Friday, January 09, 2009

My Morning Wooten

I'm feeling righteous.
New 320-place setting White House china selected by the Bushes cost almost $500,000. So what? It was paid for by a privately-funded trust. Let the man go.
Bush's china is the 14th official service. The official count is 7-5 Republican to Democrat with 2 belonging to parties we barely remember.

And every service since Johnson has been purchased by private funds. By the way, he was a Democrat.

You let it go.
Best suggestion for Gaza and the Palestinian Authority comes from former U.N. Ambassador John R. Bolton, writing in the Washington Post. Argues Bolton: “We should look to a ‘three-state’ approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty.”
Only one problem. Gaza goes to Egypt. West Bank goes to Jordan. I assume the third state is Israel. Because in a three state solution, we have to have three states. Jordan. That's one. Egypt. That's two. Israel. That's three. Wait a second. What about that Palestinian Authority thingie?

Jim. I'm just a simple boy from South Georgia. Can you help me? Please tell me the last time a nation voted itself out of existence?
MARTA’s projected deficit of $57 million may prompt higher fares (up 25 cents to $2), higher parking fees or service reductions. One other proposed “solution” is more tax. My suggestion would be to consolidate MARTA as a mass transit-only agency. Spin off the buses into the private sector and let them provide service where and how the market dictates.
Sounds like a good solution. Let's implement it right after you tell me when a paved road ever showed a profit.

We're going to take the next one in pieces.
Interesting dilemma for President-elect Barack Obama, who vowed to shut the Guantanamo military detention center.
So did John McCain. Oh wait. He lost. So we should probably blame him. If only he had run on that winning Republican playbook from 2006.
Turns out no nation wants the bad guys
Who does? Do you want bad guys? I'm pretty sure I don't want bad guys. But the UK (you know, the guys and gals who stood by us through the storm) accepted some of these bad guys as recently as 2004.
Take ’em, pleas U.N. torture investigator Manfred Nowak. Many, he says, are harmless. Maybe. But many aren’t.
Maybe.

This is the standard the supposed guardians of our forefathers believe in. Maybe.
Griffin Bell was one of the truly great men that Georgia, or any state, produces. He’s monument material.
Jim's absolutely right. But I can't help but think what Thinking Right would have said if it existed 30 years ago when Bell served as Attorney General under the eternal right wing boogeyman known as Carter.
Calling Atlanta’s neighbors to the north “northern suburbs” requires a definite perspective. For those of us who live there, Atlanta is our suburb. Wonder why you never see it described as Cobb’s southern suburb.
Stop attending Hawks game. Stop attending Falcons games. Stop flying out of Hartsfield. Stop getting airlifted to Grady. Stop talking through every damned show at Chastain.

Start paying for the MARTA that takes you from free parking at Doraville all the way to exotic downtown (including not only certain sports venues but also the ivory towers of the Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Start driving to the reknowned international point of departure known as Birmingham.

Oh. And when your teenager wraps that brand new car around a telephone pole? Make sure the medivac takes them to Athens General.

But most importantly build a concert venue where everyone acts like they are sitting in their living room watching American Idol.

All of us chickens down in the suburb called "Atlanta" will just stare up in wonder.

Selah.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is not an exact fit, but didn't the Soviet Union vote themselves out of existence? I admit these are very different situations.
chamblee54

griftdrift said...

I suppose they did. Sort of.

Anonymous said...

East Germany, too.

But also - the Palestinian Authority isn't a country. Are you saying they wouldn't vote to give up the opportunity for nationhood? That's certainly different from giving up nationhood itself.

Assuming that Egypt and Jordan actually want them, of course...

Joeventures said...

It may be Bolton's position that the Palestinian people may vote in favor of his proposal because their plight would probably be better under that solution than it would be under their current circumstances.

That's not to say his point is legitimate. I'm probably also being very generous as to what Bolton's position really is.

griftdrift said...

The bottom line is nobody wants them. Which is the real problem. My point is that Bolton doesn't even include the PA in the equation! Its typical of his brand of foreign policy. He never seems to give a damn about the people he mucks about.

Sara said...

The biggest problem with this proposal is that it would require Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians to accept that the rest of Israel will continue to exist. That's never going to happen, even if the governments officially agree to it there will always be the whackjobs who will refuse to accept it and will blow up whatever they need to in order to destabilize things.

(Why yes, I'm a cynic about the Middle East. How could you tell?)

Anonymous said...

I guess I don't see how this Bolton plan really solves the problem. First, why would Jordan or Egypt agree to take on these headaches? Both are at peace with Israel -- relatively speaking -- so what do they have to gain in return for accepting millions of refugees?

And then, there still isn't a Palestinian state. Sara is right: It's hard to imagine that the desire for statehood would disappear. How long has Scotland been part of the UK? And Scots are still moving toward full statehood. Although I think we'd all agree it would be a huge win if we could reduce this mess to a bunch of polite speeches by Sean Connery.

That said, I do believe that there won't be any solution until Israel's more moderate neighbors step up to the plate to "sponsor" whatever Palestinian entity comes out of it.

Anonymous said...

THANK YOU for the "paved roads don't earn a profit" argument. It's so simple, so elegant--and so completely and conveniently ignored by the mass transit hatin' set.

Anonymous said...

Alpharetta would be Opp, Alabama if not for its proximity to ATL.

Unknown said...

I agree with your poitn about oads v MARTA in the realm of profit.

however, there are profitable paved roads

http://www.tfhrc.gov/pubrds/06mar/06.htm

There is also one I travel frequently in Alabama.


I know what you MEANT to say... and I agree with it.

Unknown said...

and ditto the yakking at Chastain or any other concert for that matter.

I like the Eddie's Attic rule. If you can hear music, no one wants to hear you.

As a production manager for concerts, I have often been tempted to post signs that say "Shut the F%@k Up.... Please"

New Rule - If I am at dinner, a movie, a play or a concert and I can clearly understand your conversation and you are not talking to me, YOU ARE TOO F&*$%#@G LOUD!!!

Second New Rule - When I politlely ask you to tone it down, you are not allowed to get pissed at me!

Unknown said...

I guess what I am trying to say, "If you are so dead set on having a conversation with someone and the info is so urgent that it can't wait until the show is over, why did you spend all that money for kick ass seats to a show to which you are not listening?

It seems those people are disproportionately correlated to the people who love to brag about the awesome show and their kick ass seats. Inevitably, they will tell you how much they paid the scalper, uh I mean "ticket broker" for the kick ass seats.


Apologies for the rant.

whatwhatsthescene said...

actually, the idea of egypt absorbing gaza and jordan absorbing the west bank is the first idea i've heard from wooten in years that hasn't seemed like the rantings of a bitter ignorant old man.

and the first time ever that bolton has made sense to me...