Politics

The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to officials in Raleigh, Clayton, Pittsboro, and Chatham County, NC, pointing out that official prayers at council meetings that refer to specific religions are a violation of the First Amendment. I like the ACLU for a lot of their work, but in this case I have to wonder what they’re thinking. Official prayers before governmental meetings have been a long tradition, and many bodies handle it by bringing in clergy from different religions. Those clergy then sometimes do a very generic prayer, or they might take the opportunity to “sell” their faith. (Of course, in some religious beliefs, it is hard to imagine how one would say a “neutral” prayer.) ...

Well, congratulations, Bush Administration. You’ve officially made it to the point where the first question in a press conference, from veteran reporter Helen Thomas, was “Is the U.S. going to attack Iran?”

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is running against a retired Navy admiral for reelection and has taken a curious tack in his campaigning. You see, retired Admiral Joe Sestak has a five-year-old daugher who had brain cancer. She went through chemotherapy in Washington, D.C., and was recently pronounced in remission. Apparently, this somehow offends Representative Weldon, who wants to make an issue of the fact the Sestaks’ daughter was treated in Washington, rather than Philadelphia or Delaware. ...

I was so hoping this story from the Akron Beacon-Journal was an April Fools joke, but it looks like it just happens to involve fools in April. The gist of the story is that five teenage girls went around Ravenna, Ohio, and placed gift-wrapped boxes modelled after blocks in Super Mario Bros. The boxes were wrapped in gold paper with question marks. Sadly enough, in these times, that’s apparently enough to get someone to call out the Bomb Squad. It’s also may be enough for criminal charges. (I hope they’re talking about littering.) ...

Former Majority Leader Tom Delay is stepping down from the U.S. House of Representatives, after a scandal-plagued couple of years. Maybe now he’ll go around the country, speaking at conservative gatherings, telling everyone the main problem with this country is corrupt politicians. By the way, pardon the colloquialism, but “w00t!” :) Update: Explanation of w00t!

It was a good day for politics and furniture in the Democratic People’s Republic: Kim Jong Il Highly Praised by Russian Poet Koreans Will Surely Force Japan to Pay for Monstrous Crimes Committed against Them U.S. Ambassador’s Endless String of Reckless Remarks under Fire Quality Stone Furniture Produced Kim Jong Il Sends Wedding Table to Kye Sun Hui Courtesy of NK News

Ohio Governor Bob Taft has to be wondering about his luck. His approval rating goes down to 15%…probably due to episodes such as this. And then a popular Senator from Arizona stops by his state and declares that he would resign if he had those poll numbers. :)

Wow, so I guess we’re just going to let the hurricanes win, huh? What happened to our President? Where’s the War on Hurricanes? ;)

Why Am I (Still) A Republican? I’ve been wondering that about myself, recently. Not so much whether I am a Republican. I switched parties a while back to have some choice in local elections. However, I grew up Republican, and I’m amazed at the capacity of this administration to make that seem puzzling and embarrassing at the same time. :(

“They’re baaaaaack…” Because nothing says “Christian” like hanging out with Tom DeLay. :(