Thursday, August 29, 2002

Flackery Failure: The NYTimes does a nice job of sorting out who the Saudis are paying to spruce up their image. It seems the bulk of the bucks are going to fat democrat law firms in D.C. We wonder if anyone has told them that funding 19 of their own to kill 3000 of us was really, really bad PR.

Friendlier Skies: Starting today the airlines will no longer require ticket agents to ask us where our luggage has been. This is a nice little start. Now they can work on not asking nursing mothers to drink their travel pack or heart patients to take out their pacemakers. Until then, we are driving.

Slow Justice: Trial buffs and Kennedy detractors spent a long and frustrating day waiting to hear how long Michael Skakel will spend in the slammer. There is some small irony here that after the years of bad stuff the Kennedy's have been up to, the only one to finally pay a price is the son of a man whose sister married one. Perhaps Skakel's tears yesterday had to do with the fact that even he doesn't know if he did it.

Dem Dilemma: Deborah Orin at the NYPost does a tidy job of sorting out the "war vote" trap the democrats are backing themselves into as they risk their Antiwar-Weenie base if they vote for what the post 9/11 nation really wants. As fish-or-cut-bait situations go, and this will be a good one.

Somebody Gets It: Sometimes desperation breeds brilliance. What can one say about the deep thinkers at CBS who want to rewrite the Beverly Hillbillies - the 60s hick sitcom in which a family of rednecks strike it rich, move to the glossy suburbs and live the good but tasteless life? How about a couple from Little Rock who strike it rich and move to Chappaqua with a lot of stolen furniture? Sorry, we were way ahead of you with this one.

Ldotter Note: Some of you may experience a little automobile driving across your screen this morning and annoying the hell out of you in your pre-caffeinated state. It's a new ad for GM and it is paying Igor's dental bills, so be patient. Click on the oval to the right, then click on the nearly invisible "x" in the right hand corner of the resulting box. The thing will go away, just like Igor's teeth.

-Your Just-Trying-To-Relieve-Your-Stress LComStaff