The Tuesday ‘BushWhack’ing

Our blog is fundamentally strong…

• The Dow, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all fell in early activity this morning…
• Parade magazine ran an article this past Sunday with SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia. One of the questions asked him was; “Is there a role for politics in our judicial system?” Scalia: “None whatsoever. The absolute worst violation of the judge's oath is to decide a case based on a partisan or philosophical basis, rather than what the law requires.” (this, dear readers, is irony…)
• Showing that she’s got all republican traits down pat, the McCain campaign announced that Gov. Palin will not cooperate with a legislative investigation into the firing of her public safety commissioner… (give me a break. Elected officials need to be held accountable for their actions, and in not cooperating, she’s not only sending a bad message to the masses, but showing a side of her that many people won’t like. Stay tuned, her honeymoon might be over…). The campaign also accused supporters of Sen. Obama of manipulating the Palin probe for political motivations… (And how exactly would they be pulling that off??? The McCain campaign certainly seems worried about something that this investigation might show. But nothing should come as a surprise since Palin was vette… oh, wait…)
• Not surprisingly, McCain is backing away from his inane comment that the economy is “fundamentally strong”… but it’s too late, the damage is done. And the Obama campaign has quickly cashed in on his gaffe, with Sen. Biden blaming the gop for the “god-awful mess” that the economy has become and releasing a new campaign ad that says McCain is “disturbingly out of touch” with the economic problems of ordinary Americans… (this is good for the Dems and the campaign. They need to hammer McCain on this every chance they get until McCain screws up again. Though my money is on Palin screwing up this time…)
• Former secretaries of state Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Henry Kissinger, Warren Christopher and James Baker are urging the US hold talks with Iran. Said Powell; “I agree with Madeleine, and I suspect my other colleagues, that we should try to talk to them.” (When you have that much foreign policy experience and expertise in a room, one should pay heed… too bad it’s going to fall on deaf ears in this administration and campaign though…)
• A Democratic-backed proposal that would give “states the option to allow drilling between 50 and 100 miles off their shores” is expected to be up for debate as the House is expected to vote on an energy package today that would open up most of the U.S. coastline to offshore drilling… stay tuned.
• And have we mentioned? That former Virginia governor George “Football” Allen is still an idiot? Appearing on Laura Ingraham’s radio show yesterday, Allen said “Americans are not addicted to oil. Americans are addicted to freedom…” and claims that anyone who says the US is addicted to oil are spewing an “elitist point of view.” (Um… has anyone told Mr. Allen that he’s alone on that, even within his own party? After all, “President” Bush claimed that “America is addicted to oil,” back in 2006… as has California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said earlier this year that “America is so addicted to oil it will take us years to wean ourselves from it”… so who exactly was Allen attacking in this interview? And why should we care?)