The Truth Is in the Typo

Brought to you by the American-made blog that once declared, "Close Reading: It's Patriotic."

Look closely, please, at this image of the second paragraph of Dan Balz's story in the print copy of today's WaPo that was tossed on the lawn of Roxie's World this morning:

(Photo Credit: Moose, 5/2/11)

The front-page story, headlined "A moment of national unity at a time of deep divisions," ran underneath a photograph of what the caption termed "revelers" who "descended[ed] upon the White House on Sunday night upon hearing of Osama bin Laden's death" (at the hands of U.S. forces in Pakistan). In the online version of the story in "Today's Paper," the United States is described as "a country still scarred by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001," not as a country still scared by those attacks, as we see in the above.

My typist had two reactions to this typo as she made her way through the dead-tree edition of the paper and her first cup of coffee this morning. The first was to go all Scathing Online Schoolmarm on the poor Post for the appalling state of its "editing" in the age of No Copy Editor Left in the Joint. She similarly snorted a couple of days ago while skimming one of the eleventy billion stories on the Royal Wedding when she read that William and Katherine will henceforth be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge "at the bequest of Queen Elizabeth II," which, since Her Majesty does not appear to be dead, must be a clever portmanteau formed from request and behest, don't you think? Good grief, Moose howled, Doesn't anybody actually read this stuff before it goes into print? (Incredibly, two days later, the latter error persists in the online version of the wedding story.)

Moose's second reaction to the description of the country as "still scared" by the 9/11 attacks was to think that Balz had accidentally gotten it right the first time and to feel disappointed that the error was corrected in subsequent editions. I mean, really, the proof that we are still a nation half-crazed with fear is all around us. It's the odor you smell, along with stinky feet, in every airport. It's the nagging doubt you feel every time someone intones the phrase, cooked up in the immediate, panic-stricken aftermath of 9/11, homeland security. It's the desperate bravado you glimpsed on the faces of the young people who raced to the White House and other public places to puff out their chests and chant, "USA! USA!" late on a Sunday evening. To many, that was a no doubt discomfiting spectacle, a jarring complement to the president's somber, measured announcement of bin Laden's death, which even the non-Obamaniacs of Roxie's World admired for its lack of triumphalism or any sense of vengeance at long last attained.

You can hardly blame the kids, though, for going a little Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead upon hearing the news. For most of their lives, Osama bin Laden has been the bogeyman stalking the corridors -- and skies -- of the nation's fevered, fear-addled mind. Whereabouts unknown but capabilities all too well understood, he might have been anywhere, planning to strike again at any moment. And so he was in effect everywhere, controlling, if not our every move, then certainly some of the more regrettable ones -- in Iraq, in Guantanamo, in Afghanistan, in Florida -- over the past decade. You can't blame the kids for wanting to dance upon the grave of the man who brought such fear into their young lives. No. You have to blame the grownups who stoked those fears and used them in pursuit of their own selfish ends.

The tricky thing about a bogeyman, though, is that killing him won't eliminate the fears he set into motion. You don't stand a prayer of overcoming your fears until you admit you have them. And that, my frightened little chickadees, is why you must acknowledge that the truth is in the typo. Put down your flag, take a deep breath, and say it with me:

We live in a country still scared by the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. And the death of one man, no matter how evil, won't do anything to change that.

Feel better? I sure as hell do. Thank you, and goodnight.

Read My Fist

Perhaps the most extraordinary news to emerge in this extraordinary week in the shiny new place called America is that Barack and Michelle Obama have brought lesbian sex practices into the White House! Seriously, kids -- It was on Fox, so it must be true! Watch this vid, picked up by way of Shakesville (with a helpful reminder from the Official Prep School Teacher of Roxie's World):



Moose's sly response to the hottest news from Pennsylvania Avenue since Bill put out his cigar? "I'm really starting to like this Obama fella! Who knew we had so much in common?"

Of course, we suppose it's possible that the Fox "sex expert" was referring to the infamous fist bump (or "terrorist fist jab") the Obamas publicly indulged in last summer, but the logic of her statement implies a continuum of sexual intimacy that begins with touching and moves through kissing to fis --

Attention: The Division of Standards and Practices of Roxie's World interrupts this post to prevent a violation of the family-friendly ethic of this blog. The typist will be severely sanctioned for her unconscionable indulgence in a fantasy of randy presidential sexuality. We apologize to our readers, who expect better of us. To purify the air of this happy place, we conclude with a sugary sweet video of the Bush sisters giving advice to the Obama daughters about growing up in the White House. No kidding -- It's actually kinda touching, even if it is mostly a ploy to win sympathy for their dad and start the long, impossible project of trying to rehabilitate his image. Good luck with that, twins, but props to you for warmly welcoming the Obama girls to the small, strange club of presidential kids:

The Price and the Promise

IN:(Photo Credit: Ricky Carioti, Washington Post)

OUT (Praise DOG!):
(Photo Credit: Saul Loeb, Associated Press)

UP (and Adorable!):
(Photo Credit: Susan Walsh, Associated Press)

AND ON!
(Photo Credit: Ron Edmonds, Associated Press)

TEXT of President Obama's inaugural address is here. VIDEO is here. TRANSCRIPT of Elizabeth Alexander's poem, "Praise Song for the Day," is here.

The View from the Couch:
Reactions from Denizens of Roxie's World
to the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama

Some of my most devoted fans gathered in the great room this morning, with mimosas, eggs, grits, and shrimp, to watch the pageantry of American democracy and weigh in on the vital question of whether Michelle Obama's dress would be stunning or flat-out supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Consensus among the pretty boys and smart girls glued to the ridiculously large TV screen was that the sunny silk brocade was decidedly the latter. You'll have to go to the big blogs or the msm web sites for detailed reports on and reactions to the changing of the guard. Events this large and momentous are beyond the capacity of a humble dog blog to cover fully. Nonetheless, because we love you and don't want to disappoint you, here are some quick thoughts/reactions from the gang gathered 'round the plasma:

QTA:
Observations on the Inauguration…
Re-re [i.e., Aretha Franklin] is FIERCE!
Michelle is Stunning!
Rick Warren is an ASS!
Our new President gave an amazing speech!
Grits are GREAT!

