The only presidential approval ratings lower than Bush's that I could find were Nixon's -- just before his resignation -- at 27%; and yet not only does the press not point this out, they instead talk about a "bounce" up to 44 like it is a great success story. Yeesh!

Here are some promising numbers from the latest CBS/NYTimes poll:

Just something to think about!

This morning, as an afterthought, I called my landlord and said while your guys are in the apartment today spraying, would you have them take a look at the bathroom sink faucet, which has developed a slow drip. There was silence on the other end for a couple of seconds. He said, We're not spraying your building. I said, Your guy told me they were coming over today and to bag up all my food and everything. He said, Oh no, we're spraying another building, not yours.... Then he asked, Have you seen any bugs? I said, I haven't seen a single bug as long as I've lived there. Then he apologized profusely, and I got the feeling the handyman was going to get in a little trouble. I laughed it off -- this is the guy who can raise or lower my rent, after all -- and said no big deal. And in fact, it did force me to do some "deep" cleaning which I hadn't done in a while; I filled three garbage bags with trash and non-essentials last night. So all in all, it was good... I guess. :-)

I heard somewhere (Olberman, maybe?) that Gore has a book coming out next Spring and that the timing of the book is causing some to wonder if he'll run for president.

I'm thinking Gore would be a good choice. I mean, (a) he already beat Bush once, in 2000! and (b) all he would have to do in the campaign is stand at a podium -- his mere presence says "I told you so!" A lot of people are identifying Hillary as the front-runner, but I think that is being kept alive by Republicans for whom it is wishful thinking. They would love to run against Hillary so they could dust off their old Clinton-bashing tactics and do Whitewater and Lewinsky all over again. As much as I think Hillary would be a good president, and as much as I would like to see a woman president (if only to rub the far right's face in it), I don't think she's the one to run in 2008. Too much baggage. I'm liking Gore/Edwards. Or Gore/Obama. I have nothing against Kerry, except his early concession during a very suspicious vote count in 2004, and his announcement -- just last week! -- that he is going to "kick the Swift-Boaters' ass!" Two years too late, JK! --Gary

Yeah, he's getting more and more aggressive with Bush -- and a good thing, too, in my humble opinion. It is getting to be fun watching the Republicans run away screaming from Bush. On Scarborough last night (which I don't usually watch, but last night Bill Maher was on to talk about his non-appearance in the "Free Speech" segment of Katie's News & Coffee Shop), Maher once referred to Bush as "your boy." Scarborough went purple, and ranted "He's not 'my boy,' I disagreed with him on this, and that, and this, and that... etc." Until finally Maher actually apologized, just to calm him down I think. I cannot wait til the elections! :-) Only 49 days away.... --Gary

Hmmm, didn't even occur to me that Arnold wouldn't be in the movie -- but he is the Governator now, so they might have to use a computer-generated actor in his place. Most people won't even know the difference! I won't be watching Monkey-man tonight, and will also miss the ABC fairy-tale hour: "Waiting to Exhale" is on BET tonight! ...Or, if I don't watch that, I'll watch something else. --Gary

Please do stop by! Teachers College Hall, room 21. :-) --Gary

Though after watching this, I'm kind of sorry I missed the State Fair....

P.S. I checked with the Athletic Department, and found that there is no webcast for tomorrow's game. So it's not on TV, and it's not on the computer either. Radio only!

Yup, I'm taking Friday off (when I'm elected President, my first law will be that everyone gets their birthday off), but no plans especially. Sleep late, maybe a movie in the afternoon... don't know yet! :-) --Gary

The 9/11 movie is the opening shot in the November election battle: and true to form, the Republicans are using propaganda tactics worthy of Stalin or Hitler (speaking of Communists and Nazis). This time their swift-boat target is their old favorite, Bill Clinton. I will be very surprised if ABC pulls the show: They've dropped tens of millions on it, and they're obviously not worried about offending a few liberals. And further, ABC has informed some right-wing columnists (interesting how tight ABC is with the right-wing) that minor changes may be made, but the "message of the Clinton Administration failures remains fully intact." I'm now kinda hoping they don't pull it, in fact. If they do, the right-wing nutjobs will howl and cry about how the liberals are promoting censorship, etc. Maybe letting it air will subject it to closer scrutiny than it has already gotten, and all its lies will be exposed. And I'm not really sure how many votes this thing would change, anyway: Most people have pretty much made up their minds one way or the other on Bush and his war -- not many fence-sitters left. And finally, it is interesting that this letter comes from Bruce Lindsey, Clinton's lawyer and close advisor. Maybe Bill is hinting at legal action...? Defamation of character...? Just thinking out loud... --Gary

Good! :-) --Gary

Signs that an election is coming up: 1) Gas prices have been lowered dramatically (more than 60 cents a gallon here in Lincoln) -- coincidence? Hmmm, I wonder... 2) Bush and his fellow criminals are on a non-stop fear rampage: terror terror terrorists Nazis Communists terror Islamo-Fascists terror terror, etc. 3) And the Republicans are reminding us, yet again, that Everything Bad Is Clinton's Fault.

This time the reminder is coming in the form of a "documentary" which ABC will be showing next week called "The Path to 9/11." It was written by a friend and colleague of Rush Limbaugh, who has been promoting the program heavily on his own show. The show pins the blame for 9/11 directly on Bill Clinton. For example, there is a pre-9/11 scene where CIA agents have surrounded Osama bin-Laden somewhere in the desert of Afghanistan; they are ready to swoop in and capture him, but first they radio back to Washington for confirmation; but the cowardly Clinton White House tells them "Oh no, do NOT capture him, you will offend our Arab allies!"; and the CIA guys let him go, thinking the Washington bureaucrats Just Don't Get It. Trouble is, nothing remotely like that scene (along with many other scenes in this thing) ever happened. And Clinton's record on anti-terrorism is FAR better than Bush's: see this article for a long but revealing read; or watch this 4 1/2 minute clip of Gen. Wesley Clark on Fox "News."

Not only is this program being shown without commercials, but it is being given free to every high school teacher in the U.S., along with a letter urging them to show it to their students. ABC also provided advance review copies of the program to friendly, right-wing reviewers, but did not provide them to any reviewer who has been critical of Bush or the war. Why is ABC (and its parent company Disney) propagandizing for the Bushists? Good question. Many people have already complained about this to ABC, including several members of the 9/11 Commission using words like "total fabrication," but all ABC has done so far is remove the show's website.

Remember when Michael Moore showed his "Fahrenheit 9/11" on national TV? Oh wait... he wasn't allowed to... Next time one of your Republican friends complains about the "liberal media," you can paste "The Path to 9/11" on their forehead.

It's actually on view now, on the fake photos page. --Gary