The Daily Grill

Override 'Em, Cowboy!

Yee haw! Congress finally got the stones together yesterday to override a veto by White House Resident Bush for the very first time since he's been in office. It was on a vital water projects bill that Dubya had slapped down and the House somehow managed to create a massive majority of 361 free thinkers over 54 bootlickers to kick the veto to the street. Now it's the Senate's turn to step up and back their play, which I hope they do. Because I think if Congress and the Senate get the great taste of override in their mouths, we might finally see a change in the runaway power grab that's been going on by the king...uh, I mean President.

UPDATE: The Senate DID indeed follow suit, passing the above-mentioned bill by a score of 79 rabble rousers to 14 slack-jawed losers. So there's the first (and hopefully not the last) time one of Bush's vetoes gets the heave-ho before that lame duck waddles off into the sunset. The bill, incidentally, would fund some 900 projects -- millions of dollars help storm-proof the Gulf Coast, freshen up the Florida Everglades and replace seven ancient creaky locks on the Upper Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

Misdirection

You might say the President was "Bush-whacked" when the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican John Warner, said yesterday that the Iraq situation (AKA "war) was "drifting sideways". To have a leading Republicrat mouthing off just a month before the November elections must have smarted. White House Resident Bush responded with "while it is tough going in Iraq, slow progress is being made." In my opinion these are both understatements. To put it in perspective, if these clownish folk were aboard the Titantic the fateful night it struck the iceberg, Warner would have thought that the boat was listing to port, while Bush would have insisted that, even though there was problem, it was still making its way toward New York.

Here Comes The Bribe

In Arizona, a proposal has qualified for the November ballot which would create a $1 million award in every general election. The million bucks would go to one registered voter, chosen by lottery, simply for voting — no matter for whom. Second prize? The lamest politicians ever, due to people voting without caring at all about who anyone is, just so they can qualify to win. I can see the campaign slogan now: "A Vote For Me Is A Chance To Win!"

We Can Do It

Wasn't it just a couple of weeks ago that some Conservicans were tearing their hair out about the war in Iraq and its effect on their chances to get re-elected? You wouldn't have known it yesterday in the Senate when one GOP pawn after another basically embraced White House Resident Bush's lustily renewed drum beating over that same war. They also teamed up to clout the Demerals for what they saw as a push for an overly hasty withdrawal from the conflict. Anyone have a guess as to what the "magic number" of American soldier deaths will be that signals GOP victories all around come November?

Well Played

It sure seemed a done deal that White House aide Karl Rove was going to be indicted on the CIA leak case -- I mean, come on: his number one aide, Scooter Libby, went down and he didn't know about it? -- but it was revealed today that he is not going to be charged. Good for Karl. He needs a break. And they were probably popping corks around the Oval Office after the announcement. Of course, there's nothing to say that special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald isn't going after BIGGER fish...

Circle Jerky

A headline on Yahoo News today reads: Bush Rallies Gay Marriage Opponents, the story behind which is White House Resident Bush's attempt to garner support for a Constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. The numbers of Conservicans jumping onboard are far more that the number of countries who became part of the coalition in the Iraq war, so Mr. Bush is feeling better about himself.

Journey To The Poles

The Demerals (Democrat + Liberal) are howling that Harry Reid (D-Nevada) is being made a scapegoat by the Conservicans (Conservative + Republican) for taking some boxing tickets from the Nevada Boxing Commission, in retaliation for the bribery screws being put to William Jefferson. Is it possible at some point that people are going to wake up and realize there's really no difference in the way either side conducts business? Probably not. I intend to simply vote against every single incumbent. It's "The Rotten Apples Have Spoiled The Rest" Campaign, so let's just toss the barrel.

Trained Seal Performs Under Pressure

White House Resident Bush has intervened directly in a tense constitutional fight between Congress and the Justice Department by ordering records seized from a congressional office sealed for 45 days. What the hell is THAT all about? He says "Our government has not faced such a dilemma in more than two centuries," in reference to the recent FBI search of the office of Representative William Jefferson, who has been accused of accepting bribes. "Yet after days of discussions, it is clear these differences will require more time to be worked out." Sounds more like someone's busy trying to do buy themselves 45 days worth of cleanup on a bribery trail that's liable to find its way, one of these days, right to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue...

The Problem's The Barrel

When there's this many rotten apples, it's time to check the barrel. The F.B.I. has tightened the screws at the Legislative level, this time accusing Representative William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from iGate, a Kentucky tech company. Jefferson, like a glass of tacks, isn't going down easy and denies the accusations, even though they have him on tape in a meeting at which the lawmaker received $100 G's in $100 bills and they found $90,000 of the "BribeBucks" in his home freezer in Washington. Jefferson said that the prosecution is looking at the evidence "in the worst possible light." Yeah: a bright one. Who's next?

Great Name, Wobbly Platform

I just caught a TV ad for Joe Nation, a Democratic Assemblyman from Sonoma, CA, who is running for Congress in the upcoming elections. Part of his platform is environmentally-driven and his spewage includes "global warming may cause the San Francisco Bay to rise 20 feet, meaning part of Sausalito will be underwater." Ooh, so that means all the houseboats there will actually…float. Oh, yeah, and the vineyards in Napa will dry up. Uh, Joe? You might want to try to actually reach the common man before they hit the polls.