Just in case you needed a reminder of why the Simp Chimp is such a low-wattage bulb:

He said he supports amending the Constitution because "the voice of the people need to be heard, and the constitutional process was the best way to do such."

Ah, yes. It's getting to be spring, when a young brownshirt's thoughts turn to...repression. The Pentagram has announced that they are starting their own news service in the Fertile Crescent to, well, provide their viewpoints on the goings-on there for the major media outlets around the world.A Fox An Army spokesmodel says that it will allow "their viewpoint" to be aired. There's an objective source, an occupying army.

The American public ``currently gets a pretty slanted picture,'' said Army Capt. Randall Baucom, a spokesman for the Kuwait-based U.S.-led Coalition Land Forces Command. ``We want them to get an opportunity to see the facts as they exist, instead of getting information from people who aren't on the scene.''
...
``The Army wants to get their view across and they are using a technique as old as any public relations manuever ever devised,'' said Aly Colon, an ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, the journalism research and education center in St. Petersburg, Fla.

``I would view the Army's decison, in the same way that I would view OPEC creating a communications system to help the American public understand what it means when prices go up,'' he said.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood...literally. Way too nice for my tin-foil hat to come out, until I saw this little bit of news.

Pentagon and Pakistani officials on Saturday denied an Iranian state radio report that Osama bin Laden was captured in Pakistan's border region with Afghanistan "a long time ago."
...
The director of Iran radio's Pashtun service, Asheq Hossein, said he had two sources for the report. The radio quoted its reporter as saying bin Laden had been in custody for a period of time, but a U.S. announcement of the capture was being withheld by President Bush until closer to the November election.

"Osama bin Laden has been arrested a long time ago, but Bush is intending to use it for propaganda maneuvering in the presidential election," he said.

It's so totally Rovian.

Sometimes it is the messenger. Being a cowboy doesn't pay off when there are no cattle, but then I guess Preznit no have Turkee never learned that at Andover either...

An American proposal for the world's wealthiest nations to press for economic, political and cultural changes in the Middle East has drawn harsh criticism from Arab leaders and European officials, who say the Bush administration did not consult the countries it seeks to transform.
...
An Arab diplomat in Washington said he told administration officials that he did not disagree with any of the initiative's elements, but that "it's very important how it is to be packaged." Further, the diplomat said, the United States is tarnished by its failure to ease the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

"It's not the message, it's the messenger," he said. "But I don't think the administration will be affected by the criticism. I don't think they regard such opinions very highly. They're going to forge ahead."

So there is still a little life left in the struggle to bring Afghanistan into the 21st Century even while here at home Gary Bauer & Co work tirelessly to take us back the the 12th Century. Hark! What was that noise...ah, the sound of troops steathily creeping around to catch Osama bin Laden...you know, they guy Fearless Leader wanted "Dead or Alive" in his best John Wayne swaggering bluster.

The U.S. military said Wednesday that a "renewed sense of urgency" is firing the search for Osama bin Laden, even as it dismissed reports that the fugitive al-Qaida leader had been located near the Afghan-Pakistan border.The U.S. military said Wednesday that a "renewed sense of urgency" is firing the search for Osama bin Laden, even as it dismissed reports that the fugitive al-Qaida leader had been located near the Afghan-Pakistan border.
...
"The sands in their hourglass are running out," Lt. Col. Matthew Beevers, a spokesman for the U.S. military in Afghanistan, said of bin Laden and others. "We remain committed and reaffirm our effort to track these guys down and get 'em."

There's something to be said for election years, and not all of it is good. I have to say that the magic 8-ball says about the capture of bin Laden..."answer in October". Yeah, why doesn't that surprise me.

Goes to Kain-tucky, talks to the reg'lar folks (well, if they can pony up the bucks to see him) and says:

"It's a choice between keeping the tax relief that is moving the economy forward or putting the burden of higher taxes back on the American people. It is a choice between an America that leads the world with strength and confidence or an America that is uncertain in the face of danger."
...
The president spoke on a day of disappointing economic news. The Commerce Department reported that factory orders for durable goods declined 1.8 percent in January. And the Labor Department reported that new claims for jobless benefits last week rose by 6,000, to 350,000.

