Another two Republican moral exemplars

Does it ever stop now?  Say hello to yet another two Republican members of the House who appear to have managed to use their official offices for personal gain of on kind or another.

Thoughts on PJ O'Rourke and those "dangerous altruists"

In a forum on C-SPAN, PJ O'Rourke said that altruists are the second most dangerous people in the world, behind only the "true sociopaths...Altruists.  Who knows where they're coming from?"

In Alaska, political bribery is just okay

I couldn't add much to this absurdity, so here's the relevant excerpt from an Alaskan newspaper:

Gee, do you think there might be a connection?

Every time I see a bizarre smear attack on a political candidate, I look for the corresponding news story that probably produce the panic which led to the smear.

They may not be deeply offended citizens, but they can play them for the t.v. cameras

Do you find the word "slavishly" to have ugly connotations?  Do you think it implies that the person whose actions are described is somehow actually acting as a slave?

Washington looking for new Iraq strong man?

There are rumors that the U.S. has told the Iraqi PM that he has a very short time--two months--to get the nightmare at least started in the right direction and, at the same time, was allegedly searching for a new "strong man" to pull the militias into line and assert the power of central government over Iraq's catatonic insecurity.

Quote of the day:

Make no mistake, the Republican Party is polluted. I have found that out locally here in Bradley County. It's obvious to me that both the Republicans and the leaders of the Religious Right are contemptuous of rank and file conservative Christians, not each other. By forming a new party we cast a new direction united and committed to do the work together. I fear the Mark Foley scandal is only a small part of the problem.
Greg Cain, in a letter to yesterday's Chattanoogan newspaper (Tenn).

Ken Mehlman uses "GOP-mantics" to deny he did Abramoff's bidding

Unless you're younger that 16, have been in a coma, or think that the news is a back-up band for a guy named Huey Newton, you know that the current crop of Republicans has made semantics America's number one political game.

Quotes of the day:

If these best-and-brightest did not know that their own motivations and behavior were racist and offensive, what does this tell us about how they have been educated; about how they have been prepared to be leaders in the world? Who failed them so abysmally in teaching them to live, work, and love in a world where most people do not look, think, talk, or act like them?
Bernestine Singley, discussing U of Texas white law students who held a "Ghetto Fabulous" party at which students had "40-ounce cans of malt liquor, fake guns, "ethnic" names, do-rags, jeweled grills on their front teeth, and loud jewelry."

When we look at what has happened with same-sex marriage, as it began in this state and threatens to spread across the country, we've seen in its wake the loss of religious freedoms and the ability to speak out based upon one's moral convictions.
Tony Perkins, head of the  Family Research Council, speaking at "Liberty Sunday: Defending Our First Freedom," in Massachusetts [apparently without bothering to specify exactly how gay marriage had produced this loss of religious freedoms.]

The "it's a great economy" con isn't catching on

Is reality catching up to those con men and women who have an "(R)" after their name in Congress?