A great deal of Bush Grindhouse water has pooled up since Judy Miller left, so the NYT had a need for another water carrier, someone with a big bucket, someone with "Big Lying" credentials.
Renault: By the way Monsieur, last night, you evinced an interest in Signor Ugarte Laszlo: Yes Renault: I believe you have a message for him Laszlo: Nothing important, but may I speak to him now? Strasser: You would find the conversation a trifle one-sided. Signor Ugarte is dead Ilsa: Oh ... Renault: I am making out the report now. We haven't quite decided whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.
And now, The Little Dictator Who Could, and his Pakistani Government, is giving its' citizens their own, and what will be just as enduring, conspiracy, along the lines of Oswald's Magic Bullet, on how Bhutto died.
Perhaps, they are looking to avoid being dragged into court, and giving Bhutto's family an out, to sue the manufacturer of the vehicle she was in, for faulty design.
Along with funding The Little Dictator Who Could, they must be giving the Pakistanis PR lessons - Blame The Victim.
Just as it was the people of New Orleans suffered for up to five-days, stranded on rooftops, and going without food or water, wasn't due to an obtuse government, they just didn't get out of the way when they were told to ... Bhutto, trying to get out of the way, dies because she ducked, as if to say, if she didn't duck, she would still be alive today ...
Ohhh boy! ...
One thing not going ducking or going down, is The Little Dictator Who Could, Pervez Musharraf.
He is the poster boy for Bush Grindhouse brand of democracy.
And I would love to be a fly-on-the-wall the next time Condi makes one her "Democracy Calls". Perhaps the Bush Grindhouse will have to add body armor - and safer sunroofs - to their all-in-one Democracy-In-A-Box kits.
As has been the hallmark of the Bush Grindhouse, it comes down to the "appearance" of doing something, not actually doing it that counts.
It was been playing out more like a reality TV game show, with the money question being "What would you do if you were President?" ... Answer it correctly to get a big bounce into the final round, being next weeks' Iowa caucus ...
I'm sure all the depressed and bereaved Pakistanis have dollops of hope filling their hearts, knowing that next weeks' Iowa voting will aid moving their country forward, solve all its' problems and, by George, institute all that democracy like it was an episode of Extreme Makeover.
About the only thing the Talking Heads on Cable News didn't indulge in, if it was Colonial Mustard, or Miss Scarlet, who killed Benizar Bhutto ... But the time is young, and it there's still plenty of on-air hours to fill, at least before they drop the story to roll into their canned, New Years' Eve specials.
What a boon for Cable Television ... The lazy, slumbering days between Christmas and New Years, with all those nauseating "Best Lists" and montages who kicked the bucket this year could be shuttered aside - We have HOT News!
It wasn't their standard "missing white woman" but the did apply the "Anna Nicole Smith" principles, so they could roll out all the heavy equipment just the same, to go wall-to-wall with its' coverage.
And with such the controversy over how Bhutto died, it will only be a matter of time, before we see a big, SUV in-studio, on either Wolf Blitzer's monitor-laden set (is he moonlighting for Circuit City?), or MSNBC (we should see a new Doc-Bloc Special, probably, within a month - "Sunroof Deaths"), complete with a Bhutto-sized rally crowd of experts, to dismantle the SUV's sunroof, and roll out a bushel of theories on how it all happened, the angle and speed in which she would have fell, the confusion if the sunroof lever was metal, metal alloy or plastic, only extending the exercise to bring in even more Talking Heads.
For now, we'll just have to wait and see how bad it gets - in Pakistan - and, on our television sets, as to just how far over-the-top they take this.
All those glamor boys, like Anderson Cooper and Matt Lauer, to dispatch to Pakistan ... Brian Williams, all decked out in his best L.L.Bean khakis, doing stand-ups "from the scene, where democracy was attacked" ... Katie Couric's grinning puff pieces, probably getting all her content directly from The Little Dictator Who Could, so we'll know she has the connections, to get the dirt, like a good little tough anchorwoman.
So, for all those expert Presidential candidates, here's some advise, despite what happened to Bhutto, if someone comes running at you while campaigning, wearing a bomb belt and firing a gun, for God's Sake, duck!
