Maybe he doesn’t know what a comma is

Here’s the latest assessment on Iraq from our Commander in Chief (a few weeks old, but worth noting since it received so little coverage):

In the CNN interview, Wolf Blitzer asked about the continuing setbacks in Iraq. Bush, with a slight smile, replied, "Yes, you see — you see it on TV, and that’s the power of an enemy that is willing to kill innocent people. But there’s also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people — 12 milion people voted last December.

I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is — my point is, there’s a strong will for democracy. … The unity government is functioning."

Noted and quoted, tin Foley edition

I don’t know what’s more nauseating in this whole Mark Foley scandal, the hyperbole –

“I’m a dad. Somebody send an e-mail like that to my kid, they are going to deal with the law firm of Smith & Wesson, OK?”

–Weasely Democratic strategist Paul Begala (Hey Paul, I thought you were for gun control?)

or the misdirected blame –

“The Republicans didn’t know about these issues, and we are going to be very anxious who in the media or on the other side of the aisle knew about it and kept this from the public interst because our children are at stake.”

–Ice queen Katherine Harris, Republican candidate for Senate in Florida

Umm, Kathy … Mark Foley is a Republican. The party of accountability, indeed.

Noted and quoted, tin Foley edition

I don’t know what’s more nauseating in this whole Mark Foley scandal, the hyperbole –

“I’m a dad. Somebody send an e-mail like that to my kid, they are going to deal with the law firm of Smith & Wesson, OK?”

–Weasely Democratic strategist Paul Begala (Hey Paul, I thought you were for gun control?)

or the misdirected blame –

“The Republicans didn’t know about these issues, and we are going to be very anxious who in the media or on the other side of the aisle knew about it and kept this from the public interst because our children are at stake.”

–Ice queen Katherine Harris, Republican candidate for Senate in Florida

Umm, Kathy … Mark Foley is a Republican. The party of accountability, indeed.

Judicial fitness

So this is what disqualifies a judge from the federal bench —

A judge’s elevation to the federal bench could be derailed because she helped preside over a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.

Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has placed a hold on the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff, saying her presence at the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony raises questions about her judicial philosophy.

“It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism,” Brownback said yesterday. “It’s something I want to inquire of her further.”

There’s that political cliche again — judicial activism. In other words, you’re an activist if your rulings don’t reinforce certain prejudices. 

Judicial fitness

So this is what disqualifies a judge from the federal bench —

A judge’s elevation to the federal bench could be derailed because she helped preside over a commitment ceremony for a lesbian couple four years ago.

Republican Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas has placed a hold on the nomination of Michigan Court of Appeals Judge Janet T. Neff, saying her presence at the 2002 Massachusetts ceremony raises questions about her judicial philosophy.

“It seems to speak about her view of judicial activism,” Brownback said yesterday. “It’s something I want to inquire of her further.”

There’s that political cliche again — judicial activism. In other words, you’re an activist if your rulings don’t reinforce certain prejudices. 

Katherine Harris scares me

And it’s not just because of all that make-up she wears. Harris is a wannabe, evangelical version of Ahmadinejad, and I’m not being hyperbolic —

Six weeks after urging voters to elect only "tried and true" Christians, Senate candidate Katherine Harris is questioning her opponent’s faith by saying he "votes completely contrary" to Christian principles.

In an interview published by a Christian news service, Harris said incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson "claims to be a Christian" but supports policies "completely contrary to what we say we believe."

Who’s we? Dobson, Falwell, Hannity …

He (Nelson) has served as chairman and vice chairman of the National Prayer Breakfast and, when in Washington, attends weekly prayer breakfasts with other elected officials. When he flew on the space shuttle in 1986, he took a Bible with him.

Nelson issued a statement this week, saying, "My faith is the essence of my being. But it is a part of my life I don’t feel I should try to take advantage of in the public square."

Truth be told, Harris says what many on the fundamentalist right really believe but are too politcally savvy to say out loud.

Harris said that God did not intend for the United States to be a "nation of secular laws" and that failure to elect "tried and true" Christians would allow lawmakers "to legislate sin."

She also said "God is the one who chooses our rulers" and suggested non-Christians "don’t know better."

When reached for comment, God said he couldn’t talk because he was too busy vomiting. A spokesman confirmed the Almighty would work to raise prices on rouge and eyeliner to get back at "that Harris bitch."   

(The good news: the Dragon Lady has no shot at winning, trailing by as many as 30 points in some polls. Maybe Floridians aren’t as stupid as we assume.)   

Katherine Harris scares me

And it’s not just because of all that make-up she wears. Harris is a wannabe, evangelical version of Ahmadinejad, and I’m not being hyperbolic —

Six weeks after urging voters to elect only "tried and true" Christians, Senate candidate Katherine Harris is questioning her opponent’s faith by saying he "votes completely contrary" to Christian principles.

In an interview published by a Christian news service, Harris said incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson "claims to be a Christian" but supports policies "completely contrary to what we say we believe."

Who’s we? Dobson, Falwell, Hannity …

He (Nelson) has served as chairman and vice chairman of the National Prayer Breakfast and, when in Washington, attends weekly prayer breakfasts with other elected officials. When he flew on the space shuttle in 1986, he took a Bible with him.

Nelson issued a statement this week, saying, "My faith is the essence of my being. But it is a part of my life I don’t feel I should try to take advantage of in the public square."

