Well, that was interesting...

Last I was here, I didn't think any of the versions of the Mitt Romney essay I wrote (if it can indeed be graced by the definition "essay") had posted. But apparently I just didn't wait around long enough for it to appear since, lo and behold, I returned this evening and there they were. All three tries. Well, I've deleted the first two - they'll probably disappear sometime - and the third one, the one that finally looked right to me (and if there are any typos don't tell me). Well, goodness knows, my computer is just like my car - I know how to use it, but I couldn't explain how it works to save my life.

And speaking of the Romney thing, it seems as if he isn't the only one with foot-in-mouth disease these days. Of course, I'm talking about Bill Bennett and his comments on lowering the crime rate. Sometimes I just don't know what people are thinking about when they let these things come out of their mouths. But, honestly, it doesn't surprise me that he said what he did. That's par for the course. The thing that amazes me is that he doesn't understand that it wasn't the abortion part of the comment that is the real problem. I mean, anyone with a brain knows he turned right around and said that his abortion solution would not be ethical. No, that isn't the problem at all.

The problem is, he seemed to have no problem implying that African-Americans are more inclined than other folks to commit crimes. And that is exactly what he said when he chose to use the example of "Black babies" or however he put it. But now he can't understand, so he says, why everyone is so mad at him. Is he really that stupid? Or that out of touch?

Ah, well. I think we should just all consider the source and move on.

So, let's move on to Boy George's latest appointment. No, not John Roberts. That's already a done deal. I mean Harriet Miers, the woman Mr. Bush appointed today to fill Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the Supreme court. It seems like he would be kind of shy of appointing someone without specific qualifications for the job. Again. So soon after the Mike Brown brouhaha. Okay, at least she's an attorney. And I'm well aware that there have been other justices who had quite illustrious careers on the Court after having had no previous judicial experience.

That isn't what bothers me. What bothers me is that there is no readily available documentation of her stance on various issues. And I'm pretty soon there won't be much forthcoming. Of course, I've a sneaking suspicion that this is exactly why she was nominated in the first place. And I'm very afraid that she is the ideologue that the neo-cons have been trying to get on the court for a long time to tip the balance away from moderation and toward the far-right agenda. I hope I'm wrong. I'll repeat that. I hope I'm wrong. I'm not all that happy with the cynical thoughts that run through my mind every time my government does something these days. But bless their pointed little heads, I don't trust any of them any farther than I could through a piano with five elephants sitting on it. Not Bush. Not Cheney. Certainly not Rove - I feel like I should take a good bath with a scrubbing brush and plenty of lye soap every time I read about that man. Not any of the administration currently in place in DC.

Oh, and there's one other thing that bothers me about Ms. Miers. She's been described as a converted Democrat. It is a sad truth that converts are often (not always, but often) the most rabid and dogmatic members of whatever group they have converted to - in this case the Republican right wing. I don't know if they think they have something to prove - faith, loyalty, whatever - or if that they just had to be extra-convinced to convert in the first place. But (and I've been there and recovered) converts, be they religious, social, or political, often take the most extreme positions available in their new belief system.

Well. We'll all find out, I guess. Probably not in the hearings but instead, if she wins confirmation, when she starts writing opinions for the Court - or rather when her clerks start writing opinions for her. Of course, that's not always a bad thing, I suppose. Warren Burger is reputed to have written his own opinions when he was Chief Justice. Poor man couldn't put together a coherent sentence, from what I've read of his opinions.

Well, I've vented enough I guess. Be interesting to see how long this one takes to appear.