The Prime Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, has told Bush to stop interfering in Iraqi politics.

Bush said, “It's about time you get a unity government going. In other words, Americans understand newcomers to the political arena, but pretty soon it's time to shut her down and get governing.”

During the drawn out process to create a government after elections were held in January, al Jaafari has come under increasing pressure to step down. He would like to continue to serve as the Prime Minister under the new government.

Al Jaafari is at the center of ...   more »

“[Bush] has his finger on the nuclear trigger, too - reformed alcoholic, nothing wrong with that.”

“We shouldn't be starting a war. The big guy doesn't start a fight with a little guy.”

“We can't afford the war in Iraq. This is a big waste of time.”

“We had a president of the United States who had been out of the country but once before he was elected.”

On the day that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to six years in prison, the Senate rejected the creation of an office of public integrity to investigate ethics complaints against its members. The ethics office was defeated 67 to 30.

They followed that vote by passing an ethics and lobbying bill by a vote of 90 to 8. Amendments by Russ Feingold and others that would have given the bill some strength were rejected. Instead, the bill passed will do little to curb abuses.

Abramoff’s six-year sentence was the minimum for a fraud scheme. He will remain free ...   more »

Ariel Sharon’s new party, Kadima, will form the new Israeli government headed by Ehud Olmert. He has declared that he will begin a withdrawal from the West Bank, although that will not be completed for five years. By then, Israel will certainly have another government that will change direction again.

What is encouraging in the election results is not that a centrist party won, but that the center drew its strength from the far right.

The party with the second largest block is Labor, historically a socialist party. Labor gained seats in this election. A newcomer to the ...   more »

Some participants in the new Medicare drug plan are enrolled in more than one plan. In many cases, the participants enrolled in one plans and then switched to another.

With 2 drug cards, savvy participants found that they got better prices on some of their drugs on one plan and better prices on others with the second. Of course, this was not legal, but the first plan provider had no way of knowing that enrollee was no longer their customer.

Pharmacies found that when Medicare participants switched companies, they could bill both the old and new company for ...   more »

But maybe we should be taking prisoners in another "war"

Before hearing a case on the rights of prisoners being held in our concentration camp in Guantanamo, Justice Antonin Scalia has already handed down his ruling. For that alone, he should recuse or be impeached.

But he made several interesting points that show just how polarized the country is. He called Europeans hypocritical for calling for civil trials for military prisoners of war. That’s something that they have never done in previous wars. And on that he is right.

But those around the world and those of ...   more »