Remember Whitewater, and our eagerness to appoint a special prosecutor? It was all founded on nothing, but that’s the way we do things in America; if there’s reason to be suspicious, we investigate.

In the case of a memo from Cheney’s office directing the army to choose Halliburton over other contractors in Iraq, it appears we have a smoking gun, certainly way more evidence than we had with Whitewater. And it appears Rumsfeld, too, was steering work to Halliburton, which could end up billing the government as much as $18 billion for its work in Iraq. (Damn, that’s more than I’ve made in my entire life.)

So what are we waiting for? Investigate, for Christ’s sake, and if there’s enough there, impeach. The country is being raped, while the architects of war and their buddies are getting rich beyond all belief.

Whatever you do, be sure to see Kristoff’s NY Times column today. He was an eyewitness to the June 4 madness at Tiananmen Square 15 years ago and, as always when he writes about this subject, you know it’s from the heart.

Like most commentators on China, he acknowledges the new personal liberties while criticizing the continued strangulation of politcal freedoms. He notes the challenges the government faces and how at any time the right combination of factors can bring it down.

But then he makes a personal observation of that day in 1989 that stopped me for a moment. I could tell how strongly he felt as he wrote it, and I identified with every word. It’s what I’ve been trying to articulate here for two years.

It’s often said that an impoverished, poorly educated, agrarian country like China cannot sustain democracy. Yet my most powerful memory of that night 15 years ago is of the peasants who had come to Beijing to work as rickshaw drivers.

During each lull in the firing, we could see the injured, caught in a no-man’s-land between us and the troops. We wanted to rescue them but didn’t have the guts. While most of us in the crowd cowered and sought cover, it was those uneducated rickshaw drivers who pedaled out directly toward the troops to pick up the bodies of the dead and wounded.

Some of the rickshaw drivers were shot, but the rest saved many, many lives that night, rushing the wounded to hospitals as tears streamed down their cheeks. It would be churlish to point out that such people are ill-prepared for democracy, when they risked their lives for it.

We’re forgetting that point, when we say the Chinese don’t care so much for democracy as long as they can move up in the world. How can that be true if they were willing to die for it, even at a time of dramatic financial advancement? Aren’t we selling them short? I know it’s a very different time, but so many stories of individual heroism, all in the name of the same ideal, make their way into the papers every day.

Kristoff still believes they deserve democracy, that they crave it and can handle it. And so do I.

Shanghai is about to receive yet another American blogger, this one a student who expresses his concerns and aspirations as he prepares to take the plunge. Let’s welcome him to the fold.

Wonderful news. Michael Moore can be over the top, but in general I find he’s on-target. I’m hoping this will be popular with the college-age crowds and help incentivize them to vote. Now that Disney has given the film an indavertent PR boost that would make any director salivate, it’s going to be a huge hit.

It has to be seen — quite funny (and just a little bit creepy).

From the same source, another Bush joke, this one above average:

How many members of the Bush Administration are needed to replace a light bulb? Seven:

“1. One to deny that a light bulb needs to be replaced,

“2. One to attack and question the patriotism of anyone who has questions about the light bulb,

“3. One to blame the previous administration for the need of a new light bulb,

“4. One to arrange the invasion of a country rumored to have a secret stockpile of light bulbs,

“5. One to get together with Vice President Cheney and figure out how to pay Halliburton Industries one million dollars for a light bulb,

“6. One to arrange a photo-op session showing Bush changing the light bulb while dressed in a flight suit and wrapped in an American flag,

“7. And finally one to explain to Bush the difference between screwing a light bulb and screwing the country.”

It’s funny, and it’s also not so funny.

Go read the best-written post ever on why “Microsoft, ladies and gentlemen, is a cheap whore,” while “Apple is a lover.” Here’s a sample.

I was asked for advice today from someone who was apprehensive about buying a new Mac, and wanted to know my opinion. This, of course, is sort of like going up to Dick Cheney and saying “You know, I’m not sure about that Iraq thing. What do you think?”

She lives on the fringes of the law, but there’s no getting rid of her because she fulfils a certain need in our society. People want what she is selling.

There’s a certain painted-on mystique to her, of course. We’ve all been indoctrinated with the propaganda, the hooker with the heart of gold, the disturbingly wide-mouthed Pretty Woman. When you find her, though, beneath the paint she’s really quite plain. You take what you need from her, but reluctantly and because you have no alternative. You get what you want, but she is almost peripheral to the act.

Apple is a lover.

From the moment you meet her, you know that she wants you to be happy. She wants to be a part of your life, and you can’t help but be drawn into wanting to be a part of hers. She is beautiful and elegant in ways that the layers of paint on the Microsoft street-walker can only desperately try to imitate.

“Read the whole thing.” A gem.

After returning to America in March, I upgraded my old terminal PC and was reminded of why so many jokes are always circulating the Internet about Bill Gates going to hell. It was like reliving the Book of Job, a case study in concentrated suffering, as things went wrong and hours and days were wasted.

I had a Mac years ago, and life was so much better. Now everyone says I have to have a PC, that there aren’t enough programs available for the Mac anymore. After reading the above post, I think it’s almost time for me to reconsider.

Britney Spears will be allowed to go on tour in China next year, but only if she agrees to “leave the revealing outfits at home.”

Britney Spears’ first China tour has been approved by the Culture Ministry, but they want to know what she’s wearing before she hits the stage, the official China News Service reported Tuesday.

Spears, who is currently on a world tour to promote her latest album “In The Zone,” will perform five concerts in Shanghai and Beijing sometime next year, CNS said.

….However, the star’s sexy image has caused concern. Culture officials have asked the concert’s Chinese organizers to guarantee she doesn’t show too much skin on stage, CNS said.

“Relevant departments will carry out strict reviews of Britney Spears’ performance clothing,” the report said.

It wasn’t clear what standards inspectors will use or how they would be enforced. A spokesman for Spears could not be immediately reached.

The head of the Culture Ministry’s performance division, Pan Yan, said she hadn’t received a performance application and couldn’t comment on the report.

An unidentified spokesman for the concert’s Chinese organizers was quoted by CNS as saying the ministry’s wishes would be respected.

But he said Spears’ outfits and stage show are the same on each stop of the tour and it would be “impossible to make up clothes specially for the China performances.”

With more than 54 million records sold worldwide, Spears would be one of the biggest international pop stars to play here since the communist state’s establishment in 1949.

Why anyone would want to go to a Britney Spears concert in the first place is beyond me. Knowing that there’s no chance of any wardrobe malfunction is just one more incentive to stay home.