"Maybe, because it would give those thugs too much credit." Yeah, that is what has given me pause. But then I realized how easy it is for me simply to believe they are idiots, and rail against them, and how they seem to play that up and use it. It is less scary for me to believe they are just stupid, though, and I hope I am wrong and they are just idiots.

March 28, 2008

Bush gives out wrong hotline number — again

Posted: 04:00 PM ET

(CNN) – When it comes to a government hotline number for homeowners seeking mortgage relief, President Bush just can't get the digits right.

After a housing roundtable in New Jersey, Bush twice gave out the wrong number in a public statement, saying the relief line was 1-88-995-HOPE – leaving off the third 8 in the area code of the correct number: 1-888-995-HOPE.

http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/analysis/toons/2008/03/26/mitchell/

Junior is indeed their stupid tool, and my worst fears probably hold water. Though I think they weren't as smart as they thought: reality has surprised them, and they have been too crafty by half. They just became too blatant with it.

OERs (officer evaluation reports, or whatever the navy equivalent is) part of the public record, I wonder? Does anyone know?

http://tinyurl.com/337b43

I first came across Glenn in the bookstore, where I bought his book "A Tragic Legacy". That is what brought me to this blog, which has taught me so much about the current political situation. So the point someone made about preaching to the choir, etc. doesn't seem accurate to me.

Congratulations on the new book, Glenn.

See column in NYT on travel guru Rick Steves (of all people) and his new crusade against the war on drugs!!

http://tinyurl.com/2wzk3k

Saw it and immediately thought of you.

And actually, since blog today is about great american hypocrites, maybe war on drugs fits right in.

who are so tough and glib about it all, who can really "take it", and then there is this:

NEW PORT RICHEY — Last week, the family of Spc. P.J. Miller was getting ready for him to come home from Iraq. He was supposed to arrive in Kansas this Friday, then travel to New Port Richey. During his 30-day leave from the war, Miller was going to take his fiancee on a cruise to the Bahamas, where he was going to surprise her by having the ship’s captain marry them.

Instead, his family is planning his funeral.

Miller and another soldier, Spc. Durrell L. Bennett, 22, of Spanaway, Wash., were killed Saturday in Baghdad. The Department of Defense said they died from an improvised explosive device and small arms fire.

Both were assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 16th Infantry, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Riley, Kan.

Miller, 23, graduated from James W. Mitchell High School in New Port Richey. “It was an honor to be his teacher,” said Mary Turin of Mitchell High School, who oversees the school’s work-study program. “He was a little quiet. Very studious. An A-plus-plus student.”

He was a standout on the Mitchell High wrestling team and did a work-study program as a lifeguard at the YMCA. That is where he met his future fiancee, Tara Nelson, who also was a lifeguard. They’ve been together since they met as teenagers.

“He was perfect,” Nelson, 26, said Wednesday between sobs.

http://tinyurl.com/2l98ym