In a week in which Russia and China called for a treaty banning weapons in space, the Pentagon has announced it has orders from President Bush to shoot down a secret spy satellite — but the satellite in question is an American vessel, and its being targeted for destruction before it tumbles back to Earth next month and potentially spews a deadly chemical.

The U.S. hasn't tried shooting a satellite since President Reagan's heyday, in 1985 (it succeeded). And Washington complained loudly, early last year, after China successfully completed its first such test, blasting one of its own old weather satellites to bits.

I have friends who are such committed Bush-haters that they find it impossible to believe that he has ever done anything morally right or geopolitically beneficial; when I point out that his global AIDS initiative has saved thousands and possibly millions of lives, they quietly admit they didn't realize that.

It's very cheap and easy for a lame-duck president to make financial commitments his administration will never have to keep. Bush's extension is aimed at keeping his AIDS initiative going after 2008, by which time he will have left office. But his successor will pay a political price if he or she breaks this funding promise.

None of this, of course, makes up for Bush's blunders in the Middle East and elsewhere, but at least give the guy his props. He's showing people overseas that the United States isn't just about bombs and oil.

In June, the Second U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled on behalf of broadcasters -- led by Fox -- that an FCC policy that penalized TV stations for accidently airing expletives was "arbitrary and capricious." The FCC adopted the policy after the 2003 Golden Globe awards, when U2's Bono remarked that winning an award for the song "The Hands that Built America" was "f****** brilliant," an utterance that was akin to hurling feces at innocent babies across the nation.

The court said that the FCC's policy violated the broadcasters' First Amendment rights. Which means, school's out! Celebrities, you're now free to say whatever you want on TV!

Of course, it’s worth remembering that Dobson & Co. don’t need to “create” a third party that reflects their extremist beliefs — one already exists. It’s called the “Constitution Party,” it’s ridiculously conservative, it has a spot on the presidential ballot in 41 states, and the party would sooner disband than nominate someone who supports abortion and gay rights.

The religious right has been coasting for over a decade, having convinced the Republican establishment that without theocratic activists, the party has no foot soldiers. It’s been a bit of shell game that no one in the party wants to push too far.