Mr. Bush did not allude to the official figures from Washington at the Kentucky gathering, which seemed tailor-made for his basic message: that tax cuts encourage business investments and spending by the American people.

Several years ago a politician rode to victory promising repeal of a hated tax. So viscerally hated was this tax that it became a winning issue almost overnight. The tax? The car tax in Virginia. The politician? Jim Gilmore, running for governor of the Commonwealth. So he won. The car tax got scrapped and fiscal reality set in. It looks like even the brave legislators in the Commonwealth have finally realized that you can't pay the bills with promises. It also appears that the VA senate version of the budget is a bi-partisan deal...although I'm too far removed from VA politics to know for sure.

The Senate passed a two-year, $61.5 billion budget Thursday that substantially increases spending for education, transportation and the environment, while also increasing taxes by about $3.8 billion..
...
Both plans recognize a need for new revenue from tax restructuring, though the Senate budget includes a far more comprehensive tax reform package, including a 1-cent sales tax increase, higher tax brackets for the wealthy and higher taxes on gasoline and cigarettes.

Good for Virginia. It's a small step, but it's a step towards repairing their current fiscal crisis. Hey! Look! California...it's the Jacksons!!

and thanks to TBogg for this:

MR. McCLELLAN: The President's view was very well-known during the campaign of 2000, that he believes marriage is a sacred institution. And he supported efforts to protect and defend the sanctity of marriage.

Mr. Sherri Annis, aka Howie Kurtz has a piece up quoting Scott Rosenberg in Salon, deconstructing Daniel Henninger of the Wall Street Journal. Here's the craptacular Mr. Henninger according to Rosenberg:

"Note that Henninger is not actually asserting here that President Bush is a man of integrity and that the Democrats are wrong. He's saying the president's integrity, or lack thereof, is not a fit subject for public debate because, well, you woudn't want to 'reduce the authority of the country's leadership' at a 'dangerous moment.' Here we have a preview of what is likely to be a fall-back strategy for the Republicans this summer, as the jobless economy, the Iraq mess and Bush's increasingly scandal-ridden record begin, finally, to catch up with him.

How sick is it when we are warned against open criticism? Well, bring it on little children; the empty suit can't stand the heat, we'll toss him out and right back to Crawford...where he'll wake up on a cold November morning later this year wondering if it's too late to make up those drills in the Texas Air National Guard. Schmuck.

So Allen Greenspan opened his big, fat partisan yap today and as TBogg says, stuck his tongue right on the old Third Rail of politics. Yeehaw. He got the social security jolt...

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan urged Congress on Wednesday to deal with the country’s escalating budget deficit by cutting benefits for future Social Security retirees. Without action, he warned, long-term interest rates would rise, seriously harming the economy.
...
Greenspan did not rule out using tax increases to deal with the looming crisis in Social Security, but he said that tax hikes should only be considered after every effort had been made to trim benefits.(emphasis added)

“I am just basically saying that we are overcommitted at this stage,” Greenspan said in response to committee questions. “It is important that we tell people who are about to retire what it is they will have.” He warned that the government should not “promise more than we are able to deliver.”

Let's assume that we have a guy, BH who rabidly favors the tax-cuts of Fearless Leader, let's assume he gets an $1100 dollar tax cut every year for the next 27 years he works, starting next year and if that money had stayed in Social Security it would have earned 2%, not very good, but something. As the refund checks roll in, let's assume BH does not reinvest but spends all of it so all $1100 goes toward that bass boat and maintenance for 27 years (ok, so it's just my argument here...), well BH would have lost $30,352.53 in his social security account (assuming of course that the government took the money from there to pay for the tax cut, which is sort of what's happening, right?).

Now let's give BH a different scenario, he reinvests a little more than half ($650) and blows the rest, on a hot Corvette and keeps it to become a classic 27 years down the road (so to speak). If he can get 6% on his investment over the same 27 year period he still loses out, the tax cut gives him a loss of about $11612.79, because he blew the money as most folks would do handed a check like that. His argument will be that it "helped the economy" at the time he got the check, but I guarantee you that if BH needs to buy meds after retirement, he'll be wishing that the additional benefits were there for him to use. Well, he's got a pretty 'Vette he can alway sell. Had BH elected to keep the entire amount of $1100 and invested it all at 6%, he would have made a whopping $1360.88 more than if he had left the money in his Social Security account. But if the point of the tax cuts is to stimulate through spending, as a dogmatic follower of Fearless Leader he would already feel guilty about stuffing $650 in his bank account, so I doubt that the $1100 would ever make it in there...that would be un-'Murikan.

