Idol: March 6

Umm...I hate to sound like a broken record...but Sanjaya needs to go the hell home. He wowed the judges at his initial audition but since then has turned in nothing but timid, weak performances. It's obvious he can't handle the pressure. If he doesn't go home Thursday night then "Idol" is so rigged by outside forces that it will need to reassess how "America votes."

Overall, the guys sucked big time. In my opinion the judges have only themselves to blame. They picked this below average group at the early Hollywood stage of the game and left some potentially great singers behind. (Of course, last week's voters can be blamed as well. Sending A.J. home over Sanjaya was a huge mistake. Then again, we're talking about a country that sent George W. Bush back to the White House, so I shouldn't be surprised.)

The winner of the night? Once again, Blake Lewis. That white boy has rhythm! It wouldn't surprise me if he's the one guy left when the show gets to the final four.

NY Times Going Soft?

Is the New York Times going tabloid? After yesterday's Hillary Clinton puff piece, Carol Marin thinks so.

Money quote:

The writer observes, "She is the diligent student who gets an A in penmanship, the woman in a hurry who still takes care to dot her i's."

Talk about being damned with faint praise.

If that's a meaningful warning sign of what kind of president she would be, what the heck do you say about the poor student currently in the White House?

Chloe Hearts Mark...

...and Don is forced to self satisfy.

Guilty

The Walter Reed Scandal

Quote of the Day:

...in the Clinton years...the Veterans Health Administration was, by many measures, providing the highest-quality health care in America. But as with FEMA, the Bush administration has done all it can to undermine that achievement. And the Walter Reed scandal is another Hurricane Katrina: the moment when the administration's misgovernment became obvious to everyone.

-New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.

More on C-Word

C-Word Coulter went on Fox Jazeera yesterday to try and dignify the "faggot" comment she made at the recent Fascist Round-Up:

I didn't use an insulting word. I used a schoolyard word...it's a schoolyard taunt meaning wuss, meaning nerd, meaning weenie, meaning lame.

Uhh, sorry Ann. Thousands of school kids are subjected to the "faggot" taunt on a daily basis, and in many cases it may be followed with a punch to the face or a kick to the gut (literally). "Weenie" and "lame" don't wield such underlying hate.

If Not Hillary, Who?

One of my faves is Gov. Bill Richardson (Democrat-NM). The former Congressman, U.N. Ambassador, Energy Secretary, and global deal maker easly "out-resumes" every other announced candidate.

Even former Rep. J.C. Watts (Republican-OK) and conservative columnst David Brooks think the guy would be a formidable president.

This is not an endorsement, but at this point Bill Richardson is probably the Democrats' best candidate.

Humorless Hillary

Quote of the Day:

She is like a humorless, adult, Little Miss Sunshine...

-A reader of Andrew Sullivan's, on her dislike of Hillary Clinton.

The reader is a self-proclaimed "Scoop Jackson Democrat" who "held her nose very hard" voting for Al Gore and John Kerry. And she will never vote for Hillary.

As I've said before, Sen. Clinton would make an excellent president. But with these kind of negatives, is she really the candidate the Democrats want on their presidential ticket?

With each passing day I come closer to a solid "no."

Starts With a "C"

It's a horrible word. One I hate to use. Ever. But really, if there is only one bitch to attach this word to, it's the venomous Ann Coulter.

Plain and simply, she's that word.

It starts with a "c," ends with a "t," and has the letters "u" and "n" in the middle.

White Boy Funk

Your Song of the Day is the tune that Blake Lewis performed on "Idol" this week.

"Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai

You Go Girl

Her name is Olive.

She lives near Sydney, Australia.

She's 107 years old.

And she has a blog.

(Or, as she calls it, a "blob.")

Not the Way It's Supposed to Happen

It's been an absolutely horrific two days for America's kids. Eight students died yesterday at Enterprise High School in Alabama after a tornado struck the school, blowing out walls and collapsing the roof.

And early this morning six people died when a charter bus carrying the Bluffton University baseball team from Ohio to Florida crashed through a guardrail and plunged over the side of a 20-foot overpass in Atlanta.

When "America Votes"...

...really stupid things happen.

OK...I understand that Nick Pedro and A.J. Tabaldo would never have been named the "next American Idol," but at least they would kept the damn show in tune for a few more weeks.

