Lessons

"In Vietnam we didn't have the lessons of Vietnam to guide us. In Iraq we did have those lessons. The tragedy is that we didn't pay attention to them.”

-Pulitzer prize winning journalist David Halberstam

Bad Day

"You wouldn't want to have been a White Sox fan at the White House staff meeting this morning. The boss and all the other Texans were already grumpy from staying up till 2:20 a.m. to watch the Astros lose the longest World Series game in history. Now they have to spend the rest of the day watching some suit from Chicago serve up indictments."

-Bruce Reed at Slate.com

Best and the...

Survey USA has published the current approval ratings of all 100 Senators and ranked them accordingly. 9 of the top 10 Senators are women or Democrats. Ted Stevens from Alaska is the exception but then he just scored the mother of all pork, the infamous “Bridge to Nowhere.”

Conversely, the bottom quarter in the survey is chock full of Republicans, with Rick Santorum (of PA) at the very bottom. In a desperate attempt to resurrect himself he is distancing himself from George W. Bush, who apparently is suddenly becoming toxic detritus to his former cadre of sycophants.

The top Dem? Barack Obama.

Reflection

“The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a tapering wall of black granite cut into the grass of Constitution Gardens. Maya Lin envisioned a scar when she designed it, a scar on this land, which is exactly right. Maybe someday his security detail could drive George W. Bush over to take a look. He'll be able to see himself in the reflective surface.”

-Anna Quindlen in her Newsweek column

2000

2000.

Brain Surgery

"If Bush's Brain is removed, it's gonna hurt."

-from an article in Slate magazine discussing the trouble facing the Bush White House should Karl Rove be forced out by potential indictments.

2 %

In a new NBC/Wall Street Journal poll black America is giving Bush his lowest approval ratings yet. Only two percent of blacks approve of the job he is doing.

In the wake of recent events in New Orleans and elsewhere, one wonders: why so high?

Exit Strategy

Howard Fineman finds some conservatives who have finally come up with an exit strategy:

"President George W. Bush may have no military exit strategy for Iraq, but the 'necons' who convinced him to go to war there have developed one of their own -- a political one: Blame the Administration."

Parting Shots

Outgoing German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder took a jab at Bush recently saying, "I can think of a recent disaster that shows what happens when a country neglects its duties of state towards its people. My post as chancellor, which I still hold, does not allow me to name that country, but you all know that I am talking about America."

Since he also must know in America it is politically incorrect to liken Bush to Hitler he will have to forego that tempting comparison and just stick to comparing him to Satan.

Mixed Miers

On Sunday morning's Meet The Press, Tim Russert questions how Bush can be so certain Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers wouldn't change her views:

“Twenty years ago, she was a Roman Catholic and she was a Democrat. She’s now an evangelical Christian and a Republican.”

Elvis' Opera

"It is a series of monologues. People don't dress up, there are no children mistaken for one another, and there are no Viking women in helmets."

-Elvis Costello on the first ever performance of his first ever opera opening tonight in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Top Hack

The New Republic this week lists the top 15 hacks in the Bush White house.

They define hacks as “government officials with waifish resumés padded like the Michelin man, whose political connections have won them important national responsibilities”.

The New Republic thoroughly examined White House officials from top to bottom:

“From under every bureaucratic rock, out scurried a Bush buddy. But we endeavored to be fair. There was spirited debate over the nuances between merely mediocre officials blindly loyal to the president and those with a demonstrated history of incompetence.”

Coming in at the top of the list of hacks is Harriet Miers.

The article continues “On Monday, Bush nominated Miers, the personal lawyer who fixed the paperwork on his fishing cabin, to the Supreme Court of the United States. "I picked the best person I could find," Bush said…”

In a way, I’m inclined to believe him.

Meat Madness

NBC had more salami and bacon this week than it probably wanted.

On the MSNBC political debate show Hardball, always outspoken Howard Dean outdid himself with this comment about Bush and the Miers nomination: "You can't play hide the salami, or whatever it's called. He's got to go out there and say something about this woman... We deserve to know something about her."

Meanwhile, actor Kevin Bacon is claiming the network nixed a scheduled interview with him after they discovered he was promoting a movie that includes a gay sex scene.

Speaking of touchy subjects, Katie Couric, forever the gamer, broadcast her mammogram examination on the Today show. When the examiner touched her breast she quipped: “And you didn’t even buy me dinner!”

Co-anchor David Gregory looked like he was about to gag on his sticky bun when she suggested that maybe next week she’d televise her pap-smear.

Feeding Frenzy

With the current Supreme Court nomination of Harriet Miers, Bush finds himself being attacked by conservatives who have been mostly silent during the past 5 years giving Bush the freedom to roam on issues from tax cuts to Iraq with no criticism from the right.

Now he finds himself trapped like a wounded gazelle being encircled by a pack of rabid hyenas with the Democrats playing the role of turkey buzzards, only occasionally swooping in for scraps.

The Big Disney

Bruce Springsteen was doing his part for Hurricane Katrina relief this week with a benefit show in Jersey. Here’s some of the review from Backstreets:

“After a seven-week break from the stage, Bruce Springsteen was back at it Tuesday night, back in Asbury Park, and back to his Devils & Dust tour business, this time with a twist. All proceeds from the Paramount Theatre show were donated to the Jersey Coast Chapter of the American Red Cross, a nod to the recent catastrophic events along the Gulf Coast.

“Some highlights along the way included a new version of "The Ties That Bind" that had an Orbison-esque feel, a rockabilly-ed "Ain't Got You," the tour premiere of "I Wanna Marry You" (on ukulele!), and a quartet of songs -- "Atlantic City," "Lost in the Flood," "The Rising," and "Lucky Town" -- that had echoes of New Orleans reverberating.

“Springsteen spoke of the Crescent City as "the birthplace of American music... It's one of the few places that's kept its dirtiness and grittiness and soul... And it's a real big piece of who we are." He spoke fondly of all the great street musicians there, and hoped out loud that when it is rebuilt it's not "Disney-ized." Amen, brother.”

Sick or Evil

"I would like to believe he's sick rather than just mean and evil."

-New York Rep. Charles Rangel on V.P. Dick Cheney

Skittle Wars

In Arizona the hot debate is whether or not to remove candy from high schools. One State Senator was quoted as asking: “They can join the Army and handle an M-16, but they can’t handle a pack of Skittles?”

Hammer's Sandwich

“This is a ham sandwich indictment without the ham.”

- Indicted (former) majority leader Tom “The Hammer” Delay after being nailed with conspiracy. More charges pending including lettuce, tomato, mayo and Swiss.

Bennett's Moral Reality

“You could abort every black baby in this country and your crime rate would go down.”

-Self-styled morality czar Bill Bennett on his radio show. Bennett says this quote is taken out of context, which only makes it more disturbing when you start to think about the possible context.