I may be all wet here, my calculations may be off...but still are we not robbing Peter to pay Paul? I think that Greenspan was saying exactly that, in the gussied up language of the Beltway. It's too bad that as the 1600 Crew rob the Treasury to fatten their wealthy friends more folks don't stop to think about the bankrupting of the system, and the dependance of the least-able to survive into what should be their "golden years", yes, even BH deserves that much.

Remember that returning vets have two years to file inital claims now for "battle damage" for want of a better term. In the UK, soldiers are getting these from the Ministry of Defense. Cards that warn them of the dangers of depleted uranium.

Are they doing this for our troops too? Or just hoping that no one will notice as their hair and teeth fall out and they start to exhibit long-term ill effects of being around radioactive detritus...

Yeah, they loves them some service-folks and veterans, those 1600 Crew folks do. Loves 'em to death.

Is it true that "The Passion" is actually Cruci-Fiction? Just asking.

It's interesting to watch the very public meltdown of Sullivan. Sad, but like a car wreck, I just can't help rubbernecking. In his latest paen to Fearless Leader, he goes on for far too long about how as a first-generation immigrant (hey, me too!) he has an unbridled love of the constitution...a document considered "advisory" by most of the 1600 Crew.

Then there's the keening over the Manly Leadership in the War on Terra™ which if you check carefully actually encompasses the largest expansion of the Federal Government in recent memory...if not since July 4, 1776. The most tangible contribution to the War on the Noun to date has been the addition of the "Terra™ Colors" and the TSA to our daily lexicon and the massive assault on our civil liberties (gee, constitutional amendment anyone?)...all of this is about as manly as Preznit aWol's Fabulous National Guard service, but ssssh don't tell Sully...because Fearless Leader is Manly, for a stinking coward.

It's step one today in the Auto-Destruction of Sully...let's start to follow the Elizabeth Kübler-Ross model for the Duchess. Today it's Shock and Denial...how long will it be before Searching and Yearning? And what will that do to his income? I said I'd only pay to watch the destruction, all the rest is pretty pedestrian...and completely maudlin.

President Beholden out for a buck, has made the point (endlessly) that his heavy debt burden for our kids and grandkids is well, good for our small businesses.

President Bush defended his tax cuts yesterday as economic fuel for the small-business sector in response to mounting criticism from Democratic presidential candidates that the cuts chiefly benefited the wealthiest Americans.

Internal Revenue Service statistics cited by a Democratic senator this month show that the vast majority of small businesses do not earn nearly enough money to fall into the highest income tax bracket. According to IRS data from the 2001 tax year, 3.8 percent of the 18.2 million business tax returns filed that year reported taxable income of $200,000 or more. The top tax bracket last year kicked in at $311,950 of taxable income.

But under Treasury's definition, both Bush and Vice President Cheney are members of the entrepreneurial class. In his 2002 tax return, the president reported $1,549 from rental real estate, royalties, partnerships, S corporations and trusts, including income from GWB Rangers Corp., a remnant of his days as co-owner of the Texas Rangers. Of the Cheney household's $1.2 million income, $238,682 was from business ventures within the White House's definition of small business.

Economists say the broad Republican definition of "small-business man" includes not only doctors, lawyers and management consultants but also chief executives who earn $3,000 renting out their chalets in Aspen or report $10,000 in speaking fees. An aide on the Joint Economic Committee conceded that the definition includes the army of accountants and consultants at such giant partnerships as KPMG LLP and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, not the firms that "small business" brings to mind.

Well they couldn't get the ERA through in an era when there were more female than male voters, if I remember correctly. My guess is that there will be considerable opposition to this little bit of insane tinkering with a document that has served this country well for 200+ years. President On-his-knees-to-Gary Bauer has now covered his bases with the christo-fascists and can resume genuflecting to his one true god...corporate special interests and interest groups that own him lock, stock and barrel.

