Can we sanction South Carolina? Or at least SC Democrats??

Today’s Buzz ...

• from last night’s program:

Bush as a "bully": Another unsuccessful presidential venture ... I hope that whatever remains of Bush’s base enjoys these irrelevant and annoying attempts to attack those that – heaven forbid – dare to question whatever it is that he may happen to want. As Tom Foreman very methodically reviewed, Bush’s “talking points” in his speech at The Heritage Foundation yesterday lacked, well, foundation ...

Congress has the right, duty and obligation to question a nominee for Attorney General about his interpretations of what is constitutional and what isn’t – including an activity like waterboarding. Suzanne Malveaux reported that the Administration is attempting the same strategy as in the past – framing the debate about Michael Mukasey’s nomination and specifically, his views on torture, as a debate over national security. David Gergen added that the argument lacks merit and the issue boils down to how much unfettered power a President has in a time of war. As so many other similar policy debates have ...

Personally, I didn’t vote for a king or a dictator in 2000 or 2004, but the self-anointed monarch currently living in the White House isn’t making the road any easier for a like-party candidate to follow him into occupancy of that section of DC real estate, at the very least.


Embryo battle: There’s a very fundamental question here that I’m not sure I understand, nor was it answered amidst the significant amount of time spent on this topic. Why – oh why – would Augusta Roman WANT to bear a child by an ex-spouse that she no longer has anything other than a completely antagonistic relationship with?? If she’s concerned about her biological clock, for all the time she’s spent pursuing this ‘case’, couldn’t she have had more eggs harvested and impregnated by anonymous donor sperm at this point?


Jonathan Turley (Constitutional attorney) opined that Ms. Roman has very little chance of convincing the US Supreme Court to hear this case, as the Texas Supreme Court has ruled against her. He cited both the right-to-life/right-to-choose questions this case raises, as well as the contractual issues, namely that both parties (Randy & Augusta Roman) signed one agreeing that any embryos would not be used unless both parties agreed. That’s fairly clear cut to me ...


Chicago Police torture allegations: How outrageous is it that Anthony Holmes and Darrell Cannon spent decades in jail for crimes they didn’t commit, but confessed to after being severely tortured at the hands of former commander John Burge. If you watched “24” this past season, you probably saw what a torture victim looks like when a plastic bag is placed over his head – the ability to breathe is somewhat hampered!! And playing Russian Roulette with a loaded gun is automatically far beyond the torture (or terror) scale. And even though Burge has been found guilty of torture in a civil suit and fired by the Chicago Police Dept., the City must continue to defend him and pay out any judgments in five additional pending civil suits, because he was a City employee at the time of these incidents. Your tax dollars (once again) hard at work ...



Identity Theft: I’m going to admit this upfront – although I feel very bad for the family of Lisa Henson – especially with having to re-live the trauma of her disappearance because Esther Reed stole her identity (among other offenses) – I didn’t really pay all that close attention to this segment. This kind of story just isn’t that compelling (to me). But I wanted to mention it because (and here’s where my guilt kicks in) it gives me the opportunity to post this wonderful picture of Gary Tuchman with beautiful Montana mountains in the background!!!!


Raw Politics: Oh my – well, it’s official – and highly disappointing – but there will be no “Stephen Colbert” on the South Carolina Democratic Primary ballot. What’s interesting, though, is how much “buzz” this little grassroots venture has garnered in such a short time – the story was picked up yesterday on major news services (MSNBC, CNN, CBS, Yahoo, etc.) mere moments after the news broke. And it was the lead item this morning at AOL.com. Not bad for a “failed actor”, as Mr. Colbert has been described by Jon Friedman at MarketWatch. I did enjoy when Tom Foreman made sure to note that Mike Gravel was still on the Primary ballot – certainly a ‘shot’ at the SC Democratic Executive Committee!!


I’m looking forward to Soledad’s interview with Ron Paul tonight. He’s not your typical Republican, by any means. And it’s no fluke that he’s raised over $8 million dollars. Yes, a paltry sum in comparison to “chionophobic” Mitt Romney – much of which has come from his own coffers. What’s “chionophobia”, you ask? Fear of snow. ;-)



tonight on Anderson Cooper 360°:

Thanks for visiting – updates posted as needed – have a terrific day!