Eli

This is perhaps stating the obvious, but I want to come out and say it explicitly: Republicans hate the law. The Yoo "Torture Memo" is just the latest and most dramatic example of the Bush administration's adversarial relationship with the law and the Constitution. Republicans don't see the law as the foundation of a healthy nation to be upheld and protected, they see it as an obstacle to be evaded, ignored, twisted, and exploited.

Is anyone else getting deja vu? Back in 2000, the media did all they could to portray a blueblooded New England fratboy as a genial salt-of-the-earth cowboy, a likable reg'lar fella who you could have a beer with. And people were fooled. The media went along with it when a sneering, mean-spirited man who mocked a condemned woman marketed himself as a "compassionate conservative." And people were fooled.

Don Siegelman is a free man! Pending appeal, anyway. And that YouTube is just the tip of the iceberg - NYT has more:

The energy companies love them some Bush Dogs, and now they're trying to buy the frosh too. Yeah, that's exactly what we need as emissions near the point of no return: More co-opted, corporate Democrats sabotaging progressive legislation. Oh, if only there were some way to send a message to the Bush Dogs, give them a good scare, maybe even replace some of them...

“By winning, we will send a powerful message that the momentum is on our side,” said Rove. “And it will rally the Muslim world to us.” Then it's too bad we're not winning. Hell, not only are we not winning the War On Terror, we aren't even competing. Sure, the Bushies have spouted a lot of tough pro wrestler talk about Confronting and Keeping Us Safe, and they've used it to justify illegal spying and torture, but what have they actually done to stop it?

What a depressing juxtaposition this is. I got these two items via e-mail literally minutes apart. The first is the video at the top of this post: a BBC report about a "Dubyaville" shantytown in Los Angeles full of people who lost their homes in the mortgage meltdown. Meanwhile, at the same time, all the Republicans in the California state assembly are working to preserve a tax loophole for yacht and private jet sales.

John McCain on Larry King Live, 4/23/91: "I'm not sure that if we did go in on the ground we could tell a Shiite from a Sunni, even from a Kurd."

I'm starting to allow myself to feel a teensy bit optimistic about November. Consider the week the Democrats have had, versus the week the Republicans have had.

Is Dubya trying to tell us something? Is there some tiny dying ember of conscience trying to claw its way out through his subconscious, steering him towards these strangely revealing mistakes? Or is he just rubbing our noses in the fact that he's getting away scot-free, unlike his kindred spirits of art and song?

Getting rid of Fallon may not be a sufficient condition for an attack on Iran, but it is almost certainly a necessary one. Meanwhile, the NY GOP is threatening to initiate impeachment proceedings if Governor Spitzer does not resign voluntarily, but Diaper Dave Vitter, Larry "Wide Stance" Craig, Deadeye Dick Cheney, and George "Too Many Impeachable Offenses To Highlight Just One" Bush don't seem to be going anywhere.