Day Off

I've been cursed with tonsilitis (no you don't have to be seven years old) and, to make things worse, it's raining outside with Apocalypse-Now like force. Coupled with the humidity, Boston feels more like Laos than New England. So I'm stuck inside my dark house gargling with salt water and drinking broth.

To pass the time away until my tonsils de-swell, I'm laying on the couch and watching movies. Right now it's Fahrenheit 9/11, which believe it or not I hadn't seen yet. I'm about halfway through; I needed a little break. The parts with people who lost their husbands and children on September 11th are just too fucking real, and heartbreaking.

I just saw the part where they visit my old workplace in DC (The Carlyle Group) and talk about how the Saudis and the Bushes are all mixed up in this mess together. I've known that since 1998 when my job was to help plan George H.W. Bush's trips to Riyadh and Jeddah, making sure he had time for a daily massage in between visits to Saudi heads-of-state. (Hey, he has a bad back.) Like I've said before, I sort of like the old Bush, probably only because I got cool gifts from the Middle East for planning these trips, like little gold elephants and stuff.

But man, is that George W. Bush an idiot. I know Fahrenheit 9/11 is propaganda at its shiny best, but videotape like that of George shooting clay pigeons and turning around to ask petulantly why no one said "Nice shot" requires no sensationalism. He's just a rotten guy. A spoiled, weak, manipulative, rotten guy who has done yeoman's work to screw up this country.

Anyway, I'm off to finish the second half of the movie. Better late than never.