Ha ha!

If there's something hopeful to be said about cannibals, it's that after having eaten a bunch of people, they develop a preference for human-fed human--that is, they start eating each other.

Actually, I have no idea if that's true, but it provides a colorful analogy for two current stories about two of the prominent "cannibals" who have been instrumental in the ongoing destruction of this country and the world.

The first concerns the "woman" who delivered Florida to the losing candidate in the 2000 election, Katherine Harris. From NewsMax (emphasis added):

Katherine Harris expected a pat on the back and enthusiastic support from the White House and the Republican Party when she ran for the Senate. Instead, supporters say she's gotten a "stab in the back."

The Harris camp is furious over reports that top Republicans are out to sabotage her campaign for the nomination by urging another Republican to oppose her in the primary.

"It's unimaginable that the White House folks and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) would be so disloyal to Katherine Harris, especially after all she has done for the Bush family and the Republican party," one angry supporter declared.

"It's unconscionable and a stab in the back."

Harris is the courageous former Florida secretary of state whose enforcement of ballot-certification rules clinched George Bush's victory in the 2000 presidential election.

She was elected to the House two years later and wanted to run for the U.S. Senate from Florida last year.

But as NewsMax.com reported, the White House was said to have discouraged her candidacy, fearing it could rally Democrats bitter over the 2000 election and jeopardize President Bush's re-election chances.

She stepped aside - and Republican Mel Martinez won the Senate seat.

Now comes word that White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and NRSC Chairwoman Sen. Elizabeth Dole (N.C.) have met with state House Speaker Allan Bense about seeking the Republican nomination.

"If it's true, they should be ashamed and embarrassed, considering she stepped aside at their request for the president and Martinez in 2004," the supporter told the publication The Hill.

"It's her turn."

I guess it all comes down to how much clout her pimp has. "Courageous." Sheesh! Did NewsMax call Monica Lewinsky "courageous?"

The second, more prominent story concerns the man who arguably has done more to destroy American democracy than anyone (with the possible exception of Harris), Karl Rove. Apparently his big-mouth lawyer engaged in a little macho posturing talking to the Wall Street Journal, and Time reporter Matthew Cooper used that as his get-out-of-jail card. From the NY Times:

Around 7:30 on Wednesday morning, Mr. Cooper had said goodbye to his son, resigned to his fate. His lawyer, Mr. Sauber, called to alert him to a statement from Mr. Luskin in The Wall Street Journal.

"If Matt Cooper is going to jail to protect a source," Mr. Luskin told The Journal, "it's not Karl he's protecting."

That provided an opening, Mr. Cooper said. "I was not looking for a waiver," he said, "but on Wednesday morning my lawyer called and said, 'Look at The Wall Street Journal. I think we should take a shot.' And I said, 'Yes, it's an invitation.'"

In court shortly after 2, he told Judge Thomas F. Hogan of the Federal District Court in Washington that he had received "an express personal release from my source."

More on the Rove story from Josh Marshall and Xymphora.

As I recall from twelfth-grade English, the key to a Greek tragedy is that the hero is always brought down by his own character flaws. The Repugs running ruining this country are a virtual cornucopia of character flaws--so let's watch the tragedy play itself out as the cannibals start eating each other (in the literal sense of the word--I'm not talking about Jeff Gannon here).