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Friday, Mar 14, 2003

vidal fluids

"MARK DAVIS: In the past few years, you have shifted from being a novelist to principally an essayist or, in your own words 'a pamphleteer'. It's almost the reverse of most writers' careers. Why the shift for you?

GORE VIDAL: Why the shift in the United States of America, which has obliged me --since I've spent most of my life marinated in the history of my country and I'm so alarmed by what is happening with our global empire, and our wars against the rest of the world, it is time for me to take political action. And I think anybody who has the position, has a platform, must do so."

essex arms

"As political events go, the gathering last week at Essex, a hip Manhattan restaurant on the Lower East Side, was a resounding success. Several hundred people crammed the sleekly decorated space, clutching beers and awaiting former Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont, a Democratic presidential candidate. Outside, several hundred more formed a line halfway around the block."

and the winner isnt?

"The backlash against prominent stars opposing any attack on Iraq has impacted on this year�s Oscars, with organisers drawing up a blacklist of people who will not be allowed a platform to air anti-war views.

Meryl Streep, Sean Penn, Vanessa Redgrave, George Clooney, Dustin Hoffman and Spike Lee are among those who will not be speaking, amid fears they could turn the ceremony into an anti-war rally."

shes a brick...house

lego my cityscape.

grover and garafolo

i wonder how early youd have to geek out to get a seat at this What Liberal Media panel?

skirting the issuance

puma gets their knickers in a twist about sexually implicit fake ads.

striking out

we must strike pre-emptively to pre-empt the pre-emption of our pre-emptive strike. and now for something completely different.

vetting committee

"From JONATHAN WEISMAN, Economics Writer, Washington Post:
In the wake of Seymour Hersh's open statements about the way the White House treats the press, I feel compelled to relate a personal story that illustrates how both the White House and the press have allowed manipulation of the printed word in Washington to get out of hand. This is a bit of a confession as well as an appeal to the White House and my fellow reporters to rethink the way journalism is practiced these days."

sugar shock

"WASHINGTON -- A classified State Department report expresses doubt that installing a new regime in Iraq will foster the spread of democracy in the Middle East, a claim President Bush has made in trying to build support for a war, according to intelligence officials familiar with the document."

repeat performance

"In 1963 Britain and Israel backed American intervention in Iraq, while other United States allies � chiefly France and Germany � resisted. But without significant opposition within the government, Kennedy, like President Bush today, pressed on. In Cairo, Damascus, Tehran and Baghdad, American agents marshaled opponents of the Iraqi regime. Washington set up a base of operations in Kuwait, intercepting Iraqi communications and radioing orders to rebels. The United States armed Kurdish insurgents. The C.I.A.'s "Health Alteration Committee," as it was tactfully called, sent Kassem a monogrammed, poisoned handkerchief, though the potentially lethal gift either failed to work or never reached its victim."

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