“The overwhelming popularity of President Bush, in spite of everything, finally shows us what the American people, whom we have so sentimentalized for so long, a la Norman Rockwell, really are, thanks to TV and purposely lousy public schools: ignorant. Count on it!” Kurt Vonnegut in conversation with the recently belated Kilgore Trout.
Popularity: 6% [?]
Hunter S. Thompson on the US presidential election campaign 2004, writing in Rolling Stone:
The question this year is not whether President Bush is acting more and more like the head of a fascist government but if the American people want it that way. That is what this election is all about. We are down to nut-cutting time, and millions of people are angry. They want a Regime Change.
Some people say that George Bush should be run down and sacrificed to the Rat gods. But not me. No. I say it would be a lot easier to just vote the bastard out of office on November 2nd.
So get voting, you proto-facist war-mongering bastards. ‘Cause the doctor says so.
Popularity: 5% [?]
“As of yesterday, the Bush administration still hadn’t found the source of the White House leak that outed a woman as a CIA operative. To recap, here are the things President Bush can’t find: The source of the leak, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, Osama bin Laden, the link between Saddam and Osama bin Laden, the guy who sent the anthrax through the mail, and his butt with two hands and a flashlight.”—Tina Fey, Saturday Night Live’s “Weekend Update”
“President Bush’s campaign is now attacking John Kerry for throwing away some of his medals to protest the Vietnam War. Bush did not have any medals to throw away, but in his defense he did have all his service records thrown out.”—Jay Leno
“Is it me or is Bush going everywhere Kerry goes? So far in the past week, President Bush has followed John Kerry to Davenport, Iowa; New Mexico; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; and he follows him to Portland, Oregon. The only place he never followed John Kerry was Vietnam.”—Jay Leno
“Bush is smart. I don’t think that Bush will ever be impeached, ‘cause unlike Clinton, Reagan, or even his father, George W. is immune from scandal. Because, if George W. testifies that he had no idea what was going on, wouldn’t you believe him?”—Jay Leno
Popularity: 8% [?]
“Heard the new William Shatner album yet?” You can imagine half a dozen really good jokes starting that way. But this one isn’t as funny as most people would think (if you regard the good admiral as a serious musician and recording artist, you’re not “most people”). Look, Bill’s no Frank Sinatra. But if only for a really excellent selection of songs (all sung in Shatner’s distinctive narrative style), “Has Been” is a really good listen. [Now insert obligatory “boldly gone” crack here, as I’m sure most reviews of this album will do.] A world removed from novelty albums like “Spaced Out”, perhaps this is the one William Shatner album people who don’t understand Klingon can get into.
Popularity: 12% [?]
A revised Belgian law allows employers to search employees for stolen material at will. Previously, the same law only allowed searches where material “hazardous to society” was involved, such as nuclear or biological material. The new regulations have serious implications for the privacy of employees (the majority of whom probably do not steal anything more than the occasional packet of Post-it notes), but also damages the legal structure of society by devolving police powers to people who have absolutely no training in the legal or psychological aspects of accusing individuals of theft. Assuming that theft is indeed such a major problem in the Belgian economy, why not simply allow companies suspecting theft to retain private investigators and external auditors, and, if the suspicions appear to be warranted, legally require them to submit their reports to the police? When the private sector can rewrite hundreds of years of legal precedent, the power of corporate players to influence elected officials appears to have grown too far beyond the occasional environmental or fiscal allowance.
Popularity: 10% [?]
