The latest Rasmussen polls are in, and of the top three Republican and top three Democratic candidates, only one beats out every competitor — America's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani. On the Democratic side, both Edwards and Obama lose to Giuliani, but none of the other GOP candidates, while Hillary goes down to Giuliani, McCain and even Fred Thompson of TV's Law & Order, though the latter is only by a single percentage point, well within the margin of error.

Perhaps the strangest factor was the Democratic candidate who came closest to beating Giuliani — dark horse Connecticut senator Chris Dodd, who came within five points. He was followed by Obama at six, Edwards at seven, Clinton at eight, Biden at 11 and Richardson at 17. America's Mayor continues to mystify me.

At first, my own opinion seemed to follow the conventional wisdom of the pundits. I've argued many times , beginning many months ago, that Giuliani's record as a pro-gay rights, pro-choice politician with three wives under his belt would doom him to the Christian conservatives that make up a huge swath of the GOP's voting base (as opposed to the free-market, laissez faire libertarians that make up its monetary base). On further reflection, I must admit that I overestimated the Christian right's demand for political purity. Looking back, it seems so stupid of me now to have done so. We're talking batshit-insane Jesus freaks here, ace. Hypocrisy is their middle name. If they believe that Rudy is the only one who stands a chance of beating the "godless liberals," they'll vote for him in a heartbeat.

Save us from the heathens!

Not that I can't respect that. In fact, I like pragmatism. It's why I had to finally abandon my pleas for the world to get on board the Kucinich bus. Of course, I moved from Kucinich to tentative support for Obama — hardly a gigantic leap in anything but electability. Here, though, we're seeing the sort of leap of faith that only the truly devout could make — support for someone who believes in almost nothing they believe in, simply going on faith that he will serve them well once in office. Bizarre.

And in the end, I don't think Mayor Rudy's got as much of a chance as people and polls say he does. If Democrats have learned one thing from these foul, Rove-inflicted years in politics, it's to attack political enemies at their strong points, not their weak ones. And Mayor Rudy only has one strong point, ace. Say it with me now, because you know hizzoner will be saying it about six times a sentence from now till November — SEPTEMBER 11.

Unfortunately for Rudy, this strong point is easily assailable. Witness this AP story that appeared in The Guardian today. To whit: "We want America to know what this guy meant to New York City firefighters,'' said Peter Gorman, head of the Uniformed Fire Officers Association. "In our experiences with this man, he disrespected us in the most horrific way.''

In the words of Austin Powers, very ouch, baby. Between the firefighters and the recent revelation that Giuliani knew about Bernard Kerik's possible Mob ties even before he recommended him to be NYC's chief of police, Giuliani will be whipped like a broken mule if he wins the GOP nomination. Count on it.

After all, many of the GOP voters are only overlooking Giuliani's liberal social views because of their national security concerns. When it becomes common knowledge that Giuliani made Bernard Kerik, a man with possible mob ties, the police chief of New York City, and then recommended that said mobbed-up cop be named the head of the Dept. of Homeland Security, well, there'll be problems.

Giuliani and Kerik, bff

If Giuliani is the GOP's nomination, and the Democrat runs a proper presidential campaign, Mayor Rudy will lose by 20 points. He'll go down in history as the GOP's Dukakis, and he'll wake up at night screaming "Kerik!" for the rest of his days, just as Dukakis has been rumored to stay up late, staring quietly out his bedroom window, sipping a cup of tea and murmuring "Horton, Horton, Horton..." long into the night.

If you listen closely, you can still hear his plaintive call

Hell, Rudy's even got his dumb photo in costume, paralleling Dukakis' tank-driving moment:

Nice

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 04:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

From Reuters.

