Talk about ridiculous

Newt Gingrich -- you are one dumb man.

Big Newt decides America, in its effort to sidestep those big, bad terrorists, needs to forego our principles, or at least radically alter them. For serious:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich yesterday said the country will be forced to reexamine freedom of speech to meet the threat of terrorism.

Gingrich, speaking at a Manchester awards banquet, said a "different set of rules" may be needed to reduce terrorists' ability to use the Internet and free speech to recruit and get out their message.

"We need to get ahead of the curve before we actually lose a city, which I think could happen in the next decade," said Gingrich, a Republican who helped engineer the GOP's takeover of Congress in 1994.

This is pretty damn ballsy for someone representing the Republican Party, the group of people that likes to paint their rivals as cowards when it comes to American foreign policy and national security. Because from what I'm reading, Mr. Gingrich seems to be a bit scared of our principles.

That GOP has some nerve. If you're going to accuse Democrats of cutting and running, that's one thing. But to do so while cutting and running from one of our core principles? Yeah, I'll say it: unAmerican.

Unacceptable, but hardly shocking

The Republicans' answer to real problems this country faces, such as increasing hostilities in the Middle East? Attempting to ban gay marriage.

Over at DailyKos, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) writes a short, but sweet diary expressing her frustration with these misplaced priorities. Take a peek.

As the skies over Israel and Lebanon fill with missles and rockets, here is the House's legislative agenda, crafted by Republicans:

*H.J. Res. 88 - Constitutional Amendment to Prohibit Same Sex Marriages: Right wing Republicans failed to pass this amendment today, which would amend the Constitution to state that "marriage in the United States shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman." Republicans in the House are pushing forward with the bill despite the fact that the Senate already defeated its own version of this amendment earlier in the year, ending any possibility that the amendment will go to the states for ratification this year.

*H.R. 2389 - Pledge Protection Bill - Republicans will bring this bill to the house floor tomorrow. The bill strips federal courts, including the Supreme Court, of the jurisdiction "to hear or decide any question pertaining to the interpretation of, or the validity under the Constitution of, the Pledge of Allegiance, as defined in section 4 of title 4, or its recitation."

It's become painfully clear that Republicans can't govern. Is November here yet?

Could this finally be it?

So there have been many times in W's presidency where I suspected/hoped that his actions/inactions would lead to his and Cheney's resignation and embarrassment. Unfortunately, so far, this has not happened (though Plamegate, which still isn't completely finished, came close).

Well, with Attorney General Alberto Gonzales's admission that Bush had, in fact, blocked an internal probe into eavesdropping operations conducted by the Department of Justice, we will hopefully see some backlash and action from the Congress and the American people. It's just one more albatross on the necks of those Republicans running for Congress this fall, and it's one more thing to add onto the ever-growing list of things to investigate when Dems gain a majority of at least one of the houses in November, along with subpoena power.

Here's hoping that this leads to a plethora of unflattering moments for the Bush Administration, so that Democrats might enjoy an even better shot at reestablishing better and balanced government in Washington.

Hillary's Cheerleaders

Why, all of a sudden, do we have Republican pundits like Dick Morris coming out to make the case for Hillary Clinton taking the Democratic nomination? No, this isn't a trick question -- the answer's pretty goshdarn easy.

See, they know how polarizing Hillary is. They know that Hillary's fav and unfav ratings are very close to being the same number. They know that, in order to continue controlling America and our government, all they need to do is scrap together 50.1% of the vote (they didn't even have to do that in 2000). And finally, they understand that, should Hillary be the Democratic nominee, we'd be giving them votes right from the start.

So insert yet another Republican talking head -- Frank Luntz. He knows Hillary's tough, and you better trust him because, after all, he's done "extensive focus-group research in Iowa and New Hampshire."

Their strategy is transparent: get Democrats to run with the frontrunner again and, as a result, nominate a candidate that the Republican sleaze machine can salivate over.

Unfortunately for the Repubs, once John Edwards shows all of these phonies up when he comes in first in Iowa, Hillary's going to have a massive problem on her hands -- and so is the GOP.

Stem Cell Politics

I've lost respect for this White House. There are some Democrats that have proudly never given an ounce of their respect to the Bush Administration, but that's not me. At the beginning, I must confess that I did not anticipate how recklessly this country would be run. I was a sixteen year old high school junior when the Supreme Court handed the election to Bush, and while I was upset that Gore had "lost," I didn't understand that the hijacking of the election was only a hint of things to come.

