The reason why Obama's Dept. of Justice can't release Cheney's records is...

...they're scared of The Daily Show.

Seriously.

That's their own argument.

I am neither joking nor exaggerating.

To wit:

Justice Department lawyers told the judge that future presidents and vice presidents may not cooperate with criminal investigations if they know what they say could become available to their political opponents and late-night comics who would ridicule them.

“If we become a fact-finder for political enemies, they aren’t going to cooperate,” Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Smith said during a 90-minute hearing. “I don’t want a future vice president to say, ‘I’m not going to cooperate with you because I don’t want to be fodder for ‘The Daily Show.’”

Yeah, I don't want a vice president (or president) to say that either...because it would be utterly ludicrous.

Fear of ridicule by professional comedians is not good and sufficient reason to withhold information from the public. If it was, think how many times the likes of Garry Trudeau or SNL would've been cited by administrations of the last 30 years alone.

Oh, and you don't want to be "a fact-finder for political enemies?"

How 'bout you just become a fact-finder to, oh I don't know, actually find the facts and report them to us?

To coin a phrase: If you report, we'll decide...what's worthy of ridicule.

Thank you.

We all want peace, we don't want misery/So many of us won't let us be these things

I have nothing of even slight wisdom more to say about it, but for those interested, HuffPo is running a good "Live-Blog" of what's now being called the uprising in Iran.

Oh, come on...

I was going to just write a short little note here, saying I was sorry to read that former West Wing lead Bradley Whitford (he played Joshua Lyman) and his wife, Jane Kaczmarek of Malcolm in the Middle, have chosen to end their marriage.

I never really got into her show but most of you reading this know how closely I followed his, at least for the first four years. In fact, a story that Whitford tells about his wife on a WW DVD commentary gave me an idea for something in my novel.

But anyway, I was just going to say, I'm sorry to hear about that, and I have no interest in further speculation. And it's true, I do have no interest in speculating on the whys and wherefores of their decision.

However. I do speculate on the intelligence of a Hollywood website which, in reporting a marriage that is ending, chose to illustrate it with a photo of the couple in front of a sign that says "Beat the Odds."

Sometimes, a really stupid joke is just what's called for

Two prominent gay rights lawyers litigating high-profile cases against the Obama administration tell me that their requests to meet with administration lawyers to discuss the cases were rebuffed — something that will further anger gay rights activists who feel badly stiff-armed by Obama on gay rights issues.

Normally, they like a good stiff-arming as much as the next man, but...

Seriously. This whole thing is making me remember stuff like that Obama used to talk abot how much he admired Ronald Reagan...

How did I miss this?

In Tennessee an e-mail created and distributed by Sherri Goforth, an executive assistant to Tennessee State Republican caucus chairwoman Diane Black is the latest attack garnering national attention. Goforth e-mailed a picture of all the U.S. presidents, except Obama, on a poster captioned "Historical Keepsake Photo."

The photo where Obama would have been pictured was entirely black except for two white eyes. After complaints following the first reports on the blog newscoma.com, Goforth's boss decided to give her a verbal reprimand and place a note in her file. Black said she isn't going to fire Goforth, unless she does something like this again.

Damn! I must be slipping...

For my favorite Dakota fan who is (for the moment) still living under a hot desert sun

Miss Fanning, with a bottle of Gatorade.

Oh, this just gets better and better.

Child pornography was found on a computer belonging to the white supremacist charged with shooting and killing a security guard at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, the FBI said in court documents.

Investigators said they also found a notebook in [his] car with handwritten notes saying, "The Holocaust is a lie. Obama was created by Jews. Obama does what his Jew owners tell him to do. Jews captured America's money. Jews control the mass media."

That's ludicrous, of course. Why, if that were true, Corey would work more...

If Darren Lynn Bousman directed for Disney

And now, a brief commentary

Thank you.

Do they even care about civil rights, or just money and votes?

Kos has a good round-up of reaction in the gay blogger community to the Obama administrations's latest evidence of not "getting it."

Michelangelo Signorile:

Scrambling to do damage control re: the DOMA brief the Obama administration is throwing us a pathetic bone.

John Aravosis:

So, because of Obama's inaction on his main presidential campaign promises to our community - DOMA and DADT - we have a scenario in which gays will get fewer benefits than their straight colleagues, and some gay federal employees will get benefits (civilians) while others (military) will not. See how complicated it gets to do anything when you fail to keep your basic promises?

He's got Heather!

This is one of my favorite clips from South Park. It's from the episode called "Asspen." If you haven't seen it, all you need to know is that in the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman, and Butters spend the weekend in Aspen...only to find that everybody else there seems to be stuck around 1985.

And as Stan soon finds out, it's catching.

Some of you won't believe me when I say this, but I say, good for her

Via ohnotheydidn't:

Summer Glau turns down role in ‘Trophy Kids’

...Sources say Glau ("Terminator") passed up her chance at becoming an indie queen when she turned down the lead in "Trophy Kids," which started filming this week in the city. "She wanted to cut a risqué dream sequence where she kisses Taniya Raymonde and Ryan Eggold," said an insider. But writers Josh Sugarman and Brandon Yankowitz refused to change the script and the part went to "Wolverine" starlet Tahnya Tozzi. A rep for Glau told Page Six, "She passed on the film due to creative differences."

...even if the producers probably are just trying to use her cult following to get some attention for their movie.

Caption this photo 2

"Mommy, the animals at the zoo remind me of something, but I can't think what."

Kim Kardashian; Heidi Montag (Pratt) get together to discuss trials of being talented, Christian young women in Hollywood

...I'm kidding, of course, they talked about whether now was the right time in her career for Heidi to be nude in Playboy.

Parables from the Buddha's life, Tharlam Monastery shrine walls, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal

Parables from the Buddha's life, Tharlam Monastery shrine walls, Boudha, Kathmandu, Nepal
Originally uploaded by Wonderlane

True Facts You Didn't Know About Canada*

*Except for the two of you in my vast reading audience who are yourselves known Canadians. You presumably know all this stuff. In fact, you probably don't need to watch this...

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Ok, so I like this, all right?