Photo No. 1:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi says something to President Bush

Photo No. 2:

The reactions, seconds later

Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 12:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I figured the House's attempt to put a timeline on troop withdrawal into the war-funding bill would stall in the Senate. Apparently, I was wrong. The Senate voted to keep in the time table, leaving President Bush in the ugly position of having to veto the war-funding bill. The breakdown of the voting, 50-48, has some interesting betrayals. Sen. Enzi of Wyoming and Sen. Johnson of South Dakota — still recovering from his stroke — didn't vote. The loss of one Republican and one Democrat means 50 Dems and 48 GOP. Given the vote, one would think it broke down on party lines. Not quite. Joe Lieberman, the slavishly hawkish independent from Connecticut, broke ranks with the Dems, as did Arkansas' Mark Pryor, perhaps the most conservative Democrat in the Senate, with the possible exception of Ben Nelson.

Boltin' Joe shares a tender moment with his favorite war criminal

However, the GOP experienced its own backstabbings, with Chuck Hagel and Goordon Smith both siding with the Dems. Smith has been as reliably turncoat as Lieberman over the last few months, but unlike Joe, Smith is up for re-election in 2008. And unlike Hagel and Pryor, who are also up for re-election, Smith is vulnerable, hailing from highly blue Oregon. It'll be a fairly tough pickup for the Dems (I think Colorado, New Hampshire and Minnesota are all more likely), but still a real possibility.

Gordon Smith, No. 4 with a bullet

Meanwhile, Rolling Stone's recent issue makes mention of something I've long thought worrisome — the fact that ridiculously overpriced Democratic campaign consultants also have a horribly bad track record. The story says that the odeous Bob Shrum has been essentially put out to pasture — something I hadn't heard till now — so that much is good. Anyone who can lose both 2000 and 2004 has no business in politics.

Bob Shrum, loser

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 03:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dammit, why the hell didn't I bet money on this? My picks in the NCAA bracket were looking pretty shoddy as the Sweet 16 rolled around. I called just nine of the 16 teams. However, six of those nine went on to the Elite 8. The two of the eight that I didn't call, Memphis and the god-damned, motherfucking Kansas Jayhawks, both went down. Memphis got served by the higher-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. But the No. 1-ranked Jayhawks were annihilated by No. 2 seed UCLA, 68-55. Hell yes. Go back to that hayseed hickville Lawrence, you no-talent hacks. The tournament's better off without your kind.

Meanwhile, just as I predicted, Florida knocked off Oregon to enter the final four, while Georgetown upset UNC. All that remains now is for the two remaining No. 1-ranked teams (Florida and Ohio State) to beat out the two remaining No. 2-ranked teams, and the championship game will be as I have forseen.

By the way, it's worth mentioning that I'm better than every single alleged expert at CBS. Jesus, boys, what do they pay you for?

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 02:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

When do we see the inevitable, an attorney general going before the microphones, begging forgiveness and restraint, and then expressing his desire to "spend more time with the family"? It's really only a matter of time now, though despite several bombshells dropping over the weekend, Monday has seen precious little said about Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, or AG AG, for the brevity-inclined.

Soon to be ex-AG AG

Despite the fact that new e-mails released over the weekend confirm that Gonzales was spewing bullshit when he claimed to know nothing of the process that led to the firings, and despite the fact that former U.S. attorney John McKay declared on Meet the Press yesterday that he was fired for purely political motives, there is a distinct absence of news about The Gonzales 8 today. (And what shall we call the scandal? GonzoGate? Opinions, anyone?)

The main reason for that, of course, is that OH MY FUCKING GOD UP IN HEAVEN ABOVE, ANNA NICOLE SMITH'S AUTOPSY REPORT IS IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. Yes, it's been all Anna, all the time today.

"TrimSpa, Baby! (And assorted other drugs.)"

Speaking of the Sun-Sentinel (I linked its Anna story, above), is it just me or has this story about how Fort Lauderdale is no longer a Spring Break location, but is instead the playground of affluent families run in the Sun-Sentinel every March of every year since 1987? It even uses the word "posh," the word that is invariably used in press releases by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Visitors Bureau to describe modern Fort Lauderdale as opposed to the old Spring Break locale. Me, I wish it was 20 years ago. Families may bring in more cash, but the trade off in ennui is just not worth it.

