Another abuse of power...are you surprised?

President Bush, that wonderful gent, decided to stomp on his own party and use a recess appointment to put 17 people into office that the Senate wouldn't confirm, including two outright and obvious hacks, Julie Myers and Tracey Henke, and other buddies, like Gordon England.

Myers is probably the most outrageous appointment, decried by both Republicans and Democrats, because she has zero experience ("heckuva job, Brownie") in the field that her position, head of Immigration and Customs, is in. She's the niece of retired Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Richard Myers and the daughter-in-law of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff. I mean, my God, it's like the Grant administration, a family business based not a whit on qualifications. DHS is deadly important, and the Prez stuck in someone else there who is clueless.

My question is, does he not know, not care, or is he deliberately trying to destroy government so he can rule supreme? It boggles the mind how this man won reelection. If we knew all this crap in November of 2004, the election would've been Johnson-Goldwater, not a Bush win.

Update (1-9-06): Apparently, National Review and Michelle Malkin agree, as reported by Howie Kurtz at the WaPo: THE KOS-MALKIN-NATIONAL REVIEW CONVERGENCE:

"Scary, I know. But we all agree: The recess appointment of Julie Myers to head DHS's Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement sucks. It's a bad move--especially now, when the White House is touting its commitment to fighting the War on Terror and securing the homeland. To quote VP Dick Cheney: 'Either we are serious about fighting this war or we are not.'

"Myers' recess appointment, sorry to say, is a joke."

He's a goner, folks

Tom DeLay is out for good. The former Majority Leader relinquished his post today and will concentrate solely on keeping his seat in a tough race against a man he redistricted out of a seat, Nick Lampson (D) and possibly another former rep, Steve Stockman (R). Tommy made some enemies with his work, and if he's convicted, of course, he would be barred from running for office, taking him out for good and making Lampson a safe bet. Lampson, who is a hometown boy, and who gained more favorable voters in the Texas 22nd by DeLay's plan, could just smack down DeLay in any case.

As the month wears on, I would expect that Roy Blunt and Bob Ney will fall casualty to the Jack Abramoff cloud sweeping over Washington as well. The GOP will clearly try to paint this as bipartisan stuff, except that Abramoff has been documented as, A: a Bush Pioneer in both elections, B: part of the Bush 2000 transition team, C: a former head of the College Republicans in the 1980's, D: an ally of GOP strongmen such as DeLay, Grover Norquist, and Ralph Reed, and E: a head of the 2001 effort to get K Street firms to hire more Republicans as lobbyists.

The key words to remember is that clients of Abramoff gave to both parties, which is a common move to keep both sides happy, but that the Republicans were benefactors of Abramoff's personal largesse, as well as that of his clients. Much of this is proven by some of the document collection Justice has released, which can be found over at TPM here (click each number). So, this isn't bipartisan, because there's a large difference between legal donations (which is what the very small number of Democrats got, and only because they were in states that had major Indian affairs or gambling) and the free meals, skybox tickets, soft money fundraisers, et al. that Republicans got from Abramoff and crew.

Finally, those who have pled guilty or are targets of this investigation are all former Republican staffers. This is a Republican problem, and we'll see if they are serious about cleaning house come January 30. If Blunt and Ney aren't voted out by their caucus, then it'll be clear they don't give a damn. If they vote in new blood, then it's possible they'll save their asses in November.

Thank God

that Texas won the Rose Bowl tonight, because I was rather sick of hearing the blowjob fawning of all the football analysts who said USC would beat all sorts of historic teams, including the defensive monster that was the 1997 Michigan team, who gave up an average of nine points a game. USC's defense kinda sucks, to be honest, and it showed. Vince (Vinsanity) Young ran for 200 yards and passed for 267. That's insane. Absolutely insane.

Yeah, I know there was some controversial calls in this, but let's be honest. USC, this vaunted team who everyone was calling the best ever this week, couldn't stop Texas at all. So much so that Pete Carroll went for it on 4th and 1 with a couple of minutes left at midfield, got stopped, and Young did it again. You look at the film, and he just looked faster than anyone else on the field, running past defenders everywhere. That man will go #1, and the Lions should try to draft him, because he could be the savior for that franchise.

In short, though, USC is not the greatest team ever, it got proven definitively tonight, and maybe all the experts will avoid the hyperbole in the future.

Apologies

Yeah, I know this site went dark for a few days. I believe it's called "the holidays." I interview for a new job this week, so my blogging may soon become of the nighttime variety only, if at all. I don't know what will happen, but when I do, I will let you all know.

Looking back....and forward

The new year. Time for reflections, thoughts, wishes, hopes, resolutions, all sorts of new possibilities, and some wistfulness on my part.

As I look back, I realize that I did alright. I lost some friends, found some old ones, and made some major messes in my relationship. I began the year by almost losing Kristi, then proposing 12 days later (and getting a yes) and ended it by tucking her into bed, sick as can be. I graduated from the University of Michigan, a wish that seemed unthinkable, and yet came true.

I moved to Southern California to start a new life with Kristi and the kids, and now am on the precipice of finally getting a job in the media field.

I look forward to this year as a time to begin the career that I spent years working for, and while it's a detour from what I really want, it's not a bad start, and it's experience that I can take anywhere. It will allow me to pay off old debt, save money for a wonderful wedding, and make a better life for my new family. I look forward to helping forment political change in the nation. I look forward to new ideas and challenges.

I'm amazed at how some things stick with you. Two years ago, I felt pretty down and out, and the same music I loved then is still my favorite music. I mutated from a hard rock and metal lover to an emo/punk fan. Something Corporate, The Ataris and Green Day are getting played over and over again as they have for so long. BTW, I hope that Andrew McMahon, SoCo's lead singer, recovers from his leukemia. His voice is wonderful, and how many people play piano in punk?

I'm also amazed at how some things get shook off. I barely go out anymore. Sometimes it sucks, but the majority of the time I don't even notice. I've thrown my energy into other things, and I know the day will come when I can get out more again. It is true, though, what the Ataris sing in "In This Diary," so much so that it was a headline for my last issue as editor-in-chief of the UMD paper, "Being grown up isn't half as fun as growing up."

I miss a lot of things. I'm in no way miserable, but I miss friends and family back home, and I kind of miss school. I miss the paper, something that will abate if I get this new job, hopefully. I miss partying, and late nights doing nothing and everything all at once, but I have something so fulfilling in raising two children who call me daddy, including one who looks and acts like me so much that I could've concieved him myself (sadly, I didn't) and nurturing a relationship with a wonderful woman in Kristi. It gets rocky, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love her, and any pangs for my old life would end once I would have to actually live it.

It's 2006. Here's to the night, the new year, the days and weeks ahead, the love and life that will go on. It's gonna be my year.