Open Threads

The WaPo, as part of their weekend 4th of July celebration, revisits the Pledge of Allegiance. They list the pledge as it has appeared over the years (there are three versions– the whole God bit was inserted in 1954), and they asked 19 people to write their own variations. My favorite two are Christopher Buckley:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America – red and blue – and to the Republic for which it stands, despite all the extremely preposterous people in it.

And David Corn’s, for the sheer bitterness:

I pledge allegiance to the not-to-be-burned flag of the United States of Halliburton and to all the special interests for which it stands, one nation, under Tom DeLay, divided between conservatives willing to defend it and liberals who offer its enemies paid vacations, with profits and pensions for just a few.

The majority of the rest of them are just silly one-worlder stuff, but there is ‘conservative comedian’ Julia Gorin’s version, which stands out:

I pledge allegiance to the flag-burning of the United States of America, and to the republic which the courts command, one nation, above God, indivisible (except for all that race, class and gender warfare), with equality and five-star beach resorts for all terrorists.

HAHAHA! I Heart Gitmo is so funny it should be in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Groan.

The PledgePost + Comments (5)

At the height of the Clinton hatred, what upset the right the most was not Clinton’s actual sins, but that he seemed to be capable of always getting away with them. No matter what was thrown at him, he shrugged it off- which just INFURIATED people, sending them into a frothing rage.

If this Drudge report is accurate, the same is going to happen to Democrats in the upcoming weeks:

Karl Rove, President Bush’s chief political adviser, spoke with TIME mag’s Matthew Cooper during a critical week in July 2003 when Cooper was reporting on a public critic of the Bush administration who was also the husband of a CIA operative.

But Rove did not leak the name of the CIA op Plame, Rove’s lawyer said again Saturday night.

Robert Luskin said Rove never identified Plame to Cooper in those conversations.

“Karl did nothing wrong. Karl didn’t disclose Valerie Plame’s identity to Mr. Cooper or anybody else,” Luskin said to the WASHINGTON POST. Luskin said the question remains unanswered: “Who outed this woman? … It wasn’t Karl.”

NBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell claimed this weekend, ‘Rove Blew CIA Agent’s Cover’.

“Emails will reveal that Karl Rove was Matt Cooper’s source. I have known this for months,” O’Donnell said.

Do a technorati search for “frog march rove,” and look what you see. Max Blumenthal, as nasty a partisan as they come (check out his testimonials, which are pretty funny):

No matter what Judy D’Arc does or doesn’t do, Rove is in real trouble. And I thought Scooter Libby would fall on his sword for Rove.

AmericaBlog:

Holy Shit – it IS Rove!

Ok, everybody take a deep breath. O’Donnell could not be more definitive, but let’s make sure this is REAL before we get too excited. Still, I’m psyched!

If it turns out Rove did nothing wrong, certain quarters are going to explode with rage. Should be funny.

*** Update ***

If you are just itching to jump in to the comments section RIGHT NOW and tell me that you were personally outraged OUTRAGED! because Clinton did X*, not because he got away with it, and that I owe you an apology APOLOGY!, that has already been adequately covered.

Let X = treason, perjury, adultery, killing Vince Foster, driving an El Camino, eating too much fast food, marrying Hillary, and other unnamed Clinton sins

This Could Get UglyPost + Comments (129)

Sometimes you can tell a pretty good story by just snipping a couple quotes together and letting them speak for themselves. This is one of those occasions.

Stephen Carter on over politicization of the court:

On issues from abortion to affirmative action to criminal procedure, it has often been Justice O’Connor’s unpredictable vote that determines which bloc prevails. So the right will naturally see its chance to move the court further toward its agenda; and the left will battle to retain what pieces of its own agenda it can, a sort of holding action against the day when the Democrats again rule the White House and the Senate.

This path, so predictable, so frequently trod in recent decades, is carrying the Supreme Court, and the ideal of judicial review, toward disaster. There has been much talk lately of how the cruel posturing of politicians and commentators critical of various decisions hurts the reputation of the courts. And there is something to this notion. But the overwrought attacks by some critics do less harm to the notion of an independent judiciary than does the way activists gird themselves for battle each time a vacancy occurs, as if it is the obligation of the political branches to guarantee outcomes their supporters prefer.

We all claim to believe in judicial independence, but our definition of independence too often turns out to mean deciding cases according to our druthers. A court that rules in our favor displays integrity and independence. A court that rules against us shows its ideology and partisanship. Need evidence? Listen to anyone on the right discuss classroom prayer or abortion. Listen to anyone on the left discuss Bush v. Gore.

Thomas B. Edsall and Dana Milbank:

Gray, in an interview, described a battle plan over two years in the making. The Federalist Society will provide research in support of the nominee. A group called Progress for America, which backed the reelection of Bush in 2004, will spend as much as $18 million on radio and television backing Bush’s nominee; and the recently created Judicial Confirmation Network, run by a former Bush campaign coalitions director, is setting up a grass-roots network in the states of six key senators.

“We have been preparing for this for 2 1/2 years,” Gray said.

NOW President Kim Gandy:

Today Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor announced her resignation from the United States Supreme Court.

This is a state of emergency for women’s rights. Sandra Day O’Connor broke down barriers for women as the first female Supreme Court justice

Disorder In the CourtPost + Comments (6)

Interesting study being done by Richard Chapelle, which I found via Majikthise. Basically, he is taking the IPIP-NEO-PI personality test (which is not the same as the Five Factor Model by Costa and McRae) and the Political Compass and asking people to post their results.

My results are below the fold:

(pixnaps97a2)

show full post on front page

The Big Five and Political AffiliationPost + Comments (4)

Teresa Nielsen-Hayden:

Anybody else notice (this is Patrick

Oddly Enough, It DoesPost + Comments (11)

An old picture of Tunch (from a year ago- he is a few pounds heavier now):

Don’t let the innocent looks fool you. He is rotten to the core.

And the only color on him is an orange stripey tail and some orange spots on his head, which you can barely make out.

*** Update ***

This is great- a carnival of pets called The Ark (via Smijer), which this week is dedicated to Edloe.

Cat BloggingPost + Comments (11)

I have a question for cat owners since this is Friday and the appropriate time for cat blogging.

I love my cat, but 99% of the time I can’tget him to pay a lick of attention to me (unless I am sleeping). However, there is one time when he absolutely refuses to leave me alone:

When I am in the bathroom. The minute I get near a toilet seat, he will come running, and he spends the entire time rubbing in between my legs and meowing and being a real nusiance.

I have no idea why. He couldn’t care less when I sit on the couch. He does spend 90% of the day in the same room as me, and sleeps on the printer or on top of the monitor (they are warm) whenever I am at the computer, but he generally ignores me. I already have to hide the toilet paper, since he papered the apartment a couple of times (I am a slow learner). But why the keen interest in me when I am in the bathroom?

Is my cat the only one who does this? My sister’s cat doesn’t do this. Weird.

Cat QuestionPost + Comments (24)