Bad Grammar And Mistaken Conclusions

"The cast he sports on his left wrist is a result of his refusal to take a Breathalyzer test after his car crash/DUI bust."

Don't judge me! I was bored and poking around tabloid sites. That may be because the only reading material at work are tabloids, and I perpetually forget my Newsweek, and I know that is just an excuse and that I suck. With all that in mind, though, the above sentence cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged and uncorrected. It is from a little column about Shia LaBeouf (again, no judging), and it lends to the mistaken conclusion that the cast on his wrist is the result of refusing to take a Breathalyzer test. Instead, the cast is a result of the same accident in which LaBeouf refused to take a Breathalyzer test,  and he had his license suspended as a result of that refusal. The original sentence sounds more like Shia LaBeouf got roughed up by some officers after failing to comply, which is just wrong. And yes, I am pathetic.

What Bush Got Right

Fareed Zakaria wrote an article entitled, "What Bush Got Right"; and when Fareed Zakaria writes, I read. And so should you. The basic premise is that after his first term, Bush and his team seemed to realize that their policies weren't really working out too well, and so dialed back from an extreme conservative response to a more moderate take on issues like intergovernmental conversations and war. I still contend that the man was potentially the worst president we've ever had in American history bar none, because at least Nixon got us panda bears. But it is good to see some signs that the man is not completely devoid of working brain cells. I also like Zakaria's point that whoever wins the presidential election in November will have to avoid the mistake Bush made coming in by throwing out all of his predecessor's policies through enormous hubris. Even if we all despise Bush, we do need to take a serious look at what he's done that worked -and luckily for the next guy, that is an incredibly short list.

I do wonder at those %32 of the population that still approve of the job Bush has done though. Who are they? What world are they living in? I suppose they could have looked at the same facts Zakaria did and decided that it washed in the end, but seriously. I am still incredibly surprised that anyone would ever publicly support this man any more. I bet it is all those people who were in Jesus Camp.

In a complete non sequitur, I'm also incredibly excited for Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist. I think I may be developing a slight crush on Michael Cera, but it is hard to tell for sure. I'm also pretty psyched about Eagle Eye, because I definitely have a crush on Shia LaBeouf.