What was it that he called Gore, a "Pander Bear"? Well, he's the Pander-Potamus, not as cute, but a helluva lot more descriptive.

Jim Capozzola at Rittenhouse Review needs a job. I think there may be a great one out there for him (no, I didn't check with Jim first). If you read the fine blog, Blogging of the President (BOPNews comments), you might have seen that Nancy Pelosi is starting a Blog. Unfortunately, it's being run by a staffer and it seems to be a wee bit out of touch and condescending to those of us in blogtopia, I think...

My name is Tom Manatos, and I have been charged by House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi to work on online and youth outreach.

Well, Jim needs a job, and these folks would be greatly aided by a blogger with a clue. If we all send them ummmm....advice about perhaps hiring one of the most thoughtful, incisive and flat-out best bloggers out here, what's it going to hurt? Jim needs a job and they need Jim. Should we give it a shot? Lots of you in blogtopia have way bigger microphones than me...can we get the word out to help one of our own by suggesting Jim? Let's Pay it Forward...

You can email Rep. Nancy Pelosi and tell her about Jim. His email address.

I hope this can work out. It just seems like it could be such a win-win.

Sullywatch today takes after Sullivan for his infantile incredulousness over the Lord of the Rings. Hey Andrew, duh. I would hate to see what the Duchess would make of the Foundation Trilogy, if he has ever read it. I think the sign at the entrance to Second Foundation on Trantor read: "To all who enter here, check your prejudices at the door...religio-fascists (and Mules) not welcome". I have a feeling that the whole Foundation Trilogy and sequels would make the poor boys head explode. Eeeeew.

And as for Smeagol, Sullivan spanks Sean Hannity for his inability to distinguish between Liberals and Terrorists. I guess Hannity's literary abomination must have gotten Sullivan to tune into his show. So Andrew, are you not proud as punch of your ideological childrens? They are so good. Now take Sean to the woodshed and give him that lickin' ... and don't enjoy it too much. Big Double Eeeew. I'm just guessing Sullivan won't be on Hannity and Colmes any time soon.

Now why would any sane, lucid, rational American equate the NEA with Terrorism? No sane person would, but we're talking about the 1600 Crew here...so it comes as no surprise that a cabinet-level official makes a comment like this:

Education Secretary Rod Paige called the nation's largest teachers union a "terrorist organization" Monday, taking on the 2.7-million-member National Education Association early in the presidential election year.

Paige's comments, made to the nation's governors at a private White House meeting, were denounced by union president Reg Weaver as well as prominent Democrats.

The education secretary's words were "pathetic and they are not a laughing matter," said Weaver, whose union has said it plans to sue the Bush administration over lack of funding for demands included in the "No Child Left Behind" schools law.
...
Paige said later in an Associated Press interview that his comment was "a bad joke; it was an inappropriate choice of words." President Bush was not present at the time he made the remark.

"As one who grew up on the receiving end of insensitive remarks, I should have chosen my words better," said Paige, the first black education secretary.
...
When Bush welcomed the governors at the State Dining Room during brief public comments, he told them that rising political tensions of an election year won't stop him from working closely with them.
...
Bush spent much of the first half of his opening comments on foreign policy and the war on terrorism, defending his decision to go war in Iraq and thanking the governors for their work on homeland security.
...
Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, said that during the private meeting, Bush took only two questions, leaving little time for a full exploration of issues.

"It would have been helpful for him to have heard the discussions about 'No Child Left Behind' because there may be a disconnect between what he thinks and what we know," Vilsack said.

As long as he supports and tries to get other to embrace Pavlovian Eduma-cation, I'm guessing not too many governors are going to real thrilled about an 'unfunded mandate' of this size from DC. Remember, excercise of Free Speech and Objections to Party Policy are now Terra™.

Interesting that Fearless Leader showed up and showered the governors with faint praise, that's usually a signal that someone or something is about to get their budgets waxed, big time. He touched on Homeland Security, is that their next big shortfall of federal dollars like say hmmmm, in early November? Note to governors: Check Six.

ps, note to self: buy a round for the house if Paige gets canned.

