Karl Rove on His Way Out?

Terence Hunt, writing for AP, reports that Bush's Mephistopheles-like political adviser plans to leave the White House at the end of August. The rats continue to leave the ship.


Mitt Romney and His Five Pacifist Sons:

According to Paul Krugman of The New York Times, Romney was asked last week at a political rally "whether any of his five sons [were] serving in the military and, if not, when they plan[ned] to enlist." According to Krugman,

The candidate replied with a rambling attempt to change the subject, but near the end he let his real feelings slip. “It’s remarkable how we can show our support for our nation,” he said, “and one of the ways my sons are showing support for our nation is helping to get me elected, because they think I’d be a great president.”

Sticker Shock:

Prepare to be shocked! According to The New York Times, "A New Poll Finds That Young Americans Are Leaning Left." The poll was conducted by The New York Times, CBS News and MTV. One of the discoveries to come from the poll was the truly shocking revelation that young people between the ages of 17 and 29 seemed "to be really familiar with only two of the candidates, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton." Amazing, considering young people generally do not watch, listen to, or read the news, unless you consider Paris Hilton and others of her ilk to be news worthy, or the "sports news" as actual news. (I mean (should be pronounced as Arlo Guthry does in Alice's Restaurant) they don't even know what's his name, whose not yet a candidate, from Law and Order!)

You can see the complete poll results here.


"The Family Jewels":

Read The New York Times article on revelations coming out of the latest release of documents by the CIA on the agency's activities during the 1960s and early 1970s. While many of these activities were illegal, such as the spying performed on American citizens, what comes across is the shear buffoonery of a government agency designed to protect America from foreign adventurers. The lesson learned seems to be that which Vietnam made all too clear—"We have met the enemy, and he is us." So what else is new, Pogo?

Want to read the whole "Family Jewels" document? Click here.

Bush Can't Stand the Truth:

When Gen. Antonio M. Taguba was sent to investigate abuse at Abu Ghraib, his superiors forgot to tell him his job was to create a cover up. Today's New York Times reports the story of the generals forced retirement after he brought back the info on the corrupt and perverse behavior taking place at the infamous prison in Iraq. Afterwards he was forced into retirement with explanation. The truth is quite clear. Nobody in the administration, from Bush on down, can stand the truth.

The worst administration in history: Impeach them, arrest them.


White Prosecutor Who Panders to Black Voters Loses Job, License:

The white district attorney who attempted to prosecute rich white athletes at Duke for a crime that never occurred has lost his license to practice law, but what happens to all of those prosecuting attorneys around the country who send innocent African Americans and working class whites to jail, sometimes to death row? The last we heard nothing. Let's face it, the rich are different. There is a different level of justice in this country for the rich compared to the rest of us.

How to Screw Up and Get Rich:

George Tenet, the former director of the CIA who blew it on 9/11 and then failed to get the truth out about Iraq while providing Bush with a "slam dunk" metaphor, left his position in government with a Medal of Freedom in his pocket for a very lucrative and easy teaching position (he's not a real professor, just a celeb that rich folks' children can occasionally rub shoulders with), and now he's showing up on TV hawking his insider's book, At the Center of the Storm, for which he received a $4 million advance.

But that ain't the half of it, as my grandpa used to say. Tim Shorrock at Salon.com reports on more lucrative connections to Bush's war: "Tenet has been earning substantial income by working for corporations that provide the U.S. government with technology, equipment and personnel used for the war in Iraq as well as the broader war on terror."

Tenet may be rushing around the country, telling people that the war ain't his fault, but that's not keeping him from getting rich off of it. Now let me think, what's the reason we're in Iraq? Oh, yes, American democracy, keeping the terrorists out of our back yards, making the administrations friends even richer and more powerful than they already are.

Phony Populism:

Noam Scheiber has a fun article, called "The Curious Appeal of Phony Populism" in the recent edition of The New Republic that's just plain fun to read. Fans of NBC's Law & Order might not find it quite as humorous as I do.


Hot in the Bookstores:

Former CIA chief George Tenet's At the Center of the Storm attempts to paint a picture of Tenet's oversite in such a way that he will come off as a good guy no matter who wins election in 2008. Most of the discussion about the book focusses on 9/11 and the faulty info used to justify Bush's war in Iraq, but those who've seen advanced copies of the book point out that it reveals other interesting information, such as an attempt to assisinate VP Al Gore in 1998. Gore is currently the one person most Democrats would like to see run for the presidency in 2008, but he says he's not running.

Bush Lost in Latin Labyrinth!

This just in: An undisclosed White House source has disclosed that President George W. Bush has disappeared into the imaginary country of Uruguay. (Go ahead, find that on a map of the Middle-East!)

The president, who was accidently given a one-way ticket to visit South America, was reported to have found a kindred spirit in Uruguayan President Tabaré Vázquez. However, it is well known that Uruguay is a fictional country that exists only in the mind of a certain political theorist living in a rent controlled apartment on the Lower East Side (a fictional neighborhood of New York City). At this point, it is no longer clear who is running the country; however, nothing much seems to have changed. (Please note that in the NYTimes' article—see link above—Uruguay's population is stated to be half that of New York City. Do you need any more proof that Uruguay is actually located in New York City? I actually met a Uruguayan about twenty years ago. He lived in New York City.)

The D. C. rumor mill is grinding away. It is said that Veep Darth Vadar is behind the plot; having become infurriated with Democrats for not impeaching Bush, he hatched the plan to exchange Bush's round trip coach ticket with a one-way first class airfare. The Bush team, excited about the opportunity to get out of Washington during the bleak winter months, giddy as co-eds on their first spring break (See "Girls Gone Wild" episode 137), failed to notice the difference in tickets and were led to believe that they had simply received an "upgrade."

President Fidel Castro, in a show of magnanimity, offered to ship the Bush team Chinese made bycicles for the return trip. Castro, as everyone knows, has been in negotiations recently with the Disney people to turn Cuba into a theme park. Exactly how this fits into the conspiracy is not quite clear.

Speaking of Labyrinths: I have it on excellent authority than back in the 1970s the late Argentine writer, Jorge Borges, visited a Mid-Western university where he was the guest speaker. The univesity folks were justly proud that the great man had come to visit them, and they decided to hold a feast in his honor, serving only the very best Latin American and Spanish dishes. They hired an excellent chef, who was supervised by a Spanish woman of nobel birth, and the feast was truly magnificent. However, Borges, having long since gone blind and being in his eighties at the time, when he arrived at the great meal, refused to eat any of the delicacies that had been prepared. It seems that at this later period in his life he simply preferred to eat only canned soup, tomato soup. The fact that my source was a defrocked monk should in no way decline our acceptance of this story. Facts are facts, after all.

Today's definition: Post-modernism—the state of existance in which reality is routinely manufactured. See also French literary movement founded after World War II, in which French intellectuals discovered that, while they felt deeply moved, actually had nothing to say.