Reason no. 2,356 I'd do Frank Rich

Combining two of my favorite things--Broadway and impeachment--Frank Rich neatly sums up what's wrong with all the fuckheads in Washington. Here's an excerpt from his column that ran in the New York Times on Sunday, June 5:

A few weeks ago I did something I never expected to do in my life. I shed a tear for Richard Milhous Nixon.

That's in no small measure a tribute to Frank Langella, who should win a Tony Award for his star Broadway turn in ''Frost/Nixon'' next Sunday while everyone else is paying final respects to Tony Soprano. ''Frost/Nixon,'' a fictionalized treatment of the disgraced former president's 1977 television interviews with David Frost, does not whitewash Nixon's record. But Mr. Langella unearths humanity and pathos in the old scoundrel eking out his exile in San Clemente. For anyone who ever hated Nixon, this achievement is so shocking that it's hard to resist a thought experiment the moment you've left the theater: will it someday be possible to feel a pang of sympathy for George W. Bush?

Perhaps not. It's hard to pity someone who, to me anyway, is too slight to hate. Unlike Nixon, President Bush is less an overreaching Machiavelli than an epic blunderer surrounded by Machiavellis. He lacks the crucial element of acute self-awareness that gave Nixon his tragic depth. Nixon came from nothing, loathed himself and was all too keenly aware when he was up to dirty tricks. Mr. Bush has a charmed biography, is full of himself and is far too blinded by self-righteousness to even fleetingly recognize the havoc he's inflicted at home and abroad. Though historians may judge him a worse president than Nixon -- some already have -- at the personal level his is not a grand Shakespearean failure. It would be a waste of Frank Langella's talent to play George W. Bush (though not, necessarily, of Matthew McConaughey's).

This is in part why persistent cries for impeachment have gone nowhere in the Democratic Party hierarchy. Arguably the most accurate gut check on what the country feels about Mr. Bush was a January Newsweek poll finding that a sizable American majority just wished that his ''presidency was over.'' This flat-lining administration inspires contempt and dismay more than the deep-seated, long-term revulsion whipped up by Nixon; voters just can't wait for Mr. Bush to leave Washington so that someone, anyone, can turn the page and start rectifying the damage. Yet if he lacks Nixon's larger-than-life villainy, he will nonetheless leave Americans feeling much the way they did after Nixon fled: in a state of anger about the state of the nation.

The rage is already omnipresent, and it's bipartisan. The last New York Times/CBS News poll found that a whopping 72 percent of Americans felt their country was ''seriously off on the wrong track,'' the highest figure since that question was first asked, in 1983. Equally revealing (and bipartisan) is the hypertension of the parties' two angry bases. Democrats and Republicans alike are engaged in internecine battles that seem to be escalating in vitriol by the hour.

So sad... but at any rate, we'll be going out for another photo session tomorrow. Look back then for more pics.

And don't forget--the Tony Awards are on this Sunday, June 1o. (Way off topic, but Frank Rich started it).

Peace,
Tommy

The Resistance

So not everyone was hot on the idea of having their picture posted on an impeachment blog. We managed to get pictures of about 1/4 of the people we approached, but that's not counting the ones who avoided eye contact or ran across the street (no shit--it happened twice) when they saw us coming in our Impeach Bush t-shirts (holler Hobby Lobby). I can't say I blame them, but I do. Here are a few of the better (or worse, depending) rejections we got on the first day out:

• "Who cares?"
• "Let it be over. Let it be done." (not a reference to the war, sadly)
• "It's almost over anyway." (... exactly)
• "It takes too long. It'll never happen."
• "You gotta love him." (referring to Bush... and no, fugly sir, we don't)
• "Yeah, but I don't think you're gonna do it." (in response to the question, "Do you support the impeachment of President Bush?")
• "Yeah, but then Dick Cheney would be president." (good point, so now we're pushing for both of them to be impeached... we're working on getting more letters for the t-shirts)
• "I gotta eat first." (hmmm)

Thanks for supporting the war.

And a real thanks to our 33 (mostly) new friends who got their pose on for peace. Just spectacular!

Peace,
Tommy

Day 1, Part 4

Motivate!

Audrey Reynolds, certified rock star, from Austin:


Thomas, Elaine and Amala from Austin (they were born in the '90s!!! what what future):


Tommy w/ Michelle Guzman from Austin (it ain't pretty, but we'll strip for peace, especially when asked by a hot lady... or a hot guy):


Dennis from Austin, Seattle and Illinois (the camera man, our wicked sweet neighbor):

Day 1, Part 2

John and Jenny from Austin, thank you both:


Katie, Tyler and Callie from Austin--sososo kind:


Laura from Austin, breaking from her work out to say no to Bush:


Beautiful Lucy and Lucas from Austin, TX:


Madeline Rivera from Austin--love everything about it:

Day 1, Part 1

HOLLER BADASSES IN AUSTIN!!

Alison, Eric, Christine, Ashley and Claire from Ashville, NC--fantastic fantastic:


The lovely Londoner, Angie Fitzpatrick:


Billy Nachman from Austin, TX--thoughtful, truthful, thanks:


Courtney Meador from Austin, TX--outstanding energy:


Terrific trio (puke, but we're tired, and they are): Jessica from Austin, Carmello from Detroit and James from Austin:

PRO PEACE

My roommate Lennie and I started this blog to show that real people care about what's happening outside of their zip codes. Today, we walked from our place in South Austin to the Congress Ave. Bridge, asking whoever we passed if they'd let us take their picture for a blog supporting the impeachment of President Bush.

From now on, we'll be posting the faces of brave people--American born and not--who stand united against the terrorist Bush regime. We'll keep posting until the rich white guys and Condi-con stop enabling the deaths of honorable American soldiers and countless unarmed people. We support the troops, not the criminal Administration.

Peace, Tommy

p.s. I'll keep the Aaron Sorkining to a minimum.

Lennie Summers, 23, from Austin and Coppell (I guess this is better than "Lezzy Against Bush"):


Tommy O'Malley, 24, from Austin and Boston--Bush free since 2003:


I was still in high school. I didn't know any better. This was January 2002: