It's the Demos, Stupid

Donald Ducks Out
The first victim of the undoing of the Bush Administration is Donald "Seek the WMDs" Rumsfeld. And we are grateful to God the ever merciful for that. The man whose arrogance had no limits and who became famous for denying the undeniable and defending the undefendable was asked to step down by Supremo Duh!bya. A general increase in worldwide happiness was registered on the Smiley Scale at the moment of the announcement. This was followed by a sharp dip as Duh!bya announced that Mr Gates from his daddy's administration will be stepping into Donald's shoes. Microsoft were quick to issue a press release announcing that any similarity between the name of the new Defense Sec and Bill G is purely fortuitous. Bill G is involved in aggressive marketing tactics, Bob Gates will be involved in just being aggressive.

Full House (and Senate)
Yep. They've done it. The Americans (note the change in reference as promised) have voted in the Democrats... both Senate and House now have Democrat majorities. The future looks bright. At least for now while we are still gloating on this, the first of Bush's defeats and hopefully not the last. Madame Pelosi, leader of the House, is to be congratulated on her optimism regarding bipartisan cooperation. The hunch is that Congress will be transformed into a battleground for the next two years - a witness to the excessive polarisation provoked by Bush's administration. At least I am happy that my first visit to the US will be to one run by a democrat Congress.

Demokristjani
Another interesting article by Ranier. Christian Democracy remains the ideology I can associate closest with. I find myself on the left side of the CD spectrum which can be as varied as an italian parliament. The role of the Christian Democrat politic in today's world was already being questioned after the fall of the Berlin Wall - and of its greatest enemy. The last fifteen years have been a long period of soul searching for the movement. I do not think that we have come to a stage where it is sufficiently redefined to discover its purpose in post 9/11 days. I definitely believe that it should be above petty reformations around militant catholic structures. The christian democrat vision is about the value of humanity and the human being. It is about building a healthy society to grow up and develop the human potential. It is about a tolerance based on a respect of a number of truths that are self-evident - the truths of natural law and natural rights. These truths should be able to transcend the tight-jackets of "civilisations", "cultures" and "races". It's a long way to go. But the donkey in every christian democrat knows that we can get there.