Twice-Convicted Drunk Driver Bags Near-Perfect Metaphor So Dick Cheney goes hunting with a rich campaign contributor and two women, Katherine Armstrong, and Pamela Willeford, the latter of which is described as his "hunting partner" for the weekend. They down a few beers at lunch, and they spend the afternoon "hunting" semi-domesticated quail until Cheney shoots his buddy in the face. Now I'm not suggesting that Cheney was loaded when he shot Whittington in the face, and I'm not suggesting he has a mistress, but I do have one question: How do you think the media would have reacted if Al Gore had found himself in similar circumstances? Honestly, I don't give a damn about Cheney's personal life, and if we lose a Texas billionaire here or there because of his carelessness with firearms, I'm not going to get my undies in a bunch about it. Compared to the other scandals surrounding this vp, quailgate is a trifle. It is, however, a near-perfect metaphor. You see, Cheney isn't a hunter. He's a man who loves to slaughter. He participates in canned hunts in which he routinely shoots dozens if not hundreds of farm-raised critters. True hunters, such as members of the Isak Walton League find it to be a corrupt bastardization of a time-honored tradition. The only way this incident could be a clearer analogy for the foreign policy of the Bush administration would be if Cheney had shot a low-income single mother rather than a Texas blueblood.

Republicans Never Testify Under Oath Today, Alberto Gonzalez appeared before congress to explain why unathorized wiretappings of American citizens isn't illegal. He wasn't sworn in under oath. When the oil industry executives testified before congress earlier this winter about their windfall profits, guess what? They weren't sworn in under oath. When the president testified before the 9/11 committee, he needed Dick Cheney to hold his hand in a closed-door session... A session that wasn't sworn in under oath. When Barry Bonds testified before congress about steroid use... Suprise, suprise...The black professional athlete was sworn in!

Equatorial Guinea Watch Really strange news reported by the Chinese News Agency, Xinahua: Fifteen Belgian armored vehicles are lost in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa, together with radio equipment and field kitchens, local radio VRT reported on Friday. The equipment was meant for a Beninese battalion supervising the free election process in Congo, the report said. Those expensive Belgian military equipment left the Belgian port for Congo in a ship under Ukrainian flag last December. However, the cargo ship never made it to its destination. Four weeks ago the ship was seized in a port in Equatorial Guinea. The four Beninese soldiers that were guarding the material were imprisoned in Equatorial Guinea while the expensive freight was taken off the ship. A United Nations (UN) team is to set out to the area to inspect the convoy. It is feared however that the expensive material is stolen. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/04/content_4133187.htm

Bipartisan "F" for Medicare Part D: President Bush, true to form, is destoying another program he publicly vowed to "reform". Congressional Republicans are in full retreat on this one, despite a virtual blackout in the media. "Republicans and Democrats have finally found something to agree on. From coast to coast, north to south, they agree that Medicare’s Part D introduction gets a big fat F for flop. Part D, the prescription drug benefit, inherently hard to understand for both Medicare and Medicaid recipients (the latter now under the complex coverage), has equally confused and bollixed pharmacists, drug companies, and insurance providers—not to mention public health officials, congressman, senators and governors. Once again, hats off to George W. Bush & Company, who promised the greatest advance in Medicare since its inception in 1965." Read It

From Raw Story: "In an interview that aired on PBS on Friday, Feb. 3, Colin Powell's former chief of staff claimed that the speech Powell made before the United Nations on Feb. 5, 2003, laying out a case for war with Iraq, included falsehoods of which Powell had never been made aware. He said, 'My participation in that presentation at the UN constitutes the lowest point in my professional life. I participated in a hoax on the American people, the international community and the United Nations Security Council.'"

They Get Letters To the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: On January 31st, 2006, you joined together with other high-ranking military officers to send a letter to Mr. Phillip Bennett, the managing editor of the Washington Post, criticizing editorial cartoonist Tom Toles for a cartoon which you feel was insulting to the men and women of the armed forces. While I agree with your assertion that "newspapers are free to address any topic, including the state of rediness of of today's Armed Forces", I strongly object to your choice to send a letter to the editor complaining about the content of an editorial cartoon on any grounds. If you addressed the editor of the Washington Post as concerned civilians, I would have no problem with your letter. Everyone has a right to an opinion. However, you decided to throw the weight of your authority as military brass behind your complaint by referring to your rank and using Joint Chiefs of Staff official letterhead...How can this be seen as anything other than an attempt to intimidate the newspaper and cartoonist in question? In your capacity as a high-ranking military offical--the role you stress repeatedly in your correspondence--you have no business attempting to interfere with the right of free expression guaranteed to us by the constitution. Perhaps the nation would be better served if you spent more of your time studying war plans, Iraqi history, or Arabic rather than responding testily to cartoons. Regards, Steve Lindstrom