July 13, 2046 -- One week ago, Sen. Len Trott (R-Miss), speaking at celebration of former President George W. Bush's 100th birthday, said "We wouldn't have had all these problems if George had been re-elected in 2004, and I'm proud that Mississippi voted for him."

Bush ran on an anti-gay platform that year and supported a constitutional amendment that would have stripped gay men and women of their right to marry. Bush has since recanted his views, but Trott's comments left many with the impression that he was expressing a reminiscience for the days of anti-gay discrimination.

In an interview on Bravo, Trott attempted to quell the controversy by citing the good relationships he had with several gay lawmakers in his home state. Rush Limbaugh, the longest-running and most popular conservative radio show host in the country with 2,500 listeners, said he was always for gay rights, but that "the liberal media is making a big deal out of nothing here. Trott was just trying to bring a smile to the dear leader's face. And this talk of an association with the American Family Institute as evidence of bigotry is just ridiculous. For goodness sake, what would an organization dedicated to families have to do with an anti-gay agenda!?"

Despite these attempts to minimize the backlash of Trott's slip-up, some in the party are calling for him to step down as minority leader. Sen. Phil Brist, DVM, of Tennessee is being pushed by party leaders as a possible successor, since he is the only other Republican in the Senate.

There are a couple of cartoons that a have passed around a few blogs that really offended me.

From the left, Ted Rall.

From the right, Jack Higgins.

Both horribly tasteless in my book.

I agree with the premise of the first cartoon that Iraq and Afghanistan and the way they've been handled are hurting more than helping with the war on terror. But suggesting that Pat Tillman or military volunteers in general are in it to wreak havoc on the Middle East is slanderous. Sometimes you have to understand that not everything fits nicely into your little stereotypes. Football player and soldier? He must love violence... but Rall may be surprised to learn that Tillman, like the rest of us, couldn't be charicatured by single words like "athlete" or "soldier." If you've been around the blogs this week you've probably seen this article, but if not it is worth quoting in its entirety:

The quote that really got my attention in the New York Times article about Disney blocking Miramax's release of a Michael Moore film was this:

A senior Disney executive elaborated that the company had the right to quash Miramax's distribution of films if it deemed their distribution to be against the interests of the company. The executive said Mr. Moore's film is deemed to be against Disney's interests not because of the company's business dealings with the government but because Disney caters to families of all political stripes and believes Mr. Moore's film, which does not have a release date, could alienate many.

While I was willing to believe that this may be a business decision (I assume they are concerned about alienating customers because they would lose money, not because they value their friendship) and not a political one, there seemed to be a few flaws with this line of reasoning.

I guess Bush does have a plan -- prayer.

Asked whether he expected the violence to abate soon, Bush said: "It's hard to tell. I know this, that we're plenty tough, and we'll remain tough."

"Obviously, every day I pray there is less casualty, but I know what we are doing in Iraq is right" Bush said. "It's right for long-term peace. It's right for the security of our country. And it's hard work."

I really don't how talk like this can inspire anybody or encourage anybody about the president's competency to handle this, unless you believe his prayers will make everything okay. I am not trying to demean praying, it's just that I haven't heard anything else from him, and I think most people would like more from him than prayers.

Yesterday marked the ten year anniversary of the assassination of President Habyarimana that sparked the genocide in Rwanda. Radical Hutus blamed a rebel Tutsi faction for shooting down the president's plane, though whether the Hutus had done this themselves in order to set in motion an organized massacre is still debated. Extremists mobilised militias and incited citizens, calling for an exercise of "Hutu Power" in retaliation. 900,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates were killed in next three months. Millions of refugees from both sides fled to neighboring countries.

Since then, the international community, particularly the U.S. and U.N., have come to realize that the genocide was not unavoidable. Clinton traveled to Rwanda and apologized in 1998. Kofi Annan has also admitted he should have done more.