Weekend Roundup

Well, I'm leaving until Sunday, so here are a few tidbits for what little readership I have. 8^)

First of all, there's the Rush Meltdown. I was as disgusted as most Americans at Rush's overt display of racism. However, learning that he's addicted to pain medication (and has been acquiring it illegally) and that he's going deaf bring me no particular schadenfreude. The man is about to go down the crapper, and while I say farewell with a heartfelt "good riddance," that anyone should suffer this level of ignominy is simply sad. I must admit to being slightly disappointed in some of my fellow lefty bloggers' joy at his fate. Yeah, yeah, he's a Big Fat Idiot(tm Al Franken) and he's supremely hypocritical, we know. Can we move on, please?

On the other hand, watching certain right-wingers (like oh, say, the President here) make political hay out of this has sickened me. From Media Whores Online:

JAMES CARVILLE: [Rush Limbaugh] is a human being, we should express compassion for him and hope that he gets treatment and gets rid of what could be a serious addiction to a very addictive drug. Rush, I hope you get well soon.

TUCKER CARLSON: I don't think your fellow Democrats will take up your offer to be compassionate and decent. I'm sure they're savaging him right now on the Internet for some addiction that's probably beyond his control.

Now, Carlson's later comment on MWO does have a small amount of merit. But here's Carville trying to be dignified, bearing an olive branch, and Carlson smacks him with it. Dis-graceful.

And our favorite revisionist historian, no less a person than George W. "Uniter not Divider" Bush, called Limbaugh a "national treasure. Excuse me? This racist, divisive attack-pundit is a "national treasure?" You know, I'm all for not kicking a man when he's down, but this whitewash is appalling.

Then there's the official word: no WMDs, just early releases predicted. So much for Kay's September Surprise. Kay insists that they're still looking, and Bush is asking for more money, but Schwarzenegger isn't the only Republican to end up with egg on his face recently.

Finally, speaking of the Governator, the T-1000 and T-X have seemingly come from the future to reveal his past:

The superstar actor, who has been dogged throughout the recall campaign over allegations about sexist attitudes, said that many of the stories were politically motivated. "I will say most of it is not true," he said while visiting an elementary school in San Bernardino, east of Los Angeles. "Other things may be true, and in case it's true I apologize."

...

Asked for reaction on Thursday, Schwarzenegger told ABC: "I cannot remember any of these. All I can tell you is that I despise everything Hitler stood for. I despise everything the Nazis stood for."

Well, there is something, um, interesting about the timing of these releases, but quite frankly, things look bad for Ah-nold. Schwarzenegger may end up being the first man to be undergoing impeachment proceedings before he's sworn in. (Sexual harassment is a very serious crime in California.) And while Republican hacks can say he's a "big man" for admitting his guilt, excuse me, he says "most of it is not true," clearly in (fearful?) anticipation of criminal charges being filed. The most recent occurrence, involving British TV host Anna Richardson, is being blamed on the woman by Schwarzenegger's staff.

Possible? Maybe. Arnold, however, was caught on film groping yet another British interviewer. The article above was written well before the recall was even conceived.

During his promotional visit to Britain this week Arnold Schwarzenegger groped Denise Van Outen on the Big Breakfast and behaved in a similarly oversexed and over here fashion with a clearly panicked Melanie Sykes on ITV's Celebrity.

...

Marty Singer, Schwarzenegger's lawyer called all the complaints an "outrageous fabrication" by "people trying to get their 15 minutes of fame. Quite frankly, my client didn't do anything inappropriate."

Thank God for film. Look at the expression on his face. Look at her face. What you are looking at ladies and gentlemen is what Marty Singer likes to call an outrageous fabrication.

Given this blatant lie, it's hard to take Arnie's defense seriously.

Actually, I think it's a pity that Arnold the Barbarian is such a hopeless candidate -- he's liberal on a wide variety of social issues, and I think he could have been a major force in reforming the Republican Party. Alas, between the obvious Rovian power play, the Phantom Governor ("Plutonium Pete"), and his egregious history (which I learned of well before the LA Times caught up with the blogosphere), it's No on Recall and Yes on Bustamante for me, all the way.

And Terminate Arnold if he actually wins. (Shudder)

(/) Roland X
See you all on Sunday! 8^)