Wednesday Roundup: Benchmarks For Everyone

Well, Bush wasn't kidding. He went ahead and vetoed the Iraq War funding bill yesterday, setting up an unfortunate (and probably unforeseen) set of negotiations with his own party. Bush's second veto will not result in the sort of 'clean' legislation Bush has been yammering about, and instead will show him that Republicans are after benchmarks, too.

The Chron has a story on how Democratic plans to block Republican Voter ID legislation in the state Senate will depend largely on whether Senator Mario Gallegos can be there. Eleven votes is enough, but Senate Democrats won't have them if Gallegos is too ill to be in the Senate. I was of course hoping Gallegos would get better anyway, but now there is a legislative incentive for good health. His doctor is not crazy about the fact that he put in a full day yesterday, or that he's at work to begin with, so be careful, Senator. Don't overdo it.

Speaking of overdoing it, the Politico ran a profile-a-moriam of The Gipper, and so, too, did Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post. I suppose there might be some insight offered by the Reagan diaries from Kurtz's story, but Roger Simon's walk down memory lane is not particularly useful. Unless you're into that sort of thing.

Tom DeLay takes some glee in the drop in circulation that most daily newspapers experienced, and the Dallas Observer pokes some fun at him for it. And by that, I mean they wonder why he isn't in jail yet. I often wonder the same thing. If you want some giggles, you can always read Tom DeLay's blog. Right now he's explaining why the House should not have an outside ethics panel. LOL, Tom. ROFL, even.

Look — hearts and minds! Nancy Pelosi is apparently becoming a very popular figure among the Syrian electorate. That is a little strange, and not exactly the news I expected from that meeting.

Immigrant rights activists held protests and marches yesterday, but the turnout was a small echo of last year's massive demonstrations. I keep seeing stories about how the turnout was lower, but I haven't seen one yet that offers a convincing reason as to why turnout was lower. Regardless, spirits among the participants are high.

John Edwards, in a refreshingly transparent political move, has begun a concentrated effort of rejecting the phrase "global war on terror" as something created by Bush. It isn't often you see candidates talk so openly about political language, but here it is. Now we'll see if it is effective.

Finally today, another surprising editorial from the Dallas Morning News, this time calling for expedited environmental legislation on air and power plants. What's going on over there? Don't get me wrong, I'm happy to see it; it is just such a turnaround from the DMN of old.