Would have been a better title for Bill Sammon’s new book than The Evangelical President.

Mind you, I didn’t actually read the thing, let alone buy it, but I did look at the covers and the flaps, which contained these reality-altering takes on President Bush:

“. . . through it all, Sammon shows that President Bush took the high road, fighting to spread moral democracy around the world while the low-minded press focused on Vice President Cheney’s accidental shooting of a friend while hunting and Virginia senator George Allen’s use of the word macaca on the campaign trail.”

Because, you know, because the press should be focused on spinning Bush’s failures as successes, instead of on Cheney shooting a guy in the face and avoiding the cops ’til he sobered up, or on a senator using a racial slur.

Then there is this gem:

“How the media has continuously underestimated President Bush, mocking him for his faith and ignoring his achievements.”

His achievements, like the spread of “moral democracy” in Iraq, you see.

And this thrilling summation from the back flap:

“The Evangelical President is an unforgettable glimpse of a president at war, supported by an evangelical belief that tyranny should be overthrown, democracy supported, and America defended, combined with a steely stubbornness to see these goals through.”

Not to mention supported by a fantastic rightwing propaganda machine comprised of boot-licking lunatics like Sammon (who prominently blew President Bush at a press conference recently, offering up the softball question about MoveOn’s Petreaus ad), and corporate disinformation machines like FauxNews, the Moonie Times, and Regnery Publishing, which published this tripe.

As for the steely stubbornness, it seems more like the deer-frozen-in-the-headlights thing we saw on 9/11 as the President read The Pet Goat after being told “Mr. President, the nation is under attack.”

(ht to actor for mentioning this mess in blog and comment)

Curbed LA has been keeping tabs on it. As of my Friday night (Day 6!) drive home, it was still there, tagged, and with a “For Rent” sign on it.

According to a report in the Los Angeles Daily News, Patrick Richardson of Castaic decided to move his house on his own from Santa Monica to Santa Clarita with a truck and trailer that broke down over and over along the way in an extreme moving nightmare Saturday that tied up traffic for eight hours. Richardson did get a permit from Caltrans to move the oversized load up to rural Placerita Canyon, the newspaper reported.

But instead of following the authorized route — from the Santa Monica Freeway to the San Diego Freeway north and eventually to the Antelope Valley Freeway — Richardson took a detour, maybe to avoid the climb over the Sepulveda Pass, according to the Daily News.

There’s a KTLA clip that you can also see on the LAT home page which shows the interior of the house, complete with furniture.

From the LAT Homicide Blog - I didn’t see it anywhere else, which is sad, and indicative of the amount of crime we have that just doesn’t get reported, except in the Homicide Blog.

Calabasas: Jackson K. Bussell, 28, a Native American, died after being struck in the head during a boxing match against Javier Garcia at the Sagebrush Cantina in the 23500 block of Calabasas Road.

Bussell, by many accounts, was winning the match, except the last round. The match was declared a draw. Afterward, he appeared to be having trouble, according to LAPD West Valley homicide Det. Joel Price. He sat down on a chair in the middle of the ring, and paramedics–who were attending the fight as required–tried to treat the fading, 132-pound boxer. He kept saying, “I’m tired,” over and over, Price said. They were his last words. He collapsed and was rushed to Northridge Medical Center in grave condition. He was on life support, then pronounced dead Friday, Sept. 21, at 3:15 p.m.

Price said the sanctioned match appeared to meet all the state-required safety criteria. Paramedics were present, and although Bussell had taken a head blow earlier this summer, his medical records showed him clear to fight. This case was reported to the Coroner as a homicide, and will be investigated as such, although criminal charges probably will not result, Price said. The Homicide Report uses the Coroner’s definition of homicide–death by the hand of another–hence Bussell’s inclusion on this report. He was from the Klamath tribe of Oregon, Price said.

9/25: Update from from the LA Times here.

Overheard at the Pleasure Chest on Santa Monica.

Clerk #1: Do you like hairless cats?

Clerk #2: Um … depends on what kind you mean.

Clerk #1: ‘Cuz I’m thinking of adopting one.

is that guy?

Well, headline of the day is already taken, but this one is too good to pass up:

Gripe water recalled because of possible contamination

With what … good humor?

