With apologies to the original Guy Fawkes doggerel...  Just a little something I dreamed up.

Interesting that John McCain suddenly feels it necessary to declare he's been a Baptist for the last several years -- contrary to numerous public statements saying otherwise.  This past June, he was curiously non-committal when asked about his religious status.

Shall we connect the dots?  Why the sudden urge to distance himself from the mainstream Episcopalians?  Two reports, one from the McClatchy Newspapers and the other from the NY Times provide much needed context...

(Cross-posted at A Mind is a Terrible Thing)
(Updated to change post title) HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson's defense: "I'm a liar not a crook!" - Maybe he's both? At least that's how I read this update on the Secretary Jackson kerfluffle:

Think Progress » Jackson Fabricated the Entire Story, Spokesperson Claims, Contradicting Prior Response
    A spokesperson for Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson has issued a second response to reports that Jackson publicly admitted cancelling a government contract with a business because the CEO was critical of President Bush. Dustee Tucker, a spokeswoman for Jackson, told the Dallas Business Journal Tuesday that Jackson's comments at his April 28 speech were purely "anecdotal."

Hat-tip to Think Progress.  I need to add them to my blogroll listing, ASAP.  But there's far more to this than meets the eye, and implications I've not seen noted elsewhere.  (More after the flip)

The virulently right-wing American Family (sic) Association wants to know who should be the next President.

Alas, they included a number of Democratic Party candidates, including my favorite, Al Gore.  Howard Dean is there, as is Senator Clinton and others.  Seriously -- let's show the AFA they're actually in the minority.

Let 'em know what you think!

http://www.afa.net/...

Crossposted at A Mind is a Terrible Thing

Bush Defends Domestic Spying
"You know, it's amazing that people say to me, 'Well, he was just breaking the law.' If I wanted to break the law, why was I briefing Congress?" Bush said with a chuckle.

I can just see the story next week:
President Bush Defends the Barbecuing of Live Puppies and Kittens

(AMiaTT) Washington -- President Bush defended against criticisms sparked by last weekend's revelation that he's been barbecuing puppies and kittens and, according to a White House aide who spoke under condition they not be identified, "(S)upping on their delicate brains and sucking down the sweet, sweet marrow from their little bones." The same sources also reported that the President favors a Tex-Mex style barbecue sauce, and usually accompanies the meals with a homemade potato salad (his mother's recipe) or KFC take-out coleslaw.
(more on the flip)

Newsweek: Whose Fault Is 'Curveball' Mess? - Newsweek National News - MSNBC.com Jan. 16, 2006 - The Bush administration's reliance on a secret source, code-named Curveball, to make its case that Iraq was harboring weapons of mass destruction is one of the great embarrassments of the run-up to the Iraq war. Curveball, the primary source for Secretary of State Colin Powell's prewar assertion to the United Nations that Saddam Hussein was hiding mobile germ-warfare labs, was later discredited. By why was the United States fooled to begin with?

I'm amazed this question is even being asked in this way. The only 'fooling' going on was to fool the American people and Congress into believing there were WMDs and that Iraq was an imminent threat to the United States. Based on that, the Bush Administration and their security-state apparatus were going to do everything in their power to find sources to back up their bogus claims that Iraq was a threat.

Let me put it another way: Let's say I've decided on a course dictated by the personal policy that monkeys will fly out of my ass -- and that this event is imminent. (More on the flip)

(A parable...) Crossposted on a A Mind is a Terrible Thing

Earlier I was chewing on a piece of tinfoil, just to experience that crazy (but totally legal) head-zing you get whenever it comes into contact with one's amalgam dental fillings and any available nerve ending. Talk about intense!

During a dizzying fugue-state induced when I managed to connect three molars at the same time, I heard a voice in my head. By manipulating the wad of tinfoil, plus orienting the spire on my tinfoil hat in just the right direction, I was able to bring the signal into clarity. Only later would research reveal the signal's true origin: From the very section of sky our own Earth would occupy a year from now!

It's true, I swear it. Just like George W. Bush averred in 2004 that every government-authorized wiretap requires a warrant. And funny I should mention that, because the voice was his. (More in the continued diary...)

Cross-posted at A Mind is a Terrible Thing

Bush could bypass new torture ban - The Boston Globe

Bush could bypass new torture ban
Waiver right is reserved

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff | January 4, 2006

WASHINGTON -- When President Bush last week signed the bill outlawing the torture of detainees, he quietly reserved the right to bypass the law under his powers as commander in chief.

Translation: "bypass the law" = "violate the law at will." Just in case you were wondering whether last month's NSA spying revelation was a one-off attempt to explore the limits of Presidential power, we can see here that was only the beginning.

(Cross-posted on A Mind Is A Terrible Thing)

My fellow Americans, it's time.

Democrats in general:  It's time to grow a collective spine.  Have the courage to say what's right, not what's easy.  Where there is evil, call it so.  Don't be afraid to say, "Yeah, I voted that way, and I regret it.  Unlike our current leaders, I'm willing to look at what I've done wrong and change direction -- whereas they not only don't see the mistake, they urge us to rush even more headlong towards the looming disaster."  Compromise, appeasement and cooperation have gotten us nowhere.  It's time to fight back, and hard.  We don't have to fight dirty like they do, but at least we can fight.  And fight everything, not just what we think we can win.

(more on the flip)

Technowitch's blog, "A Mind is a Terrible Thing".
I don't know about you folks, but I'm planning to take a nice, long step away from all this Bush Administration / GOP / Neoconservative nonsense, because it's occurred to me that what we're seeing this week is nothing new. Take some time away, and concentrate on poetry, stories, and hunting for edible mushrooms in the woods (it's that season here in the Santa Cruz mountains of California).

We knew all the way back during the 2000 presidential election that these GOP people will do anything, destroy anything, to seize power. They didn't want a fair recount in Florida, they wanted whatever recount would lend legitimacy to their claim that they won. Bush didn't win the popular vote -- Gore did. Bush did win the electoral college vote -- but only because SCOTUS voted 5-4 to stop the Florida recount. If instead they'd swiftly ordered a statewide recount, Gore would be president.

My blog:  http://www.rebeccamorn.com/...

Ben Franklin said it best: "The man who trades freedom for security does not deserve nor will he ever receive either."

Today, I think Digby does a fine job of saying something similar: "9/11 changed everything. Suddenly the he-men of WalMart and the NRA leaped into Big Brother's arms and shrieked "save me, save me! Do what ever you have to do, they're trying to kill us all!" They now look to Daddy Government not to discipline the children, but to check under the bed for them every night, reassure them that the boogeyman won't hurt them and then read them a nice bedtime story about spreading freedom and democracy. It turns out that underneath all this swaggering bravado, the Republicans aren't the Daddy party -- they're the baby party."

I mean, really, when did we all become such a big bunch of fraidy-cats and cowards? I mean it: The American people have turned into yellow-bellied, pants-wetting, lily-livered COWARDS.