In other news, Hillary Clinton just raised $10 million in a week, utterly destroying all previous fundraising records. Back in 2004, it was a big deal when John Edwards raised $7.5 million in three months. Hillary's numbers would be like a baseball player staring down Hank Aaron's 755 home runs, then hitting a lifetime, say, seven thousand or so. Un-freaking-believable. It's all well and good for Hillary, but it leaves me wondering: Just how many people is she going to owe favors to when/if she gets in office?

Hillary Clinton, where cash is king

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Apparently, the uncertainty principle of quantum physics now applies to presidential campaigns. Both of these stories are from Reuters:

Edwards continues campaign despite wife's cancer

Edwards to suspend presidential campaign

Um ... in the parlance of our times, WTF?

P.S. In case you hadn't, the former story is the correct one. The Edwards campaign soldiers on, despite a resurgence of cancer in one of Elizabeth Edwards' ribs.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A month ago, I pointed out the story that
JEB! is on the Mitt Romney bus. Now, the Miami Herald's Beth Reinhard mentions on her blog, Naked Politics, that said bus has pulled up to stately Huizenga Manor.

Billionaire H. Wayne Huizenga, supporter of Romney, Miami Dolphins and puppycide.

It appears Romney is using Scarface as a model for his behind-the-scenes work in Florida, as should any half-bright politician. In this case, the axiom that applies is "You gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the woman."

With Huizenga and Jeb, Romney has the money and the power. Next, look for him to gain the endorsement of the ghost of Anna Nicole Smith.

Alleged 2008 Republican Presidential Nominee Mitt Romney

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 04:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Check out this quote. The $140,000 contract in question? Supplying furniture and computers for Dick Cheney's office. I shit you not.

"To recap, the White House awarded a one-month, $140,000 contract to an individual who never held a federal contract. Two weeks after he got paid, that same contractor used a cashier’s check for exactly that amount to buy a boat for a now-imprisoned congressman at a price that the congressman had pre-negotiated."

Read on. Because guess what? The U.S. Attorney who won the conviction against that congressman (Duke Cunningham) was Carol Lam, one of the Gonzales 8. Was she ousted to save Cheney from prosecution?

Meanwhile, the White House has just announced: "THE PRESIDENT WILL MAKE A STATEMENT ON THE U.S. ATTORNEY MATTER SHORTLY AFTER RETURNING FROM KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI AT 5:45 PM, EDT, TODAY, MARCH 20, 2007, IN THE DIPLOMATIC RECEPTION ROOM."

The liberal blogosphere is already buzzing that this is the Gonzales-has-resigned speech, but I sincerely doubt that. Bush's call to Gonzales earlier today, expressing his support, probably bought AG A.G. at least 48 hours.

Oh, by the way, all of the documents released yesterday and today can be found here. There's some 3,000 pages, so I haven't even gone through a tiny fraction of them yet, but they occasionally make for interesting reading, especially when one of the big names like Kyle Sampson pops up. Happy reading, ace.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

What with Walter Reed, The Gonzales 8, and Valerie Plame testifying before Congress in the ongoing Plamegate Affair, it's almost as if there simply isn't enough room in our collective psyches for another scandal. Which is probably why, over the same time period, two massive bombshells have dropped with little notice.

First, the FBI admitted it had illegally used the Patriot Act to gather information about American citizens. To me, that seems even more scandalous than any of the aforementioned current events. Here, actual, serious crimes have been admitted to by a government agency. And yet, when compared to Gonzales, Walter Reed and Plame, this has barely registered as a blip on the radar.

