Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon

It’s that time of the week… Random Political Thoughts for a Wednesday Afternoon.

Here ya go…

Schmuck. Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-NC) is blocking a $10 million request that would buy land for a memorial to the passengers and crew of United Flight 93 that crashed in Shanksville, Pa on 9/11. Why? Because he thinks the federal government already owns too much land (and that no additional tax dollars should go to buy land for this or ANY OTHER memorial) Give me a break…

Doesn’t bode well. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei stated that Iran will harm U.S. interests anywhere in the world if the United States launches an attack on the Islamic Republic. I thought the US was going to be the ones doing the saber rattling, not Iran. Methinks this is not going to end well…

“Fitzmas” coming soon? CNN is reporting that Karl “I had a full head of hair in 2000” Rove (Dubya’s DCOS) is meeting with his attorney in preparation for a meeting later today with special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald. Stay tuned…

It’s the fall that’s gonna kill ya. And by ‘fall’ I mean dropping approval numbers. A telephone poll by Opinion Research Corporation, which was done for CNN (think CNN regrets parting ways with USA Today/Gallup yet?) put Dubya’s approval ratings at a new personal low with 32% of respondents saying they approve of Bush's performance (for those of you who can’t do arithmetic, that means 60% disapprove and 8% do not know.

Lots of flash, little substance. “President” Bush ordered the Department of Justice to investigate the rise in gasoline prices and see if it comes as a result of illegal manipulation. He also will be asking the EPA to temporarily ease clean air regulations. Sounds like a good start… and it’s just that, a start. Bush has the power to help ease the pain at the pumps more, but has so far refused to do so, such as the plan put forth by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ); a 60-day suspension of the federal gas tax. Not surprisingly the White House has all but ignored this plan. Why?? Well… there are two oilmen in the White House… but I’m sure that has NOTHING to do with it (it’s called sarcasm people)

Speaking of high gas prices. Oil and gasoline industry experts believe that the actions proposed by Dubya will actually do very little in regards to cutting fuel costs before the summer driving season. Why? Because the factors driving the record gasoline prices are “varied and complex.” If the ‘experts’ know what the factors are that are driving prices up, can’t they… you know… try and do something about them??

Gratuitous Op-Ed plug of the week. The first one comes from Roll Call, which can be read HERE. The second one comes from CBS News’ Bob Schieffer from last Sunday’s “Face the Nation”, you can read it HERE. Both are intelligent and thought provoking… if you can utilize your brain.

A new dog wagger. Fox “News” hack Tony Snow has been named as the new White House press secretary today (wow, the line between politics and news is getting blurrier by the minute now isn't it? Well, at least Snow's job description will stay largely unchanged) Seemingly Snow took the job only after top officials told him that he wouldn’t be ONLY a spokesman but rather have a voice in administration policy (I’m sorry, I seem to be a tad confused… when you overhaul, excuse me, shake-up, isn’t the idea to improve?? Well, at least it’s official that Fox “News” is now the mouthpiece of the Bush administration)

A un-truth or a un-lie? Is it truth or is it merely spin to coordinate with Secretary of Defense Donald “The Un-retirable” Rumsfeld’s visit to Iraq? General George Casey, the U.S. commander in Iraq, said that he remains on track to recommend a “substantial” reduction of U.S. troops for this year. As much as I’d like to believe it, I know better than to take anything said about the Iraq war at face value… so I’ll believe it when I see it…

Testify! Sen. John Warner (R-VA) stated yesterday that he is considering having the retired generals who have called for “Rummy” to resign come in to give testimony regarding the “progress” (or lack thereof) of the war in Iraq. While some Republicans think that having the generals testify would send the “wrong message” about the nation’s commitment to the war (as if all polling data about the war doesn’t reflect that already). Personally, I don’t see what would be accomplished by having the generals testify and think doing so would be a colossal waste of time.

When photo-ops attack. Picture this; Rep. John Carter (R-TX), whose district includes Fort Hood, is in Iraq and his media people arrange a photo-op of him and an array of soldiers… some of whom are from Fort Hood. One shot was of Rep. Carter and Sgt. 1st Class Rob Harrell. They take a nice picture… and Carter leaves… did anyone mention that Sgt. Harrell’s mother, Mary Beth, is a lawyer in Killeen, TX? And did they mention that Ms. Harrell is Carter's Democratic opponent this November? They didn’t… oops.

Take ‘em as you will…