Furrnutz:
I am proud that my country is no longer missing a leader. I am inspired by the progress we have made. I am frustrated that we aren’t as far as we could be. I believe we still can get there. Recycle.

Goose:
Elizabeth Alexander’s poem was astonishing, quite amazing, especially for an occasional piece. Sasha’s thumbs-up made me giggle and grin. Rick Warren was an embarrassment, and it felt like being back in the Church of Christ. I look forward to an inauguration when there is no invocation. Michelle’s outfit? Breathtaking! That Roberts flubbed the oath of office and Cheney was being pushed around in a wheelchair seems somehow appropriate. May Obama have the courage NOT to escalate war. May he have the courage to be inclusive enough to extend embrace to queers like me and all of my wonderful friends sitting here in front of the fire, enjoying jalapeno cheese grits and Chesapeake spiced shrimp. May we have the courage and compassion to redistribute wealth, REALLY. And here’s to a sense of humor in the new administration. Change can only be enacted by remembering to have fun!

Aunt Margie (back in the 'hood from the Badger State):
I have been on line reading letters from the descendants of Frederick Douglass and Booker T Washington. I try to get inside this experience to see what this means to descendants of slaves – like Michelle – to those who had to drink from different drinking fountains than me. I get inside my own history growing up in a family in Wisconsin in which racism was deeply engrained. I remember the "race riots" in my city, the National Guard in my streets – and I did not believe I would see this day in my lifetime.

But I am aware of the limits of politics. I am aware of the limits of this space as a repository for hope. I know that true equality will not be achieved until we include those still excluded from the full rights of society. I know that we have a lot of work to do to fully realize the dream.

The Official Prep School Teacher of Roxie's World:
Obama’s inaugural address took me by surprise, particularly his pragmatic attitude about the state of our nation. It would have been incredibly easy for him to paint a more optimistic, but less realistic picture of just where we stand as a country. Since I’m far from an Obamaniac, I celebrate today less because of Obama’s “ascendancy” (a word that a newscaster used to describe his taking of the office) and more because of Bush’s departure. I relished seeing Dubya respond to Obama’s less-than-subtle critique of his shameful administration. I couldn’t help but notice that they sat Aretha Franklin behind Bush. Why didn’t she take that big-ass, but nonetheless fabulous hat off her head and pummel him with it, all the while singing, “R-E-S-P-E-C-T?” A girl can dream.

Moose:
I give the day an A++ for spectacle and for the sheer emotional release of finally being free of Shrub and Darth Cheney, who obviously had to be medicated in order to be forced out of town. I thought Obama's speech was thoughtful and beautifully delivered, though not as soaring as I might have expected. I looked at the transcripts and don't see anything that cries out to be carved in stone, though I do like the piece we used for the title to this post. I like his emphasis on our common purpose, something that was glaringly absent from Shrub-era rhetoric and politics, and hope that as he moves forward he will focus more on that than on individual responsibility, a theme he has borrowed from Republicans that gets on my last nerve every time I hear it.

I want to send warm wishes to the extended pack here at Roxie's World and thank you all for sticking with us through the long strange odyssey of this campaign, election, and extraordinary transition. Today truly is a day for setting aside all kinds of differences and focusing on the historic significance of this moment. Tomorrow, we can begin to contemplate the perils and possibilities we face as a nation and a world. We are grateful to all of you for your friendship and your passionate dedication to the cause of justice. Join us in wishing the new president and his family a joyous day, a safe journey, and a warm welcome in America's home. Peace out -- and always.

The End Is Near

Bush countdown created by James Miller

The Audacity of Hype

Let Them Eat Cake Edition (Updated)

(Photo Credit: Goose!)

Not to be outdone by rival Safeway, which, as reported the other day by neighbor and blog pal Clio Bluestocking, is marketing Obama cookies in its Washington-area stores in advance of the Inauguration, Giant is offering sheet cakes festooned with the rarely seen visage of the nation's 44th president. Moose made this discovery this afternoon but was in a hurry and didn't happen to have her iPhone in her pocket. Realizing she risked losing an opportunity to break actual news in Roxie's World, she got into the car, phoned home, and ordered Goose to go to the store, photograph the cakes, and send her the pictures pronto. (Moose had to get to the office, kids, or qta would have felt lonely, sad, and tragically under-utilized.) Goose eagerly accepted her blogospheric mission and raced over to the store, prepared to do a full-on Emma Peel right there in the bakery aisle in order to document the madness that has overtaken the national capital area as we prepare for new neighbors at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. We feel compelled to pass the evidence along, particularly for the benefit of those of our legions of loyal fans who live at some distance from what is starting to feel like the G-spot of the epic Obama-gasm that is about to break across our fair, apparently virgin land.

We were inspired to begin collecting such evidence by Stephen Colbert's brilliant piece last night on the indisputable fact that "Barack Obama can sell crap," featuring black Republican entrepreneur P. K. Winsome (Tim Meadows) and his amazing Obama collectibles, including a commemorative butter substitute, Obamargarine. Let us know what's for sale in your neighborhood. And let us know how you feel about these weird opportunities to ingest the body of the new president. What is the appropriate wine pairing for a big slice of Obama cake? Is it just us, or did these questions simply not arise in the Eisenhower years?

[Update: Go watch this long, detailed, ABC News report on Obama-bilia. No margarine, but pretty much everything else.]

Meanwhile, here in the reality-based community of Roxie's World, we are slashing prices on our inaugural room and board packages (originally detailed here) on news today that there are still hundreds of hotel rooms available in DC and thousands in the greater Washington area. Plus, we've added babysitting to the list of available services after hearing that swarms of high-powered moms and dads are desperate to dump the little ones somewhere so that they can join in the inaugural gang-bang -- oops! -- festivities. Fine. Here's the deal: We'll charge you five hundred bucks an hour to get your own precious Malias and Sashas and Madisons and Samuels off your hands for the night. Package includes one glass of Cold Duck in an inaugural sippy cup for kids under four, one mixed drink for kids over four if they're willing to learn to make cocktails so that Moose and Goose can get liquored up without ever leaving the couch. Bedtime is 8 p.m., unless Andrea Mitchell says something really annoying earlier in the evening that makes it impossible for Moose to refrain from dropping an F-bomb. Kids who show up wearing "World to Hillary: Save Us!" tee-shirts stay free and don't have to go to bed at all.