And then there's the little matter of what's happening in Ohio. Just last week, two GOP-appointed election officials were sentenced to 18 months in jail each for rigging the 2004 recount in Ohio, guaranteeing the re-election of George Bush. Now, the new, Democratic Secretary of State, Jennifer Brunner, has asked that the bosses of those two workers, the four members of the Cuyahoga County Elections Board, resign or be fired. They've refused, and this one's going back to the courts.

Meanwhile, in smaller, more local, and more insignificant idiocies, I managed to pick only 9 of the Sweet 16. However, I still hold out hope — my Final Four picks are all still alive. Go Gators!

Also, it was with some sense of consternation that I read an ill-informed and completely unsupported anti-global warming screed in my own company's Sun-Sentinel. It comes with the usual "many scientists disagree" platitudes, with the usual inability to name a single one (preferably one not on the payroll of an energy company), while ignoring the fact that a huge coalition of scientists all agree that global warming is real and is caused by humans. Indeed, the article attempts to paint the findings of these scientists, The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in the recent Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis as, in fact, being against Gore's claims:

"Mr. "I Invented the Internet" is renowned for his exaggerations. He has been using the microphones provided him by the mainstream media to predict, among other things, that global warming will cause ocean levels to rise 20 feet. To demonstrate how much the media has adopted his preaching as gospel, all you have to do is check the recent cover of Sports Illustrated, which had Dontrelle Willis of the Marlins depicted on a baseball diamond in water up to his waist.
One problem: The U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which Gore quotes in almost every appearance, says its worst-case scenario is that the most sea levels will rise in the next hundred years is 23 inches. That's only a difference of more than 18 feet."

This is, quite simply, a lie — or at the very least, a fundamentally flawed misreading of the report (I won't even bother with the bullshit "Invented the Internet" meme, debunked a thousand times over). I've read the report, you see. To quote it, "thermal expansion alone would lead to 0.3 to 0.8m of sea level rise by 2300." OK, so far, the quote above looks reasonable. But it fails to account for the very next point in the report, which states "If a negative surface mass balance were sustained for millennia, that would lead to virtually complete elimination of the Greenland ice sheet and a resulting contribution to sea level rise of about 7m."

So, there's your 20 feet. So, obviously, the article ignores all the facts in a desperate attempt to make them fit its author's world view. Who would write such a skewed picture of the world and call it journalism? Ann Coulter? Sean Hannity? Oh, no ... it's the Sun-Sentinel's TV critic, Tom Jicha! Well, at least in his most recent column, he's back to commenting on American Idol, so hopefully we won't be treated to any more of this garbage.

Look, it's really quite simple:

Here's CO2 in the atmosphere over time. Note the huge spike since the Industrial Revolution.

Here's temperature changes over the last 2000 years.

Ta-da! How hard was that?

Anyway, that's all you get out of me today. I'm crawling back under a rock to continue sleeping off St. Paddy's Day.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 04:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, I'm 12-4. My prediction that all No. 10 teams will beat all No. 7 teams looks pretty stupid now, with both No. 7s that played yesterday beating their opponents. Meanwhile, Duke somehow found a way to lose to Virginia Commonwealth, and George Washington went down to Vandy, rounding out my four incorrect picks. That last one was among my more delirious calls, but what the hell. You gotta make a few crazy ones.

Meanwhile, as I write this Valerie Plame is testifying before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. It's worth noting that said committee is chaired by Henry Waxman of California, one of the Bush administration's most dogged critics.

He's also one of the prettiest congressmen

Meanwhile, also as I write this, "senior Republican Party officials" are meeting with Alberto Gonzales. No link on that, but take my word for it, ace. It's happening right now. I imagine the meeting includes phrases like "for the good of the party" and "spend some time with the family, Al." And I imagine Gonzales is sweating and smarming and squirming, looking all around for the bossman, George, the man whose coattails Gonzales has ridden throughout his professional career. But, sadly for Alberto, the boss is never around when the hit goes down.

