New poll: Bush's Job Approval at All-Time Low

Cheney only slightly more popular than bird flu

We thought it couldn't happen. We thought Bush could count on 37 percent of Americans supporting him no matter how miserably he performed. But with the UAE port deal and more bad news coming out of Iraq, even conservatives are turning on the president. This week, his approval rating slipped to 34 percent.

The CBS headline writers' biggest challenge is finding a new way to announce that Bush's ratings are continuing to sink.

Today: "Bush Ratings At All-Time Low"
Jan 26, 2006: "Poll: Bush's Approval Remains Low"
Nov. 3, 2005: "Bush's Job Approval Hits New Low"
Oct. 6, 2005: "Poll: Bush Ratings Hit New Low
June 16, 2005: "Bush's Approval Ratings Stay Low"
April 18, 2005: "Poor Marks For Bush, Congress"
May 24, 2004: "Worst Poll Numbers Ever For Bush"
May 12, 2004: "Bush Ratings Fall Amid Iraq Woes"
Jan, 17, 2004: "Poll: Bush's Approval Sinking"
Oct. 2, 2003: "Poll: Bush Ratings Fall Further"
Sept. 17, 2003: "Poll: Bush Iraq Rating At New Low"

Bush's only consolation is that only 18 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of his sidekick, Dick Cheney. I figured the vice president would enjoy 20 percent support no matter what he did, short of getting drunk and shooting Republican septuagenarian lawyers.

For some perspective on how miserable those ratings are, consider that 17 percent of blacks had a favorable opinion of Michael "heckuva job" Brown a week after Katrina hit. And when President Richard Nixon resigned, his approval rating stood at 24 percent.

Let me repeat that: Nixon was more popular when he resigned than Dick Cheney is today.

It's raining cats and blogs

Trevor Butterworth in the Financial Times:

The vast wasteland of verbiage produced by the relentless nature of blogging is the single greatest impediment to its seriousness as a medium. . . It renders the word even more evanescent than journalism; yoked, as bloggers are, to the unending cycle of news and the need to post four or five times a day, five days a week, 50 weeks of the year, blogging is the closest literary culture has come to instant obsolescence. . . a virtual tomb for a billion posts.

Ouch. That dude is NOT going on my blogroll.

A happy birthday greeting from eHarmony

Date:	Sun, 26 Feb 2006 09:08:30 -0800 (PST)
From:	"marty grimes"
Subject:	Re: Birthday Greeting from eHarmony.com
To:	usersupport@eHarmony.com

Dear Dr. Warren,

Thank you for the birthday greeting. However, I
question the sincerity of your sentiment given that
you do not offer your matching services to gay and
lesbian people.

But that's OK. You have every right to exclude people
seeking a same sex relationship. After I read that you
have had strong ties to James Dobson and Focus on the
Family, I shudder to think how you would mangle the
lives of any gay or lesbian single that did sign up
for your service.

Though I doubt that you care, I do have love and
companionship to celebrate, no thanks to you.

Truly,

Marty

--- userservices@eharmony.com wrote:

> Dear Marty,
>
> All of us at eHarmony want to wish you a HAPPY
> BIRTHDAY!  We think it is important, on your special
> day, to reach out and tell you how proud we are to
> be involved with you.  It's exciting to contemplate
> the strong likelihood that in the coming months
> you'll have even more love and companionship to
> celebrate.
>
> Thanks for being a part of eHarmony and for taking
> so many positive steps toward finding your soul
> mate.  If you have any questions or comments, please
> contact us at usersupport@eHarmony.com.
>
> In the meantime, I hope this birthday is your best
> one yet.
>
> Neil Clark Warren
> eHarmony Founder

In Search for an Analogy for Iraq's Pending Civil War

When I try to make sense of the world I often turn to analogies. Law, psychology, science and the blogosphere all rely heavily on the use of analogy. I'm constantly grasping for an good visual analogy to illustrate a point. For example, to help illustrate his character, I liken Karl Rove to the nearly indestructible, evil Agent Smith in the Matrix films.

