Odds and Ends Friday

Here is an interesting poll result (from Bloomberg.com):

A majority of Americans said the presidency of George W. Bush has been a failure and that they would be more likely to vote for congressional candidates who oppose him, according to a CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll.

Fifty-two percent of adults said Bush's administration since 2001 has been a failure, down from 55 percent in October. Fifty- eight percent described his second term as a failure. At the same point in former President Bill Clinton's presidency, 70 percent of those surveyed by Gallup said they considered it a success and 20 percent a failure.

58% of Americans believe that Bush's second term is a failure, yet the Democrats are afraid to challenge him on issues like PoliceStateGate and ScAlito. Hell, the G.O.P. impeached Clinton over PenisGate, and did so when he was a popular president.

AmericaBlog asks the right question: "Can anyone explain why the Democrats and traditional media are intimidated by this failed presidency?"

Maybe the Democrats and traditional media don't pay any attention to these poll numbers, but members of the G.O.P. leadership certainly do. In fact, how do you know that Radical Republicans are worried about their reelection chances? Because they start pushing wedge issues like the Marriage Protection Amendment:

Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO), a co-sponsor of the 2005 joint resolution, has confirmed that Senate Majority leader Bill Frist (R- TN) will attempt to bring the controversial legislation to the floor this year for a full vote.

"Senator Bill Frist has indicated he will try to bring the Marriage Protection Amendment to a full vote again this year," Allard spokeswoman Angela de Rocha told RAW STORY. "Senator Allard believes that a constitutional amendment is the best way to make it crystal clear that marriage is between a man and a woman."

And speaking of extremists, Ann Coulter apparently thinks she is one hilarious political commentator (thanks for the link, Slic[k]):

Conservative commentator Ann Coulter, speaking at a traditionally black college, joked that Justice John Paul Stevens should be poisoned.

Coulter had told the Philander Smith College audience Thursday that more conservative justices were needed on the Supreme Court to change the current law on abortion. Stevens is one of the court's most liberal members.

"We need somebody to put rat poisoning in Justice Stevens' creme brulee," Coulter said.

I guess that illustrates the difference in this country between right wing extremists and everyone else. Radical conservative nutjobs like Coulter can get away with saying crap like that. In fact, I'm sure her followers feel that such a comment was not only appropriate, but necessary. However, if I were to say something similar with regard to one of the Supreme Court's right-winged extremists justices -- even if I only said it jokingly -- I'm sure I'd get a visit from the FBI.

Is this a great country or what?

And by the way, clicking on the last hyperlinked text will take you to a CNN story from 2003 reporting on Pat Robertson's suggestion that a nuclear device be used to wipe out the State Department. In order to find a link to an article that discussed Robertson's threat, I typed the words "nuking State Department" into a Google search.

Immediately after I clicked "enter," I realized that typing those three particular words into a Google search probably wasn't a very good idea given that we are living in a Police State these days.

Anyone else out there feel a chill?