The Doctor is Out (of his mind).

Kowtowing to right-wing unrest following Lawrence v. Texas, Senate Majority Leader Bill “Catkiller” Frist wants to write a gay marriage ban into the Constitution. Where are the true “conservatives” on this question? Surely, most would agree that the doctor and his cronies should not be scribbling their prejudicial rants upon our founding document, no?

Creeping Doubt.

This is a week old, but I didn’t see it until Meet the Press yesterday: Conservative columnist George Will tries to account for the missing WMD. “But unless America’s foreign policy is New Age therapy to make the public feel mellow, feeling good about the consequences of an action does not obviate the need to assess the original rationale for the action. Until WMD are found, or their absence accounted for, there is urgent explaining to be done.

Darth Timberlake.

Filming has started on Episode III, and as such the official site premiered Anakin’s new look, which apparently is meant to accord with the ’70’s aesthetic of Star Wars. Not exactly the menacing visage I originally envisioned under the mask. Update: As Scully noted in the comments, the pic’s been taken down, by order of Lucas. Trust me, you didn’t miss much.

Sayonara, Cha-Cha.

Greetings from San Diego, where I’m on the last day of my west coast swing. Those of you located in SoCal, that sonic boom you heard was Dennis Miller screaming down the Murphometer after my reading this story. I knew he had a show coming out on FOX News, but I had wrongly assumed it was counterprogramming…I suppose I should’ve known better.

Ding Dong.

Well, it finally happened – Strom Thurmond died. I’m reminded of Hunter Thompson’s Nixon post-mortem. Never has a man more undeserving held sway over a state so long. Lest anyone forget what Strom stood for in these days of eulogy, the guy was a racist through and through – he still holds the filibuster record for his attempt to prevent civil rights. With his shadow finally gone, South Carolina can name a road or two after him and then embrace the future.

Dubya and the Hellfire Club.

“It seems a pretty sunny and conservative and confident moment, despite a hangover of vulnerability from 9/11 and the recently stalled economy…That’s precisely the time when antiheroes are needed and comprehensible.” How the Dubya era paved the way for Marvel’s movie ascendance. A bit goofy, but ok.