Try this one on:  tromp on the Constitution and the federal law against warrantless spying and you're okay, but download some music illegally and you're in B I G trouble, my friend.  So much trouble, you'll have to see Alberto G in person.

I find it so absolutely amazing, at the number of Rethugs who want to drown in Shlub's wake...

The Iraq apologists, in their ever-dwindling numbers, insist that the media doesn't report "good news" from Iraq, and exaggerates the bad news it does report.  In fact, that seems to be the theme of the month for a White House desperate to stop their public opinion bleeding.  Sort of a "who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes," except the administration doesn't want to tell people their eyes are lying; they want to tell them that their eyes are simply focused on a bunch of media lies.

So, with the same good faith employed by the White House in their campaign to smear the media, let me offer some good Iraq news.

So Big Jack the Flack Abramoff got the minimum sentence of 5 years and 10 months in Florida.  I wonder why.  Is it because he's such a nice guy that his goodness far outweighed his badness?  Sadly, that may be just what the Judge thought.

Raw Story has a link to the PDF of the Pre-sentencing Memorandum that Jack Abramoff's defense team submitted in hopes of mitigating his sentence.

Today's announcement (preceded by the RNC's distribution of talking points: Card "was not fired") that Josh Bolten is moving from Director of OMB to replace Andy Card as White House Chief of Staff seems eerily like John Boehner replacing Tom DeLay.  There's a nanosecond of relief followed by a million seconds of "uh oh."

From the Department of Just Asking:

It's always interesting theater when the Republicans--who have been the party of the rich and the businessman for as long as I've been alive--portray themselves as protectors of the common man.  That was Reagan's primary pose, as it is for George W. Bush (but not his father).

And of course the foaming heads on t.v. are all just as ordinary as...well, lets take a tour of some menus and a trip through Ann Coulter's past.

I just came across this bit of info on the Cooperative Research web site, in the form of a reprint of a Sarasota Herald-Tribune; article from September 10, 2002:  In the now-famous film of the President reading his children's book in a Florida elementary school when interrupted with news of the terrorist attacks on 9-11, the typical grade school decorations on the wall behind the president were designed by--get ready--"A White House stage artist, not teachers or students..."

God, they do so much better at playacting than they do at governing!  If we chipped in and bought them a nice little theater where they could play Government Executives to their heart's content (or until they actually grew up), do you think they'd just get the hell out of here and let us go back to trying to live?

The Economist magazine for March 25-31 has a lengthy piece on the situation in Iraq titled Iraq--Murder is Certain (pages 49-51).

Some interesting quotes, facts, and sentiments, especially in light of the source, which is hardly anti-Bush or anti-war.  But don't expect to hear any of this from Bush, Cheney, Rummy, Fox, et al.

How do you tell what really matters to someone?  You pay attention to what they do, not what they say.  What they say can help some in interpreting ambiguous actions, but most actions really aren't that ambiguous.

And "actions" means both affirmative actions--things done, and negative actions--things undone when it was possible to do them.  In fact, it is often telling to compare actions taken in one context to inactions in other but similar contexts.

Who is George Bush?  Well, I'd love to hear some respected mainstream journalist ask him in direct terms to explain the apparent contradictions inherent in Mr. Bush's actions in these contexts.

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