Rick Santorum is like Donald Trump; no matter how much we might beg and plead, he just won't go away.

Just days after the swearing-in of the new, improved Congress, while frosh legislators bumble around the Longworth building looking for suitable potties and Coke machines, Santorum has already moved on! Yup, Rick is a doer. No standing around and bemoaning his lost position in the halls of power. And none of that wimpy "I want to spend more time with Karen and the kids" stuff, either! What's Rick up to? Just this.

According to published reports, The Rickster is signing on as a "fellow" at a think tank! The mind reels! The comedic possibilities are endless and rather too easy.

I mean, all you have to do to get a laugh is to repeat after me...

Rick Santorum at a think tank?

...and watch the fun begin! Only Mr. Microphone could make it better.

Yup. That's the deal. But the fun is only beginning. Rick will be the latest loser on the block at the conservative Ethics and Public Policy Center. As a fellow, Rick will "...establish and direct an anti-terror program called "America's Enemies."

Santorum said that "without a clear definition and precise understanding of our enemies, we cannot fight effectively and our own citizens become divided."

So now it all becomes clear. When Rick started in on the Islamic Facists rhetoric during his '06 campaign, he wasn't trying to connect with voters, he was already doing the bidding of the Ethics and Public Policy Center. Got it.

All kidding aside, the idea of Santorum directing a group focusing on "America's Enemies" is frightening. Rick is not a stupid man, but he is a single-minded iconoclast. Just the sort to help us figure out who the "bad guys" are and what we should do about it. Sort of like the guy in the WH right now...

Something Rotten in Denmar....er...Manhattan

In the classic sports movie "Hoosiers," the coach, played by Gene Hackman says, "It's way past big speech time" as his unlikely small town athletes prepare for their final game.

And so it goes with the Bush administration. We're all past big speech time. Nothing more GWB can say will sway the way the American public perceives him. He is yesterday's news. A Presidential fish wrapper, on the verge of rotting.

But (and you can call me paranoid if you like...'cause everyone else is :-) the odiferous attack on New York City today has the stink of Bush/Cheney/Rove written all over it. One day prior to a "major policy speech," in which everyone expects POTUS to call for an escalation of the Iraq War, we get a smelly little reminder of just how vulnerable NY is.

It was a slick move. No one gets hurt, but the message is clear: "IF WANTED TO USE VX GAS AGAINST YOU, WE COULD!"

Am I giving this cadre more credit than they are due? Perhaps. If they were such Machiavellian geniuses, perhaps the GOP would still be in charge on Capitol Hill -- and we know they're not.

But I can't help thinking that the timing is just a little too...Rovian....for me.