Friday Roundup: Lucasfilm Legal On Line 2

It must be that heady time of year when legislators have been working long hours and start making bad decisions. Behold State Senator Tommy Williams: he showed up on the Senate floor wearing a Darth Vader mask. I can see the opposition mail piece now. "Darth Williams: He Will Crush Social Services WITH HIS MIND."

Republicans aren't just acting silly these days, though. They have begun the more sinister activity of undermining Houston Mayor Bill White's clean air initiatives. It is the ultimate shirking of responsibility to say that what you put into the air in your city doesn't affect any other cities, and yet that is essentially the argument that opponents of White's plan are making.

If you'll recall everything that President Bush has said lately about Iraq and benchmarks, you would probably arrive at the conclusion that not only are they untenable, but that he thinks they are the machinations of some evil force bent on disrupting the democratizin' of Iraq. Well, after Republicans in the House and Senate let him know that the good will and fuzzy-feeling support free-for-all had run out, he changed his tune.

Now benchmarks are okay, so long as all of his other requirements are adhered to. What you're seeing is an implosion; it is going to take a while, but this is a sign of even more presidential power slipping away. The New York Times agrees, citing a wide swath of political developments which herald the further isolation of the Bush presidency on the war and, as a consequence, the isolation of the Bush presidency on every other issue, too.

Dear Rudy Giuliani: People keep pointing to you as the GOP frontrunner, and now you are embracing your liberal side and squaring up with how you really feel about social issues. The New York Times (and every other politico with half a brain) has to wonder: will your party embrace you as a possible winner, or relegate you to the dustbin of GOP history by handing you crushing primary defeat after crushing primary defeat?

Did you know time is running out on the Texas legislative session? It is, and this is only the 37th story about it. Note, however, that there may be other stories about it out there. As a result of time running out, lots of bills are ending up as garbage, never making it to fruition. And so is the circle of life complete.

In one more bit of legislative news, legislators are apparently working hard to avoid the special session that Rick Perry has been threatening over the transportation/toll road bill. I'm personally hoping the special session happens, because the only thing better than lawmaking is extra lawmaking.

Lastly, this is old news by now, but it bears mention: Tony Blair is stepping down as UK prime minister, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown is the likely replacement. He won't be as warm and huggly with the Bush adminsitration. He's just not as warm and huggly in general. But listening to him every few months in a joint press conference will still beat the pants off of listening to Tory leader David Cameron.