I think I might be in love with Juan Cole. Not only is he a professor at the most awesome university in the land, he is also the layer of smackdown on Jonah Goldberg. Several. Times. *bows to Mr. Cole*

What flavor is the BushCo Kool-Aid?

I generally do not have friends who are staunchly Conservative. It doesn't really bode well for a long-term relationship when a person's political beliefs turn me in to a raging maniac. And, generally, there is a deep, fundamental difference between today's Conservatives and wacky, pinko Liberals like me. I do my best to be patient and try to have open, rational dialogue with them, but it's very hard.

Let's take this lovely woman I work with. We have a great time together at work and hanging out socially. She's pretty liberal when it comes to religion and abortion and that sort of thing. But somewhere down the line, she came to the conclusion that, yes, all poor people are out to rip us all off with their abuse of social programs. She worked her way through school while other people bought steak and champagne with their food stamps and, dammit, she ain't gonna take it anymore! Therefore, she no longer wishes to pay very much in taxes. Which naturally means she considers herself a Republican. I thought she might have gone over to the dark side during the election because, well, it's obvious that Bush and his Evangical cronies are giant nutbags. But if I had to guess, she relented and voted for him anyway.

We were at lunch the other day and she brought up the confirmation of Gonzales. I think it is also relevant to note that she is Hispanic on her fathers side and is proud of that heritage, which I totally get. But when I expressed my disillusion with Heir Attorney General (I may have clapped and said "Yay for torture!"), she became quite angry with me. She made it clear that I should be proud that a Hispanic man was now in one of the highest posts in the country. I was honestly shocked, actually. I explained to her that I didn't think it was much to be proud of because he thinks the Geneva Convention is "quaint" and the President doesn't really have to follow the law. Which is bad for someone in his position.

She then brought up all of the minorities that BushCo has appointed to various positions. It seems that it is okay to nominate and appoint incompetent people to high positions of power as long as they are not white males. Then I asked her if she really thought Condi Rice deserved to a)not be fired, and b)be promoted after she lied and lied and lied to everyone in the world about Saddam and Iraq. And do you know what she said to me? Just guess.

"She had bad intelligence!"

Is she kidding? Does she really believe that? My mind literally boggles. The right-wing nutties with their panties in a wad who hate the gays and anyone who is different than they are with their Confederate flags and their guns and shit, those people I get. But intelligent, professional, semi-normal people? They really believe that? Really?