Today's History Lesson from Tom DeLay

From Al Kamen's In the Loop column in The Washington Post:

...House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) put a link to the Constitution on his Web site so young people can read the document and simple explanations of what it's about. If the kids get interested, there's a link they can click on for "related topics," which takes them to a review of "Great Documents of Freedom."

Here they find, first, the Magna Carta in 1215, with a nice overview of its place in the road to democracy. Next, the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and, of course, the Bill of Rights in 1791. But then there's a bit of a dry patch for a couple of hundred years until -- what else? -- the "Contract With America" in September 1994.

This ranks right up there with the Bill of Rights, DeLay's account says, because it "presented clearly defined positions on issues of concern" to people, not piddly stuff. Moreover, it "was a written commitment," so "the people could read The Contract with America and embrace the agenda presented in the document....The resulting vote [in November 1994] re-established the people's control of Congress," our primer tells us, after "the people" lost control, apparently in 1954, to evildoers, taxers, Homo sapiens and such.

When Educated People Attack

Like many other U.S. towns, Dover, Pa., is going through a battle between teaching evolution or Christian creationism. One parent, Pastor Ray Rummert said, "Evolution is just a theory and there are other theories....We've been attacked by the intelligent, educated segment of the culture."

Damn those educated people trying to influence how we teach kids!

Apprentice "lobbyist"?

Being surrounded by posers in Washington, I love this story about "Apprentice" contestant Alex Thomason. He claimed to be a lobbyist for the apple industry, when actually he was just an intern at US Apple for three months.

That's the kind of self-promotion Donald Trump should like!

Cloudy with a Chance of Death

The Marine Corps fell short of its recruiting numbers in both January and February -- the first time goals were missed in 10 years. Spokesman Lt. Gen. Jan. C. Huly blames the cold weather.

Social Security & Titanic

Will the Bush plan keep us from hitting an iceberg or steer us directly into one?

Al Franken produced this parody ad on Social Security, "paid for by Americans for Telling George Bush to Take His Head Out of His Ass." Click here for the real ad, followed by the parody.

B is for B-List Blogs

This is an interesting column about blogs. "Nobody can argue with the idea that the web provides a new vehicle for free speech. But blogs challenge what makes for valuable or credible speech, which is not at all the same thing as free speech. Unlike Usenet posts and e-mail, blogs are sometimes indistinguishable from professionally created news and information sites -– on the Internet, it's hard to tell the upstarts from the establishment."

What she means is, start every day by visiting Democrack. Otherwise, you just don't know what to trust.

DOD misses deadline for soldier reimbursement

The Defense Department was told a year ago to set up a program to reimburse soldiers who have had to buy their own protective gear, like armor and medical supplies -- but the deadline has gone by with no action.

"Very simply, this is either negligence on their part, because they were not happy with this when it passed, or it's incompetence," Sen. Christoper Dodd said. "It's pretty outrageous when you have all their rhetoric about how much we care about our people in uniform."

Saddam Capture: Fact or Fiction?

A Marine says the Saddam capture was fictionalized for TV. You be the judge of his credibility.

GAO: Bush Plan Will Make SS Problem Worse

The head of the Government Accountability Office testified that the president's proposed accounts for Social Security would "exacerbate the solvency problem." Even with other cost-saving measures to benefits and payroll taxes, carving the accounts from Social Security payroll taxes "will accelerate the negative cash flows" to the program in the coming decade.

ISO direction, conviction, values, purpose...

From James Carville and Stan Greenberg:

"We ask progressives to consider, why have the Republicans not crashed and burned?

"Why has the public not taken out their anger on the congressional Republicans and the president? We think the answer lies with voters' deeper feelings about the Democrats who appear to lack direction, conviction, values, advocacy or a larger public purpose."

Greenberg said Democrats have a big opportunity, but need to find their voice on Social Security. "I think Democrats should be real clear on their principles and they should broaden the agenda" to a debate over "the cost of health care, pensions and other issues that are essential to retirement. Make it a bigger battle for retirement."

Ambassador John Bolton vs. Ambassador Michael Bolton

"His nomination sends the exactly the wrong message to the world about the Bush administration's willingness to work with other countries and in multilateral institutions. There's no one who has a greater track record of offending other countries, including our closest allies."
-- Heather Hamilton, Citizens for Global Solutions

Ladies and gentleman, meet John Bolton, the anti-UN neocon who the president has nominated to be our ambassador to...the UN!

I'm no fan of Michael Bolton, but I think he might do a better job.

Incredible

From a recent White House pool report, on the entertainment on Air Force One:

In-flight entertainment: "The Incredibles," the animated feature about aging superheroes who postpone their retirements for society's sake. (Coincidence? You be the judge.)

Hunter S. on George W.

"[George W. Bush] knew who I was, at that time, because I had a reputation as a writer. I knew he was part of the Bush dynasty. But he was nothing, he offered nothing, and he promised nothing.

"He had no humor. He was insignificant in every way and consequently I didn't pay much attention to him.

"But when he passed out in my bathtub, then I noticed him. I'd been in another room, talking to the bright people. I had to have him taken away."

-- Hunter S. Thompson, writing about meeting George W. Bush at a Super Bowl party in 1974

New Application for White House Press Room

Scott McClellan Unveils New Credentialing Application for White House Press Room

Exclusive from whitehouse.org.

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