The New Nixon?

George Bush's approval ratings are the lowest for any president (since polling taken) in his sixth year of the presidency excepting Richard Milhous Nixon. This is nothing for the White House to be celebrating as Nixon's sixth year would see him resign in order to avoid being effectively removed from the Oval Office. His state of disunion last week painted a president on the ropes, throwing out one last trick up his sleeve (how soon did it take him to throw out 9/11? seven minutes, that's how short) and then run out of steam. "This nation is addicted to oil" and then the very next day comfort Big Oil by stating that his speech shouldn't be taken seriously. A minute and a half was dedicated to the victims of Katrina, the greatest single event that killed more people in this country (to my knowledge), even more than Pearl Harbor, more than 9/11 and more than any other natural disaster, save the Florida vote of 2000. How many more people need to realize that the president pays lip service and then takes takes takes? Not too much uproar about his 2007 budget that is forcing Congress to raise the ceiling on the nation's debt (yep, $8.11 trillion, estimated), giving the military $439 billion, failing to include Afghanistan and Iraq, slashing federal education dollars and programs and a $56 billion cut to Medicare and the people who were already screwed by Congress's drug program. All of this under the guise of "compassionate conservatism" which to be sounds more like "bait-and-switch" fascism. For the love of God, at least Hitler provided general services such as education, housing and retirement services to his people. Bush has the propaganda and the build-up of the military; the only thing he's lacking is a concern for the people he's in charge of.

Would love to know the private spat between McCain and Obama.

Think good thoughts for Lefty Brown as his 'blog took a dump over the weekend.

Check out Steve's blog. He's actually remembered how to type and as usual, he's witty as hell.

Caught McCoy Tyner again this last weekend. His quintet consisted of Eric Harland on drums, Charnett Moffett on bass, Ravi Coltrane on tenor and Bobby Hutcherson on vibes. Either Tyner was tired at the end of this two-week stint or I'm seeing the decline of one of jazz's greatest pianists. The last two years, I've seen a tired and weary Tyner with a lineup that smoked. Coltrane was light and passive (any other cocky horn player would literally blow him off the stage) but a Hutcherson on fire and a rhyhtm section that was worth the entire price of admission. Imagine a bass solo with bow that sounds like Van Halen pull-off riffing; intense. Sold-out crowd and I had to sit in the very back which made for some sound issues. That, and the band only played sixty-five minutes and I was overall torn over the performance. Legendary jazzmen, hit and miss show. Looking to catch the Derek Trucks Band twice this weekend and over my Spring Break, the Christian McBride band. Derek's band is possibly the most amazing band out there; I experience nirvana nearly every time I see them. Can "legendary" be used to describe a band that's only been playing together for seven years and the leader isn't even thirty? I can. McBride and his band also smoke; I caught them last year and remember being dazzled with the straight-ahead neoclassical hard bop that rocked.

On a personal note, my wife and I continue to be amazed at the development of my son and his ability to learn new words. Dog, cat, meow, moon, "moo", cow, mama, dadda, elmo, ooh-ooh-ooh (monkey sounds), oh-uh!, more, car, giraffe, that, no, bye-bye, nana and a variant of grandpa fly out of my son's mouth at will. I thought I heard BRUUUUCCCCEEEEEE! but I think I may have been projecting...