THREE FROM ESCHATON

First, from the Nation, What Liberal Media? writer Eric Alterman opines on the ever-growing horde of conservatives who are now willing to criticize Bush:

Hawks Eating Crow

These are the men not just the neocons but self-described progressives and human-rights advocates believed capable of carrying out the delicate and difficult mission of bringing democracy and modernism to the Arab world, while safeguarding the security and good name of the United States. Excuse me, but just what was so hard to understand about this bunch? We knew they were dishonest. We knew they were fanatical. We knew they were purposely ignorant and bragged about not reading newspapers. We knew they were vindictive. We knew they were lawless. We knew they were obsessively secretive. We knew they had no time or patience for those who raised difficult questions. We knew they were driven by fantasies of religious warfare, personal vengeance and ideological triumph. We knew they had no respect for civil liberties. And we knew they took no responsibility for the consequences of their incompetence. Just what is surprising about the manner in which they've conducted the war?

The obvious answer is that conservatives believe their own bullshit. In the artifically constructed world of politics, truth is often irrelevant; in the real world, however, the truth has this uncanny knack of knocking you on the head. Here's hoping that these guys get knocked hard a few more times.

Click here for the rest.

Next, a rather shocking revelation from Newsday:

Agency: Chalabi group was front for Iran

The Defense Intelligence Agency has concluded that a U.S.-funded arm of Ahmed Chalabi's Iraqi National Congress has been used for years by Iranian intelligence to pass disinformation to the United States and to collect highly sensitive American secrets, according to intelligence sources.

"Iranian intelligence has been manipulating the United States through Chalabi by furnishing through his Information Collection Program information to provoke the United States into getting rid of Saddam Hussein," said an intelligence source Friday who was briefed on the Defense Intelligence Agency's conclusions, which were based on a review of thousands of internal documents.

The Information Collection Program also "kept the Iranians informed about what we were doing" by passing classified U.S. documents and other sensitive information, he said. The program has received millions of dollars from the U.S. government over several years.

If you don't already know, Chalabi's INC, a sort of anti-Baath Iraq government in exile, provided Rumsfeld and company with "intelligence" that supported the White House's claims that Saddam had WMDs and links to al-Qaeda. Now it appears that Iran was playing the US like a fiddle: they certainly got what they wanted; their enemy, Iraq, has been defeated, and they didn't have to fire a single shot.

So...now it is quite evident that not only is the Bush administration stupid, they're also a bunch of chumps. God, this country!

Click here for the rest.

Finally, from Pythonline:

"FCC Song"

I happily present to you a new Eric Idle tune, "FCC Song." As Idle says:

"Here’s a little song I wrote the other day while I was out duck hunting with a judge… It’s a new song, it’s dedicated to the FCC and if they broadcast it, it will cost a quarter of a million dollars."

It's smashingly funny. And all that other bloody British stuff.

Enjoy.

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