Liberal Lighthouse - Maureen Dowd makes a good point in her NYT editorial today. Whether she really does believe that the pro-war discourse is legitimate is really beside the point. My read of her piece is that she is more focusing on the hypocrisy of the Bush/Cheney administration wrapping the war with Iraq in language of principle and moral correctness while pursuing an immoral and unprincipled policy of support for the Saudi regime, which in many ways is just as dangerous (if not moreso) to the security interests of the US as is Iraq.

Lagniappe - All around the border lands, the monkey chased the weasel; the monkey thought it was all in fun - Pop! Goes the weasel.

Lagniappe - State Department coaching of Iraqi dissidents in how to write op-eds in favor of the Bush Iraqi war strategy smacks of Otto Reich and his State Department stint in the Reagan Administration in the Office of Public Diplomacy. Well, at least this time, for what it's worth, the fabrication and conditioning is out in the open - which is more than can be said for the covert, illegal publicity campaigns of Reich's Office of Public Diplomacy back when.

Liberal Lighthouse - Paul Krugman is one of my all time favorite columnists, precisely because he rankles soooo many conservative pundits (even if his arguments are at times specious). Any person that can consistently get under the skin of Mickey Kaus AND Andrew Sullivan, two conservative-leaning webloggers for whom I have a healthy respect and admiration, deserves some kudos. And it's not just that he gets under the skins of pundits, but that he elicits such uncharacteristic outrage from these normally even-keeled pundits, that makes me take note and ALWAYS read his column. Anyway, Krugman's latest editorial in the New York Times discusses the Bush plan for fighting forest fires - which, I must agree with Krugman, amounts to a weakly-fashioned excuse for corporate welfare - which is a theme of non-market based upwards redistribution of income that I have harped on before. I normally wouldn't take much of an interest in this topic, except that I have recently heard (admittedly through the rumor grapevine) that when Bush and his entourage travel through the forest areas most susceptible to brush fires, the "no smoking" ban in these fire-prone areas is lifted to accommodate the filthy habit of the smokers in his crew. This little bit of news comes to me from an employee of the National Forest Service who works in these forest areas currently burning. Who knows, perhaps the Tobacco farmers (who love and need the government welfare program of federal subsidies) are bribing some ciggy-butt-heads in the Bush administration to flick still-burning cancer sticks in fire-prone forest areas to help out the Timber farmers (loggers) ( - who also thrive on federal corporate welfare - ). Just a thought that some "independent, non-partisan" journalist or blogger - a la Mickey Kaus or Andrew Sullivan - might want to explore.

Blog Banter - Don't miss Bryan Curtis's Bushisms in today's Slate. They are classic. It amazes me that Bush continues to fire them off. I have to say that I admire the fact that his gaffes never dissuade him from continuing to speak. Besides which, it makes for great, belly-aching laughs.

Cuaderno Latinoamericano (?) - Well, well ... It appears that the Taco Bell Chihuahua is back! However, only this time, he's out of a job and in search of work. I can only imagine the outrage that is going to surface. Just one more new stereotypical image to add to the mix. Watch the reaction and mark my words!

Liberal Lighthouse - William Raspberry has a very thoughtful column on the issue of reparations for slavery. I personally think that reparations will rightly have its day - even if not in the form that some of its most vocal advocates would like. I think that William Raspberry probably agrees with this. But, Raspberry does one even better by looking beyond reparations and by focusing on what it is that reparations is meant to accomplish -and then by suggesting that there are other ways to get there besides reparations. Again, a very thoughtful column on a very emotional and controversial topic.

Lagniappe - When the Bush Administration moves beyond a discussion of terrorism and taxes, there seems to be no coherence or backbone to its policy. With regard to steel production and steel imports, the Bush Administration this past March imposed some anti-free market, protectionist policies to appease domestic steel producers. Now, apparently, this same adminstration is backtracking heavily. While I must say that I think the new direction is more beneficial to the US economy in the long run, the inconsistency (and obvious pandering) that comes from such policy flip-flops makes the Bush Administration look undisciplined and unprincipled. Conservatives complain about Clinton's penchant for policy-driving public opinion polling, but it seems to me that Bush is no better.

