Beautiful Horizons

Shakespeare Blogging III

The Bard of Avon still rules. Time for some more Shakespeare blogging. Just click the quote:

"For how can tyrants safely govern home,
Unless abroad they purchase great alliance?"

- King Henry VI Part III

"And thus I clothe my naked villainy
With odds and ends stol'n forth of holy writ,
And seem a saint when I most play the devil."

- King Richard III

"I am not in the giving vein today."

- King Richard III

"For slander lives upon succession,
Forever housed where it gets possession."

- King Richard III

"But I have done a thousand dreadful things
As willingly as one would kill a fly,
And nothing grieves me heartily indeed
But that I cannot do ten thousand more."

- Titus Andronicus

"There's small choice in rotten apples."

- The Taming of the Shrew

"Things past redress are now with me past care."

- King Richard II

And to end on a positive note:

"He is half the part of a blessed man,
Left to be finished by such a she;
And she a fair divided excellence,
Whose fullness of perfection lies in him."

- King John (coincidentally)

Encouraging Signs

Mika Brezinski has had enough. The daughter of Zbignew - and an MSNBC Anchor - was on "Morning Joe" the other day when she refused to read the lead story. It was the day that the White House said "No" to the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and when Dick Lugar broke with the President over Iraq. But the lead story, with film, was the release of Paris Hilton from an LA jail.

Brezinski tried to burn the copy and when it woudn't ignite she got up, walked to shredder and disposed of it that way. Still, the film ran and Mika was last seen with her head down in a "why me Lord?" pose.

I admire her spunk but, really, she should know by now that the way to make an impact on Cable News is to wear an obscenely short black cocktail dress and call the Senior Senator from Indiana a "Chamberlin-loving Wuss!"

See it for yourself:

Back to the Future

When they were up for Confirmation both Roberts and Alito swore that they would respect settled law and the concept of Stare Decisis. Well so much for truth in testimony. Roberts and Altio wasted no time in overturning several precedents but none were more shocking then their partial gutting of Brown v. Board of Education. In overturning two Voluntary School Desegregation plans, Roberts suggested that the best way to eliminate race from such discussion is to eliminate the discussion of race. That was too much for Justice Stephens who noted that the dynamic duo's concern for equalty before the law was somewhat like Anatole France's famous comment the law in all its majesty prohibits both the rich and the poor from sleeping under railroad bridges. The idea that race wasn't at the heart of these cases can only be considered valid if you've spent a lifetime in the Federalist Society. As Stephen Breyer wrote it was Black parents of black children asking to be allowed to attend White only schools. There are no cases where Whites demanded the "Right" to attend black ones.

But that is the way it is and the way it will be. Anyone want to give odds on Roe now? And where will these people stop? I'm not sure they have the gall but some of their number think all cases decided since the mide thirties are tainted. That is, the Government has no business regulating health and safety in the workplace or hours allowed or overtime or child labor or . . . basically anything that smacks of the 20th Century.

This is what is meant by the phrase "Elections have Consequences." And it will not matter who the next President is if these people have their way. This is Bush's real legacy and it will be there for the next thirty years. In a way this will help because now Liberals will have to go back to the hard work of mobilizing the public to political action. There is no court left to depend on. The days when a lawsuit could bring change are over. Now it will be the other way. Now every right, every social gain, will be challenged by a well founded Corporate minority that controls five votes in the Supreme Court.

And it is just beginning.

Diplomacy in Action

I don't understand it. Dosn't anyone at the White House or the National Security Council look at a copy of President Bush's speeches before he gives them? When he discusses foreign Policy is it vetted by the State Department? Or does he just say whatever comes into his head?"

Case in point. The other day the Decider gave a speech about his Iraq Policy at the Naval War College. And in announcing that the main enemy was Al Queda as the new principal reason for being there - a claim that McClatchy News Service  saidwas belied by the evidence of Commander-Guy's own military who've stated that the vast bulk of the enemy combatents there are home-grown insurgents - Bush gave as the new goal to turn Iraq into something that looked like Israel.

That's right. Israel. Now that's sure likely to go over well in the neighborhood, don't you think? Why he didn't just call it a "Crusade" and be done with it is a mystery. But this sure helps his buddy Tony Blair get a good send off in his new mission as Minister and Plenopetentiary Extraordinary from the "Concert" Group to the Middle East. I can hardly wait to see the reception he'll get in Amman and Riaydh when he tries to explain this to Kings Fahd and Abdullah.

Can someone please try to shut this fool up before he speaks again.

Democratic Debate

I completely forgot (actually didn't hear much beforehand) about the Dems' debate at Howard University tonight, hosted by Tavis Smiley and broadcast on PBS. If you missed it, it will be available online starting at 7:00 am Friday morning HERE. Word is that Smiley, who decided to forgo shows of hands in response to burning questions, was a more serious host than Blitzer and the rest, but this was a "black" event so apparently it didn't rate quite as much fanfare as the others.

