P.T.O.

Scott McClellan told reporters on Friday that President Bush will travel to his Texas ranch for the month of August - it will be his 50th trip to the ranch since becoming President five years ago.

Is it me, or is that a lot of Paid Time Off?

Now, I know that technically Bush works at the ranch - he clears brush and rides his bike, according to McClellan. But seriously, he will be hosting the President of Columbia and will presumably be running the free world from Crawford, Texas (is it any wonder that Europeans don't like us?)

But 50 times in 5 years? Let's break that down, shall we?

5 Christmas Holidays
5 Easter Holdiays
5 Memorial Days
5 4th of Julys
5 Thanksgivings
5 St. Patty's Days
5 Cinco de Mayos
5 Yom Kippurs
5 Earth Days
5 Kwanzas

Well, that's 50 times and when you look at it this way, it seems quite reasonable.

Have a nice holiday, Mr. President.

Hillary's search for a message

Hillary Clinton has accepted the position of Chair of the Democratic Leadership Councils American Dream Initiative:

"The American Dream Initiative is a year-long project of the DLC that will engage political, business, labor, civic and intellectual leaders in a 'national conversation' to help shape a positive agenda for our country and the Democratic party."

It's about time the Democratic Party got a message other than the "the exact opposite of what Republicans say."

Hillary said she was "proud to take on the task of leading the American Dream Initiative" as it goes to the heart of what she believes about public service: "that we are here to leave our children a richer, safer and stronger land than we inherited from our parents."

I couldn't have said it cornier myself... welcome to presidential politics at its finest.

What's In a (Wizard) Name?

The typical Harry Potter fan (it's okay, you can admit it here, I do), has spent many an hour pouring over the pages of JK Rowling's incredible series, and more likely than not you've wondered which character you resemble most in the wonderful world of wizards.

Well, here's a fun little web site where you can have your question answered. Type in your name and see which Harry Potter character you'd be playing in the next movie.

I - alas - am not Harry Potter caliber; I am Charlie Grubbly-Plank... who? you ask. Yeah, me too. Looks like I need to brush up on my Potter history.

Anyway, give it a shot... cross your fingers that you don't come up as one of those nasty Malfoy's. If Voldermot comes up, you've obviously got anger issues that should be addressed.

In the political spirit of this blog, I thought it might be fun to see how our most admired - or hated - political leaders measure up in the Wizard World.

George W. Bush = Bartemis Delacour
John Kerry = Vincent Evans
Hillary Clinton = Arabella Weasley
Bill Clinton = Owen Black
Dick Cheney = Anthony Macnair
John Edwards = Edgar Malfoy

Arnie's Crash & Burn in the CA Heat

As if it isn't hot enough in California these days, we're seeing one of the more spectacular "crash and burn" jobs by a politician in recent memory... and as hot as I am sitting here in my non-air condition apartment, it's nothing like the heat on Arnie.

During a conference call yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger and his top advisors discussed whether to pull the plug on the highly touted November 8 Special Election.

It was supposed to be the crowning achievement of Arnold's overhaul effort of a corrupt and broken government. California voters would be given the opportunity to take the power back from the Sacramento bureaucrats ... but the wheels have been coming off this Reform Bus for weeks.

And two big wheels came off late last week when an initiative to "re-regulate" the power companies to help avoid rolling blackouts was ordered removed from the ballot by a California judge just one day after another judge stripped from the ballot the Governor's initiative to overhaul redistricting - seen by many as the key initiative of the election.

Two devastating hits in as many days. The heat wave won't be subsiding any time soon for Arnold.

With absolute delight...

... CNN reports that It doesn't look good for Karl Rove