A White House spokesman told reporters that GWB “stayed up past his usual bed time I think” to see who won Iowa, and also that he thinks that the primaries are great tests of character. It’s not about the day-to-day, Bush has reportedly said in private, probably out loud to no one in particular, but it’s how you do over the long term that counts. There are a great many other revealing character tests in politics, like how one can serve as the president for 8 years and yet leave office without a single valuable policy initiative accomplished or a single competent appointment made but still think one’s opinion is valuable, for example. [CNN]

So let’s say you’re running a state, California let’s say, and you have a bit of a budget shortfall to the tune of $14 billion dollars. For the hell of it, let’s also say that you’re prison system is totally fucked, packed to the brim, bursting at the seams, etc, and also costing the state a pretty penny. You’re an innovative governor, an actor or something instead of a career politician, so you’re into finding innovative solutions that work for the average Californian. Is there some solution you can come up with to ease the prison burden and also save the state some cash? Hey, wait! Why not just let the prisoners out of prison? MORE »