If the special prosecutor is looking at the Niger forgeries, or their origin, my guess is it’s because they are narrowly relevant to the charges he intends to bring – perhaps because they help establish a motive for the plot to get Wilson. But it’s hard to believe Fitzgerald’s team has managed to follow the much more tangled (and interconnected) roots of the various plots to take America to war in Iraq …

All Roads Lead to Rome

So now at least 2000 US soldiers were killed in the war on Iraq. A negligible number in any major armed conflict. Probably 100,000 Iraqis died because of this war. That is a less negligible number. Today GW Bush will hold another "major speech", lauding this war and preparing the next one on Syria – let’s wag the dog.

Meanwhile I find an interesting thought in what Bush 41 is up to. He knows his son screwed up big time in Iraq. He may well assume or know that his son had a say in outing Plame. What to do to save the family honor?

Cont. reading: One Step Left To Take

News and Views

Give our regards to Dr. King, Rosa.

World Shaker

If someone scripted this, I’d tell them they were overdoing it on the dramatic tension.

Chain of Fools

Bush today did selected Ben Bernanke to replace Alan Greenspan as Fed chairman. Bernanke is best known for his November 2002 speech Deflation: Making Sure "It" Doesn’t Happen Here.

Cont. reading: Helicopter Money

For the Bushaviks, McNulty’s appointment may be too little, too late. By the time he takes office, Fitzgerald will have either handed down indictments or gone home. On the other hand, if charges are brought, a long, drawn-out prosecution presumably will present plenty of opportunities for the Justice Department to make its influence felt.

Fitzgerald’s New Boss

Come back Ahmad, all is forgiven.

The Return of the King

To me, the New Pravda‘s role in the Iraq debacle resembles the part played by William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal in the far more successful Spanish-American War.

The New Pravda‘s Lost Year

Hard News Lead

Plastic Surgery

If this were 1999, I’d go public.

The New Economy

… sweiV dna sweN

So I wonder if Shrub will snort a few lines, knock over a few garbage cans, and then challenge Poppy to come outside and fight — mano a mano.

In the Name of the Father

If Fitzgerald reaffirms the post-Watergate principle that Big Brother can go to jail, it will do more to advance the cause of civil liberties than a baker’s dozen of Washington pseudo-journalists. On the other hand, if he backs down now, it’s easy to imagine future administrations finding other official secrets to use against their critics, all in the name of national security.

Will the Grinch Steal Fitzmas?

It does appear to have dawned on Wilkerson that the U.S. hegomony isn’t viewed as quite such an execise in utilitarian benevolance by the rest of the world, but I’m not sure he understands exactly why this is. I think he puts far too much blame on the cabal’s shenanigans — although these admittedly have made things worse — and not enough on the fact that empires, even the practical, no nonsense type favored by the realists, are anachronisms in the modern world.

Imperial Candor

The next time the Society of Professional Cocksuckers gets together, maybe they should present Judy with a Fifth Amendment award — because the way things are going, she’s may need it.

The Judy Trap

II:Waiter, There’s a City In My Toxic Soup

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I: Justice DeLayed

Welcome back O. – News and views …

Q: Is there anything else you think the members of the committee should know about you and your qualifications?

A: Just that I think you all are the most wonderful Senators in the entire history of the U.S. Senate …

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