I've debated posting in this fashion since its all stuff that is culled from other blogs and news sites that I expect you already read, no real "scoops" here. Thus I'm not quite sure I see the utility. However some of this stuff just seemed too good to risk escaping your attention.

Where to start?

We've now got good evidence from the Defense Department that the majority of the prisoners at Guantanamo are basically innocent. So it's a good thing that when they're hunger striking we see fit to tie them down and force feed them. Sifu Tweety over at The Poor Man pretty much nails it.

What do you do when everyone in the country thinks your program is full of shit? You slip it into the budget without telling them. Plans for privatizing Social Security were put into the latest budget unannounced.

And what do you do when you want to show the country you're serious about reforming a corrupt system? You put the most corrupt person in charge of the purse strings. Tom Delay has just secured a seat on the House Appropriations Committee.

The Minutemen were holding a rally on the West Lawn of the Capitol yesterday when recruiters from the US Nazi Party showed up in full uniform, swastika armbands and everything, and urged the Minutemen to cut the crap and just join the Party already. At least someone has the sense to call a spade a spade. (c'mon! That's funny right? right?)

Has anyone felt or noticed in the last couple weeks that the traditional media has been unusually whorish? It looked like we kinda had them on the ropes a bit even a month ago, but they seem to be pushing back harder than ever. The recent Chris Matthews nonsense being emblematic of the phenomenon. Have you ever wondered why this is? And as a side item, have you wondered why the Dems are so spineless? Well, Paul Craig Roberts has a theory:

We have reached a point where the Bush administration is determined to totally eclipse the people. Bewitched by neoconservatives and lustful for power, the Bush administration and the Republican Party are aligning themselves firmly against the American people. Their first victims, of course, were the true conservatives. Having eliminated internal opposition, the Bush administration is now using blackmail obtained through illegal spying on American citizens to silence the media and the opposition party.

Before flinching at my assertion of blackmail, ask yourself why President Bush refuses to obey the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The purpose of the FISA court is to ensure that administrations do not spy for partisan political reasons. The warrant requirement is to ensure that a panel of independent federal judges hears a legitimate reason for the spying, thus protecting a president from the temptation to abuse the powers of government. The only reason for the Bush administration to evade the court is that the Bush administration had no legitimate reasons for its spying. This should be obvious even to a naif.

...

The years of illegal spying have given the Bush administration power over the media and the opposition. Journalists and Democratic politicians don't want to have their adulterous affairs broadcast over television or to see their favorite online porn sites revealed in headlines in the local press with their names attached. Only people willing to risk such disclosures can stand up for the country.

It certainly would explain a lot.

Lastly, I'd like to reiterate my question from the comment section below. Can anyone tell me why and how the cartoon riots sprang up in the last two weeks? Its my understanding that the 'toons were originally published in September of '05. Why is all this happening now? Who is behind it? Leads? Theories? Explanations?