Monday news is the best news

Amnesty International's 2005 Human Rights Report was recently made public. The introduction to the Unites States chapter mentions death-by-taser incidents, our wonderful death penalty, and countless abuses documented from Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Bush, in a Rose Garden news conference this morning, called the human rights report "absurd," and said the allegations were made by "people who hate America." Dick Cheney, in tonight's Larry King Live episode, will tell America that he's "offended" by the report. So you don't have to put yourself through the torture of watching an entire hour of Larry King, here are a few Cheneyrific highlights courtesy of the NY Times:

He said repeatedly that freed detainees were "peddling lies." "What we're doing down there has, I think, been done perfectly appropriately," Mr. Cheney added. The vice president also said he felt "more optimistic than I've been at any time in the last four years" about prospects for Mideast peace. Asked whether the United States had ever been close to capturing Osama bin Laden, Mr. Cheney said, "I can't say that we've ever been close to bin Laden." Calling Mr. Bolton "a superb public official," Mr. Cheney brushed aside Democrats' requests for more information on him, saying: "I think it's just an excuse. There's nothing being hidden from them." A detainee's report that a Koran had been flushed down a toilet, he said, has been shown to be "totally bogus." "If we want to have a Bush dynasty, let's get Laura Bush," Mrs. Cheney said. Her husband declared that "a great idea," adding, after a pause, "And I think I know who would win, too."

Another stunning bizarro World interview with the man that runs our country. Oh, and your Tuesday must-read is yesterday's Star Tribune editorial.

As this bloody month of car bombs and American deaths -- the most since January -- comes to a close, as we gather in groups small and large to honor our war dead, let us all sing of their bravery and sacrifice. But let us also ask their forgiveness for sending them to a war that should never have happened. In the 1960s it was Vietnam. Today it is Iraq. Let us resolve to never, ever make this mistake again. Our young people are simply too precious.

Happy Monday, y'all!!