So, I naturally look for an analogy to grasp the continuing debacle in Iraq. Now that Sunnis are blowing up sacred Shi'ite shrines and Shi'ites are responding by blowing up Sunni shrines, I think this might just be a really good time to call it a day and go home. The country is on the brink of civil war, and it's rarely a good move to get caught in the middle of somebody else's civil war. The analogy is this: It's like when you go to a couple's house for dinner, and before you can even hand over your bottle of merlot, you sense that they were fighting before you got there.

At first you notice the somber moods and then some icy stares between the two. They start saying snide things to each other over dinner. You compliment the new leather sofa and one of them says, "Thank you. I'm glad somebody likes it." And the other one says, "Well, somebody forgot that we have a cat so enjoy the couch now because within the week, it'll look like it'd been on a quail hunting trip with Dick Cheney." (Note the bonus analogy within an analogy.)

Then after awhile, things go from bad to worse. "Fred" explodes and screams that "Alice" can go to Hell. Alice responds by throwing her wine glass across the table, pegging Fred in the cheekbone and splattering your shirt with merlot.

What do you do? You stand up, stretch your arms, look at your watch and exclaim, "Gee, it's getting awfully late. We better get going. Thanks so much for having us." And you're out the door.

Iraq is just like that. OK, maybe not exactly like that.

We weren't exactly invited guests to Iraq. Despite continuing violence and unrest, most Iraqis are eager for the U.S. military to go away: Almost a quarter of Shi'ites want the U.S. military out in six months, another half want a gradual withdrawal over the next two years. A whopping 83% of Sunnis favor withdrawal within six months. Adjusting my analogy, Shi'ite Fred protests little when you announce it's time to go. Sunni Alice has been standing by the door holding up your coats for you since before the bruschetta was served.

To further alter my analogy, Fred and Alice might be arguing, but they are united in their disdain for you. Among Shi'ites, 41% approve of attacks on U.S.-led forces on Iraq. Almost nine of every 10 Sunnis support such attacks. Alice may chuck a wine glass at Fred, but she's got a hefty bucket full of wine glass shards by her side with your name on them.

But, who are we kidding? Fred and Alice aren't married. They despise each other and always have. They are like Richard Dreyfuss and Marsha Mason in The Goodbye Girl. (I know it's an obscure old movie, but my TiVo just recorded it for me over the weekend, so work with me.) Elliot and Paula are forced to live together in New York City after Paula's boyfriend dumps her and sublets the apartment to Elliot without her knowledge.

So the Sunnis and Shi'ites are like Elliot and Paula. If you found yourself in their midst during one of their shouting matches, and if Paula were to stomp a hole into Elliot's guitar, your instinct would be to leave post haste, but you might also try to help restore peace by offering to pay for Elliot to get a new guitar, especially if you were responsible for much of their woes. In all-too-rare positive gesture, this is, in effect, what the U.S. has done in offering to help restore the holy sites.

But unlike the predictable ending to The Goodbye Girl, these two will never break down and fall in love. Ultimately, that analogy blows.

OK, I've got it. The Shi'ites and the Sunnis are like bitter prison cell mates, forced to live within inches of one another in squalid quarters. Their tempers are short and if the other so much as sneezes the wrong way, fists will fly. And this is no Kiss of the Spider Woman prison story where the two end up falling in love.

When the inevitable battle ensues, the last place you want to be is in the cell with them. You might stand outside the cell and intervene if things get really ugly, provided you can do so without getting yourself maimed in the process. That's the Congressman John Murtha strategy--get out of Iraq now and stage a small force in Kuwait.

Alas, my analogy is still far-fetched, disregarding the fact that the ill-conceived U.S. invasion is responsible for most of the chaos. Instead, I think I'll go with Murtha's, as he laid it out on 60 Minutes in January:

"That election of course is being trumpeted as being so important to democracy. When I came back from Vietnam in 1967, they had an election. It was supposed to set the stage. It was supposed to legitimize the government, if you remember. And we lost 38,000 people after that. Now, I don't say that this has the same intensity and that we'’re gonna lose 38,000 people. But I'm just saying there'’s a lot more things have to be done if you'’re going to have a democratic government," says Murtha.

