Good One, Bill

Excellent speech by Bill, seemingly made point-for-point to refute hyper-technical criticism by the GOP and their lapdogs in the MSM.

Revolt of the Generals

An excellent piece from the San Diego Union-Tribune on the unprecedented (at least since the Civil War) number of general officers publicly denouncing a President's foreign policy. While I tend to agree with the critiques, I'm not too sanguine about the underlying motivations of those who suddenly feel compelled to speak out, nor am I sure how I feel about the overall effect. Is this a threat to civillian control (however incompetent) of the military? What would Democrats have thought if 20 retired Generals blasted Bill Clinton? Any of you currently serving in uniform, what do you think?

The Two Minute Hate Continues

Wow! I had deliberately ignored recent news stories about the inquiry into Princess Diana's death because, frankly, I really just don't give a damn. I was under the mistaken impression that the events of 1776 had eliminated the need for US Media to obsess over the peccadilloes of the dumpy, inbred German family on the British Throne. I had also apparently forgotten just how rabid and over-the-top Clinton conspiracy theorists in the Mainstream Media could get, never mind the fringe. Fortunately, Glenn Greenwald reminds me. How they manage to not work in an accusation that Bill was sleeping with her is beyond me.

Welcome Back, Old Friend!

How I have missed the insane, paranoid, disjointed ramblings of the Wall Street Journal editorial page! When Clinton left office and the WSJ Editors could no longer accuse him of everything from drug running to the Kennedy assassination (he was the pudgy kid with the Moon Pie on the grassy knoll), I feared I would never again enjoy the foam-flecked rantings that were just a half step above fat losers in camo and tinfoil hats complaining about the UN black helicopters coming to take their guns. But now, just when we need them most, they're back, baby, and this time to warn us that UNLESS WHITE WOMEN HAVE MORE BABIES, WESTERN CIVILLIZATION IS DOOMED!!!! DOOOOOMED, I SAY!!!!! And it will all be the fault of traitorous liberals and wimpy Euros who secretly long for the lash of Sharia law.

Some Free Advice

I have been arguing for some time now that if the Democrats do manage to take one or both House of Congress, they should resist the urge to pay the GOP back for what happened after 1994--a legislative, investigative full-scale attack on the presidency, culminating in the impeachment debacle. I argued this for purely practical reasons: it doesn't work. Bill Clinton used his political judo against Congress and ended up more popular on the day he was impeached than George W. Bush has been in over a year. Now, via the Carpetbagger Report, Paul Krugman has a different perspective. Krugman's thesis, in a nutshell, is that Republicans are inherently, intrinsicly evil and no matter how bi-partisan Democrats try to be, the GOP will stab them in the back at the first opportunity. Given the Republic Party's fixation with racism and other despicable campaign tactics, and dangerous militarist fantasies, I have a hard time disagreeing with the basic premise. On the other hand, the GOP has at least two things the Democrats don't, namely total dominance of the media and huge piles of special interest money. Even if a subpoena war was in the best interest of the nation, I'm not sure we could win it. Yes, there should be investigations, definately; Bush and Cheney have turned the White House into a political chamber of horrors. And, of course, this revamped, retread Nixonian version of the Imperial Presidency will reject any effort by Congress to dare infringe on its apparently god-like powers. In fact, it may well be that, whether or not Democrats want a war, Bush will force one by continuing to systematically ignore the checks and balances of the Constitution.

The Rich Get Richer

Yes, yes, all terribly shocking news, of course. But you can't blame just the Republicans. Only Nixon could go to China; only Clinton could've passed NAFTA. NAFTA (and the entire cult of "Free" Trade) are systematically destroying the US economy. I have said it before, and I will say it again: you canNOT be a global economic superpower if you don't make anything. You canNOT be a global economic superpower if the only available jobs in your country are delivering pizza and repairing consumer electronics made in other countries. You canNOT be a global economic superpower if all you do is sell resources to other countries to make things to sell in your country. In fact, that makes you the Belgian Congo.

Conservative Hypocrisy Watch, Part II

Glenn Greenwald points out that Republicans are shocked! shocked and appalled! that elected officials would try to censor a political mini-series...unless of course the mini-series is about Ronald Reagan and the elected officials are Republicans.

Republicans Hate Clinton More Than Terrorists

From AmericaBlog, a quick flashback on the GOP's reaction when Bill Clinton proposed legislation to stop domestic, right-wing terrorism.