A question for the audience

What lie do you think George W. Bush would have to tell before his core constituency--the 40% or so of Americans who seem convinced that the Republicans are good guys doing their best in a difficult world and the Democrats are demons from the nether pits of hell--would realize he's a shameless and constant liar?

Okay, here's a harder question: What lie would he have to tell before CBS, NBC, or ABC referred to it as a "lie"?

Update: I forgot to mention the proximate cause of this post. Here's a nice summary of David Kay's interim report on Iraq weapons of mass destruction.

Read honestly, it indicates that Iraq's chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons and weapons programs were all basically destroyed in 1991, and the UN sanctions put in place after that kept them from coming back. This isn't a hidden meaning of the report; it's clear throughout it.

Woody Bush has said, in exactly as many words, that in his report, Kay was saying that "Saddam Hussein was a threat, a serious danger."

This is pissing on America's face and telling it that it's a light spring shower. What does it fucking take?

So I'm sitting in the waiting room

... and the vet comes out and says, "Long time, no see!"

We both laugh.

Yesterday I saw her for three separate matters:

1. Getting Courageous's semi-monthly steroid shot for her FIV-induced gingivitius;


2. Picking up medicine to treat the lice that Butch and Felix have; and


3. Getting a steroid medication to reduce the swelling of Rufus's pituitary tumor.

Today, I was in because Butch has a sore on his belly. The initial diagnosis is that it's a mammary cyst, possibly not even infected; we'll know better tomorrow when the cytology report comes back. On the bright side, yesterday's insecticide treatment seems to have done an amazing job of knocking out Butch's stubborn parasites.

In the last five days, I have been to one or another vet's office with one or another pet four times, spending a total of at least fifteen hours in the process. This takes a lot out of one.

nellorat has an excellent description of Rufus's illness. Basically, a tumor at the base of his brain is interfering with his muscle control to the point where he can walk only with difficulty and cannot feed nor groom himself. Curing this condition is almost impossible. He seems not to be in pain, so we are working on palliative care--as I said, the steroid should reduce the swelling; he's been on it two days, and I think I see some improvement in his mobility.

More cuteness than the human brain can handle

Many baby marsupials are visible here.

The baby kangaroos are great. The young wombat is senses-shattering.