Prisons, we don't see no stinkin' prisons

late to the fight, but some of the impeachable offenses are far from actual events or reality.

As for unicameral Nebraska - McDonnell used it as the basis for a joke at Shad planking...

Rummy on the Run?

The furor over Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld is reaching a fever pitch. What does everyone think about his job security? What about his culpability for the war in Iraq, for Abu Graib? Is he screwing things up or is he doing a decent job? Is he a scapegoat for the Administration? Is Bush's support genuine (does anyone recall what Bush said about FEMA Director Michael Brown)?

I thought only Soviets were unicameral and nonpartisan....

Did you know that Nebraska has a unicameral, nonpartisan legislature? Nebraska's Senate has been its sole legislative chamber since Nebraskans voted to eliminate their House in 1934. The only state in the Union to have such a system, its elected legislators also shun party affiliations on all ballots. The general elections for state senators are preceded by open primaries in which all candidates run against each other. The general election is the run-off between the two candidates who received the most votes in the primary. Fascinating.

Any thoughts? Can you imagine the electorate voting by referendum to eliminate one of its legislative houses? I know some folks in the former House of Burgesses who might not mind eliminating Virginia's Senate and vice versa, I'm sure. But wow – a whole state of motivated voters who got off their collective ass and did something dramatic... seventy years ago.

P.S. I found this out when I was reading about the Omaha school system redistricting controversy. From CNN:

Boundaries for the newly created districts would be drawn using current high school attendance areas. That would result in four possible scenarios; in every scenario, two districts would end up with a majority of students who are racial minorities.

Critics say it’s segregation; supporters believe it give more local control to the constituents. Would anyone like to post a new topic on that?

Classic

Not to make this entire post one big "I told you so," but I TOLD YOU SO! Not only have a vast majority of Republicans who pledged terms limits in order to weasel their greasy ways into Congress suddenly "realized" that its a bad idea, but they're literally using the same arguments to support their brand-spankin-new positions that the incumbents they beat used. Some favorites:

"Rep. Timothy Johnson of Illinois 'underestimated the value of seniority," spokesman Phil Bloomer says of his boss's decision to run for a fourth term. 'As a rookie going in, (he) didn't understand what he could accomplish for his district by being there a longer period.'"

"Flake is one of at least seven House Republicans who had vowed to leave Congress next year but will be on the ballot in November. They ran as citizen legislators - antidotes for 'career politicians.' But after six or 12 years on Capitol Hill, they say they're just getting the hang of the job."

"Term limits eventually stalled in Congress. Once Republicans took charge, 'a lot of the motivation disappeared' to stick to them, says John Pitney, a former House Republican aide who teaches political science at Claremont McKenna College near Los Angeles."

Apparently to GOP minds keeping one's promise to voters on something they actually have control over doesn't provide much "motivation."

Another goodie:

"Flake says it's easy to be of two minds on the issue. He cites the career of Rep. Henry Hyde (news, bio, voting record), R-Ill., chairman of the House International Relations Committee. Hyde, a term-limit foe, is retiring in January after 32 years in Congress.

'The institutional memory and that kind of consistency has been a huge plus,' Flake says. 'But for every Henry Hyde, there are four or five members who have stayed beyond their effective phase.'"

In other words: incumbent Republicans = institutional memory, incumbent Democrats = useless old hangers-on.

Ah, the character, commitment, and reform brought to us by the "Contract With America."

EFF Files Evidence in Motion to Stop AT&T's Dragnet Surveillance

EFF Files Evidence in Motion to Stop AT&T's Dragnet Surveillance

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) on Wednesday filed the legal briefs and evidence supporting its motion for a preliminary injunction in its class-action lawsuit against AT&T. ... "AT&T is diverting Internet traffic into the hands of the NSA wholesale, in violation of federal wiretapping laws and the Fourth Amendment"

Just in case anyone still trusted corporate America to act in the interests of Joe Citizen.

Scum always floats to the surface...

In perhaps the least surprising revelation of this whole affair, we finally find out that President Bush authorized the whole thing. He's lucky the House is just a collection of partisan hacks without a statesman among them, or else he'd be impeached so fast he'd beat Andy Card to the door. Of course, the Admin has been so good about desensitizing the American People to brazen, illegal and immoral acts by this President, I wonder if anyone will even bat an eye at these shocking revelations.

Maybe the GOP has convinced the American People that impeachment is only for oral sex.

DeLay to Resign!

Ding dong the witch is dead, the witch is dead, the witch is dead...ding dong the wicked witch is DEAD!!

This isn't April Fools, is it? That would be cruel (to me, I mean)!

NOOOOOOOOOOOO...

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!