There are only moments


Anthony Barboza, James Baldwin, NYC, 1975

* NYT on Goodling testomony. excerpt:

"It would have been naïve to think that Monica Goodling, a right-wing true believer and onetime Republican opposition researcher, was going to blow the whistle on the United States attorney scandal. But Ms. Goodling made some disturbing admissions yesterday, even as she strained to present every fact in the most favorable light to her Bush administration allies and claimed convenient memory lapses. Ms. Goodling admitted to politicizing the Justice Department in ways that certainly seem illegal; she made clear that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales lied at a critical point in the investigation; and she gave Congress all the reason it needs to compel Karl Rove and Harriet Miers, the former White House counsel, to testify about what they know.

"In her testimony to the House Judiciary Committee, Ms. Goodling removed all doubt about whether partisan politics infected the Justice Department’s treatment of federal prosecutors. She admitted that she investigated the party affiliations, and even campaign contributions, of applicants for prosecutor, and other nonpolitical jobs. 'I know I crossed the line,' she said of her actions, which may have violated federal law. Her admission that partisan politics was used to hire people only makes it more likely that it was also used to fire people."
...
"Ms. Goodling was an odd witness. She was one of the most powerful officials in the Justice Department, but claimed to be a minor player who barely knew what was going on around her. 'At heart, I am a fairly quiet girl, who tries to do the right thing and tries to treat people kindly along the way,' said the 33-year-old Ms. Goodling. She presented herself as an innocent, yet testified only under immunity and admitted to apparently illegal practices.

"The only people odder than Ms. Goodling were the House Republicans who rushed to praise her. Even in these partisan times, a Justice Department official who admitted to her level of wrongdoing ought to draw bipartisan condemnation.

"As with other witnesses, notably Mr. Gonzales, Ms. Goodling’s memory lapses were not credible. On questions that made her uncomfortable, the past was a blur. But on others, her recall was remarkable, as when she denied misinforming Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty about the dismissal of the attorneys before he testified to Congress."
...
"Ms. Goodling made clear that the Justice Department was shamefully politicized. Congress needs to find out how far it went, and who was involved. Then it can begin the long and difficult process of trying to restore the department’s integrity and reputation."

* Not Surprising: Lots of Moms smoke pot. excerpt:

"A number of mothers in the Phoenix area admit they use marijuana to wind down after a long day, television station KPHO reported.

"Shay Pausa surveyed hundreds of mothers through her Web site, Chikii.com. She targeted women in affluent suburban areas.

"'These were middle to upper-middle class women, professional women, mommies. We had some that were members of the PTA and one school teacher even reported,' Pausa said.

"They're women like Jan, who's 30 and has one child.

"'I like it just to relax, if I'm very stressed out and I just need some time, just to relax. It's good for that,' Jan said."

"Sue is 37 and has two kids.

"'But I've also used it for headaches. I've used it when I've been sick with the stomach flu, when I've been really nauseous and, I mean, I need to function. So it's in my medicine cabinet,' Sue said.

"Of the hundreds of mothers Pausa surveyed, 52 percent said they smoke pot at least 10 times a year.

"Twenty-seven percent said they smoke it one to seven times a week."

-- related: Forbes' Magazine slideshow: Most exotic types of pot.

* Bird's eye view of Michael Jordan's home.

* "Make visible what, without you, might perhaps never have been seen." -- Robert Bresson