Wake me, I'm dreaming

They say that politics ultimately defines art.

Well, get ready for the big return of Surrealism, my friends. It’s unavoidable now.

I get my Daily Shows administered in bulk. I record it, then at some point in the week I’ll watch two or three at a time. These days, it could be the Dali Show, with all the surrealist bullshit coming off the wires.

So, I was watching my bulk dosage of Stewart and friends when Lewis Black launched into the Bush administration’s fiscal brilliance down there in New Orleans. Remember hearing the first news of the remedies being undertaken by relief operations? They negotiated with Carnival Cruises (the world’s most successful cruise line) to house displaced NOLA folk off the shores of the Big Easy. I’m sure that everyone thought, like me, that Carnival was doing “the right thing” and helping at a bit of a loss to their bottom line, like any good American would.

But as Black points out, at over $1200 per resident per week, the government is giving Carnival more than double what a week-long Carribbean trip would go for to the retail public.

Doesn’t it just baffle the mind? Do you really need commentary on that? Is it necessary to point out that “profiteering” used to be illegal during wartimes, back in the day? This is just doubly offensive for that reason alone, not to mention all the other practicalities that are sure to have Carnival’s board of directors laughing a mirthlessly ironic laugh all the way to the bank.

Such as: No need to market the cruise for three months. No need to book port landing fees. The ability to cut back on staffing. And-and-and wait for it: No need to worry about the highest cost of fuel in American history, for three full months. Coincidentally, by that time, the fuel prices will have probably stabilized, and Carnival's operating costs will return to a more fiscally happy place.

Carnival is an American company. As a Canadian, it pisses me right the fuck off that our national airline, Air Canada, has donated flights for New Orleans residents needing air passage, and a fucking American company is profiteering as it claims to be coming to the aid of its fellow people.

The government should have demanded better. Carnival should have offered more for less. It’s disgusting.

But you want more surrealism? How about this Harriet Miers nomination?

Oh, my god. This is so fucking weird it deserves a narrator and creepy theme music. Where’s Rod Serling when you really need him? Death is such a cop-out. Someone, get me some smelling salts.

Miers in a nutshell: This is awoman who looks like she raids the drawers at the morgue for leftover makeup supplies, who has no judicial experience, but thank god for defending the President in his East Texas fishing cabin debacle back in ‘95, the Prez knows he can count on Miers.

If I had an active imagination, I’d be surmising that he can count on her for “20 years” or more simply because he’s got the key to her skeleton closet.

But I don’t have an active imagination, and I can only surmise instead that Bush has entered orbit on his disconnect from reality. I don’t have a fucking clue what the man’s up to on this occasion. (Not like my Bush decoder ring works often at all, really.)

I hope the Americans who voted for Bush see the incredible insult being doled out for them by this laughingstock of a leader. Do Americans today realize that the appointing of judges to the Supreme Court is second only to a president’s war record as far as its importance to the nation? The only difference is, that while a war may affect a country’s future for more than a decade, a Supreme Court appointment most certainly will affect it for the minimum of a decade -- and in John Roberts’ case, perhaps up to four or five decades.

Honestly, if this wasn’t so important, it’d be uproariously funny. At least when Bush was listening to Rove there seemed to be some sense behind his actions, but this... THIS truly is one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen done in politics.

Think about it: It’s not specificed that a nominee have judicial experience for the Supreme Court... but isn’t it fucking implied? Hell, we all know we’re physically able to jump off bridges, but isn’t it implied that it may not be the wisest move?

Is someone spiking this dude’s Wheaties again? When even Bill O’Reilly finds the event laughable, you know you’re in trouble.

Bushie, you’re doing a heck of a job. Really.