Last night I asked someone in the United States whether Bush was electable, as having failed on every issue he is now depending on the pseudo-issue of being tough on terrorism. On the one hand, he is in a nice position on it – if there are terrorist attacks in the United States, everyone rallies behind their President in times of trouble. And if there are no attacks, Look! No attacks! Success! On the other hand, though, he must prove sell the impression that he will be more successful in that fight than another candidate.

This morning, I voiced the hope to someone else that if that issue ever fails him, his candidacy will crumble collapse like a house of cards. (It was very early in the morning, and a better metaphor did not occur to me.)

And also this morning, a man named Dick Clarke who has been around forever (but has more realistic hair than the other Dick Clark that came to mind) was all over the news. All over Blogdex, anyway. And the Republican/Bushite attacks on him are all about character, not content, and spurious. And Rumsfeld is, as of this moment, top story on CNN doing his “twin cobra hands of death” thing and saying, even if they had caught Bin Laden before 9/11, it wouldn’t have changed anything, which is first of all backpedaling and second of all has little to do with anything.

So, will this change anything? Or are voters really, really fucking stupid?

Also, about the terrorist attack in Spain allegedly affecting the outcome of the elections there, has it been reported in the American media that support for Spain’s involvement in the Iraq “war” hovered around 10% the whole time, and that the conservative government lied about the Madrid attacks, blaming it on the Basques when they knew otherwise because they feared it would get them voted out of office if it came out, and when it finally did come out prior to the election, the fact that they had lied got them voted out? Because people were already mad at them for lying about a tanker catastrophe earlier? Or was it totally spun as giving in to the terrorists? Who were not Iraqis?

Where’d RileyDog go?

Writing down a date just now, today’s, I look at my watch and notice it’s three days slow.

And when I come to the year, I’m thinking, “1989? No, later than that… 1994? Something with a 4…”.

For obvious reasons, I would never ever p*st anything ab*ut w*rk here, because it w*uld require the use of t** many 4st3r15k5.

S0, 54y, w3r3 1 3v3R 2 4tt3nd 4n 1nt3rn4ti0n4L c0nf3r*nc3 on n4rc0t1x 4nD h3R3 50m3th1nG L1k3 +H3 f0LL0w1nG, 1 w0uLdn+ B 4BL3 T0 bL0g 1+:

C*nf3r3nc3 PR351d3nT: Teh h0n*ur4bL3 D3L3g4+3 fr0m teh R3p*bl1C 0F Blah-blah h45 teh fl00R.

D3L3g4t3: 1 Th4nk t3h pr351d3N+ 4 teh fl00R. 1 j*5+ W4Nt3D 2 r3M1Nd t3h 0Th3R d3L3g4t35 tH4+ W3’R3 53rv1nG Dr1nK5 4fT3R teh M33t1nG.

& tH3y w3r3. M05tly w1ne. 1 h4d 0r4ng3 ju1c3, b3(4us3 1 w45 SL33py 4Lr34dY.

4L50, teh sm0k1nG 4R34 w45 P4(k3D.

1. Get lost three times on way to car dealer, who has blades, unlike every gas station in 20-mile radius.

2. Park.
3. When spare parts man asks what year the car is (you were proud you remembered the make) say, “eh, not sure.” In response to funny look: “It’s my wife’s car.”
4. “Where’s it parked?” he asks. Point it out. Notice you’ve parked wrong, and in an absurd place, as if you were on drugs. You’re not. That’s the problem: you’re not on drugs. It’s seven in the morning and no coffee yet.
5. He changes blades. Pay and leave.
6. Drink coffee.
7. Blog.
8. Walk kid to school.
9. Go into town with wife, to shop for clothes and Japanese food and maybe look at a hotel or two for upcoming visitors. If there is time. And it’s not raining too hard.