Emotional vicissitudes

I admitted to a couple of friends recently that it's been hard to get my blogging "groove" back. I thought the long sabbatical would be good for me, but the blog-muscles apparently got a little flabby. I suppose the thesis-writing wrung me out a bit, too. I struggle a bit to form coherent thoughts, and the accompanying sentences to reflect them. We'll have to rectify this situation, since I got my statistical analysis job kicked up to fulltime for the summer, and I'm studying for a comprehensive exam in August! (I start the doctoral program in ethics this fall, and am getting a head start on the exam schedule.)

Obviously, I've got some cobwebs to clear, and doldrums to shake. So I have to say, thank you, Acting Deputy Attorney General Steve Bradbury, thank you for this gift:

"The president is always right."

I'm so grateful to you. I mean, really, do I laugh, or do I cry? I couldn't decide, so first I spit Diet Coke all over my monitor. That turned out to be kind of a reflexive response, so then I wondered whether to laugh or cry. It's easy to laugh at first. But then you give it a little thought, perhaps reflecting only as far back as the last press conference and the vision of a world leader who cannot form an unscripted thought but has been granted unprecedented powers over lives and constitutional freedoms, and you find yourself getting a little weepy. Sobbing, even.

See there? Now my doldrums are back... Thank heaven the Dems have such a good sense of humor (via Americablog):

Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) offers a few more lessons learned:

Mr. Speaker, yesterday the President said we continue to be wise about how we spend the people's money.

"Then why are we paying over $100,000 for a 'White House Director of Lessons Learned'?

"Maybe I can save the taxpayers $100,000 by running through a few of the lessons this White House should have learned by now.

"Lesson 1: When the Army Chief of Staff and the Secretary of State say you are going to war without enough troops, you're going to war without enough troops.

"Lesson 2: When 8.8 billion dollars of reconstruction funding disappears from Iraq, and 2 billion dollars disappears from Katrina relief, it's time to demand a little accountability.

"Lesson 3: When you've 'turned the corner' in Iraq more times than Danica Patrick at the Indy 500, it means you are going in circles.

"Lesson 4: When the national weather service tells you a category 5 hurricane is heading for New Orleans, a category 5 hurricane is heading to New Orleans.

"I would also ask the President why we're paying for two 'Ethics Advisors' and a 'Director of Fact Checking.'

"They must be the only people in Washington who get more vacation time than the President.

"Maybe the White House could consolidate these positions into a Director of Irony."

That perked me up a bit.

By the way, I know that I promised some follow-up thoughts to this item. They're still growing, so please bear with me.