The Dr. is in

I apologize for the last several days of no posts. I have spent the last week-plus moving my base of operations and my ISP took a few days to transfer the service to the new location. But it appears that the power is flowing once again, so I'm back.

Quite a bit has happened while I was away. Harriet Miers "withdrew" her nomination and was replaced by a judge who conservatives are confident will do their bidding -- remember the Right's objections to Miers had nothing to do with her lack of qualifications, it was all about whether she could be counted on to play ball.

George Bush, suffering from sagging approval numbers at home, decided to ride out the storm not at his dumbass ranch (that's where he rides out real storms, not metaphorical ones), but in Latin America, where the people of Argentina reminded him how popular he is around the world. In case you think the protest was fueled entirely by opposition to FTAA and not opposition to Bush, I offer this, one of my favorite lines in the riot coverage:

The protesters, armed with large wooden clubs, began smashing storefront windows and setting at least one bank on fire just outside the gated summit security zone. One restaurant with anti-Bush posters plastered across its windows was untouched.

But perhaps the biggest news of the last week or so is that Patrick Fitzgerald indicted "Scooter" Libby, and that he appears to have his eye on an even bigger fish (can you say "Dick"?). Libby has pleaded not guilty to obstruction of justice, perjury et al, and his trial promises to drag on for a very long time. Too bad for him that January 2009 is so far away, or Georgie might give him that pardon right now. But Bush is already suffering from Nixonian approval ratings, and giving a get-out-of-jail-free card to an insider accused of felonies wouldn't help matters. With all the talk of loyalty in this administration, it's clear that it only flows uphill and the higher-ups will fuck their underlings if it's in their best interest to do so.

In Red Sox Nation, the big news, of course, is that Theo is leaving the team. Contract negotiations broke down and he's out. It can't be easy walking away from your dream job, not that most of us ever will have to worry about that. Then again, most of us don't have a giant pile of money to cushion the blow. You'd expect a bidding war for his services from teams with a GM opening, but the Phillies just hired former Toronto GM Pat Gillick (another idiotic old-boy network hiring there), and the Dodgers and D-Rays aren't exactly known for big spending and won't offer Theo what he's looking for and definitely won't provide him with the kind of payroll he was used to working with. Theo's best bet might be to run for governor of Massachusetts after Mitt declares for president (another Massachusetts governor with no shot). Bringing the World Series trophy to Fenway after 86 years should translate into some votes in baseball-crazy Beantown.

In other Red Sox news, Jason Varitek won a Gold Glove award. That should look good on his mantle next to his team Defensive Player of the Year Award he received from Redsoxville.