The Truffle

George W. Bush now regrets some of the shouting, hollering, frothing, and breast beating that accompanied the Iraq war. Among other things, he wishes he hadn't said, "Bring it on!" I guess he learned to be careful what he wishes for. Maybe that's why we're seeing a more nuanced, cautious Preznit, a commander-in-chief who chooses his words carefully. Good thing too, because the war's taken an ugly turn with the Haditha massacre. We don't know all the facts just yet, but the president is "troubled" by the news. "I am troubled by the initial news stories," Bush said. "I'm mindful that there's a thorough investigation going on. If in fact, laws were broken, there will be punishment." "Troubled" and "mindful." That's the new George W. Bush. I guess he won't be staging any war-related photo ops any time soon, eh?

Kansas, the "What's the Matter" State, is governed by the immensely popular Dem governor Kathleen Sebelius. Named one of America's Best Governors by Time, she's been one of the names tossed around as a running mate for 2008. But from what I've read about her, she could be an excellent president. I'd take her over La Hill, most certainly. It turns out that Sebelius is no Joe Lieberman-esque "Fox News Democrat" either. In fact, she's been nudging moderate Republicans toward the party of the Donkey. Republicans do still outnumber Democrats in Kansas, but there's an intra-party split between the Brownback branch (i.e., the fundie wackos) and the moderates. The conflict, as it turns out, is the gift that keeps on giving for the Kansas Democrats. Current Lt. Governor John Moore is an ex-Republican who switched just days before joining Sebelius on the ticket. Now, Mark Parkinson, the head of the Kansas GOP has switched parties. The head...

A year ago, on Memorial Day, the Minneapolis Star Tribune published Memorial Day: Praise bravery, seek forgiveness, to honor the troops in Iraq. The editorial appeared shortly after the infamous Downing Street Memo, but today, the Strib's words remain timely as ever. In exchange for our uniformed young people's willingness to offer the gift of their lives, civilian Americans owe them something important: It is our duty to ensure that they never are called to make that sacrifice unless it is truly necessary for the security of the country. In the case of Iraq, the American public has failed them; we did not prevent the Bush administration from spending their blood in an unnecessary war based on contrived concerns about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.

The subject line says it all. Yes, you too can share the time-honored experience of wearing underwear with your friends! Alas, they only come in white. I can't wait to see McPhee make the world's largest pair of glow-in-the-dark boxer shorts. Yes, you heard me. Glow-in-the-dark boxer shorts. They really exist.

Ugh. This is all I have to say. Ugh. What a famewhoring jackass. Wish we could put him on a desert island with Christopher Hitchens.

Britney Spears' spokesperson is now refusing to deny rumors of a forthcoming Britney/Kevin Federline split. Yes, Britney seems to have realized that foisting K-Fed the perpetually stoned wannabe rapper on the world was a mistake. She seems to have figured this out very recently, since she is now about five months pregnant with their second kid. According to IMDB, Britney came home to find him drinking and smoking pot. She is now at the end of her rope. Of course, everyone but her already saw this coming. Unemployed stoner who dumped his pregnant girlfriend as she's about to pop out their kid? Yup, a great catch. In People, Britney gloated, "I'm sorry you don't have what I have." She's the only one who felt that way. Everyone else just shook their heads as the idiocy unfolded. She was photographed grabbing his crotch and dumping her ashtray over the balcony. They held a white trash wedding where K-Fed's homies wore track suits that read ...

Ayn Clouter has long been one of my most favorite blogs, quick with a withering putdown or skilled parody. Now, she appears to be signing off. To hear her put it: The old order is indeed passing before our very eyes. Continuing to chronicle the conspirings crumbling the country's quaint delusions is redundant. While to paraphrase Marilyn's husband, "Lip service must be paid", let the front men do so. I have no patience to pretend anything like a "democratic republic" exists here, and welcome our new overlords (of whom, as a stockholder, I am theoretically one myself). Sigh...snif...Fare thee well, Ayn.

Mr. Lay and Mr. Skilling have been convicted. They are both going to prison. With any luck, they will be able to file all the appeals they want and never have their convictions overturned.

When the going gets tough, the tough (uh-huh) just pray. "Please, God, just skip a year so we can have 2008 elections early. Please!!!! From the Defeatists. Meanwhile, Neomugwump stumbles onto a right-wing fruitcake who points to the Nazis as a good example of how to handle illegal immigrants. Dennis Sanders, Neomugwump blogdude, has to have the patience of a saint to remain in the GOP. Moxiegrrrl finds Dick Cheney channeling Blackbeard. Those are some scary teeth he's got. Sure there are other things about the guy that are scary, but I noticed those teeth. EEEEWWWWWW. Speaking of Tricky Dick, the Rude Pundit weighs in on his speech-cum-pirate impersonation.

Le Sweetie and I saw Laurie Anderson at Joe's Pub this evening. Ms. Anderson played a 7 PM show in a very intimate setting. I was totally unfamiliar with her music or much of anything about her. I was fearful that it would be an hour of esoteric mush, but was pleasantly surprised. Normally, I don't really like electronic pop and I HATE programmed drumbeats with an utter passion. However, Anderson's a humorous, understated performer, making all kinds of witty asides in her monologues-cum-songs, inspiring random giggles from the audience. Another thing too--I usually wouldn't enjoy this sort of talk-singing, but Laurie Anderson does it effectively. She still has the spiky haircut, but despite a few wrinkles, seems ageless. She even sings one song, "The Lost Art of Conversation." The lyrics are simple but effective, and Anderson has a delicate, pretty voice. I read about how she began taking voice lessons and was surprised when her teacher told her she w...

