Presidents' Day Weekend

Well here's some good stuff to open Presidents' Day Weekend:

To celebrate the return of pitchers and catchers to Spring Training, Keith Olbermann hit one out of the park. Sometimes the synch doesn't work so well, but you'll get the gist.



Bush has stated that history will vindicate him the way it did Abraham Lincoln, that other wartime President who was unpopular in his own era, whose birthday was Tuesday and who gets some of us the day off this Monday. Well, I suppose we'll see. But something tells me that history is more likely to agree with Olbermann's assessment of George II: "You're a Fascist. Get them to print you a t-shirt with 'Fascist' on it."

I know, I know: he's not technically a Fascist exactly. But what he (and, perhaps more to the point, the people who really run his administration) does is so much closer to Fascism than Democracy that I think it's worth mentioning. And while we're on the subject, the fear-mongering Right has been so direct in its divisiveness, so willing and eager to call dissenters unpatriotic, even terrorist collaborators, that I think it may be time to get a little fierce in defense of real freedom. You know, the kind of freedom where the government doesn't get the ok to spy on everyone all the time. And call it 'necessary' to national security. And then to insist upon 'retroactive immunity' for the private companies who help make the intrusion. Semantic circles, people; subterfuge and fear-mongering. In service of a grand marriage of church, state, pharma, insurance, investment and oil.

So Keith wants to call it Fascism? I'll allow it.

I'm just going to leave Congress's baseball business alone for the time being, other than to wonder if it's really the best use of time...