The Weekly Rewind: Green St Paddy's Day Edition

It’s Friday, St. Patrick’s Day.

In honor of that, we present to you the Official TBWA St. Patrick’s Day Weekly Rewind.

What makes it the Official St Patrick’s Day version?

It’s green (and by green I mean the lettering is green, not that it’s biodegradable)

Here we go:

Applaud: to ever-dropping polling numbers. His performance ratings are in the toilet, and now, support for his monst—, sorry, his ‘pet’, project of Iraq is falling faster than… well… his approval numbers.

Heckle: to “President” Bush. As if anyone needs a reason anymore. But we at TBWA will continue to say just on general principles alone.

Applaud: to great, late-night political snarks. This one comes from David Letterman: “Everybody excited about March Madness… the big NCAA tournament? Here's how it works: It starts at 65, then 64, then 32, then 16. It's just like Bush's approval rating.” [Rimshot!]

Heckle: to Carla Martin for being dumb as a box of rocks. Harsh words, yes. But what else would you call coaching witnesses after being told not to coach witnesses and then jeopardizing the US case for the only person we can hold accountable for 9/11? Granted, it may have been an innocent faux-paus but it again demonstrates the ineptitude that seems to permeate all levels in Washington and all we can say to her is ‘duhhhhh’

Applaud: to General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Earlier this week, Dubya suggested that Iran was involved in making some of the roadside bombs that are being used in Iraq. General Pace says that statement was wrong and there is no evidence of that. Anytime someone in the administration goes against what King George says, they’re gonna get an applaud on this site. I am fairly certain though that that will not happen often.

Heckle: to all (but 3) of the Republicans in the Senate for passing a bill that would increase the debt of the US to almost $9 trillion… you saw that right; trillion. TRillion, with a ‘TR’… as in TRavesty… or TRouble… or TReachery…

Applaud: to ALL the Democrats (yes, every single one of them), 3 Republicans and 1 Independent who voted against the bill that would increase the country's debt... nice show of unity there everyone! Keep it up!

Heckle: to Ann Coulter. Granted, just on general principles alone would work for this ball-busting, sorry-excuse-for-a-human-being, but this week we have a specific reason. She says the US should invade China and Iran immediately. With what, you? (Though the image of her coming at you would probably make anyone crawl-up into the fetal position and cry…)

Applaud: to White House Press Corp icon Helen Thomas. She has a book coming out June 20th entitled: “Watchdogs of Democracy? The Waning Washington Press Corps and How It Has Failed the Public”. Knowing her it’s gonna be great, but don’t take my word for it, here’s an excerpt from this weeks edition of The Nation.

Applaud: to Daily Kos founder Markos Zuniga and MyDD founder Jerome Armstrong for their book “Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics” I highly recommend it. Wanna read en excerpt? Here ya go.

Heckle: to even more worthless, and feeble, spin-speeches from Commander Cuckoo Bananas. This week he’s tried to put a positive spin on Iraq (not gonna happen) and on his disastrous (he calls it “terrific”) Medicare program. Give it up already Dubya… more and more people (and getting higher by the minute) do not believe a damn word you say.

Applaud: to Jessica Simpson (did I just write that?) for balking at attending a GOP Fundraiser. Mindless bimbo act or not… that was a thing of beauty.

Applaud: to Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) for finally showing some Democrat backbone and taking a step forward. This past week the Senator called for a censuring of President Bush over the domestic spying issues. Republicans, of course, jumped all over this as a publicity stunt, but whatever Feingold's motive, isn't it about time that someone in congress said what the American public is thinking. Way to go Russ! Now if all Democrat’s could get on the same damn page we’d be in business.

Heckle: to Dubya’s choice to replace disaster-in-a-dress Gale Norton. He’s tapped Idaho Gov. Dirk Kempthorne as his choice to be the new Secretary of the Interior. Let’s review Dirk’s career…he fought to open national forests to logging, mining, and oil and gas drilling and also worked to weaken water safety and endangered species laws. Yeah, he fits into the Bush-Crony model perfectly; I mean… who needs safe drinking water anyway? (It’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written word)

Applaud: to Republican in-fighting and GOP ‘irritation’ with President Bush. What more can be said? The GOP fighting amongst themselves can only help the Democrats in the long run; and as long as Bush continues to do things for himself and ignore the party, this little party-spat will continue well into the mid-terms… high-fives all around!

Heckle: to Katherine “2000 election? What 2000 election?” Harris (R-FL). She is staying in the Florida Senate race even though she is embroiled in an ethics case amid questions about her ties to a defense contractor who has been implicated in Washington influence-buying. Due to that, and because her campaign is flailing like a fish out of water, she announced earlier this week that she is contributing $10 million of her own money to help with her campaign. The best way to describe this: ‘Stupid is as stupid does’

Applaud: to the death of a Tyrant. Earlier this week, former Yugoslavian 'Dictator' Slobodan Milosevic was found dead in his cell at The Hague. On trial for crimes against humanity from the Kosovo war and charges of genocide in Bosnia, his trial may have not concluded and reached a verdict, but many people feel, that with his death, justice has finally been served.

Heckle: to the first-ever meeting of the Iraqi parliament earlier this week. Why a heckle? It lasted for a total of 30 minutes (though that would match Bush’s attention span) with the members getting sworn in (barely) and nothing else getting accomplished. Way to go.

Applaud: to Operation Swarmer. Here’s to hoping it actually accomplishes something…

Applaud: to news we already had a feeling was true, but of which we now have validation of. The GAO has completed an audit on government contracts for Katrina relief. Wanna know the "surprise?" (again, it's so hard to express sarcasm in the written word)... the goverment wasted millions of dollars in its awarding of Post-Katrina contracts. (I’m shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!)

That’s all I have this week. Have a safe and Happy St. Patrick's Day and a good weekend. What are you applauding and heckling this week?