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1. Claim his indictment is a partisan witchhunt. Avoid discussing specifics.

2. Smear the prosecutor. A lot. Infer that because not all of his indictments have ended in convictions (whose do?) that he's a "rogue prosecutor" whose cases "fall apart".

3. Obfuscate, interrupt, change the subject.

4. Castigate the whole notion of a Grand Jury, using the "ham sandwich" routine.

5. Claim "Democrats" have done the same.

6. If backed into a corner on the specfics of the indictment, claim there's "nothing to connect Tom DeLay to the improprieties".

According to Supreme Court Justice Anton Scalia, the government's imprecise definition of "obscenity" means "that every small town in America must tolerate the existence of a porn shop":

By PAT MILTON Associated Press Writer

September 22,2005 | NEW YORK -- The government can decide what artwork is worthwhile without being accused of censorship as long as it is funding that art, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia told an audience Thursday at the Juilliard School.

"The First Amendment has not repealed the ancient rule of life, that he who pays the piper calls the tune," Scalia said.

"I can truly understand the discomfort with government making artistic choices, but the only remedy is to get government out of funding," he told the audience.

Scalia said the Supreme Court has not done a very good job of framing a definition of obscenity, which the First Amendment does not protect.

"The line between protected pornography and unprotected obscenity lies between appealing to a good healthy interest in sex and appealing to a depraved interest, whatever that means," Scalia said in stating the court's position.

The result is that every small town in America must tolerate the existence of a porn shop, he said.

Small towns like, say, Muncie, Indiana, seat of Delaware County, which in 2004 voted for George Bush for president?

September 19,2005 | MUNCIE, Ind. -- Residents of a southwest Muncie neighborhood thought the 110-year-old former school with purple doors had been vacant these past 14 months. So neighbors were surprised to find out the building -- which was last used as a bingo hall -- is home to one of Indiana's seven swingers clubs.

Swinging involves having social and sexual intercourse with someone other than a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. It primarily involves couples.

A woman who identified herself as a manager, but refused to give her name, told The Associated Press that the club and its members were discreet and had received no complaints from neighbors.

The club is open two days a week and has pool tables, a dance floor, a six-person hot tub, a multiple-person shower and "sensually designed theme rooms," according to its Web site.

Klub Layden is open Friday and Saturday nights, and advises its members to bring their own alcohol and contraception. The club provides sheets, bathrobes and locker rooms.

An annual membership costs $25 for couples and single men and $20 for single women.

Members must agree to not identify others or their experiences at the club, without permission.

Sounds like they more than "tolerate" it, huh?

Yes, the heartland, where the good old days of family values reign. Where the real Americans live.

And swing.

September 19,2005 | MUNCIE, Ind. -- Residents of a southwest Muncie neighborhood thought the 110-year-old former school with purple doors had been vacant these past 14 months. So neighbors were surprised to find out the building -- which was last used as a bingo hall -- is home to one of Indiana's seven swingers clubs.

"I thought it was empty, to tell you the truth," Mary Neal, who rents a house across from the club, told The Star Press. "That shocks me. I'm just floored. There are a lot of kids that walk around here."

Swinging involves having social and sexual intercourse with someone other than a spouse, boyfriend or girlfriend. It primarily involves couples.

The club is open two days a week and has pool tables, a dance floor, a six-person hot tub, a multiple-person shower and "sensually designed theme rooms," according to its Web site.

Klub Layden is open Friday and Saturday nights, and advises its members to bring their own alcohol and contraception. The club provides sheets, bathrobes and locker rooms.

An annual membership costs $25 for couples and single men and $20 for single women.

Let's see, Muncie, Indiana...seat of Delaware County...hey, look, they voted for George Bush!

Kerry, John F. John Edwards (Democratic) 20436
Bush, George Walker Dick Cheney (Republican) 27064M

Never fear, America, the Church is hard at work, making the world a better place:

Investigators appointed by the Vatican have been instructed to review each of the 229 Roman Catholic seminaries in the United States for "evidence of homosexuality".

"Evidence of homosexuality"? What will they do, look for throw pillows and moisturizer?

What about the more ambiguous stuff? Guess we can look forward to a third Vatican Council to decide the Church's position on "Men's Health" magazine.

