In this year’s State of the Union speech, President George W. Bush mentioned that he had unfinished business that needed to be completed before he left office. He was rather vague about what he meant. Was he referring to finding the missing WMD’s, finding Osama, or taking military action against Iran? The mainstream media made no attempt at determining what exactly he was trying to say with his cryptic words. Whatever he has in mind, the public will learn the meaning of those words in the next 11 months. Perhaps he really did mean finding those elusive WMD’s and those darn old aluminum tubes.George W. Bush also could have meant a renewed attack on the Social Security system as part of the long term Republican program to dismantle every vestige of FDR’s “New Deal.” President Bush has done more than any other Republican to undo the social programs started during the last Depression. Unions are in decline. Social Security has been labeled as a drain on the government’s money. Banking regulations are becoming a thing of the past much like the Model B Ford. Self-appointed censors are attempting to impose a new version of the “Hayes Code” on the TV industry. FDR attempted to pack the Supreme Court. George W. Bush made darn sure it would have a conservative tilt for the next few years and, in essence, did pack the Supreme Court.
FDR brought the United States out of the Depression and into World War II. George W. Bush is doing his best to insinuate the United States into the centuries old conflict in the Muslim world, between the Sunni and the Shiite factions. (Do members of the Bush Administration spend exorbitant amounts of money to replenish their supply of Fatima cigarettes?) Removing the burden imposed upon the Wealthy by taxing them, has been the Republicans’ No. 1 for a long time. George W. Bush has added a luster of patriotism to the efforts.
How are the fund raising efforts to build a George W. Bush Presidential Library coming along? Are Americans going to show their propensity for generosity or are they going to be malingerers and let the Saudi Royal Family bare the brunt of that financial burden?There is other unfinished business vying for the attention of the American public.
Has there been any official explanation about the incident involving an airplane approaching an airport in Great Britain, which, apparently, fell out of the sky short of the runway?
NBC TV’s “Nightly News” recently celebrated their 60th anniversary on the air.
CBS radio’s “World News Round-up” will soon be celebrating their 70th anniversary on the air.
George Putnam, who was a radio newsman on the air in 1935, is still writing a weekly column and one of his most recent installments informed his readers: “In my last column I said, ‘If you want more George Bush, vote for Sen. John McCain,’ and that voting for McCain would be voting a third term for a George Bush.”
Recently a fellow attempted to use the “call in from anywhere in the United States” phone number for the Neil Rogers show on WQAM. Unfortunately, calling that number, from a secret secure location in the West end of Los Angeles County, didn’t work.
Speaking of events that need to be covered for the Smirking Chimp audience, we note that this year’s Book Expo America 2008 will be held in Los Angeles and to qualify for a press pass, it seems concomitant upon this columnist to plug the annual book event several times as a way of qualifying for a press pass into this year’s installment.
Another fun event is the annual convention for the fans of mystery books. This year’s installment of the Bouchercon will be held Oct. 9 to 12, in Balitmore, which seems appropriate because Edgar Allan Poe lived a portion of his life in that city.
Speaking of Maryland, we noticed that a tragedy, involving an illegal drag race, occurred last weekend. Spectators moved into the roadway after the cars had burned out and the smoke from the spinning tires obscured the visibility on the highway and a car came along and plowed into the crowd.
Back in the day, when kids in the Scranton area wanted to run an illegal race, they would appoint race monitors who promoted safety by briefly closing the public thoroughfare while the race was being conducted.
Speaking of Scranton, while reading the Electric City Webblog, we learned that Great Falls Montana seems to be encroaching on Scranton’s claim to the title “the Electric City.” Scrantonians have always been proud of the fact that the first electric trolley cars began operations in their city. Will the Scranton Times’ columnist, Christopher Kelly, let the Montana city’s encroachment go unnoticed and/or unchallenged?
Speaking of street cars, tourists from Scranton might want to know that a restaurant in a tram (trolly) car is operating in Melbourne Australia.
The topic of unfinished business could use “We’ve Only Just Begun,” as the theme song and that brings up the fact that the Carpenters fans are struggling to save the home, in Downey California, where Richard and Karen grew up. The new owner reportedly wants to demolish the building. Many new McMansions are being built in that area of Los Angeles County.
[Note: As an early draft of this column was being written, Laura Ingraham was on the radio and she asked a rhetorical question: “How much land has the U. S. won by military action?” She implied that the answer was zero, zip, and/or nada. If she could ever bring herself to read “Addicted to War” she might see that the correct answer would include: the Sioux nation, New Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippine Islands, and (luckily for George W. Bush) the part of Cuba where Guantanamo is located. Is a fellow by the name of Senator Beverage the patron saint of American Imperialist Aspirations? (Do conservative talk radio shows count on free fact checking services being provided gratis by others, or do they just assume that their listeners have a deep rooted tendency to find facts irrelevant?)]
Need relevant quotes for an “unfinished business” column? The disk jockey has suggested: “I shall return!” or (from a current Foster Farm chickens ad): “You win this round, Voodoo lady!” However, the one selected by this columnist is the “I hear you, and those who did this will hear you” routine delivered on the ashes of the World Trade Center. It was followed by some kind of mumbo-jumbo about bringing Osama to justice or justice to Osama. Some skeptics dismiss that sound byte as being “just words” (full of sound and fury signifying nothing?). Horton the Elephant meant what he said, but does that mean that a President must be held accountable for a frivolous campaign promise?
Now, the disk jockey will offer his own suggestion (assuming that Senator Barack Obama gets the Democratic nomination) which might qualify to be John McCain’s official campaign song. He will play Waylon and Willie’s “Old Age and Treachery (Always Overcome Youth and Skill).” We will use a loophole to slip out of here. Have an Oscar winning type week.
