The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Tuesday… there’s something big going on today in the world of politics but I can’t remember what it is…

• The Bush(whacked) Administration wants to prevent a Chinese ship laded with weapons for Zimbabwe's security forces from unloading in southern Africa and asked 2 nations (Namibia and Angola) to not allow the ship to dock after it had been prevented from docking in South Africa and Mozambique. (On the surface this seems like a pretty sound idea… but because it’s this administration one of two things will happen; it will come back to bite us on the ass or the US will sell arms to Zimbabwe themselves. Stay tuned…)
• eeting with Mexican and Canadian leaders yesterday, “President” Bush is making a play to seal the US/Colombia trade pact that those two countries oppose. (Like European leaders, the leaders of Mexico and Canada have to be thinking to that since Bush is a lame-duck, his actions are hollow)
• Sen. Clinton’s campaign started the month of April in debt… and I doubt May will be much better.
• One of the most corrupt Senators to ever serve is getting a strong election opponent as it was announced that Anchorage, Alaska Mayor Mark Begich will challenge Sen. Ted Stevens (r-AK) in the next election. Stevens, whose home was raided by the FBI and IRS is considered highly vulnerable and Begich is a candidate with a lot of public support… it should be one helluva of a campaign, so stay tuned.
• Oh, now I remember! Today is the Pennsylvania primary… thank merciful God, it’s over!
• The former deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department’s criminal division, Robert Coughlin, was accused of “criminal conflict of interest” yesterday in the latest case to branch off from the Jack Abramoff scandal. Stay tuned…
• The drum beats of war continue as it’s becoming clear that this administration just won’t be content until it invades Iran. During a speech last night at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said that he thinks Iran is “hell bent” on acquiring nuclear weapons. He then countered that statement by warning that “another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need and, in fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels.” He then said, despite his warning about it being disastrous, that he “favors keeping the military option against Iran on the table.” (I’m getting mixed signals here Bob; you want to attack Iran, but know that it would be catastrophically bad but still think the option should be on the table… what kind of logic is this?)
• And have we mentioned? That Bush’s approval ratings in a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll matches the lowest point of his presidency? It’s true, 69% of Americans disapprove of the job Bush is doing, which not only means that the rating matches the low point of his presidency, but the disapproval numbers set a new high for any president since Franklin Roosevelt… (these numbers don’t surprise me, per se, but I am still absolutely baffled how anyone capable of using their own brain – and don’t follow the lemmings off the cliff – can believe he’s doing a good job… it’s staggeringly mind-boggling…)