If there's not a dimes worth of difference between the parties, then I have a dime for St. Ralph and he can stick it up his pompous, arrogant ass. Seems he wants to run again. Fine. Then maybe this time if he wants to play with the big boys, he needs to have the same degree of scrutiny as every other presidential candidate in recent years. Mark Kleiman has a great jumping-off point.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out this year. Will the republicans pay for Ralphie commercials again? Or are his days as a spoiler over everywhere except in his own mind? Ego, Ego, Ego...is what it's all about with him.

So the Pakistanis are going to "route" the Taliban and Al-Qaida from the mountainous regions of Pakistan. Right. That makes it like what, two years too late? Or, pardon me, just in time for the November elections?

Pakistan is preparing for a major military offensive against Taliban and Al Qaeda forces along its border with Afghanistan in the next several weeks, Pakistani government officials said this weekend.

The operation may be the first act of a violent, and potentially pivotal, spring season along the mountainous border between Pakistan and Afghanistan, according to Western diplomats, Pakistani military experts and American military officials.
...
Preparations for a new offensive are being made two months after Pakistan adopted a harsh, British colonial-era tactic of collective responsibility in the tribal areas.

Under this system, Pakistani officials massed troops in South Waziristan and handed tribal leaders a list of Pakistani men suspected of sheltering Qaeda members. If the tribe did not hand over the men, the entire tribe would be punished. The houses of the wanted men would be destroyed, state spending in the area would be cut and, if necessary, tribal members would be detained until the men surrendered.

Yeah, more in the scurrilous rumour department...it's Sunday after all. So what do you think that Governor Goodhair would think of this now?

The day after the U.S. Supreme Court said it would review a Texas case that makes it illegal for homosexuals to have sex, our governor, Rick Perry, decreed that the state's 28-year-old law against "deviate sexual intercourse with another individual of the same sex" is, in Perry's words, perfectly "appropriate."

By that, Perry, a long, tall, boot-wearing Texan with a great head of hair that is the envy of Texans of all genders, did not mean that homosexual sex is appropriate.

On the contrary, Perry meant that our law -- officially and ambitiously titled as the Texas Homosexual Conduct Law -- is appropriate as it stands on our books.

John Kerry sez to Shrub:

Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry, reacting sharply to Republican attacks about his record on defense issues and Vietnam-era antiwar activities, sent a letter to President Bush late Saturday challenging him to a debate about their military experiences during the Vietnam War.

In his letter, Kerry wrote, "Over the last week, you and your campaign have initiated a widespread attack on my service in Vietnam, my decision to speak out to end that war and my commitment to the defense of this nation."

After all, past performance predicts future problems I'm thinkin'.

One of my commenters sent me this. It's from The Agonist and it speaks to what the veterans of the Mess in Mesopotamia might be finding here when they return. A government that thinks they are not casualties, because, well, it's inconveeenient...

"The first Iraq war produced four classes of casualties--killed in action, wounded in action, killed in accidents (including "friendly fire"), and injuries and illnesses that appeared only after the end of hostilities. During 1990 and 1991 some 696,778 individuals served in the Persian Gulf as elements of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Of these, 148 were killed in battle, 467 were wounded in action and 145 were killed in accidents, producing a total of 760 casualties, quite a low number given the scale of operations. As of May 2002, however, the Veterans Administration reported that an additional 8,306 soldiers had died and 159,705 were injured or ill as a result of service-connected "exposures" suffered during the war. . . . In light of these deaths and disabilities, the casualty rate for the first Gulf War may actually be a staggering 29.3 percent."

Needless to say, this is not a topic the mainstream media wants to discuss.
Especially in an environment when military benefits are being cut.

Excerpt taken from The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic

To learn more about this subject see: Traprock Peace and Doug Rokke.

Yeah, they care about vets as much as most Chickenhawk politicians do, which is to say: NOT AT ALL.

If you actually saw Fearless Leader doing his duty (flying jets, sorting mail, getting a physical) while in the National Guard during the time in question (between the months of May and November of 1972), then Doonesbury wants to talk to you!

Contest FAQ's

Q: Isn't this just a publicity stunt?
A: If by a publicity stunt, you mean an attempt to draw attention to the problem of gutter politics, trolling-for-trash, and cheap smear tactics, then sure, guilty as charged.

