and last but not least of the bush FRIDAY FARTS:

House Democrats effectively shut down the chamber's ethics committee yesterday by refusing to approve Republican ethics rule changes that would limit the panel's power. The panel is unique in that it is evenly divided between the two parties, and the rule-change vote was deadlocked 5-5. "Democrats have chosen to shut down the ethics process," a spokesman for House Speaker Denny Hastert told the WP, adding, ahem, "It's up to the House Democrats to put the ethics process above partisan politics."

from slate's Today's Papers... required reading for the real American. in ya