Well, we finally got those Secret Service logs to show how often Jack Abramoff visited the White House. Of course, we already knew – according to snotty Scotty McFelon – that he’d been there at least for two Chanukah parties and “a few staff-level meetings,” but the logs show he’d been there – twice? According to Judicial Watch (who sued for the records) president Tomm Fitton, “[a]t first glance, these documents seem incomplete when compared to other White House visitor logs obtained by Judicial Watch. We therefore have reason to believe there are additional details about Jack Abramoff’s visits to the White House that have not been disclosed.” Gee, ya think?

And of course, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson now says the was just joshing with his tales of contracts for patronage, saying he “deeply regrets” the “anecdotal remarks” he made. In fact, Jackson now says that “no contract has ever been awarded, rejected, or rescinded due to the personal or political beliefs of the recipient” during his tenure at HUD. Does that mean he was just kidding when he said, “why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”

I guess that’s a question HUD Inspector General Ken Donohue wants an answer to, too. Hey, note to you Republican criminals out there? Don’t be fucking with Irishmen. We thought you learned your lesson with Patrick Fitzgerald. The last thing you want is an honest mick on your ass – we’re worse than bulldogs.

So, guess what? Saying you don’t like Bush won’t only get you excluded from public events, but it’ll actually get you denied a government contract – at least if you’re dealing with HUD secretary Alphonso Jackson. Sure, it’s illegal, but since when did that stop these assholes?

Well, looks like the Republicans are afraid of losing at least one house of Congress, since they’re moving to extend tax breaks for the wealthy and Wall Street – and throwing middle-class folks under the bus – while they’re still in charge. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad reaches out to dubya, but Condi and the rest of the war mongers reject him out of hand. Not that they’re determined to have a war or anything. Oh well, could be worse, I guess. The CIA leadership could be up to its ass in hookers, gambling, and bribes.

My, my, we were busy yesterday, weren’t we? I go away for a couple of days, and you guys blog your fingers to stubs, and the most online at one time jumps up to 33.

I haven’t had a chance to catch up on what went down over the weekend, except to see that Jimmy Carter said the best moment of his presidency was:

“I think the best time was probably dealing with the Middle East issue at Camp David,” he said, “and even better I think was the peace treaty that came along six months later. I made a very difficult decision over the almost unanimous opposition of my cabinet and my staff to take the initiative and to go to Egypt and to go to Israel to try to get Begin and Sadat to agree on a peace treaty. And when they did sign-both of them signed the agreement-I guess that was probably my best moment.”

And Bll Clinton said:

“So many things have happened here at home that have been important to me; passing economic plan, passing the Brady Bill and assault weapons ban, so many things have happened internationally, the role that I was fortunate to be able to play in the peace process in the Middle East and in Northern Ireland….”

And of course George W. Bush said:

“I would say the best moment of all was when I caught a 7.5 pound (3.402 kilos) perch in my lake.”

I think that pretty much sums it up, don’t you?

Sorry, no updates on who’s on the bobbleheads today, but hopefully they’ll have at least a few people on to say how Stephen Colbert just wasn’t funny last week, and even if he was, he shouldn’t have been so mean to dubya, ‘cuz he’s a very delicate little man (don’t let the swagger fool ya). Or Mary Matalin. Seeing her sour puss on the tube is always a great way to start your Sunday morning. It’s hard to figure out which of those two got the worst deal in that marriage. I hope like hell the kids didn’t inherit their looks from either one of them. Not that I’m one to talk. Anyhow, have a good Sunday. I hope to be back in time to catch the Sporanos (if not sooner).

Well, me and da wife are up in Kingston at this very moment, sleeping in a dorm room at Queens University (yes, it’s true, I don’t actually get up at five every morning to get these posts started). I don’t know if we’ll have Internet access or not (we did last year, but we’re in a new building this year), so if you don’t see me around the next couple of days, that’s why. Have a good weekend.

Hola! Today isn’t a holiday in the United States, but it ought to be. And it ought to be a reason for us to embrace our neighbors to the south, instead of trying to demonize them.

