Presidential Tributes....or Posthumous Excess?

Seems that Ronald Reagan has become far more popular in death than he was as a B-movie actor or a U.S. President. Before he's even been laid to rest, there's a bit of Reagan mania (or is it political opportunism?) going on. First, an Ohio state legislator wants Regan's likeness added to Mount Rushmore. Not to be outdone, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky is tossing around the idea of booting the nation's first treasury secretary, Alexander Hamilton, off the $10 bill and replacing him with our now-deceased 40th President. And the folks at Jelly Belly, the maker of the candies that Reagan loved, have posted a jelly-bean portrait of their once-famous fan (BlogPulse top link #35 for June 8). But in the oh-so-insensitive department, ex-Smiths singer Morrissey nonetheless drew cheers at an Irish concert when he suggested that the current inhabitant of the Oval Office should have checked out instead....

Even though the networks seem to focusing on all-Reagan/all-the-time coverage, events in Iraq continue to heat up and unfold. And many critics of the entire situation, including the prisoner abuse and ongoing abuse investigations into the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, have responded to the leaked Pentagon memo with a catch phrase in the best of Washington traditions: "Torturegate."

On a lighter gee-whiz note for the techie world, folks are gushing over Apple's latest wireless hub, the Airport Express. According to Apple, it packs "wireless networking, audio, printing and bridging capabilities into a single affordable, portable unit." It's $129 (plus $39 for a connection kit), in case you were wondering.