God, this is appalling. Because Tom Delay was indicted under a law referring to cash, and his money laundering all involved checks, an appelate court has ruled that the charges against him should be dropped.

I have been bothered throughout the primary season by frequent references to Bill Clinton as "the first black president", accompanied by assumptions that this is an affectionate nickname earned because of some special Clinton sympathy for African-American issues. This is a liberal myth. In the interest of accuracy, we need to resist the temptation to keep repeating it. It may indeed be that the Clinton years were very good for the African-American community, but the "first black president" line had nothing to do with that. For it's real providence, please follow me below the fold.......

It's 3am, your children are sleeping. Somewhere in the White House a phone is ringing....

We see a dark room with a phone ringing next to the bed. Suddenly, the figure in the bed sits bolt upright, and we see a disheveled old man who starts screaming in a querulous voice "Bomb Hanoi! Bomb Hanoi!"

Who do YOU want to answer the phone?

Lawrence O'Donnell has an essay in the Huffington Post today essentially asking why there is so much outrage over NFL player Michael Vick killing dogs when there is no concern that dogs are killed and eaten in Asia, and when we consider hunting and fishing positively virtuous. He also refers to the moral relativism (my term) of euthanizing sick pets and injured race horses.

If Lawrence O'Donnell will indulge me, I would like to expand on his thesis to talk about the same inherent gut-thinking in regards to American attitudes towards food and abortion. Why are we bothered by the dead dogs on Michael Vick's property, when we are not bothered by the steaks he may have in his freezer? What if he had dog steaks in his freezer? Monkey steaks? And what does this have to do with abortion?

We all know the argurments pro and con for whether Democrats should initiate impeachment efforts against George W. Bush. I have somewhat lost interest in that discussion, because it is clear to me that that is not going to happen. Now I want to make the case that it is Republicans who should do it, just as it was Republicans such as Barry Goldwater who put their country above their political party to force out Richard Nixon in 1973.

Those of you who did not see the new ad by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, entitled "It's Time for George Bush to Listen" should go take a look at it here:
http://www.dccc.org/