Jesus...

Guess Bush is still ticked that Webb dispatched his moronic protege George Allen...

At a private reception held at the White House with newly elected lawmakers shortly after the election, Bush asked Webb how his son, a Marine lance corporal serving in Iraq, was doing.

Webb responded that he really wanted to see his son brought back home, said a person who heard about the exchange from Webb.

“I didn’t ask you that, I asked how he’s doing,” Bush retorted, according to the source.

Webb confessed that he was so angered by this that he was tempted to slug the commander-in-chief, reported the source, but of course didn’t. It’s safe to say, however, that Bush and Webb won’t be taking any overseas trips together anytime soon.

Pahrump, NV violates the First Amendment

I think the ACLU board member quoted at the end of this article has it about right.

Nevada town to fine for foreign flags - USATODAY.com

The White House Modus Operandi, In One Sentence

White House Briefing -- News on President George W Bush and the Bush Administration - washingtonpost.com: "'MR. SNOW: But you also understand, we expect to have a Republican Congress, so we're not going to sit around and start doing 'contingency plans.''"

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall

Beautifully put. I couldn't say it any better:

Talking Points Memo: by Joshua Micah Marshall: "I hope that when the political history of the last half century is written it will show, as it should, that the Republicans engaged in a brand of divisive electoral politics that pitted Americans against each other: white against black, men against women, rich against poor, native born against immigrant, straight against gay. Republicans deserve to be tarred by history for exploiting our weaknesses, our prejudices, and our lesser selves for their own political gain. But those are still our weaknesses and our prejudices. We own them. And it is our lesser selves that have succumbed to the Republican political pitch and been willing to be exploited. Removing the Republicans from power will only be a temporary fix unless we fundamentally fix ourselves so that no one, no party, no movement can exploit those same weaknesses again."

When that history is written, I hope 2006 will be seen as the turning point.