Month: August 2004

For one brief, shining moment…

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

…I respected the hëll out of George W. Bush.

Really. No kidding. When he stated in an interview “I don’t think we can win” the war on terror, I was staggered. Because he was right, and because he was honest, and because he was making a reasoned evaluation of something that anyone with two licks of sense could have told him.

The “let’s declare war on something” mentality reduces complex issues to stark black and white terms that can’t begin to encompass the reality of the situation. And when Bush fessed up that the war on terror was, in essence, no more “winnable” than the war on drugs or the war on poverty, I thought, Wow. Okay. Maybe he’s really learning. Maybe he really is capable of growth in a way that his fixed “stay the course” mentality would make you think he’s not.

And the Democrats went to town comparing terrorism to the Soviet Union which, by the way, self-destructed, and the fall of Communism which, last I checked, is still around. And I thought, “That’s just stupid. This is another of those embarrassed-to-be-a-Democrat moments. How can they pounce on him when he’s so indisputably RIGHT?”

So what happened? Bush flip flopped. Suddenly the war on terrorism IS winnable, yes siree, don’t you believe anything else.

Oh well. Back to status quo.

PAD

Humor “What If”

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

I, along with a lot of other folks, have been approached about doing contributions to a humor “What If…?” I’m pleased to say that Bendis liked one of my suggestions…which I figure doesn’t guarantee anything, but hey, it was nice to be thought of.

I won’t tell you the ones I know for a fact they’re already doing or the one of mine that he liked. Sadly, he passed on the one that was my favorite: “What if Black Bolt Had Turretts Syndrome?” Admittedly it was a long shot since it’s pretty…oh, what’s the word? Tasteless. Yeah, that’s it. It’s pretty tasteless, and insensitive, and probably wouldn’t have flown with upper management anyway. But just imagine the possibilities…

PAD

Protestors: Just What the GOP ordered

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

If I’m the GOP and I’m seeing all the over-the-top plans for protestors, I’d be salivating. I’d be saying, “Bring it on.”

I am VERY concerned over this orgy of protesting. I’m not entirely sure of the purpose of it. It comes across to me as massively self-indulgent in that not only will it accomplish nothing in terms of affecting the opinions of Bush and Company, but it may well swing undecided voters to the Bush camp. Why? Because Americans lean toward underdogs, and as protestors do everything they can to make the lives of the GOP delegates as miserable as possible, all they’re gonna do is make the GOP come across as sympathetic. “Those poor Republicans, can’t even have their convention without demented naked Kerry supporters trying to hog the spotlight.”

It’s bad enough with these garbage Swiftboat commercials (although if Kerry expected anything else, he was being naive. The GOP successfulyly painted John McCain, a POW, as “loony,” and Max Cleland, who lost two legs and an arm to a war, as being soft on American security issues, so Kerry thought…what? They wouldn’t pull the same crap on him?) eroding Kerry’s numbers. But Kerry’s own supporters may be the GOP’s best friends.

PAD

Assorted Hulk stuff

Posted By: Peter DavidPosted On:

Tom Brevoort sent me a photocopy of the Lee Weeks cover for the first issue of “Tempest Fugit.” I have to say, it looks absolutely kick-butt. My understanding is that it’s going to appear in an upcoming issue of “Wizard,” along with an interview with me about “Hulk.” Should be interesting since it’s the first time in quite a while that Wizard has spoken to me extensively about, well, anything. In any event, at some point in the future when we have a fully colored version, I’ll post it here.

Also, C.B. and the Marvel editors have approved my script for “What If General Ross Had Become the Hulk?” Here’s the summary that I wrote up for the solicits (I don’t know that this is what it will say word for word, but it was my description.)

“Meet again, for the first time, General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross…a veteran army officer who believes that the time for talk is long past, and all that matters is his country’s ability to develop weapons that will annihilate its enemies. Experience with him what happens when he himself becomes the mightiest weapon on two legs…but is trapped within that weapon, unable to communicate with former allies who only want to destroy him.”

PAD