Politics and other nightmares

I think this is the right take on the move by Senate Democrats to force a closed meeting: smart in the short-term but not much thinking ahead.

Government is nothing if not creative when comes to finding ways to separate us from our money. You get a good view in New Hampshire, you're gonna pay for it:

"A piece of land on a side of a hill that overlooks a 50-mile or 100- mile radius is going to be worth more than the same piece of land overlooking an industrial complex or a landfill," he said.

I love the headline the morning paper put on this E.J. Dionne column, "Court nominee a distraction from Libby probe" because It perfectly captures the columnist's complete inability to grasp reality (although that probably wasn't the intent). Choosing Supreme Court members is among the most important functions of the president, because it helps shape, for perhaps two generations, the institution that governs so much of our lives.

Arnold and Maria, proof that bedfellows make strange politics:

After all, Shriver would be breaking family ranks no matter where she came down on the measures, Democratic and Republican activists say. As a Democrat and a Kennedy, they say, she would have to all but shape-shift to endorse proposals despised by the party that counts three of her uncles as icons.

If Samuel Alito is confirmed, that will mean the Supreme Court has five Catholics and two Jews. Those too young to remember what a big deal JFK's Catholicism was won't quite appreciate the significance of this. For those still feeling the sting of one form of prejudice or another, it's a hopeful sign that we eventually move beyond such nonsense.

Sen. Evan Bayh continues his visits to important Democratic presidential primary states. His recent speech was said to matter more than most:

What the members of the Westboro Baptist Church do at military funerals is despicable; may they be consigned to the lowest circle of hell. But as a legal matter, should they be really be treated differently from other protestors who protest at other types of events? Yes, charge them with disorderly conduct if it applies. But making such conduct a felony at military funerals and keeping it a misdemeanor at other events doesn't seem very much like equal treatment under the law.

Regardless of the circumstances leading up to it, lying to a grand jury is serious and has to be dealt with seriously. I wrote that more than once during Bill Clinton's legal troubles, and it also has to be applied to Scooter Libby's problems. If the prosecutor's allegations are true, Libby's lies were especially stupid. He was contradicting his own notes, which he had handed over, and he was trying to cover up what apparently wasn't even a crime.

Are you sitting down? Sure you're ready? Here goes: President Bush has actually proposed a budget cut to offset hurricane-relief spending. Why don't we just cut federal spending, say, 5 percent a year across the board until it approaches something reasonable.

Condoleezza Rice has moved beyond race, sex, circumstances of birth, all the baggage that weighs most people down, to become a remarkable, unique individual. Some people can never forgive her for that, like this idiot, who thinks she just isn't black enough and certainly not liberal enough: