CBlountBlogs

Brokaw Raps Iraqi PM for Linking Saddam to 9/11

NewsMax: NBC "Nightly News" anchorman Tom Brokaw was so dismayed Tuesday night when Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi linked Saddam Hussein to the 9/11 attacks that he actually reprimanded him during his interview.

When Brokaw asked the new Iraqi leader if he could "understand why many Americans feel that so many young men and women have died here for purposes other than protecting the United States?" Dr. Allawi responded:

"We know that this is an extension to what has happened in New York. And the war [has] been taken out to Iraq by the same terrorists. Saddam was a potential friend and partner and natural ally of terrorism."

Plainly miffed that Dr. Allawi hadn't accepted the U.S. media's attempt to cover-up links between Saddam, al Qaida and 9/11, Brokaw reprimanded him as cameras rolled:

"Prime minister, I’m surprised that you would make the connection between 9/11 and the war in Iraq. The 9/11 commission in America says there is no evidence of a collaborative relationship between Saddam Hussein and those terrorists of al-Qaida."But Dr.

Allawi refused to back down, telling the top TV anchor:

"No. I believe very strongly that Saddam had relations with al-Qaida. And these relations started in Sudan. We know Saddam had relationships with a lot of terrorists and international terrorism. Now, whether he is directly connected to the September atrocities or not, I can’t vouch for this. But definitely I know he has connections with extremism and terrorists."

Wife's cooking drove man to blow up kitchen

Ananova: A Romanian man faces charges after he tried to blow up his kitchen because his wife was such a lousy cook.

Viorel Leahu, 41, from Todiresti, said he decided to punish his wife for her terrible food.

He told police he had been inspired by watching Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, reports Natuional newspaper.

He opened the gas tap and threw a lighter on the cooker. The explosion damaged the room and left him with an injured hand.

Mr Leahu now faces up to three years in jail for destruction of property and putting his wife's life in danger.

Bush And Iraq President Made Media, Zarqawi And Liberals Look Like Fools

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - President Bush quietly took note of the secret handover of power in Iraq on Monday by checking his watch at a NATO summit and shaking hands with his closest war ally, British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S NOTE: "Mr. President, Iraq is sovereign. Letter was passed from Bremer at 10:26 a.m. Iraq time -- Condi."

She handed the note to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who passed it along to Bush.

Bush scribble back: "Let freedom reign."

RUSH: This is a day that we turn Iraq over to itself. They've got their sovereignty two days early. The press is fit to be tied because not all the press was told about this.

This Abu Mussab Zarqawi fellow did promise to raise a bunch of hell by the time June 30th came around. Now if he does it,.. he's raising hell against Iraqi citizens, not the United States.

Liberals were in shock all day!

BEGALA: Ambassador Bremer got in a helicopter and got the hell out of Dodge; 138,000 American troops there, however, were not so lucky. They remain on the front lines of Mr. Bush's war.

NOVAK: You know, Paul, I know that all Democrats want to make all the good news bad news as they can. But I noticed that Senator Kerry is not taking your position.

You're making a mistake on this if you want this to help the Democratic Party. I think you ought to say that this was a very good plus, not only for George Bush, but for America.

PRESIDENT BUSH: The world witnessed the arrival of a free and sovereign Iraqi government. After decades of brutal rule by a terror regime, the Iraqi people have their country back.

Kilborn

And there’s going to be a new movie about the flaws in the Clinton administration. It’s called "White Chicks”.

Clinton says that his affair with Monica Lewinsky has brought him and Hillary closer together. In fact last night in bed he and Hillary shook hands.

Letterman

Are you excited about Bill Clinton’s new book? "My Life” is out and Bubba is out on a book tour. Now be prepared if you go to one of the book signings. Lots of security. You’re going to get frisked, patted down, and strip searched – and that’s just what Bill Clinton is going to do to you.

You know the kids look up to me and everywhere I go they ask, "Mr. Letterman how do you keep doing it night after night after night?” This is the show I’m talking about. I say, "Well it’s easy. Red Bull and vodka.”

In New York today it was hot. To give you an idea of how hot it was over at St. Patrick’s Cathedral I saw two priests loading their Super Soakers with holy water.

Conan

President Clinton is out promoting his new book. This guy is everywhere. Do you notice that? In fact last night on Larry King former President Clinton said he’s been married to Hillary so long he can just look at her and know what she’s thinking – and usually she’s thinking, "you son of a bitch!”

This weekend in New York it’s the big series. The Yankees and the Mets. It’s known as the subway series or as the Yankees like to call it – batting practice.

