Here's the thing. I realize that part of the minority party's job is to play devil's advocate to the majority. But are Oversight Republicans really going to make Roger Clemens a partisan issue?

You want to object to the hearing as farcical, fine. Be my guest. But taking it upon yourself to defend Clemens? I mean, seriously (and I realize I'm straying into Gracie Jane territory, here): does anyone really think he wasn't using steroids?

(Thursday's Daily Show had an amusing take on this that I'll post as soon as Comedy Central puts it online.)

Update: Here's the Daily Show video:

It's like comparing apples and... very, very different apples.

Last year, China carried out a test using a ground-based ballistic missile to destroy a satellite in space, prompting international alarm and fears of a space arms race.

Gen Cartwright said there was no parallel with Beijing's actions as the Chinese satellite had been much further out from Earth, meaning its debris could be floating round for decades, endangering spacecraft.

Very, very, very different apples.

Update: I don't have a lot of sympathy for them (because it's not like they couldn't have seen this coming), but I do feel a little bad for State Department people who have to say things like this:

The administration is sensitive to international concerns that the United States might be moving toward beefing up its anti-satellite weapons or developing an offensive anti-satellite system, and the diplomatic message is an attempt to convince foreign countries that they need not worry. Unlike the Chinese anti-satellite test, the cable said, the U.S. attempt to destroy the potentially dangerous satellite is being done for peaceful reasons and in a transparent way.

Nancy Pelosi!

But Ms. Pelosi and other House Democrats said Mr. Bush and Congressional Republicans were at fault because they had resisted temporarily extending the bill to allow disagreements to be worked out. Democrats would not be bullied into approving a measure they considered flawed, she said.

"The president knows full well that he has all the authority he needs to protect the American people," said Ms. Pelosi, who then referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s admonition about fearing only fear itself. "President Bush tells the American people that he has nothing to offer but fear, and I’m afraid that his fear-mongering of this bill is not constructive."

Badass emphasis entirely mine.

(Between this and the contempt citations, she had one hell of a day.)

Point of interest: I allowed a ton of time for voting this afternoon, on the assumption that my polling place might be crowded. It was -- to put it mildly -- not. Not only did I not have to wait in line to get in the door (which I had figured could happen), I didn't even have to wait in line to give my name to the election workers (which I'd pretty much taken as a given). Now, granted: it was 1:30 in the afternoon. But still.

The Onion has posted an Election Glossary. Highlights:

ballot

An object recording a voter's decision that is frequently counted toward an election's outcome.

political philosophy, conservative

1. A great way to meet chicks at Princeton University.
2. U-S-A; e.g., U-S-A, U-S-A(!).

If you're looking for a reason to stick with the Washington GOP caucuses story -- aside from, you know, its inherent weirdness -- consider this: the last time TPM got this interested in a story, Alberto Gonzales resigned.

Air Force Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann, on the 9/11 charges:

There will be no secret trial. Every piece of evidence, every stitch of evidence, every whiff of evidence that goes to the finder of fact, to the jury, to the military tribunal, will be reviewed by the accused, subject to confrontation, subject to cross-examination, subject to challenge.

Asyndeton much?

On that same trip through my old bookmarks, I found this great post from DailyKos's Hunter, explaining why Glenn Beck's racism bigotry xenophobia anxiety is entirely justified.

I was going through some old bookmarks and I found this amusing side-by-side from about six months ago:

Now: "It's bad enough when politicians turn their backs on a war they voted for and supported when it was popular," Cheney said Monday. "But no one in politics, regardless of party, should hesitate to object when an American soldier at war is mocked and insulted."

Then: Delegates to the Republican National Convention found a new way to take a jab at Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam service record: by sporting adhesive bandages with small purple hearts on them.

As Kos asked at the time, "Do they even believe the shit they say?" (Answer: seems unlikely.)

I wasn't a huge fan of will.i.am's Obama music video, but Andy Cobb's McCain-based parody is pretty awesome:



(I saw it first on AMERICAblog, but it's also popped up on pretty much every other blog in the world [Kos, TPM, TAPPED, Eschaton, Wonkette], so you can pretty much credit whomever you'd like.)

[Atrios also points to this one, which is alarmingly similar, and also funny.]

I've already seen this movie. You're supposed to think the Italian count did it, but really it was George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

Greg Sargent says there's an Edwards endorsement in the works.

Hucka-DAMN!

Kansas: Huckabee 60, Maverick 24.
Louisiana: Huckabee 44, Maverick 42.
Washington [with 87% reporting]: Maverick 26, Huckabee 24.

Remember when Huckabee said "this is a two-man race, and we're in it"? And remember how I laughed because he was delusional? Well he may be better at counting than I gave him credit for.