Truth be told, Harris says what many on the fundamentalist right really believe but are too politcally savvy to say out loud.

Harris said that God did not intend for the United States to be a "nation of secular laws" and that failure to elect "tried and true" Christians would allow lawmakers "to legislate sin."

She also said "God is the one who chooses our rulers" and suggested non-Christians "don’t know better."

When reached for comment, God said he couldn’t talk because he was too busy vomiting. A spokesman confirmed the Almighty would work to raise prices on rouge and eyeliner to get back at "that Harris bitch."   

(The good news: the Dragon Lady has no shot at winning, trailing by as many as 30 points in some polls. Maybe Floridians aren’t as stupid as we assume.)   

The party of accountability

Disgraced former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham is blaming everyone else for his own chicanery, including the reporter who broke the scandal:

“Each time you print it hurts my family and now I have lost them along with everything I have worked for during my 64 years of life,” Cunningham wrote. “I am human not an animal to keep whipping.”

The longtime Republican acknowledged last November that he accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for government contracts and other favors.

The party of accountability

Disgraced former congressman Randy “Duke” Cunningham is blaming everyone else for his own chicanery, including the reporter who broke the scandal:

“Each time you print it hurts my family and now I have lost them along with everything I have worked for during my 64 years of life,” Cunningham wrote. “I am human not an animal to keep whipping.”

The longtime Republican acknowledged last November that he accepted $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors in exchange for government contracts and other favors.

Viva la resistance!

Glad to see the Chavez regime has as much — if not more — opposition in Venezuela as Bush does here in America:

Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in support of the main opposition candidate, Manuel Rosales.

Mr Rosales will face President Hugo Chavez in December’s presidential poll.

The march, which filled the main avenues of the city centre, was the biggest opposition rally Venezuela has seen since early 2004.

Then, protesters made an unsuccessful bid to oust Mr Chavez from power in a recall referendum.

Young and old took to the streets to throw their weight behind the campaign of Mr Rosales, a middle-class Social Democrat who governs the state of Zulia, on the Colombian border.

Many claimed that they were seeking liberty and democracy and that made Mr Rosales their only option …

Viva la resistance!

Glad to see the Chavez regime has as much — if not more — opposition in Venezuela as Bush does here in America:

Tens of thousands of people have marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in support of the main opposition candidate, Manuel Rosales.

Mr Rosales will face President Hugo Chavez in December’s presidential poll.

The march, which filled the main avenues of the city centre, was the biggest opposition rally Venezuela has seen since early 2004.

Then, protesters made an unsuccessful bid to oust Mr Chavez from power in a recall referendum.

Young and old took to the streets to throw their weight behind the campaign of Mr Rosales, a middle-class Social Democrat who governs the state of Zulia, on the Colombian border.

Many claimed that they were seeking liberty and democracy and that made Mr Rosales their only option …

Noted and quoted, hypocrisy edition

Whereas conservative Christian parents once thought it was inappropriate for public schools to teach their kids about sex, now they want the schools to preach abstinence to children. Whereas conservative Christians used to want the federal government to leave them alone, now they demand that more and more federal funds be directed to local churches and religious groups through Bush’s faith-based initiatives program."

–Ryan Sager, from his book "The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians and the Battle to Control the Republican Party"

Noted and quoted, hypocrisy edition

Whereas conservative Christian parents once thought it was inappropriate for public schools to teach their kids about sex, now they want the schools to preach abstinence to children. Whereas conservative Christians used to want the federal government to leave them alone, now they demand that more and more federal funds be directed to local churches and religious groups through Bush’s faith-based initiatives program."

–Ryan Sager, from his book "The Elephant in the Room: Evangelicals, Libertarians and the Battle to Control the Republican Party"

TV worth seeing, reality edition

I can count the number of hourlong shows I’ve watched faithfully on one hand ("Dallas," those reruns were the perfect buffer between classes in college; "St. Elsewhere," I was a strange child; "Oz," the gay man’s version of "Prisoner Cell Block H"; and "The Sopranos," featuring some of the best acting ever seen on TV).

But not the best. That would be HBO’s "The Wire," which I just recently discovered. I’m always late to the party, but I’m glad I finally arrived. There’s never been a better ensemble cast, and the show is so real it feels like you’re watching a documentary. In many ways, you are. Entertaining and educational, "The Wire" should not be missed (it comes as no surprise, then, that its ratings are low).

I’ve never see "Desperate Houswives," "Lost," "24," even "Law and Order," but I have no doubt "The Wire" tops them all.

Yeah, I’m hooked.

TV worth seeing, reality edition

I can count the number of hourlong shows I’ve watched faithfully on one hand ("Dallas," those reruns were the perfect buffer between classes in college; "St. Elsewhere," I was a strange child; "Oz," the gay man’s version of "Prisoner Cell Block H"; and "The Sopranos," featuring some of the best acting ever seen on TV).

But not the best. That would be HBO’s "The Wire," which I just recently discovered. I’m always late to the party, but I’m glad I finally arrived. There’s never been a better ensemble cast, and the show is so real it feels like you’re watching a documentary. In many ways, you are. Entertaining and educational, "The Wire" should not be missed (it comes as no surprise, then, that its ratings are low).

I’ve never see "Desperate Houswives," "Lost," "24," even "Law and Order," but I have no doubt "The Wire" tops them all.

Yeah, I’m hooked.