The quote from Halbetstam was right on. In my opinion, once Aaron Brown and Ted Koppel were forced off the air, news on the major outlets completed its transformation into infotainment. No serious matters get more than 15 seconds in order to make room for the ongoing celebrity gossip of the day.

With all of the yammering this week about who was most Reaganesque, a truly frightening story has been completely ignored. Is any outlet focusing on the NRA's opposition to the bill that would make it illegal for known or suspected terrorists to purchase guns? This story exposes the NRA in its fullest insanity, but it seems only to have run on the AP wire.

In several programs over the last few months, Colbert has said something to the effect of:

Facts have a liberal bias.

It's been delightful watching Glenn and similarly resourceful people poke a few fact-based holes into the puffery spouted by the mouthpieces posing as journalists.

Why do the Europeans think Bush would nominate anyone more desirable than Wolfowitz if he steps down? Seems to me that John Bolton isn't employed right now.

On a separate note, early stories suggested that an 85% vote of the Board would be required for Wolfowitz to be fired, and pointed out that the US controls 16%. The current stories are suggesting a simple Board majority can oust him. Can anyone shed some light on this?

Take 2.

Action!

You make some wonderful points. If Thompson can come out and make an argument half as eloquent on his arrival at this point, he becomes a much more serious candidate. My response is more based on what looks on the surface like the direction and timing of the change as an effort to pander to the base of his party that will be necessary to achieve nomination.

I like a lot of the points that have been made by Thompson's co-star in Law and Order. Sam Waterston has been supporting Unity08 and its effort to put forward a bipartisan slate after the major parties select their candidates. The driving force here is to put forward a slate that will campaign on a platform of governing from the middle and addressing the important issues that have neglected for so long because of the current focus on wedge issues.

Thinking through this filter of Unity08, I have a very jaded view of Thompson's abortion position and McCain's abandoning of the Straight Talk Express in favor of an appearance at Liberty University. By the same token, I feel that Obama has a very tough road ahead of him in seeking the Democratic nomination without straying too far from sensible principles.

I worry very much about what will happen in January 2009. If they don't manage to steal another election, will they really give up power?

As the case for impeachment builds, and once Pelosi backs off her mistake in taking it off the table, watch for Cheney's health to suddenly take a turn for the worse, so that Bush can try to nominate someone who will pardon him and his cronies when they are carted off to jail. Could even be Jeb himself. The only silver lining in this is their miscalculation on losing Congress, so that getting a new Veep confirmed is much more problematic than it would have been last year.

The Reformation was made possible, in large part, by the printing press putting the Bible in the hands of the people so that they were no longer dependent on the Church to read and interpret it for them. Showing the ability to take in the information and events in real time that is available to us today through modern information technology and then to process that information in a meaningful way and put it to use in society would be tremendous asset for any world leader. This would stand in stark contrast to the neoconservative who ignores and attempts to reshape reality to conform with spoon-fed idealogy.

McClatchy came out with a story this morning with a chart detailing, on a state by state basis, the shortages in National Guard heavy equipment. Instead of simply "reporting" the statements of government sources, they clearly did a lot of legwork and poke a few holes in the claims that the little equipment that remains is being repositioned to prepare for hurricane season. The AP story simply quotes Tony Snow's questioning of Sabelius and his attempt to place the blame on her. Much lower in the story, they do allude to Sabelius pointing out deficiencies in December, but the damage intended to be inflicted by the Bushies is accomplished through the misleading statements from Snow receiving top billing and most of the text.

The irony is at least partially intentional. The rigidity in interpretation present today has been beautifully covered by Charles Kimball in When Religion Becomes Evil. My point was that the technology of the printing press allowed for reading, reflection and individual interpretation. Through the ages, a forced version of interpretation for many sacred texts has led to unspeakable acts of evil. Also have a look at Robin Myers' work on the rise of Christian fascism. All of these views notwithstanding, it is my opinion that our society would be better served by leaders who analyze source material for all of their opinions (religious or secular) and place this material into historical and sociological context in order to process it into advice for current times. This would consitute some serious reform.