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.

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?

Don’t Call it a Cover-Up.

Typical. While the term “WMD” gets more and more broadly defined by Dubya, Fleischer et al, the GOP issues a lockdown on joint and open hearings into the Bushies’ use of CIA intelligence, since “criticism of the intelligence agencies has been divisive and could hurt national security.” Um…wouldn’t misuse of intelligence agency information to start a war compromise national security too?

Rogue Exterminator.

Interesting…Tom De Lay has refused Dubya’s call to pass the child tax credit. “Ain’t going to happen,” replied the Exterminator. “The last time I checked, he doesn’t have a vote.” While De Lay’s recalcitrance probably helps Dubya/Rove achieve “triangulation,” I wonder if the White House will make De Lay pay…perhaps by allowing Dems to look into his abuse of Homeland Security mentioned the other day.

The Smoking Gun.

Speaking of the Exterminator, his successor as Majority Whip – Roy Blunt – has recently illustrated De Lay-levels of corruption with his attempt to protect Phillip Morris from terrorism in the Homeland Security Act. “Blunt’s attempt became known only to a small circle of House and White House officials. They kept it quiet, preferring no publicity on a matter involving favors for the nation’s biggest tobacco company and possible claims of conflicts of interest.” Strange how the GOP always seems to promote its sketchiest members to the whip.

Know thy enemy.

The Boston Globe sheds a little light into the dark corridors of oppo research. Of course we already know Dubya was a alcoholic cokehead who went AWOL for a year to escape a drug test and had so little sense that he’d drive around drunk…and we still elected him for four years. So skeletons in the closet just ain’t what they used to be.

When you give a banquet, invite the poor (Luke 14:13)

I have to ask though, why do Republicans hate the word of God?,” queries Mega of Triptych Cryptic as he points the way to some biblical passages apparently not included in Dubya’s daily bible study. Not on this list but equally valid in appraising the Bushies’ selective Christianity: “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:24, Mark 10:25, Luke 18:25) Now there’s one you don’t hear very often from the likes of The 700 Club.

Checks and Balances.

While battle lines get drawn over possible Supreme Court vacancies at the end of the month, Timothy Noah makes the case for eliminating the filibuster using Robert Caro’s Masters of the Senate. His logic seems sound, but perhaps it’d be best to wait until at least the fall…

What would Strom do?

Found via TNR‘s Etc., Trent Lott tells us what he really thinks of helping poor children: “Although almost every Senate Republican voted for the [child tax credit], some clearly were unhappy at having to do so under what they considered public pressure from liberal groups and Democrats. Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi voted for the bill, but as he did so he stuck his tongue out, put his finger in his mouth and made a gagging sound, indicating his apparent distaste for the bill.” I wonder if C-SPAN caught this – it’d make for a great campaign ad to show the families of Mississippi.

The Writing on the Wall.

Apparently, the forthcoming independent panel report on the loss of Columbia contains some harsh indictments of NASA’s current culture. I haven’t been covering this story as well as I’d have liked in this space, but, as I’ve said before, I do hope NASA takes this opportunity to rebuild from the ground up and to return to the big goals and lofty dreams that characterized the agency in the years before Challenger.