What A Hot Week For Politics This Was!

So much happened this week that it's almost overwhelming to find a topic that stands out enough to be worthy of a post. That's fine and good though because my old nemesis, the upper-respiratory infection, has scored a touchdown at my expense and I am now sitting around the house in almost-misery. I say almost-misery because I'm reading Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" and am enjoying the religious-mystery immensely. That's a story for another day though. In the mean time, I have decided to write a post responding to interesting things that happened this week but which the MSM didn't adequately cover. Let's get started before my throat starts tickling again.

Congress Sucks: Polls Say

All throughout this week, there have been a multitude of polls released about how awful our government is doing and how there is no love lost between the public and its paid criminals er..um Congressmen. Congress traditionally gets lower scores than the Judicial and Executive branches of government but in recent months, the overall approval ratings of Congress have truly fallen through the floor.

The new AP-Ipsos poll finds that almost half of the nation, 45 percent, gives Congress overall poor marks for honesty and ethics. An additional 21 percent says Congress is doing neither good nor bad. Only a meager 34 percent of the nation is pleased with Congress. Additionally, most of those who are pleased with Congress are found to be Republicans, not Democrats or Independents. What's interesting here is that the public overall is equally upset with both Democratic and Republican leaders.

One article I read included interviews with Americans on both sides of the aisle. This was the primary strength of the article. Interestingly, the author chose to end the story with a quote from an Idaho Republican who seemed as out of touch with reality as most of the rest of her party is from the American people. She said she has trouble believing Congressman are as bad as people say because she hasn't heard much about them, "specifically about Bill Frist and Tom DeLay." No offense mam, but where do you live in Idaho? In a cave? In a tree?

Republican Candidates Fleeing President Bush's Wake?

Speaking of bad politicians, it's interesting to see just how many Republican candidates are trying to distance themselves from President Bush these days. A year ago, he was the hottest commodity in Conservative politics. Now, in many cases, he can't volunteer to work for free without the prospectees running the other way. Isn't this an interesting aspect of that "mandate" his meager 3 percent win last year got him?

Look at it like this. Last week, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) was pushing his "anti-union" legislation as well as trying to save his own sinking ship-of-state. Well, it appears that Bush never even got an invite whereas in previous years, Arnold couldn't get enough of the guy. Hmm....

This week, President Bush was in Norfolk, Virginia giving another rhetorical speech about the WoT. Guess who declined to be present? None other than Virginia's Republican gubernatorial candidate, Jerry Kilgore. It seems that the scandals swirling around the White House and the Washington GOP in general kept Kilgore at bay. Hmm....

I guess that's enough. If anyone cares to look into this further, they will find that this is a trend that's on the rise. Hopefully it will continue. Without their political savior, many Republicans will be at a disadvantage during upcoming elections. God knows that the right-wing direction in which this nation has been dragged for the last 5 years is a direction we can't afford to maintain. I mean, even when Bush tries to do the right thing, his own party shoots him down. Look at the Miers nomination. What about that?

Conclusion

That's it for now I guess. I'll post a small review of "The Da Vinci Code" this week, maybe Wednesday. God knows I feel awful enough to just sit around all weekend. That gives me plenty of reading time. CHEERS ALL!