Ronald Reagan fathered many misguided policies, but I gotta give him credit. He also produced a son I’m liking more and more every day:

During his campaign for the presidency, Mr. Bush pledged a more “humble” foreign policy. “I would take the use of force very seriously,” he said. “I would be guarded in my approach.” Other countries would resent us “if we’re an arrogant nation.” He sniffed at the notion of “nation building.” “Our military is meant to fight and win wars. . . . And when it gets overextended, morale drops.” International cooperation and consensus building would be the cornerstone of a Bush administration’s approach to the larger world. Given candidate Bush’s remarks, it was hard to imagine him, as president, flipping a stiff middle finger at the world and charging off adventuring in the Middle East.

But didn’t 9/11 reshuffle the deck, changing everything? Didn’t Mr. Bush, on September 12, 2001, awaken to the fresh realization that bad guys in charge of Islamic nations constitute an entirely new and grave threat to us and have to be ruthlessly confronted lest they threaten the American homeland again? Wasn’t Saddam Hussein rushed to the front of the line because he was complicit with the hijackers and in some measure responsible for the atrocities in Washington, D. C., and at the tip of Manhattan?

Well, no.

As Bush’s former Treasury secretary, Paul O’Neill, and his onetime “terror czar,” Richard A. Clarke, have made clear, the president, with the enthusiastic encouragement of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz, was contemplating action against Iraq from day one. “From the start, we were building the case against Hussein and looking at how we could take him out,” O’Neill said. All they needed was an excuse. Clarke got the same impression from within the White House. Afghanistan had to be dealt with first; that’s where the actual perpetrators were, after all. But the Taliban was a mere appetizer; Saddam was the entrée. (Or who knows? The soup course?) It was simply a matter of convincing the American public (and our representatives) that war was justified.

The real—but elusive—prime mover behind the 9/11 attacks, Osama bin Laden, was quickly relegated to a back burner (a staff member at Fox News—the cable-TV outlet of the Bush White House—told me a year ago that mere mention of bin Laden’s name was forbidden within the company, lest we be reminded that the actual bad guy remained at large) while Saddam’s Iraq became International Enemy Number One. Just like that, a country whose economy had been reduced to shambles by international sanctions, whose military was less than half the size it had been when the U. S. Army rolled over it during the first Gulf war, that had extensive no-flight zones imposed on it in the north and south as well as constant aerial and satellite surveillance, and whose lethal weapons and capacity to produce such weapons had been destroyed or seriously degraded by UN inspection teams became, in Mr. Bush’s words, “a threat of unique urgency” to the most powerful nation on earth.

More in his Esquire piece….

Anyone else think the Second Audio Program (SAP) service on TV could be better used? Sure, sure, the “SAP en Espanol (where available)” thing is nice, but let’s go further. I suggest:

• SAP in English (cuando sea disponible). Ever flipped through the channels and stopped at a movie you want to see again, only to discover it’s on Telemundo? Spanish broadcasters could use SAP for the original dialogue, or even translate original programming (not that “Super Sabado Sensacional” can really be conveyed in English…)
• SAP swearing. Is there anything more annoying than watching movies on TV? Yes: watching movies where the character says “fucking” but on-screen a different voice says “freaking”, complete with weird emphasis. Why not use SAP for the true dialogue? Your kids probably have no idea what the button does anyway.
• SAP disclaimers. I’m so tired of commercials with tiny disclaimers speeding through the lower third of the screen. Why not devote the SAP to the catch? Then Consumer Reports-type people could figure out the catch without TiVo.

Boy, they should really have let me design the next generation of TV…

Ahh, the double standard. Many have it, few have taken it to the level that our good friends on the Republican side have achieved in the past few days.

I speak, of course, of their suddenly all-consuming concern that John Edwards is insufficiently experienced for the role of Vice-President. A mere six years on the national stage, they say (in sorrowful tones), is hardly enough to qualify a man to be “a heartbeat away” from the presidency.

There may be an argument there, but the Republicans should be the last ones to make it. Does no one recall that George W. Bush had just 6 years of public experience before his current position?

Yes, the same people who evidently think six years “leading” a state with a constitutionally weak governorship is just fine for the nation’s No. 1 job also like to pretend that six years as Senator is not enough for No. 2.

It would be hilarious, were it not so pathetic.

In lieu of actually writing anything, I’ve decided to switch this site to a new publishing system.

That is, if I can stand to dedicate the time to the task. I’m getting more than a little sick of computer screens — especially now that the weather is starting to suck less.

Now that 13th May has passed, I can reveal the news: I’m back in Sydney again. I flew here on the 30th of April, a fact which I kept from this site because my friend Jesse was due to come down and I wanted to surprise him.

If his face was any indication, that mission was a success. Good thing, too, because otherwise meeting his (6:05a) plane would have really been a bummer. But it was well worth it, and I got an opportunity to show him around the city a little bit, including a nice lunch (which opened with Sydney rock oysters, natch) just across the harbour from the Opera House.

Before meeting Jesse, I spent some time in Melbourne, which was not terribly noteworthy, save for the Australian production of The Producers, for which Simon scored tickets. (Mel Brooks is hilarious.) Other than that, the time was basically spent in the suite, computing anyway.