Vietnam is not a perfect analogy, but as we find ourselves in the middle of a potential civil war, it seems more relevant, and cautionary, than ever.

Sarah Vowell's pessimism deficit

Now, I've got to figure the New York Times is serious about getting people to pay to read the excellent writing of Sarah Vowell, since it's locked up in a section of their website dubbed TimesSelect. I'm not one to scoff at copyright laws, so I couldn't bring myself to reprint it here without permission.

Fortunately, fbihop op-eds holds no such scruples. Enjoy.

Let's Make a Deal or No Deal!

NBC has a new hit with the game show "Deal or No Deal" with host Howie Mandel. When it returns on Feb. 27, the show will air five days a week.

Modeled after "Let's Make a Deal" without any goofy costumes and purse scavenger hunts, "Deal or No Deal" distills the game show format to the core attraction, pure chance.

Contestants choose one of 26 briefcases. As each round progresses, the contestants choose whether to stick with their suitcase, which contains a hidden amount of money, or a cash prize offered by the "bank."

"There's no skill," Mandel said. "You can be a rock and move into another cash bracket."

Contestants are encouraged to ask friends or family in the audience for advice as they play. I suppose the dialogue goes like this:

Contestant: Howie, I'd like to consult my Aunt Ramona.

Howie (in a little kid's voice): OK, Aunt Ramona, what say you?

Aunt Ramona: Billy, I think you should choose briefcase number 12. I feel really strongly that that's the one with the million dollars.

Contestant: How sure are you, Aunt Ramona?

Aunt Ramona: I'm 85 percent sure that it's briefcase number 12.

No more tedious trivia questions, pricing games or word puzzles. Finally, a game show that gives prizes as randomly as a slot machine. Add in a comic who used to be funny and 26 female models holding briefcases and America is sold! Honey, pop us some corn, cancel the gym membership--we've got us some Must See TV.

Emboldened by the show's success, NBC has cleared away queued up mid-season replacement shows for a new slate of intriguing game shows.

On Tuesdays, watch for the debut of "Flip A Coin" with host Joe Piscopo.

Wednesdays at 9, don't miss Suzanne Somers hosting "Eenie Meanie Miney Moe."

On Thursdays, ER has been abruptly cancelled to make room for an exciting new show with Daisy Fuentes called "Pick a hand."

Finally, your Friday nights won't be complete without an hour of "Win, Lose, or Draw a Straw" with your host, Nick Lachey.

John Kerry's Greatest Asset: Millions of E-mail Addresses

Every few weeks, an e-mail from John Kerry pops up in my inbox. They're always the same. He rants about the Bush Administration and touts his own initiatives in the Senate. Every letter ends with a handy "Make a Contribution" button. I haven't hit that button since the 2004 election.

Sure, I donated to the Kerry campaign in 2004 and spent the last four days of the campaign in Vegas helping to get out the vote. But that was then. Kerry does a lot of things I like, but he wasn't my first choice. He was what we were stuck with, and I would have campaigned for a lawn chair, if that was the only chance we had to beat Bush/Cheney.

After the 2000 election, Al Gore wisely took a long vacation, grew a scraggly beard, gorged on Haagen Dazs, and sank into relative oblivion for a few years. As he emerged from whatever banyan tree he'd been sitting under, Gore found his voice, ripping into the Bush Administration on MLK Day, to broad acclaim.

Kerry hardly took a nap before he started campaigning for 2008. He's now far from my first choice, and I don't want to do anything to encourage the guy. The sad thing is he still thinks we're buddies.

