This is violently stupid
My dad said today, "I don't think there is any principled argument in favor of the repeal of the estate tax." That's all I need to say about that.

Speaking of lack of principled arguements, this marriage amendment business is really, really lame. It's such blatant election-year pandering. It exploits and enforces bigotry. Many of the people promoting it are not in successful heterosexual marriages themselves (*cough*O'Reilly*cough*). It is clearly meant in part to distract us from more immediately relevant problems. Plus, Congress already voted on it and it failed!

I love this bit from Garrison Keillor on Salon:
Meanwhile, the Current Occupant goes on impersonating a president....and one of the basic assumptions of American culture is falling apart: the competence of Republicans.

You might not have always liked Republicans, but you could count on them to manage the bank. They might be lousy tippers, act snooty, talk through their noses, wear spats and splash mud on you as they race their Pierce-Arrows through the village, but you knew they could do the math. To see them produce a ninny and then follow him loyally into the swamp for five years is disconcerting, like seeing the Rolling Stones take up lite jazz. So here we are at an uneasy point in our history, mired in a costly war and getting nowhere, a supine Congress granting absolute power to a president who seems to get smaller and dimmer, and the best the Republicans can offer is San Franciscophobia? This is beyond pitiful. This is violently stupid.

I love how he calls Bush "the Current Occupant." I think I should compile a list of apt nicknames for him. Just today a comment on Huffington Post referred to him as "Chimpy McFlightsuit", which I think is the best one ever. Then there's his own statement,"I'm The Decider," which Jon Stewart so cleverly spoofed last month. I've also heard him called "Smirking Chimp," "Bubbleboy," "Commander Codpiece," and "The Unelected Fraud."