The Monday ‘BushWhack’ing

Another start to another week in the wacky world of politics.

• Our thoughts and prayers go out to Senator Ted Kennedy and his family…
• Karl Rove is unhappy about Flagpin Gate and BitterGate... has anyone told them those stories are old news?
• Former republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee made apologies about his comment about Sen. Obama… (Riiiiiiiiiiiight…)
• The Democratic campaign continues with Sen. Clinton and Sen. Obama pressing the flesh in Kentucky and Oregon ahead of tomorrow’s primaries…
• “President” Bush told Arab and Middle Eastern leaders this past weekend that they must empower women, release political prisoners, promote free trade, reject terrorism and defend speech and religious freedoms in order to advance their nations... (there’s some snark in there somewhere, I’m just too tired to think of it right now…)
• On the heels of having two of his aides resigning because of ties to a firm that once represented a Burmese Junta, Sen. McCain introduced a “conflict-of-interest policy” for his campaign that requires staffers to disclose clients that “could be embarrassing for the senator.” It’s already claimed one victim as national finance co-chair Tom Loeffler has been lobbying on behalf of foreign interests and stepped down over the weekend. (For someone who claims so ardently to be anti-lobby, he certainly has a lot of lobbyist working for him… I wonder why the MSM hasn’t caught on, it’s not like they’re giving him special treatment… it’s so hard to express sarcasm in the written form…)
• One of McCain’s advisers is Robert Kagan, brother of Iraq surge architect Fred Kagan, so you know he’s a neoconservative stalwart. After McCain reiterated his unwillingness to engage diplomatically with various Middle East countries. Kagan, appearing on PBS’s Charlie Rose, moved away from McCain’s position and admitted that this policy may not be as sustainable as McCain thinks and McCain may want to talk to Iran if he becomes president. (When exactly did speaking to our enemies become cause for alarm. Isn’t that the job of a diplomat, to prevent hostilities with nations that we may not see eye to eye with? Talking doesn’t do any harm… not talking does. Witness the Iraq war debacle for proof…)
• And have we mentioned? That Sen. McCain’s campaign slighted conservative blogger Michelle Malkin? After I stop laughing my ass off I’ll explain why… hold on… wait… okay I’m ready. McCain has been reaching out to both Liberal and conservative bloggers in the last few days and scheduled a bloggers conference call… Malkin wasn’t invited but is taking it like an adult… I’m kidding, she’s whining like a spoiled brat on her blog (which I refuse to link here. Malkin is not AS reprehensible as Ann Coulter, but she is a you-know-what and has shown dismay at McCain being the nominee in the past, so I guess we can categorize this as McCain laying a smackdown on her… which will result in her slamming him on her blog, so the vicious cycle has begun and you can expect her endorsement of Bob Barr in 5, 4, 3…)