Q: What if I saw Bush, but I can't prove it? Can I get some of the money?
A: No, but if your story's entertaining enough, you may qualify for our consolation prize, an original Doonesbury strip personally signed by a top studio intern.

Q: The DTH&WP is a media content web site, which means you're broke. Who's paying the reward?
A: The reward is being generously underwritten by Doonesbury creator G. B. Trudeau. The money has been put in escrow and is being administered by Universal Press Syndicate.

Q: It's really in escrow?
A: No, but we're good for it. Thanks to Bush's massive tax cuts for people who don't need them, GBT is flush.

Q: Are employees of Universal Press Syndicate, Slate or Microsoft eligible for the contest?
A: Only if no one else comes forward.

Q: Is there some sort of hitch?
A: Well, yes, but it's a hitch for a good cause. The winner won't actually receive the reward for himself; instead we'll be donating $10,000 in his name to the USO. That way everyone's a winner, including GBT's tax accountant.

The Sullivan cognitive dissonance zone. He's trying to figure out who he really is. He wants to know why republicans are hypocrites .... no really. Divorce? Homosexuality? Consitutional Amendment? Perhaps we can help him out.

Nah, it's more fun watching him twist in the wind as his idols (and idles) bring him closer to reaping the seeds of his own self-destruction. After all, what to give the person who helped lower the level of discourse and poisoned the waters for his own causes? How about a swift kick in the ass, and a pointer towards the door. Yup, that's a start.

I'm really going to enjoy watching this; the auto-destruction of Sullivan...if it were a pay-per-view event, I'd buy it, but he's giving it away. How considerate.

Remember all the whining from the republicans about the Clenis™ making recess appointments to the Federal Bench? I guess that Fearless Leader wants to make sure some of the reactionary activist christo-fascist folks get some time collecting federal judge money until his sorry ass is tossed out of Washington next january. The preznit has appointed a guy who has probably lied about his activities as a fund-raiser for the republican attorney generals association to the 11th Circuit. Who?

Why none other than the very white William Pryor. Very White Willie will get to hang around and make trouble (and bad decisions) for about a year. I hope the worst thing he does is review the federal equivalent of speeding tickets...that way he can only inflict minimal damage on our country.

Drop in again on Bolo Boffin, whom you all may remember as the Hobbit in charge of point counting for Preznit Give me Turkee...well, he's got quite the outlook and insight on Martin Riggs does Jesus...Bolo, unlike Mad Max, has both a conceptual understanding of the bible and it seems a genuine Passion for the subject. Check out his posts, they are both informative and very well done.

Godspeed, John Glenn.

John Glenn orbited the Earth in 1962. Wow.

Another Real American Hero.

During his World War II service, he flew 59 combat missions. After the war, he was a member of Marine Fighter Squadron 218 on the North China patrol and served on Guam. From June 1948 to December 1950 Glenn was an instructor in advanced flight training at Corpus Christi, Texas. He then attended Amphibious Warfare Training at Quantico, Virginia. In Korea he flew 63 missions with Marine Fighter Squadron 311. As an exchange pilot with the Air Force Glenn flew 27 missions in the in F-86 Sabrejet. In the last nine days of fighting in Korea Glenn downed three MIG's in combat along the Yalu River.

Yeah, they've been doing this for a while now...front-loading scientific "research" with their "experts" on science related issues. Why? Well, we blogged on it last year...I am happy that the Union of Concerned Scientists are speaking out about it now. Hopefully it will be somthing else to beat the 1600 Crew over the head with in November. Bad Science is worse than No Science. It's Twue.

So Martin Riggs does Jay-zus and it opens this month. The Christo-Fascist wackos are just in a dither about the movie which has now been revised more times that the 1600 Crew rationale for the war in Iraq. I wonder how many of the religio-knothead mouthbreathers realize that the movie is in Latin and Aramaic? For most of them English is a second language, their first being some bastardized southern-sounding redneck dialectical cross between a Georgia Cracker and a deranged Scotsman ("Yew shore got a purty mouth"). Those sub-titles could be a major stumbling block for the literarily-impaired crowd likely to cum together and see the movie.

