The Week Ahead

It’s Monday... we all know what that means...

Random Polit—, wait, no… that’s Wednesday’s feature... The Weekly Rew—, no... that’s on Fridays...

Ah… that’s right, it’s The Week Ahead, a short compilation of things we should all keep an eye on as this new week gets underway.

Read about ‘em, keep an eye on ‘em...

• With an enrollment deadline fast approaching (May 15th), Commander Cuckoo-Bananas dedicated his Saturday Radio Address to speak to elderly and disabled Americans and told them to review their options and sign up for the government's new prescription drug benefit. All I can say to that is this: it’s May 8th, do YOU know where your Medicare benefits are?
• Among news stories over the weekend that spoke of his best experience as President has been catching a fuc**** fish (though it now looks as though that's a lie as well, because the 7.5 pound perch he claims to have caught, though some speculate he meant bass, would make that a world record for the largest perch ever caught, read about it HERE) and the fact he is already thinking about life after the White House (is “The George W. Bush Presidential Library” an oxymoron? I mean, unless we add; ‘…and Fishing Emporium’ to the end of it… it certainly sounds odd) it was revealed by House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) that Democrats are going to launch a series of investigations of the Bush administration when they take control of Congress in November… it should be noted that they state they are not out to impeach him… bummer. Incidentally, if you want to see how other presidents answered that question, click HERE.
• The Washington Post is reporting that DCOS Karl “I know noth-ing!” Rove “Talked with White House colleagues about the political importance of defending the prewar intelligence and countering Plame’s husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.” Fitzgerald is expected to decide whether or not to indict Rove for making false statements as soon as this month, but is weighing Rove's “foggy-memory” defense against evidence he has acquired over nearly 2 1/2 years. Some of which shows Rove was very involved in White House efforts to beat back any and all allegations that Bush altered (‘spun’) U.S. intelligence in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.
• He’s waiting for a US Supreme Court ruling on whether the prisoners might face military tribunals, but Dubya has stated publicly that he would like to close the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. Rhetoric or truth? Keep an eye on this story… if it’s rhetoric designed to divert attention from something else, you’ll never hear of it again. If it’s an honest idea, this presidency could get interesting… well, okay, not really, but I like how ‘could get interesting’ ends a thought.
• Following up on telling employees of NASA and NOAA what to say, last week employees at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) were stunned when they got White House talking points… not on bird flu or anything that would make sense, but on Iraq (uh…okay…) The “memos” told employees to include lines like “President Bush has a clear strategy for victory in Iraq” (Sure you do Georgie-boy… let’s see it then…) in every speech they give for the department. You can see the talking points received by the USDA HERE.
• Keep an eye on Sudan as things, hopefully, won’t get worse over there before they get better. Though keeping an eye on it may be somewhat difficult, what with the “main stream medias” incrediblly piss-poor reporting on the crisis. But hey! At least we know that Adam Sandler is a father…
• You thought he would have learned from his mistakes the last time… but evidently not. While he didn’t dismiss the idea that there is planning underway for a military strike against Iran, British Prime Minister Tony Blair (who, btw, refuses to speculate on his retirement) did say that any consideration of a nuclear attack against Iran would be “absolutely absurd.”
• More on Iran, which is something we should ALL be keeping an eye on… constantly. The President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, wrote a letter to President Bush, that proposed “new solutions for getting out of international problems and the current fragile situation in the world.” The White House isn’t saying if the first solution put forth by Ahmadinejad to Bush was; ‘resign’.
• You can put this in the ‘Color me NOT surprised files’ as Senator Majority Leader Bill “They call me Dr!” Frist (R-TN) and Speaker of the House Dennis “When Photo-Ops Attack” Hastert (R-IL) “plan to extend [tax] breaks that mostly benefit the wealthy and Wall Street at the expense of reductions for middle-income households.” I, personally, am shocked as I thought Republicans were the party of inclusion (warning: sarcasm alert)
• Keep an eye on the relationship between Bush and Dick. Sunday, Vice President Dick “Dead Eye” Cheney appeared to question the political clout of his “boss”, Dubya. When asked to comment on rumors that he may retire following the November mid-terms, thus allowing Dubya to appoint someone who could run on his coattails in 2008, the vice president was skeptical and stated; "Well, I'm not sure it would be an advantage.” Ouch…
• I’m sure this will go smoothly. Following Porter Goss’ sudden resignation last week, Bush officially nominated Air Force General Michael Hayden today to be the new director of the CIA, which is drawing some serious concerns and some heavy criticism on Capital Hill from both sides of the aisle. Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), chairmen of the House and Senate intelligence panels raised some serious concerns about Hayden, calling him “the wrong man at the wrong place at the wrong time.” Ok, forgetting for a second about the new nominee, how do you go from accepting a “surprise” resignation to naming a new head in a matter of days? The administration forced Goss out, pure and simple, and had their eyes on a military replacement a long, long time ago. All of this brings to mind two burning questions; what does Goss know that the White House doesn’t want the American public to know… and is someone from the military the best choice for our spying agency? This is THE ONE to keep an eye and ear on in the weeks ahead.

And one more...

• We should all be keeping an eye on the Sunday talk shows as we inch ever-closer to November’s midterms. But yesterdays “This Week George Stephanopolous” was particularly intriguing. Smilin’ Tom DeLay (R-TX) stated that Howard Dean is “creating a culture of hypocrisy” and criticized the Democrats for playing the “politics of personal destruction” (hello kettle, this is the pot; you’re black). Dean’s response; “I’m not going to get into an argument with a guy who’s on his way out of Congress.” Ouch… one could almost see the wind leaving DeLay’s gut from that punch to the stomach.