After 9/11, we all rallied around the President, waving flags, sorry that the terrorist attacks had occurred, but grateful that the world was united with us, ready to defeat terrorism and its ugly face -- Osama bin Laden. It didn't take long for this unity and determination to evaporate, as Bush put the final touches on his plan to finish the job his dad didn't -- depose Saddam. This new war provided Karl Rove and Co. the perfect opportunity to prolong the importance of foreign policy and national security in the American political debate, and in effect, scare people into voting for the Republicans in 2004.

While this Republican approach has been sickening, the tactics the approach uses commanded respect from me. Though the Republicans were all agreeing on a strategy that played upon the fear of the American voter -- while handsomely rewarding the wealthiest of the wealthy with substantial tax cuts -- they were still all agreeing, and that's what got me. It was disgusting, but it was formidable. There were no weaknesses to be seen...

Until the emergence of Bush's plan to demolish Social Security as we know it. The plan to introduce private accounts into the current system threatened to disrupt a piece of public policy so intricately woven into the American way of life by FDR. This was Bush's test -- did the conservative tide that resulted from Rove's scare tactics have enough strength to topple a cornerstone of the New Deal agenda? The answer, for now, is no. Just as FDR did in 1937 with the Court-packing Plan, Bush challenged a fundamental American institution and came out worse for the wear. But this is not important simply because American principles, like working today to be rewarded tomorrow, won. This defeat is crucial because it shows the beginning of the end for Republicans.

The unraveling of Bush's flawed plan for Social Security reform exemplified the odd and intriguing stupidity the Republicans have shown since the 2004 election. Introducing Social Security reform in the face of strong AARP opposition, creating a faulty prescription drug insurance program for seniors, invading Iraq with no justification and no exit strategy, are just a few on a long list of PR blunders. And while these were bad, lately, the White House and congressional Republicans have gotten worse. The aforementioned issues allow most Republicans to take the same side, strengthening their party, albeit in losing efforts. But with the Republican Congress introducing issues like immigration reform and stem cell research, the GOP has further paralyzed itself. These issues ostensibly contain too many fault lines for a simple-minded political party to negotiate. The introduction of these topics allows the Democrats to stand by, watching with the rest of the American people, as the majority party in the Congress attempts to hide the quaking fault lines within itself while pretending to accomplish something in what has turned out to be a truly do-nothing Congress.

Watch this week as the Republican Congress forces the President to issue his first veto on a piece of legislation that 70% of the American public wants passed, and tell me the Republicans aren't seriously fucking up.

What a nutcase

Katherine B. Harris was the Secretary of State in Florida who did all she could to hand the 2000 election to George W. Bush. Now she's a Republican Senate candidate in Florida who has horrible poll numbers, yet continues to press on with that ugly smile on her face.

Her campaign has been a mess from the beginning. She's gone through more campaign managers than the number of times Darryl Strawberry has been in prison for drugs. She moves from theme to theme, settling on the fact that God wants her to be in the race -- yeah, seriously.

But the thing is... she's nuts enough to wonder why people don't shout her down during her speeches. "On Memorial Day, Ms. Harris rode in a parade and visited two Veterans of Foreign Wars halls and one American Legion post, and was not audibly jeered or heckled by anyone, a fact that surprises even her, 'based on the press I get.'" Katherine: it's because Democrats and liberals know how nuts you are! Why wouldn't they shout you down and make you look like you couldn't handle Nelson this November? Because you can't!

If Harris was to pull off the miracle of all miracles, I have a good idea of who her first friend in the Senate would be; that's right, another nutcase. (Elizabeth Dole.)

Yet another sign of how far the President has fallen...

In today's Washington Post, columnist George Will writes about the Illinois governor's race. Judy Topinka, the Republican challenger, and her aide, when asked whether she wanted assistance from our esteemed President, offered the following testimony to his downfall:

'We just want him to raise money.' Topinka does not demur as the aide adds: 'Late at night.' Pause. 'In an undisclosed location.'

Methinks that President Bush isn't going to be making many trips this election season.

Republicans losing identifiers

Well, well, well. Perhaps Republicans do appreciate the damage wrought on this country by the Bush Administration.

In a Gallup poll released today, 33% identified as Democrats, 34% as Independents, and 32% as Republicans -- a four point drop in Republican identifiers since 2000.

While I'm still nervous about this election, I'm getting progressively pleased with all of the little hints that may point to an uprising this November. Keep your fingers crossed!