01-23-2001

So much for his insistence that he wants to mend the rifts between party lines. President "If I Only Had A Brain" Bush has shown his true colors. Apparently the fact that thousands and thousands of women around the world will lose access to the only affordable health care they might have doesn't matter a bit to him. He's got his own agenda, and it's very anti-choice. I suppose the only positive here is that this blatant act means he's at least willing to take a stand on something. If his first action while in office is any indication of how things will progress for the next four years, the man who replaces him will have an incredible amount of damage to clean up. Our only consolation, I suppose, is that he'll only have four years, and if we're incredibly lucky, there'll be an increase in the number of Democrats come 2002 in retaliation. I have to believe that the American public can't possibly be so stupid as to elect him to another term. Of course, I've been wrong before, but hell, I've got to have at least *some* optimism to cling to, right?

And speaking of stupidity, I caved in to my mindless curiosity and watched Temptation Island. I suppose I could lie and say that it was simply because I was tired and there was nothing else on, but the truth is that I actually checked to see what time it was on, and deliberately turned on the TV for the express purpose of watching this show and no other.

The fact that the commercials before and during were all for things like gun and fishing shows and monster truck rallies should have clued me in immediately as to what sort of audience they were aiming for. Hint - this show is *not* marketed to the testosterone deprived. The second fact that should have clued me in was the fact that all the women on the show apparently are required to wear bikinis, and skimpy ones at that.

So I'll freely admit to stupidity on my part for watching it. But I really have to wonder about the even more glaring stupidity of the four couples who volunteered to be on it in the first place. They agree to go to an island and surround themselves with singles whose only purpose there is to make them be unfaithful. That in itself indicates a lapse of good judgment, but I can forgive them that much because hey, it was a free vacation and the location seemed beautiful. But the sheer stupidity kicked in when you see them kissing the singles, fondling the singles, and generally doing all sorts of things guaranteed to make their respective partners want to either find the nearest knife and connect blade to genitals, or else curl up in a corner, weeping uncontrollably, because they were being filmed. The whole time! And they knew it!

I mean, come on. Regardless of how little you may value your relationship, and how willing you may be to test that whole monogamy thing, most people have the brains to realize that discretion needs to come into play at *some* point. Or, once again, am I simply giving too much credit here?