...WHAT is wrong with the real patriots who must still exist in every corner of this country? Democrats, Republicans, anyone, EVERYONE should be absolutely shaken to the core by news like this. What will it take to finally awaken people to the danger being brought to our republic? An executive branch that seems to recognize no limits on its power, coupled with a complacent and compliant Congress and Supreme Court leaves us with NO PROTECTION.

Mr. Keillor has distilled the harsh truth down to its clear essence -- and I'm baffled at how blind the (admittedly dwindling) supporters of our Great Leader are, and will continue to be. Those of us who love this country, who want to preserve our republic, who want to be true patriots, must stand up and take this country back. Impeaching Bush is only the first step -- but it's a NECESSARY step.

Those of us who live in the reality-based world once again salute you, Mr. Keillor. This emperor has no clothes, and there are millions of us who've known this for the entire time of this misbegotten presidency. What will it take for the good people of this country, who ARE the majority, to rise up and demand that this man must leave OUR White House? Let's restore our honor as a nation -- this man must GO.

Nothing more needs to be said than this -- a repetition of the trenchant observation by a REAL American patriot, Samuel Johnson:

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."

It can't be said any better, or any more clearly.

Here's a verbatim clip copied from the White House website, taken from the beginning of Bush's introduction of Snow as the new Press Secretary.

- - - - - - - - - -

REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT AND TONY SNOW IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF PRESS SECRETARY

James S. Brady Briefing Room

9:10 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I'm here in the briefing room to break some news. I've asked Tony Snow to serve as my new press secretary.

Tony already knows most of you, and he's agreed to take the job anyway. (Laughter.) And I'm really glad he did. I'm confident Tony Snow will make an outstanding addition to this White House staff. I am confident he will help you do your job. My job is to make decisions, and his job is to help explain those decisions to the press corps and the American people.

- - - - - - - - - -

Oh, wouldn't it be NICE if our Decider-in-Chief would recognize that his job isn't just to MAKE DECISIONS, but to make GOOD ones? Luckily (unless Bush & Co. decide that the world situation is just too dire to leave office at the end of his 2nd term, and refuse to depart), we have less than 3 more years of this walking, talking joke of a President!

In the same vein, and in light of the Iraqi comments reported here, several recurring questions again come to mind: If the Iraqi government is TRULY sovereign, wouldn't they know BEFORE the visit of secretaries Rice and Rumsfeld that they were coming? Wouldn't they have the right to tell them "No, please stay home..."?

How absurd. OF COURSE this puppet regime is NOT sovereign. We still occupy Iraq, and still run everything; their new "government" would never be ALLOWED to make a major decision with which we disagree.

Seems to me that Colbert's absolutely GREAT performance should be hailed as EXACTLY what is needed in this country!

As expressed by Rev. Joseph Lowery during the memorial service for Coretta Scott King, a healthy dose of "speaking truth to power" is PRECISELY what has been lacking in Washington and across this country.

Colbert was as fearless as he was correct. He deserves a special medal of honor, a Pulitzer Prize and the Nobel Peace Prize, not criticism for "being RUDE to the President". Heaven forbid we're RUDE to such a clueless dunce.

When you're dealing with a mule (and a STUPID mule, at that), all that works is a two-by-four to the head. Stephen Colbert WAS that two-by-four, by God, and why should we be surprised that the mule didn't much like that well-deserved smack to its head?

Al Neuharth, who's generally supportive of conservatives, has officially jumped ship too -- his latest column in today's USA Today contains these paragraphs near its end:

"How low can Bush's approval rating go? My hunch is it's at or near the bottom. That 34% represents mostly unshakeable far-right wingers. Like Bush, Vice President Cheney and company, they are in denial. As were the 24% in the polls who still approved of President Richard Nixon before he resigned in disgrace.

What happened to the 37% who have switched from pro-Bush to anti-Bush? They finally realized they were suckered by Bush and his buddies back then about Saddam Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction, his tie to terrorists and his threat to the USA."

Very plain-spoken, and no doubt very true. I always return to this thought -- can you imagine how few of Dubya's remaining supporters would have stood for even ONE TENTH of the mistakes, foul-ups and disasters made during the Bush presidency from any Democrat? Our heads would spin to see how quickly impeachment proceedings would begin, after beginning a pre-emptive war of choice that turned out to be totally unsupported by the facts!

Such brazen corruption! It isn't so amazing that this actually goes on -- but the willingness to announce candidly, and to the WHOLE WORLD, that this is standard operating procedure is absolutely breathtaking!

It will now be interesting to see if any official reaction or clarification comes from the Bush White House or Congressional Republicans. Don't hold your breath.

We've had a mini-version of exactly this sort of "pay to play" in Ohio during the current period of One Party Rule by the G.O.P., proving once again the old adage of absolute power corrupting absolutely. The most baffling thing: WHY does it take so long for average voters to realize that single party rule -- Republican, Democratic or any other -- almost guarantees sweeping corruption?