A look inside Gonzales' meeting with GOP officials.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 10:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

This is the sort of story you only dream of writing one day. After making the campaign promise to impale Bush if elected president in 2008, self-described satanic vampire Jonathan "The Impaler" Sharkey received a visit from the Secret Service. The story is rife with once-in-a-lifetime quotes such as "They didn't even ask to see my impaling stick." And, the money quote, “They were telling me, when they were interrogating me, that their job was to protect Bush even after he’s out of office. I’m looking at them like, ‘Oh, you’re going to defy me when I become president?’ ”

Does it get better than that? I'm not sure.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 12:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

OK, so Gonzales didn't resign like I said he would, but man, he looked petrified. Let's go to the transcript, along with my commentary (in bold)

GONZALES: Let me begin with some core principles, some things that I believe in. (I'll just let that slide. Too easy.)

One, I believe in the independence of our U.S. attorneys. They are the face of the department. They are my representative in the community. I acknowledge their sacrifice. I acknowledge their courage to step into the arena on behalf of the American people.

(If he believes in their independence, why did he carry out Bush's orders to have them removed? Last October, Bush came to Gonzales with the concerns of other Republican officials about certain U.S. attorneys. The firings began soon afterward.)

Secondly, the attorney general, all political appointees, such as U.S. attorneys, serve at the pleasure of the president of the United States.

(True enough, but even Kyle Sampson, Gonzales' chief of staff who resigned yesterday, admitted in an e-mail to a colleague that U.S. Attorneys have, in recent memory, never been fired in this manner. So quit trying to patronize us, Alberto.)

Third, I believe fundamentally in the constitutional role of the Senate in advice and consent with respect to U.S. attorneys, and would in no way support an effort to circumvent that constitutional role.

(Yes, I suppose you do. In fact, in sworn testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, you promised that you would avoid replacing U.S. Attorneys without the consent of congress. In other words, now that you've done so, you lied under oath. Nicely done, Alberto)

I believe in accountability. Like every CEO of a major organization, I am responsible for what happens at the Department of Justice. I acknowledge that mistakes were made here. I accept that responsibility. And my pledge to the American people is to find out what went wrong here, to access accountability, and to make improvements so that the mistakes that occurred in this instance do not occur again in the future.

(Christ, here we go. The old canard about "accepting responsibility" when, in fact, you're not resigning, you're not changing anything, you're just going on with business as usual. You can't accept responsibility while refusing to accept consequences, Alberto, you douchebag. And the next time any would-be civil servant compares his job to that of a CEO, fire him. Period. The government does not and should not work like a corporation. The government is not there to make a profit. It is there to provide for the citizens of the country, regardless of profit. Folks, the next time any political appointee compares his job to that of a CEO, kick him in the nuts. Hard.)

Finally, let me just say one thing.

I've overcome a lot of obstacles in my life to become attorney general. I am here not because I give up; I am here because I've learned from my mistakes, because I accept responsibility and because I'm committed to doing my job. And that is what I intend to do here on behalf of the American people.

(You've never done jack shit on behalf of the American people, Alberto. You've looked at the attorney-general gig the same way you looked at your former job as White House counsel — through the prism of aiding Bush regardless of the morality or legality of the president's actions. You've permitted torture, for God's sake. You've approved of the most heinous crime one human being can commit upon another human being. And you did it not out of any personal sadism or other vicious desire, but simply because it was the best way to help your supposed boss, the president. Not, it should be noted, your actual boss, the people. And that's what makes you particularly sad, Alberto. You don't really approve of torture. You approve of whatever your boss wants you to. You're not a sadist, you're a masochist. You're a sycophantic little toadie whose life has no meaning without that El Jefe, so just, please, quit taking up air that the rest of us need to live.)

