Constitutional amendment? Now is not the time, and Dubya is not the man.

[thingfish]

On Wednesday, decked out in a black suit, white shirt and blood red tie, Preznit Dubya kicked off his re-election (sic) campaign by asking Congress to amend the Constitution in such a way as to prevent protestors from burning the American fla- I mean, prevent homosexual couples from getting married.

This is bad news not just for gays and lesbians, but for everyone, because it signals that the Bush camp is getting desperate. With the value of labor having fallen below the cost of survival on his watch, they understand their man can't possibly win November's election in a fair-and-square, one person/one vote game. So they're shoring up the base. Grilling red meat for the hard core. Mobilizing the True Believer constituency they can count on to hit the streets - and other things - with baseball bats, just in case (Cthulhu forbid) there should be a repeat of Florida, 2000.

But an old-fashioned round of right-wing fag-bashing isn't the only sign that the political situation has shifted drastically in recent weeks. In a clearcut case of "day late, dollar short," Richard "Saruman" Perle has quit the Defense Advisory panel. He says he doesn't want to be a rod through which the lightning of criticism might reach the Preznit, as though his present departure were capable of changing the past (to keep him out of international criminal court in the future).



And what else but politics can explain Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert's "decision" to deny the independent 9/11 commission its requested - and desperately needed - sixty day extension? This is the extension Bush, at first, said he didn't want them to have. Then, after outrage erupted, he said he did want them to have it. Now here comes Hastert as the Preznit's fall guy, a decoy target to absorb media flak.

This is essential, of course, because nothing can be allowed to distract the Preznit from his holy duty. Sitting alone up there in the Oval Office, with war, fags and Jesus on his mind. Just waiting for the right moment, waiting for a sign, a message, a signal. Waiting for instructions from God, perhaps? Who knows at this point.

Another sign that trouble's brewing: Howard Stern has felt the newly sharpened sting of official displeasure. After the FCC decided to "get tough" (i.e. go totally apeshit) over a split-second shot of half-a-nipple, Stern was dropped from all his Clearchannel radio stations over "obscenity violations." Now, could this have anything to do with Howie's recent souring against the Preznit after three years of reliable right-wing shillitude? Or Bushco's close and personal ties to Clearchannel's top brass?

A paranoid could almost be excused for thinking somebody was trying to use Janet's tin-badge titty as an excuse for a covert media crackdown. Hell, even Rush Limbaugh grumbled about it. There are an awful lot of stupid conservatives, but there are a few smart, honest ones, too. And an awful lot of them are starting to understand that something's not right.



Okay, this is getting a little more involved than I planned, so let's just cut to the chase. George W. Bush cheated, finagled and bullied his way into the White House. He engineered a bypass of the constitution's directive that only Congress be allowed to declare war. He rammed the nightmarish, constitution-shredding U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T.A.C.T. down a terrified America's throat. Time and time again, he has shown contempt for the right to dissent. He has shown contempt for the separation of Church and State. He has daily shown his contempt for the more than half the American people who don't approve of his leadership.

Now is not the time, and George W. Bush is not the man, to alter the constitution of the United States of America in any way, shape or form.

Although I have to admit, part of me would be willing to pay top dollar to see Gollum Dubya rip the ring off Frodo O'Donnell's finger, then fall backwards into the fiery Cracks of Doom with it, screaming "PRECIOUSSS!!!"