"What were you thinking of?", asked the judge at the sentencing phase of a trial that just landed two former airline pilots into the pokey.

When their tactic of trying to delay in order to redact the faces of the tortured ran out, the Bush administration filed a new motion to oppose the release of the photos based on an entirely new argument.

Yet another example of our commander-and-thief taking up the mantle for people like Pol-Pot and the now-deposed Saddam Hussein.

Ok, so I got an article in my inbox about fifteen seconds ago, and it was from one of my uber-con friends (yes, I am not too 'elite' to hang about with these misguided souls... at least not yet).

It was by the Great Retard of Dubious Parentage Himself, David Limbaugh. He doesn't want to let the Rove story go just yet.

Good thing, too. Because it's not over.

More after the jump.

President Bush will veto the new defense spending budget if it includes provisions against torture.

According to the AP, the White House threatened to veto the $442 Billion defense spending bill if it means they can't torture people any more. More after the jump.

This just says it all:

This just says it all:

228 Lashes.
Hanging until dead.
Welcome to being gay in Iran...

I have seen and done many things in my life, but I never would have thought I would be sitting here, reading a post by Michelle Malkin, and nodding and smiling.

From the diary of #6:

Oh, yes, to those of us now approaching retirement age, he was something of a mentor to us geeks coming of age in the 1960's: Scotty of Star Trek.

I can count myself as among those who never would've embraced quantum, mechanics, fluid hydraulics, electronics, and aviation otherwise...without Mister Scott's influence.

To many, of course, Trek was just silly science fiction, and they may be right, there were some cheap FX, a few scripts we could all live without.

But, Star Trek came at a time when we needed to see what may well come to pass, an age and time of Dr. King's dream, a realm where racism, sexism, hate and prejudice have long since disappeared from this planet. Kennedy told us about how to get the ball rolling, Trek showed us what the brochure looked like.

And even during the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo days, being smarter than the other asswipes was not a blessing, more a curse. Geeks are always hated, of course, but like those who clean out septic tanks, we are often needed more than most wish was likely.

To me, Star Trek and Mister Scott said it all: This is what can be done if we put aside the annoying little bullshit, work as one and solve our problems, and from there, do the impossible. Armstrong stepping down from the LM was solid proof of that.

And in an age of Nixon and his reactionary cast of followers, it was a beacon of hope for those tired of Vietnam, phony morality, the love of cash, and that always crying of "GET A HAIRCUT YOU SORRY COMMIE PINKO!"

I remember the outcry: The first ever televised interracial kiss in history. So many gagged. Me? Kiss Nichelle Nichols? For FREE? WHERE DO I SIGN UP????!!!

Funny, I am Mister Scott. That's me now, always running here and there, always chasing down something broken, and usually on long OT, too. Everything's an emergency. Not so, it's called lack of planning, of course. Try explaining to bean counters that simple preventative maintenance is far cheaper than last-second USAirways, true? Well?

So long, Jim. You gave us all so much hope when hope was sorely needed. Say hi to Gene and Dee for me. And say hi to Martin and John, too, as we all shared the dream and still do to this day.

And I learned something that I use to this day: The future does not belong to cowards or regressive types, not to those who embrace a utopia of a past that never, ever existed, but the future belongs to those just crazy enough to dare the impossible, armed with dreams of much, much better days yet to come. The drawback is that such can be very scary and rich with unknown, but honestly, would you want it any other way?

Not me. Not ever. Thanks, Jim. I owe you one.

Retired actor and WW2 veteran James Doohan passed beyond the veil this morning. He was 85.

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