It seems that in anticipation of the release of the film almost 1500 more copies have been ordered up by theatres for opening day. It will probably be a huge hit, since it features what can only be described I understand, as a pornographic display of violence that lasts 45 minutes as the celluloid Jesus is tortured. Well, since it has a "religious" theme, I guess that makes it far more wholesome than Janet Jackson's semi-exposed anatomy. Which of course will send all viewers of the half-time show to the Hairy Thunderers Abyss if they have not sent a check to the televangelist of their choice by now.

Hey, popcorn with extra grease, a supersized soda and a crucifixtion with dialog in a dead language, sounds like good, wholesome, family entertainment. Count me out.

Does it seem to anyone else like the 1600 Crew administration seems to be under the influence of something like that new drug for erectile dysfunction...you know, that sometime in the last 36 months they got a hard-on and screwed us when the time was right for them. Just wondering.

Words from a song of another era, right? Yeah. From back in the days of the Trickster, whom we all thought was dead and gone...ahhh, not so fast, Chuck-o.

Chicago Police officers infiltrated five protest groups in 2002 and launched four other spying operations in 2003 -- actions that civil rights activists are calling outrageous.
...
Under the modified decree, intelligence gathering must be documented. And internal and external audits are required to make sure the department is complying with the decree.

About all we're missing is burning cities and decent rock'n'roll. How scary.

For the Anyone But Bush archives, the Moonie Times has this lead in a story:

President Bush signed a prescription-drug act two months ago that is actually hurting his popularity instead of boosting support from the elderly as intended.
A Gallup survey found that public disapproval of Mr. Bush's handling of health care has increased 13 percentage points since last year. The Jan. 19-Feb. 1 survey found 57 percent of the 1,001 Americans surveyed disapprove of Mr. Bush's health care policies, compared to 35 percent of voters who approve.
Mr. Bush finds himself under fire from two directions on the health care issue. Democrats say the Medicare plan doesn't do enough to defray prescription expenses for retirees, and Republican critics call the drug benefit an unprincipled bid to buy votes in November.

Issues like this are going to send the Village Idiot back to Crawford, unless we drop the ball and continue to watch the candidates call each other names...it's getting to be our race to lose. Let's not.

Out in the wild reaches of America beyond Crawford and Fortress 1600, the No Child Left Untested Act is finally starting to show its vulnerability. States are beginning to Just Say, "No Thanks". Maybe not for the reason that it's a piece of crap, but they are beginning to show their dissatisfaction with its provisions if not its purpose.

The Republican-controlled Utah House voted 64-8 last week not to comply with any provisions for which the federal government has not supplied enough money. The bill, which now goes to the Senate, represents the strongest position yet taken by lawmakers around the country.

A new political crony appointee who is heading the Office of the Special Counsel has pulled gay rights information off their website, cause, well, he's not sure it's appropriate. He also has been taking speech lessons from Le Mushmouth, check it out:

A newly arrived Republican appointee has pulled references to sexual orientation discrimination off an agency Internet site where government employees can learn about their rights in the workplace.
...
"It is wrong to discriminate against any federal employee, or any employee, based on discrimination," Bloch said.

This is worth a read. The best deconstruction of Ann...going on my blogroll at the next update. Wow!

The rest of the site is pretty good too...

Andrew is having a case of the rants again. He of course, sees the poll numbers showing his American Idle trailing as inconsequential. He also asserts that (okay, here's a little right-wing historical revisionism in its infancy) the lack of WMD's has undermined one argument for the war. One? If you don't count allowing campaign contributors to make obscene profits, how about the only argument at least as put forth by yer hero, yer majesty.

Every time some wingnut (like the Duchess) starts in on how terrible and what a bad man Hussein was, I have to wonder: were you asleep (or being gestated) in the 80's? Guess that Sullivan realy was, he must think that the photo of Donnie the Dick shaking the Evil One's hand at the conclusion of a deal was photoshopped. And that CheneyBurton subsidiaries never, ever made a buck off the evil regime of Sad-Amm. Nope, not a penny.

USA Today has a headline:

How the Bush team will try to paint Kerry

Bush wants to label Kerry, a combat veteran who later opposed the war, a hypocrite.

