ChgoRed, Girl Editor

Hold the Champagne II

Somewhere, George Bush is smiling. Seriously, he probably is. This day could have gone so much worse for him. Instead, he's counting his blessings.

--The indictments came out on a Friday. The White House loves Friday news stories. It's their preferred day for releasing bad news, as most people don't pay attention to the news during the weekend. Think about it: When was the last time you sat down the watch the Saturday evening news?

--Only one guy indicted. Karl Rove is safe for now.

--As far as most of the country is concerned, Scooter Libby is just some guy who works in the White House. For all they know, he could be in charge of changing Cheney's coffee filters. He's an unknown. Plus, because he really has no public persona, the White House has a chance to spin one for him.

--Libby already resigned, saving Bush the embarassment of living up to his promise to fire anyone connected with the Plame case. Plus, one bad apple quickly removed from the White House gives the impression of punishment already being meted out. Harder to make the image of "guilt by association" stick when the association part has been (seemingly) removed..

--Harriet who? Exactly.

Note: If you came here because of a link on a conservative blog, you should know that I am very much a liberal.  I think George Bush is disconnected, incompetent, and far far in over his head.  We would have been a lot better off had he stayed in Texas.  The day he leaves office will be a time for champagne in my house.  Just so we're clear.

Antidote

In all the fuss about Miers and indictments and whatnot this week, there was a private political meeting that didn't get much news play. Important, though, because it was all about high-powered Democrats trying to decide how they're going to play it next year. Naturally, they skipped items like, "Paul Hackett Showing in Ohio Proves We Could Actually Win Stuff, If We Tried." But at least they took the time to unveil next year's rock-em sock-em party slogan.

Are you ready for it? It's sure a doozy. Maybe you should sit down. Ready? OK!!!

"America Can Do Better"

TA-DA!

Hey? Where are you going?

In the Bag: Post-Trip Cleanout

I spent the weekend down South.  My purse reveals all.

• Spare house keys
• 30-day CTA Pass
• State ID (Temporarily out of the wallet so I could show it to airport security)
• Boarding pass & receipt, Charlotte to Chicago
• Boyfriend's new copy of Mother Jones
• Cell Phone
• Wallet
• Favorite faux fountain pen (blue ink) that has leaked all over the inside of my purse
• Hairclip
• Ballpoint pen from the company where the Boy's dad worked
• Two keys from last apartment, saved only because they're hooked to a grocery store discount card...where I don't even shop anymore.  Hmm.
• 4 Pieces Trident bubblegum
• 5 Gum wrappers
• ATM slips from Chicago and Charleston
• Sephora lipstick #321A
• CD from my dad, with copies of his favorite photographs
• Letters from Colette
• Jacket for plane ticket
• Two South Carolina Powerball tickets
• Receipt from El Jardin
• Claim slip for broken camera, currently in the shop
• Ticket to see Bruce Springsteen
• Instructions handed out at the Bruce concert (Since when did concerts start coming with instructions?)
• Itinerary for Chicago/Charlotte flights, printed out by the Boy just before I left, when I realized I didn't know my airline, airport, or flight number. He printed it on his usual lime green paper, so I kept it tucked in my jacket pocket for the whole trip and thought of him every time I saw it.
• Boarding pass for Chicago-Charlotte
• CVS receipt
• MapQuest driving instructions from Charlotte to my mom's new place in Charleston
• New prescription for meds
• Theatre postcard I found on the sidewalk and saved because I liked the graphics
• Business card for johnnyknightphoto.com and the Her Special Day exhbition
• Stamp
• Receipt for 12.33 in airport purchases (water; tawdry magazines)
• $16.07 in cash and change

What the...?

Geez--maybe George IS hitting the hooch again.  From today's comments on Harriet Miers:

"People can learn about Harriet Miers through hearings, but we are not going to destroy this business about people being able to walk into the Oval Office and say, Mr. President, here’s my advice to you. Here’s what I think is important."

Leader of the free world, folks. 

I was hoping for one of those number slates, at least

Tom DeLay's mug shot.  Now appearing on every blog, everywhere, and soon to be available in every form on Cafepress.

Everything’s Just Ducky: Let’s Learn About Bird Flu!

I have been meaning to do this for a while. Today’s article in The Washington Post is what lit the fire under me. In brief, it suggests the bird flu could have been stopped two years ago, while still contained to Indonesia. However, thanks to some poultry magnates who didn’t want business disrupted and a criminally negligent government who didn’t want to scare people, it was never contained. Add in a very handy disease vector—migratory birds—and here we are.

Before we really get started, the good news. You are still relatively safe.  Bird-to-person transmission of avian flu is very rare (there may be thousands of sick birds out there, but only a hundred or so people have been ill). Person-to-person transmission is even rarer. Just keep reminding yourself of that. It’s not here yet, it's not spreading quickly between people at this point, and you can still have turkey at Thanksgiving.

Now, if you’ve heard anything about bird flu, your top questions probably are: Will it be here? Are we ready? And What can I do to protect myself?

Answers: Almost certainly; No; and Beyond washing your hands, not a hell of a lot.