Anyway, this is a lame entry, I know, but I’m a bit out of practice — not to mention doing some fairly boring things of late. Though tonight should be good, because I’m going to the quiz with Simon, Keef, Phil, Jesse and Cath. I’ll let you know how we go.

Brad Pitt is an unholy sex god.

That is all.

P.S. The boys next to me held hands — and had wedding rings! How cute. Yay Sydney.

I returned to Chicago on 6 Apr, and then flew to Des Moines on Saturday for a week. I sure do prefer the big Boeing long-haulers to the Canadair jets. (Oddly, at O’Hare we had to walk to the plane, at Des Moines they used a jetway.)

Still, it seems that all the travelling is beginning to take its toll: I’ve been sleeping in odd snatches lately. Of course, I have a ticket to fly back to Chicago this Saturday…

Been back in Sydney for almost a week now, and it’s been going great. (The weather is lovely.)

This evening Si, Keef and I went for the famous Anglo-American pub quiz that we’ve won in the past. After the quizmaster announced we’d tied for second, we decided to adjourn to another pub.

Selecting this second establishment was no mean feat, as I first had to veto Keef’s suggestion of a skanky place (we’d been there before), then organize a mutiny of a second place after the bartender failed to provide us with prompt, courteous service.

I bore you with these details only to emphasize that it was a series of choices that brought us eventually to the pub we settled on. And it was there, some hours on, that I thought a guy leaning against the wall with a beer looked quite familiar. Lo and behold, it was “Li’l” Jon, a guy I lived with in Swansea.

So for those keeping score at home, this now means that I ran into someone from college in Cairns, friends from Fiji in Brisbane, and now a former schoolmate in Sydney.

At this rate, by April I should run into someone I met in Morocco. Stay tuned.

Just landed in Sydney. The flights were good. I got seats with plenty of legroom and managed to sleep for about 6 hours on the LAX>SYD leg. I’ve been introduced to the place that will be my home base for the next month. It has a new bed, broadband, and 86°F weather. What more could one ask for?

Well, I’m off to Sydney on Sunday — but this time it’s business, not pleasure. (Okay, there will probably be some pleasure.)

Updates here will slow down as a result, and I don’t yet know if Journeys will resurrect or not. Could be I’ll just be too busy workin’.

Have a good weekend.

Did you know about MS Word’s “markup” feature? It keeps track of your modifications so that you can see how a document changes over time.

That’s great if you’re collaborating with someone, but not so great if you’re sending the document to a client, the media, or other outsider. Utah-based UNIX vendor SCO Inc. learned this lesson when they recently announced a lawsuit against AutoZone Inc., a major user of Linux. It didn’t take long for CNet News.com to learn that the complaint was actually prepared for use against Bank of America. Reporters were able to use Word’s features to show the previous defendant as well as just how much time writers spent on the draft.

Just something to keep in mind next time you’re e-mailing Word documents outside the company.

Yesterday was Brandon’s birthday, and I decided to spend the day with him. I didn’t want to tell him this in advance, because I decided the surprise would only be heightened if he were to first learn of it when I strolled (posing as a student) into the math class he teaches.

Sadly, his class begins at 8, so in order to make the journey northward without incurring my third ticket, I had to rise at an hour normally considered my bedtime: 5am.

Considering I didn’t retire the night previous until roughly 1, nor achieve sleep until about 3, I was not excited when my clock began to chirp. But the prospect of experiencing B’s instructional style got me going. I showered and set off, with the neatly printed/highlighted map I’d prepared the night before.

All went according to schedule, except for one little glitch: when I arrived at WC 0351, I found 40 students with their heads down. When I sidled up to B’s table, I noted he, too, didn’t bother to look up and instead just made as to hand me…a test.

Four classes a week since January, and I happen to show up on one of only 3 test days. Lucky bastard.

Well, I’d hoped to get to bed much earlier (have an early start tomorrow) but this will have to do. But as I leave, consider this: Paris Hilton. Now is that bitch a walking, talking advertisement for the estate tax or what?

BONUS THOUGHT: I’m so moving to Chicago. (Or Minneapolis.) You know, once they get that weather thing sorted out.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who launched his successful candidacy last summer on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” headed back to the late-night platform Monday with Gray Davis, the man he ousted in California’s historic recall election.

The appearance by the Republican Schwarzenegger and Davis, a Democrat, was meant to promote Schwarzenegger’s $15 billion bond measure to reduce the state’s debt. — Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gray Davis appear together on Leno

First Arnold announced his candidacy on Leno, now he and his predecessor go back to the show for a major policy announcement. Does this strike anyone else as a bit odd? Why does the governor of California need to go on entertainment television? Perhaps for the same reason Bush did Oprah — high-profile, low-risk. (Though kudos to Dave Letterman for being one of the tougher Bush interviewers in ’00.)

Why do voters tolerate this?

Well, no big surprises there. And, okay, I admit it, I loved it when the one guy thanked his “beautiful boyfriend, Dan.” (Was it my imagination, or did the clapping seem to get louder when he said that?)

Did you notice nobody thanked God?