(American mythology)

A soulless body. In the Voodoo cult of Haiti, a zombi is the slave of a magician. The soul may have been removed by magic from a living person, or the body of someone recently deceased may have been brought up out of the grave after the soul had been separated from it by regular rites of death. As the lord of the dead, Ghede has the power to animate corpses as zombis.

This reminds me of the people in our government.

I can tell you, when Webb did the 1st pro forma session just before Thanksgiving, his press secretary loved it because it was the cheapest free press Webb's ever gotten. That being said, CNN and other cables didn't show up for the sequels so I don't think anyone's itching to be in the chair the day after Christmas.--Paul Kane

Paul Kane said the above on the WaPo 'Chat' about the expected pro forma during Christmas break. To Paul Kane, it's all about being cute and clever. No matter how necessary or important the issue is. Just one big funny, good-time had by all. Nevermind that it actually matters about blocking recess appointments.

Paul Kane said the above on the WaPo 'Chat' about the expected pro forma during Christmas break. To Paul Kane, it's all about being cute and clever.

That's what it's always about for them. That's why anyone who takes it seriously and who drones on about things like investigations and illegality and the like -- especially when, as El Cid points out, they actually mean it -- are such downers, losers, like the nerdy kids who go to a party and spend the time in the corner studying for the next day's math test.

I have sent you several letters attempting to illustrate that your current obsession with bipartisanship is your achilles heel. Bipartisanship only works when both sides have common ground.

Your waffling support of Senator Dodd's stand for the Constitution this past week leads me to believe that the common ground you share with the "other side of the aisle" is criminal wrongdoing.

There simply aint nothing else that you can tell me sir if I see you anywhere but on Senator Dodd's side for this telecom imunity issue.

I've suspected that your power in the Senate has been subject to influence by big money ever since you publicly opposed the Nantucket Sound Wind Power initiative. You, your party and your constituency have everything to gain by supporting it.

It's time to start proving me wrong about your preference for corporate money over fulfilling your oath of office.

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted. -Frank Herbert

I was reading Harry Reid's Wiki entry to get a better feel for this guy, and it lead to a 2005 New Yorker article on the man himself. http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/08/08/050808fa_fact?currentPage=1

I found this blurb - presumably from 2005 most interesting - edited for brevity:

on February 7th, the Republican National Committee attacked Reid’s record on its Web site, citing the Los Angeles Times story on his family, in which Reid was accused of voting for legislation that benefitted his sons and son-in-law. (One passage quoted on the R.N.C. Web site said, “So pervasive are the ties among Reid, members of his family and Nevada’s leading industries and institutions that it’s difficult to find a significant field in which such a relationship does not exist.”)

...

Coincidentally, Bush had invited the Reids to dinner at the White House that night

...

Reid recalled that Bush said, “You know, I didn’t have anything to do with that. I don’t know what they do.” Reid wasn’t mollified. The next day, he reminded reporters of Bush’s campaign pledge to be a “uniter.” “I’m beginning to think those statements were just absolutely false,” he said.

There is no longer anything about Reid’s family on the R.N.C. Web site. The offending lines were removed on orders from Karl Rove. According to Rove, following the dinner Bush told him to tell Ken Mehlman, the chairman of the R.N.C., to “never mention Reid’s family again.” When I asked Reid about this, he said he was aware that the section had been deleted, but not of Bush’s role. “That’s nice of him,” he said.

So, I guess the message was clear... Harry we know you and your family are a bunch of "up from the bootstraps" types that have been doing very well for themselves on account of some politically sensitive connections. We'd sure hate for that prosperity to get squeezed by a little too much "public scrutiny." WINK WINK.

And Harry said, "Uh, huh, I see. Hmm... well, I guess you can count on my vote Mr. President. I'm glad we can do business."

It's one thing to watch Congressional Democrats fail to stand up to any of the Bush abuses. It's another thing entirely to watch as they actively enable them.

Remember Lily Tomlin:

"No matter how cynical you get, it's impossible to keep up."

Chris Dodds' father was an American prosecuting Attorney during the Nuremburg trials. I think Dodd IS this principalled, when it comes to lawbreaking-as he had a father who set the bar high on this. Reid-I can't figure out. I either think he is the dummest man on Capital Hill-or the sleaziest. But to say it was because of elections-he should know Dodds' background better than that. To doubt another Democrats' intentions over those of the GOP-is just plain lunacy. Specter is working on bill to make govt accountable over telecoms-since that is where fault lies.

Is Arlen trying to make behind the scenes deal with Reid-not to investigate lawlessness of Cheney/GW on past spying to date? That's my bet on why Reid scrapped til Jan.

OFFTOPIC: Anyone know what the story McCain is trying to get squashed by Drudge? Drug use? Curious...