So this morning, he IM'd me, and I finally laid it all out for him.

kerry2008: you there?
etnaboy: Yeah, what's up?
kerry2008: have you been getting my e-mails?
etnaboy: Sure have.
kerry2008: you've never responded.
etnaboy: Well, it's not like they're just to me.
kerry2008: i know! i've got 3 million email addresses. isn't that great?
etnaboy: Yes, John, that's super.
kerry2008: how come you never donate? we used to be so close.
etnaboy: Yeah, about that.
kerry2008: whatever happened to us?
etnaboy: Remember Million Dollar Baby?
kerry2008: yeah.
etnaboy: Remember how Clint Eastwood was all excited about training a promising boxer until the boxer dumped him? And Clint was left with no one to train? And then Hilary Swank came along, and begrudgingly, Clint eventually agrees to train her and gives her his all?
kerry2008: yeah?
etnaboy: Well, you and I are like that. Except that Hilary Swank actually won some fights.
kerry2008: and that promising boxer, was that Howard Dean?
etnaboy: Bingo.
kerry2008: but then she got smacked up and Clint had to help her end her life.
etnaboy: You've got it.
kerry2008: so you're saying i should just pull the plug on this campaign?
etnaboy: I do support euthanasia.
kerry2008: oh, ic.
kerry2008: can't you just give me one more chance.
etnaboy: Dude, I've gotta go.
kerry2008: Pleeeeeze???
etnaboy: John, don't beg. It's pathetic.

-kerry2008 has logged off.-


Tags: John Kerry, Democrats, 2008 election.

Welcome "Best Gay Blogs" readers

Best Gay Blogs linked to here today, so while you're here, let me point you to some older posts you might like better than some of the drivel I've written lately.

I'm a bit obsessed with Brokeback Mountain, but I'm not alone in this:

A Brokeback moment at 35,000 feet

Y'all might appreciate how I would have changed Ennis and Jack's awkward sex scene (my one and only attempt at erotica):

"Jesus Christ, quit hammerin and get over here. Bedroll's big enough," said Jack in an irritable sleep-clogged voice. It was big enough, warm enough, and in a little while they deepened their intimacy considerably. Ennis lumbered into the tent and plopped on the bedroll and finally dozed off, grateful for the warmth emanating from Jack's body. Unable to find a fitful sleep with Ennis lying so close to him, Jack was groggily aware that Ennis's leg had entwined between his own. With sleepiness and the haze of whiskey still clouding his judgment, Jack seized Ennis's hand and brought it to his erect cock. Ennis jerked his hand away as though he'd touched fire and pulled his leg out from between Jack's calves. Jack, fully awake now, fretted silently that he'd committed an unforgivable trespass that would ruin everything. But the fire in Ennis's own loin had been ignited. Moments passed, and Ennis, shaking with nerves, took Jack's hand to the bulge in his jeans. Jack held his hand still there, astonished to sense Ennis fumbling with his own belt buckle and pulling his pants down. Freed from the terror that his earlier overture had been unwelcome, Jack worked Ennis like he'd done to himself many a night up on the mountainside alone, peering down at Ennis's campfire below. Ennis reciprocated, albeit in a frantic manner, as if in a rush to finish the deed before he could come to his senses. They went at it in silence except for a few sharp gasps, then out, asleep.

You should know, I'm not a size queen, but small things bug me.

And finally, something about my insecurities:

Weight just a second!

Trigger Happy Cheney's Friendly Fire Incident

Vice President Dick Cheney accidently shot and wounded a companion, Harry Wittington, during a quail hunting trip in Texas Saturday. The owner of the ranch hosting the quail shoot reported that Cheney was not aware his companion was approaching when he swung around to take a shot at a quail.

"The vice president didn't see him," said Katherine Armstrong, an owner of the property, in an interview. "The covey flushed and the vice president picked out a bird and was following it and shot. And by god, Harry was in the line of fire and got peppered pretty good."

The White House said nothing about the incident until Sunday, after it was reported by the local newspaper, leaving the spin duties to an appropriately distanced, but clearly prepped, Katherine Armstrong (interview video) whose talking points included the following (counter points in parentheses):

1. It's not Cheney's fault. Mr. Whittington approached Cheney from behind without announcing himself. (Anyone who has been through a hunter safety course knows that the guy shooting is responsible for making sure there's nothing in the way--I don't recall hearing that it's OK to swing around to shoot something that has flown behind you.)
   
2. Mr. Whittington is doing fine. 'Tis but a scratch. Just a flesh wound. (Then why was he in intensive care and is still in the hospital?)
   
