Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday afternoon...

• Understatement of the Year Award (UOTYA): replacing one we pointed out here a few weeks ago, President Bush has now won the Understatement of the Year award by announcing, during a primetime Oval-Office speech delivered Sunday night that the IRAQ WAR is/was “MORE DIFFICULT THAN WE EXPECTED.” Well, duh.
• Addendum to the UOTYA: During the aforementioned address, the “President” also hailed the Iraqi elections as a crucial step toward stabilizing that nation, but warned that more violence lies ahead in spite of the ‘political progress’ the country has recently experienced. Again, well, duh.
• Iraqi war veteran is running for political office in Illinois. L. Tammy Duckworth, a helicopter pilot who lost her legs in a rocket-propelled grenade attack, formally announced her candidacy Sunday for the congressional seat of retiring Republican Rep. Henry Hyde. While she is running in an area that is HEAVILY Republican, she thinks her military stance will help her win some votes regardless of her party affiliation. Stay tuned...
• Something about Abramoff. With the recent news that a duo of politicians will return the money they received from Jack Abramoff, a call is going out to all Republicans AND Democrats to do the same, lest they become embarrassed by the public scrutiny.
• Something about Abramoff, part 2. Abramoff, whose trial on fraud charges is slated to begin Jan. 9 in Florida, is negotiating a possible deal with the Justice Department. The deal would include him pleading guilty and cooperating in the wide-ranging political corruption investigation focused on his dealings with members of Congress and executive branch officials. This could get even more interesting as I’m sure there are a few Democrats who would be included in his testimony. Again, stay tuned…
• Governor Schwarzenegger starting to act like a Republican. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has severed ties with his Austrian hometown because they dared to have a different thought about the Williams clemency than he did, meaning he’s finally starting to act like a Republican isn’t he?
• FEMA changes could be revolutionary. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said on Tuesday that the Federal government might have to ‘radically change FEMA.’ While he didn’t offer any particulars about possible changes, he did say FEMA employees have to be given the authority to cut through red-tape in order to assist disaster victims hastily.
• Sen. Clinton's GOP challenger to quit race. Jeanine Pirro, who had been set to run against Sen. Clinton in 2006, has decided to drop out of the Senate race. Instead she will run for state attorney general, an adviser said.