Police: parrot theft, fatal crash, could be linked

By Associated Press
September 21, 2007 10:49 AM

PELHAM, N.H. - Police are looking into a possible link between a pet store theft and a fatal crash this week in neighboring New Hampshire towns.

On Tuesday evening Salem police received a report that two men entered Sea World Pet Center in Salem, grabbed a baby parrot from a cage and fled. The men escaped in a silver Ford Taurus with a Massachusetts plate. Less than 20 minutes later Pelham police received word that a silver Ford Taurus and another car struck a motorcycle on Route 38.

Motorcyclist John Sweren, 52, of Pelham, was killed.

Police said the passenger in the Ford Taurus ran into the woods after the crash but was later caught by police and taken to a hospital. The passenger was identified as 34-year-old Jason Murabito of Lawrence, Mass., The driver, 34-year-old Jason Connolly of Andover, Mass., also was treated for injuries.

Neither man has been charged in the case of the stolen bird. Police are still deciding whether to charge Connolly in the fatal crash.

At today’s press conference, our President threw a hissy-fit. In response to a softball question lobbed about the MoveOn:

I felt like the ad was an attack not only on General Petraeus, but on the U.S. military. And I was disappointed that not more leaders in the Democrat Party spoke out strongly against that kind of ad. And that leads me to come to this conclusion: that most Democrats are afraid of irritating a left-wing group like MoveOn.org — or more afraid of irritating them than they are of irritating the United States military. That was a sorry deal. It’s one thing to attack me; it’s another thing to attack somebody like General Petraeus.

Bush is being wholly disingenuous. In the past, he hasn’t given the slightest fuck about attacking “somebody like General Petraeus” when politically convenient. His people mocked and ridiculed General Shinseki before Congress, and the Press. He had no problem with Rumsfeld sacking General White, his Secretary of the Army. When John Kerry’s and John McCain’s military records were slimed by Bush’s surrogates, he issued only tepid condemnation.

Bush is clearly irate that people would question Petraeus, but not because he gives a damn about Petraeus — he’s clearly willing to trade on Petraeus’ reputation to sustain his Iraq folly. But he’s fully invested in the General because he’s made Petraeus a proxy for himself on Iraq. Questioning Petraeus on Iraq is the same thing as questioning the Decider, and nothing makes Bush pissier than challenging his fucked up judgment.

His own credibility on Iraq shattered after one too many Mission Accomplisheds and Plans for Victory, Bush sought another source of credibility and authority on Iraq upon which to feed, like Nosferatu. He selected Petraeus to be that man, not only because he had a reputation and credibility, but because he, like Bush, believed in sustaining the war in Iraq. Bush has a knack for finding convenient people to use for cover.

Petraeus is, in effect, Bush’s homunculus — not because Petraeus is being dishonest, but because Bush chose him precisely because his views on Iraq echoed his own. By attacking Petraeus, MoveOn was attacking Bush’s judgment, and his decisions, by a proxy. MoveOn’s ad was, in my opinion, clumsy and politically inept. But the fact is it hit home — not at Petreaus, but right at President Hissy-fit.

When Bush has used up Petraeus’ reputation and credibility to sustain Iraq — when his usefulness is over — he won’t have any problem discarding him. He may even give him a medal.

But he won’t become so distraught when Petraeus’ judgment or credibility is questioned.

Leave it to Bloomberg to tell me that Gilligan’s not real. You mean he could have gotten off the island that whole time? What next? Santa Claus? The reviewer seems disappointed by the lack of Brothers Grimm:

Some adult viewers may harbor dark fantasies that a bear or mountain lion will trot into Bonanza and scarf down one of the little dears, or perhaps that a band of gypsies will happen by and take a few into slavery.

Or a millionaire, scientist, movie star, “and the rest” will get stranded on a desert island and be visited by the likes of Phil Silvers, Don Rickles, and Zsa Zsa Gabor?

Next you’re gonna tell me that Marcia fooled around with Jan.

Civil rights activists block Sunset Boulevard

Why? Are Austrian-Americans upset about Erich von Stroheim’s portrayal? I mean, Billy Wilder was Hungarian.