Potpourri

Friday. Only eight more shopping days 'til Christmas, for those of you keeping score - and it looks like it's pretty much business as usual around the globe...

The Iraqi election went off (relatively) smoothly yesterday, and some are estimating voter turnout at 70 percent. Apathetic American citizens should take note of that amazing figure. Of course, as happy as I am for the Iraqi populace, this still doesn't excuse our unnecessary invasion three years ago - nor does it have any real bearing on keeping Americans safe at home.

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Radical Christians continue their assault on common sense, working hard to cast doubt on Darwinian theory and inject religion into the classroom. For the last time, people, Intelligent Design is not science. Evolution may have its flaws and gaps, but faith based explanations have even more. And what about Muslim, or Jewish, or Hindu theories on the origins of life - are you willing to give those theories equal time in little Tommy's science class as well? My guess is no.

This debate has as much merit as the so-called "War on Christmas", and should be treated with the same level of intellectual contempt. Christianity is not under organized attack in this nation, and faith should be kept where it belongs - at home, in church, and in the individual heart.

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Speaking of business as usual, more evidence has surfaced that the Administration follows the laws it likes, and disregards the ones it doesn't. But who cares, right?!
Anything goes with this bunch, because we're at "war." From election tampering, to presenting false information to Congress, to outing covert CIA agents, to violating the separation of church and state, to cronyism, to financial malfeasance, to torturing prisoners, to legislating bigotry and homophobia, to distributing illegal propaganda, to domestic spying, this White House continues to shame the nation with absolute impunity.

To think that our previous president was impeached for lying about an affair with a chubby intern - the mind reels...

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And meanwhile, Katrina is still the disaster that keeps on giving. Victims remain scattered throughout the nation, with promised federal help nowhere in (immediate) sight. Even Trent Lott is suing his insurance carrier for non-payment to cover damages. After Bush's Jackson Square promise that "we will do what it takes, we will stay as long as it takes, to help citizens rebuild their communities and their lives," you have to wonder - where is he now?

Oh, right, I forgot. He's spreadin' democracy and American values through the Middle East.

Would someone pass me the Tylenol please?