Back to School

(Photo Credit: University of Maryland)

That's it, kids. Labor Day has come and gone. The white shoes are back in the closet. The pencils are sharpened, the syllabi carved in stone. Moose spent the morning brushing up on the tyrannies of the bipolar gender system and the afternoon trying to find a parking space on a campus suddenly bursting at the seams with eager young scholars, experienced plagiarists, and enervated administrators.

You know what that means, don't you? Yes, it's true: Less content, more LINKS! Welcome to September in Roxie's World. So much to read and watch, so little time to think.

• Start with this funny bit by Richard Cohen on what you might have missed while you were on vacation. It includes such under-reported stories as, "On a voice vote, congressional Republicans decided to limit themselves to one sex crime per session."
• Once you've tickled your funny bone, see if you can stomach reading the choice morsels from Robert Draper's new book on Shrub, Dead Certain, that have appeared in The New York Times. Are we surprised that the Great Leader looks forward to his post-presidency as an opportunity to make money ("replenish the ol' coffers" by giving speeches, as his father and Bill Clinton have done)? Or that he envisions just "getting in the car, getting bored, going down to the ranch?" Has there even been a smaller, shallower, cruder occupant of the Oval Office? The Deciders here in Roxie's World say no, in thunder.
• Then, if you can bear an update from the Department of Lost or Sold Souls, read the excerpt from Glenn Kessler's forthcoming book on Condoleezza Rice, The Confidante: Condoleezza Rice and the Creation of the Bush Legacy. The central argument is that the woman who tutored Bush in foreign policy when he was running for president has
  been transformed by her long partnership with the man whom she once referred to as "my husb-" before pausing and saying, "the president." She has gone from being a foreign policy realist to being a cheerleader for Bush's vapid idealism about exporting democracy. Kessler reports that Bush enhanced Rice's clout with foreign leaders during his first term by advertising their closeness, telling them, "Miss Rice is like my sister" and "When she speaks, you know that she is speaking for me." Is anybody else creeped out by these strange suggestions of incest and ventriloquism in the White House?
• Reward yourself for enduring all that unpleasantness by heading over to Queerty to see clips of Hillary Clinton's appearance on the season premier of Ellen this morning. (Sorry to take you off-blog, but it's not up on YouTube yet.) Aside from Clinton's smooth performance, the bit is worth watching because the usually ridiculously careful, non-political Ellen is refreshingly open about her gayness and her commitment to LGBT issues.
  
• Finally, take a look at Clinton's recent appearance on Letterman. We'll just give the second part of her lengthy visit, where she does a killer Top Ten List of her campaign promises, which includes a vow to bring order and stability to The View. Remember what we said about finding her funny bone? When she puts her hand on the Bible on January 20, 2009, you just remember that Roxie's World called it first. Here's the clip:

Enjoy the new school year, kids. We hope you got the coolest new lunch box at your bus stop and that all of your teachers will recognize your unique gifts and charm. Barring that, let us hope they're too busy to catch your nose-picking and your unattributed borrowings. Peace out.