Lagniappe - To my faithful one or two readers, I should warn you that my ability to provide in-depth commentary and reaction to headline news and punditry will most likely be curtailed significantly. This week starts orientation and the first week of classes at the University where I teach and work, so this hobby of mine will get attention only when I can spare the time for it. Rest assured that I will post at least something here every day, even if a quick link to an interesting story or editorial, but just don't expect too much.

Kingfishery and Kingcakery - Seems that my earlier thoughts on the impact of a prospective Foster challenge to Landrieu for a seat in the US Senate is shared and confirmed by others. Like I said, Foster was the GOP's only real chance at unseating Landrieu. And though no one else has said it yet, Foster's endorsement of Cooksey did even more damage to the GOP's hopes. Well ... so much for one small drama in Louisiana politics ... but if you want to read a doozy of another, sink your mental teeth into this jem of a story in which Jefferson Parish Sheriff Harry Lee, another colorful character in Louisiana politics, has his own little family spat over an inheritence to deal with.

Liberal Lighthouse - Maureen Dowd relentlessly pounds GW Bush again in her most recent column. This isn't her best work, but its acerbic cynicism of the substance of Bush's presidency and his fixation on a good jog and regular exercise makes for good sidebar reading for those of the liberal persuasion.

Lagniappe - I don't quite know what to make of the sudden vocal presence of Bush I's cronies in the debate over Iraq. A week or so ago, Brent Scowcroft wrote an editorial in the Wall Street Journal that has been painstakingly analyzed and discussed as proof of a fissure in the conservative camp over what the Iraq strategy of the U.S. should be. Today, in the New York Times, James A. Baker III, another of Bush I's intimates, has added to the mix, only this time seemingly to undo what Scowcroft had earlier done. What does it all mean? Well, I'm not sure what this back-and-forth among conservatives portends for the ultimate Iraq policy of the U.S., but what it does tell us more and more clearly is that Bush I is unwilling to let Bush II do his own thing on this issue. Daddy is setting the tone on this debate, for good or ill; and I just don't like the odor of this leadership "behind the throne." Most of the country didn't bargain for Bush II, and we certainly shouldn't be subject to the shadow presidency of Bush I, though it seems, unfortunately, to be shaping up this way.

Kingfishery and Kingcakery - Edwin Edwards, perhaps Louisiana's most notorious and colorful governor since Huey Long, is headed for the slammer. Quite frankly, I don't know how he's avoided prison time for as long as he has. At his age, this sentence probably does amount to a life sentence. I can't say that I am surprised about this; but I have to admit that I do feel somewhat sympathetically and sorry for the man. I know that I shouldn't feel this way. There is no question in my mind about his crookedness and his culpability, but I just can't seem to shake that inexplicable feeling of loss. His inability to beat the system one last time marks a certain end to a long (and dare I say proud) tradition in Louisiana politics which many, though ultimately glad, will no doubt also lament.

Cuaderno Latinoameriano - The Golden Arches continues its creep into Mexico. And Mexicans again are faced with the debate over investment and development versus the loss of a rich native culture to the fast-food snacks of gringolandia.

Kingfishery and Kingcakery - The GOP loses its best (and only, in my mind) chance of defeating incumbent Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu. Tax-n-spend Republican Governor Mike Foster has decided not to run for the US Senate seat. The most surprising aspect of Foster's decision, however, is its coupling with an endorsement of John Cooksey. With this endorsement, not only has Foster's considerable popularity been placed behind a losing cause, it also gives Mary Landrieu the possibility of winning outright and avoiding a runoff as Republican voters will just not get enthused about this election. Of course, I couldn't be happier, because I think Landrieu has served well, even though I think she has caved too often to the pressures of misplaced conservative policy regarding the environment and the energy sectors of the economy. While Landrieu, it is true, votes with Bush nearly three quarters of the time, it's that 25% when she doesn't vote with Bush that's the critical difference. With Landrieu in office, Bush's more conservative judicial nominations will have one less vote of support, and a woman's right to choose will be defended and upheld. Thank you, Foster, for not running - and double-thanks for endorsing Cooksey.

