Tom DeLay will not seek to remain Majority Leader.  Will this save the GOP’s majority in the House?  Maybe, but they are in for a real fight — for a change — to keep that majority.

Just when I thought Battlestar Galactica couldn’t get any better, along comes the premiere of the second half of season two.  All I can say is, "Wow!"  Half way through the second season this show is still capable of surprising me.

***SPOILERS***

Right off the bat, the former teacher, President Laura Roslin, surprises me by telling Commander Adama that Admiral Cain must be killed before she kills them.  Damn!  Roslin is the character most changed since the first season.  She has become a hard-nosed bitch on wheels, but not in a way that makes the viewer dislike her.  When Roslin tells Adama that Cain must be killed its because she knows Cain will abandon the surviving colonists in her quest to destroy the Cylons — as Cain had done already when she ordered her troops to murder civilian families.  Roslin, unlike Cain, doesn’t make this decision out some sort of single-minded you’re-either-with-us-or-against-us mindset.  Roslin makes this decision because she knows they have no other choice, and you can tell she doesn’t make the decision lightly.

The way in which the Roslin/Adama relationship has changed since the coup of season one is also interesting.  A grudging respect and true friendship has grown between them.  There may even be a sort of love in the relationship.  Not the sexual kind — yet — but a love born out of respect for the work each has done, and must still do.

I also have to acknowledge the powerful performance of Michelle Forbes as Admiral Cain.  She portrays the polar opposite of Roslin.  Cain’s a bitch on wheels as well, but of the more evil, cruel kind.  Forbes just chews up the scenery when she faces off against Roslin and Adama; and it was chilling to watch as she laid out her plan to kill Adama and take over the Galactica.  Worthy of a Guest Emmy nomination.

Also worthy of acknowledgement is Tricia Helfer.  Her performance as the abused and tortured Gina is riveting and powerful.  She’s so much more than a pretty face is a tight, sexy, red dress.

If I had to quibble about the direction taken with one of the characters it’s with Apollo, played wonderfully well by Jamie Bamber.  In their effort to create a Starbuck vastly different from the Starbuck of the original series they weakened considerably the character of Apollo since the first season.  Granted, watching Katee Sackhoff distinguish herself in this role is a sight to behold, but Bamber and his character are capable of so much more.  Hopefully, that will change as the season progresses, especially with Starbuck promoted to Captain and CAG and Apollo demoted from CAG.

I’ve said it many times on this blog, but BG is the finest drama on television and deserving of the kind of recognition shows like X-Files and Lost receive.  If they can give Emmys to both those shows, why not BG?  Compared to either of those shows, BG blows them out of the water when it comes to writing, acting, and production value (especially when you consider the budget constraints of a basic cable show).

Call me a sick bastard if you want, but to me there is something sexy about watching Giada De Laurentiis, host of Food Network’s Everyday Italian, massage salt and pepper into a chicken breast.