Hmm...

Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff: Well, I think if you look at what actually happened, I remember on Tuesday morning picking up newspapers and I saw headlines, "New Orleans Dodged The Bullet," because if you recall the storm moved to the east and then continued on and appeared to pass with considerable damage but nothing worse.

Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Richard B. Myers: "The headline, of course, in most of the country's papers on Tuesday were 'New Orleans dodged a bullet,' or words to that effect. At that time, when those words were in our minds, we started working issues before we were asked."

President George W. Bush: When that storm came by, a lot of people said we dodged a bullet. When that storm came through at first, people said, "Whew." There was a sense of relaxation. And that's what I was referring to. And I myself thought we had dodged a bullet. You know why? Because I was listening to people probably over the airwaves say, "The bullet has been dodged." And that was what I was referring to.

Do you suppose they mean THIS Tuesday headline?

Michael Newdow, the Don Quixote who continues to tilt at the religious right's windmill assault on freedom in America, has won a victory in California that may drive the question of the Constitutionality of the pledge of allegiance back up to the Supreme Court, which ducked the issue on a technicality the last time Newdow got it there, finding he had no standing to bring suit on behalf of his daughter, of whom he did not have custody.

If indeed the pledge, as altered in 1954 by Congress to include the clearly unconstitutional words, "under God", ends up back before the Supreme Court--a Court that will look more like George W. Bush than it did the last time Newdow was there--we can assume the corrupt and grandstanding errand boys that pass for legislators--and let's be honest, that's what they are--will once again parade outside to stand on the steps of the Capitol and recite the pledge, stressly loudly, as they did before, the words "UNDER GOD".

When that happens, will our Democratic representatives have the sense, the imagination, and the courage to follow that inevitable piece of hystrionics with an equally loud stressing of the words, "FOR ALL!!!!!!" ?

Yes, he was. But he was also the cork in the bottle in Iraq. And Bush's war pulled it out.

We can't wait to hear the president claim that "no one could have foreseen" that Iraq would descend into sectarian violence if Saddam was removed without some viable control being put in place after he was gone.

Because lots of people foresaw it. The experts all warned about it. The people who know the region jumped up and down trying to explain that Iraq was a powder-keg held in check by a madman, and that if you removed him you'd need to put something solid back in the bottle or the whole place would explode.

But they experts were hooted down by the Bush administration and its ideological allies in the media. Not that anyone will remember that now.

Nope, it's coming, as sure as the sun sets in the west: "No one could have foreseen..."

Yet another Commonwealth citizen scores:

To the Editor:

"The Best Laid Plan: Too Bad It Flopped," by David Brooks (column, Sept. 11), reveals the true pessimism of the conservative viewpoint in America.

The neocons, after four years of touting themselves as the champions of the American "can do" spirit in their efforts to transform the Middle East, faced with the miserable failure of the government response to Katrina, shrug their shoulders and tell us that we expect too much from our government.

The problem isn't government; the problem is this government and its apparent lack of interest in living up to its own "can do" rhetoric.

Chandran Seshagiri
Arlington, Mass., Sept. 11, 2005

Hmm, let's see what Democrats are saying about the Bush administration's attitude towards the poorest citizens of New Orleans:

[Democratic Senator Barack] Obama was asked on ABC's "This Week" whether there was racism in the lack of evacuation planning for poor, black residents of New Orleans. He said he would not refer to the government response in that way, but said there was a much deeper, long-term neglect.

"Whoever was in charge of planning was so detached from the realities of inner city life in New Orleans ... that they couldn't conceive of the notion that they couldn't load up their SUV's, put $100 worth of gas in there, put some sparkling water and drive off to a hotel and check in with a credit card," Obama said.

Oh, they can conceive of the notion that some people can't do that, Senator. They can conceive of it just fine.

They just don't give a s*** about those people.

Step One was to allow New Orleans to drown. Step Two is to use the disaster to loot the treasury.

Step Three--mark our words--will be the "redevelopment" of New Orleans. Casinos, condos, and strip malls--all built by GOP cronies and donors.

All the talk of never rebuilding the city, all the talk of the impossibility of levees ever being able to hold back a hurricane--all that talk will magically go away, and the levees will be rebuilt.

