Dennis Miller on Bill and Hillary Clinton

From his "All in" comedy special on HBO:

"That marriage couldn't be more about convenience if they installed a Slim Jim rack and a Slurpee machine at the foot of the bed."

posted by John Shannon @ 9:54 PM
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Apparently they've never seen "Night Shift"

Party in Autopsy Room Shocks Norway
Health authorities expressed shock and disgust Friday over reports that employees at a hospital in southern Norway threw a party in a post-mortem room and covered an autopsy table with a white cloth and candles.

posted by Dave @ 3:35 PM
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I'm betting they don't publish this letter.

In today's San Jose Mercury News, there's an article about the fact that the San Jose Sharks and the team's charter air carrier are the worst violators of the overnight curfew at Mineta San Jose International Airport, arriving after-hours 10 times in the past season and a half, according to city officials.

So I wrote to the paper:

When your reporter interviewed Sharks President Greg Jamison regarding his decision to ignore the after-hours airport curfew and he stated it was necessary "to keep a competitive balance in the NHL", was he flipping off those residents affected by aircraft noise while he was saying that, or did he wait for your reporter to leave the room before giving them the middle finger?

posted by Dave @ 10:40 AM
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70's Music Explosion

So I'm watching an infomercial for TimeLife's 70's Music Explosion (and sadly considering ordering it) and Barry -- Greg Brady -- Williams and some anonymous woman are pimping this collection. At one point the woman says, "What I liked best about the 70's music were all the cute guys who sang". This leads to a montage of "cute" guys, the first being Leo Sayer. Now in what universe is Leo Sayer "cute"? The second guy was I think Andy Gibb.. and OK, I guess. But the 3rd guy was some balding ugly dude. Holy crap, this woman has no standards.

posted by Dave @ 5:46 PM
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Struggling Against Majority Tyranny

Adam Cohen writes in today's New York Times about Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America", where in it he warns, "the greatest threat the United States faces is the tyranny of the majority".

Cohen points out that de Tocqueville "had great hopes for the judiciary. "The courts correct the aberrations of democracy," he wrote, and "though they can never stop the movements of the majority, they do succeed in checking and directing them." Tocqueville would not be surprised that the Supreme Court has limited the Bush administration's excesses in the war on terror - or that the administration has been eager to nominate justices with an expansive view of presidential power."

"He understood that the newest incarnation of despotism was likely to be ushered in by the "avowed lover of liberty" who is a "hidden servant of tyranny."

As Alito comes up for confirmation, keep in mind what our President's agenda is... to reduce the checks of the judiciary by appointing someone who would grant him expansive powers -- thus making the struggle against majority tyranny that much more difficult..

posted by Dave @ 5:28 PM
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a quick laugh

On The Daily Show, Jon Stewart showed a clip of a White House press briefing in which Scott McClellan referred to the infamous illegal wiretaps as "a useful tool." Stewart responded with: "coincidentally, 'useful tool' is Bush's pet name for McClellan."

posted by John Shannon @ 9:52 PM
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San Jose Grand Prix

I write letters. In today's San Jose Mercury News:

San Jose council scorns citizens

I continue to be disappointed, yet not surprised, by the San Jose City Council's contempt for the citizens of San Jose. The latest example is the rush to push through a $4 million subsidy to keep the San Jose Grand Prix in San Jose. Ignoring our morally ambiguous mayor's comment that ``the deal is the deal,'' citizens deserved notice about this and the chance to comment to their council members. This council's culture of excluding the citizens from debate has become standard operating procedure, and I'm afraid it will continue if Cindy Chavez (the only council member other than the mayor informed ahead of time about this deal) is elected mayor. Thank you to Councilmen Cortese, Reed and Yeager for voting against this back-room deal.

David Shannon
San Jose

Interestingly, the Mercury News main editorial today was:

City's climate of secrecy has to change

VOTE ON GRAND PRIX SUBSIDY ILLUSTRATES NEED FOR REFORM

Mercury News Editorial

Still mopping up after the Norcal scandal, San Jose's elected leaders should be going out of their way to win back the public trust. But most of them haven't got a clue.

