From The Guardian (emphasis mine):

George Bush was safely installed behind the high walls of Buckingham Palace last night at the start of a controversial state visit that will devote just 150 minutes to direct talks with Tony Blair on Iraq and other thorny problems.

Mr Bush, his wife, Laura, and a 700-strong entourage worthy of a travelling medieval monarch, flew into Heathrow airport slightly late, at about 7.30pm.

A man at an Ann Coulter appearance in Boulder does this:

“I stood up to the mic… kind of shaky, wasn’t sure if I was going to use it, or go after her intellectual bankruptcy, and I finally just decided… Then I thanked her for coming to Boulder, and then I said, “Ann, since you’re a self-proclaimed extreme right-winger, when are you going to take your own advice and get pregnant, march into the kitchen barefoot and make me a god damn sandwich?!”

Then, “the crowd roundly applauded me…” – “and I heard a good amount of boos, but it was mostly laughter.”

…

Anyway, “She stood there kind of aghast for a couple seconds, gathered herself, and went into a 30 second response about how LIBERALS were actually the ones who wanted their women to be barefoot and in the kitchen pregnant.”

[via TBOGG]

We all knew the 30-hour Senate debate was just show biz, but we hadn’t realized quite how much.

Via The Hill:

The 30-hour debate on President Bush’s judicial nominees began on a testy note Wednesday night.

After Republicans walked into the Senate chamber together to begin the extraordinary session, Democrats argued that their move was not a show of unity but rather a television stunt orchestrated for Fox News. They pointed to a memo from Manuel Miranda, a staffer for Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), which said:

“It is important to double efforts to get your boss to S-230 on time … Fox News Channel is really excited about this marathon and Brit Hume at 6 would love to open with all our 51 senators walking onto the floor — the producer wants to know will we walk in exactly at 6:02 when the show starts so they get it live to open Brit Hume’s show? Or if not, can we give them an exact time for the walk-in start?”

Democrats had unsuccessfully attempted to delay the debate until 8 p.m. to allow the Senate to first complete its work on the VA/HUD appropriations bill.

Democrats have confirmed 168 of the president’s judicial nominees since 2001 and have only blocked four. Republicans blocked 63 of former Democratic President Bill Clinton’s nominees, denying many of them even a confirmation hearing while in the majority.

How can the GOP have a convention in NYC without mixing with New Yorkers? By having many of the politicians stay on a cruise ship. We all know they think New Yorkers are scum, and this way they don’t have to defile themselves by interacting with the ones that work in hotels and restaurants, which I thought was supposed to be the only good thing about having the convention here.

Republicans, including Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Rep. Vito Fossella, are considering docking a luxury cruise ship in New York Harbor where members of Congress and lobbyists could stay and play during the GOP convention next summer.

…

“As far as the host committee is concerned, we have 22,000 hotel rooms reserved in New York City in close proximity to the [Madison Square] Garden, said mayoral spokeswoman Jennifer Falk. “Manhattan alone has an additional 44,000 hotel rooms. We are confident we are going to be able to provide a hotel room for every single delegate who needs one.”

The cruise ship, with accommodations for 2,200 guests and 14 bars and 10 restaurants, would mirror other hospitality suites DeLay (R-Texas) has championed for members of Congress at past conventions. At the 2000 Republican convention in Philadelphia, DeLay secured private railroad cars, where members could meet and mingle with invited guests such as lobbyists – no media allowed. He also provided members of Congress with cars and drivers. The amenities were funded by corporate contributions to a political action committee.

…

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-Brooklyn) criticized Republicans for eschewing city soil. “There’s something fishy about having hotel rooms on the water when so many are available on the island,” he said.