Wake me when it's over, boys and girls. This is just nuts, and all I really care about is what will happen to the Bush Countdown widget in my sidebar at high noon on Tuesday when at long last the clock ticks down to zero and the nation is free of the little idiot that never should have been president. Will it explode in a cloud of happy confetti? Will it be instantly replaced by an Obama Countdown to Miracles widget? I'm thinking you all should be right here in Roxie's World at noon on Tuesday so we can share that glorious moment together. After all we've been through, wouldn't that be lovely? Free Cold Duck for everybody. Dog knows we deserve it! Peace out.

Shrub Legacy Secured

Attention, Clio: U.S. President George W. Bush secured his place in history today by becoming the first American president to attend Olympic competition in women's beach volleyball. That's right. After a "really, really difficult" ride on the Olympic mountain bike course, the soon-to-be-former prez stopped in to watch gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh practice before they went on to win their 102nd straight match in their opening round match against Japan. In a sweat-soaked shirt, the president didn't look at all like a guy who needed to be worried about the Russian invasion of Georgia as he mugged for the cameras and tried a few bumps in the sand with May-Treanor. Wow, it's a pity Mount Rushmore is full, isn't it?


(Photo Credits: Mandel Ngan, Getty Images)

Meanwhile, Michael Phelps has won the first of his possible eight gold medals, setting a world record in the men's 400 individual medley. Sorry, kids, but the Summer Olympics make us all a little Goosebumpy, a little Moosebumpy, even a bit Roxie-bumpy. We just loves us them swimmers with their gorgeous bodies in their skimpy little suits slicing through the water with the greatest of ease. But, hey, we're not, like, the leaders of the free world or anything, so don't judge us for our profound superficiality, 'kay? Gotta go, kids -- The chicks are up on the starting blocks for the women's 400 IM!

On your marks, get set -- We're gone.

Imagine

(Image Credit: bushslastday.com)

It's coming, children: One year from today is George W. Bush's last day in the office he stole in 2000 and 2004. Close your eyes. See someone else's hand upon the Bible on that glorious day. See the beaming Spousal Unit standing off to the side, the stern Supreme Court justice somberly reading out the oath. Feel a crisp winter breeze on your face as a sweet-faced, racially diverse group of schoolchildren sings a patriotic song that brings an unexpected lump to your throat. Don't be embarrassed. You deserve this moment. You deserve this feeling. You dreamed of it. You worked for it. You helped to make it happen.

Didn't you?

Deck the Halls!

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Defining Moments

Pretend you're an English prof. Find the theme linking today's links. Your 3-paragraph analysis is due Saturday at noon.

• Our crack team of internets trollers finally succeeded in locating video of the Dimwit-in-Chief arguing for reauthorization of the obscenely misnamed "No Child Left Behind" act by arguing that "childrens do learn when standards are high and results are measured. " It is here, and you must watch it. You will love me for finding it for you. Make sure you watch the whole clip so you can catch Shrub's second grammatical mistake, which no one else seems to have noticed, when he says that Congress needs to work with the administration to pass legislation "that helps gives our children the education they deserve." Wonder if White House press sec Dana Perino grabbed her Wite-Out to try to cover up that presidential gaffe on the transcript as well. (For the story on the corrected then un-corrected transcript, go here.)
  
• Frank Rich had almost convinced us that Idaho senator Larry Craig had suffered enough for the crime of toe-tapping. We were starting to get uncomfortable with what appeared to be an obvious entrapment and all the folderol about what a laughing-stock Craig had become and how tied up in knots Republicans were with his "I wish I could quit you" resignation/non-resignation, guilty plea/non-guilty plea. Today, though, Craig was back at work in the Senate and voted against the Matthew Shepard bill, which Democrats had attached as an amendment to a defense spending bill. (Wa Po story on the bill is here.) It's just the latest in a long line of anti-gay votes Craig has made, so Roxie's World is officially back to not caring what happens to this pathetic hypocrite.
• We're happy to send you over to Crooks and Liars for a minute to see the clip of Hillary Clinton answering a hypothetical question about torture in last night's Democratic debate in New Hampshire. Moderator Tim Russert sets her up by mapping out a scenario that Bill Clinton had endorsed in an interview with him a year earlier allowing for the use of torture in some super-duper scary situation. Clinton says torture cannot be the policy of the United States, and then Russert makes the gotcha move of revealing that "William Jefferson Clinton" had endorsed its use in this limited, hypothetical case. "Well," Senator Clinton replies, "he's not standing here right now." It's a great moment. It surprises Russert and amuses the crowd. It demonstrates, again, Clinton's graceful mastery of the challenge of coming across as both womanly yet presidential. Day by day, Clinton wears down whatever resistance there might be to the idea of a woman in charge of the Situation Room at some moment of grave national crisis. Better her, after all, than the guy who proves that "childrens do learn" but some presidents just never does. (Senator Clinton earns raves from a group of public-speaking coaches for her handling of the "He's not standing here" moment in Wa Po.)
  
• Finally, speaking of the former president and future First Dude of the United States, here's a great clip of Bill going all righteous over the ridiculous MoveOn kerfuffle. (Roxie's World thought the Petraeus/Betray Us ad was a dumb idea, but we were appalled by the hyperventilated responses to it.) Bill's back in the War Room, showing Democrats how to smack down Republicans' manufactured outrages over non-issues and their vicious attacks against any and all opponents. Watch it, savor it, then close your eyes and imagine ole blue eyes back at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come 2009. Sweet dreams, beloveds. The Clintons are on their way home.
  

Told Ya So

Not that we're in a bragging mood or anything, but:

On Tuesday in Roxie's World, we said, and I quote,

What matters is that the ground and the discourse have shifted. Troop reductions will happen. If the administration can fudge the data enough to make its claims of progress appear credible (to the credulous), then the reductions may be larger and sooner than Petraeus was willing to suggest in his testimony before Congress.

