Back on the ancient library topic... Yes, my local library does appreciate
the books, even the controversial anti-Dubya ones, but they are so slow
about processing them that any donations made now won't make it to the
shelves before the election renders the issue moot. Ergo...

If anyone around here needs some intellectual ammo (as if this election was
being addressed on intellectual grounds), and if there is a mutually
convenient opportunity, probably during my weekly visits to Tokyo, then I
have some to loan. Also contingent on a couple of local friends who might
not be satiated yet. My own appetite is only getting sharper as I read.
Also, I confess these are not the best ones, but the others are already on
loan or at the library.

Jim Hightower's "Let's Stop Beating Around the Bush" is fresh and amusing.
I'd hoped he'd reveal more of what went weird in Texas, but it's pretty
light. Molly Ivan's "Bushwhacked" is more substantive and less amusing, but
I felt it was slightly dated already. Corn's "The Lies of George W Bush"
(updated) is moderately heavy, but not as strong as I'd expected. Mark
Crispin MIller's new "Cruel and Unusual" was rather disappointing. I think
he's been diverted by too many theatrical presentations of the material.
Vidal's "Dreaming War" is moderately interesting. I can't really figure out
why I bought "The I Hate George W. Bush Reader". Some of the contributions
are pretty good, but the quality is uneven (as should be expected from a
collection of essays).

Not currently available, but recommended are "House of Bush, House of Saud",
"Against All Enemies", "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy", and Dean's "Worse
than Watergate". Another book on BushCo and the Saudis is supposed to appear
in the stores this weekend. I get most of this stuff at Kinokuniya, and
though I don't like the bookstore much, they do have a good selection of
political stuff. I'd estimate about 80% of the titles are anti-Dubya (though
among the newer titles it's probably around 65%). Very little neutral stuff.
It seems everyone has an axe to grind.

On the other ancient topic of "Fahrenheit 9/11", my gradually considered
opinion is that it's not very relevant to Japanese people, because it
requires too much detailed and sometimes trivial background information
about America. Overall, I now regard the movie as good, but not as strong as
"Bowling for Columbine". However, it's quite difficult to compare them
meaningfully. The nature of the approach of "Fahrenheit 9/11" gave Michael
Moore less room to maneuver, so some people might well feel he did better
work with the more constrained resources. His other movies have involved
much more footage of his own creation, while this latest movie was drawing
heavily on archival footage, and piecing together lucky bits. I'm still
looking forward to the DVD release next month, which is supposed to include
another 100 minutes of stuff he couldn't fit in--almost as long as the
original movie. Does anyone know if the local release will be the same, or
later?

One new (but minor) topic: I think the vigor of the Dubya discussions here
is yet another proof of Dubya's lies. In this particular example, the
specific lie was his claim to be "a uniter, not a divider".