Dumb News of the Day

Early this morning on the local news update during the Today Show, I heard a teaser for a later newscast about some state that was considering a move to legalize shooting stray and/or feral cats. They didn't mention the name of the state in the teaser, of course, and though I was only partially awake when I heard the blurb, I naturally started entertaining ideas of which state would stoop so low. Montana? Wyoming? Idaho? Alaska?? I was picturing some lightly poplulated, wild-west-mentality place, with high per-capita gun ownership, etc.... Later on when I heard the actual story, well, you coulda knocked me over with a feather. The state in question is: Wisconsin. Now, I'm not technically from WI, but growing up 20 miles south of the state line, I kinda considered myself a border child, and felt it was my prerogative to ally myself with either place. Since my county, and those surrounding mine, were blatantly conservative (my hometown newspaper was the Daily Republican), I took comfort in what I thought was a fairly progressive, thoughtful, and decidedly more liberal wisdom across the border. Well. I haven't lived there in many years, so perhaps things have changed a bit. Everyplace seems to be reverting to redneck ethics lately...why the heck not Wisconsin, eh? Let's shoot come cats!

Another dumb thing: Bush's Playlist. A couple of thankfully brief articles in the NYTimes brought news of W's iPod playlist, cuz, you know, we're all desperate to see what our favorite celebrities are listening to. Apparently there's a fair amount of George Jones and Alan Jackson, no surprise, and "My Sharona." I worry that he will lapse into a chorus during one of his brilliant speeches. On the other hand, maybe that would be a good thing.