The Never-Ending Nightmare

A Memorial to Politics

By Al Kamen [Washington Post]
Monday, November 10, 2003; Page A23

The National Park Service, responding to intense conservative criticism, is hoping to unveil next month what a spokesman said was a "more balanced" version of a video that has been shown since 1995 as part of an exhibit at the Lincoln Memorial.

Conservatives have been complaining for months that the eight-minute video -- portions of which have President Abraham Lincoln 's speeches read by an actor while footage is shown of historic moments and demonstrations at the memorial -- implies that Lincoln would have supported abortion and gay rights.

...A second change would be to add some conservative events, Barna said. One problem seems to be that there haven't been many conservative demonstrations at the memorial, which has been a focal point for liberals for many years.

So the plan now, Barna said, is to add footage of the Christian "Promise Keepers" rally in 1997 and a Desert Storm march after the 1991 Persian Gulf War. One problem, however, is that neither event took place at the memorial, but on the Mall.

Once it has been deemed appropriate to include the Mall as a whole in the exhibit, will the Rev. Louis Farrakhan's rally insist on being included? What about the Beach Boys? How about Britney Spears's excellent recent exercise of her First Amendment rights?

It would seem that "conservatives" have been reviewing and revising the entire country to suit their narrow vision of reality.

I am hereby taking a cue from a forum participant where La Belle Soeur is moderator.

I shall be happy to "get the hell out" of America if this is the kind of inane bullshit we are going to continue to advance. It makes me neither proud to be an American or confident that I won't eventually be assigned a seat in a gulag. To all those people who once told me they'd be more than happy to buy me a one way ticket to France, please send your pledge anew through Snidely (sidebar), and he will tell you where to send the ticket.

From that same WaPo article:

"So do you use sleeping tablets to organize yourself?" [Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed, a reporter for a London-based Saudi newspaper,] asked.

"Yes. Well, I wouldn't call them that," [Secretary Colin] Powell said. "They're a wonderful medication -- not medication. How would you call it? They're called Ambien, which is very good. You don't use Ambien? Everybody here uses Ambien."

Really? Some folks across the river may conclude that explains a lot.

No, don't call it medication, just call it Ambien.

Ambien is available by prescription only.

From the Ambien website: You can also learn more about AMBIEN —the sleep medication for people with insomnia who have trouble falling asleep, trouble staying asleep, or trouble with waking too early.

Wonder why Mr. Powell can't sleep.

Yeah, that would explain a lot. They're all on drugs - but don't worry, they're prescription drugs.

Is it just me, or are they all starting to sound as stupid as George? What's in the water in D.C.?