. It's what people like me who spend hours a day watching the Span (1,2, and 3) are waiting for, pining for. Anyway, I think this is awesome...

(Once more, via Crooks and Liars)

To give you some perspective, I equate it with this...

(Thank you, YouTube)

...which is the coolest thing I've seen all day.

(More On) Gonzo's Hearing

I meant to post more on this earlier, but got caught up in other things (blogging - not so easy!)

But this Jon Stewart bit via the fantastic Crooks and Liars sums it up nicely.

Basically, he was not part of the process (of firing the USA's for political reasons) but it was his decision and he stands by it. Also, even though he cannot recall ANY of the specifics of the process (of firing the USA's for political reasons) he is 100% sure that there was nothing nefarious going on.

Talking heads on the news (TV and radio) kept spouting off about how pathetic and pitiful he looked, and how you just had to feel sorry for him.

Fuck him. He is willfully ruining our country. YES, USA's are political appointees, and presidents can hire and fire them at will, but it is painfully clear that this administration is trying to politicize their positions AFTER they've been hired, and that is both wreckless and illegal. It's also more than probable that tampering with the judicial process was happening. Whether or not he knew about this (and who thinks he DIDN'T know about this) all this happened on the AG's watch.  I don't care if Gonzales is called on his bullshit on a national stage. I don't care if he loses his freaking job. He has no morals. He has no scruples. (probably redundant) THIS WAS NOTHING. His legal gymnastics gave the president a green light to torture. So I have absolutely zero sympathy for him. I'd love to see him in a dozen more hearings like this.

One more thing, and it's been emphasized before, he had WEEKS to prepare for this. Good Lord, what a moron. Good Lord, what an asshole.

Better Than I Could Have Said It

When I wrote about Gore's testimony a while ago, comparing his speaking ability to Bush's, this is what I was talking about.

(link via Atrios)

Now somebody tell me what HE'S talking about.

Gonzo's Hearing

Just starting... Gonna have a busy day but am recording it, so hopefully when Gracie takes a nap I'll get to post a little on it. So far I'll say this, based on his opening statement, Leahy is out for blood. Good for him.

Covering the Worst American Shooting Spree Ever

I was surfing through the coverage of today's horrible events on my television. It's hard for me to watch news channels in times like these (I know, it's the WORST one of these ever, so there really is no time like this...) because there comes a point, pretty early on, where you realize that you know all you're going to know for at least the next day or so. No new facts are going to be released, because they're going to be TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED. But that doesn't stop the news channels from trying to get the latest little tidbit, the interview with the guy who knew a guy who was near a guy who saw somebody get shot. And then at some point you realize they're running the same footage of shots being fired and policemen scrambling, and you think to yourself, "Gee, how many of those shots are hitting their mark? Am I hearing people getting killed?" And since you don't know, and you can't know, you have to assume that yes, at least one of those (27 by Wolf Blitzer's count) shots has hit its mark, and you are basically watching a snuff film. So I have trouble keeping the TV on at that point. (Which is no small thing, as I love the TV)

Anyway, at one point I landed on Fox. It was that Gibson guy with some judge, or ex-judge, and... you guessed it, Bo Dietl. You probably know that the initial shootings occured early in the morning, and then the real rampage started about two hours later. The Fox gang were discussing the methods the authorities used to warn the university.

Bo Dietl proclaimed that he had developed a sytem after 9/11 in which the authorities could warn the populace, via cell phones and IPODS.

Look, I know it might be a verbal gaffe, but I don't think it is. The guy has no idea what he's talking about.  He's a clown. You know, I might actually believe that he's smart enough to know that alerting people via IPOD is impossible, but that just means he was lapsing into the role of Norm Crosby-ish buffoon from his now long-gone Imus days. And this on one of the most tragic days in our nation's history.

Say what you want about Imus. Bo Dietl's role on his show was buffoon. On Fox, it's "Security Expert."

(I don't actually know how they tagged him. I didn't stick around that long. But that was how they treated him. I do know it wasn't "Buffoon.")

(I guess I don't know that it wasn't "Buffoon." It might have been, but that would just make matters worse, in my opinion.)

Cross Words (Not By Imus)

I meant to post on this a long time ago, but haven't been able to for blah blah blah whatever.

A couple few weeks ago we took the trip to Stamford, Connecticut so I could participate in the American Crossword Puzzle Tournament. It was pretty awesome. Totally nerdtastic. A couple initial thoughts...

- The puzzles were not that tough. I finished every one of them (except one) well under the time limit. I was expecting at least one or two of the puzzles to be Saturday tough, but that was not the case.

- Puzzlers are friendly folk. And smart. I didn't meet anyone (out of about 750 contestants) who wasn't happy to chat and talk about any aspect of the tournament. If there was competitiveness, it didn't show. EVERYONE was cool, including the champion, Tyler Hinman, who sat across from me for three puzzles, and was totally cool.

- Competition is tough. I've always thought of myself as pretty good at crosswords. Like I said, I sat across from Tyler Hinman for a few rounds. There was one where we were given like 40 minutes or so to finish the puzzle. I was breezing through it. Absolutely no mental blocks at all. I was really proud of myself. I finished in fourteen minutes. Hinman finished his in about four. I just don't know how to compete with a freak like that. Even if I knew all the answers, even if I had the answers written out in front of me instead of the clues, I don't know that I could write them all down in the squares that fast. By the way, I call him a freak with total admiration.

Anyway, I did pretty good, considering. Out of over 200+ rookies I finsished 75th. Overall (out of about 750) I finished 325th. Now I've got a year to train for next year, and I am training hard. I don't just do the puzzle anymore. I time myself. And I'm charting things like which day of the week the puzzle is, as well as who is the author. Crazy nerd shit.

Best moment of the tournament... Before the first puzzle, the announcer asked how many people in the auditorium were rookies. HUNDREDS of us raised our hands. Then he asked the room how many people had NOT seen the film "Wordplay." I was the ONLY one to raise my hand, which garnered some attention. Pretty funny. (For the record, I wasn't trying to be too cool for school or anything. I made a conscious choice not to see the movie before I experienced the tournament myself. I'm glad I did, although I think I would have trained a bit harder had I seen the film, and done a bit better.)

Here are some pics from the tournament. I have a real problem lining up images and text so I'm going to just put the captions all here.

- The first is me and this kid who looks just like me when I was his age (I'm guessing like 12). I sat next to him for three rounds and he beat me by at least five minutes each time. It's not an excuse, but I'm just saying that is why I took his lunch money.

- The next one is me and Gracie and NYT crossword editor Wil Shortz. Gracie took him out with a blow to the thorax just moments after this was taken.

- The main ballroom just before a round. There were far more nerds than chairs.

- Not a great picture, taken with my phone by a very nervous guy who was sitting next to me. To lighten the mood I nicknamed him "Dead Man Walking" but he just didn't get it.

Anyway, it was a lot of fun, and I think anyone who likes to do crosswords should give it a try. I can't wait to go next year,although I've got a lot of training to do...