Today’s reason: can we stand a president who flip-flops on the issues?

The Center for American Progress (a bastion of moderation!) has this list of 15 major issues that Bush has reversed his opinion on. There are some real cherries on this tree, but (as a moderate libertarian) here’s my favorite:

10. Gay Marriage

BUSH SAYS GAY MARRIAGE IS A STATE ISSUE… “The state can do what they want to do. Don’t try to trap me in this state’s issue like you’re trying to get me into.” [Gov. George W. Bush on Gay Marriage, Larry King Live, 2/15/00]

…BUSH SUPPORTS CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT BANNING GAY MARRIAGE “Today I call upon the Congress to promptly pass, and to send to the states for ratification, an amendment to our Constitution defining and protecting marriage as a union of man and woman as husband and wife.” [President Bush, 2/24/04]

Apparently, the people who had the bright idea of cancelling Wonderfalls went ahead and made it worse last night by pre-empting The O.C. with what Heather Havrilesky calls the most disturbing minutes in television history – the Swan. (Also known as Ha Ha Ha You Ugly Bitch.)

Seriously, I thought The Bachelor was a sign of the End Times. This must mean they’re really here – especially when you consider the periodical cicadas.

Easter Bunny Greetings

I was at 2 of the 3 games in Houston in 2001 where Barry Bonds had the chance to set the all-time home run record, in the middle of a tight playoff race, and the atmosphere was electrifying. (Larry Dirker ruined the mood by walking Bonds about 75% of his at-bats in the series, but the potential was there).

This is the kind of stuff that keeps me addicted to the diamond:

… Roger Clemens walking in from the bullpen, slowly and resolutely, allowing the cheers at Minute Maid Park to wash over him, as if the fans were telling him that while the wait had been a long one, he, finally, was home.

We will remember two blazing fastballs, both clocked at 94 mph, both thrown perfectly at the knees, both seemingly unhittable. We will remember the game’s best hitter, Barry Bonds, looking at both of them for called third strikes.

We also will remember Clemens joyously pumping his fist after Astros shortstop Adam Everett went in the hole to field a grounder and make a leaping throw to get the Giants’ Pedro Feliz in the seventh inning.

Jake and I are headed to Fenway in May…

Like many Americans, I’ve been following and praying for the US and allied troops in Iraq during the recent increase in violence. I am suprised that this fight had not happened sooner; politically ambitious types in Iraq furthering a grab at power with the blood of Iraqis who have not yet comprehended the opportunities that will exist in a democratic Iraq.

Anyhow, after Sen. Edward M. Kennedy categorized Iraq as “George Bush’s Vietnam”, and alledged that “On issue after issue, they tell the American people one thing, and do another. They repeatedly invent facts to support their preconceived agenda.” (Ted, Mary Jo’s on Line two. Wants to know about a car accident up in Mass…), Sen. John McCain slaps back (first couple paragraphs, and gives the speech (yes, it’s NRO, but it’s just a transcript from the floor of the Senate) that the PotUS should have given a couple of weeks ago.

You really should read it all, but the last four paragraphs resonated with me:

What happens if we win? What happens if we see this thing through? It will be hard and it will be difficult and perhaps we need more troops. I have said for a long time that we needed more troops of certain types, but we have to see this thing through. And what will happen? What will happen is that we will affirm the profound and fundamental belief upon which this Nation was founded, that all men and women are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and they are not just in the Western Hemisphere; they are not just in the United States of America; they are not just in Europe. The people in the Middle East have the same hopes, beliefs, and yearnings for freedom and democracy, and they have a right to determine their own future just as have our own citizens and citizens throughout the world.

When they achieve that — and it will be long and hard and difficult — it will send a message to every despotic regime, every religious extremist throughout the Middle East, their day is done because in a democratic, free, and open society the people want to live in peace with their neighbors and with the world.

So there is a lot at stake. I grieve every moment, as every American does, for the loss of these brave young Americans’ lives. They have made a supreme sacrifice, and we will honor their memory, but at least their grieving families will know they sacrificed in the cause of freedom.

At this particular moment of crisis — and it is a crisis — I urge all of my colleagues and all Americans to join together in this noble cause. Yes, we are free to criticize; yes, we are free to make recommendations and suggestions; but the awesome responsibility lies with all of us, led by the President of the United States, as we attempt to carry out what is the most noble act that no country in the world has ever done besides the United States of America, and that is to shed our most precious blood and expend our treasure in defense of someone else’s freedom in the hope that they may enjoy the fruits of a free and open society in a democracy that is guaranteed to all men and women by our Creator.