I’ve done it. I have joined a gym.

So this ice-skating couple just did an ice dance on ABC involving an American flag. Totally over the top. It was an exhibition show, though. They probably don’t do that in competition.

I happened to catch the U.S. Women’s Figure Skating Championships on TV last night. I mentioned this to my friend Dave, a big figure-skating fan, who told me they were rebroadcasting the men’s and pairs on ESPN2 today. So I watched some of that. And now I’m watching the U.S. Figure Skating Spectacular (which involved the aforementioned American flag.) So I’m all set to watch the Olympic figure skating next month.

In men’s figure skating, the U.S. champion (as of last night) is Johnny Weir, who referred to a competitor’s choreography last week as “a vodka-shot-and-a-snort-of-coke kind of thing.”

He said he would not censor himself because he was not brought up that way.

Asked if he thought of himself as a role model, he said yes, but only to children who “feel different or stifled or squashed,” because that was the kind of child he was. “No one is Jesus,” he said. “I’m not for everyone.”

He added: “I don’t make statements just to make them. I mean every single word I say regardless of if it’s offensive or mean-spirited. I’m not going to sugarcoat it in any way.”

The other two U.S. men’s Olympic competitors will be Evan Lysacek and Matt Savoie. Both are rather attractive.

Oh yeah, there are some women, too.

Actually, Sasha Cohen is quite fantastic. Matt told me that her name sounded familiar, but I told him he was probably thinking of this guy. As far as I know, he doesn’t skate.

Doesn’t she totally look like Christina Ricci, by the way?

Impeach Bush.

Yes, it’s a cliché. A bumper sticker. But it needs to happen. The wiretapping is the last straw.

Arguments against an impeachment effort:

• Republicans control the House, so Bush will never be impeached;
• conviction requires 67 senators, so he will never be removed;
• if he is removed, we have President Cheney until 1/20/09;
• the time and effort involved in impeachment would be better spent formulating solid policy positions and strategies for 2008 and beyond.

Arguments for an impeachment effort:

• Bush deserves to be impeached on principle;
• even if a serious effort fails, it will educate people;
• a serious effort could tie up Bush’s agenda for the rest of his presidency.

See also.

Something to keep in mind, at least if you are an optimist:

The American people stopped the Vietnam War–against the wishes of the President–and forced a reluctant Congress to act on the impeachment of President Nixon. And they can do the same with President Bush. The task has three elements: building public and Congressional support, getting Congress to undertake investigations into various aspects of presidential misconduct and changing the party makeup of Congress in the 2006 elections.

Drumming up public support means organizing rallies, spearheading letter-writing campaigns to newspapers, organizing petition drives, door-knocking in neighborhoods, handing out leaflets and deploying the full range of mobilizing tactics….

An energized public must in turn bear down on Congress….

Finally, if this pressure fails to produce results, attention must be focused on changing the political composition of the House and Senate in the upcoming 2006 elections. If a Republican Congress is unwilling to investigate and take appropriate action against a Republican President, then a Democratic Congress should replace it.