EXCERPT: Yesterday, one visitor to the nation's Capitol turned to another and asked, "What's that sound?"
But, I'm getting ahead of my story.
For two nights, motorists on Pennsylvania Avenue, in D.C., were distracted by all the arms sticking out of the White House windows. Each hand, at the end of a pin-striped sleeve, was palm up with forefinger extended, each finger glistening in the floodlighted darkness - like it was wet. The first observation was...

EXCERPT: The Super Bowl advertising extravaganza is over for the year. The Steelers will be immortalized and the Seahawks Fans' arguments about the refereeing will subside off by June. Based on the 2006 Budget, the War in Iraq is expected to cost $439,000,000,000 by year end -- that doesn't count another $10 to $15 billion that's off the budget radar. It's about $100,000 a minute for the war. With the national debt at $8 trillion and growing daily, a trade deficit of more...

EXCERPT: Yesterday, the Executive Branch faced off with the Legislative Branch.  The Senators blinked.
In cases of domestic surveillance, FISA requires that, before granting a warrant, a FISA judge must find probable cause to believe that the American targeted for surveillance -- not the overseas party -- is an agent of a foreign power or terrorist organization.
It's clear Bush's secret NSA eavesdropping program doesn't measure up to FISA requirements and, today, after...

EXCERPT: Thank you JanJan for the inspiration.  I agree, there is more to life than politics Dude and I hope you'll join in rather than just read.  Ditto Know it All.
Do you have a favorite limerick?lyric?  poem?  any doggerel will do! 
Can you compose a playful rhyme like, "even in Heaven, they don't sing all the time!" Once you've begun, it will never end, wrap your thoughts around pliable, they bend! Here's one from the dusty...

EXCERPT: The full court PR press is on and the NSA stonewall is in place.  The struggle between the Executive and Legislative Branches has begun!
General Hayden, NSA Honcho, visited the National Press Club to brief reporters on the warrantless domestic spying program.  Rumsfeld was there today sewing fear seeds: "...the risks could be greater now because the weapons available are more dangerous. Because (terrorists) lurk in shadows, without visible armies, and are willing...

EXCERPT: Same elephant, different clothing, in the State of the Union Speech.
"It is said that prior to the attacks of September the 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to Al Qaida operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late." ("Too late"? See Captainmarvel's comment in Elephant in the Living Room.)
"So to prevent...

EXCERPT: The Elephant in the Living Room summarized the specific constitutional and legal issues involved in the President's secret authorization of the NSA's warrantless surveillance program. In the spirit of a fair and balanced presentation, President Bush's responses to those issues must be acknowledged. The President's remarks in various forums since the Elephant article was published have been excerpted and distilled by the media, so rather than rely on potentially...

EXCERPT: Today, President Bush launches a week-long series of public appearances to follow up on the "Scaring of America" strategy which Karl Rove kicked off last week. Aimed at preserving the Republican control of Congress in the midterm elections, the President has chosen as his topic: the defense of his Domestic Spy Programs.
If you liked The Mushroom Cloud set piece in the runup to the invasion of Iraq, this performance should be a doozie!
The President is playing catchup but we...

EXCERPT: Tips of a juggernaut iceberg with no checks or balance: "Now, by the way, any time you hear the United States government talking about wiretap, it requires—a wiretap requires a court order. Nothing has changed, by the way. When we're talking about chasing down terrorists, we're talking about getting a court order before we do so. It's important for our fellow citizens to understand, when you think Patriot Act, constitutional guarantees are in place when it...

EXCERPT: Has the White House suddenly developed a respect for opinion polls? For opinion polls conducted on foreign soil? Partial respect for opinions expressed by foreign nationals? Or, respect for partial poll results? I’ll report, you decide.
Sunday night, President Bush quoted from a recent opinion poll to suggest that Iraqis were satisfied with the course of events in their country: “Seven in 10 Iraqis say their lives are going well, and nearly two-thirds expect things to...