In 1858, Benito Juárez (a full-blooded Zapotec, and member of the Liberal Party) was elected President of Mexico. Thanks to their Civil War (oh, and that little Mexican-American War thing), Mexico was financially devastated, and Juárez was forced to suspend all foreign debt payments, which England, Spain and France weren’t really happy about. Being imperialist Europeans, they did what imperalists do – they invaded. England and Spain cut deals and split pretty quickly, but not those pesky French (under Napoleon III – who was not dissimilar to dubya, in many respects).

Napolean wasn’t all that crazy about the United States (we were in the midst of our own little difficulties at the time, you may recall) , and he was hoping to toss out the Mexican Constitutional Government and set up something a little more favorable to France (to that end, he installed Maximilian I as Emperor). In fact, he had plans to institute a monarchy over Central and South America so France could exploit the region’s raw materials (plus supply the Confederacy in its fight against the Union). The French were in cahoots with the plutocratic Mexican land owners, who weren’t real crazy about this Juárez guy.

Anyhow, in April of 1862, a French force of seven thousand set out for Mexico City, having somehow gotten the impression that the Mexican people would welcome them (I believe they were told they’d be greeted as liberators, and showered with flowers and candy). Juárez ordered General Ignacio Zaragoza (who had 2,000 soldiers entrenched in the fortified hills of Loreto and Guadalupe by the city of Puebla) to set the French straight.

On cinco de mayo, 1862, the very well-equipped French attacked the two forts (defended mostly by Mexican Indians armed only with machetes) with cannon and rifles. Zaragosa ordered his cavalry (commanded by Colonel Porfirio Diaz) to attack the French flanks (which I understand are excellent with a nice Burgundy), and the French, in turn, sent their cavalry off to chase Diaz, who pretty much butchered them. What was left of the French infantry charged the Mexicans – or at least they tried to – through a stampeding herd of cattle that the Mexicans stirred up.

By the end of the day, one fort was in ruins, but more than a thousand French soldiers were dead.

So, the French didn’t get to run guns and supplies to the Confederacy, Union forces were eventually sent to the Tex/Mex border under the command of General Sheridan, who made sure that the Mexicans got whatever weapons and ammo they needed. Poor old Maximillian was eventually executed by firing squad, and Napoleon III was deposed as Emperor of France in 1870, and dead by 1873.

So, anyhow, that’s how the Mexicans saved the Union, and why cinco de mayo ought to be a holiday in the US, filled with piñatas, Sangria, and much singing of La Bandera de Estrellas.

That, and it’s a long way between New Year’s and Memorial Day.

Well, we learned one thing yesterday. Zacarias Moussaoui is so incompetent, he couldn’t even get himself the death penalty, no matter how hard he tried. Still, I reckon he’s our big victory in the War on Terror – or at least the skirmish with Al Qaeda. We didn’t get Osama, but we we got Moussaoui (and the shoe bomber, don’t forget him). We also learned that Christopher Hitchins isn’t a drunken asshole (according to Andrew Sullivan), just an asshole. And the Brits are finally smart enough to declare victory, and get the hell out of Dodge. Or at least the Al Maysan and Al Muthanna provinces. And we also saw evidence of what a great job we’ve done in Iraq and Afghanistan, as both made the top ten on the “failed states” index (Iraq came in at number four, ahead of Zimbabwe, Chad, Somalia, Haiti, and our good buddies, Pakistan). Gee wherever would they be without us? Iran couldn’t even crack the top fifty, being tied for 52 with Equatorial Guinea. Well, we’ll see if we can’t move them up a bit, won’t we George?

Oh, but shame on Stephen Colbert for being such a meanie to poor president dummy and his sycophants (or should that be psychophants – sociophants?) in the DC media.

It’s Wednesday, and I don’t have to get up and out this morning. I have a ton of shit to do, but at least I don’t have to go anywhere to do it. Except the dump. But that beats sitting through class any day.

After the Colbert weekend, and then yesterday’s codpiece anniversary, today’s a bit of a letdown. I guess I’ll use it to try and get as much of what I’ve got left to do, done, and I’d better take the dog out today, or I think he’ll explode. If I even glance in the direction of his harness, he damn near wiggles himself to pieces. I need to get back to craigslist, too, since the place I thought I had lined up in DC doesn’t seem to be working out, damnit. I wonder what the monthly rate at the Watergate parking garage is, and if they’d let me use a garden hose to clean up with.