Politics and other nightmares

How disheartening:

The national debt would increase, perhaps dramatically, under the tax and spending plans of the leading Republican presidential candidates, according to an independent budget watchdog group.

Environmentalism is the new religion of the left, say some conservatives. Nah, we're talking myth, not religion:

Nope. cam't see it:

If none of these guys can even win a majority of Republicans, they sure can't win a majority of the country:

If we could just take a little bit from each of them."

I've lost track of how many people I have heard say some version of this in the last couple of months. The "each of them" refers to the final four combatants for the Republican nomination.

This report on the military readiness front is from Stars and Stripes, so I don't doubt it:

CAMP ZAMA, Japan – The Army is ordering its hardened combat veterans to wear fake breasts and empathy bellies so they can better understand how pregnant soldiers feel during physical training.

So, did you have a big party for Presidents' Day yesterday? No? Then celebrate celebrate George Washington's birthday tomorrow:

According to a new Gallup poll, 23 percent of American women say they own a gun, up from 13 percent in 2005, a number that includes 50,000 Hoosier women who have received gun permits over the past three years. And a lot of them are apparently taking lessons: "We have a joke in the industry that all men are born with the John Wayne chromosome," said Bob Meyer, a gun safety instructor. "They think they can shoot from birth, and a woman is more willing to listen."

This is an interesting point:

Pity the poor libertarian. No matter which party he attends, he'll still be the one standing in the corner all by himself:

From ABC-TV's The Note blog, an entry headlined "Thanks to Texas and Pennsylvania, GOP Race Could Last Nearly Forever"