Their preposterous words still have power. Because their words are quotations out of The American Myth. And because the people who supported them do not want to admit that they (the supporters) were wrong. So who has the stature and the pulpit to lead us toward the light? It has to be somebody from their side.

Maybe Colin Powell. I do not want him as President, but if he speaks up, if he says, "I should have spoken sooner," voters might listen. And if he spoke up, I would change my mind about him as President. John McCain could have a huge impact, if he would break with Bush, and speak against Bush. But he probably will try to ride the Bush train out to the end of the tracks, rather than wrecking it now. Maybe General Schwartzkopf could start something... Tommie Franks??? We probably can't get Jesus.

But we are about to have a different problem. Bush, Cheney, Rummie, Gonzales et al. will be out of there pretty soon. We will not have them to kick around anymore. We need to try to kick them out now, rather than waiting for them to expire amid elaborate indemnity guarantees and airtight executive privilege. If we wait, we will wind up like them, ranting against G.W. Bush after he is gone, they way they still rant against W.J. Clinton.

Geo. Allen's Democratic opponent for the Senate is Jim Webb. Webb is an Annapolis graduate, decorated US Marine Vietnam veteran, a former Sec. of the Navy under Reagan, an author, and a screenwriter. He says he entered the Senate race because Allen has failed to accomplish anything.

Webb MIGHT be the Democrats' dream candidate. With his credentials, he may be exactly the sort of guy they need. I would love to hear what Webb has to say about Iraq, Torture, and Bush/Cheney/Rummie.

Can you tell us more about him?

Moe Shakespeare, Larry Shakespeare, and Curly Shakespeare. He probably will read Shemp Shakespeare next summer.

Might some federal prosecutor offer Colin Powell and Tommy Franks immunity from prosecution to testify against Bush, Cheney, Rummie, Gonzales et al? Would Condie Rice go for immunity and the witness protection program? Scooter Libby?? So far, the best insider testimony we have is from Paul O'Neil, but that has not been anywhere near enough.

We need witnesses from both W.Bush terms. Could we offer immunity to the whole army chain of command leading down to Abu Grahib? Or the Haliburton chain of command? I am fairly serious here. Somehow, we need to step up the pressure on them before their terms expire.

If we start here in the USA, maybe, eventually, we will be able to extradite them all to the International Court, and let the rest of the world finish with them.

Yesterday, the US Census Bureau reported on US income during 2005. The median was up very slightly from 2004... But it is down quite a bit since 1999. And it appears to be about the same as circa 1980, judging by the graph in the Detroit Free Press. So, judged by Americans' income, all the Good Economy talk seems to be baloney. Andrew Leonard, are you looking into this?

And it was a very funny thing to say! But just think: Without white folks, what would happen to NASCAR? Who's gonna wear all the tan pants and tassel loafers? Who's gonna watch the Lawrence Welk re-reuns? Huh? Answer me that!

American musicians are sort of like French chefs. We set a standard for the world. I hope the world is listening to more of our music than just hip-hop. But it is much better if the world hears our musicians, instead of fearing our soldiers.

Part of the condemnation here is comparing Rumsfeld and the Bush crew to Joseph McCarthy. In the recent past, that was a self-evident criticism. But now, many right-wingers have begun to reassess McCarthy and McCarthyism. Listen to the right wing and Christianist voices. They are beginning to try to rehabilitate McCarthy. Many of them see him as a martyred hero. Barf!!!

And so did Marilu Henner!!! I would rather be killed by Marilu than by Tony.

I hope nobody shows it in the US. Too creepy, too raw, gasoline on our political fire.

What the heck is Katherine going to do with her staffers' e-mails? And what the heck are Cheney and Al Gonzales and Admiral Poindexter going to do with OUR e-mails?

Some prominent Democrat or some presidential hopeful needs to lay out a plan for Iraq, somewhere between Stay-The-Course and Cut-And-Run. Saintzak (1st post here) is right. Anybody who breaks with Bush, and starts speaking out now, with details and specifics... that person will be the next president of the USA. If nobody speaks, everybody loses.

Biogirl (previous post) mentioned the anti-evolution gang in a joking way, but she is right on. Christianists have decided en masse to oppose the idea of global warming, just as they oppose the idea of evolution. The Religious Right, or whatever you want to call them, believe that human action has nothing to do with global warming. They believe that global warming is no big deal, just a natural phenomenon (God's Will, if you will) that will reverse itself pretty soon.

It is a nasty brew of right-wing politics, psuedo-science, and fundamentalist religion. They have no real science, and no shame whatsoever, but they have effective tactics and strategies. They would be hilarious if they were not so effective. We need to set our fasers higher than "Stun."