News: Potluck: Bush, Russia

NYTimes article about Bush's new public persona: "Confident and Impishly fun" It's part of his new persona: easier, more free, telling jokes that aren't actually jokes (as Letterman pointed out). Because when you're the president, everybody has to laugh. Jill behind Brilliant at Breakfast noted that "imp used to be a term for Satan". Me, I've always thought that Bush was a bit cocky (not that cockiness is a bad thing). Please remember the third debate, Bush v. Kerry? Love him or hate him, Bush is damn cocky.
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Bad things are happening in Russia: in free speech versus offense, free speech got the shaft. The museum director was happy that he wasn't immediatly put in jail, though he did have to pay a fine. Who was so offended by the artwork? The church, that's who. The article quotes a Reverand Aleksandr Shargunov as saying "The prophecies say that once God is insulted, expect trouble. And this is what happened."

I thought it was God's business to give them trouble.

Actually, from the descriptions in the article, it looked like the artwork was more of a satire of the church institution, not God Himself. No wonder he's pissed.