Bush today:

FORT MEADE, Md. - President Bush, defending the government's secret surveillance program, said Wednesday that Americans should take Osama bin Laden seriously when he says he's going to attack again.

"When he says he's going to hurt the American people again, or try to, he means it," Bush told reporters after visiting the top-secret National Security Agency where the surveillance program is based. "I take it seriously, and the people of NSA take it seriously."

Hmm, I remember him having a different attitude earlier:

New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin made some statements today that were similar to statements by Pat Robertson, suggesting that God is punishing America with natural disasters for various sins:

NEW ORLEANS - Mayor Ray Nagin suggested Monday that Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and other storms were a sign that "God is mad at America" and at black communities, too, for tearing themselves apart with violence and political infighting.

"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.

"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses. But surely he is upset at black America also. We're not taking care of ourselves."

(I haven't seen this posted yet, but if it's old news, please let me know and I'll delete.)

By now, almost everyone has seen the picture showing two white people carrying food, with a caption saying that they were wading through water after "finding" bread and soda.  We are equally familiar with a picture showing a black man with food, with a caption saying that he was wading through water after "looting" a grocery store.  The pictures and captions have been widely cited as proof of racism in the media.  It's not limited to the blogosphere; even Kanye West commented bitterly on the captions (in the same segment in which he said that George Bush doesn't care about black people).

What I don't think most people have seen (at least I hadn't before today) are the comments from the photographers and their news agencies.  These comments suggest that there was no racial motive, even subconscious, behind the different labels.  

As some of you know, tonight's Simpsons episode features one of the characters "coming out" when same-sex marriage is legalized in Springfield.  I figure that this will be an interesting topic of discussion, so I'm creating this diary as sort of an "open thread" for discussing the show.   (Note to those who haven't seen it yet: The comment section contains spoilers.)

I don't think this has been diaried already; it didn't come up in my searches.  

NYT TV reviewer Alessandra Stanley has written a review of "Stolen Honor" that amounts to a strong endorsement of the film.  Even though it acknowledges a few "distortions" about Kerry, the overall thrust of the review is overwhelmingly positive.

Here's how it starts:

I hope there hasn't been a diary on this already; I did a search and didn't find one.  

Michael Moore is urging people to vote for Bob Kinsey, the Green Party candidate in Colorado's Fourth District, instead of Stan Matsunaka, one of the dKos 8.  Here is what he says:

I know it's been said many times before, but I have no idea why anybody takes Instapundit seriously.  Here's his latest pearl of wisdom (via Atrios):

MOVING THE GOALPOSTS: Reader T.J. Lynn notes this passage from an article in the New York Times: "No stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction have been found since the invasion."
(Emphasis added.)

So that's the new standard, I guess -- and a tacit admission that WMD have been found. But unless Bush can produce "stockpiles" now, it'll have all been a lie, you see. . . .

I noticed this story on CNN yesterday:

PORTLAND, Oregon (AP) -- Two disc jockeys were fired after playing an audiotape of the beheading of American Nicholas Berg by militants in Iraq and cracking jokes about the grisly death.

Listeners called the radio station to complain after hearing Berg's screams followed by the DJs laughing and playing musical accompaniments.

The DJs, known as Marconi and Tiny, were fired Thursday from their morning show perch at Portland's KNRK-FM, which is owned by Pennsylvania-based Entercom Communications Corp. Station employees would not release the DJs' legal names.

The station's manager broadcast an apology, saying: "The actions of the KNRK news morning show were insensitive, inappropriate and repulsive. On behalf of Entercom Portland and KNRK, I apologize to our listeners."

Via the already-indispensable Media Matters, here's yet another example of Rush making a pathetic attempt to minimize the Abu Ghraib photos--and falling flat on his face.  From the May 10 Rush Limbaugh Show:

And the picture caption "Dog attacks Iraqi." No, the dog isn't attacking anyone, the dog's on a leash. The dog is scaring an Iraqi prisoner. [gasp] "No! We're scaring them, too? Is that allowed in the Geneva Convention?! We're scaring then with dogs?" Yes, my friends we are. The dog didn't attack anybody. The dog's not attacking anybody. The dog's on a leash. Both of them are. I've seen the pictures. ...

Wow, just a dog on a leash?  Maybe those liberals ARE making too big a deal out of this quote-unquote scandal.  But then, 35 minutes later, Rush has a little correction to make:

(Via Pandagon.net).

This was reported at Pravda.ru:

Republican senators want to learn how to achieve the same level of support for Bush as the Russian President managed to get during the recent presidential elections. Senator Trent Lott has made this statement in his interview to RIA "Novosti".

"Democracy is an evolutionary process. I would like to congratulate Mr. Putin and the delegates of the State Duma with their victory. I would like to learn how we could reach the same level of support for Republicans and President Bush for the elections in our country," said Lott.

If this is true (and admittedly it sounds almost too "good" to be true), I think we should make a big deal out of it.  Russia isn't exactly a shining example of democracy these days.  The fact that a Republican Senator sees it as a model tells us a lot.