Well, the weekend saw Karl Rove move from the front pages to the op-eds and talk shows, as erstwhile national security types, in their continuing upside-down-world interpretation of things, sought to justify his behavior...let's see...John McCain played the ignorant card, claiming he didn't know the definition of "negligent." Perhaps he should read Frank Rich's op-ed, which has as good an example as anything, pointing out that Abu Gonzalez, in his capacity as White Houst counsel, waited 12 hours to inform the White House that all materials relevant to the Plame-Wilson scandal should be preserved...something Rich likens to the infamous 18 and a half minute gap. Still, Rove can briefly sigh in relief, although I'm inclined to believe this is more Indian summer for him than off-the-hook...
Among other things that temporarily relegated Rove, there was the horror in Egypt, the tragedy in England, a bit of farce in New York City--and grim reality in the Middle East. Billmon cites this New York Times article by John Burns, along with additional pieces by Patrick Cockburn, Peter Galbraith, and Helena Cobban to paint a picture about as upbeat as Goya's Saturn:
There are several recent articles on the Iraq War that are probably worth a read -- that is, if you're the kind of person who likes to slow down and gawk at horrible car crashes on the freeway. Even the New Pravda is getting into the act...
Bob Herbert also looks at this weekend's events, while today's death toll in Iraq stands at roughly thirty (Iraqi civilians and US soldiers)...oh, and as Galbraith--and others, like Juan Cole, note, all the hard work (genuine hard work by the US military, as opposed to Dubya's "hard work" clearing the neverending brush at the Crawford Ranch...aside: does Halliburton have a cost-plus contract to supply brush there?)--anyway, all the hard work is definitely benefitting...Iran. Score one for the GOP/mullah alliance.
Oh, on the subject of hard work, the Times had a piece this weekend noting a decided lack thereof, at least on the part of the US public at large. And, to take a reality based look at this, it's pretty easy to see why--a significant number of people, like myself, correctly saw that war in Iraq was a sham, a distraction from genuine efforts to counter terrorism, while the cheerleaders comprising the 101st Fighting Keyboarders take a decidedly different approach to war, apparently thinking that actually backing up their words with actions to be beneath them. Then there's the fact that, despite the apocalyptic rhetoric emanating from Team Bush, there's no great urgency on the part of them to see their sons and daughters enlisting...which speaks volumes.
Also speaking volumes is the decision by the Bush administration to stonewall on releasing yet more photos detailing abuses to detained Iraqis. In a related story,
Finally, I'll note to start this week that Lance Armstrong, winner of the Tour de France, made the following remark after his victory:
The biggest downside to a war in Iraq is what you could do with that money. What does a war in Iraq cost a week? A billion? Maybe a billion a day? The budget for the National Cancer Institute is four billion. That has to change.
"Polls say people are much more afraid of cancer than of a plane flying into their house or a bomb or any other form of terrorism. It is a priority for the American public."
Indeed. However, such a decision would deprive Halliburton of all those (ahem, definitely Iraqi) one hundred dollar bills to light their cigars with.
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