Friday Short Takes

Away we go:

Calls for pullout of Iraq are dumb. Obviously we don't want to be there forever, and troops coming home should accelerate over the next year. But a closing date on our obligation to the state we've fostered is immature and short-sighted. There's arguably a whole host of lessons to be drawn from Iraq, but running away with our tail between our legs is no way to learn them.

Adult Swim is starting to suck. Between the preachy and unfunny Boondocks and the pretentious 12-Oz. Mouse, I can hardly muster a guffaw on an evenings watching. I spend my whole summer glued to Cartoon Network at 10:00 like a Pavlovian laugh-track. Now it's all awash in its coolness, and it's really getting tedious to sit through. I'm going to post an extended rant on the subject when I get an adultswim.com account, and I'll let you know.

I'm pleased by the momentum towards cutting spending in Congress, but there's nowhere near enough of it. Budget hawkery needs to become the issue in 2006, among Democrats and Republicans. If we can have a Gang of 14 to reach consensus on judicial nominations, then why can't there be reaching across the aisle to destroy government waste? The only fair way to do it is to slice up all the boondoggles: farm subsidies, entitlements, building projects, everything unnecessary or counterproductive needs to go. A serious take on this issue would rocket the Dems to victory next November. Even I might support them.