JOHN CONYERS (D-Mich.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, mocked fellow lawmakers who insist on actually reading legislation before they vote. The message is clear: don’t bother with the details, just trust us. We’ll see if the American public’s opposition to the proposed nationalization of health care stays strong or if something comes along (World Series? Football? Washington scandal?) to distract us.
IN A move that’s clearly intended to send a message to Iran, the Israeli navy has sailed two of its most advanced missile boats through the Suez Canal and into the Red Sea. Only ten days ago, an Israeli submarine believed to be equipped with cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads made the same passage.
The message is direct: “We can move nuclear weapons within range anytime we want.”
THE Egyptian meme continues to percolate through the culture: Barack Obama as the new King Tut; Michael Jackson as a court wizard to Ankhenaten; and now a woman who calls herself Nona Paris Lola Ankhesenamun Jackson, who claims to be Jackson’s widow and says, “Though he died to this earth he lives with my father Khalid Lucifer.” “Khalid” is a pre-Islamic Arabic name that means “the immortal” — thus her father is the immortal Lucifer. Ms. Ankhesenamun (the name of Tutankhamen’s wife, who married the vizier, Ay, after Tut’s death) may be nuts, but the meme continues to spread.