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Don't get me wrong. I'm a big believer in infrastructure, and I like it even more when infrastructure spending comes to my neck of the woods. This is especially true when the spending involves trains, and train crossings, and ways to make them safer for everyone. I'm not complaining.

But still, I think it's worth pointing out just how hypocritical these Republicans are. Elton Gallegly is crowing all over the press about his most recent "get".

VC Star:

Metrolink spokesperson Sherita Coffelt said the railroad crossing at Spring Road near High Street will be upgraded to enhance safety for rail, vehicles, pedestrians and commercial property patrons.

The improvements will include relocating a warning signal, installing a new one, and installing two vehicle exit gates, she said."There will also be advanced reactions, which means that when a train is approaching, the warning lights will be coordinated with the traffic lights so that the traffic lights will never accidentally cause a car to get trapped on the tracks," she said.

Requested by Gallegly, the funding comes from the 2010 transportation/HUD appropriations bill as part of the Federal Railroad Administration's High Speed Rail Corridor Improvements program, said Tom Pfeifer, spokesman for Gallegly's Washington office.

Yeah. That would be the high speed rail spending program Gallegly voted to kill, alongside his fellow suicide bombers in the House so we could pay for disaster assistance.

But of course, that doesn't stop him from dancing all over the place about what a great guy he is:

Gallegly, R-Simi Valley, said he welcomed the funding.

"Every day, Metrolink, Amtrak and Union Pacific trains cross major intersections in Ventura County cities," he said in a statement. "This first-in-the-nation program that identifies and implements improvements to railroad crossings will reduce accidents and save lives."

Assistant City Manager Hugh Riley also welcomed the funding.

"In this day and age, with things the way they are, if he (Gallegly) got some money for railroad crossing improvements out here, that's terrific," Riley said. "So this is great news."

I realize that this is just the hundred-zillionth example of Republican hypocrisy, but this one hits pretty close to home. About ten miles away. We're an area that could really benefit from high-speed rail, too. So while Gallegly brings home the pork -- er, earmarks -- while claiming he's a hard-core fiscal conservative, all I can do is laugh. Or cry. Or something. I just can't wait until his seat is redistricted off the map. R-Simi Valley, indeed. The guy represents more than Simi Valley. Then again, he really doesn't. We're just unfortunate enough to be in his district anyway.

Wonk Room: Black Chamber of Commerce CEO calls Barbra Boxer a racist

MAL Contends: What Economy? Let the financial inquest begin

Veterans Today: To Veterans Affairs Secretary Shensiki: Time To Take The Gloves Off

Jeff Blog: Sharecropping

Big Brass Blog: Late for the train to Clueville

Academic Earth: Here's one the birthers, bullet boxers, and tea baggers wont be visiting. Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars

All Spin Zone: America, 2008. Just like any other authoritarian regime.

Foolocracy: C&L contributor, Blue Gal, tipped me to this along with the observation:"Your typical Republican candidate. Way old and can't seem to keep it in his pants. Admits he wasn't good to his seven kids or three wives, but endorses tougher divorce standards."

The Carpetbagger Report: Fox News or Crime Family extortionists? What's the G.D. difference?

Huffington Post: GOP looks to redistrict itself back into power

iCrew: A new site where creative people help each other out. Writers, filmakers, musicians, craftsmakers, and anyone else who'd like to use "the wisdom of crowds" to do things better, faster, and more participatively should find iCrew an exciting and useful resource.

Our friend Tammy Booth, better known as Blue Girl, Red State, has won a scholarship to the Netroots Nation bloggers convention that is being held in Austin later this month. She's trying to raise some money toward the train ticket and living expenses while in Texas. Times are tough, but kick in a few bucks if you can via Paypal over at her site.

Can someone track down all the times that President Bush and others have said that the Iraqi military has made just awesome progress in their training during the last years now and list them please?

Such An Awesome War:

Iraq's new army is "developing steadily," with "strong Iraqi leaders out front," the chief U.S. trainer said.

That was three-plus years ago, and the trainer was David H. Petraeus, now the top American commander in Iraq. Some of those Iraqi officials at the time were busy embezzling more than $1 billion allotted for the new army's weapons, according to investigators.

Nationwide security: In the latest shift, the Pentagon's new quarterly status report quietly drops any prediction of when local units will take over security responsibility for Iraq. Last year's reports had forecast a transition in 2008.

Bush's prediction: In January 2007, President Bush said Iraqi forces would take charge in all 18 Iraqi provinces by November. Four months past that deadline, they control nine provinces and none of the most volatile ones.

Cost: At least $22 billion has been spent to train an Iraqi military with narrow capabilities, critics and outside experts say.

Pentagon's view: Lt. Gen. James Dubik, the current trainer, said his team has made "huge progress in many areas, quality and quantity." Still, "we're not free of difficulties," he said, citing as an example a critical shortage of midlevel Iraqi officers that will take years to close.

