it's a bird! it's a plane! it's...superman with a flesh wound?!?

Quite a bit that has happened in the world in the past 24 hours.

Israel had elections and the Kadima party came out on top. That's the centrist party Sharon created after leaving the right-wing Lekuid party who, incidently, ended up with the least amount of seats. The left-wing Labor party was a close second and is expected to play a big role in the forming of a coalition. Two things stand out: 1. Kadima won with a much less than expected margin leaving everyone wondering which direction things are headed. 2. The voter turnout was one of the lowest ever at 63.2%. Our turnout in 2004 was the highest it had been since 1968 at 60.7%.

And we consider ourselves the shining example of democracy.
Right.

The Supreme Court has an interesting case involving the Gitmo detainees and the administration's assertion that they can do whatever they want with political prisoners thank-you-very-much. It looks like the Court might have something to say about that. First of all, the government's case included a not so subtle hint that this is none of the Court's business. Ooookaaay, that's ONE way to win the minds of the highest court in the land. Needless to say, it appears that Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, Souter, and Stevens are pretty sure it is their business. Roberts has recused himself as he heard the case in July 2005 (where the 3-judge panel found in favor of the government). So that leaves us with Scalia who, to no one's surprise, not only appears to support the government's case, jumped in and gave a helping hand to the solicitor general when it appeared he was drowning under Kennedy's questioning. Alito appears amenable as well. And, of course, Thomas said nothing (incidently, what exactly are we paying this man to do aside from being Scalia's bitch?). This case is a perfect example of how checks and balances operate in a democracy. Whenever I get scared and lie awake at night thinking about how G.W.B. has essentially raped my most-revered Constitution, it's nice to know that the Supreme Court is going to be there making sure their power isn't stripped.

Of course, one could make the case that they were the branch of government responsible for him even being in office, but that's ancient history.

G.W.B. gave another speech today this time blaming Saddam Hussein for the ongoing sectarian violence in Iraq. This strategy of pointing fingers at everyone but himself for this big mess certainly seems to be a winning one! Just look at those poll numbers .

And finally:
paging Reckley.....I know you're out there...