I just flipped on the TV briefly and saw prepartions being made for the Bush speech tonight on the USS Abraham Lincoln, much of it shot using dramatic camera angles that emphasis the fact that the Abraham Lincoln is, you know, really, really big and awesome. If you enjoy seemingly the gleam and shine and sheer size of heavy military equipment, the coverage of this speech, or at least the establishing shots, could be porn for you.

A few weeks ago, when the Republicans announced that they're planning to hold their 2004 New York City convention as close to the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks as possible, some people looked at the exploitation and said, "Why doesn't Bush just go all the way and give his acceptance speech at Ground Zero?" After seeing the stage set he's chosen for tonight's meaningless photo op (Bush isn't even declaring the war over), I wouldn't put a Ground Zero speech past him.

UPDATE: I just heard this on NPR about Bush's speech on the Abraham Lincoln: "Getting there could be half the fun -- he'll be getting there on a Navy plane, stopped by a snag wire on deck." I wonder if they asked Leni Riefenstahl to film this.