I tend to avoid Bush-bashing because I find it to be the most incredibly tired and cliched aspect in modern America. I prefer to sift through and find the aspects of his administration that have been successes (as rare as those are.) 

Columnist Ron Hart, however, does something original in his criticism of Bush, coming from a humorous libertarian perspective. Starting off with a much needed bashing of NPR:

As giddy with anticipation as a schoolgirl, NPR reports that a record 5 million people will attend Barack Obama's inauguration this month. Ever the inquisitive columnist, I have examined these claims, determined that NPR might be right on this one, and got a nice tote bag from them for my efforts. Worry not about the impact on the economy. Even with 4 or 5 million Obama supporters in Washington for the inaugural festivities, only 28 of them will be missing work.

NPR, as we all know, is National Public Radio, which will be in an enviable position once the Democrats in Congress silence the free market of ideas that is talk radio. NPR is the monotone talking points of the left, subsidized with our tax dollars and pressurized pledge drives that seem to take place 365 days a year. If you are wondering what Congress would like your news and information stream to be like in the future, look no further than Castro's state-owned paper that talks about him in every issue, or Oprah's "O" magazine, dedicated to her and to her struggles with her weight.

Now all that is left for him is to pardon a few folks and try to burnish his legacy. To date he has pardoned fewer felons than his predecessors. My guess is that even criminals don't want a pardon from W because they don't want to be too closely associated with him.

The White House has been called on to answer for the Iraq War, which has been called the worst foreign policy blunder in history. That seems to me to be unfair and premature. Bush still has two more weeks in office.

There is a compelling argument that the problems with Islamic terrorism wouldn't occur if we weren't interfering in their affairs. It's been echoed with venom by the Left and eloquently by Ron Paul. I've considered it many times, but with that argument comes the uncomfortable notion that we may not want to even help these countries, as simply being there to help can make one a target.

That looks like the case with India. It seems that India does have a low level of troops in Afghanistan, but they aren't there in a military capacity as much as to protect Indians there to help reconstruct the war-torn country:

India is sending 300 special police (Indo-Tibetan Border Police, or ITBP) to Afghanistan to help guard Indians working there on reconstruction projects. Eighty of the ITBP are already in southern Afghanistan, guarding Indians helping to build roads there. Taliban terrorists have attacked the Indian workers several times, with gunfire and bombs. Last year, twenty ITBP were sent to Kabul to guard the Indian embassy.

I have a new review of the ABC show The Middleman up at TheAtlasphere.com, a networking site for fans of Ayn Rand:

The Middleman is a unique television pilot which centers around the familiar theme of a below-the-radar agency that takes on the paranormal anomalies that society either chooses to ignore or is unaware of.

Unlike similar fare such as Hellboy or X-Files, it doesn’t take itself seriously at all, instead treating spectacles such as a gorilla with a machine gun and a giant multi-eyed squid as the ridiculous things that they are.

The plot centers on Wendy Watson (no relation to Mary Jane), played by Natalie Morales, and the Middleman, played by Matt Keeslar.

Wendy becomes embroiled in the world of the paranormal when a giant “hentai tentacle monster” (Yes, they actually said “hentai” on cable television, in a very geeky salute to the infamous Japanese cartoon La Blue Girl) destroys the science lab that she was working at as a secretary.

The Middleman comes in to eliminate the tentacle monster, and, after being impressed by Wendy’s apparent calm in the face of an attack by something straight out of a Japanese adult film, tries to seduce Wendy into becoming his sidekick.

The Middleman is an ex-Navy Seal armed with more weapons than the Punisher and Batman combined, and he uses them quite a few times during the pilot.

Don’t let that make you think that he’s a brute, however. The character seems to be a testament to Steve Rogers, better known as Captain America, in his conservative mannerisms.

During the show, he addresses all the female characters as “ma’am,” says “Jeepers!” and “Gosh” in place of the familiar epithets and orders a glass of milk in a bar occupied by gangsters, all of whom he proceeds to beat up.

For the comic book geek, this show is a dream come true. Instead of filtering comic book fandom into morsels more fit for a mainstream television audience, The Middleman delivers nuggets of geekdom as corny, ridiculous, and socially adverse as we fanboys often are in real life.

Cult comic book series such as Powers, Astro City, old school X-Men, Mouse Guard, and The Flash are all referenced to.

The comic book references are all appropriate, as the show is based on a series of comic books published by Viper Comics.

The comic book series received critical acclaim and was named by the American Library Association as one of 2007’s “Great Graphic Novels for Teens.” Viper Comics provides free samples of the series on their website (www.vipercomics.com).

The satire hit home for me in a way many libertarians and Ayn Rand readers would relate to. 

It’s often noted that libertarians tend to live amongst liberals more than amongst conservatives, and as such have no doubt observed many of the eccentricities of Blue State America, which are satirized recklessly in The Middleman.

Wendy Watson’s boyfriend is a film school student who she beats up after he records himself breaking up with her for an art project, and her roommate is a clueless, blonde animal-rights activist who protests outside of French restaurants.

When Wendy’s boyfriend apologizes for the film project, claiming that it “seemed like a good idea,” Wendy retorts cleverly, “So did the Carter Administration.”

Lambasting of Jimmy Carter is indeed a rare occurrence in the mainstream media, especially in today’s political climate. Is Javier Grillo-Marxuach, the scriptwriter of The Middleman, a libertarian?

The Middleman is being broadcast on ABC Family, which may lead many to cast it aside as a kid’s show. It’s not at all, as many of the jokes I really doubt would get through to youngsters. I would argue that the Sci-Fi Channel would be a much more appropriate home for this show.

Wherever you find it, you’ll no doubt enjoy the light-hearted geekiness of The Middleman.

There's an interesting story over at NPR on the environmental group the Rainbow Family, which continually leaves masses of trash after their annual gatherings at the nation's national parks:

This morning on the BPP, we spoke to a U.S. Forest Service official who's in charge of monitoring the yearly festival of the Rainbow Family, an anti-establishment, pro-environmental group.

"I don't think we question their love of the land, which is very similar to ours," said John Twiss, our guest from the Forest Service. "I think what we question the most is the way they gather."

Twiss says the group leaves large amounts of trash and bring other problems you'd expect from gatherings of thousands and thousands of people on remote federal lands.

The Rainbow Family's own website puts it this way: "Some say we're the largest non-organization of non-members in the world. We have no leaders, and no organization."