Did I say that out loud?

2004 was a year of astounding public statements.

For instance, there's Arlen Specter. After a great victory for Bush and himself (helped by Bush) he chose that time to warn the President not to pick judges who are too conservative. What he's supposed to say is as Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, he will work hard to get the President's choices confirmed and then, in private, warn Bush against overdoing it. His statement demonstrated not independence, but stupidity.

Earlier this year, several military people said they had Osama bin Laden cornered and expected him captured within the year. Why would anyone ever say this? I don't even see how it could be a psych-op to smoke him out, or demoralize his people. (It could be a psych-op to demoralize us, I guess.) If you actually have him cornered, you hold your breath for as long as is needed and...capture him! And if you can't capture him, I guess you didn't really have him cornered. Thank goodness Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf seems to get it and is now saying the trail is cold. This gives me great hope for the future.

Finally, we have Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson resigning with this statement: "For the life of me, I cannot understand why the terrorists have not attacked our food supply because it is so easy to do." Great, any other suggestions? I guess he wants to have a better record protecting us than the next guy.