We lost a good one too soon.

Recently Weekend Update on SNL has run some material I find a little…surprising.

Here:

SETH MEYERS: Christian and Muslim Britains joined forces yesterday to tell city officials to stop taking the Christianity out of Christmas, warning them that this simply fuels a backlash against Muslims. Also fueling a backlash against Muslims? Terrorism.

And several shows later:

SETH MEYERS: Muslim groups are concerned that the new season of “24,” which features Muslim terrorists setting off a nuclear explosion near Los Angeles, will foster hate against them and create a climate of Islamophobia. Also creating a climate of Islamophobia? Terrorism.

This is more than just unfunny. Given that we’re occupying Iraq and may be about to attack Iran, it’s the kind of thing that—thirty years later—ends up in museums as part of a display illustrating how a country went completely berserk and started a world war. If you don’t quite see this, rewrite the joke using another religion.

If you have any thoughts about this yourself—even thoughts that I’m wrong!—it’s being discussed over here at a new blog called “Rasputin Bigbodie.” R. Bigbodie is authored by alumni and staff of the Yale Record, Yale’s humor magazine, but everyone is welcome to come and chip in.

Newsweek blogger Holly Bailey reports on a bizarre and troubling incident involving the president of the United States, the media, and heavy machinery:

Does President Bush have it in for the press corps? Touring a Caterpillar factory in Peoria, Ill., the Commander in Chief got behind the wheel of a giant tractor and played chicken with a few wayward reporters. Wearing a pair of stylish safety glasses–at least more stylish than most safety glasses–Bush got a mini-tour of the factory before delivering remarks on the economy. “I would suggest moving back,” Bush said as he climbed into the cab of a massive D-10 tractor. “I’m about to crank this sucker up.” As the engine roared to life, White House staffers tried to steer the press corps to safety, but when the tractor lurched forward, they too were forced to scramble for safety.”Get out of the way!” a news photographer yelled. “I think he might run us over!” said another. White House aides tried to herd the reporters the right way without getting run over themselves. Even the Secret Service got involved, as one agent began yelling at reporters to get clear of the tractor. Watching the chaos below, Bush looked out the tractor’s window and laughed, steering the massive machine into the spot where most of the press corps had been positioned.

I presume that Bailey was at the plant and saw the incident first-hand. She doesn’t cite any other sources. The AP confirms that Bush told people to back up because he was about to “crank this sucker up.” So far, I can’t find a major media report of Bush’s visit to the tractor plant that mentions the chaos the president’s joyride caused on the ground. If reporters scurried away from Bush’s tractor and didn’t report the incident, they would be taking self-censorship to a whole new level.

Update: I found another news account that appears to corroborate Bailey’s story. According to Molly Parker of the Copley News Service, Bush’s jaunt on the bulldozer was arranged by Karl Rove at the last minute and that his driving did scatter reporters:

Before the tour, Rove chatted briefly with Caterpillar executives about whether Bush would drive one of the tractors. Rove reminded them Bush doesn’t do much driving on his own these days and asked if Caterpillar’s insurance was up to date.

“We figure he’ll have a tendency to go to the right,” quipped Tim Elder, director of corporate public affairs.

At the end, Bush, dressed in a bright blue shirt and without a tie, did indeed climb inside a “Black Iron Machine” bulldozer.

“I would suggest you move back. I’m about to crank this thing up,” he told the gaggle of reporters following him. He moved it to the left and then the right, reporters scattering as he wheeled in their direction.

“I thought you were joking,” one reporter yelled to the president. He just smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

Shakespeare’s Sister has photos of Bush’s visit to the Peoria plant.

[HT: Michael Hussey]

Things are apparently not looking good for Molly Ivins in her latest battle with breast cancer. This may be one of her final columns:

A surge is not acceptable to the people in this country — we have voted overwhelmingly against this war in polls (about 80 percent of the public is against escalation, and a recent Military Times poll shows only 38 percent of active military want more troops sent) and at the polls.

We know this is wrong. The people understand, the people have the right to make this decision, and the people have the obligation to make sure our will is implemented.

* * *

Congress must work for the people in the resolution of this fiasco. Ted Kennedy’s proposal to control the money and tighten oversight is a welcome first step. And if Republicans want to continue to rubber-stamp this administration’s idiotic “plans” and go against the will of the people, they should be thrown out as soon as possible, to join their recent colleaguesWe are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every single one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Think of something to make the ridiculous look ridiculous. Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush’s proposed surge.