Iraqi view: Dubik says Iraqi defense officials don't expect to take over internal security until as late as 2012 and won't be able to defend Iraq's borders until 2018.

Happy Saint Patricks Day! You could celebrate with an Irish seven-course meal, (a six pack and a potato), or this.

Unqualified Offerings: The good news from Iraq has been relocated

Greg Mankiw's Blog: BUSHCO rushes to the aid of reckless rich guys.

Just World News: The plan hatched by Condi Rice and Elliott Abrams to train up a Palestinian 'Contras'-style force under the auspices of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) has fallen into a significant degree of chaos.

Scott Horton: The gathering storm at the Department of Justice

OFF THE BEATEN PATH: dangerblond, Common Nonsense, Buffalo Wings and Toasted Ravioli, Anderson Brown's Political Blog

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This morning on CBS' Sunday Morning Ben Stein gave his take on the Eliot Spitzer scandal and his thoughts may surprise you. I'm no fan of Stein, but I think he may have made some valid points. As with many political scandals involving sex, it's the naughtiness that gets the coverage and many important issues are often overlooked. As Stein puts it, it sets a dangerous precedent when a handful of appointed officials brings down elected officials, seriously impacting the will of the voters.

"...However, in Governor Spitzer's case he got humiliated, disgraced and then the voters lost the guy they voted for. It is deeply scary to me that a few employees of the federal executive branch can start a train rolling that has such immense effects on the electoral process. Basically a few career civil servants have nullified the will of the voters of the Empire state, over something clearly wrong, I don't doubt that, but it's not a political crime, not treason, not terrorism..."

What do you think? Does he have a valid point?

Disgraced Republican Senator Larry Craig announced that he would resign from the Senate effective September 30th. Apologizing to his family, colleagues and constituents, Craig was somewhat humbled, yet remained defiant to the end. It should be noted that someone brilliantly chose to hold the presser at the historic Boise Train Station -- we sincerely hope the Senator used his bathroom at home before leaving to make his announcement...

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International Herald Tribune:

China manufactured every one of the 24 kinds of toys recalled for safety reasons in the United States so far this year, including the enormously popular Thomas & Friends wooden train sets, a record that is causing alarm among consumer advocates, parents and regulators.

Just in the last month, a ghoulish fake eyeball toy made in China was recalled after it was found to be filled with kerosene. Sets of toy drums and a toy bear were also recalled because of lead paint, and an infant wrist rattle was recalled because of a choking hazard.Over all, the number of products made in China that are being recalled in the United States by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has doubled in the last five years, driving the total number of recalls in the country to 467 last year, an annual record.

It also means that China today is responsible for about 60 percent of all product recalls, compared with 36 percent in 2000.

Anyone remember who Bush nominated for the Consumer Product Safety Commission? That's right, the guy consistently FOR the laxing of safety standards. Luckily for us, his nomination was withdrawn, but let's keep a close eye on the next one.

Forbes:

The federal government has agreed to pay an Oregon lawyer $2 million to settle part of a lawsuit he filed after the FBI misidentified a fingerprint and wrongly arrested him in the 2004 Madrid terrorist bombings.

"The pain and torture and humiliation that this (case) has caused my family is hard to put into words," Brandon Mayfield said after the settlement was announced Wednesday.

Mayfield was arrested in May 2004 on the basis of a fingerprint found on a bag of detonators in Madrid that was mistakenly matched to him after the March 11, 2004, train bombings that killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,500. Mayfield was jailed on a material witness warrant but was released after the FBI acknowledged the fingerprint was not his.

Mayfield, who was detained for two weeks, and his wife, Mona, maintained that he was arrested because of his Muslim faith.

"We are Muslims. We are American. We are patriotic," Mona Mayfield said. "We are unhappy with the current administration stripping away our rights." Read on...

He's so distraught over the state of Iraq that Thomas Friedman is losing his mind. He now tells us that Iraq is like thirty civil wars and the only solution would be to reoccupy Iraq again. Wasn't once enough? And we're still occupying Iraq or did we already redeploy our troops?. He wants to go into a time machine and start all over. If we actually---you know had time travel--we wouldn't have invaded Iraq at all! Right Thom? Basically---he's in fantasy land.

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Friedman: ...To have a proper civil war you need to have two sides ----you have about thirty sides---It's beyond a civil war there.

Vieira: So what does that mean in terms of our role there then, Thom?

Friedman: Um, Obviously when you're dealing now with something broken up into so many little pieces--it's hard to believe that anything other than re-occupying the country--um, and establishing the very coherent order we failed to do from the beginning is really the only serious option left.

Vieira (stunned) But, is that really a serious option---to reoccupy the country?

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