Anyway, enough of that asshat. On to the NCAA:

FIRST ROUND:
Florida over Jackson St.
Arizona over Purdue
Butler over Old Dominion
Maryland over Davidson
Notre Dame over Winthrop
Oregon over Miami (ohio)
Georgia Tech over UNLV
Wisconsin over Texas A&M CC

Kansas over Florida A&M
Kentucky over Villanova
Illinois over Virginia Tech
Southern Ill. over Holy Cross
Duke over VCU
Pitt. over Wright St.
Gonzaga over Indiana
UCLA over Weber St.

UNC over Eastern Ky.
Michigan St. over Marquette
So. Cal. over Arkansas
Texas over New Mexico St.
George Washington over Vanderbilt
Wash. St. over Oral Roberts
Texas Tech over Boston College
Georgetown over Belmont

Ohio St. over C. Conn. St.
Xavier over BYU
Tenn. over Long Beach
Virginia over Albany
Louisville over Stanford
Texas A&M over Penn.
Creighton over Nevada
Memphis over North Texas

SECOND ROUND:
Florida over Arizona
Maryland over Butler
Oregon over Notre Dame
Wisconsin over Georgia Tech

Kentucky over Kansas — believe it! Kansas is ripe for a fall.
Southern Ill. over Illinois — cross-state rivals!
Duke over Pitt — Duke will not be denied a Sweet 16 birth
UCLA over Gonzaga

UNC over Michigan St.
So. Cal. over Texas
Wash. St. over George Washington
Georgetown over Texas Tech

Ohio St. over Xavier
Tenn. over Virginia
Louisville over Texas A&M
Creighton over Memphis

SWEET 16
Florida over Maryland
Oregon over Wisconsin
Kentucky over Southern Ill.
UCLA over Duke
UNC over So. Cal.
Georgetown over Wash. St.
Ohio St. over Tenn.
Louisville over Creighton

ELITE 8
Florida over Oregon
UCLA over Kentucky
Georgetown over UNC
Ohio St. over Louisville

FINAL 4
Florida over UCLA
Ohio St. over Georgetown

CHAMPIONSHIP
Florida over Ohio St. in a rematch of the NCAA football championship!!!! OH MY!!!!!!!

Interesting note: Didn't realize it until afterward, but I picked every No. 10 to beat every No. 7 in the first round. Weird. Also, I picked Kentucky to go to the Elite 8 because:
1) I fucking hate the god-damned, motherfucking, thrice-damned Kansas Jayhawks.
2) Bob Norman

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 03:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Why not? His chief of staff, Kyle Sampson, resigned yesterday, Democratic senator Pat Leahy has called for his resignation, and even Republican senator Arlen Specter has suggested that Gonzales' reign as A-G could be shorter rather than longer.

With the firings of U.S. attorneys and the potential resignation of the A-G, this is looking like Watergate, v. 2.0.

But who gives a rat's ass? The NCAA men's bracket is out, and I'm filling mine out. My picks, later today.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 01:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first time we saw the Captain, he was punching out Hitler.

First appearance, 1941

Now, he's apparently deceased, laid low by a gutshot from a sniper.

Capt. America, in his final moments.

He'll no doubt be back — these things have a way of righting themselves in the comic world. Whether he's cloned, or someone else puts on the costume, or other heroes use a time-traveling device to go back and save him. But that's not the issue here.

Captain America has always been a sort of gauge for the mood of the American people. He fought Nazis in the 40s; was even more truth, justice and American way than Superman in the 50s; started to question his government in the 60s; and so on. What does it say about America, then, that in the 2000s, he has been put down like a rabid dog?

Think on that for the next few days, ace. Me, I'm off to Langerado. Three days of surrounding myself with 20,000 hippies. Should be a blast. Read all about it in next week's City Link.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 05:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The first time I read Scooter Libby's name, it was at the bottom of this document. Remember the Project for the New American Century? They're the folks who outlined our current Middle East strategy, which basically boils down to Bomb the Shit out of Everyone and Take Their Oil, a decade ago, when they were out of power and Clinton was trying to dodge impeachment. Libby was part of that crew, along with Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz ... basically the whole nasty team that would pull into town a few years later and change the world forever, and not for the better.

