save it for royalty

The Navy launched a new nuclear-powered airforce carrier Saturday, christening it the USS George H. W. Bush. Good thing too, we wouldn't want our current military capacity to be reduced -- after all, the US military budget is only equal to that of every other single country on the planet combined, and then some. And the USS George H. W. Bush can help sweep Al Qaeda's modern navy from the seas. Oh wait... nobody on the planet has a navy with a tenth of the capacity of ours... Well, we'll be ready in case a UFO fleet tries to establish control of the seas.

No matter what you may think of the former president (I must say I preferred his performance as President to that of father, if George W., Jeb, Neil, and Marvin can be used as gauges of how Poppie did), don't you find it a bit disturbing that we name things like this after LIVING politicians? I mean, shouldn't that sort of thing be left to hereditary monarchies? (Insert joke here about US becoming one.)

It's not just naval vessels -- I feel the same way about public buildings. I recognize that the Federal Government should have no role in telling a school district that it can't name its new junior high after Oprah or JonBenet Ramsey or George W. Bush if it wants (and Exxon can name an oil tanker the Condoleezza Rice -- and has).

But the FEDERAL Government at least should set an example and avoid naming ANYTHING after any living American. I mean hell, Poppie Bush already has the CIA HQ named after him, now a carrier?

There's a lot of crap being named after Reagan, thanks in part to the work of odious Reagan-worshipping radical Grover "Friend of Abramoff" Norquist. Wonder if people will start pushing to name things after Dubya?