Surprises for the Mentally Challenged

Surprise! Harriet Miers is really a staunch conservative - at least on social matters, which is all that matters for many of the rabid right. Before anyone jumps up and hurts themselves pointing out how moderate this is, let's all pause and remember that the Texas law stricken down by Roe v. Wade also allowed for a woman to seek an abortion if her life was threatened. In other words, Ms. Miers stunning revelation does nothing to alter the perception that she would be willing to overturn the Roe decision and return to the bad old days when women had to overcome several legal tests in order to get an abortion.

SURPRISE!

it is increasingly clear that Cheney and others in his office have been intricately involved in events surrounding the Plame affair from its outset

. But then, the only people who ever doubted this are the ones who work in the Oval Office - and a few really sad individuals who refuse to believe anything bad about the men they supported with their money, their votes, and their voices.

Surprise! Bill Frist says he is "co-operating fully" with investigations over his history of insider trading. His story is that he divested himself of shares held in a blind trust - an account over which he is not supposed to have control or knowledge of what it holds - in order to clear a conflict of interest before 2008. It makes one wonder why he just happened to eliminate the conflict of interest when the stock had peaked and not a week or two later when it was tanking. Oh, did I mention his family runs the company in question?

Surprise! Tom DeLay has to appear in court because he's been indicted for corruption. Mr. DeLay turned down a deal that would have let him escape trial in return for a misdemeanor charge. Of course, this way he can prove that this is all politically motivated - the trial, I mean, not the corruption.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! SURPRISE! When you cut grants in educational aid, students have to borrow more. That's so you can pay through the nose for a longer time for the opportunity to get ahead in this country. Ah, the American Dream! To be young, in debt, and unemployed!