While I Was Out

Man, what a weekend, and I don't necessarily mean a good one. Hunter Thompson apparently killed himself--this was a bit of a shock, as I'd assumed he had sort of a Keith Richards ability to, well, survive just about anything. RIP, HST.

Then there's the matter of the Bush tapes, which don't surprise me a whole lot--with one exception: Bush comes out, no pun intended, with the statement that he won't bash gays, which is, well, very Christian of him--and, it turns out, a lie, as the 2004 election proved.

Is it just me, or is Bush...well, no, I don't even want to consider something like that...

Gannon/Guckert is news across the pond, even if the media here is treating it as tabloid fodder (Atrios has a couple of good links--one pointing out some, um, interesting contrasts when it comes to sex scandals, the other noting how shrill PowerLine is when replying to serious questions--on the latter point, YRHT posted on WeaknessLine's "j'accuse" of treason on the part of Jimmy Carter in similar tone...as I posted in comments, I think this is a desperate attempt to mask the miserable failures on the part of their chosen heroes.

Speaking of miserable failure, Iraq once again exploded in violence over the weekend with at least 55 people killed in a series of suicide bombings--at least one US soldier was killed too, but the national news seems to be ignoring this.

Bob Herbert nicely summarizes the Iraqi tragedy in an op-ed:

So tell me again. What was this war about? In terms of the fight against terror, the war in Iraq has been a big loss. We've energized the enemy. We've wasted the talents of the many men and women who have fought bravely and tenaciously in Iraq. Thousands upon thousands of American men and women have lost arms or legs, or been paralyzed or blinded or horribly burned or killed in this ill-advised war. A wiser administration would have avoided that carnage and marshaled instead a more robust effort against Al Qaeda, which remains a deadly threat to America.

On the domestic front, the Sleaze Boat Veteran consulting group has now put the AARP in their sights, because they've come out against Bush's plan to shipwreck Social Security. I dunno--maybe their strategery will be to declare that AARP members really "aren't all that old."

Finally, in what must have been a painful pill for old-school NASCAR fans (the kind who think of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. as the patron saint of carbureted motors, restrictor plated or not), Jeff Gordon won the Daytona 500. Too bad he didn't win last year, when the dauphin stopped in to bask in their glory. I've heard that old-school fans will leap to their feet, and men who haven't so much as touched their spouse in years will proffer hugs if Gordon crashes. Yeah, they really hate the guy, sort of in the same way GOP hacks hated Clinton...and for much the same reason, which is...well, really no reason at all.

Back in a bit.