The Myth of Republican Fiscal Conservatism.

Worth a thousand words…

The Worst President in History?

One of America’s leading historians assesses George W. Bush

Dick Cheney’s Suite Demands Veep’s “rider” requires Sprite, 68 degrees, TVs tuned to Fox News

MARCH 23–After posting the performance contracts of artists like Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, and U2, The Smoking Gun has finally obtained the backstage demands of a real rock star. That’s right, below you’ll find a copy of Vice President Dick Cheney’s standard “tour” rider. The document is provided to hotels where Cheney will be bunking and lists how the Republican pol’s “Downtime Suite” needs to be outfitted. While the vice president’s requests are pretty modest (no extract-the-brown-M&M demands here), Cheney does like his suite at a comfy 68 degrees. And, of course, all the televisions need to be preset to the Fox News Channel (what, you thought he was a Lifetime devotee?). Decaf coffee should be ready upon his arrival along with four cans of caffeine-free Diet Sprite. And when Cheney is traveling with his wife Lynne, the second family’s suite needs an additional two bottles of sparkling water. Mrs. Cheney’s H2O should be either Calistoga or, curiously, Perrier, a favored beverage of French terrorism appeasers. The document, prepared by the vice president’s advance team, was obtained by TSG after it was provided to a hotel employee prior to a Cheney visit. When we asked Cheney spokesperson Jenny Mayfield about the document’s reference to gifts that hotels might leave in the suite for the vice president, she told us she was unable to address that question since she had not seen the “downtime requirements” rider (she asked for a copy, which we declined to provide in advance of its publication here). At our source’s request, we’ve blacked out the handwritten name and Washington, D.C. phone number of a Cheney staffer. As for the notations regarding extra lamps, specific newspapers, and a carafe, it is unclear whether they were added by an advance team staffer or a hotel official.

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Tape: Bush, Chertoff Warned Before Katrina

WASHINGTON (AP) — On the eve of Hurricane Katrina’s fateful landfall, President Bush was confident. His homeland security chief appeared relaxed. And warnings of the coming destruction - breached or overrun levees, deaths at the New Orleans Superdome and overwhelming needs for post-storm rescues - were delivered in dramatic terms to all involved. All of it was captured on videotape.

Alleged drunken, drugged Oregon Mayor arrested after head-on crash

The Mayor of Monument was arrested on several
charges, including DUII, on Saturday after crashing his pickup head-on
into an oncoming car and then fleeing the scene.

Oregon
State Police troopers from the John Day worksite are continuing the
investigation into Saturday evening’s three-vehicle injury crash on
State Highway 402 near the small eastern Oregon community of Monument.
The alleged impaired-related driving crash sent 3 people to the
hospital, including a 2-year old child, and led to the arrest of
Monument’s mayor on multiple charges.

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When George Met Jack

Read this Time article that suggests that George just might be in bed with lobbyists ha ha ha, you don’t say…

White House aides deny the President knew lobbyist Abramoff, but
unpublished photos shown to TIME suggest there’s more to the story

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Sean Penn Demands To Know What Asshole Took SeanPenn@ gmail.com

What a lunatic!

Letterman to O’Reilly: “60% of what you say is crap”

Letterman to O’Reilly: "60% of what you say is crap"

Bill
joined David on the Late Show and found that Letterman
wasn’t buying his phony war on Christmas deal. David also wasn’t happy
about his attacking Cindy Sheehan, the Iraq war and a lot of what Bill
has to say in general.

Professor Set to Swim Through Syrup

The lean-muscled swimmer stands poised at the side
of the pool, glances a bit apprehensively into its
depths, and then dives quickly into the greenish, slimy liquid. A few
gelatinous globules bob
gently to the surface.

What has happened to the normally azure, chlorine-scented waters of the University Aquatic Center?

Much as the scene resembles the anxiety-fueled dream of an athlete the night
before a big swim meet, the swimmer and pool actually were part of a real-world—though
admittedly unconventional—foray into experimental fluid mechanics.

For a few hours last summer, a University pool was transformed into a body
of water that looked more like a fully functioning swamp than a swimmer’s arena.
Members of the University swim team became field researchers in an effort to
settle one of the questions that has intrigued scientists—and swimmers—for
centuries:

What effect does the viscosity of a fluid medium have on the speed of a body traveling through it?

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