And now, the first of the 25 names at the bottom of that document is finally going where he belongs — prison. Scooter Libby was a lot of things — chief of staff to the Vice President, assistant to the President, National Security Advisor to the Vice President, Grown man with the nickname "Scooter" — but one thing he was not was honest. When the jury came back in the Libby trial, they hit him with guilty verdicts on four out of five charges. But that is only the beginning of the horse-whipping that the Bush administration is about to receive.

Over in Congress, Democrats are looking closely at the reasons behind the firings of eight U.S. Attorneys, likely for entirely political motives. And, of course, there's that little problem over at Walter Reed.

Screwed

Screweder

Screwedest

Libby faces up to 25 years behind bars, but he probably wouldn't be sentenced to more than 2-8 years, possibly even 1-4, if the perjury and obstruction cases back in the Iran-Contra days are any indication. Speaking of Iran-Contra, it's worth pointing out that Poppy Bush pardoned six people involved in that mess, including Secretary of Defense Casper Weinberger and Elliot Abrams, who, it may also be worth noting, has a position as a Middle East expert in the current Bush regime. All that being said, I think the chances of a Scooter pardon are actually fairly slim. The political price to be paid by the GOP would be huge. It would all but guarantee a Democratic White House in '09, along with big gains in the House and Senate. Unless, of course, Bush waited until after the election to do it. But Scooter doesn't have that much time. His appeal — and the desperate attempt to go to the Supreme Court after that fails — will take no more than a year and a half. So by the time Bush leaves the White House, Scooter will have been in jail for at least four months. Scooter will be damned if he does jail time. So the pardon will have to come earlier, before the election. And it will screw the election for the GOP.

So, I expect that party orders will come down telling Bush to sit on his hands, "for the good of the nation" or whatever. Besides, it doesn't matter to Bush. I don't think Libby can tie Bush to the Plame outing, just Cheney. Which means Cheney could get thrown under a bus if Libby fingers him in exchange for a light sentence. And don't think for a second that Bush wouldn't kick Cheney to the curb. Loyalty means little in these circles, as Scooter "Fall Guy" Libby clearly reveals. In fact, I've been predicting this turn of events for a while now.

But one other thought here. The vice president's office really has no executive powers. Constitutionally, he doesn't do anything except preside over the senate. So, what the hell is he doing with a chief of staff anyway? It seems to me that the vice president's office has been nothing but a sort of shadow government black ops division, in both this and former administrations. What's the good of it? Is this not just a colossal waste of tax dollars for extremely high-priced political hitmen? The whole thing stinks of Dumb and Doom, ace.

So when the other shoe falls, and Libby squeals like a pig, maybe we should just clear out the whole damned office along with Cheney. It seems like the right thing to do. And then, just kick back and wait for the rest of the shoes to fall, like mold off the walls of a room in Building 18. Because, rest assured, they will fall. Metaphorically, D.C. will look like Imelda Marcos' closet when all is said and done.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Is it just me, or does it seem like the firings of both General George Weightman and, just a few hours later, Army Secretary Francis Harvey, are not enough?

Does what happened at Walter Reed not strike anyone else as some sort of crime? Is there nothing about it that involves massive fines and jail time? No punishment for the wicked, just the sad embarrassment of being forced out of employment after displaying breathtaking incompetence? It just don't seem right.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 05:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Amazing that after millennia of use, we still need articles like this to tell us, yes, weed is beneficial. But a major journal calling marijuana a "wonder drug" gives pause even to people like me that have a somewhat permissive attitude about these things. Just goes to show you how much we've all been taught to think a certain way about the Grim Reefer.

Nice ice, baby.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 04:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

After returning from a trip to the Midwest, Air Force One lands gently on the tarmac, and President Bush steps out onto the stairway, a squealing piglet under each arm. The Marines at the end of the stairway salute and snap to attention. As Bush passes them by, one of the Marines offers, "Those are some nice pigs, sir."