And here we have a nice slab of red meat that Bushco is hoping to toss to the conservative "base" --or what's left of it. Yes, the Republican-controlled Senate put aside all trivial concerns, like the economy, Iraq, and gas prices, and voted to make English the national language. Despite the fact that just about everybody in this country speaks English, it seems that nobody has ever made it official. Since this is an election year and the Republicans need all the help they can get, they decided to change all that. Of course, none of this has anything to do with illegal immigration. I mean, a language law isn't going to help the National Guardsmen at our borders. (Telling them what they're supposed to be doing down there might, however.) Oh, and here's the posturing from a Republican senator. Yawn... "This is not just about preserving our culture and heritage, but also about bettering the odds for our nation's newest potential citizens," sa...

Okay, we're not quite there yet. That '90s Show has yet to be added to any TV lineup. But this decade has stunk so badly that the twentieth-century fin de siecle looks better every day. Yesterday's perjurer and blowjob king is now beating George W. Bush in an opinion poll. Remember the pathological Clinton haters of the 1990s? The Scaife-sponsored efforts to nail Bubba on anything they could find, including unpaid parking tickets? According to the poll, "59 percent said Bush has done more to divide the country, while only 27 percent said Clinton had." Who is this 27 percent? They are probably among the same small minority (30 percent or so) who still think Bush is doing a good job. But here's part to make the wingnuts' brains explode: When asked which man was more honest as president, poll respondents were more evenly divided, with the numbers -- 46 percent Clinton to 41 percent Bush -- falling within the poll's margin of error. The same wa...

Guess whose approval rating is now 29 percent?

Every now and then I get a little stir crazy in my musical tastes. There's a band, a style, or an album I've just got to listen to. Maybe I've heard a sound sample or the album cover looked interesting. Or maybe the band has a cool name. Anyway, I'll zero in on a band and start checking out their back catalog. One such band is Van der Graaf Generator, early 70s art rockers named for a doohickey that makes your hair stand on end. Their lineup was weird (sax/organ/drums/vocals) and their music was even weirder. Imagine HR Giger set to music (Giger really shoulda album cover art for VDGG instead of of Emerson Lake & Palmer), and you have a good idea of this band's sound. Suffice it to say lead singer and main songwriter Peter Hammill was likened to "an art-rock Richard III" (they're talking about his vocal style, folks, NOT his personal conduct). VDGG also recorded wistful ballads, always tinged with a bit of gloom. Robert Fripp guested on ...

Presidential Papers Found in Trash. A public sanitation worker in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday found a thick stack of papers with nearly every detail of President Bush's trip to Florida on the floor next to a big trash truck. The documents offer the exact arrival and departure time for Air Force One, Marine One and the back up choppers, Nighthawk 2 and 3, as Washington CBS affiliate WUSA-TV first reported. The documents also list every passenger on board each aircraft, from President Bush to the military attaché with the nuclear football. A spokesman traveling with Mr. Bush in Florida confirms the report and says officials are still trying to learn more about the papers, CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer reports. Sanitation worker Randy Hopkins told WUSA-TV reporter Bruce Leshan that he could not believe what he was seeing when he discovered the presidential schedule. "I saw locations and names and places where the president was going to be. I knew it was important...

All the whiners who are mad about singing the national anthem in Spanish should really give this a listen before they complain.

Homeless people announcing they are US citizens. Announcing you're a disabled vet doesn't hurt, either...

Bush told a German paper that the high point of his presidency was catching a 7.5 pound perch in his lake. Only trouble is, the largest perch ever caught was recorded at 4 pounds three ounces. OOOOOOOOPS! (Via Jon Aravosis. )

Nicole Ritchie is in Vanity Fair, talking about how thin she is. Shut up and eat a hamburger. And get a job while you're at it. Tom Cruise will be starring in Mission Impossible III . Did they remember to include a coherent plot for this installment? Who cares? And who cares what "Suri" means in what language? How far along is Angelina Jolie, and is she going to just have the kid already? And are we going to see more side-by-side photos of Brangelina and Jennifer Aniston or is everyone going to just shut up and move on to the Denise Richards-Richie Sambora-Heather Locklear kerfluffle? There should be a rule: if you lose on American Idol, you do not automatically gain publicity and a recording deal. You have to start at the bottom again and tour clubs and do crappy gigs and sing backup and orange juice commercials just like all the other singers. Keith Richards fell from a tree? Pft! My boyfriend's theory is that Richards died years ago and hasn't realiz...

Jon Swift seems to think so.

Maybe I will read it before the movie comes out, but Comandante Agi of the Defeatists has no plan to do so. However, he does have a bit of advice if you're considering a boycott or a protest.

Specifically Rumsfeld. Think Progress has the whole transcript. The analyst in question is 27-year CIA vet Ray McGovern, and he's carrying on like a bona fide America hater here. Rummy bravely tries to change the subject: RUMSFELD: It’s easy for you to make a charge, but why do you think that the men and women in uniform every day, when they came out of Kuwait and went into Iraq, put on chemical weapon protective suits? Because they liked the style?...They honestly believed that there were chemical weapons.... Well, the fact that the intelligence seems to have been cherry-picked (per Paul Pillar, another ex-CIA dude) may explain why they thought there were chemical weapons. And I don't know about you, Rummy, but I wasn't aware anyone joined the military to make a fashion statement. Let's continue: RUMSFELD: Saddam Hussein had used chemical weapons on his own people previously. He’d used them on his neighbor (AUDIO GAP) the Iranians, and they believed he had those we...