This morning, Wa Po reports that the administration is already opening the door to larger troop cuts, as it continues to fudge the gains made under the "surge":

One day after President Bush announced a limited drawdown of U.S. troops from Iraq by next summer, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said yesterday that it might be possible to reduce U.S. forces there further over the course of next year, down to approximately 100,000 troops by the end of 2008.

Gates's comments followed a White House report yesterday concluding that the Iraqi government has not made satisfactory progress on several political and security benchmarks. In a congressionally mandated assessment, the administration found only modest improvements since an interim report in July.

In the fairy-tale world of the Bush administration, saying a thing still makes it so, which perhaps explains why the president's "new" policy has been named "Return on Success." Apparently, "Declare Victory and Get Out" is still under copyright protection, so the Bush brain trust decided to make the "return" of American soldiers sound like the profit on some particularly shrewd investment. I wonder how the families whose sons and daughters "returned" home from Iraq in pine boxes feel about the latest effort to brand war policy.

Also on Tuesday, Roxie's World predicted that if conditions in Iraq don't improve enough for even the adept liars of Bush world to declare a success, the administration would simply "buy time until the disaster can be passed along to someone else." No less a genius than New York Times columnist Paul Krugman agrees with us on that one. Yesterday, Krugman declared that the administration already realizes "that the surge has failed, that the war is lost, and that Iraq is going the way of Yugoslavia." Noting, among other things, the administration's lackadaisical efforts to get the Maliki government to get closer to meeting some of benchmarks it was supposed to be aiming for, Krugman writes:

All in all, Mr. Bush’s actions have not been those of a leader seriously trying to win a war. They have, however, been what you’d expect from a man whose plan is to keep up appearances for the next 16 months, never mind the cost in lives and money, then shift the blame for failure onto his successor.

Finally, on the cultural front, glancing at the early reviews, we think we were probably also right about Jodie Foster's new movie, The Brave One. Last Friday, we expressed ambivalence "about the whole gun-toting vigilante aspect of the story" and suggested that Ms. Foster needed to get a little braver about the kind of parts she was taking. A. O. Scott in the Times calls The Brave One a "cowardly" film and "a pro-lynching movie that even liberals can love." Stephen Hunter in Wa Po is more favorably inclined toward the film, calling it "great Jodie Porn" and apparently impressed by director Neil Jordan's attention to "the kinesthetics of violence." Still, his review makes us think this film is going to make us more secure in our conviction that Foster needs to venture out of Hollywood to find scripts and roles more worthy of her talents and intelligence.

We'll offer up our own review of The Brave One as soon as I can persuade the moms to step away from the computers and get themselves to the multiplex. Eventually, they will. Poor Moose is still a sucker for Jodie Porn.

Careful out there, kids. It's a dangerous world.

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.

Dog Tired

(Photo Credit: Alex Wong/Meet the Press, via Associated Press)

It's been non-stop fun here in Roxie's World this weekend, kids -- long summer evenings of re-connecting with old dog pals, of showing a new dog pal around my ridiculously large back yard, of listening to the moms and their human pals carry on about the state of the world, their lives, their fragile hearts, their conflicted minds. Your favorite dog blogger is one tired old pup this evening, though, so if it's all right with you I'm just going to toss up a few links and head off to bed. Once the batteries have been re-charged, I'll sit down with the creative team and the political division and draw up a plan for a series of posts guaranteed to get all of us through the dog daze of summer. Feel free to leave suggestions in Comments. You all got As for excellent participation in the Cutest Non-Lady Tennis Player Contest last week, so by all means keep those opinions comin'. Your input is important to us.

• Watchdog of the Week is Virginia Senator Jim Webb facing off against South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham on Meet the Press. Crooks and Liars has video here. NY Times has a re-cap of the Sunday talk shows here.
• This just in from the Department of Unintended Hilarity: Bill Kristol has a piece in Wa Po arguing that Shrub's presidency will probably end up being a successful one. The big accomplishments, according to happy Bill, are that there have been no terrorist attacks on U. S. soil since 9/11, the economy is strong, and the war in Iraq -- though it's been "very difficult" -- is now "on course to a successful outcome." The piece is here, but we urge you to empty your bladder before reading it.
• Michael Isikoff reports in Newsweek that Shrub decided to commute Scooter Libby's sentence in order to avoid angering Vice President Darth Cheney. He quotes an unnamed adviser to the president as saying, "I'm not sure Bush had a choice. . . .If he didn't act, it would have caused a fracture with the vice president." The article is here, and I think I'd approach this one with an empty stomach.
• Also in Newsweek, Anna Quindlen has a column urging Hillary Clinton to try to persuade Barack Obama to be her running mate. We think she makes a pretty compelling case. Here is the last paragraph:

[Obama] would have to decide he would be willing to coexist with a strong woman. But it seems as though he already does that at home. You would have to be willing to let a charismatic man steal some of your thunder, but you do that at home, too. This would be a political marriage of convenience, sure, but one that could excite the country. The president has driven the nation into a ditch, and the American people are standing by the side of the road with their thumbs out. Everyone is poised for big change, big ideas. Do the big thing that also happens to be the right thing. Your Web site says help make history. Go ahead. I dare you.

The rest of the article is here.

• Finally, and with thanks to RutgersAlumna for pointing this out in Comments, Gloria Steinem has an inspired little piece in Huff Po proposing a new form of gender balance in cultural evaluation. Tired of demeaning labels such as "chick flick" and "chick lit," Steinem suggests we start applying labels such as "prick flick" and "prick lit" to films and books that glorify war, violence against women, and female masochism to help consumers navigate the cultural marketplace with greater precision. Moose can't believe that she never managed to come up with such a term, but she gives props to Sister Gloria and predicts that some clever English prof will start offering courses in Prick Flicks and Lit very soon. Steinem's piece is here.
  

Golly, kids, doesn't it feel to you that the Bush years have been just about the longest, scariest Prick Flick you've ever seen? Yeah, me, too. Wake me when it's over, will you?