Meantime, The Little Dictator Who Could has given the order; "Round up the usual suspects."
I suppose, Juan Cole has already started taking notes for next years' list, which will probably be "Top Ten Myths About Democracy In Pakistan".
This hit on Wednesday, before all the news stopped so our media, and presidential candidates, could bloviate about the events in Pakistan, and on Benizar Bhutto's murder, so it probably didn't get as much play as it should have.
And unlike Iraq (or Iran), Pakistan does have nuclear weapons (Psst ... We helped them get them), so as much as the Neocon choir sings the Iraq aria, the hip-hop-blaring boom box is sitting in Pakistan, and it's only going to get louder.
This sad news got somewhat muted due to the Christmas holiday.
I can't say much more that I am every so grateful I got to see Oscar Peterson perform his art, live, a handful of times.
On top of the countless hours I have listened to his recordings, no doubt, I will add significantly more in the coming future.
The team of goodness in the world lost one of its' greats... Take a spin through the links and videos below, and, as you can, share them with someone you know, the joy of Oscar Peterson.
The Oscar Peterson Trio performing in the Berlin Philarmonie on July 2, 1985. Oscar is accompanied by the great late Niels Henning Oersted Pedersen on bass and the great Martin Drew, a long time member the Ronnie Scott Quintet on drums. This is a trio that delivers big time.
Ella Fitzgerald Sings "Just A-Sittin' and A-Rockin", UK TV 1961, with the Oscar Peterson Trio, Oscar Peterson, piano, Ray Brown, bass, Ed Thigpen, drums.
Very few players could match Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis when he locked this jaw on the tenor's mouthpiece. Add to that the fine company of Oscar Peterson on piano, Ray brown on bass and Jimmie Smith on drums, and you've got a sure-fire recipe for a swing feast of gargantuan proportions. The place is Montreux, Switzerland, the time is July 15, 1977 and the host is Norman Granz, but I believe you know the drill by now, just sit back and enjoy.
Well, coming off the, seemingly, long holiday break (and being freed from cooking and baking for nearly two-straight days), it's back to posting ... But, we go gently this day, warming up the engine and defrosting the windows, so to speak ... Think of it like stretching before a run or workout ...
While you were unwrapping gifts, downing the eggnog, and otherwise kickin' back, The Garlic was on-duty, taking a stroll through the blogosphere, checking up on who was naughty and who was nice ...
Plural, as is two, rip-roaring, well-written, hysterical posts ...
James Wolcott's, on his Vanity Fair blog, Distinguished Poet Confronts the Ghost of Christmas Pus, is a fall-on-the-floor laughing dissection of an NYT Op-Ed of Christmas Day (and after you read it, after reading Wolcott, Wolcott's take is even funnier, so pad your floor for the second fall) ...
The op-ed page of The New York Times dropped quite a meatball into the Christmas stocking this morning--a poem by Paul Muldoon titled Myrrh that syrrh was awful. If I didn't have a touching faith in human nature, I'd suspect a put-on, and yet I fear the poem and poet are sincere. It begins:
At CNN they even squeezed in their Chief Pentagon Apologist Barbara Starr (you know her, she 's the one with a face that warns: don't lie or you'll end up looking like this) filing her annual report concerning NORAD's heartwarming 'tracking' of Santa's Christmas Eve journey. (He's currently over Australia!). What a charming way for the military to endear itself to impressionable children it can't start openly recruiting until junior high school.
Starr told us the military was tracking the "intruder" but she assured us that Santa's movements would only be monitored. How magnanimous of Pentagon brass not to scramble jets to shoot down St. Nick! Do we ever stop benefiting from a strong military? God bless us, every one!
3. We're sorry, Mr. Libby ... The best we can do is allow you to exchange your gift, give you a store credit or cash ... We can't issue you a Pardon...
2. We are now following the policy of the Vice President. The Returns Department isn't an entity of the store, therefore we don’t have to accept your returned item
So, pay attention to our daily feature - Garlic History ... On This Day - sitting over there in the right sidebar. We came up with a few goods last year and you can revisit those posts, or, if you are a new reader, it's your lucky day.
So, have yourselves a very Merry Christmas, with your family and friends and here's hoping peace and love fill the air.
