YOU SAW MAUREEN DOWD LAST WEEK?

She begins her column:

Oh, as it turns out, they’re not on the run.

And, oh yeah, they can fight us here even if we fight them there.

And oh, one more thing, after spending hundreds of billions and losing all those lives in Iraq and Afghanistan, we’re more vulnerable to terrorists than ever.

And, um, you know that Dead-or-Alive stuff? We may be the ones who end up dead.

Squirming White House officials had to confront the fact yesterday that everything President Bush has been spouting the last six years about Al Qaeda being on the run, disrupted and weakened was just guff.

Last year, W. called his “personal friend” Gen. Pervez Musharraf “a strong defender of freedom.” Unfortunately, it turned out to be Al Qaeda’s freedom. The White House is pinning the blame on Pervez. . . .

IMPEACHMENT . . .

Mary Schroeder: “The Moyers transcript was well worth reading – thanks. The line that really stood out to me was Nichols: ‘You are seeing impeachment as a constitutional crisis. Impeachment is the cure for a constitutional crisis.’  I must admit, as appalled and outraged as I am by this administration, impeachment seemed a hopeless approach to dealing with it.  This discussion changed my mind.”

Eileen Bartlett: “If any of the elderly died in California from the heat, as so many did in France a couple of years ago, and it was directly related to the manipulation of electricy, then I think Cheney should definitely be impeached.”

Elliot Raphaelson:  “I was very impressed by Moyers’ interview with Fein.  I wrote letters to my local paper, Tom Friedman, Lou Dobbs and Nancy Pelosi trying to raise awareness re: the need and justification for impeachment of Bush and Cheney. I hope your readers will take similar action.”

Michael Joblin: “The Moyers program was spellbinding.  There is no question in my mind that impeachment of both Bush and Cheney is of supreme importance to the future of the republic.  Nancy Pelosi is absolutely wrong to oppose impeachment.  Is there no one in the House who is able and willing to seize this opportunity for greatness?”

Paul deLespinasse, Ph.D.: “The points I made about the requirements for a successful removal of Bush-Cheney, in last week’s Corvallis, Oregon Gazette-Times [included this one:]”

[The] impeachment process must be started by Republicans in the House of Representatives, not by Democrats — and least of all by Pelosi, whose legitimacy as third in line for the presidency after Bush and Cheney must be protected at all costs.

GLDD

Andy Frank: “You said: ‘Even with all the selling pressure one imagines there must have been from warrant holders exercising – and then immediately selling the stock to take their profit rather than put up an additional $5 and start the capital gains holding period all over again – even with all that, the stock closed at $8.80.’  If a warrant holder wanted to sell, why wouldn’t they just have sold their warrants, rather than first exercise the warrants and then sell the stock?”

F  Right.  They could have sold.  But then whoever bought them would face the same choice – exercise or sell.  So whoever owned this hot potato at the last possible moment last week, when they were about to expire, could either watch them go worthless or else put up $5 to exercise them.  (They would do the latter.)  And then, having put up $50,000 in cash, say, to exercise the 10,000 warrants they had bought for $4,000, they would either holding the stock or else selling it to get their $50,000 back (plus a further $38,000 or so).  My guess is that a lot of people would have wanted to take the money and run.  And yet with all that running, the stock held up pretty well.

PLUTOCRATS HEATING POOLS

Richard Factor:  “I am one of those plutocrats who heats his pool.  However I think you'll find my solution is more than a little unusual.”

WHAT ARE YOU DOING TONIGHT?

The Harry Potter movie has slipped to 7.8 audience-bestowed stars out of 10.  SiCKO still tops the charts at 8.5. 

Try it.  You’ll like it.