Mind the Gap

Happy Fourth of July from Roxie's World and the Department of Righteous Indignation. Take ten minutes out of your holiday to watch Keith Olbermann's "Special Comment" on Shrub's decision to commute Scooter Libby's sentence. (Here is a transcript.) Keith would probably frighten us if we didn't agree with pretty much everything he says. As it is, we declare him Watchdog of the Week and thank him for offering up a fiery "j'accuse" to enliven our celebration of (what's left of) American independence.



Once Keith has gotten you all hot and bothered, you can cool down by listening to my Uncle Bobby's song, "Peace Begins With Me and You," which we've loaded into the Music Box in honor of the day. It's from his album, Turn Row Blues, which you can purchase here. Uncle Bobby is such a righteous dude that he said y'all could have this song for free, but the Music Box doesn't allow copying. :-(

Need some inspiration? A reminder that the task of realizing the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence is yet unfinished and belongs to all of us? Click here to see the sermon Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered on July 4, 1965 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. It's called "The American Dream" and so is steeped in a rhetoric of American exceptionalism that would be troubling if it weren't so strategically valuable to King's cause. "It is marvelous and great that we do have a dream," King declares, "that we have a nation with a dream; and to forever challenge us; to forever give us a sense of urgency; to forever stand in the midst of the 'isness' of our terrible injustices; to remind us of the 'oughtness' of our noble capacity for justice and love and brotherhood."

The moms headed out this morning to catch one of their favorite community events, Takoma Park's fabulously funky Independence Day parade. They sat on the curb across from the firehouse with their peace flag held out in front of them and watched the spectacle roll by: the steel drummers and the bag-pipers, the belly dancers and the tumblers, the advocates of attachment parenting, immigrant rights, compact fluorescent bulbs, and 9/11 truth. They laughed and applauded and got a little teary at the goofy, glorious wonder of it all.

We still live in the gap between the "isness" of injustice and the "oughtness" of our noble ideals. On this day, citizens of the United States and denizens of Roxie's World, mind the gap -- and do what you can to narrow it.

Peace out, beloveds.

My Mighty Heart

(Photo Credit: A Mighty Heart photo gallery)

With apologies to Ms. Angelina Jolie, for riffing on the title of her soon-to-be-released major motion picture about love, courage, and exceptional beauty, but we pretty girls have to stick together.

Fasten your seat belts and hold onto your mouse, kids. Roxie's World hereby announces its very first miracle. No, Paul hasn't been resurrected and climbed out of the toilet and back into our fish pond, and, no, we haven't proven that Mary Cheney's child was conceived through divine or diabolical intervention. No, loyal fans, the miracle is ME, ME, ME -- your very own favorite dog blogger. The moms took me to the doctor on Tuesday. It was time for my semi-annual checkup with the world's most amazing Portuguese canine cardiologist, Dr. Luis Braz-Ruivo, who has been treating my mitral valve prolapse since early last year. (I've posted about Dr. B. before. For a good description of why the moms and I heart my heart doctor so much, click here.) I was a very good dog on this visit, as Dr. B. put me up on his wooden table and hooked me up to the big computer that shows my leaky old heart in action. As usual, he dimmed the lights and he and the moms traded pleasantries while images of my heart flickered in the darkness. The report from my last visit was very good, but the news this time was nigh on to miraculous. Dr. B. says that my left atrium has decreased in size because my heart is leaking less. In other words, my heart condition has actually improved, though the goal and expectation of our treatment has merely been to keep it from getting worse. In other words, your favorite dog blogger is a machine-certified medical miracle! Touch your screen, kids, and perhaps the miracle will rub off on you. Go on. You know you want to.

I'd like to thank my moms for their dedication to the cause of canine cardiac health. I'd like to thank whatever German genius invented liverwurst (aka the world's most effective canine pill delivery system). And I'd like to thank you, my legions of loyal fans, for holding me in the light and knowing in your own leaky or un-leaky hearts that dog is love. I couldn't have done it without you.

While we're in a celebratory mood, allow me to point out yet another new widget that an increasingly adventurous Moose has installed on the blog. We now have a "Backwards Bush" countdown widget over in the sidebar. (You can get one, too, for free, right here.) As of today, the incredible shrinking Shrub has less than 600 days left in his ignominious reign. That's still plenty of time for him and his evil crew to make plenty of mischief, but it's less time than he had yesterday.

Here are some other feel-good bits of news in a week when grim news from Iraq gives us still more cause for sorrow:

• A study shows that altruism is hard-wired into the brain and that generosity toward others "activated a primitive part of the brain that usually lights up in response to food or sex." In other words, placing the interest of others before one's own is not a superior moral faculty but is rooted in the chemistry of the brain. It's a fascinating story with rather extraordinary implications. Read it here. Most interesting point: "The more researchers learn, the more it appears that the foundation of morality is empathy. Being able to recognize -- even experience vicariously -- what another creature is going through was an important leap in the evolution of social behavior. And it is only a short step from this awareness to many human notions of right and wrong, says Jean Decety, a neuroscientist at the University of Chicago."
• Barbara Holland has written a lively new book called The Joy of Drinking that celebrates the sociability of drinking and rails against "the rise of broccoli, exercise, and Starbucks." Goose just ordered the book, which we haven't read yet, but Wa Po's "Style" profile on Holland is a kick. It reads like a how-to manual for feisty women who intend to grow old by being bad. I have a hunch it will resonate with some of my most devoted fans, not to mention my typist. It's here. Best line: "I'm in favor of a little more sociability, a little more merriment, maybe even a little more singing and dancing," she says. "Jeepers, I'm so old that I remember when we all used to sing all the time." Holland should have been at our house over Memorial Day. The moms and their pals could have demonstrated there is still plenty of drinking, singing, and dancing, at least in Roxie's World.
• Cindy Sheehan "resigned" this week as the face of the American anti-war movement. (Read her letter of resignation here.) With all due respect to Sheehan for her hard work and sacrifice, I call this "good news" because I agree that she needs a break to re-assess her role, her strategy, and the long-term goals of the movement she came to represent. We were all disappointed that Democrats failed to get timetables for withdrawal into last week's vote on funding for the war, but we also have to be patient, realistic, and tactically smart. Statements like, "Good-bye America ...you are not the country that I love and I finally realized no matter how much I sacrifice, I can’t make you be that country unless you want it," will only undermine the cause and give aid and comfort to those who claim that opponents of the war "hate America." This isn't about you, Ms. Sheehan. It's about all of us finding ways to make peace and a better world.