Hold the Champagne

If you read certain blogs and Websites, you will have noticed increasing anticipation about indictments, prosecutions, etc.  They're all a-flutter with the rumors:  "The indictments are coming!  Wednesday!  Thursday!  Soon! Someday!"  But at the risk of losing my "good liberal" tag, I am hardly getting excited over the idea of a Karl Rove post-indictment frogmarch. Mainly because, well...I don't really know that there will be one.

I've seen a lot of anxious spluttering on the Web about how "this leads straight to the top," "they're all going down," "he's toast," and so on. But I'm just not really buying it. I'm not saying I think the White House, Libby, Rove, et al, were aboveboard and forthright in everything they did. Very much the opposite. I absolutely believe there was a conspiracy to defame Wilson, and that hurting his wife was just part of pulling out all the stops. It's not like the Bush Administration hasn't played dirty before (see John McCain, South Carolina primary, 2000).

Sure, there will probably be some indictments. The prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, has more than proved himself in my own town. BUT...anything alleged will be hard to prove, and quite possibly not super-duper criminal.  Meaning: If there were a conspiracy, it was only geared around one or two people (Joe Wilson and his wife)--not exactly wide-ranging--and ultimately, nothing really happened to her. As far as we have been told, the only real upshot was that she had to change jobs. Yes, she could have been hurt--but she wasn't. It does make a difference. And if even if someone wants to argue criminal negligence, indictments for that are damned unlikely. Indirectly putting someone at risk is not going to get Dick Cheney into an orange jumpsuit--no matter how much some people might want to believe that. In addition, after reading about Judith Miller's testimony and the fact that Karl Rove apparently looked awfully damn chipper leaving his meeting on Friday, my hopes are not high. There's no telling what the other witnesses might have said, but by herself Miller sounds like she was a pretty good witness for the defense, and not so hot for the prosecution.

It does not bode well.

Like I said, there could be indictments, but even a conviction doesn't guarantee a jail term. People skate all the time. Bargains are made.  Cheney/Libbey/Bush perp walk?  Karl Rove going to jail?  Charges that bring down the administration?  I just wouldn't bet on it.

Pat Robertson, Court Jester

Look who's back! And in such a huff, too. Maybe a diet shake would calm him down.

Pat Robertson threatens retaliation against conservative senators who oppose Miers

On today’s "700 Club" broadcast, the Rev. Pat Robertson responded to criticism from the Right regarding the Miers nomination and also offered a stern warning to those conservative senators who might be thinking of voting against her.

Rev. Robertson suggested that people should look at who is supporting Miers before they doubt her conservative credentials. He named James Dobson, the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jay Sekulow of the Robertson-founded American Center for Law and Justice, and himself as proof of support for Miers’ nomination from the Right.

Robertson concluded by noting: "These so-called movement conservatives don’t have much of a following, the ones that I’m aware of. And you just marvel, these are the senators, some of them who voted to confirm the general counsel of the ACLU to the Supreme Court, and she was voted in almost unanimously. And you say, 'Now they’re going to turn against a Christian who is a conservative picked by a conservative President and they’re going to vote against her for confirmation.' Not on your sweet life, if they want to stay in office."

Harriet, Oh Harriet

So let's get this straight...

--Even Republican staff members of the Senate Judiciary committee don't want Miers.

"Another Republican aide close to the committee said, "'I don't know a staffer who approves of this nomination, anywhere. Most of it is outright hostility throughout the Judiciary Committee staff.'"

--Conservative groups who oppose Miers have developed a novel tactic.

"Some of the advocacy groups that are concerned about Supreme Court nominee Harriet E. Miers's lack of a record on social issues are favoring a new approach to thwarting her nomination: Asking the nominee, who has no judicial experience, complex questions about constitutional law and hoping she trips up."

Quzzing a potential Supreme Court justice about Constitutional law? The nerve! The, uh, novelty!

--And Bush and his mouth got him in trouble again just this morning.

"Bush's comments came in response to a question about why his top political aide, Karl Rove, found it nececsssary to assure evangelical Christian leaders that Miers was one of them.

"People are interested to know why I picked Harriet Miers," Bush said. "They want to know Harriet Miers's background. They want to know as much as they possibly can before they form opinions. Part of Harriet Miers life is her religion," he said, noting that she was also a "pioneer woman and a trailblazer in the law."

This seems harmless enough, unless you check any number of conservative or liberal Web sites, where this is being read as, "Her religion formed part of my decision." Whatever he meant, it could run up against this pesky clause in the Constitution (article 6, clause 3) about "no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States."  Uh, oops?

It's hard for a liberal to know what to think. Should I be happy? Worried? Amused? Is it Christmas Eve or the day before Tax Day?

Progress

Cardstock arrived last night. The box is big and heavy, and hasn't been opened yet. I would, but I know me and my penchant for attracting stains. Like a splotch magnet I am. This way it all stays clean and unwrinkled until printing starts this weekend.

Currently ordered and on its way to our house: One banner kit from Avery, and a whole mess of card boxes and card jackets.

The Web site went up last night. (Yes, that's my real name. Please do not stalk me.) However, when I opened it on my work computer this morning I realized that it's a little too wide. Need to fix that tonight. At this point it's not designed for taking orders (should there be any); instead, I just wanted to show people what I could do. 

And last night, The Boy told me that he really likes having a creative girlfriend. Considering that I spent Sunday afternoon stringing up Kleenex ghosts and cutting skulls out of paper plates, I was absolutely charmed.