The latest war in the Middle East tends to move most news items to the back burner, so now is as good as time as any to reflect upon several mid-summer events and offer predictions as to their future outcome
Months after President Bush went all kissy-poo with Senator Joe Lieberman following the State of the Union address, liberal bloggers went ape over the Democrat's Judas kiss. Remember when Hillary kissed Arafat's wife and they barely made a peep. Which proves a very valuable lesson. Hot girl-on-girl action is a non-starter for most Democrats. Watch Lieberman's jowls sag to a basset hound's length by November.
Does California Senator Barbara Boxer face future peril from the Kos-led mob because she's still buddy-buddy with Senator NoJoeMomentum? She and her husband have sold their $1.8 million Marin County home and plan to live in Oakland where former Rep. Ron Dellums was recently elected mayor. His predecessor was California governor Jerry Brown. Which means that "there is a there there" in Oakland for recycled politicians. When will the Boxer rebellion begin?
Right next door to Oakland is Berkeley where book lovers mourned the demise of fabled Cody's Books when it closed its flagship store on Telegraph Avenue. It was losing money for years, a
consequence of e-commerce, panhandlers, and rampant homelessness. Cody's was an icon of the Sixties--it even played a supporting role in the movie "Who Will Stop the Rain?", which was based on Robert Stone's novel "Dog Soldiers." Ironically, it's the Sixties' legacy along Telegraph that led to the store's downfall. When will the city of Berkeley truly clean up Telegraph instead of voting to impeach Bush?
While Olympic officials are still wringing their hands over how to deal with doping among athletes, Iraqi Olympic officials must confront an even more dire problem: staying alive. Thirty members were kidnapped by gunmen posing as police. But where do Iraqi athletes train?
It's said that Senator Hillary Clinton has a $20 million presidential war chest. But isn't Bill more interested in $15,000 silicone-enhanced chests?
The media controversy swirling around French soccer star Zidane's infamous head-butt in the closing minutes of the World Cup final made me think of "Battle of Algiers." The film is worth seeing again, if only for a historical perspective on the prickly sentiments dividing North African immigrants from French culture and politics. Before the disgraced soccer legend, whose family is from Algeria, explained his actions at a press conference mid-week, the word on the pitch and in the international press was that the knocked-over Italian player had razzed Zidane about terrorism. Why didn't Zidane just use his fists and not the Marseilles head-butt?
One year and one week after Islamic terrorists attacked London's subway trains, Bombay gets bombed, but because it changed its name to Mumbai, most Americans appeared indifferent because they have never heard of the Indian city. When will it name surface on Jeopardy?
"I learned Valerie Plame's name from Joe Wilson's entry in "Who's Who in America."' Thank you for your long-awaited mea culpa, Robert Novak. Now when wll you slither away, permanently?
It's nice to see that there's some things the United States and Mexico have in common: disputed presidential elections and ballot irregularities. Who knew that our form of democracy is so easy to export?