May all your hearts be mighty and your voices loud. Roxie's World may be quiet for the next week or so, as the moms head off for a road trip to the land of Moose's misspent youth -- Indiana and Illinois. We've loaded a new song into the music box to accompany them on their journey, "All the Way" from the Indigo Girls' album, Despite Our Differences. It's a jaunty tune, and the metaphors aren't so mixed that the English profs will get headaches from listening to it, as can sometimes happen with Indigo lyrics. Click, listen, enjoy!

Note from Tech Support on Listening: Moose tested the blog on Internet Explorer 6.0 yesterday and noted that the music box doesn't work. Time to upgrade, beloveds -- Or better yet: Switch to Firefox. That's what all the cool kids are doing, and Roxie's World is a much prettier, fully functioning place if you access us that way. Of course, in an ideal world, you'd all be Mac users, too, but we know that's too much to hope for. We embrace the un-cool as well as the cool and love you, love you all.

Better to Burn Out. . .

(Photo Credit: AP Photo/NASA, Chandra X-Ray Center,, M. Weiss. From Wa Po: "This artist's illustration provided by NASA shows what the brightest supernova ever recorded, known as SN 2006gy, may have looked like when it exploded. The star 'is a special kind of supernova that has never been seen before,' the discovery team leader Nathan Smith of the University of California at Berkeley told The Associated Press. 'It blew the core of the star apart, blew it into smithereens, sending all those heavy metals into space' at a speed of about 9.3 million miles per hour, Smith said. And it has been shining at levels brighter than other supernovae for several months, Smith said. The discovery was first made last September by a graduate student in Texas.")

(Read the Post piece on this supernova. It's fun to see astrophysicists so excited. Cool video, too.)

. . .than it is to fade away:

Our favorite suggestion from a dumb Post piece on what to say to the Queen: "I loved you as Helen Mirren." If you must, read the piece on the white-tie state dinner for the Queen at the White House. We love you anyway, you pathetic Anglophile. Speaking of fading, latest Newsweek poll has Bush's approval rating at 28%. And he still couldn't take a good, hard, public swig off all that fine wine at last night's dinner. Poor Shrub!

Neil Young nailed it many years ago:


Some not quite random links (because it's the last week of classes and Moose doesn't have time to type):

• Katha Pollitt in The Nation on the Supreme Court's recent abortion decision: Best point: It matters who's president and who controls Congress. Best line: "It's flatly outrageous that five men--five devout Catholic men, 56 percent of the court--can impose their will on women's bodies, talking about 'anatomical landmarks' as if a woman's reproductive system were some kind of national park."
• Timothy Noah in Slate on The Sopranos final season: Best point: The game plan seems to be to make pretty much EVERYbody likely to whack Tony in the end. Best line: He proposes a Bush-Soprano mix 'n' match, since both administrations are in an advanced state of collapse. He can't decide whether Condi equals Carmela or Dr. Melfi. Please discuss in comments.
• Women Bloggers Feel Threatened: Makes me glad I'm a dog. What is with you people?
  

That's it for now, kids. Catch you on the weekend.

What Would Molly Say?

(Photo Credit: Carolyn Mary Bauman, Forth Worth Star-Telegram via AP)

From this day on Roxie's World has an official motto, a motto that nicely captures this blog's spirit of dogged dedication to the cause of justice and comic skewering of the high-falutin' and the high and mighty, not to mention people who are mean to animals or who fail to clean up dog-doo in the park. Our motto, What Would Molly Say?, is a tribute to the late, great, and too soon gone Molly Ivins, Texas populist and rabble-rouser who never met an ego she couldn't knock down to size with a well-turned phrase and who never stopped believing that this wacky, messed-up nation could and would live up to its promises of liberty and justice for all.

I solemnly swear to my legions of loyal fans that Molly's keen eye and irrepressible spirit will live on in some humble way right here in Roxie's World. With every beat of my leaky heart and every tap of Moose's clumsy fingers on the keyboard, I dedicate myself to facing every fresh outrage with a Molly-esque mixture of ferocity and laughter. I call upon you, my loyal fans, to make the same vow, to wake up every morning with Molly's immortal words echoing in your own frail yet fearless hearts:

Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce.

Every time you turn on the news and see that the Bush-leaguers are cranking up the scary talk to justify some new assault on civil liberty, ask yourself: What would Molly say?

Every time you see a reference to intelligence reports purporting to show Iranian involvement in attacks on U. S. soldiers in Iraq or evidence of weapons development, ask yourself: What would Molly say?

Every time you think about the government's massive failure first to protect and then to re-build the areas damaged by Hurricane Katrina, ask yourself: What would Molly say?

Every time Karl Rove or Dick Cheney or George Bush opens his mouth and some new lie pops out, ask yourself: What would Molly say?

And then, dammit, say it, because it needs saying--over and over, every day, for how ever many days you have left on this sweet, fragile earth. Say it, because you're here and she's not. Say it, because not saying it will pinch your spirit and threaten your sanity. Say it, with a smile on your face and the fire of determination burning in your belly. Say it, and then get up tomorrow and say it again.

Here are some wonderful tributes to Molly, from columnist E. J. Dionne, author Maya Angelou, and her good friends and co-conspirators from The Nation. Read them. Weep, laugh, and then get up off your butt and do something. Molly wouldn't have it any other way.

Update: Moose and Goose are still taking Molly's death pretty hard, so they wanted me to add in a few more tribute links. Here's one to Molly's second-to-the-last column, in which she vows to write against the war in every single column until we find a way to end it. Here is New York Times columnist Paul Krugman's piece that documents Molly's prescience about the disasters that would likely follow a U. S. invasion of Iraq. (We like this one because part of Krugman's point is to show that Molly wasn't merely funny. She was also damn smart.) Finally, here is the virtual memorial service being hosted by Molly's friends and colleagues at the Texas Observer. You'll need a hankie or three to make it through this one, but it's worth the effort.

