To Ed, anybody who persists in pointing out bad news for his politicians and won't back down is a "spammer". The little boy who cried "The Emperor wears no clothes!" was a "spammer" by Ed's lights. There's no shame at all in refusing to go along with trying to sweep the bad news under the carpet.

The really amazing thing is that Darth Poindexter keeps rising from the crypt, despite a proven track record of sleaze. One can only assume that he knows where the bodies are buried (perhaps because he's participated in so many of the dark operations that created the bodies in the first place). He was pardoned by Pappy, and now he's surfaced in Dubya's Admininstration; any reasonable person can guess that he has the goods on the Bush family. He's carried their water, and one hand washes the other--he's been a loyal soldier, and he'll keep quiet as long as they take care of him.

My reaction upon hearing of his latest departure was "ding dong, the witch is dead!". But my satisfaction is tempered by the sure knowledge that he'll be back. Maybe he'll have learned to keep to the shadows, his natural environment, but one way or another we haven't heard the last of the Evil One.