The Stupid 30 Ride Again

Wow. Even in these topsy-turvy times, it would seem the 30% Rule still holds true. Via Kevin Drum, seems Alberto Gonzales is polling at a mere -2%. Doesn't that mean he's pacing Bush?

All of which reminds me, when the hell is Project Runway coming back??

I Knew It!

I always knew it wasn't my fault that my ass is so big. Turns out, it's yours. Thanks for nothing, asshole.

Except now that I think about it, I might have the biggest ass in my social circle. So on second thought, I'd like to apologize for having made you fatter.

Now, back to my bowl of ice cream.

NHS = Al Qaeda

I've been waiting for this. What took them so damn long??? I saw it coming last week. Maybe I should be a right wing strategist. On the other other hand, maybe I'm uncomfortable with being totally ridiculous.

Independent Thoughts

I have two questions to pose to the Right, on this, the anniversary of our nation's independence (or declaring thereof):

1. Why is it every time Bush does something bad, you wingnuts point out that Clinton did whatever it is too? Given that you totally deplore the fact that Clinton did it (perjury, pardoning, whatever), how does that make it ok that Bush did it? You've heard the one about the 2 wrongs and what they don't make, right?

Seriously, could someone explain this to me? Or, better yet, tell me why liberals can't just rebut it by saying what I just said?

Goddamn Marc Rich (and his lawyer. Look it up.).

2. If the British are in Iraq, and the British just had coordinated terrorist attacks on their soil -- including an actual flaming car and two almost-flaming cars -- well, then, doesn't that mean that the terrorists have, in fact, started following them home? And since we're in Iraq to prevent exactly that terrorists-as-stray-puppies phenomenon (Bush repeated it yesterday), doesn't this development mean that we should come home and, you know, wait here?

I await the president's response. Remember, I'm a citizen and this is a democracy, so he works for me.

Happy 4th. Go burn a flag.

Blah.

I suppose I ought to weigh in on the Libby commutation, since everyone else is. But actually, I mostly find it gives me a sense of ennui and exhaustion. Reading David Brooks' unrelentingly inaccurate, hyperbolic, and overwrought column this morning, I found myself wondering how he mustered the energy.

Look, from my point of view, no serious argument can be made that Bush -- of all people -- has any business commuting Libby's sentence; and certainly, I'm willing to give credence to the full range of arguments that hold that this was always a quid pro quo, where Libby was promised he'd never serve a day if he took the fall; or that the commutation was not a pardon for the precise reason that a pardon would have cut off Libby's 5th amendment claim to silence; or any of the many scenarios that involve Cheney.

And, of course, it's worth reiterating that Patrick Fitzgerald himself says that Libby's perjury had the effect of preventing him from completing his investigation, and thus provides the reason for the very lack of an underlying crime that the right likes to complain about.

But really, I think this episode is a kind of perfect example of the endless hopelessness of the next 18 months. The cynic's view held that Bush would pardon Libby when he left office. This would have meant Scooter would have served 1/2 of his sentence. If you think the sentence excessive, surely you wouldn't find half of it equally offensive? So why the rush? Why outdo even the most cynical among us?

There's much complaining about the rule of law going around, and an equal amount listing other abuses of the presidential pardon, either for the purpose of saying "Clinton did it too" or by way of pointing out that the pardon is a residue of a monarchical system that perhaps we should let go. But the pardon isn't the offence of the thing, nor is the commutation. It's the speed of it. What was the rush?

The rush, of course, proves the quid pro quo as much as it's ever likely to be proved. But it makes a more basic point that this administration isn't even trying to keep up appearances anymore. All of the fussing about was Valerie Plame covert, and was Joe Wilson an honest broker, and was the judge a lunatic -- it's all just a wordstorm to distract from this very basic point: they don't give a good goddamn what any of us, liberals, moderates, or even the base, think of them. What on earth are the next 18 months going to look like? Isn't the meaning of democracy that the government at least pretends to give some semblance of a shit what the people think?

Aren't you exhausted???