Talk about Defiance!

On Wednesday, the President blatantly defied congress and appointed Sam "Swift Boat" Fox to be Ambassador to Belgium.

You might remember Fox - he is the nominee whose name was withdrawn last month after his sponsorship of the Swift Boat Liars for Perfidy during the 2004 election turned out to be an issue for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. You remember the cloying jackass Fox - he is the feckless, simpering liar who looked the man he helped to slander in the 2004 presidential election by saying he didn't deserve his war commendations in the eye - and said he considers him a hero.

Bush used his power to make recess appointments to put Fox in his position just like he used it to plant John Bolton at the U.N. when it became obvious that he would not be confirmed to the ambassadorship. Fox will enjoy his appointment until the end of the current session of Congress - which will coincide with the scheduled end of the Bush presidency.

He also used recess appointments to put a couple of other unconfirmable lackeys in key positions at the Office of Management and Budget and the Social Security Administration.

Congress will be back next week, and this is certain to be a bee in their bonnet. I get really angry when I think about his thought-processes. It's all a big game to him - who can screw who hardest, fastest and first? "I'll show them sumbitches. They don't get to tell me 'No!' 'cuz I'm George Bush! I'll show 'em!"

Does he realize that nothing is in a single compartment, everything is interconnected when examined closely?

How will this play out?

Is he thinking he can shift public opinion by pissing Congress off to the point they will deny his every last wish? Is he trying to use this to get Congress to cut off war funding and then he will try to blame congress?

Does he think this is just brinksmanship?

Or when I ask 'Does he think...?' am I being far too generous?

(Hat tip to And, yes, I DO take it personally. I firmly believe that it's better to learn infuriating news from a friend.)

More Good News

This is not merely good news...This is spectacular news!

Elizabeth Edwards has a type of breast cancer that is treatable by estrogen agonists.

Mrs. Edwards, pointing out a large bruise on the back of her hand and another on her forearm from her IV, said she got an initial course of a bone-building drug. She's also taking Femara, an aromatase inhibitor, but is not undergoing chemotherapy treatments.

She said the development of drugs such as Femara is one of many reasons that reports that she's likely to die within five years are not accurate.

"Femara didn't exist five years ago," she said. "I don't expect to get yesterday's medicine. If I can help it, I'd like to get tomorrow's medicine."

Several news organization have reported an American Cancer Society statistic that says the five-year survival rate for Stage IV breast cancer that spread to other organs is just 26 percent. But the cancer society put out a statement saying that is not applicable in her case because it only applies when a woman initially walks into a doctor's office with Stage IV breast cancer, not when she had treatment and the cancer later spread.

There are few good estimates of survival time for these patients. Treatment is easiest if the recurrence is limited to the breast area, and survival is much shorter if the cancer spreads aggressively to vital organs like the liver, lungs or brain.

The bone seems to be somewhere in the middle. A subset of patients with estrogen receptor-positive tumors that appear in only the bone have a good chance at surviving for 10 years, according to Dr. Julia Smith, head of the New York University Cancer Institutes' breast cancer prevention program.

Mrs. Edwards said she's marking 10 years as her "bottom line."

"But even then I'm not happy," she said. "I'm 67 in 10 years. That's not enough. I've got more stuff to do."

Ten years isn't enough. But it beats the hell out of ten months, and Elizabeth, every minute we have you is a blessing.

Keep up the good fight.

I've got your back.

BREAKING: Iran to release British captives

CNN is reporting that the British Sailors and Marines who were captured two weeks ago in disputed waters have been "pardoned" by Iranian president Mahmood Ahmadinejad. They will be released from custody and turned over tho the British Embassy in Tehran.

"I declare that the people of Iran and the government of Iran -- in full power to place on trial the military people -- to give amnesty and pardon to these 15 people and I announce their freedom and their return to the people of Britain," Ahmadinejad said.

The action was a goodwill gesture for the Iranian new year, he said, adding that Iran had received a letter from Britain promising not to intrude into Iranian waters.

The release of the British personnel is welcome news indeed, and here is hopign they are home with their families by Easter.

Sailor Surprises His Son

Before you play this video, have a tissue handy.

I know first-hand how that little boy felt. The relief that he's home, that he didn't die in an ill-advised pissing contest.

I was a six-year-old with a father at war. It was a long time ago, but watching this makes all those long-ago emotions raw and fresh again.

Bring them all home. Now.