Lewis Black and President Bush: Sarcasm as a Weapon

You know what I think would be fascinating to watch? President Bush sitting in the audience during one of Lewis Black's 'Daily Show' segments, particulary the one where Lewis Black talked about such subjects as:

* The lack of punishment for anyone involved in the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal.
Press conference remarks by Navy Staff Director Vice Adm. Albert Church: "I don't think you can, you know, hold anybody accountable for a situation that maybe if you'd done something different, maybe something would have occurred differently."
Lewis Black's response: "Acutally, if I'm not mistaken, that's the definition of accountability!"

* Allowing those on a federal terrorist watch list to legally buy guns.
Lewis Black: "Terrorists think they can attack us with conventional weapons. Listen up, Osama. I don't care how long you plan, I don't care how far you go. There's no way you can kill more Americans with your guns than we already do with our own!"

Watch the Daily Show Clip

There has been talk recently that more and more people are looking to 'The Daily Show' as their primary news source. I imagine Republicans (and not just a few Democrats) shuddering at the thought.

While I think it's best to look at a variety of news sources no matter which way you lean, it's easy to see why 'The Daily Show' is appealing to anyone who wants to pay attention to the issues without being driven to the edge of the nearest cliff. Our options are watching a bunch of stuffy older white guys shout at each other in a fight for male supremacy, or watching one older white guy shout at an audience in a fight for a laugh. I'll take option 2, please. There's just something about sarcasm that makes frightening/depressing news somewhat easier to swallow.

Not to mention that sarcasm can be used as a very effective weapon, or so a wise man once told me. The truth hits home harder when spoken through the raspy, sarcasm-laden vocal chords of one Lewis Black.

And now, for the features of the blog post...

* Song: Sweet Girl, Fleetwood Mac
* Goal of the Moment: Get to bed before 1 AM. Yes, that is my goal again.
* Featured Quote: "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" -- Gandhi
* Holy Crap Moment: When reading this story in the Boston Globe about Matt Damon's assertion that Mass. is failing in the film industry, I came upon this fact: "Matt had a great experience when he filmed 'Good Will Hunting' here 10 years ago." Holy Crap! It's been 10 years since Good Will Hunting? I didn't truly feel the push of the 3-0 mark until that statement.
* Must-See Picture: Talk about making me long for New England. Check out this view from a summit in NH's White Mountains. (Courtesy Glengroup.com)
* Featured Video/Audio: Weather Guy with Tourrettes?

For Starters...

I got my feet wet in the blogging world with my Red Sox 2004 -- Why Not Us? -- We Believe Blog. That blog ended with the Sox winning the World Series for the first time in 86 years. Not too shabby!

I considered continuing that blog but something about it just didn't seem right. A big part of me felt compelled to file that blog away -- along with the newspaper clippings, game tickets, pictures, and memories -- as something to look back on as an entity of its own. Plus, I figured people would get sick of the topic after awhile. Not me, of course. But others.

So here I am. A new year, a new blog.

This one is not nearly as focused as my previous Sox blog. But, I am a neat freak, perhaps to a fault. I will always remember my high school art teacher, Mr. Coughlin, telling me that I'm "anal-retentive." I remember thinking, "I can't believe he just said that ... (pause, pause) ... he's so right." So, of course, there has to be some structure to this blog.

While rambling about whatever happens to enter my mind each day, I also plan to include some or all (depending on my level of motivation) of the following in each post:

* What Song/Musician I'm Listening To
* What Blog You Should Be Reading
* Goal of the Moment
* Featured Quote
* Joke of the Post
* Holy Crap Moment
* Must-See Picture
* Featured Video/Audio

So I guess I should start with that:

* Song: Seeing Things for the First Time by the Black Crowes -- title seems appropriate but if you listen to the lyrics, it's not appropriate at all. But still, a very good song.
* Blog You Should Be Reading: Zack Braff's Garden State blog Written by the actor who plays J.D. on Scrubs. Makes me laugh out loud every time I read it. The guy's a riot.
* Goal of the Moment: Get to bed before 1 AM.
* Featured Quote: Simon Cowell on Constantine Maroulis singing the Partridge Family's 'I Think I Love You' -- "It's like ordering a guard dog for your house and getting a poodle in a leather jacket."
* Joke of the Post: Q: What is black and white and screams "YES! YES! YES!" A: A nun winning at BINGO.
* Holy Crap Moment: I work with message boards in which people talk about whatever the top news stories of the moment are. Yesterady, the earthquake off Indonesia and the possibility of another tsunami was the hot topic. You'd think people would be talking about their concerns for the people in the region. No. An alarming number of people wanted to complain that this would mean we would be giving more money to countries other than our own. I'm telling you, this job is stripping me of all my faith in humanity.
* Must-See Picture: One of my favorite pictures of my nephew -- Gabriel's Feeling Lucky
* Featured Video/Audio: One of the best ever. Always avoid live interviews while severely hungover. Watch the Video

And so it begins...