Now we're forced to listen to Titi-Kaka whine his way through yet another week.

Can't say that I was shocked on the girls side, though. Four white girls down, three to go.

'Idol' Recap

The guys: It was three-way tie in my book. Nick Pedro, Chris Richardson, and Blake Lewis gave the best peformances. Nick's voice was sultry and smokey and sexy; and Chris & Blake proved that there are actually some white boys out there who have rhythm.

Tiki Tiki Tembo, dressed in Michael Jackson's old outfit from "Smooth Criminal," just needs to go away. (Brandon Rogers should be the other guy to go home.)

The gals: Melinda Doolittle rocked my world last night. Her performance was stellar. Stephanie Edwards impressed me as well, I just hated the song she chose. LaKisha Jones proved she ain't all Simon hyped her up to be last week. Her performance this time around was a bit weak.

Who should go home? Alaina Alexander! She hacked the hell out the Dixie Chicks' "Not Ready to Make Nice." Good for her for choosing a song that everyone in the South hates, but the least she could have done was sing it in tune. And Haley Scarnato just plain ol' stunk. Time to say "bu-bye" to these two.

All the white girls should be sent home, actually. None of them can sing.

Some post-results thoughts tomorrow.

The Biden Plan

The number one question to any of the presdential nominees of either party should be this: "Knowing that things could very well be different in Iraq by January of 2009, in order to give us an idea of how you would pick up the pieces over there, tell us how you would handle Iraq today if you were president?"

Right now, the only candidate who would have a solid, grown-up answer with any chance of working is Sen. Joe Biden (Democrat-DE):

Nine months ago, Leslie Gelb of the Council on Foreign Relations and I proposed a plan, which offers a roadmap to a political settlement in Iraq that gives its warring factions a way to share power peacefully and us a chance to leave with our interests intact.

The plan would decentralize Iraq and give Kurds, Shi'ites, and Sunnis control over their daily lives; bring the Sunnis in by guaranteeing them a fair share of the oil; enlist the support of Iraq's neighbors and the world's major powers to promote the plan with the Iraqis; and withdraw US combat forces by 2008.

The Bush administration has bet everything on a future that will not happen...Our plan offers a way to make federalism work for all Iraqis. And it offers the possibility -- not the guarantee -- of producing a soft landing in Iraq. That would be the best possible outcome for Iraq and for America.

And so...Hillary, Barack, or John; or the other John, Mitt, or Rudy...what sort of plan would you put forth today - here and now - that would best clean up the mess George W. Bush has made in Iraq, with the least amount of casualties?

Anyone?

Half Baked

Rep. Sam Johnson (Republican-TX), arguing against withholding funds for an escalation of the Iraq War:

To our troops we must remain always faithful.

It seems Rep. Johnson was for it before he was against it. Here he is in 1995 arguing FOR withholding funds for President Clinton's troop commitments in Bosnia:

Somebody had to stand up and say no to Bill Clinton's ill-advised, half-baked plan to send American sons and daughters to Bosnia to enforce peace.

Announcing That He'll Announce

Following his previous announcement of the formation of an Exploratory Committee, Sen. John McCain (Bush Bitch-AZ) announced yesterday that he'll officially announce his presidential candidacy at a later date.

You got all that?

An Adult Conversation: The Movie

As promised, here is on-line video of last night's debate between former Gov. Mario Cuomo (Democrat-NY) and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Republican-GA). Click here to watch.

Walter Reed Commander Knew of Neglect For Years

Excerpts from a Dana Priest article in this morning's Washington Post:

Top officials at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, including the Army's surgeon general, have heard complaints about outpatient neglect from family members, veterans groups and members of Congress for more than three years.

...as far back as 2003, the commander of Walter Reed, Lt. Gen. Kevin C. Kiley, who is now the Army's top medical officer, was told that soldiers who were wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan were languishing and lost on the grounds, according to interviews.

Rep. C.W. Bill Young (Republican-FL) and his wife...once visited a soldier who was lying in urine on his mattress pad in the hospital.

Absolutely shameful, the way this administration treats the men and women who come back from Iraq maimed and broken.

Schlesinger Dies

Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and assistant to Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy, died in New York City on Wednesday night. He was 89.