Peace out, friends.

Bedeviled

The president seems to be shrinking again. Here he is in the White House library Wednesday night, making a speech he had put off and put off, like some desperate undergrad hoping against hope that he might find a dog to eat his homework. Sorry, Shrub, not even Barney would take a bite out of the load of hooey you tried to foist off on the American people this time. The latest "new way forward in Iraq" sounds so old and backward that even Republicans are fleeing from it in droves. The Times and the Post both have stories today on the every-man-for-himself mentality that has taken hold among Republicans, who realize Bush's war is a lost cause that has already cost them their majorities in Congress. They are voting for popular Democratic proposals faster than you can say "poll-obsessed, flip-flopping, former theo-con who now thinks global warming is real and negotiating with drug companies for lower prices is a brilliant idea." This spectacle would be fun to watch if it weren't for the fact that American kids and Iraqi civilians will keep dying while Bush and his cronies look for new ways to cover their backsides and postpone the inevitable for two more years.

Bush isn't the only one who was bedeviled this week by pesky enemies who made him seem small and weak. My beloved Lady Terps, reigning national champions and owners of the longest active winning streak in Division I college basketball, traveled to Durham for a re-match with the Duke Blue Devils, whom they last faced in the championship game last April. For the Terps, the reunion wasn't pretty, as Duke's suffocating defense held Maryland to 37.8 percent shooting. The Blue Devils prevailed 81-62, leaving Maryland coach Brenda Frese to say, graciously and succinctly, "This game we were outworked, outhustled, outplayed, outcoached, you name it."

Coach B. hits the nail right on the head. My moms and their new pals over at DC BasketCases, the best darn Washington-area women's basketball blog on the internets, hope the Terps will embrace their stinging loss as an opportunity to learn, to grow, and to kick some serious butt when they face the Blue Devils again on Feb. 18. For a good example of how to bounce back from a bitter defeat, the Lady Terps need only look to that other team with a national championship trophy in the Comcast Center, the non-lady Terps. The Maryland men's team this week suffered an ugly loss to the Miami Hurricanes at home on Wednesday night. (My moms were there. How ugly was it? Judging by the looks on the moms' faces when they got home, I'd say it was as ugly as the boil George Bush got on his face during the Florida recount. Remember that? I do.) Anyway, the boys bounced right back on Saturday, defeating the 17th-ranked Clemson Tigers, the only undefeated team left in men's Division I basketball. The men needed the victory to avoid a disastrous 0-3 start in ACC play, and they got it thanks to a season high 62.7 percent shooting and strong rebounding against the ACC's best offensive rebounding team. We don't know if they answered all the questions that might be raised about them (since the boy Terps in the last couple of seasons have shown a tendency to win big games and let little ones slip away), but we're pleased with the win and hope this team really is ready to take Maryland back to the NCAA tournament.

Basketball is like life, kids. If you don't fear the turtle, you just don't know the score.

Reindeer Games

We dogs do wonder about you humans. Don't get me wrong. We know that you love us, and lord knows we love you. You feed us and rub our tummies and talk to us in goofy voices. You pull ticks off of us and towel us off when we come in from the rain. You rub our ears and tell us your troubles, as if we were bartenders or priests, and we take your secrets with us to our graves. It's a good thing for the most part, this companion species bargain we've struck with you. But what's up with the silly holiday costumes? Come to think of it, what's up with the silly holidays? Oh, well, anything to keep the fans happy. Here's a photo of me in my Christmas get-up. Go ahead. Print it out. Put it on your fridge. You know you want to.

The truth is, my moms haven't pulled the reindeer tiara out of the Christmas box yet this year. Our house looks about as festive as Karl Rove's office on the morning of November 8. It's partly that the moms have been preoccupied with the end of the semester, but they're also kind of disgusted with the whole tawdry spectacle. For the past couple of years, when asked what she wants for Christmas, Moose has replied, "World peace and the re-building of the Gulf Coast." She means it. Moose has always considered herself a member of the club described in an interesting piece by Randy Kennedy in last Sunday's New York Times, the "Atheists Who Kind of Don’t Object to Christmas Club." She likes cookies and celebrations and trees festooned with brightly colored lights as much as the next person and has never felt that such rituals had much to do with believing in the divinity of Jesus. "O Holy Night" is one of her favorite songs, particularly the version done by Rickie Lee Jones with the Chieftans, but she doesn't believe a word of it.

Still, Moose hasn't caught even her modified version of the Christmas spirit yet this year. She'll sometimes stand in front of the house trying to figure out how to make a peace sign out of lights for the front windows. She's consulted with Goose on the subject and tried several Google searches, but the front of the house is bare. She hasn't even gotten the extensive collection of Danbury Mint ornaments her mother has given her over the years out and up on the mantle.

I think the war has got her down. And Republican meanness. She can't stand that cheesy little interview the Bushes did with People magazine, where the prez disingenuated (also ought to be a word--and Bush probably thinks it is) on the subject of Mary Cheney's pregnancy and Laura made nasty little digs about Condoleezza Rice's marital status as an impediment to any presidential ambitions she might harbor. It apparently takes a village to run for president and Condi has spent so much time tending the village idiot in the White House for the past six years that she's neglected to have a life. Or so sweet Laura implies.

On a happier note: Roxie's World has made its first appearance ever on anybody's Best of anything list! This being our very first turn into a new year in the blogosphere, we are honored indeed that our pal Damion, the Official Ex-Smoker of Roxie's World and the genuis behind Queering the Apparatus, has given us his "Political/ Sports/ Canine/ Newcomer Award." We know that competition in this category must have been exceptionally keen, and we are grateful to Damion for the faith in us this award shows and shall always endeavor to be worthy of it, though we bow humbly before the awesome example of QTA's stunning mixture of wit, queer theory, and snarky/rapturous/spot-on film commentary. Get over there now, fans. I'm going to take Moose to bed and see if she wakes up in a cheerier mood tomorrow. She better, because she and Goose are going to pick up the new Prius in the morning. Photos to follow soon!