3. This kind of thing happens all the time. Armstrong herself says she's been "pretty well peppered" herself. (The Houston Chronicle reports that there were only 24 hunting related accidents in Texas in 2004. "Peppering" sounds so innocuous and innocent. Peppering is what you do to a mound of potatoes. You won't hear anyone under the White House's spell refer to this as a "shotgun blast into the chest and face.")
   
4. The vice president is a safe, conscientious hunter. (Apparently, not so much.)
5. Turn on the folksy. Preferred interjections: Gee Willikers. Gosh Whiz. Oopsy daisy. By God.
   

Since I have a totally inexplicable bonus holiday today and you are at work, I thought the least I could do was compile the funniest observations so far:

From Almost Infamous: "“It broke the skin," she said of the shotgun pellets. "“It knocked him silly. But he was fine. He was talking. His eyes were open. It didn'’t get in his eyes or anything like that." WTF, lady??? it'’s a shotgun blast, not a medicated shampoo.

From Gislebertus: You know, Dick Cheney is the first sitting Vice President to shoot another person since Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton. Harry Whittington is in pretty good company, but I doubt he's going to make the ten dollar bill.

The Apiary came to Cheney's defense: Pump one elderly man with a chestful of lead and suddenly everyone's on your case. Lay off, America!

Dania Audix has a top ten excuse list for why Cheney shot that guy. I like number 9: Warrantless domestic spying revealed he was getting phone calls from al Qaeda.

MovieDan82 says: Vice President Dick Cheney almost killed a man on Saturday when he sprayed an elderly hunting partner in the face with birdshot. I'’m telling you, Cheney is a loped out gangsta set trippin'’ banger, and his homies is down so don'’t arouse his anger...fool.

Another top ten list includes: 4. Was trying to impress Jodie Foster.

No More Mr. Nice Blog managed five additional reasons including: 2. Documents published in an Italian newspaper claimed that Whittington had once attempted to obtain edible seeds from Niger.

Tags: Dick Cheney, shotgun, Armstrong, quail

Prospects for the next gay blockbuster movie

Now that mainstream movie audiences have finally begun to acquire a taste for intriguing gay love stories, what will be the next film to ride the coattails of Brokeback Mountain? We can look forward to a future of decent gay themed films--not like some of those crappy low-budget art house films that I used to feel obligated to see just because they were gay themed.

Unfortunately, it's going to take awhile before any make it to the local megaplex. Few, if any, gay-themed movies are currently in the pipeline.

As Brokeback Mountain approaches the $100 million mark in worldwide box office returns, screenplays long sitting on the shelf now have a chance of getting produced.

The best prospect seems to be Peter Lefcourt's The Dreyfus Affair, a story of two major league baseball players who fall in love and the scandal that ensues when their affair is discovered. The Advocate optimistically reported--way back in 1998--that the popular novel was bound to become a feature film. Now the project may actually get the long-awaited green light.

Thanks to the fact that attitudes in pro sports have hardly progressed, the story is just as plausible today as it was more than a decade ago when the novel was written. Lefcourt's website offers the following synopsis:

Very loosely based on "The Dreyfus Affair" in France, this is the story of the love affair between the star shortstop and second baseman of a major league baseball team and how organized baseball deals with this public relations Chernobyl.

Randy Dreyfus is a blond, blue eyed, six-foot-four-inch future Hall of Famer with The Los Angeles Valley Vikings, an expansion team in, at the time the book was written, the near future. He is married to a former Miss California, Susie Dreyfus, has two twin-eight-year old daughters, a hyperactive Dalmatian named Calvin, whom he puts a contract out on in a fit of madness, and a 5600 square foot house in the San Fernando Valley.

Everything is wonderful in Randy's life until he falls in love with his second baseman, D.J. Pickett, an African American gay man, who has spent his life in the closet. Randy does his best to deny his feelings, secretly consulting an Egyptian psychiatrist, who counsels him to just go with the pitch. Eventually he does, and manages to live a dangerous life trying to hide his affair with D.J. while staying married to Susie and hit over 300.

