What Next for Sheehan Saga?

"But apparently not George W. Bush. In fact, well into the fifth year of his presidency, he has yet to issue a single veto.

"It's a streak unmatched in modern American history, one that throws into question traditional notions of checks and balances."

Watch Out for the Raging Grannies

Tony Seskus writes in the Calgary Herald: "U.S. Vice-President Dick Cheney is to jet into Alberta next month for an oilsands tour, further cementing the vital role Canada will play in supplying crude to the world's biggest energy consumer.

"Premier Ralph Klein surprised his aides Friday by revealing at the premiers meeting in Banff that U.S. President George W. Bush's right-hand man would arrive in September for a primer on the multibillion-dollar oilsands projects in northeastern Alberta.

Max Maudie writes in the Edmonton Sun: "Local environmental and antiwar groups are planning a hostile welcome for the American vice-president when he visits Alberta next month.

" 'He's not welcome as far as I'm concerned,' said Louise Swift, of Edmonton's Raging Grannies."

Bush's Reading List

Warren Vieth writes in the Los Angeles Times: "According to the White House, one of three books Bush chose to read on his five-week vacation is 'Salt: A World History' by Mark Kurlansky, who chronicled the rise and fall of what once was considered the world's most strategic commodity.

"The other two books he reportedly brought to Crawford are 'Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar' by Edvard Radzinsky and 'The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History' by John M. Barry. . . .

"Kurlansky said he was surprised to hear that Bush had taken his book to the ranch: 'My first reaction was, 'Oh, he reads books?'

"The author said he was a 'virulent Bush opponent' who had given speeches denouncing the war in Iraq.

" 'What I find fascinating, and it's probably a positive thing about the White House, is they don't seem to do any research about the writers when they pick the books,' Kurlansky said."

Dot Org

What could be funnier than people confusing the parody whitehouse.org Web site with the real whitehouse.gov Web site?

How about their e-mails?

Long archived here, a select number of the e-mails to whitehouse.org have now made it to the New York stage.

"Dear Dubya: Patriotic Love Letters to Whitehouse.org," now in an extended run at the Brick Theater in New York, consists of dramatic readings of some of the more credulous and nutty e-mails sent by actual people.

Rob Kendt reviews the show in the New York Times today.

According to the Web site's promotional material: "Whitehouse.org, the internet's most loathsome political parody, serves up a chillingly hilarious glimpse inside the minds of dot-com era voters -- in their own surprising voices. Dramatic readings from whitehouse.org's actual e-mail bag include outraged complaints confusing absurdist satire with federal policy, bizarre misaddressed letters to President Bush, and stunningly vicious hate mail threatening bodily harm and God's vengeance on the site's hopelessly deviant creators!"

And speaking of suffixes, since when did Whitehouse.com stop being a porn site?