I had a problem pulling the video off my Tivo, that problem being that I inadvertently erased it. Duh! So I don’t have the video of Pres. Bush’s press conference this morning as I hoped. I’m sure I’ll be able to get it later from the Charlie Gibson newscast because the response came after question, or rather a series of questions, came from Martha “I look like someone told me my dog just died” Raddatz on ABC.
Here’s the exchange:

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President.
And I’d like to switch to Afghanistan.
There was another attempt on President Karzai’s life. There are operations going on there right now. Is the strategy succeeding? Are we winning in Afghanistan?
BUSH: Yes, I think we’re making progress in Afghanistan. But there’s a very resilient enemy that obviously wants to kill people that stand in the way of their re-imposition of a state that is — which vision is incredibly dark.
I mean, it’s very important for the American people to remember what life was like in Afghanistan prior to the liberation of the country. We had a government in place that abused people’s human rights, they didn’t believe in women’s rights, they didn’t let little girls go to school and they provided safe haven to al-Qaida.
In the liberation of this country, we’ve achieved some very important strategic objectives: denying al-Qaida safe haven for which to plot and plan attacks and replacing this repressive group with a — you know, a young democracy.
And it’s difficult in Afghanistan.
I mean, if you know the history of the country, you understand it’s hard to go from the kind of society in which they had been living to one in which people are now responsible for their own behavior.
But I’m pleased with a lot of things. One, I’m pleased with the number of roads that have been built. I’m pleased with the number of schools that have opened up. I’m pleased that a lot of girls — young girls are going to school. I’m pleased health clinics are now being distributed around the country.
I’m pleased with the Afghan army that when they’re in the fight they’re good.
You know, I wish we completely eliminated the radicals who kill innocent people to achieve objectives, but that hasn’t happened yet. And so I think it’s very much in our interest to continue helping the young democracy, and we will.

After the president threatened to cut off her mic, she got this off:

QUESTION: A couple of weeks ago you said that in Iraq, in 2006, you said we were winning and the strategy was working…
BUSH: Yes.
QUESTION: … to keep up troop morale. How can we believe that you’re not doing the same thing here?
BUSH: You tried to ask me that question before as a repeat.
Look, I said…
(CROSSTALK)
BUSH: Can I finish please?
The question you asked me before, at the exclusive I gave you on the ranch, was, You said that we were winning in the past.
I also said that there was tough fighting. Make sure you put the comments in place.
So what I’m going to tell you now is we’re making progress in Afghanistan, but there’s tough fighting. I’m under no illusions that this isn’t tough. I know full well we’re dealing with a determined enemy.
I believe it’s in our interests that we defeat that enemy.
And so, yeah, we’re making progress. But it’s also a tough battle.
We’re facing people who are willing to strap bombs on themselves and walk into places where the innocent dwell or the innocent shop and kill them.
Is there an interest to confront these people now, whether it be in Afghanistan or Iraq or Europe or anywhere else? And the answer is absolutely it’s in our interests.
And the notion that somehow we can let these people just. kind of. have their way or, you know, just don’t stir them up, is naive or disingenuous, and it’s not in our nation’s interest.
We are in a global struggle against thugs and killers. And the United States of America has got to continue to take the lead.
And so in Afghanistan, yes, we’re making progress.
Does that mean, you know, that it’s over? No, it doesn’t mean it’s over. We’re in a long struggle, as I’ve told you many a time, against these jihadists.
You defeat them ultimately by the advance of democracy.
See, this is an ideological struggle. These aren’t isolated law enforcement moments.

He gets it. They don’t.

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It’s official: twenty-five years after the beginning of the so-called self-esteem (read self-congratulation for no reason) movement, we’ve produced a generation of spoiled, self-absorbed, materialistic brats.

“All the effort to boost children’s self-esteem may have backfired and produced a generation of college students who are more narcissistic than their Generation X predecessors, according to a new study led by a San Diego State University psychologist.

And the internet, with all its MySpace.com and YouTube braggadocio, is letting that self-regard blossom even more, said the analysis, titled “Egos Inflating Over Time.”

In the study, released this week, researchers warn that a rising ego rush could bring personal and social problems for the Millennial Generation, also called Generation Y. People with an inflated sense of self tend to have less interest in emotionally intimate bonds and can lash out when rejected or insulted.”

In addition, as it turns out, they know that they are so fabulous that they whole world needs to see them, hear them and experience their fabulousness in all its glory, and thanks to YouTube and similar sites, they can. Consider this ABC News story, “Fame Could Be a Few Clicks Away, but Is the Cost Too High?:

“To become famous, you used to have to shoot for the stars — but not anymore. Now all you need to shoot are a couple of naughty photos or a random act of violence, post them on the Internet, and 80,000 hits later, you’ve got… fame.”