What is to be Done?

Well the White House replied to the first batch of Subpoenas issued today by the House and Senate Judiciary Committees and, to no one's surprise, told those groups to - in effect - go Cheney Themselves! Yes once again we are treated to the claim of "Executive Priviledge" and more by a "Unitary Executive". And, oh by the way, Condi Rice told the Waxman people that she is just too busy to answer their summons as she has to settle the Middle East. Sorry boys! Maybe we can do lunch some time!

So we get the predictable huffing and puffing from Leahy and Conyers. And I suppose we may see a move to enforce this by a "Contempt of Congress" Resolution. But who would enforce that? Why the US Attorney for the District of Columbia! Oh, nevermind. Well they could order the House Sergent-at-Arms to go down to 1600 and arrest the recalcitrant witnesses. That would be a sight! Jon Stewart would think he had died and gone to Heaven! But I suppose they will just go to court and try to compel service.

Now think of what that means. It means, eventually, ending up with the Supremes and asking them to force the Executive to comply. Well they said Clinton had to answer supoenas. They said that his people had to comply. And back in 1974 they unanamously told Nixon to hand over those tapes. So what's the problem? Here's the problem. I have grave doubts that, after the decisions this Court handed down the last few weeks, that Roberts, Alito and Company give a damn for precedent. And are more likely to buy that Federalist Society crap that says the President is an elected monarch and a law unto himself.

And even if they don't this crew could just play out the clock and leave office before the thing is decided. And then Bush can give everyone - including his Vice President - a "Get out of Jail Free Card" in the form of full and complete pardons just like daddy did for the Iran-Contra Crowd. And give Congress the Presidential finger.

So what do we do? Well let us start with Cheney - Mr "Fourth Branch of Government". Here's what one Constitutional Lawyer wrote recently:

                                 The House Judiciary Committee should commence an

                                 Impeachment Inquiry.  As Alexander Hamilton advised

                                 in the Federalist Papers an Impeachable Offense is a

                                 Political Crime against the Nation.  Cheney's multiple

                                 crimes against the Constitution clearly qualifies.

And the author of those words was no radical lefty. He was Bruce Fein, Deputy AG in the REAGAN Administration. Fein then lists the offenses to be investigated. And tonight on "Countdown" John Dean seconds the motion and asks Speaker Pelosi to put Impeachment back on the table.

The only thing that will get these criminal's attention is the Impeachment threat. I know that the Senate Republicans will vote to acquit. But I say it is high time, It is past time., to show the American People that rule of law and Constitutional Government still means something in this country. And let the GOP forever carry the stain of dereliction of Duty and violation of their sacred oaths to Defend that document against all enemies, Foreign and Domestic.

So we are close to deciding if we are still a Republic or an Empire. Its getting very Roman around here. So where are the champions of the Republic? Or is this the culmination of another experiment that had a good run but, in the end, succumbed, just like all the others. 

Looks like it's Gore's if he wants it

Here.

The Dream Team ?

Will the progressive majority emerge ?

Essential piece by Rick Perlstein, writing in The Nation, on the reality of a liberal majority in the U.S. and some thoughts on why Democratic pols have done such a mediocre job of building on it.

They've got an awful lot of Condoms in Brazil

I don't know why but since Randy wrote that piece below I've been seeing more and more items about the Brazilian scene and the administration of President Lula. Here's the latest. While the US efforts at family planning are hung up over both birth control and abortion, the Brazilian Public Health Ministry has added free distribution of the "Morning after Pill" to its distribution of condoms (last year 254 million) as part of its family planning program.

And here's something else they're doing. Brazil is now financing the construction of pharmaceutical plants in Africa to locally produce drugs that combat the spread of AIDS and control the virus in HIV positive individuals. The treatments will be produced at far less cost than importing drugs from First World Countries. We're arguing about that as well.

Makes you wonder who is the Third World.

I've Got a Crush on You

Here is some news from the politcal wars that is, if true, absolutely mindboggling. The Associated Press is reporting that Barack Obama added something like 138,000 new names to his fundraising list for this quarter. That's on top of the 104,000 he showed last Q. That gives him a donor base going into the second half of 2007 of nearly a quarter million! And AP says that there have been a total of 335,957 donations sent in for quarters one and two - meaning a substantial number of donors ponied up again this reporting period.  Needless to say no one else will be close.

And while we're looking at fundraisers let's pause and consider "Holy Joe" Lieberman. The "Independent Democrat" from the "CT for Me" Party has endorsed Susan Collins the GOP Senator from Maine and recently held a fundraiser for her featuring K Street's Finest. For some reason the progressive blogisphere was not amused and numerous sites urged readers to contribute money to Rep. Tom Allen (D-ME) - Collins' likely opponent in the general. Well the results are in and "Hotline" is reporting that Allen outraised Collins by 100 - 200 K.  As one site suggested Collins would have been better off paying Joe to stay home!