Randy and D.J. eventually get caught by a hidden surveillance camera kissing in a Neiman-Marcus changing booth in Dallas. When this picture is made public, America is shaken with a scandal that rivals the real Dreyfus Affair a hundred years ago in France.

The affair is the biggest story in America -- cluttering the tabloids and the talk shows. Its worst nightmare come true, Organized Baseball goes into extreme damage control mode by trying to explain Randy and D.J.'s love affair as a substance abuse problem. The media circus continues, reaching its climax when a hard-boiled reporter named Milt Zola, smelling a hoax, exposes baseball by writing the present day version of Emile Zola's J'Accuse!.

While this sounds like a great story, the close parallels to Brokeback Mountain might brand the project as simply a copycat. But rather than a heartbreaking story, this would be a romantic comedy. I'll pick up the book soon and promise to post a review.

My early casting choices are Brad Pitt (since he's suddenly apparently itching to play gay, though he'll need to wear elevator cleats) opposite Taye Diggs. You heard it here first.

Don't look at this filthy smut! Right here. Don't look!

Donald Wildmon and his American Family Association are so disgusted at a stripper scene on NBC's show, Las Vegas, that they urge followers to file complaints with the FCC.

And then they helpfully offer a direct link to see the highly offensive smut. I wonder how many times Wildmon had to watch the loop to become sufficiently offended.

NBC Does It Again! Vulgar, Tasteless, Indecent Scene Part Of Network Program

We Urge You To File A Formal Complaint With The FCC

The February 6 episode of NBC's Las Vegas contained a scene inside a strip club. The content of that scene was extremely graphic. We have provided a video of the scene below.

NBC aired this scene during prime-time hours when they knew millions of children would likely be watching. But NBC didn't care if they exposed children to this kind of material. Please take action below and help us help our children.

The FCC has several new commissioners who have spoken out about the content of some television programs. They have invited the public to send them their complaints.

Rather than trying to describe it to you, I would rather you watch it yourself. After watching the video, please follow the instructions to file your official complaint with the FCC. It will only take a couple of minutes to file the complaint. Do it for your children and grandchildren. After you file your complaint, please forward this to friends and family.

WARNING: This scene taken from the NBC program Las Vegas is highly offensive.

Click here to watch the scene.

Click Here To File Your Complaint Now!

If you think our efforts are worthy of support, would you make a small contribution to AFA by clicking here .

Thanks for caring enough to get involved.

Sincerely,
Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association

More good times in Kauai

This is the view of Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific." Can you tell we were regretting that we forgot our windbreakers? It's 3,500 feet above sea level here.











If you've seen a Kauai wall calendar, you've seen this view of the Na Pali coast from the Kalalau Lookout.













We saw no one else along the poorly maintained Honopu Trail, but saw and heard helicopters all day. We almost got lost for a bit there. We could have used some additional clothing too.











The view of the Na Pali Coast from the end of the Honopu Trail, a 3,000 foot drop to the Honopu Beach below:














Yesterday, we took a boating trip that was supposed to go around the Na Pali Coast. Unfortuantely, the ocean was too rough, but the captain had a great time putting the sails up in the catamaran and sailing us almost to Ni'ihau, the forbidden island. We saw plenty of humpback whales, bottlenosed dolphins, spinner dolphins, sea turtles and seasick passengers (Thankfully, I took Dramamine).














Today we went Kayaking on the Wailua River:














And hiked about a mile up (those leaves are really almost as big as Robert)...














...to the Secret Falls.

Aloha from Kauai

Here we are at the bottom of Opeaka'a Falls. We'd never have tried it without the guidance of the Ultimate Kauai Guidebook. We were alone there the whole time.

Today we snorkeled at Po'ipu Beach and we're off to the Beach House Restaurant for dinner.

It's Robert's birthday.



On our first full day, we hiked the Na Pali Coast from Ke'e Beach four miles up and down to Hanakapi'ai Falls. Though it was a great hike, I think Robert may have already had his fill of long hikes.












We saw many of these wild orchids along the way.