Stop the presses. There’s a real news bulletin. Had I forgotten the near-solipsicm of many young people from their constant bleating “But I wasn’t born yet!” when confronted with their ignorance about even recent history, American Idol bad girl, the pride of Point Pleasant, New Jersey, Antonella Barba would be just the reality check I needed to remind me. One of her friends described her as “the least slutty person I know.” We thought that was a ringing endorsement, until we found out that her other friends were Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan. Not really, but is she kidding? Isn’t that like saying: Bill Clinton is the least dishonest guy I know,” as opposed to “Bill Clinton is incapable of lying. He is the most honest man I know?” Translation: all my friends dress like whores and pose for photos half-naked and sitting on the toilet. And that’s before anyone breaks out the booze. Antonella has standards!

And just a suggestion for the city fathers of Point Pleasant, NJ: if it is true, as one of your citizens said in AP story about your town that “”[a]t least half the people in this town have pictures of their friends on the toilet,” you may want to conduct some sort of public information campaign to convince them to dummy up about this fact. Otherwise, change the signs that greet visitors to Point Pleasant: “Welcome to Point Pleasant. We Pee Proudly and It Shows (to the entire planet).”

Then there’s the inevitable question in these situations: What about the parents, Vincenzo and Valerie Barba? When they look at the photos of their little darling cavorting in the pools at the WW II Memorial, or sitting on the can, the Baby Boomer arrested development cases, are no doubt bursting with pride.

When I see these photos, I have another feeling, something between the nausea that precedes projectile vomiting and the need to repress the impulse to find a 2 x 4 to use to whack her up side her empty head. A note to the vapid (tell the person who read this post to you to look it up for you in the dictionary)Miss Barba: if you want to shake your boobs and parade your nipples around to get attention, is it too much to ask for you to do so after a few too many tequila shots in Cancun on spring break? Must you use the World War II Memorial as the backdrop for your stroll down Tramp Street? Forget about the vaccine for HPV. Is there one for stupidity yet?

Your friend’s assessment notwithstanding, you look like a slut in these photos and you can’t sing. I know that some are suggesting that it was the former fact that saved your untalented rear end from the fate deserved for the latter. If that’s true, it’s a sad commentary that may explain your confused morals, but I don’t care. Your lack of respect for the veterans of World War II who made it possible for you to whore it up for cameras her in America is revolting. Please get off the stage. NOW.

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From “just another reason to be ashamed to be a baby boomer” file: Arrested development case Walter Klein and his “girlfriend” Susan Joncha. Is it just me, or does it seem ridiculous for anyone over 50 to be a “girlfriend” or a “boyfriend?” If you haven’t read about these two mopes and their Christmas tug-of-war over two adopted Chinese girls, ages 2 and 6, check out today’s Chicago Sun-Times.

We first read about Klein and Joncha in last Sunday’s Sun-Times. There we learned the following facts:

• They started dating in 1992.
• In 2001 they moved to Tucson (another red flag).
• They went to China together, picked up the first child, and returned to Tucson to resume shacking up.
• In 2005, they went back for a second helping of Chinese (you know what they say about Chinese and getting hungry an hour later), and returned to Chicago.
• They broke up just before Christmas 2005.

Walter Klein, 56, claims he is the girls’ “father,” and is therefore entitled to visit them on Christmas. That’s what the lawsuit was all about. Yesterday Mr. Klein was confronted with reality in the form of Judge Leida Santiago’s verdict, wisely denying him any visitation.

Most of you are probably wondering why these two didn’t just get married, as quaint as they may sound to hipsters like them. Here’s the answer, as reported in the Sun-Times. “Klein was married once before and did not like it, he said.” Which part don’t you like, Mr. Klein? The responsibility? The commitment? You seem to like the benefits of having a wife and family, but that other stuff, …not so much. “I want to see my kids. Whaaa! Whaaa! Whaaa!,” you whine. My answer to you is grow up. We’re trying to have a civilization here, and marriage is the glue that holds it together. If you want to make a mockery of the fundamental building block of our society, you can just sit home alone on Christmas sucking on a frozen Swanson’s turkey dinner for all I care. If you love your “children,” you’d want them to have the best, which includes married parents, but I have a feeling that this is all about you, no?

As for the “girlfriend,” Lady, what the !@#$*& were you thinking? “Dating,” as in shacking up, for 13 years? Adopting kids with a guy who was never going to do the right thing for you and for them? You say he was “just a guy [you] dated.” Thank God that the Chinese government is restricting adoptions to prevent dumb bunnies like you from using children as props to play house with guys you “date.” Those commies have more sense than either you or your narcissistic “boyfriend.” Isn’t it great to know that this dingbat is a teacher? There’s a fine example for young people.

Thanks, Judge Leida Santiago, for a common sense ruling.

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