KJ

John Scalzi with some thoughts on Sarah Palin and her daughter's pregnancy.

The post, with which I agree almost in its entirety, can be summed up thusly:

1. The rumors about Sarah Palin's youngest child should have been beneath our notice, but boy was this a stupid way to deflect public attention from them.

2. We should follow Barack Obama's lead (scroll down to the first question and Obama's answer) and leave Bristol Palin herself out of the public discourse (although let's not pretend that the Republicans would extend the same courtesy if the situation was reversed).

3. I'll turn it over to Mr. Scalzi now:

...things that are up for continuing discussion include: Gov. Palin’s positions on abstinence-only education, women’s control of their bodies, birth control, Roe v. Wade, whether medical professionals can refuse on religious grounds to give treatment to women, and all other manner of topics relating to sex, women’s bodies, and choice. If Gov. Palin and the McCain campaign try to use Miss Palin’s pregnancy like they use Senator McCain’s former POW status — i.e., a cheap and easy trope to trot out in order to avoid answering reasonable questions — that’s well worth calling them on.

It's a fuzzy line, to be sure, but I think it's worth trying to walk it. Even if the GOP attack dogs wouldn't do the same for us. We're supposed to be better than them, after all.

Rumsfeld is stepping down!!!!

I... I don't really know what to say. (Beyond "Woo hoo!" and "About freakin' time!") Talk about shock and awe.

...a Republican scandal investigation scorecard.

True, most of these are people who simply have ties to Jack Abramoff (a lobbyist who has been indicted for various dirty fundraising tricks). I doubt the Demos would look all that much better if you unearthed every connection their leaders and elected officials had to unethical fundraisers. But still, the magnitude of it is eye-catching.

Song game tonight, probably around 10pm Eastern/7pm Pacific.