Killing time and taking chances, while the Libby jury ponders its decision…

After six years of being lied to by the Bush administration and the pundits, the American people finally hold someone accountable…

This is inside bloggy baseball, so if tempests in the world of raging individualistic prose warriors doesn’t interest you, be forewarned.
I belong to an organization called the Media Bloggers Association. You can find the raison d’etre of its founder and board members here. The chairman, Robert Cox, worked with the district court in Washington to [...]

At Hullabaloo, Digby takes note that former administration toady Andrew Sullivan is now calling, in the wake of the Scooter Libby verdict, for the investigation and, should he not cooperate, the possible impeachment of Cheney in connection with the administration’s assault on Joe Wilson and the outing of his wife as a covert CIA agent. [...]

“Daddyyyyy.”
Oh, crap.
“Daddy, can I use the computer?”
“Not right now, sweetie. You need to do your homework. And I’m using it right this minute anyway.”
“Daddy?”
“Homework.”
“Daddy, did you write your book report on The Wee Free Men yet?

The Bush Doctrine’s return on investment is unattractive…

Fox News chairman Roger Ailes gave a speech at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Washington last week. It was about what you would expect from Ailes: an assault on other news organizations and Democratic politicians, a sweeping misinterpretation of the First Amendment, a self-serving justification of the Fox News aversion to unbiased reporting.
The occasion was the [...]

Some anonymous Bush administration officials appear to be trying to play Pakistan’s president Pervez Musharraf. A March 11 New York Times story reports that at least some officials think the death of Musharraf, whose military government is in serious political trouble, would have little impact on the country’s relationship with the US and would be [...]

A Government Accountability Office document says that the Pentagon won’t tell Congress what shape the Iraqi army is in. GAO official Joseph A. Christoff said in a prepared statement to a House armed services subcommittee that the Department of Defense is refusing to provide the GAO and Congressional committees with the department’s Transition Readiness Assessments, [...]

Michael Pollan, The Omnivore’s Dilemma: B
David Kamp, The United States of Arugula: B+
Anthony Bourdain, Kitchen Confidential: B
Growing up, I lived, without grasping its significance, in a foodie’s paradise of local produce and meat and poultry, an abundance of natural goodness supplied by an ecological- and health-conscious family. Lately, I’ve been reminiscing on that, and [...]

In which Tony dodges questions about the U.S. Attorney firings…

If you could draw one overriding conclusion from current and past administration scandals, it might be that Republicans, at least the ones in power, have little use for democracy. They like the trappings but they distrust and fear the actual process.
The scandal now dominating the news neatly illustrates the point in several ways. First, at [...]

I think it’s great that congressional Democrats managed to keep their redeployment language in the military appropriations bills they passed this week. It’s a shame that the language won’t actually accomplish anything material even if Bush doesn’t veto the bills.
I’m not talking about the president’s insistence that he isn’t bound by laws he doesn’t like, [...]