Could it be the end of the George Allen campaign for president, more than two years before the election?

Slate magazine reports today that he took a moment at a campaign rally in western Virginia to make fun of the only person of color at the event, who, amazingly enough, was there to videotape the event on behalf of Allen’s opponent for senate this fall, James Webb.

If I didn’t think before this that he was too stupid to be senator, much less president, I sure do now.

I heard a really sickening story on NPR the other day. Can’t get it out of my mind. It was about “honor killings” in Iraq, where, if a woman is raped, or even *suspected* of having been raped, the men in her family can murder her, with no repercussions. To maintain their “honor.”

Here’s a link to the story: Concern Grows over Iraqi ‘Honor Killings’.

Is this what we’re fighting for in Iraq? These people whose values are so alien from our own? What on Earth could have possessed Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice, Wolfowitz, Feith, et al, to think that starting a war there was a good idea?

No matter when we pull our troops out, I think it will end up as a civil war, with Iran helping the more conservative elements take control. For this, we sacrificed thousands of American and other troops, not to mention the tens of thousands of Iraqis who were killed or traumatized by what we have done to their country. It’s just disgusting, the entire thing.

My dad sent me this, from Andy Borowitz, humorist:

Bush Calls ‘Plan For Victory’ Slogan A Success
Vows to Create Additional Slogans to Defeat Insurgents

One day after making a speech on Iraq at the United States Naval Academy in front of a giant placard reading “Plan For Victory,” President George W. Bush pronounced the “Plan For Victory” slogan an unqualified success.

“Much time, thought and effort went into creating the ‘Plan For Victory’ slogan,” Mr. Bush said today at a White House press conference. “I think we can all agree that the hard work that went into that slogan has really paid off.”

Read the rest.

More at The Borowitz Report

I don’t have time to comment on this right now, but I wanted to save the URL, so check it out:

No Paper Trail Left Behind: the Theft of the 2004 Presidential Election

From http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20051104-1626-cnssummit.html, on Friday in Venezuela:

In a brief question-and-answer session with reporters later, Bush said he would be civil in anticipation of a possible face-to-face meeting with Chavez during the two-day summit.

“I will, of course, be polite. That’s what the American people expect their president to do, is to be a polite person,” Bush said.

I don’t know about you, but I expect a helluva lot more than politeness from the president, like, maybe a minimum knowledge of diplomacy. Does he really not realize how idiotic he sounds when he talks like this?

I’m joining MQABlog in applauding Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid for using a parliamentary maneuver to force the Senate to investigate the possible (?) misuse of intelligence in leading the country into the war in Iraq. Way to go, Harry!

On “Left, Right, and Center” on NPR, Bob Scheer said today that one of the consequences of Judith Miller and Matthew Cooper refusing to testify meant that information they had about when Lewis Libby talked to them was not available to the American public before the election last year. If they had testified, and Libby had been indicted a year ago, John Kerry would now be the president. So their refusal to testify, and fulfill their obligations as journalists to get vital information to the public, resulted in Bush’s re-election.

Or would you have voted for Bush anyway, even if one of his top advisers was indicted?

Way to “restore honesty and integrity to the White House.,” George.

Let me know what you think in the comments.

Are you shocked at the indictment of Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, for perjury, making false statements, and obstructing justice? Or are you more surprised that Karl Rove escaped indictment, at least for the time being?

What do you think will happen next?

• Karl Rove will be indicted for perjury, obstructing justice, and conspiracy
• Dick Cheney will be indicted for conspiracy to out Valerie Plame
• The Bushies will try to somehow discredit Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald

Funny as hell - I just heard the Capitol Steps on NPR: Imitating Bush, they said:

These are uncertain times. And uncertain times call for uncertain leadership.

With Karl Rove still under investigation, Bush’s Brain is preoccupied, so naturally Bush is uncertain of what to do next.

I am convinced that, whether it can be proved or not (probably not, unless Libby rolls), it was Dick Cheney’s idea to out Valerie Plame in retaliation against her husband Joseph Wilson writing an op-ed debunking one of the administration’s false premises for war against Iraq: That Saddam Hussein was trying to buy uranium in Africa to build nuclear weapons. They scared people to death with lies, so they could take the country to war against Iraq and take control of its oil.

Tell me what you think in the comments.

Slate, an online magazine, has a fascinating article called “An Imperfect Storm: How race shaped Bush’s response to Katrina,” which asserts that, while the government’s response was not overtly racist, the plight of black people in LA, MS, and AL was not taken seriously by Bush because those states are reliably Republican and black people in general don’t vote for him anyway.

A quote:

Because they don’t see blacks as a current or potential constituency, Bush and his fellow Republicans do not respond out of the instinct of self-interest when dealing with their concerns. Helping low-income blacks is a matter of charity to them, not necessity. The condescension in their attitude intensifies when it comes to New Orleans, which is 67 percent black and largely irrelevant to GOP political ambitions. Cities with large African-American population that happen to be in important swing states may command some of Karl Rove’s respect as election time approaches. But Louisiana is small (9 electoral votes) and not much of a swinger these days. In 2004, Bush carried it by a 57-42 margin. If Bush and Rove didn’t experience the spontaneous political reflex to help New Orleans, it may be because they don’t think of New Orleans as a place that helps them.

It’s an interesting idea that seems to have a lot of merit. Florida got a lot of attention last year after its hurricanes. Some say that’s because the governor of Florida is the president’s brother. It’s possible. It’s also possible, and very plausible, that it’s because Florida has 25 electoral votes and is essentially a toss-up. Comments?