Bush peers carefully at the Marine before replying, "Glad you asked me 'bout the pigs. See, they're not just pigs. These here are Arkansas razorbacks. Biggest, meanest, nastiest swine in the country. I got one for Dick Cheney, and one for Karl Rove."

The Marine gives the president a curt nod and says, "A fine trade, sir."

HEY-O! Thank you, thank you. I'll be here all week.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 09:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As usual, Bill Maher makes me laugh.

But even more nifty is the fact that the Washington Monthly article cited by Maher was written by former City Link staff writer Art Levine. Nicely done, Arty!

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 04:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The hits came early and often over the last week. After I unmasked Charlie Crist as a Democratic Mole, he immediately turned out to also be a possible crook.

Having had my last vestige of hope in the Republican Party removed, I then learned that former Senator Rick Santorum may join the Fourth Estate. Which is great. Because my profession certainly needs another batshit-insane right-wing newspaper columnist. I know I haven't seen enough of them.

Meanwhile, the South Florida blogosphere has been quivering over the report in online magazine Category305 — currently inexplicably "under contruction" — that the Miami PD brutalized local photographer Carlos Miller. The local blog heavy hitters — Critical Miami, Stuck On the Palmetto, The Daily Pulp, etc. all blogging about the alleged incident.

My own opinions on the Miami PD and their prediliction for violent mayhem are already well known. But what readers of this blog may not know is that I've met Miller on several occasions, even drank with the man once, and traded barbs with him online on more occasions than I can recall.

So, I feel pretty comfortable in saying, yes, dude's a bit of a hothead. But that in no way justifies the actions of the police on this occasion. Many of the responses to the story, both on Category 305 and on the blogs mentioned above, have been along the lines of "He got what he deserved for not listening to the cops when they told him to leave." If that is the attitude of most of the United States, we might as well declare the police state now and move on. No need for shadowy, slow swings toward police-state status, as with the Patriot Act, Free Speech Zones and other oppressive examples to come down the pipeline in our scarily civil-rights-free post-9/11 country. Just declare the police state now. If the response to this story is any indication, most people will just nod meekly and bend over for the mandatory cavity search.

Feel that? That's freedom.

Indeed. It's probably apocryphal, but infamously corrupt but populist Louisiana politician Huey Long was supposedly once asked if he ever thought fascism would come to America. "Yes," he responded, "But we will call it anti-fascism."

Terror has come to America, but we call it anti-terror. And when our own government takes away our freedoms, they do so in the name of liberty. But that doublespeak isn't as nauseating as the willful acceptance of it by many Americans. And that applies to people cheering for the Patriot Act when it passed, as well as people who say Miller got what was coming because he didn't listen to the police. "Mewling milquetoasts" I believe I called these people in a comment on the Critical Miami site, and the description fits. The sad part is that most of these cowed souls are also self-described conservatives. Believers in the rugged-individualist, pull-yourself-up-by-your-boots-straps American myth that is, at its core, libertarian and anti-government. Is unquestioningly obeying authority the new revolution?

In other news, they're still fighting over what remains of Anna Nicole's putrid flesh, and the Bush administration's "support the troops" platitudes are just more lies, given what happened at Walter Reed. But more and more, I'm struck by the larger issues that Republicans certainly don't care about, but that neither the media nor Democrats talk about, or even seem to be aware of. Things like this and this.

Read those and see what you think. Name of this blog's pretty apropos, eh? As long as I keep my head on the larger issues, the bits about global corporatism enslaving mankind for the brief bit of history we have left until our entire economy collapses into an oilless money trench that makes Mad Max look like heaven, I expect the funk to continue. But I shouldn't worry myself about it. The next election cycle will come up soon, and then I can be distracted by the horse race, and doing my part to elect the people who will not intentionally try to screw us all, but instead do so through sins of omission.

Posted by Dan Sweeney at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)