alternative hippopotamus

The conventional wisdom is that Bob Novak has already testified to the Plame Grand Jury. One conceivable version of events is that a source outside of the White House leaked Plame’s name to Novak who then contacted Scooter Libby for comment. Libby organizes the hit on Wilson, either believing he has legal cover, or not knowing the law about disclosing CIA operatives.

Still, I like Froomkin’s thoughts:

OK, a couple thoughts. First, Novak says his lawyer has told him not to comment. This is either preposterous or highly suggestive.

Presumably, Novak has spoken to Fitzgerald’s grand jury. And while it is illegal for prosecutors or grand jurors to disclose grand jury testimony, there is absolutely nothing wrong with a witness repeating his testimony word for word on the courthouse steps.

So why would his lawyer tell him not to comment? Could it be because Novak himself is now a target of an obstruction of justice investigation?

And if in fact as Fitzgerald suggests the official in question has voluntarily come forward (presumably with an explanation of why his conduct wasn’t illegal) isn’t it safe to assume that the official has also told his or her bosses at the White House?

So why not just ask Bush who it is and get it over with?

So, maybe one of these blogger folks who sit in on briefings could ask McClellan?

I’m not above that kind of silliness, though I’m also not beneath it. If anything, I’m just to the side. The left side, of course.

If I ever do choose to become an on-line magazine, I’d want to simultaneously buck another trend: the tendency to eschew comparisons to Hitler, Nazi’s, Eva Braun, the Gestapo, or anything else remotely Germanic in the middle part of the 20th century.

I know that some believe that the Nazis were so uniquely evil, that all comparisons demean those that lived through that era. And there’s something to that viewpoint. At the same time if we forbid even the garden-variety analogy, then we possibly doom ourselves to repeating the pattern, giving into the same weaknesses.

That means recognizing trends in our society like the increasing use of propaganda. The silencing of dissent. Centralizing authority. Laws or regulations favoring a priviledged class over a disadvantaged one. The marriage between corporations and government. The shunning of those with a particular religious viewpoint.

That’s why, if I ever start an on-line magazine, it would be called: Home, Garden, and Hitler. The whole purpose would be to make explicit comparisons between people and events of then and now. How Rove is like Goebbels. How Centrists are like the Vichyites. Why ignoring trends towards fascism is just as dangerous now as it was during the 1930’s.

On United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the United States reaffirms its commitment to the worldwide elimination of torture. Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law.

Some restrictions may apply. Offer void in Cuba, Iraq, or where extraordinary rendition may be deemed expedient.

By a vote of 5-4, the court ruled that the Ten Commandments in two Kentucky courthouses must be removed because their clearly religious message threatens the separation of church and state, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution.

Yet in a separate case, the court ruled that a two-metre-high granite monument depicting the Ten Commandments in a park outside the Texas state legislature delivers “a predominantly secular message” and is therefore completely permissible.

And then it struck me. What the court is trying to say is that public religious displays should be safe, legal, and rare.

I could sit here and lie to you, and say that I agree with this decision because otherwise reporters would be given a special legal right that no other profession has. The truth, though, is I find Miller’s personality grating, and from the little I’ve seen of Matt Cooper, him too.

I believe people with grating personalities should go to jail, so this decision seems fair to me.

Bettas are fascinating. They get visibly excited when you get close to the tank. They spend hours doing all these complex backflips, splaying their dramatically colored finnage, and mock fighting their reflection in the glass.

Here’s one thing I learned over the weekend. I hope it’s my contribution to the world of bettas: how to get the betta out of the tank so you can clean the tank.

You can of course use a net. But I think this would be tough on the finnage. The bettas finnage, that is. Instead, dip a 2-cup measure into the tank. And here’s the really cool part: you take a laser pointer and shine it on the bottom of the measuring cup. The betta sees the light and thinks it’s something good to eat. So he swims to the bottom of the cup, and you scoop him up.

Bob Deans reports: (Lexington Herald-Leader)

Working from their home in Sunnyvale, Calif., Fesmire and his wife, Gina, a graphic designer, created a homespun Web site called Downingstreetmemo.com in early May, posted the memo and related information there and generated a mass e-mail campaign to urge reporters and editors around the country to keep the story alive.

“That did make a big difference,” said Paul Waldman, senior fellow with Media Matters, a progressive media watchdog outfit in Washington that has closely tracked media coverage of the memo and the Internet interest it has generated, on the Fesmires’ site and others.

Take heart my fellow pajama-clad keyboarders. One person can make a difference. (Okay, technically two, but you get my point so don’t get smart with me, buster.) Though, sometimes you need to stand on your kitchen table and beat a pot like a gong until someone notices you.

We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.

From today’s Washington Post:

The U.S.-led toppling of Saddam Hussein, who limited the establishment of new denominations, has altered the religious landscape of predominantly Muslim Iraq. A newly energized Christian evangelical activism here, supported by Western and other foreign evangelicals, is now challenging the dominance of Iraq’s long-established Christian denominations and drawing complaints from Muslim and Christian religious leaders about a threat to the status quo.

Klan Koulter was eriely prescient, no? And it explains one thing. This is why the fundies backed the war. It makes proselytizing that much easier.

It’s kind of like Bush’s flypaper strategy, the fundies are annoying the people of Iraq so they can’t annoy the people here.

Any of you kids ever run over a fiance with a car? I did. Have any of you ever balanced a budget? Me, neither.

You know, speaking of budgets, it’s ironic. ‘Cause my husband is doing to the PBS budget what I did to my fiance.

Seventy-two years after Prohibition was repealed, one D.C. Council member suggested yesterday that alcohol once again be off-limits in the bars and restaurants of the District.

Council member Carol Schwartz, at-large Republican, introduced her bill in response to a proposed ban on smoking in those same establishments. Her proposal imitates the arguments for a smoking ban, citing health concerns, worker safety and the nuisance of drinkers.

“I never thought I could ban drinking just because I didn’t like it, but now I know I can,” Mrs. Schwartz said. “The impending smoking ban has empowered me.”

But wait! There’s more! If you order now you also receive…

And she went on to add the possibility of bans on driving and sex.

I know that the smoking ban is an explosive issue. And while it may be true that bars on average are not hurt by a ban, I’ve seen first-hand that it really hurts specific bars, clubs, etc. So I’m against a ban.

As far as inconvenience to smokers goes, I see a big difference from the smoking ban in Cambridge. Here in DC there’s a large outdoor cafe contingent, and I can’t imagine smoking can be banned outdoors. Plus, Virginia is a hop, skip, and a jump away. So, it would be like Virginia is the smoking section. That sounds fair to me.