The songs would have been better if they had a Dylan-style harmonica line. Dylan has a way of playing the harmonica that is as characteristic as his voice and inflection.

Elephantman, you cracked me up. "All along, Wolfowitz wanted the potential conflict problem removed." I bet he did.

The facts are not in doubt. Wolfowitz' girlfriend got an inexplicable $60K raise as he "asked for the World Bank's ethics and human resources people to look at the situation." The mere fact that he checked shows that he suspected the transaction was, or could be seen as, improper. I suspect Wolfowitz was using his weight to try to secure the ethics board's acquiescence, because such a transfer and raise would inevitably raise eyebrows.

But just look at the miserable peculation! The president of the World Bank sneaks a measly 60 grand to his girfriend from the public till! No grandiose gestures here, just a sneaky and clumsy attempt at using the bureaucracy to get the money and provide cover at the same time. Why, what happened to our BeoWulfie? Did he not manage to enrich himself when he was rubbing elbows with the other Republicans neocon criminals in Washington? Didn't any of the rich folk there throw Wolfie a bone? They should have, because now we're treated to the spectacle of the president of the World Bank making both himself and his girlfriend look like whores. And for only $60K. Is this something we Americans should put up with? We are paying top dollar through our taxes and we deserve to be represented by someone who takes his work seriously, and not drag his important position through the dirt in a miserable and dishonorable attempt at keeping his job. Wolfowitz' continuing behavior, clinging to his position after this scandal, is disgraceful and dishonors us all, but first and foremost President Bush who put Wolfowitz where he has throroughly fouled his nest.

"Nor was it a deal that Wolfowitz wanted to engineer himself. He originally asked that someone else determine the deal."

And why, do you think? To distance himself, of course. What a slimebag.

I was worried there for a moment that the Republicans had lost their way and were acting strangely, but I was relieved when I read Lindsey Graham's proposal that illegal immigrants should receive a mandatory prison sentence. At last, normal Republican behavior. Prison, the cure-all.

After all, the war on drugs has been merely a pretext for the Republicans' real agenda, which is to beef up the police, destroy the Constitutional protections, and bring about a state where people have to piss on command to get a job. The Republicans and their drug war brought us hordes of ninja-looking stormtroopers in SWAT gear who run hup-hup-hup in the night, breaking down people's doors, and frequently killing them. It brought us lots of new prisons in shitty little towns where the folks are dying for the business opportunities and jobs that new prisons bring.

So why hesitate? Mandatory minimums for illegal immigrants is a fine idea when you own stock in Corrections Corp. of America. The punishment business is booming and doesn't seem to slow down any time soon. And the kicker? It's all paid for through taxes. My tax money goes to locking up pot smokers and illegal gardeners, to the administrators of the "justice system," and to its business wing that develops prisons and their supporting industries. What a scam.

anonymous wrote: "Is there some point at which someone needs to grow the fuck up and stop using illegal drugs? Yes!!"

Thank you very much, Mr. Nameless, for that pearl of wisdom. I am pleased to meet the Arbiter of Drug Use. Now, if we could get input from Dr. Carl Sagan, Prof. Cary Mullis, and the millions of mature recreational pot smokers in America? Certainly, nobody will stop smoking marijuana, especially the medical kind, just because Congress in its ignorance and vindictiveness has enacted racist and biased laws.

Just because a drug is illegal is not a reason to stop using it. Did Prohibition cause people to stop drinking? Far from it. Drinking just got more dangerous and expensive, that's all. Poor Elliott Ness; his ardent drug-warrior crusade came to a screeching halt with Repeal. But the war on other drugs rages on, having elevated America to the world's biggest incarcerator, both in percentage and counts. Such government abuse does not pass unnoticed and uncommented.

To paraphrase your comment slightly, imagine the pre-Civil Rights South, with someone scolding a bunch of black boys: "Is there some point at which someone needs to grow the fuck up and stop drinking from "white" water fountains? Yes!!"

Illegal drugs need to be legal and controlled, not left to the criminals to make a killing.

Put him in a cardboard box and drive about 30 miles from home into some wooded area. Put the box opn the ground and pry the top open just enough so the beast can struggle free, but while he does that, wave goodbye and drive home. Hasta la vista, gato ...

Just watch how the lousy right-wingers are contorting themselves over Libby the Criminal. There was no crime committed, supposedly, and if there were it was all Armitage's fault; Libby is a sterling human, etc. etc. ad nauseam. The slimy bastard republicans are trying to slink away from their misdeeds but it won't work. The Washington psychotics and criminals have packed this country's prisons to the brim, so it's only fair that they should partake of the orgy of incarceration that the swine bastards have imposed on everybody else. Good riddance to these M-F &^%$#* (words fail me ...)