The latest Republican to drop out of the 2008 Presidential race is super-conservative Bill Frist, and frankly, it’s no big surprise to me. With a bad outlook for Republicans in 2008 and an investigation into shady stock deals dogging him, it’s probably a good call for Frist to drop out now.

So who’s that leave in the GOP corner for 2008? Consider the frontrunners:

Rudy Giuliani: A pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, pro-gun control Republican. Good luck in the primaries. Republicans will love “America’s mayor” until they find out he’s “for the gays”.

Sen. John McCain: Bizarro plan for increasing troops in Iraq, despite overwhelming public support for the opposite. Cheated on his first wife after she was in a car crash, divorcered her, and a month later married the mistress. Family values gold.

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: Third most unpopular Governor in America just oozes electability. He’s also Mormon, which is fine and all except that 40%+of Americans have said they’d never vote for a Mormon for President.

And with poster boys for conservative social values like Sen. Bill Frist and Sen. George Allen out of the running, the talent pool is even more shallow for the GOP in 2008.

Sad.

Muslim leaders expressed outrage on Tuesday after six imams were removed from a commercial airline flight in Minnesota for what they said was nothing more than trying to say evening prayers. Reuters

It’s a new era of discrimination in post 9/11 America.

Imagine for a moment the outrage if a group of Christians were kicked off a plane and held on suspicion of terrorism for saying prayers in the airport terminal.

At this point in the war dropping 20,000 or 100,000 additional troops – even if we have them, which we don’t – just isn’t going to fix Iraq. Yet the same people who have screwed the war up until this point are saying we need “one last big push” to secure victory.

Pentagon officials conducting a review of Iraq strategy are considering a substantial but temporary increase in American troop levels and the addition of several thousand more trainers to work with Iraqi forces, a senior Defense Department official said Monday – NY Times

Again, from what I understand, we don’t have the number of brigades in the Army or Marines to accomplish this since they’ve already been stretched so thin. Second, even if we extended the tours of those scheduled to come home and somehow managed to fill Baghdad with another 20,000 troops, the war has been lost and we just have to admit that and get out before any more people are killed in vain.

The fact is that the Iraqi government will only come to rely on the increased number of troops in Iraq which will make it even more difficult to pull out those additional troops whenever the “temporary increase” is over.

It’s like were some gambling addict sitting at a poker table who time after time has upped the bet and lost. After four years of continually bluffing about how well we’ve been doing we’re flat broke but taking off our watch and wedding ring to throw into the pot for just one last hand that we’re sure is going to win, this time for sure!

As anyone who’s ever been around a gambling addict knows, it’s disturbing and sad behavior, and deeply troubling to watch unfold. At some point you have to tally your losses and call it a game so you can live to fight another day.

Is this what it’s come to? Nothing more than marketing slogans – and bad ones at that – to describe the choices for future action in Iraq?

“Go big, go long, or go home”?

Seriously, that’s our military’s plans going forward? We may have botched the war up to this point, but how about we put a bit more thought into it than trying to present Americans with “simple” choices for this war that you wouldn’t hear out of a fast food cashiers mouth to advertise their latest promotion!

Winning back Congress was great and all, but it’s going to be even better in 2008 when we can put an end to these kind of political appointments from the President. A wingnut anti-choice doctor who doesn’t believe in contraception is now in charge of Federal family planning programs:

The Bush administration has appointed a new chief of family-planning programs at the Department of Health and Human Services who worked at a Christian pregnancy-counseling organization that regards the distribution of contraceptives as “demeaning to women.”

Eric Keroack, medical director for A Woman’s Concern, a nonprofit group based in Dorchester, Mass., will become deputy assistant secretary for population affairs in the next two weeks, department spokeswoman Christina Pearson said yesterday.

Keroack, an obstetrician-gynecologist, will advise Secretary Mike Leavitt on matters such as reproductive health and adolescent pregnancy. He will oversee $283 million in annual family-planning grants that, according to HHS, are “designed to provide access to contraceptive supplies and information to all who want and need them with priority given to low-income persons.” – Washington Post

Some conservatives are having a hard time with the fact that Rep. Nancy Pelosi – now the nations first woman Speaker of the House – is getting more attention than Condi Rice did when she became the woman to serve as National security advisor.

Apparently, being the first woman National security advisor is the same as being third in line to the President. Or something.

Regardless, why does it always have to be a competition with conservatives? Talk about an inferiority complex…

Good news Milwaukee: your County Board voted to override County Exec. Scott Walker’s budget veto that would have closed swimming pools, cut public safety staffing, and slashed funding for the parks and arts.

Even my own conservative County Supervisor Lynne De Bruin managed to see the light on this one and voted to do the right thing for Milwaukee County.

One more try to nominate his extremist right wing judges to the Federal bench:

After calling for bipartisanship, President Bush surprised Senate Democrats with plans to renominate a controversial list of judges – some of whom may be unacceptable even to a few Republican senators. “It’s an unfortunate signal,” said one senior Democratic Senate aide…

…The White House action is viewed largely as an effort to appease the party’s conservative base. –
WSJ

Here’s a thought: maybe the President is facing an opposing Congress for the first time precisely because he’s spent the last six years appeasing the right wing base of his party?

The term “bipartisanship” has never had much credibility with President Bush, it’s just another sign of how weakened he is by trying to force through his judicial appointments one more time before his party is kicked out of power in Congress.

Tis’ the season for stories of religous persecution!

Would this story about a talking Jesus doll have made national news if the doll were Muhammad or Buddah instead? Probably not, but the right-wing media outlets need something to be outraged about…

Imagine the look of bewilderment on little Neelja’s face when she opens up a gift on Christmas morning to find… Jesus.

Maybe if it were a buddy Jesus doll instead they would have accepted it… Who knows?

I haven’t seen it hit the news wires yet, but it looks like Wisconsin’s junior Senator Russ Feingold is being rewarded for his hard work in getting a Democratic majority in the Senate this year.

While Sen. Harry Reid will become majority leader in the Senate as expected, Sen. Feingold has also been elected as a “Deputy Whip” for the Democrats.

The ‘whip’ position is an interesting one for Feingold seeing that he’s always been labeled a ‘maverick’ throughout his career, and has at times gone against the Democratic line vote himself. Regardless, it’s an important position and speaks to the kind of leader that Sen. Feingold is becoming in Washington D.C.