Rove Would Have Made A Great Nazi

Karl Rove has taken the Nazi's "the bigger the lie the more people will believe it" idea and has really run with it:

According to Karl Rove (on Charlie Rose), the Bush Administration did not want Congress to vote on the Iraq War resolution in the fall of 2002, because they thought it should not be done within the context of an election. Rove, you see, did not think the war vote should be "political".

Moreover, according to Rove, that "premature vote" led to many of the problems that cropped up in the Iraq War. Had Congress not pushed, he says, Bush could have spent more time assembling a coalition, and provided more time to the inspectors.

It's not only all bullshit, but it is gold-plated bullshit, especially that last part about Congress not giving the weapons inspectors enough time. I can't wait to hear what Rove will come up with next in his epic stuggle to re-write the history of the Bush Regime.

Has Another Universe Been Discovered?

This is interesting:

Astronomers announced in August 2007 the discovery of a large hole at the edge of our universe. Since then, theoretical physicist and cosmologist Laura Mersini-Houghton and colleagues have claimed it is an “unmistakable imprint of another universe beyond the edge of our own.”

The article entitled “Astronomers Find Enormous Hole in the Universe” discusses the August 2007 discovery of the hole. It is located at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory website.

Dr. Laura Mersini-Houghton is a theoretical physicist and cosmologist at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill).

The hole is estimated to be almost one billion light-years across, where one light-year is about 9.5 trillion kilometers (5.9 trillion miles) and is located within the constellation Eridanus.

The Mersini-Houghton team states that the hole is another universe at the edge of our own universe. Such an explanation, if true, would be the first experimental evidence of such an exo-universe, or a universe outside of our own universe. * * *

Cool Astro Photo

The photo at left was taken moments after a Delta IV Heavy rocket performed a burn and dump of remaining fuel prior to payload separation. The Orion Nebula is at the bottom of the image. The launch occurred at Kennedy Space Center, and the payload was a defense satellite. This photo was taken by astronomers at the Comanche Springs Astronomy Campus near Crowell, Texas. You can watch a slide show of it here.

Bush's Iraq Debacle Claims Yet Another Political Victim

From the Wall Street Journal (via Daily Kos):

Australian Prime Minister John Howard suffered a humiliating defeat in national elections Saturday, according to preliminary results, most likely ending the political career of one Asia's most enduring conservative leaders and a key ally of U.S. President George W. Bush in the region.

Voters were ready to hand control of the government to Australia's opposition Labor party, headed by former diplomat Kevin Rudd, who has promised to boost relations with China, pull some troops from Iraq, and re-make Australia as a leader in the global effort to stop global warming. The defeat appears so complete that the 68-year-old Mr. Howard, Australia's second-longest-serving prime minister, appeared likely to lose his own parliamentary seat, which he has held for 33 years.

To be fair, it looks like local issues dominated this particular campaign, but I'm sure that Iraq didn't help the situation much.

When Real-Time Flip-Flopping Just Isn't Enough

Rudy Giuliani said this in a recent interview with regard to why he voted for McGovern in 1972 (via Talking Points Memo):

"I had traditionally been a Democrat," Giuliani told me in a recent interview in Las Vegas. "It was almost like a reflex mode. I actually remember saying to myself, 'If I was a person really deciding who should be president right now, I'd probably vote for Nixon, because I think the country would be safer with Nixon.'"

I Love This

From Political Wire:

A new SurveyUSA poll finds Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) net approval rating turning negative for the first time. His approval rating is now at 44%, the lowest since tracking began in May of 2005, and his disapproval is at an all-time high of 47%.

Over the last 31 months, McConnell has had job approval ratings ranging from a low of 48% to a high of 56%. His net approval, determined by subtracting disapproval from approval, ranged from +4 last month to +24 in June of 2005. This month, for the first time, McConnell has a negative net approval of -3.

McConnell is up for re-election next year.

This Is Interesting

Last January, I suggested that Guy Pearce would be a perfect choice to play the father character in the film version of of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Well, it looks like that is what's going to happen:

Not too long ago, Viggo Mortensen told MTV that he was in talks to play the lead in the adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Since then, ShockTillYouDrop has learned that Guy Pearce will be playing the character. The story concerns a father and son traveling through a post-apocalyptic wasteland full of violent cannibals. So unless Pearce is playing Viggo's son, there's not much room for both of them in this picture.

Mortensen would have been a good choice as well, but Pearce is skinnier so he'd probably be more believable in the role because the main characters are starving. Another actor who would have been good as the dad is Christian Bale, but he's starved himself twice already (for Rescue Dawn and The Machinist) and doing so again would probably risk his life.

This will be a tough book to adapt to the big screen. I'm very interested to see what they come up with.

Rudy's 911 Call

Rudy Giuliani said this during a recent debate: "The reality is that I'm not running on what I did on Sept. 11."

Well, he certainly has an interesting concept of reality (from today's New York Post via Hoffmania):

Rudy Giuliani is trumpeting his leadership in the wake of 9/11 in campaign mailings to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.

In one piece, Giuliani is hailed as "America's Mayor" who displayed "Strength through Leadership."

While Giuliani's supporters have long boasted about his performance after the attacks, he himself had not, until now, mentioned it as prominently.

"After the worst attacks on US soil, Rudy Giuliani went to work rebuilding New York City and faith in America," reads the mailing, which features a photo of the former mayor set over the city skyline.

Giuliani, it says, "led the largest rescue and recovery operation in US history."

Perhaps Rudy's 9-11 push has something to do with this.

And speaking of presidential politics, here is an excellent post from Kevin Drum. And this is very interesting.

Nice Try, Assholes

Quote Of The Week

"I'm no authority, but I'm not in favor of war unless it's an emergency."

106-year-old Frank W. Buckles, one of the last surviving veterans of World War I (quoted in the Washington Post).