Some pigs escaped from their pen and dug up the garden patch. A vase tipped and fell to the floor under the force of gravity. It rained, the wind blew, shit happened. I’m truly grateful to Kaplan and other honest journalists for cataloguing yet another example of semantic games and deceit from the Bush administration. But it’s getting to be such old news by now. When is it ever not the case? What else can anyone do about it? When does anybody face consequences for having lied or for making a stupid decision?

In its brutal inevitability, the news from the Bush administration is like watching “I, Claudius,” that great old serial epic about the depravity and treachery of ancient Rome, on TV. We all know that Rome is going to burn in the end, that it’s the way it was and always will be, and that we’re pretty much helpless spectators to the whole tawdry debacle. Or, it’s the maiden voyage of the Titanic, and we’re stuck in steerage waiting for the ice cubes to hit the foredeck. Can 2009 and a new (hopefully responsible) administration possibly get here fast enough?

It'd be news if the report WASN'T fixed. The real shock is, even after fixing the report, the Bushies STILL couldn't do better than 50%.

Thanks, fingerpuppet, for this very eloquent and telling response. I was writing my Congressman, a democrat who voted against today's house bill to redeploy troops by April, 2008, and somehow the vivid pictures you drew were a perfect complement to my questions to him about his vote. If he changes his vote the next time, and never fear, there will be a next time, I will give you the credit..

Obviously you are a left-wing sick and slick political tool of the worst Clitonesque type - what kind of horse tripe is THIS? You people need to see the facts first, THEN make comments like we REAL Americans do:

1.) “A vase tipped and fell to the floor under the force of gravity.” So you say - prove it. It wasn’t a vase: it was a weapon of mass destruction, and falling to the floor is a natural example of gravity’s effects. Didn't you go to school?

2.) “It rained.” No, it didn’t. That was piss – the heavy steam of piss this administration has been raining down on us for over six years now.

3.) “The wind blew.” What’s your problem? Can’t you smell flatulence on that magnitude? There’s more fetid hot air emanating from the White House than ever before, and it’s NEVER smelled this bad.

4.) “Shit happened.” You suffer from typical two-dimensional thinking: this wasn’t “shit happening,” it was… Well…? Um, wait. Ah, hell. I have to give you this one. Shit DID happen. Sorry. My bad.

5.) And the worst is last: “Some pigs escaped from their pen and dug up the garden patch.” THIS little bit of erroneous propaganda-laden smear-tactic reporting is obvious to me: that wasn’t pigs. It was Ann Coulter spreading her skinny legs for another book sale.

See? Just a little spin doctoring and a dab of Bush’s anal lube is all it takes, and I’ve blasted your remarks all to hell. Take THAT, you Obama-loving communist bastard!

Oh – and to answer your question: the answer is “no.” I fear 2009 and the next administration can NOT get here fast enough, and impeachment seems to be no more than a faint dream.

...but it's pissant elitist Obama-loving communist bast***d.

"I, Claudius" was on PBS. :)

OK, look. Just because I’m sitting there in a posh red leather lounge chair in my smoking jacket, sipping a cool glass of tastefully oakey chardonnay, speaking in a fake English accent on my iPhone, doesn’t necessarily make me an elitist. After all, I don’t even own a Prius (although my car is—I hate to admit—officially certified as a “Low-Emission Vehicle”). And when I play polo, I use a western-style saddle and wear cowboy boots, and I never, ever, say “Tally-Ho, old bean!” when I meet people on the street. So, see, I’m just a regular guy. I only saw that thing on PBS when I was flipping channels between professional wrestling and that hot-dog eating contest. I might still be a pissant and a bastard, though, I’ll grant you that.

Ha! I might buy it, but for the notable lack of Merlot in le beau réfrigérateur.

I say, that jacket is positively smashing. :)

Well done, Schuylercat. Of course, I take you completely literally, and bow to your superior Conservative intellect. All I could offer in my defense is the usual impotent liberal prattling, so I won't insult your intelligence. You might--if you haven't seen it already--enjoy this blog site, also from another deadly serious conservative commentator. It was a pleasure being devastated and humiliated by you.

But as the Bushies would be quick to point out, 50% is still a glass half full! You'd better watch it, or our friend Schuylercat will mock you for being a defeatist and wanting the terrorists to win.

Thanks for the reply, dww. I appreciate the kind words and will be happy to take any credit you offer me, whether I deserve it or not.