The Republic of T.

Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for January 29th through January 30th:

• Obama’s Small Concession to Atheists Sets off a Firestorm of Debate –
• The GOP’s Soundproof Room –
• ‘I’m guilty enough …,’ Haggard tells King –
• Let the Limbaughs Whine –
• What’s Shameful Again? –
• Malefactors of Great Wealth –

Well, sort of.

The problems in Iraq are ahead of us, but we’re doing better than people think. And a year from now, I’ll be very surprised if there is not some grand square in Baghdad that is named after President Bush. There is no doubt that, with the exception of a very small number of people close to a vicious regime, the people of Iraq have been liberated and they understand that they’ve been liberated. And it is getting easier every day for Iraqis to express that sense of liberation.

~ Richard Perle – “Turkey at the Crossroads” Keynote Luncheon – September 22, 2003 – American Enterprise Institute

Let’s just face it.

This is about as close as he’s gonna get to that one.

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Dick Armey is no Winston Churchill. But this:

Reminded me of this.

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Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for January 28th through January 29th:

• Savage Love – Columns – Savage Love – Dan Savage – The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper –
• RNC Candidate Causes Immigration Stir With Seriously Offensive Song –
• Good news about women and the stimulus package –
• The Republic Needs Bush’s Prosecution –
• The Utter Bankruptcy of Today’s Republican Party –
• All the kids in my class should have health coverage –

This is probably one of those times when I should keep my mouth shut. But why start now?

Suffice it to say, I’m not a huge fan of the Pope. (See a few of my previous posts for confirmation or more backstory than you probably want to know.) No awful thing he says ca surprise me at this point.

On the other hand, the pontiff still has the potential to leave me Pope Rehabilitates Holocaust Denier – NYTimes.com“>utterly mystified.

Pope Benedict rehabilitated on Saturday a traditionalist bishop who denies the Holocaust, despite warnings from Jewish leaders that it would seriously harm Catholic-Jewish relations and foment anti-Semitism.

The Vatican said the pope issued a decree lifting the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops who were thrown out of the Roman Catholic Church in 1988 for being ordained without Vatican permission.

The four bishops lead the ultra-conservative Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which has about 600,000 members and rejected modernizations of Roman Catholic worship and doctrine.

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No, Wikipedia is not really dead, but it might as well be, with the news that Wikipedia editors may approve all changes.

Wikipedia faces a revolt among thousands of its contributors over proposals to change the way the online encyclopedia is run.

Until now, Wikipedia has allowed anybody to make instant changes to almost all of its 2.7m entries, with only a handful of entries protected from being altered.

But under proposals put forward by the website’s co-founder Jimmy Wales, many future changes to the site would need to be approved by a group of editors before going live.

Wales argues the scheme will bring greater accuracy, particularly in articles referring to living people. But the possibility has caused a furore among Wikipedia users, since many see it as a fundamental change to the egalitarian nature of the site.

A user poll on the website suggests 60% are in favour of trials, which could take place within the next few weeks. But some think the split could ultimately threaten the future of the site.

I suppose it’s the next phase in Wikipedia’s development, though it’s not that much of a change.

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Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for January 27th through January 28th:

• ECONOMY: ‘Privatise Profits, Socialise Losses’ –
• The Economic Crisis Isn’t All Bad; It’s a Chance for Us and Obama to Reimagine How We Live Our Lives –
• Backlash Against Bush Apparent in RNC –
• Ian Welsh: What Obama's Nixing Family Planning Money Tells Us –
• Economic Policy Could Scuttle Obama’s Good Start –
• ‘If they had hung Joe Biden, we would not be here’ –
• America Needs a Job –

Every morning, my neighbor and her six-year-old daughter share a bus stop with a terrorist — or a member of a terrorist organization, at least. That’s distressing enough, because my son rides the same school bus, but I recently discovered that the terrorist at my son’s bus stop is me; his Dad, who puts him on the bus each morning. And another terrorist, his Papa, picks him up from school every day.

We became terrorists one morning in February 2006, when we got dressed up, put a coat and tie on our then four-year-old son, and drove to the state capitol.

