A Tale of Two Ranches.

The NYT contrasts the LBJ and Dubya ranches. “While Lyndon B. Johnson used his 2,700 acres as a political tool and power base to both stroke and dominate guests at his barbecues along the Pedernales River, Mr. Bush, the gregarious former fraternity president, has used his 1,600 acres as an isolated retreat to entertain family and a few old Texas friends.” Hmmm…perhaps it’s because the channels of power usually flow around rather than through our Dauphin, eh?

Talkin’ the Talk.

“The era of low standards and false profits is over…No boardroom in America is above or beyond the law.”. And with that, Bush signs the corporate reform bill. He then leaned into the microphone, made the Dubya face, and declared, “You can run but you can’t hide, Dick Cheney. We’re going to hunt you down like the agent of evil you are. You hear me talkin’, Halliburton boy?

Taxpayers for Jeb.

TNR explores how Dubya’s using your money to re-elect his brother (and keep the Florida machine greased for 2004.) Amazing how little we’ve heard about this considering all the treatment the FALN clemency story got during Hillary’s run. (Speaking of Hillary, my respect for her diminished further — it was already pretty low after the “somebody should kill Nader” bit on election night — when she got in a shouting match with Russ Feingold over campaign finance reform last week. Apparently, she’s already trying to find ways around the ban.)