Those who've gotten to know me recently might be surprised that I'm sympathetic to the conservative cause. Sing me a song of arguably sensible ideologies: Small government and equally light taxation, the balanced budget that logically follows, states rights, low incidence of international dalliance, and keepin' the feds out of your hair. General prudence and restraint. I've admired Barry Goldwater. I voted Dole in 1996.

Here's the thing: Duberya isn't a classic conservative. He actively pisses on each of the above tenants. Except for the light taxation (as applied to his base, the elite).

What makes me fume is his reckless endangerment of America and Americans. The Shrub's irresponsible policies have cranked my dial from moderate to liberal activist. In the past week, I:
- solicited $150 in donations for his opposition
- took a day-long bus trip to canvas door-to-door for Democratic congressional candidates
- participated a grassroots local strategy session for Kerry
- registered twenty new voters using my very own clipboard
- dragged a moderate friend to Michael Moore's film
I'm not looking for back-slaps (or stomach punches) for my effort. I simply hate Bush. And I liked the movie.

That surprised me. Bowling for Columbine under whelmed me - it was manipulative and unfocused. The latter adjective applies here, but only in its shotgun approach to hitting all of Bush's failings. Valid. Is it manipulative, then? Also, yes - but not misleading. Like Moore said, it's an editorial based on facts. As an unabashed news whore, nothing in the film caught me off guard. No shock there - I have an IV AP wire drip.

Regardless of political persuasion, see this movie. While it's not a surprise-laden smoking gun, it's eight bucks well spent. Artfully done, maestro Moore.

For a full breakdown, go elsewhere. I recommend Fox News' uncharacteristically positive review. Reading about it may be the best you can do for now. As of when I watched the movie Friday night, some Portland screens had sold out through the coming Wednesday. Yeah, this city's leftish, but Oregon's a swing state. Makes canvassing more fun than it would be in Texas or Massachusetts.

Tip o' the day:

If you haven't had so much as a soda* in months, DO NOT ingest a venti mocha to fall off the wagon. I glugged the fella at 10:30am yesterday, and still couldn't close my eyes without twitching at 4am. Would have made for a sedated presentation during that interview this morning, but I was still buzzing.

* (Aside from a couple cans in Berkeley, I can't remember having one in a year. Oh, also excepting a wretched Kiwi concoction called L&P. "World Famous in New Zealand")

What do you get when you cross prolonged NPR snobbery with a healthy interest in women?

Sexy orchestral music.

I heartily recommend Bond's videos over their studio recordings.

Dear 57% of Americans,

It's come to my attention that you believe that Saddam Hussein's Iraqi regime gave substantial support to al Qaida. Please stop doing this.

Saddam's goons met with al Qaida one known time, in the mid-90's. But they didn't work together. In fact, Bin Laden supported an anti-Saddam Islamist group at the time.

Remember the fact that Mohammed Atta met an Iraqi spy in Prague? Turns out that Atta spent time on security cameras and cell phones in the States before, during and after that meeting.

Don't take my word for it. The bipartisan 9/11 commission's screaming their heads off to refute Cheney and Bush's insistence that there was a "relationship."

One Arab doesn't equal another. Going after the bad men in Afghanistan made righteous sense. Occupying Iraq was an unprovoked unilateral mistake.

Of course, America, you might not care what experts say. That explains why sixty percent of you think that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction programs going before we invaded them. Richard Clarke, David Kay, Hans Blix, and the evidence be damned.

Cordially,
Garrett

I told you about it, and I promised I'd send you the link. But I forgot who you are. Sorry. Here's that Sport Ka commercial I mentioned.

The faint of heart: Beware. Referential credit to Kate, who, ironically, likes cats.

We are the most powerful nation in the world - economically, politically and militarily - and we are likely to remain so for decades ahead. But we are not omniscient.

If we cannot persuade other nations with similar interests and similar values of the merits of our proposed use of that power, we should not proceed unilaterally except in the unlikely requirement to defend directly the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii."

- Robert McNamara

See Fog of War. Now.

Where can ya see lions?

Only in Kenya.

To shut the damn parrot up, I let it ride around on my shoulder when I'm trolling the house. I'd always enjoyed the perch silently, or perhaps with a solitary uninvited squawk.

Just now it refused to head back to its cage. So, while I took a leak, it sat on my shoulder - and whistled cat-calls.

I love compliments.

Consider my life now an unholy amalgamation of 'new hotness' and 'old and tired'. For instance, today I applied for a bartending job at the Marriott's main lounge. After finding out, my fellow ex-Marriott employee Kyle commented that he thought he'd noticed a concurrent rending of space and time. I gotta pay the bills somehow, man. Even though those stay minimal while I hunker in the parents' basement. Gotta fiscally recover from that global traveling, then. Whatever. I have excuses loaded for whatever slander you throw my direction.

Back to the old hotness. Been a fan of Found Magazine for years, as is only just. Winning submissions of found accidental art keep you chuckling even after you realize that could easily have been your own to-do list on display. Davy, Found's founder (heh) and editor of the new book read some of his favorite finds at Powell's tonight.

Ferinstance. List found on the back of discarded envelope:

To Do:
- Meet Joel
- Introduce him to lesbians
- Convince myself I don't love him

Basically Davy performs it even better in person. So go see when he takes the party closest to you. His brother even adapts some finds to music. In summation: twentysomething reads voyeuristic snippets between sucking on his forty-ounce Terminator Stout and pausing to hear Pistons game updates. A book reading with an after-party.

Once more unto the blog, dear friends.

For anyone keeping score, this is my second. The first centered on my extended travels around the Pacific Rim. This one has no such point. Expect less snake eating, more floundering.

The stage: Wrapping up that trip left me at the familial residence in Portland. I occupy the basement. Also note the 'bright young fella seeks job' neon signage in my window.

In college, IM away messages offered me an electronic billboard to post links and blabbering that rubbed me happily. I'm never on IM any more. That means visitors here'll be subjected to the random crap that fascinates me. Apologies in advance. But at least there's a comments system in place with which you may berate me/others.