Those wacky Republicans

Why, Mr. Dickinson, I'm surprised at you! You should know that rebellion is always legal in the first person -- such as "our" rebellion. It is only in the third person -- "their" rebellion -- that it is illegal.

-Benjamin Franklin, "1776"

Isn't it interesting that, in politics, the rules change overnight, as soon as a party is out of power?

Take, for example, the current hubbub over the release of memos detailing the "enhanced interrogation methods" (ie torture) used during the Bush Administration in an attempt to get information about al-Qaeda.

While in office, and (as we now know) as one of the people who approved the methods, Dick Cheney firmly stated over and over again that the information should not be released, that it would jeopardize national security, blah blah blah.

However, now that the memos (which contained a lot of information known publicly already, one of the reasons for releasing them) have been made public, the Republicans, led by Cheney and Karl Rove, are suddenly demanding that even more memos be made public. This from a man who had a man-sized safe in his office.

What changed? Simple! They are no longer in power, and they don't like how the new administration is doing business. Thank goodness Cheney and Rove are not in public office -- they can bluster and condemn all they want to, but they have less power right now than Rush Limbaugh.

I wonder -- in this new zeal for freedom of information, will the former vice president and Mr. Rove eagerly appear in front of a Congressional Committee to talk about what they know about the war in Iraq?

Books don't know everything

One of the suggestions for parents of a daughter on the occasion of her first menstrual period is to celebrate. Have a cake, heap on the praise, perhaps write a note of congratulations. So many daughters have been touched by such thoughtful gestures!

When our older daughter started, she was excited, prepared, a little freaked, but things went smoothly. She declined a celebration. But I was so impressed (although not surprised) by how ably she handled it, I wrote her a note of congratulations and pride, using thoughtful, affirming language, in part to communicate I recognize that she is growing into adulthood. I even pulled out my special note cards made from hand made paper, and beaded. I left it in her room for her to find.

Later in the evening, she looked at me in puzzlement. "Why did you leave me a card about my period?" she asked. "I already knew what to do."

So...who was it who approved that torture and then destroyed memos?

"I don't consider him to be a particularly reliable source of information."
--Hillary Clinton on Dick Cheney

"[the governor of Texas says] Texas may secede. Oklahoma had better start working on its border fence." --Stephen Colbert, The Colbert Report April 20, 2009