Ex-Bush aide arrested for theft was nominee for Court of Appeals

You'd have to read pretty deep into the news stories to find out, but Claude Allen, the ex-Bush aide recently arrested on charges that he effectively stole some $5,000 of merchandise from retailers is the same Claude Allen that Bush had nominated to the 4th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals.  After it became clear that Bush would be unable to push the nomination through the senate, Allen "requested" that his nomination be withdrawn.

Our illustrious president has stated that he is "shocked" by the charges against Allen.  When you finish reading this, you probably won't be.

Bush confident about Iraq civil war...which is why I'm not

When a man who has been wrong more times than a hunch better at a fixed roulette wheel, our president inexplicably likes to voice his opinions.  Think "heck of a job, Brownie," his opinion that no one could have anticipated the breaks in the New Orleans levees, many statements about WMD, and his vociferous assurances that the Dubai ports deal would go through.  I think I would very much like to go to a race track with George W.  Every time he bet on a race, I could at least eliminate his choice a a potential winner, improving my own odds considerably.

His latest is in the AP headline "Bush Confident Iraq Will Avoid Civil War."

Just Censure, Russ? Gee Whiz!

Senator Russ Feingold wants the Senate to censure Lord Clusterf**k, eh? Story here...

Joke, No, Game Show, Absolutely!

Tom Gilroy makes a pretty sick point over at huffpo, that some jokes aren't funny, or are they?

Beware yon Casio, it may lead to a very lean and hungry look

"Yon Cassius has a lean and hungry look;
He thinks too much: such men are dangerous"
Caesar to Antony in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar,  Act 1, Scene 2.

Nowadays, it's Casio not Cassius causing the alarm, according to an AP report dated today, which reveals that the evidence the U.S. has cited against 8 detainees at Guantanamo include the fact that they were wearing Casio digital watches when picked up.

All Hail Alberto the Slithy, Torturer of the Meaning of "Torture"

Well, "SLITHY" means "lithe and slimy." "Lithe" is the same as "active." You see it's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings packed up into one word. Humpty Dumpty, in Alice in Wonderland.

And Alberto Gonzales is all that and more, if you've followed his public appearances and his unreassuring assurances on several subjects over the last several days.  The definition of "torture" once again tortured.  The ambiguity of prior statements to the Senate clarified so as to increase the ambiguity.  Announcement by the Attorney General for what appears to be one of the most corrupt administrations in history that "One of my priorities for the Justice Department in the coming year is to better safeguard public integrity -- not solely in the area of Hurricane related fraud, but also procurement fraud and other instances of public corruption."

Multi-national business ethics on parade

I couldn't resist posting this small, relatively insignificant example of the lack of ethics in international business.  A UK news site reports that a multi-national energy firm, called "E.ON UK," stuffed the electronic ballot box at a UK newspaper trying to take a poll on whether it was a good idea to  build seven 355-foot wind turbines on Denshaw Moor in Oldham, Greater Manchester, as the enrgy company was proposing to do.

Rape as part of the military recruitment process; this isn't likely to help

Rueters is reporting that two women have sued the Marine Corps, the Navy, Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Michael Hagee, Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter and two Marine Corps recruiters, alleging that the recruiters forced them to have sex after they expressed interest in joining the Corps.

Repub politicians still in Bush's pocket, but conservatives getting restless

Two stories in today's news pretty well demonstrate the state of Republican allegence to Mr. Bush.  In one, it's obvious that Bush, although he's lost the ability to keep the Republicans in Washington in total lock step, still has enough clout to make them whimper "okay, Georgie" as to domestic spying.  But in the other, it appears that Bush's hold on unelected Republican conservatives may be tenuous, indeed, from the reported roasting he took at a forum sponsored by the Cato Institute.

Vermonters agitating for impeachment

At my new state's series of Town Meetings last night, 5 Vermont towns approved a nonbinding resolution calling on our sole member of the U.S. House, Bernie Sanders, to file articles of impeachment against President Bush for misleading the nation into the Iraq war and engaging in illegal domestic spying.