Laura Bush announced yesterday that the White House has a new pastry chef named Bill Yosses.

Read closely, and you’ll notice Laura’s official release mentions pretty much every credit the guy has… except this one:

Nice to see that at least one person in the White House knows where they’re coming from.

Maybe Laura can talk her husband into hiring the authors of, I dunno, Iraq For Dummies, The United States Constitution For Dummies, International Law For Dummies, or Paying The Slightest Attention To The Will Of The American People For Dummies.

Good catch by On Deadline.

Hello to the readers of This Modern World.

My name is Lindsay Beyerstein and I’m the newest addition to the TMW blog team.

I’m a 28-year-old freelance photojournalist based in Brooklyn, New York. In my day job, I do print and pictures–which is also more or less what I do at my home blog, Majikthise. I hope to be doing some photoblogging for TMW soon. In the meantime, you can check out my photographs here.

So, where do I stand ideologically? Let’s just say that I’m Rush Limbaugh’s worst nightmare–except for my views on drug decriminalization.

If you haven’t yet, I hereby assign you to read Arthur Silber’s on-going series “Dominion Over the World”:

Part I: “Iraq is the Democrats’ War, Too”
Part II: “Why the Stories We Tell Matter So Much”
Part III: “The Open Door to Worldwide Hegemony”
Part IV: “A ‘Splendid People’ Set Out for Empire”
Part V: “A Global Empire of Bases”

And if you have it to spare, God will bless you if you slip Arthur a few bucks. There are few worthier causes in the blogosphere.

Links to Salon from this site supposedly bypass the advertisement, but it’s been glitchy for me. Just seeing if it’s working right.

… appears to be. Occurs to me that I should start putting up links to the new cartoon on Monday mornings, make it a little easier for those of you who don’t subscribe (though of course I encourage you to do so) …

adding: the ad-bypass link is provided by Salon’s editors for TMW readers, this isn’t some sort of scam workaround.

Joe Lieberman, discussing the President’s “surge” plan, gives a perfect example of why I can’t stand him. It’s not just that he’s a weasel who fetishizes centrism, but that he’s a politician who doesn’t understand politics.

The Senate should “step back for a moment and give you [Gen. Petraeus] a chance…. Perhaps a last chance, to succeeed in Iraq,” Lieberman said. “If God forbid, you are unable to succeed, then there will be plenty of time for the resolutions of disapproval or the other alternatives that have been contemplated.”

Plenty of time? When? In 6-9 months from now, the Democratic and Republican 2008 primary races will already be in full gear. Any action, pro- or anti-Bush, will be seen as an election-motivated ploy. Joe Lieberman, who’s run for President himself, should know as well as anybody that trying to get anything done during a Presidential election is nearly impossible. The further we wait, the more likely that any significant action will be put off, lest the Senate be accused of “playing politics” with the lives of soldiers. But that’s the whole point of the “surge” anyways. Let Bush try to wait out the clock and make Iraq somebody else’s problem (and in the process, fuel a new generation of armchair hawks who, like their Vietnam-era brethren, will insist with blind hindsight that the Iraq war was winnable). If Lieberman honestly thinks that “there will be plenty of time” to change direction in Iraq once the “surge” fails, then he’s an even bigger fool than I thought.

Wow. Jim Webb’s Democratic response to the State of the Union was awesome. He’s not the most dynamic speaker the Dems have to offer, but the speech itself more than made up for the delivery.

Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.

Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves “as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other.” And he did something about it.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. “When comes the end?” asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.

Now that’s how you end a speech. This wasn’t the standard pathetic plea for bipartisanship that we’re used to seeing with the Democratic response, this was a warning. We’re in charge now, and this is how we expect you to behave…

Back in 1987 Bill Moyers produced a 90-minute documentary called The Secret Government: The Constitution in Crisis. Apparently in the 20 years since the full version hadn’t been available until now. It’s well-made and still alarmingly relevant. You can watch it below or full size here.

Many thanks to the King of Zembla for pointing this out. While he does of course rule as an autocrat in his own domain, he’s surprisingly encouraging about open government elsewhere.