Tax Cuts, TV Guy and More
Krikor Daglian
February 10, 2001
Much of the talk this week is with Bush's plans to offer up and push through his tax cut. Congressman Zell Miller has become one of the Democrats who have joined the Republicans in pushing for Bush's plan. Miller even pulled out one of the GOP's trump cards, saying that "Right now, our taxes have never been higher. Right now, our surplus has never been greater. To me, it's just common sense you deal with the first by using the second," Miller told reporters. "Remember that old Elvis Presley song, 'Return to Sender?' That's what we want to do right now."
In other words, Miller is saying that taxpayers paid too much tax in the last few years, resulting in a surplus, and that they should get the extra money back. But, if this surplus is money that people deserve to get back because they were "overcharged" for their taxes, should people have paid more money to the government back when GOP administrations were producing huge deficits? Were the people undercharged then? It's just rhetoric.
I can't decide which are worse: the original Toyota "TV Guy" commercials, or the more recent "TV Guy" funeral commercials.
Few people, including myself, expected that Ariel Sharon would now be Prime Minister of Israel. While I can perhaps understand the desire for a harder stand by Sharon (Israel's P.M. choices in the last three decades seem to have bounced between hard liners/hawks and compromisers/doves with every election), it mystifies me that people can proudly stand behind this man. After all, he's the one, by "bravely" walking up to the Temple Mount surrounded by bodyguards, who sparked off the violence that has engulfed the West Bank since last summer.
His past has other notorious and perhaps inauspicious moments. As a military commander in the 50's, his "antiterrorist" squad slaughtered 69 Arab villagers (including many women and children) in a reprisal raid for the killings of three Israeli citizens. He also had to resign as defense minister for massacres in the villages of Sabra and Shatila refugee camps during Israel's occupation of Lebanon in the early Eighties. He is at least partially responsible for Israel's almost 20 year occupation of southern Lebanon, and its expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
In the few days he's been in charge, he hasn't done much to bolster my faith that the situation in Israel will be resolved fairly and peacefully. After calling for peace, he then claimed all of Jerusalem for Israel. It seems that things between the Israelis and Palestinians are only going to get worse, as settlements proliferate at greater pace, and Sharon plays the hard line. But then, Yitzhak Rabin was also a warrior who had fought the Arabs tooth and nail, and he ended up beginning the peace process with the Palestinians. Sometimes, it takes a hard-liner (another example: Reagan with the Soviets) to bring a peace deal the public trusts. I'm less confident that Sharon has this in mind - if not, it will be some more very rocky years for the region.
Switching gears, am I the only one who's become very dissatisfied with Temptation Island? Watching the previews and initial episode, it seemed like it there would be some real steamy shenanigans before too long. Each week has been a frustrating disappointment, as nothing ever happens. What have we seen so far? A girl licking a shooter off of a guy's body, two people kissing, a guy doing a half naked strip, and a guy rubbing a girls leg. And that's about it. I've concluded that Fox has basically no good material, and they have to stretch what they have as much as possible. Witness the previews: did anyone, seeing Billy burst into the single girls house in a rage of revenge after seeing his girlfriend licking another guy, not expect the following weeks episode to chronicle the debauch goings-ons he engaged in? But next week, nothing. I'll still watch though
Survivor 2 week three just aired last night. I didn't watch last years', but now I'm hooked, and apparently I'm not the only one. The net is now littered with sites, games and gadgets aimed at the person who just can't get enough Survivor. A little while before the Super Bowl, I did a search on Yahoo for Survivor, and received 54 sites dedicated to Survivor 2 or Survivor 2 contestants. This is before show had begun to air, mind you. In an attempt to leave no ground un-gambled, various fantasy games have been created which let you use your deductive reasoning (or luck) to pick who will survive, who will get kicked off first, who will be the most devious, and other important questions. Message boards and chat rooms are filled with gossip, speculation, and affectionate and non-affectionate statements about the various survivors. CBS offers a site with episode summaries, video clips and statements by the Survivors, and lets you sign up for an e-mail newsletter about the show. There are, of course, the many unofficial websites dedicated to various participants, each with the same limited gallery of the pictures CBS has released (some of the snazzier ones had video captures). My favorite web outgrowth, however, is the "My Yahoo" Survivor Watch module. Now, right next to your portfolio, e-mail and horoscope, you can check on the status of Survivor II, who's off, who's in the news, who's being interviewed on the Early Show.
See ya all next week (I'll try!)
