My two favorite Republicans had to shift into reverse, at least for a few minutes last week. Starting with governor Arnold, although he’s not a musician, he violated that ironclad good advice which musicians always have exchanged; he quit his day job. It seems the muscular governor has been working a deal with a couple of those body building magazines. I don’t know anything about his job description, but he’s been described in the newspapers as an "executive editor." I suspect that his editorial responsibilities consisted primarily of posing for cover photos, but it has been reported that he had a five year contract paying about $1 million a year.

This deal was no secret, but for some reason, some newspapers decided last week to make something of it, and the governor showed his keen sense of the political pulse by immediately quitting the job. The criticism he took was that the magazines which employed him accept advertising from the purveyors of legal dietary supplements while, as governor, he vetoed legislation which would have prevented underage athletes from using those substances. It’s a bit of a stretch, but I suppose you could discern a conflict of interest there. If so, the deed is already done, but the governor’s response effectively erased it as an issue.

Arnold’s personal financial dealings got some other unwelcome ink this week when it was reported that he’s making money by paying himself from campaign contributions. Three different political advocacy organizations which receive income from contributions to the governor rent offices in the same building in Santa Monica, a building which is owned by Arnold. In other words, he receives campaign contributions which are transformed into personal income when he uses the money to pay himself rent. This arrangement also was no secret, and in fact, it’s perfectly legal. It continues to amaze me, however, how obscenely wealthy people have endless creative ways of continuing to make more money.

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The Bushwhacker did a little backpeddling, too, but he didn’t have to worry much about the politics of the situation. He said he didn’t really mean he would fire any member of his staff who revealed the identity of a CIA spy. What he really meant was that he would fire anyone convicted of a crime for doing such a thing. I’m sure Karl Rove was relieved to hear that. Why do I get the feeling that Dub doesn’t have the authority to fire Karl Rove even if he wanted to?

I’ve heard some talk, even from critics of the Bush administration, that the Rove/Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame/Judith Miller story is just an overblown trivial incident. Maybe it will be remembered that way, but the Watergate burglary was even more trivial, at first. It’s not important because a White House staffer ratted out a CIA spy. Other people have done that on a much larger scale and signed book contracts to do it. It’s not even all that important because the President lied about it. This President and others have told bigger lies. It’s important because this President told this little lie about this little story in the course of trying to conceal one of those much bigger lies. It’s the story that opens the door to how the Bush gang, with the cooperation of Sheriff Tony Blair, is right in the middle of committing what may be the biggest stagecoach holdup in history. Rove’s big mouth in this incident is roughly the equivalent of Gordon Liddy and his pals getting caught in that office in the Watergate. What they were doing was small change, but the reason they were doing it was high stakes.

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So who’s this guy John Roberts and why should he be on the Supreme Court? By all reports, he’s a certifiable right winger who passes the Roe v. Wade test, but he’s only been a judge for a couple of years, so it’s impossible to attack him on his record. Good move by the Bush gang. The Democrats have zero chance of stopping this guy. All the noise leading up to his confirmation will be about aborting pregnancies, but the real qualification Mr. Roberts brings to the job is a career as a corporate lawyer. Whether the Supremes eventually dump Roe v. Wade is insignificant compared to the damage a Bush dominated court can do on behalf of democracy by corporation. The last time I looked, being a corporate lackey didn’t disqualify anyone from serving as a judge, and I don’t think anyone in the US Senate will even raise the subject. Unless Roberts makes or has made a huge mistake, he gets the robe and the gavel.

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Obituaries include William Westmoreland, the general who ran the US occupation of Viet Nam and never expressed any doubt about what a righteous thing that was to do. He was accused of lying to the President about enemy troop strength in Nam, and he later sued CBS for defaming him. The news network settled without going to trial. The General was immortalized in the comics as General Waste More Land.

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A couple of current items on the surveillance society: The FBI has collected a vast amount of documentary information about groups like the ACLU, Greenpeace, and anyone who makes any noise in opposition to the Bush gang. This probably isn’t news, since the FBI was doing the same thing in the 60s and 70s to anti-war groups. Just wanted to let you know they’re still doing it.

And you’ve heard those stories about how Republican types think global warming is the deluded fantasy of a few drug-crazed, tree-hugging hippies. A Republican Congressman from Texas named Joe Barton is the chair of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and as such, he has hired investigators to hassle three scientists who assembled and published some statistical information about climate change. Barton’s agenda is to prevent Congress from passing any legislation that would prevent his corporate supporters from causing all the pollution they want to cause. Use a thermometer; go to jail.