Attorney General

The Senate vote keeps being couched as "Bush wins another one!" Does everything need to be about winning or losing? There is no complexity to anything anymore. The whole thing bores me because I don't expect anything to change no matter who is attorney general. It doesn't matter what they say in their confirmation hearings. They all sit there and sound like reasonable people and then go into office and act despicably. Congress needs to stop acting as if these little things like nomination hearings signal some type of sea-change. The only way things will change prior to Nov. 2008 is if Congress passes some tough laws, and raises hell on a consistent basis, rather than acting as if they are trying to raise hell but are being stifled. The victim thing got old a long time ago.

Pakistan's surprise?

Why is everyone acting so surprised about the state of emergency in Pakistan? Didn't we all see it coming? It's like watching an out-of-control car careen down the street and then being surprised when it actually hits something. Do our political so-called experts and media have to get up every day and act stupid? Can't we discuss this along the lines of: "There were not a lot of viable options open to Gen. Musharraf and this action had long been held out as a next step. So, where does he go from here? It would appear to depend on how sustained and widespread the protests are, and whether his political opponents are able to garner more significant popular support. Musharraf may well regard world protestations the same way the Burmese generals do: a short-term irritant that will soon be muted once other flashpoints explode elsewhere in the world. After all, what is the U.S. to do? It has taken Musharraf's hand in marriage and the pre-nup is pretty stringent."