GOP presidential hopeful joke Herman "Reread the Constitution!" Cain lectures about knowing the Constitution, as his quotes confuse that document with the Decl'n of Independence.  

This is just after formally declaring his candidacy, and just after appearing on Fox where he clearly demonstrated he had no clue about the meaning of "right of return" in the Palestinian context, and after previously disclosing he had absolutely no plan on the Afghanistan issue.

What are the provisions being voted on?

There are three provisions at issue. One, roving wiretaps that allow broad electronic surveillance from the FBI on any phone line or communications device. Two, the ability to access business, medical or virtually all other records of any suspect, regardless of the relationship to terrorism. Three, the "lone wolf" provision to allow surveillance of people with no ties to a terrorist group. Earlier this year, the Congress extended these provisions for 90 days. That expires on Friday.

In other words, they are voting to make sure the government has carte blanche to do whatever it wants, to whomever it wants, with no requirement that there be any connection to terrorism.  In other words, Welcome to the Permanent Surveillance State.

Oh, and my son performed with his old band in San Diego last weekend, in their annual adjudicated festival performances.  Both bands he played in received Gold ratings (top 10% nationally), and his low brass section was given a special musicianship award.  Take that, all you high brass.

Puts all my so-called problems in perspective, that's for sure.  

Good-friend-to-the-common-man Joe Biden is hosting the latest meeting of the Bipartisan Debt Ceiling Group, at which the focus will be Medicare and Medicaid, and how to find cost savings that both sides can agree on.

The Tuesday session, which will be held on Capitol Hill, is expected to focus on healthcare spending, according to a source close to the discussions.

Analysts at the non-partisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimate that savings to the U.S. budget deficit of between $25 billion and $130 billion could be achieved over 10 years by increasing the costs to people in the Medicare healthcare program for the elderly.

Biden's group has initially focused on areas where the two sides can most easily agree.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget estimates that these areas could yield deficit savings of between $1 and $2 trillion over the next decade.

But, here are my questions: what if the things the two sides can most easily agree on are really bad ideas?  What if taking the path of least resistance - "the sandbox is so much more fun when we all share!" - is going to set many people on the path to poverty?  Doesn't that matter anymore?

I guess not, because the Congress has become a place not where matters of principle are fought over with passion and conviction, or where the Constitution actually matters to anyone, but a place where the most important thing is to agree, to "get things done," even if the things they agree on and are getting done are really, really bad.

Hehee.

Friends of alleged hotel sex fiend Dominique Strauss-Kahn secretly contacted the accusing maid's impoverished family, offering them money to make the case go away since they can't reach her in protective custody, The Post has learned.

The woman, who says she was sexually assaulted by the disgraced former head of the International Monetary Fund, has an extended family in the former French colony of Guinea in West Africa, well out of reach of the Manhattan DA's Office.

"They already talked with her family," a French businesswoman with close ties to Strauss-Kahn and his family told The Post. "For sure, it's going to end up on a quiet note."