They proved it Tuesday by rubber-stamping a surprise proposal to give $4 million to the San Jose Grand Prix -- even though most council members had only one day to peruse the deal, and most of the public found out about the unexpected subsidy when they picked up Tuesday morning's newspaper.

It gets worse. Some leaders did know. Mayor Ron Gonzales and Vice Mayor Cindy Chavez had been briefed on the proposal last month. Neither said a word.

It's no surprise for Gonzales, who has a record of keeping discomforting news to himself. But Chavez ought to know better, particularly since she's running for mayor. Voters don't want more of the same.

Springing proposals on the council and the public has been business as usual in San Jose. Staff reports on important issues often go out at 5 p.m. Friday for a Tuesday council meeting. The Grand Prix details didn't make it to the city Web site until late Monday morning.

Only Ken Yeager, Chuck Reed and Dave Cortese stood up for open government and voted no. All but Reed said they'd probably have approved a subsidy once they had answers to a whole raft of questions, including what the net effect of the deal will be on the city's general fund.

The late reports aren't the fault only of the staff. They happen because the mayor and council let them -- or perhaps prefer them in some cases. More notice can mean more public controversy.

Cortese argued eloquently to delay the vote until the next council meeting. But the majority fell for that old sales pitch: This offer's only good for one day! Come back in two weeks, and it may be too late!

Seriously. Negotiations have dragged on for months, but now suddenly a two-week delay will kill the race? If it's that fragile, the sponsors are likely to be back asking for more money by spring. Which, by the way, is another San Jose pattern.

The Grand Prix was great last year, and we'd like to see it come back. But if the ground rules were going to change, the debate should have begun before a firm deal was hashed out, not after. And as Reed has proposed, San Jose needs a sunshine law to prevent these kinds of taxpayer surprises.

posted by Dave @ 3:44 PM
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Democracy in Action

My E-mail from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (and don't think that this is some computer-generated form letter, cuz it ain't!):

Dear Mr. Shannon:
Thank you for writing to express your views regarding a Senate resolution to honor Bruce Springsteen on the 30th anniversary of his "Born to Run" album. I read your comments with interest and will keep your comments in mind as my staff and I review legislation. Please feel free to contact me again in the future with any matter that is of importance to you. I value your opinion and appreciate your interest in actively contributing to the legislative process. If you have further questions, or if there is some way I can assist you in the future on other matters, please do not hesitate to contact one of my offices:

San Francisco: (415) 393-0707
Los Angeles: (310) 914-7300

posted by John Shannon @ 8:57 AM
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Is that your final new year's eve show?

Today the internet newsgroups are all abuzz about how bad recovering stroke victim Dick Clark sounded on New Year's Rockin' Eve. But for me, the real train wreck was on Fox, where Regis Philbin hosted New Year's Eve Live. First, Regis came out on a balcony overlooking Times Square and exhorted all the tourists freezing their butts off to sing "New York, New York" along with him in some sort of mass karaoke. The problem was that the only one with a microphone was Regis, whose singing voice isn't terrible, but let's face it - he's no Bo Bice. Then he introduced Jillian Barberie, who had a terrible cold, thus making her poorly written banter with Regis even more difficult to listen to.

So let's see: we lead off with a mediocre singer performing a thirty-year-old song that every one, especially those who used to DJ wedding receptions, is sick of, followed by a chit-chat with a woman famous for being sexy who is wearing a heavy wool overcoat and is in desperate need of a Nyquil IV drip. How do you follow that? I know! We bring out the mediocre singer's wife, who is even less talented vocally than her husband and have them sing a duet of "Winter Wonderland," or as Regis called it, "Wonter Winderland." At that point, I switched over to Dick Clark. To those of you who actually went out for New Year's eve: good call.

posted by John Shannon @ 8:59 PM
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