What Caught My Eye Today

Russia - President Bush accused Russia of backsliding on democratic reforms but promised President Vladmir Putin he has nothing to fear from a U.S. missile defense shield in Europe. "The Cold War is over," Bush insisted. Bush said the sole purpose of the defense system is to defend against a rogue regime; U.S. officials say he was talking about Iran and North Korea. In a swift turn of events, China joined Russia in criticizing the U.S. anti-missile system. Then, Bush faulted both Russia and China for their troubled records on democracy.

President Bush - Speaking of the President, this one's got to sting a bit. Former President Jimmy Carter said, "as far as the adverse impact on the nation around the world, this administration has been the worst in history." Carter's comments broke an unwritten understanding that former presidents should refrain from direct criticism of the current White House occupant. The White House responded by calling the former president "increasingly irrelevant." I may be going out on a limb here just a bit, but I don't think these guys think much of each other. And where does Carter get off criticizing Bush's foreign policy? Hmmm, there is that little G8 flap that I mentioned above. And then there is the Middle East and North Korea. And I guess the Mexicans and the rest of Latin America aren't too crazy about us. And, well, we're not exactly popular when it comes to dealing with global warning. Hardly enough to justify Carter's criticisms of Bush.

Scooter Libby - Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Tuesday for lying and obstructing the CIA leak investigation — the probe that showed a White House obsessed with criticism of its decision to go to war. He was convicted in March of perjury and obstruction of justice for lying to investigators about his conversations with reporters about CIA official Valerie Plame. Defense attorneys are trying to have the sentence delayed until appeals run out. A delay also would give Bush more time to consider calls from Libby's allies to pardon the longtime aide. Do you think that if Bush does pardon Libby, he'll get the same criticism that Clinton got for pardoning Whitewater scandal figure Susan McDougal?

2008 Presidential Race - New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson formally announced his candidacy for the Democratic presidential nomination. Richardson is the son of an American father and a Mexican mother, is fluent in both English and Spanish, wants a complete pullout from Iraq and is in favor of expanded immigration. Here's the latest tally of all the contenders:

Democratic Party
Senator Joe Biden of Delaware
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York
Senator Christopher Dodd of Connecticut
Former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina
Former Senator Mike Gravel of Alaska
Representative Dennis Kucinich of Ohio
Senator Barack Obama of Illinois
Governor Bill Richardson of New Mexico

Republican Party
Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas
Former Governor Jim Gilmore of Virginia
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York
Former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas
Representative Duncan Hunter of California
Senator John McCain of Arizona
Representative Ron Paul of Texas
Former Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts
Representative Tom Tancredo of Colorado
Former Governor Tommy Thompson of Wisconsin

I expect we'll be adding Fred Thompson to the GOP list shortly. As much as I try to keep up with this stuff, I have to be honest...I have no clue who half these candidates are.

Canada - Last year, when the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) made the TV series Little Mosque on the Prairie, it hired a Muslim consultant to make sure that sacred Muslim practices were not belittled. This year, the CBC used public funds to create a pilot for a TV show that depicts Catholic kids as heathens and deliquents called The Altar Boy Gang showing "what is presumed to be typical alter-boy things—doing drugs, using communion wafers as snack food, lacing said wafers with LSD—that kind of stuff." The Catholic Civil Rights League complained that show was 'blasphemous' while the CBC countered by saying 'compelling programming' often involved 'images that someone could find disturbing.' I'm the first to agree that there appears to be a double-standard here. But let's be fair. When was the last time Catholics declared a holy war? The last Crusade ended over 800 years ago.