School Board - The Washington Post has a wonderful little editorial about the University of North Carolina's selection of a book on the Quran for its new student orientation program. I couldn't have said it better.

Cuaderno Latinoamericano - Even though former Mexican President Luis Echeverría has now refused to testify about institutionalized violence perpetrated by the state in the late 60s and early 70s, the fact remains that the Mexican judicial system is developing some independent muscle by forcing him to assume such an intransigent posture in front of the law. This is a good thing for Mexican democracy, even though Echeverría's recalcitrance is a major disappointment for human rights activists who desire some accountability and recognition of wrongdoing. I encourage Mexicans not to lose heart, but to keep up the pressure. Change always brings with it some disappointments, but Mexico for the most part is changing for the better.

Lagniappe - Although the recent Katherine Harris resignation imbroglio is an old story by now, every time I think about it, I find it to be more and more ironic. Here we have the Florida Secretary of State, responsible for managing and enforcing election laws, either (1) ignorant of the very laws she is responsible for administering, or (2) contemptuous of this law, or (3) just plain stupid, or (4) all of the above. Sour grapes about her role in the 2000 Florida recount aside, she is a joke - and a bad joke at that. I mean, listen to the absurdity of her reality: she forgot to resign as the law demanded, so she resigned retroactively; only, she didn't really resign because she was still "de facto" Secretary of State after she quit. Can any rational human being make any sense of this tomfoolery? Well, for the sake of argument, let's just assume that her resignation really wasn't a resignation (very Clintonian of her, don't you think?), and that she still was Secretary of State during the interim period between her surreal resignation date and the real resignation of her duties two weeks later. (If you're interested, you can read her resignation letter.) The most hilarous apsect of this scenario, which is what she herself has designed, is that, as "de facto" Secretary of State during the interim period after her retroactive resignation date and the real termination of her duties as the chief implementer and enforcer of electoral law in Florida, she herself should have invalidated her own candidacy for not having resigned on time as the electoral law required. I'd like to see any Republican with any shred of intellectual dignity try to justify Katherine Harris's behavior on this one, especially after having been so publicly insistent on observing the letter of the state's electoral law during the 2000 Florida recount. Katherine Harris screwed up. Forget that, as a screw up, she's unfit for office. The simple reality is that, by law, she shouldn't be permitted to run for office. Period. As "de facto" Secretary of State, I hope she signed and mailed a certified letter to herself to that effect. And if she's not happy with the contents of the letter, perhaps she can sue herself in court.

Liberal Lighthouse - The conservative position on the welfare state baffles me and angers me. I am baffled because conservatives despise the thought of a government handout to the poor, but expect a government bailout when their businesses reach dire straights. I am angered because of the duplicity of this attitude. My big beef on this point has been the extortion by millionaire sports franchise owners (largely conservative in ideology and Republican in party affiliation) of state and city coffers to subsidize and guarantee their profit margins. But that is just the tip of the iceberg. One can point to plenty more big business, corporate welfare schemes. It seems I am not alone in noting this irony. The New Republic has commented on this trend, as I've pointed out below. And now Slate's William Saleton writes about this phenomenon as well with regard to the conservative positions in favor of cutting the capital gains tax while also advocating the allowance of greater deductions against tax liability of investment losses. In a nutshell, the gist of Saleton's argument is that "if investors are entitled to keep every dollar they gain in the stock market, it's hard to see why they shouldn't cough up every dollar they lose." Some people are willing to suck it up and take the hit when their investments tank. Others, like sports franchise owners, cry to the government for some relief. Where is the outrage among conservatives regarding this aspect of the welfare game?

Kingfishery & Kingcakery - The Republicans in the State of Louisiana finally wake up and propose the ONLY effective GOP challenge to Sen. Mary Landrieu. I still think Mary's got the goods, the smarts, and the benefits of incumbency that will lead her to victory; but Foster (even moreso than Suzanne Haik Terrell) can make it an interesting race. But Foster risks his fairly positive legacy as Governor if he takes the plunge, which is something he might think twice about before doing.