For only the fourth (or fifth, depending on how you count) time in his presidency, George W. Bush had a veto overridden by both houses of Congress this week. This is big news, since it doesn't happen very often.
I'd like to address, in as patriotic spirit as can be mustered, the wearing of United States flag lapel pins, and the inherent silliness this debate represents. Flag lapel pins are all the rage these days, but the battle over wearing the flag is older than you may have thought. Older than the battles in Congress over flag-desecration amendments to the Constitution (which stretch back to the 1980s… and which even Democrats who should know better still occasionally vote for in Congress… ahem).
Rest In Peace, Mr. Carlin. You leave behind you a void that will be hard to fill. Because, unfortunately, silliness is still rampant in America.
The cloud of growing doom hanging over Republicans as they skulk the corridors of power in Washington, D.C. is becoming more and more visible as the 2008 elections stumble down the campaign trail. It may break in a cloudburst of Democratic landslides this November, which Republicans are beginning to fully realize. Because the bad news for the Republicans is coming so fast and furious, I (once again) pay homage to the late great Herb Caen, and offer them up to you in a return of the Three-Dot Thursday format. Without further ado…
Every time I visit an unabashedly pro-Hillary website and read the comments posted thereon, I keep thinking: Which side are you on? Will you, out of spite of losing, vote for a man who is the exact opposite of the candidate you supported so fervently? Will you tempt fate with the future of abortion rights in this country? Will you really vote for a man who sees 100 years of American troops in Iraq as a viable outcome? Is your belief in Barack Obama's defeat in November enough for you to contribute to a self-fulfilling prophecy that leaves the White House in Republican hands for the next four years? Hillary didn't win, she lost the nomination. Are you really that upset with Barack Obama (whose platform is virtually identical to Hillary Clinton's) that you would vote against everything Hillary has been fighting for? Even if she told you not to? In short, what kind of Democrat are you?
[Note: Due to everyone else blathering about it, I am going to write this column without once mentioning Barack Obama or Reverend Jeremiah Wright. I am also going to break this blog's motto and escape reality-based politics for one day. Hope you don't mind.]
I invite you to enter an alternate reality with me. […]
I must admit, I was kind of surprised at the ferocity of the response, myself. Because I actually expected exactly what happened during the first hour of the debate — shallowness and insipid "gotcha" questions. This is, after all, the mainstream media we are talking about. Did anyone really think it was suddenly going to morph into PBS on debate night?