I have a suggestion. How about these colors: Silver, Bronze and Purple for Kerry and a big Yellow Stripe for the Cowardly Codpiece.

Ben Chandler won the KY-6th district tonight. Politics 2004 is going to be like running a marathon; hard work, determination, support and just putting one foot in front of the other all the way to the finish line. Here's the proof we can get there.

Mr. Bush made a commercial for Kerr's campaign and House Speaker Dennis Hastert stumped for her. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., gave her $10,000 and loaned top aides to run her campaign.

We don't have to win them all, just enough to secure a majority and bring real accountability and common sense back into government.

It seems like bad republican rumour week. Dump service records on the press, and a faux-intern scandal and look what comes out:

• Fearless Leader had a girlfriend get an abortion in the 70's
• Bill "Virtues of Being Virtuous" Bennett has a "friend" who happens to be leather-clad dominatrix "body-builder"

Man, this rumour-mongering is fun. It's too bad no republicans have been convicted in S&L cases lately and then pardoned by Preznit Dummer'n'Dirt...oh, wait...

Now to be like the big boys and tag it...

Dee-veloping...

She's getting worse, if that's possible. Here's a spot on Coulter analysis.

So off to play soldier again eh, Fearless One? Down amongst the real soldiers to spout off like some kind of freaking war hero-wannabe.

Snapping a sharp salute before cheering soldiers, President Bush put his credentials as wartime commander in chief on display Tuesday against suggestions he ducked his military duty as a child of privilege during the Vietnam War.
...
"My resolve is the same as it was on the day when I walked in the rubble of the twin towers," Bush said. "I will not relent until this threat to America is removed. And neither will you."

"America depends on our military to meet dangers abroad and keep our country safe," Bush said. "The American people appreciate your sacrifice. Our government owes you more than gratitude; we must always make sure America's soldiers are well equipped and well trained to fight this war on terror."

The article also has a bunch of quotes from some of the soldiers who had chow with Commander Codpiece. All the quotes were just wonderful...what does an reporter think they are going to say? "I think he's an incoherent, low-down skunk"? Give me break. So, with that in mind, let me say it for them...he's an incoherant, low-down mizzerable skunk.

Oh, and I'm sure the good folks in the greater metropolitan New York area might want to have a word or two with Fearless Leader about how "supportive" he's been...especially the first-responders there in the City and elsewhere in America. Just a thought.

If you are going to be the presumptive nominee, you need to say this louder, more often and with a greater degree of scorn for the 1600 Crew:

"This is not a conservative Republican administration, this is an extreme radical administration," Kerry said, accusing Bush of "walking away" from U.S. veterans.

I don't care what the wingnuts say...this is just so "Triumph of the Will". Do we get the torchlight parades, party rallies and goose-stepping young republican brownshirts next?

It looks to me like Ccommander C+ is still enamored of quasi-military gear and hanging around with PFC's smarter than him.

A young officer named Seth Dvorin, 2nd Lt Dvorin is no longer with us. He was killed on 3 Feb 2004 in Iraq. His parents, siblings and wife will never be the same. Lt Dvorin's mother:

"My son died for absolutely nothing," Lt. Dvorin's mother, Sue Niederer, declared with quiet, forceful bluntness in her Hopewell Township home on Lake Baldwin Drive Friday. Ms. Niederer blames President George W. Bush personally for her son's death.
"Seth died for President Bush's personal vendetta," she said. "Bush put us where we should never have been. We're not even in a declared war."
Ms. Niederer says the growing national controversy over the failure to find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq proves that "we have a very big problem in this country. If the intelligence on which this war was based is as inefficient as it now appears to have been, there is something is seriously wrong here."

..to set the table for dinner and then slowly take one place setting away and silently put it back in the cupboard.

...to watch a young adolescent girl study her reflection in a mirror, showing her face half-burned away by enemy bombs.

...to say, "Isn't it great he has two artifical legs? He can be practically normal now!"

These things are war, long after war is done.

Alter from MSNBC. w00+.

But I think there's another reason that Bush needs a Madison Avenue makeover. Despite a few fine speeches to Congress, he has never fully inhabited the role of president of the United States. He still often seems to be impersonating a commander in chief. ...