Yeah, he could follow you through a revolving door and come out of ahead of you. But then again he's a CIA man, so being a slippery shit is part of the skill set I suppose. Still, the guy strikes me as a rat deserting a sinking ship.

** I hate it when Meet the Press has one person on and it's someone I don't want to watch. (What about *meee,* Tim Russert??)

** The ongoing discussions of pre-war intelligence have such an Alice in Wonderland feel to me. Did everyone in power really think that those described threats were correct? Really? As just a casual news follower, reading the news and watching the president's crew leading up to the war, it just smelled like obvious horseshit at the time, and I dismissed it intuitively.

** There's a similar effort underfoot with Iran. Not that Iran doesn't actually, in a semi-non-horseshitty way, pose a threat. But this bit about the parts in the roadside bombs (killing people in Iraq) being from Iran. I don't disbelieve that parts from Iran are easily migrating over a porous border and ending up in Iraq roadside bombs. And I don't disbelieve that there are many in Iran who are not unhappy about Iran parts getting to Iraqi insurgents of various stripes. But the hawks are trying to paint a picture of the Iran government assembling and placing roadside bombs in Iraq. It's a bit less manure-y than the pre-war Iraq intelligence, but it has that spin vibe that makes me sick.

I'm paraphrasing a guy from my taxi garage when I say "George Tenet? From the CIA? He's paid to lie! It's the CIA, for chrissakes." I don't think I have an argument with that baseline statement.

As just a casual news follower, reading the news and watching the president's crew leading up to the war, it just smelled like obvious horseshit at the time, and I dismissed it intuitively.

Absolutely. And the idea that "U.S. military would be welcomed as liberators" -- I have a crystal-clear memory of being in my car and hearing that on the radio, and my friend and I laughing bitterly and saying, "yeah, until the intractible, years-long insurgency starts, dumbasses." And THEN, a few years later, when said insurgency was wreaking havoc, having to hear the claims from the Assholes In Charge (and repeated uncritically by the mainstream press) that "no one could possibly have foreseen it." Fucking war criminals.

and repeated uncritically by the mainstream press

This is what drives me absolutely nuts. There were huge marches around the world that were covered by the papers. What did they think we were marching for, our health? And yet, now, "no one could have known."

I realize that protest signs might not be the most reliable or articulate means of expression, but c'mon. "Bush is lying" was the message over and over and over again.

Off topic. Hello taxi.

sup tax

literally???

Who?