Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

Here we go, another Wednesday, another show, another Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon, yo! (Had to rhyme...)

A moment of silence. On this date in 1995, at 9:02 AM CDT, the Alfred P. Murrah Federal building in Oklahoma City, OK was destroyed by a terrorist bomb, killing 168 people... Let us never forget them.

Mightly small shoes to fill. As mentioned in a quick post this morning, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan announced his resignation this morning (see the remarks HERE) The big question now is will anyone be able to fill his shoes? Is there anyone out there who can master the art of saying nothing while ignoring the real question? In short… yes. (In fact, I’ve heard that there is a 10th grader from Fillmore AC elementary school in DC that could match his daily briefing abilities… hell, a chimpanzee with a speech impediment could match his daily briefing abilities) That announcement was followed immediately by…

Give it up. Karl Rove, a dominant force in the Bush administration and one of the president's most influential advisers, gave up some strategic policy responsibilities today. He’s not leaving his Deputy COS post, but he will (once again) put all his focus into a broader scope of strategy and politics, specifically the 2006 mid-term elections. This is most likely the first step of Rove getting less and less involved in the Administration. The idea I am sure is to put distance between him and doing anything important should a connection between Rove and the Plame investigation pop up (fingers crossed…)

Another poll, another low. According to a new Harris Interactive poll, President Bush’s approval rating is at 35%, having slipped for the third straight month. I know this calls for a big ol’ snark… but when it’s this damn easy… there’s no sport in it so I’ll leave it alone.

Not surprised. A Government Accountability Office (GAO) report finds that the Bush administration, despite having over four years of legislation, executive orders and presidential directives to do it has “yet to comprehensively improve sharing of counterterrorism information.” Well, duh. How this could come as a surprise to anyone is beyond me…

The blogger knows. Sights seen, a headline in The Guardian (a UK newspaper for those of you that aren’t ‘in the know’) earlier this week: "Ignore bloggers at your peril." Good advice, especially when you consider phrases like this: “Bloggers and internet pundits are exerting a ‘disproportionately large influence’ on society.” … and we will not be ignored. Well, some will be, others will stand up and be counted and heard.

The CIA knows. The new Open Source Center (OSC) at the CIA recently started to collect data based on bloggers around the world and is trying to develop a new method to gauge how reliable the content is. OSC Director Douglas Naquin stated in the interview: “A lot of blogs now have become very big on the Internet, and we're getting a lot of rich information on blogs that are telling us a lot…” Hmmmm, so that's why I keep seeing a CIA url on my sitemeter... at least I hope that's why I keep seeing a CIA url on my sitemeter... uh, oh.

Son of a... An appeals court Wednesday upheld an earlier judge's ruling that threw out a conspiracy charge against Tom “the bug killer” DeLay (R-TX). Sure, he still faces a charge of money laundering and another conspiracy charge that stems from the financing of state legislative races in 2002, but it was the first conspiracy charge that was the chain rattler. It’s a setback, but I still think that DeLay will soon find himself getting the same treatment as former Illinois Governor George Ryan… who’s a Republican by the way (which merits mentioning since hardly any other story speaking about his guilty verdict pointed that out)

A shell game? In naming Rob Portman as the new head of the Office of Management and Budget, the “President” sent a dark signal to trade experts and policymakers in regards to the possibility of achieving any sort of significant gains in foreign trade talks. In losing Portman, the U.S. lost its primary negotiator whose “genial manner, combined with his political skill and mastery of detail, has impressed counterparts from other nations.” So Bush picks someone for a department that actually has the qualifications (wow, that’s a concept) but takes them out of another area where, it seems, they were highly regarded and needed… brilliant, absolutely brilliant. Does the man think before he does something??

Give me a break. Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) has proposed an amendment to the Higher Education Act that would allow private Christian colleges to legally reject students merely because of their sexual orientation. My question, if they don't allow homosexual students, what will that do to the college's theater departments... Seriously though, what kind of ridiculous crap is this?? Is he trying to outdo the Omaha, Nebraska school board for the most outrageously silly/idiotic/inane educational move of the week??

Gratuitous Op-Ed Plug(s) of the Week. This week, it’s not so much as an Op-ed piece as a very striking post by Daily Kos founder Markos Zuniga, which you can read HERE. Runner-up is this snarkish piece by WaPo columnist Dana Milbank, which you can read HERE. Here's another golden piece that sums up Dubya and his 'failed presidency' perfectly, you can read it HERE.

How’s that reconstruction coming along? Power plans unfinished and behind schedule. Sanitation plants unfinished and behind schedule. Police stations unfinished and behind schedule. The U.S. Embassy in Iraq…right on schedule. The size of 80 football fields and costing $592 million. Nice… at least we’ll have a nice, up-dated building to evacuate when the civil war reaches the embassy doors...

The Decider. President Bush, in defending Def. Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday and while stating that he’s doing a “fine job” (despite the plethora of calls for him to resign) said that when it comes down to the issue of Rumsfeld resigning that he himself will be ‘the decider.’ The Decider??? Tell me Dubya, does that come with tights and a cape? Talk about empty rhetoric…

Who? And he's running for what? Earlier this week (Monday), former Senator Mike Gravel (D-AK) declared that he will seek the Democratic Presidential nomination in 2008. The Senator, who describes himself as a "maverick," lost his Senate re-election bid in a 1980 primary... which was after nominating himself for Vice President at the 1972 Democratic National Convention, which was summarily rejected by convention delegates. Talk about a long shot...

Take 'em as you will...