With the Weaponsgate furor still simmering (Dean has now called for an investigation), Dubya and his cronies try to confuse cause and effect in Iraq…apparently it no longer matters if WMDs are found or not, because Saddam was a bad man. In other words, the Bushie plan is, as per usual, to keep spouting the same propaganda until people start overlooking their leap in logic. Hmm…well, it seemed to work for the Iraq-9/11 connection, didn’t it?
Author: KcM
Tiers and Taxes.
William Saletan goes ga-ga for John Kerry (which would hold more water with me if he hadn’t slavered over Gore back in the day), while Dean snipes at Graham, calling him a “lower-tier candidate.” True enough, but Dean has to be careful – he’s already garnered something of a reputation as Mean Dr. Dean, and coming out for the death penalty won’t help. Rounding out the top tier (I can say it, even if Dean can’t), John Edwards calls for middle-class tax cuts, to be paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy. A smart move, in keeping with the populist track Edwards has staked out, even if I think a payroll tax cut makes much more sense.
Reason to Deceive.
Weaponsgate update: While Dubya rails against “revisionist historians” (what, then, was he doing in Poland?), the British parliamentary inquiry into WMDs heats up. I’m going to be supremely annoyed if Blair goes down for this and Dubya doesn’t.
Texas Two-Step.
So, the Spurs won it all, thanks to a 19-0 Nets collapse in the fourth. Bleah…can’t say I’m too excited about that. To my mind, San Antonio is flawed and boring. But I do find it interesting, as the Sportsguy pointed out, that either Steve Kerr or Robert Horry has won a ring each of the past ten years. With that in mind, I wonder who the Knicks’ll be drafting. Chris Kaman, perhaps?
The Shape of Things to Come?
The Supreme Court votes 7-2 (Scalia and Thomas dissenting, of course) to reject non-profit exemptions from campaign finance laws. While critics of reform are arguing otherwise, I’d think this bodes very well for McCain-Feingold, which will be taken up in the fall.
Not-so Neo.
By way of Quiddity again, a screenshot comparison of Dark City and The Matrix. I thought the former was overrated and the latter was vastly more enjoyable, but when you put ’em side by side like this…
The Ring draws closer.
A day after USA Today‘s look at the EE, more Two Towers DVD news appears online, including these lovely screenshots and menus from the theatrical edition. Also, in case you missed them before, higher quality snaps of the E3 ROTK footage are now available. Finally, recent reports now indicate the trailer may drop in July, so the ring may be even closer than once thought. Update: Smart money’s back on late August/early Sept. for the first trailer…ah, well.
Exterminated.
As expected, the DeLay House has attempted to kill the child credit by passing a swollen $82 billion tax cut that has little hope of passing the Senate. Apparently the House bill pays a whopping “96 percent of its benefits to middle- and upper-income taxpayers.” Said Charlie Rangel of the bill, “it was ‘one of the most cynical and hypocritical moves’ he had ever seen,” and you have to think that at this point Rangel’s seen a lot. For shame. Yet another reason why we should be embarrassed as a nation to have a guy like Tom DeLay calling the shots in Congress.
Energy Influx.
Election 2004 update: Kerry tries to separate from the herd by announcing his proposed national energy policy today, which includes raising fuel-efficiency standards (currently at 20.7 and 27.5 miles per gallon for SUVs and cars respectively) to 36mpg by 2015. (Of the other leading candidates, Dean appears to concur with tougher standards, while Edwards – also in Iowa today to call for pension reform – has voted for a truck exemption in the past…the perils of a pickup state.)I like the “Of Big Oil, by Big Oil, for Big Oil” line…hopefully the pack will continue to call out Bush before turning on each other anew.
Another DUI?
According to Fortune (via the Segway website), “using a Segway is so intuitive that it feels as though the thing has somehow been plugged into your central nervous system.” Dan Bricklin adds, “The Segway is incredibly stable, whether
standing still or moving.” So, of course, Dubya manages to flip one almost immediately. I could extend the metaphor, but I think it speaks for itself, no?