Bumper sticker of the week: Re-elect Gore in 2004.
Quote of the week: ''Yet most new prisons are built not in black communities but in white ones, usually rural white ones. A century ago, when most inmates were white and many had lived on farms, this might have made sense. But not anymore. Today, most inmates are black (49 percent) or Hispanic (18 percent). Typically, they come from the cities. Sticking them in the boondocks, where family members have a hard time visiting, where guards have likely never encountered anyone like them, almost always leads to problems, often violent ones. Yet this is where we build our prisons. It is hard to ignore that those getting rich are usually white and those in prison are usually not.'' Going Up The River, Joseph Hallinan.
Rep. Condit: ''I never had sex with that girl.'' Define sex? ''Well, maybe I did.'' Familiar tale. No wonder nothing gets done in Washington. The old boys chase around anything wearing a skirt. I love listening to everyone making excuses. Even the Washington Police Chief got in the act. ''Mr. Condit is not a suspect.'' Just because he had an illicit affair with the missing girl, was one of the last to talk with her, had his apartment searched, was questioned at least three times, his wife once, and took a private lie detector test, is no reason to suspect him. Chalk one up for the D.C. police chief. He's kissing butt. This is all more of the same. When the public is asked if they trust the government, 17 percent say yes. A fiasco like this will take it down to 13 percent. When it hits zero, stand clear.
Campaign finance reform: Seems the Republicans in the House really don't want to cut off their lifelines to corporate America. Let's vote on a campaign finance bill, but let's tack on 14 amendments, one of which is a secret. Now, go ahead and vote for campaign finance reform. This is what they're pawning off as government nowadays. A first grade class could do better. Campaign finance reform is a minor problem. We need to dump these jokers.
Dick Armey, Tom DeLay, Dennis Hastert. These guys are goofy. I wouldn't take this group to a flea market, much less put them in Congress. We're getting what we pay for, which in their cases is unfortunately little. Democrats might be crooked, but these guys are sneaky and weasels. While they're cutting your throat they would claim to be doing first-aid. I'd sooner go it alone than have these guys represent me. These guys are perfect examples of what's wrong with government. These guys are perfect examples of what's wrong with humanity.
Beijing gets the 2008 Summer Olympics. Anyone with an ounce of sense would have given it to Galesburg. Henderson Street should be done by then, the Lake Storey pavilion should be open, it appears we will have plenty of housing available, and our human rights violations are surely less than China's. Surely.
Faith-based sleaze: The Salvation Army, the largest non-profit charity in the country, probably in the world, attempted to cut a deal with the Bush administration, whereby they would be able to dodge anti-discrimination laws and continue to not hire homosexuals, if they supported George's faith-based follies. The White House abandoned the deal when the public found out about it. I had already abandoned the Bush administration. Actually, I had already done that before they lost the election. Now it's time to abandon the Salvation Army. Apparently they're getting a little too big for their own britches. This is a good example of what dumping government money into charities will produce. Rather than charitable works, they'll do charitable politicking. Any Christian with an ounce of faith will walk away from this whole cockamamie idea.