Odds and Ends

Here's some news that I missed while obsessing over Monster Tuesday...

In addition to be said monster day, Tuesday was also the 5th anniversary of the day Colin Powell lied, I mean gave a serious presentation, okay, lied to the UN Security Council about the evidence against Iraq. And we all lived happily ever after.

The Senate Republicans blocked the stimulus package (I don't really care, but who knows what their logic was). All 100 Senators voted, except for.... John McCain. Whatta maverick!

(UPDATE: It appears now that a revised bill was just passed.)

Speaking of McCain, would conservative politicians please stop using the music of folks like John Mellencamp or Bruce Springsteen. Songs have lyrics, listen to them. The subtlety of musical commentary is obviously lost on you.

Psssttt... we do torture. Pass it on.

On a related note, the President continues to insist that Congress passing an updated FISA law is the most important thing ever, and will prevent the obviously imminent attacks that will murder us all very soon. Unless, of course, Congress passes a bill not 100% to his liking, in which case he'll veto that shit like nobody's business.

Just as the economic uprooting of Detroit two decades ago sentenced it to years of crimes, so too did Katrina leave crime waves in its wake in New Orleans. They were going to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, but someone stole them while they decontaminating their FEMA trailer.

Finally, think our democracy is weird? Just be glad you don't live in Italy.