Immigrant Song.

“If you believe that government should be accountable to the people, not the people to the government, then you are a Republican.” If you believe that rich people deserve tax breaks while the middle-class struggle harder and the poor send their kids to war, then you are a Republican. If you believe that cutting First Responder, Homeland Security, and Nunn-Lugar funding, lying bald-faced to our allies before the UN, letting Osama Bin Laden disappear into the caverns of Afghanistan, and contriving a casus belli to start a war in Iraq that has further alienated the moderate Muslim world is sound anti-terror strategy, then you are a Republican. If you believe an extramarital blow job is an impeachable offense, but dissembling to the American people about war is hunky-dory, then you are a Republican. If you believe God loves you, but He hates gays, liberals, and foreigners, then you are a Republican. If you’re an immigrant bodybuilder who made it to the top of his field through hard work, discipline, and the judicious application of enough steroids to kill a small horse, then you are a Republican. And if you’re a serial groper who was befuddled enough to think Nixon was a good idea in 1968 and who somehow earnestly believes that the GOP hasn’t moved much further right since the days of Tricky Dick, then you are Arnold Schwarzenegger.

The Doctor Meets the Grid (and the Matrix).

Filming on the new Doctor Who runs afoul of British anti-terrorism forces. The article also has one of the first pics up of Christopher Eccleston as The Doctor. Between this and the Batman post above, I know I’m starting to sound like the fanboy Joan Rivers…but what’s up with the lousy costume? Surely, any Time Lord worth his salt would wear something a mite more quirky.

With all Deliberate Speed.

“Although these events concern different legal issues and different sets of detainees, they share a common denominator: a legal strategy to keep the rule of law out of the war on terrorism by whatever procedural, legal, or administrative means are available.” According to Slate‘s Phillip Carter, the Dubya administration is obstructing and/or ignoring the recent Supreme Court decisions on the Gitmo Gulag. Sadly, I guess we couldn’t expect any less from this crowd.

The Bad Color.

Lock the doors and watch the neighbors…it’s terror time again. That being said, given the specifics doled out this time, I’ll waive the usual charge of fear-mongering. This targeted approach seems a much better way to increase public vigilance without needlessly causing panic, as has been the case with previous Orange alerts.

The Final Straw.

Postponing Election Day?!? You must be joking. Are “the terrorists” going to infiltrate every middle school gymnasium and public library in the country, counting extra votes for Kerry and offsetting Dubya’s Diebold advantage? We held elections in this nation in 1864, 1944, 1968…surely we can handle 2004.

Whatsmore, what’s all this talk of terrorists determining the election anyway? When are the Bushies going to realize that Osama Bin Laden and his ilk probably prefer Dubya in office? No other man could have so brazenly squandered the enormous international reservoir of post-9/11 goodwill, so thoroughly fractured the natural alliance of the West against terrorism, or so decisively set the moderate Muslim world against the United States. For Osama bin Laden, George W. Bush is a godsend. For three and a half long years, he’s been a divider, not a uniter.

Postponing Election Day…my Lord, what tripe. Yes, I know Homeland Security is covering its bases by arguing that they’re just thinking out loud. Well, it’s still a terrible idea, and a particularly tone-deaf one coming from an administration who came into office so ignominiously with Bush v. Gore. Forget Warren Harding or even Richard Nixon — this presidency has earned its place since that 5-4 decision as the most corrupt in our nation’s history. They have to be shown the door on Election Day, and not a day later.

Under his thumb…

Partisanship 1, Civil Liberties 0. The House GOP ride to the administration’s rescue and, by means both fair and foul, block a critical challenge to the Patriot Act with a 210-210 tie vote. “Rep. C.L. Butch Otter (R-Idaho), a conservative and an advocate of the defeated provision, told reporters after the vote: ‘You win some, and some get stolen.’

Two-Minutes Fear.



Aigh! Attack, attack! No, we don’t know when. No, we don’t know where. No, we’re not raising the threat level. No, we’re not sorry we let Osama slip away so we could dink around Iraq. Just be afraid, and, remember, the terrorists want to “disrupt the democratic process” and make you vote Kerry-Edwards. You have been warned. Good day.