another republican in lust

What do you know, another abstinence supporting family-values married Republican is quitting because he has been screwing around. Indiana Congressman Mark Souder is outtahere after admitting he was boffing a part-time staffer, Tracy Meadows Jackson. Jackson was Souder's co-host on an abstinence education video, which is sweet. (I must say from the photo on the web, Jackson is somebody it would be hard to abstain from.)

Dana Milbank has an interesting little column about the problems the Republican House of Representatives Class of 1994 has had in avoiding legal, corruption, sex and/or marital scandals. Milbanks says 15 of the 73 members of that class have had scandals revealed - so far. Per Milbank, roll call includes:

Bob Barr (sex)
Jim Bunn (marital)
Helen Chenowith (sex)
Jon Christensen (marital)
John Ensign (sex/marital and corruption)
Mark Foley (sex)
David Funderburk (legal)
Enid Greene (marital, corruption)
J.D. Hayworth (corruption)
Steve LaTourette (sex/marital, corruption)
James Longley (marital)
Bob Ney (corruption)
Mark Sanford (sex/marital)
Joe Scarborough (marital)
Mark Souder (sex/marital)

I'm not inclined to condemn people for adultery. It's a personal issue, not a scandal. But when you are a family-values pounding Christian with a capital C type politician, quick to condemn others for human frailties, it is fair to expect them to perhaps live up to that standard. Sleeping with employees is NEVER right (that applies to Bill Clinton, too). Hitting on people who are under 18 is never right (Foley). And for any politician of any party, corruption is bad, mmkay?

get knocked up and make big bucks

So who says getting pregnant before graduating high school can get in the way of a lucrative and easy career of giving speeches to high school kids about not getting pregnant before graduating? Or to be specific, about practicing ABSTINENCE - which clearly Bristol Palin and Levi Johnson were avoiding.

In Palin-land, all things are possible. $15,000 to $30,000 a pop for speechifying about keeping your zipper zipped. Quite a cushy job for a 19-year-old with no obvious qualifications, apart from being a teen mom.

But seriously, don't expect this to be a valid career path, unless your mom is Sarah Palin or somebody like that. Wonder if there will be any attempt to steer money and support towards the half-term ex-governor via her fecund daughter? Do you even have to ask?javascript:void(0)

kagan and scalia?

Separated at birth? Well, I doubt their judicial philosophy would be very similar. But give right-wing Justice Antonin Scalia a good shave and give nominee Elena Kagan some glasses...

times square

Thank goodness the gasoline in that Nissan Pathfinder SUV didn't ignite in Times Square yesterday. That would have been ugly.

And now, as we await word who was responsible for the attempt, some on the right are attempting to shape the information battlefield. This guy says he thinks it was probably Islamic terrorists (based in part on some undefined degree of proximity to Comedy Central headquarters and the timing so soon after South Park attempted to depict Muhammad), but if not, it was liberal/anarchist nutjobs. The evidence for the left-wing attack theory? It was an SUV, and liberals hate SUVs. One commenter at this blog suggest an inside job by the Federal government so President Obama and FEMA can start rounding up and arresting opponents. Sort of a Reichstag fire scenario, I guess. The evidence for this view? Fevered imagination as far as I can tell.

Regardless of whether it was Islamic terrorists of the domestic or international kind, right-wing domestic terrorists (many "militia" types hate New York City, though there is at the moment ZERO public evidence for their involvement), left-wing terrorists, or people who just hate the theater, this was clearly an attempt at terrorism.

isn't this insulting to god?

Washington Post religion writers today write:

Moscow's Interfax newswire reported that the Association of (Russian) Orthodox Experts called the April 14 eruption -- whose gigantic cloud of ash grounded transatlantic flights for more than a week -- a response to gay rights in Europe and Iceland's tolerance of "neo-paganism." Conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh said God was angry over health-care legislation. San Antonio megachurch pastor John Hagee, founder of Christians United for Israel, said God was unleashing his wrath on Britain for deciding that Israeli tourism ads featured parts of the disputed Palestinian territories, not Israel.

Personally, I think Limbaugh and Hagee are being extremely insulting in drawing this conclusion about the Icelandic volcano.

I mean, if this really WERE an attack from God, wouldn't His aim be better? Iceland had nothing to do with the health care legislation (I presume Limbaugh was blathering about the US legislation recently passed) nor with British tourism advertising. Surely God could hit the US and Britain directly, if he so chose?

At least the Russian Orthodox were being intolerant about Iceland...