Attacks on the Clinton Legacy

It first started with ABC airing the historically false "Path to 9/11." Then when Bill Clinton went onto FOX News to promote his global inititive, many right-wingers decided to label Clinton as crazed when he lashed out at the FOX pundit (see here, video linked here as well: http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2006/09/the_clinton_is_.html).

Yet the misleadings has not only hit the current presidency, but now Republicans and right-wing pundits are now trying to change the history of the Clinton presidency. It is said that the victorious control history, but that should have been gone ages ago. No politician, either Democrat or Republican, should control the world of the past.

The problem extends beyond the scope of history. There was one commentator (I forget who) suggested that too many Democrats are living in the past, where they were the majority party in Congress. In my opinion, Republicans are also living in the past.
For the entire Bush presidency, minus six months where Democrats controlled the Senate, Republicans have controlled both Legislative and Executive branches of government. Any problems caused by their governing is not the responsibility of the Democrats. Yet, Republicans aren't defending their actions, but always attacking the relativly powerless Democrats, mostly in the form of straw-man arguements.
They are living in the past that they were the minority party, that they had the charge of showing problems of the governing party. Now that they are the governing party, they still point to Democrats as though they are still the problem.
Bill Clinton admitted that he had failed in the FOX News interview. Yet, few Republicans, much less Bush himself, will admit such a failure now. And rather then actually defend their own position, they attack those not in power.
If Republicans are to save any face in these mid-term elections that are comming up, they have to take their own responsibility.

Before you go(and when I say you, I likely mean me, since no one seems to read this blog) see this video:



(here if you dont' see it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoNpcFR7e64 )

World's Worst in Videogames: Zombies Rising Edition

Capcom has done some good these past few years. After giving up on repeat after repeat of Street Fighter and doing a magnificent rehaul of Resident Evil in the form of Resident Evil 4, they decided to come out with a great game for the X-Box 360, Dead Rising.
Dead Rising has its problems, notably the save system. But one thing which shouldn't have even made it into the final version was a problem with the text for standard-definition televisions.
Earlier, Capcom promised a patch to fix the text problem. But more recently, they said that the problem would be too much to fix, so they're leaving the game as is (story: http://planetxbox360.com/index.php/articledetails/show/421).
I find it bad that console games are starting to emulate the worst part of PC games: bugs that shouldn't have been in the final package. We need to have a working game out of the box, without the need to patch. But what Capcom has done is worse, that they left a huge bug in the game, and won't patch it.
For that, Capcom gets the Worst in Videogames "award."

9/11 Memories

Today, both CNN, though its online video service, and MSNBC showed the then-live coverage of 9/11, as it happened. I have been watching some of it, and it brings back plenty of memories and emotions.

I remember it was a Tuesday. It was the second day of my trip with my dad to Disneyworld. After a ride or two, we went down Space Mountain. Being in early September, Disneyworld was actually far from being crowded as it would be in August. There was actually virtually no lines for most of the rides or attractions.
After we got down Space Mountain, my dad decided to call home, where my mom would just be getting up. That was when he first heard of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center. At the time, I don't think neither one of us knew the extent of the problem. I know I dismissed it as not being very serious. It was either a misunderstanding on my part, or some automatic means of denial. Unfortunatly, more likely the former.
Me and my dad continued though the Futureworld portion of the Magic Kingdom. Once we got through the last attraction, the 360 degree film featuring a time traveling story, that is when we first heard of the evacuation order for everyone to go back to their hotels. Some other people had heard the news as well, as some rumors were spreading that a plane was heading for Florida.

Once we got back to the resort, we turned on the news. It wasn't much of a choice, as any channel with a news department only had coverage of 9/11. Even the large screen in the ala-cart dining area only had the news on. We stayed in the room, partly to stay informed, partly because we couldn't do much else. We only exited the room to retrieve drinks or to eat, while I had a break to play in the (expensive) arcade.

Many remember it as a day of tragedy; one which thousands were killed and our naievite about security was shattered. It showed how cruel human beings can be. One thing that was forgotten, for the better, was how some Palestinians (I hope not many), who were in the middle of a major conflict with Isreal at the time, celebrated the 9/11 attacks. Even though they considered us our enemy for siding with Isreal, I find it sad that anyone would celebrate another's death, much less a huge tragedy like 9/11.

But then there was the best of humanity. And not only of the police and firefighters that came along, but of civilians as well. Peter Jennings spent over straight 60 hours on the air, just to bring us the news, and he was only an example of what news networks did in wake of 9/11. In Washington DC, there was no Democrat or Republican, but Americans. But just as importantly, many other people offering any kind of help they can do. Some tried to help in the digging for survivors, while others helped those who had escaped the chaos. When the call for blood came out, people around the country flooded blood donation banks. It just wasn't a day where the terrorists came out, it was a day which the heroes came out in every one of us.

9/11 "Documentary" and Bush's "Solution"

First on the list, ABC is set to show a feature film, "The Path to 9/11." The problem with the film, it is very inaccurate in portraying Clinton's faults leading up to 9/11 (story: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14718803/)

. The film portrays that Bill Clinton was distracted by the Monica Lowinski scandel to deal with terrorist and had operatives close to Bin Ladin when operations were cancelled, both which aren't true. Simply, there are plenty of factual errors, appearently mostly to demonize Clinton.
Some have called to edit out the controversial parts or cancel the film airing. I believe that delaying the airing to reshoot the inaccuracies would probably be the best solution. The film has a good idea, as it would show the successes and failings of all involved, and in non-complicated and thick book form. I don't mind some fictional portrayals of events, just as long as it doesn't give people the wrong impression, as the current version does.
It also shows how a good idea can be ruined. Review copies were passed out to conservative pundits, all the while ABC is claiming that it is still being edited. It is too appearent that either the director or the producer-and I hope it isn't both-was out with a political axe to grind. He or she needs to go for any re-edits or reshoots.

Then there's Bush in his latest series of speeches. After having problems in court over military tribunals for Guantanamo detanees, backlash over secret prisons and "alternative techniques" for interrogations, Bush has decided the best solution is to make all those...legal.
Yup, the same solution that was proposed for the NSA wiretap program, rather then make a real solution that wouldn't compromise our freedoms and would be best to fight the war on terrorists, instead Bush would just rather have everything become legal.
It is my hope that Republicans reject this proposal. It would not only show that they have some backbone, but would also show people that they won't listen to Bush on everything.

World's Worst in Videogames: Circuit City Edition

Another retailer comes into the Worlds Worst lot, and this time it's Circuit City.
With 360's becoming less rare, more people are out to buy one. But this Circuit City that Kotaku found decided to rip people off. For about $30, Circuit City will make your X-Box 360 backwards compatable, as they claim (with an asterix) with all original X-Box games. (story: http://kotaku.com/gaming/top/sleazy-circuit-city-ripping-off-xbox-360-customers-198065.php)

This, in my opinion, is worse then what Best Buy did at the 360 launch. Its one thing to have people come into the store with no 360's, where the customer doesn't pay anything. But here, Circuit City is not only making a false promise, but doing something that you would get with the non-core 360 anyway; and I see no way of making the core 360 backwards compatable. Making empty promises for pure profit is not a way to run a business.