But not for the purpose of letting the former residents go back.

The people being forced from their homes? They'll never get them back. New Orleans was allowed to wash away, and when it's rebuilt it'll be by and for its new owners.

Wow.

The Nokia phone we've been using for a few years has been giving us trouble. It doesn't always ring when we have a call, and doesn't notify us of voice-mail messages for days. We've missed a lot of calls.

We were thinking about getting a new one, or sending this one in for repairs, but then we thought: what we really need to do is think about all the things the phone is doing right.

On Tuesday, as flood waters were rising up around the citizens of New Orleans and the calvalry had not yet even been dispatched to save them, President George Bush told the nation that his heart and prayers were with his fellow citizens.

His ass, on the other hand, was on its way to San Diego, to give a speech in which he compared himself to FDR--repeatedly.

By Friday, however, George Bush was firmly in control of the situation. If you have any doubts just check out the photo and caption from the front page of the White House website:

President George W. Bush talks about Hurricane Katrina disaster relief with, from left: Senator Trent Lott, R-Miss.; Senator Thad Cochran, R-Miss.; Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour; Alabama Governor Bob Riley; FEMA Director Mike Brown; Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security, and Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The President briefed the officials during his tour Friday, Sept. 2, 2005, of the Gulf Coast regions hard hit by the storm. White House photo by Eric Draper

I feel safer already.

George W. Bush, the worst president in history, will appoint two Supreme Court Justices.

God Save the Republic.

The expression "no good deed goes unpunished" has been running through our minds lately, as we've pondered what to do about the complaint Dr. Egnor made of our having mocked his letter to the NY Times. In an ill-conceived burst of fair play we agreed to let him send a "follow-up" letter to, in his words, "discuss the medical facts and the ethics of the Schiavo affair, with you, on your blog, so your readers can judge for themselves what the real issues are."

Having received his follow-up letter, however, we found that we did not wish to publish it. And we definitely didn't want to publish our response to it. There was no point, and nothing to be gained; we just didn't think anything good would come of it.

After putting it aside for a while we decided to email Dr. Egnor to see if we could agree to drop it. We did, so we will. And that, Poor Readers, is where the matter will have to stand. We apologize if this is not satisfactory, but we've never gone wrong listening to the little voice that reminds us: "When in doubt, leave it out."

Besides--surely all of us have had enough of the Schiavo business by now.

HSS secretary Mike Leavitt was on Larry King last night and tonight, both times giving the administration line that "everything is being done that can be done given the blah-blah-blah".

The difference? Last night he was in a suit and tie, tonight he was in an open-collared work shirt, sleeves rolled up.

In other words the Bush administration's game plan is: same line of crap, better wardrobe technique.

"Don't buy gas if you don't need it."

Looks like the Republican Party finally got their wish: a federal government you could drown in a bathtub.

Literally.

Some people--like the mayor of New Orleans--don't understand why President Bush hasn't sent federal help. But we do.

He know that if he does, the hurricane will have won.

In case you haven't figured it out yet, the GOP "Hooey Line of the Day" regarding Katrina is that the people who are trapped in New Orleans "stayed behind" and therefor "bear some responsibility" for being trapped.

Hear that, all you poor and elderly? The ones with no money, no cars, no means of leaving? Listening, you children in hospitals? Haley Barbour and the head of FEMA say it's your own fault.

And better not "loot" some food from Wal-Mart or they'll have the police shoot you.

Question: If France decides to offer more help to the city of New Orleans than the federal government of the United States has--and remember that this evening the mayor of that city sent out a "desperate SOS"--is the city free to seceed and join France?

Would anyone blame them if they did?

Another question: what help can any of us expect from our government if a disaster--such as a terrorist attack--should strike our own city?

Better start storing fresh water and batteries, folks.

David Brooks--a punch-me-faced prep if there ever was one--seems to understand the political danger that New Orleans poses better than President Bush does, though Brooks is of course too much of a toadie to say it plainly.

Toadies succeed, after all, in the GOP world. Wildly.

The difference between Brooks and the President--the reason Brooks has a slight recognition of reality here while Bush as usual has none--is that Brooks was probably beat up in school a few times, while no one ever dared lay a hand on GHWB's son.

Too bad--he'd have been a better man for it.