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Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for January 26th through January 27th:

• Bob Franken: Grim and Bare It –
• Obama’s Inclusion of Non-Believers Bothers Wingnuts –
• Limbaugh Has Gone Bananas –
• OMG, We’re Gonna Die! –
• Released –
• WE WON….They Lost –
• Waylon Lewis: Did Obama have a Buddhist Kata from the Dalai Lama in his pocket when he took the Inaugural Oath? –
• From Consumers to Commons –
• Same-Sex Couples Lose Rights When They Cross State Lines –
• Must Obama be better because he’s black? –
• John W. Whitehead: The Culture of Corruption in Congress –
• Road to Ruin: Twenty-Five People at the Heart of the Meltdown –
• William Klein: Bush Department of Education Can't Write –

I’ve been thinking alot about one of my favorite movies lately; Amadeus. It’s been a favorite of mine every since I first saw it back in ’84, when it first came out. And yesterday I received some news that brought it back to mind again.

I find myself thinking about a few scenes in particular that projected on the back of my mind in an endless loop for the better part of yesterday evening.

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• U.S. Office of Personnel Management – Operating Status
  (tags: work government weather)

Source.

Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for January 23rd through January 26th:

• Jonathan Raban: How did Obama's inaugural speech shape up? | World news | The Guardian –
• George W. Bush’s Sci-Fi Disaster –
• Democrats Inch Toward Torture Probe –
• Bush’s Faith-Based Gravy Train –
• Anti-Gay Arguments We Don’t Bother With (And Should): Part 1 –
• Feminism 2.0 Twittercast : Can men be feminists? –
• Holy Cow: Top Dems Are Serious About Investigating Bush’s Criminal Acts –
• Today in The Nation: Women and Children First –
• Let’s Face It, Conservatives–AS A GROUP–Are Incompetent –
• Obama Can't Review Gitmo Case Files: They Don't Exist –
• “Prayers For Bobby” Tonight, Focus Shifts Blame –
• Closing Gitmo and Ending Torture the Right Way –
• President Obama And The Price And Promise Of American Citizenship –

This story about schoolgirls banned from school being ‘too blonde’, though probably not funny to the students involved, brings a joke to mind.

Quickpost this image to Myspace, Digg, Facebook, and others!Raegan Booth, 16, and Aby Western, 15, say they were threatened with expulsion by David Alexander unless they dyed their hair brown.

The girls claim they are being forced to adhere to the strict dress code of Rednock School in  Dursley, Gloucestershire, in order to sit GCSE exams.

But Raegan remains adamant that her hair is a natural shade of blonde.

She said:’The school rules clearly state that there are to be no “unnatural” hair colours on students.

‘Unnatural hair colours are blue, purple, green and bright red. Blonde is considered a natural hair colour and there are many different shades.

She’s got a point. Like I always say, it is a natural hair color. After all, it occurs in nature. Just not on her head.

Wow. In one day, I’ve become a little prouder to be an American, and now I’m a little prouder to live in Maryland.

The days of unwarranted snooping by the Maryland State Police may be over.

Democratic state legislators on Jan. 22 introduced a bill to protect the First Amendment rights of dissenters.

Entitled the Freedom of Association and Assembly Protection Act of 2009, the bill would require the police to have at least “reasonable suspicion” before they could start collecting dossiers on individuals.

The bill is an outgrowth of the controversy that erupted last year when it was revealed that Maryland state troopers had been gathering intelligence on—and infiltrating groups of—nonviolent anti-war and anti-death penalty groups. Dozens of individuals and groups were surveilled, and the state police accused some of being suspected terrorists.

Nice to know my state is living up to its nickname once again.

You know that tradition that started with Reagan, where the outgoing president leaves a note for the incoming president, in his desk drawer?

Well The Progressive has an exclusive of Bush’s note to Obama.

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Here are some of the people writing about some of the stuff I wish I had time to write about, for January 21st through January 23rd:

• An Atheist’s Perspective on the Inauguration: Enough With all the God Stuff –
• Opening the Justice Department’s closets. –
• Obama Must Halt America’s Moral Decline –
• Deane Waldman: Health Care Is Infrastructure –
• Obama Moves to Quickly Erase Bush’s Legacy –
• Commentary: Obama offers up tough love –
• Happy Birthday, Roe v. Wade –
• Brent Kessel: Lust, Hatred, and Ignorance –
• Levin on Torture: “There Needs To Be An Accounting” –

Finally.

With this, I think Obama is off to a good start.

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I knew when I heard it that it could be trouble. That error in the oath of office on Tuesday?

When I saw it, I thought “Somebody somewhere is gonna be screaming ‘Ahhhhhhh! Obama can’t be president! He got the oath wrong!‘”

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