Sittin' Pretty

Well my soul checked out missing as I sat listening
To the hours and minutes tickin' away
Yeah, just sittin' around waitin' for my life to begin
While it was all just slippin away.
I'm tired of waitin' for tomorrow to come
Or that train to come roarin' round the bend.
I got a new suit of clothes a pretty red rose
And a woman I can call my friend

These are better days baby
Yeah there's better days shining through
These are better days baby
Better days with a girl like you
--Bruce Springsteen, "Better Days"

You know there are better days ahead, fans and fellow citizens of Roxie's World, now that a fabulous grrrl like Nancy Pelosi is going to be sittin' pretty behind poor old George W. Bush for the last two years of his spectacularly failed presidency. We hope you're still savoring the many victories of this past Tuesday and that you noticed Roxie's World was spot on in its maiden efforts at political prognostication, to wit:

• Senator Man on Dog Rick Santorum went down hard, fast, and whining, as was noted here on Wednesday;
• Senator Macacawitz George Allen lost in a squeaker to Jim Webb to hand Dems control of the Senate;
• the land of Moose's birth, the Ohio River valley of southern Indiana and northern Kentucky, helped deliver the House to Dems, as three key districts in Indiana and one in Louisville flipped from Republicans to Democrats. As soon as NBC announced that Anne Northrup had lost her Louisville seat, Moose confidently declared that Democrats would take the House.
  

Our only mistake was to be nervous about our home state of Maryland, which, as it turned out, went from sky blue to cobalt on Tuesday. Puppy-loving, "what, me, a Republican?" Michael Steele lost by ten points (54% to 44%) to our new favorite political nerd, Ben Cardin, in the race for senator, while Baltimore mayor Martin O'Malley turned Bob Ehrlich and his incredibly annoying family out of the governor's mansion with a 7-point (53%-46%) victory. We heart O'Malley in part because he spoke passionately throughout the campaign about the importance of making higher education affordable and accessible in Maryland, but also because O'Malley is a huge fan of our beloved Bruce Springsteen. Click here to read about O'Malley's use of the Boss's music and his thoughts on citizen activism out on the campaign trail. Rock on, Gov. Let's make the Free State our own "land of hope and dreams."

Now that we've proven our mettle as prognosticators, Roxie's World has a word or two to offer by way of political analysis. How do we explain the shift in the political ground that took place in the United States on Tuesday? Here, in no particular order, are our best guesses:

• Economic populism: The Democratic message that the Bush tax cuts have favored the wealthy and undermined the functioning of government seems finally to have gotten through to middle- and working-class voters. The Katrina debacle probably helped to make this point, but you have to give Dems credit for finally finding the nerve to say that tax cuts during times of war and other national emergencies are irresponsible. Stay tuned to see if they have the guts to roll back some of those tax cuts. (Here's a piece from The New York Times on economic populism and the new class of Democratic winners.)
  
• It's the war, stupid: Another message that has gotten through is that the war in Iraq does not and never did have anything to do with "the war on terror." People are furious because the war has been mismanaged and because there is now broad acceptance that it was started on the basis of a lie.
• Big tent beats base: Progressives have mixed feelings about all the "blue dog" Democrats who were recruited to run in conservative districts, but the strategy was clearly effective in appealing to moderate and independent voters. Moose is uneasy about this, too, and worries about Dems going all mushy in order to keep those voters, but she reminds herself that with Dems in control of both houses of Congress the leadership will be able to shape the legislative agenda so that it's less conservative from the get-go.
• Pretty beats ugly: We think that the real brilliance of the Democratic recruiting strategy was in finding candidates who were cuter, smarter, and nicer than the troglodytes they were running against. From Bush's smirk to Cheney's scowl to Hastert's bloated cheeks to the cruel twitching of Rush Limbaugh's upper body, the Republicans just aren't doing good body language these days. They look and sound mean, vindictive, petty, cruel, arrogant, and out of control, while Dems are these smiling happy people who want government to be competent, transparent, and responsive to the needs of its citizens. What's not to love?

Let us know why YOU think Dems won. As always, Roxie's World is eager to hear from you. Meantime, kids, it's back to our happy dancing. :-)

Pity Party

Pity poor Barney, held hostage by the "leader" of the "free" world and his highly medicated wife. (Don't you think Bush looks fat in this picture? Moose and I do. We bet there's a cooler full of beer hidden somewhere in the Oval Office and the "Decider" has been the "Imbiber" lately.)

Pity poor Moose, who has a bad cold and a head that feels like the back wheels of a fully loaded semi have been rolling back and forth across it for the past twenty four hours.

Pity poor ME, because I've got my annual skin allergy to autumn leaves, which means that I've spent an inordinate amount of time licking myself lately rather than blogging. This, I realize, is a huge disappointment to my legions of fans, but bear with us. Y'all should be out knocking on doors for progressive candidates anyway. (Or, if, like Moose, you don't feel like leaving the house this weekend, volunteer for Move On's Call for Change program.)

Pity both me and Moose, who have been without the company of our beloved Goose for almost an entire week! She has been in Texas visiting family and attending a conference, while we have been here sniffing and licking and tinkling on the rugs and eating take-out food and hoping that none of the technology in the household breaks down. We are lonely as clouds and eagerly awaiting her return tomorrow. We took a vote and have decided to revoke her travel privileges, unless, of course, she takes us with her next time to some canine-friendly destination.

And speaking of canine-friendly, here's a wonderful story about the incredible new animal shelter that has just been built by the Washington Animal Rescue League. The idea behind it is that a posh, peaceful environment will help animals recover from trauma and abuse and make them less aggressive, more relaxed, and therefore more adoptable. I am pleased to give the Rescue League a Five-Paw Rating and a Roxie's World Seal of Approval for smart, compassionate plan that is likely to result in healthier animals finding the loving homes they deserve. Hip-hip-HOORAY!

Okay, Moose says it's time to stop typing and get horizontal. The semi is starting to roll over her head again. Ouch!

P.S. Need a little more inspiration for ending the "pity party" of liberal politics in the US? Read this powerful piece by Kevin Tillman, brother of NFL star Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Kevin calls on fellow citizens to honor Pat by voting for change on November 7--the day after his late brother's birthday. (With thanks to Auntie Faye for pointing out this moving call to action.)