'Historic day' for Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The handover of sovereignty to the interim Iraqi government took place at 10:26 a.m. Baghdad time Monday, two days before the June 30 deadline previously announced by the U.S.-led coalition.

"This is a historic and happy day for us in Iraq," al-Yawar said. "It is a day that all Iraqis have been looking forward to. This is the day that we take our country back into the international community.

"We want a free and democratic Iraq, and we want a country that is a source of peace and stability for the whole world."

The interim Iraqi leaders expressed thanks to the coalition officials and troops, saying their sacrifices would not be in vain.

Bremer said he was proud to have been able to return sovereignty. He said he was confident the new government was ready to meet the challenges ahead.

The preparations for the possibility of an early transfer were started a week ago, according to a senior U.S. official.

Coalition Administrator Paul Bremer -- now the former administrator -- read his letter contained in the transfer document:

"As recognized in U.N. Security Council resolution 1546, the Coalition Provisional Authority will cease to exist on June 28th, at which point the occupation will end and the Iraqi interim government will assume and exercise full sovereign authority on behalf of the Iraqi people."

"I welcome Iraq's steps to take its rightful place of equality and honor among the free nations of the world. Sincerely, L. Paul Bremer, ex-administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority."

Bremer handed the transfer document to the head of the Iraqi Supreme Court, who then gave it to President Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and the deputy prime minister also attended.

Asked by reporters attending the ceremony about why the handover was stepped up by two days, an Iraqi official said Prime Minister Allawi requested it because "every day matters" and they were ready to crack down on violence.

Zebari told reporters in Istanbul that the early transfer of sovereignty is "a sign we are ready for the job."

"We are ready to take up our responsibility even before June 30th," he said.

Mugger 'in wheelchair'

Ananova: Police are searching for a mugger who attacked a student and then sped off in a wheelchair.

The Sun says the disabled thief grabbed the 22-year-old victim's takeaway Chinese meal on a Northampton street.

When the student protested, the mugger's accomplice punched him in the face.

The two muggers then sped off, leaving their victim bruised and bleeding.

Police said: "The offenders were laughing during their crime."

Bush Pleads For Courtesy From Reporter

Washington, DC, Jun. 25 (UPI) -- An Irish reporter threw courtesy aside and repeatedly interrupted President George W. Bush during a television interview at the White House.

"Let me finish. Let me finish. May I finish?" Bush said early in his interview with Radio and Television Ireland Thursday, according to a transcript released Friday.

"Let me finish. Let me finish, please. Please. You ask the questions and I'll answer them, if you don't mind," he said in a second interruption moments later.

The two pleadings were followed by three more during an 11-minute exchange in advance of Bush's trip to Ireland, where he was to attend a summit meeting of the European Union.

In the interview with reporter Carole Coleman, Bush defended the invasion of Iraq and denied the contention that the world was more dangerous because of it.

He also rejected the idea that bringing democracy to the Middle East -- a key aim of the United States in Iraq -- should not await resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Transcript - Interview of the President by Radio and Television Ireland (Click Here)

Thieves Steal Toilet - With Man Still In It

Thieves who stole a public toilet in a Belarus city accidentally kidnapped a man who was sitting on it at the time.

Pravda reports that the thieves stole the portable toilet in the city of Gomel, Belarus, and loaded it on to their tractor trailer.

They played it so cool that passers-by presumed they were taking it away legitimately - but one man knew better.

He was sat on the toilet at the time and was startled to suddenly find himself being carried through the city on the back of a tractor.

The 45-year-old man was trapped and could not release himself until the rope the thieves had tied around the cubicle loosened because of the jolting ride.

He finally opened the door to find he was being driven at full speed through the city's suburbs. He jumped off the tractor and broke his collar-bone, SPB-Vedomosti reported.

The man reported the incident to the police and officers eventually tracked down the missing toilet to the house of a local resident.

Now It's Kerry's Turn to Have Divorce Records Unsealed

NewsMax: The Chicago Tribune and others in the media establishment were eager to unseal the divorce records of and destroy the Senate candidacy of GOP nominee Jack Ryan.

But for some strange reason the pro-Democrat media have shown no more interest in John Kerry's divorce records than they have in uncovering his complete military records.

Fear not. The conservative Illinois Leader announced today it would sue to obtain Kerry's divorce papers.

Stay tuned.

P.S.: Teh-RAY-zah, if you're reading this, please don't pound your hubby on his expensively coiffed noggin.

Read more on this subject in Related Hot Topics:

Kerry Flies in Hairdresser for touch-up before 'Meet The Press', $1000 Haircut?

Kerry Can't Pronounce His Wife's Name

Kerry Campaigns With His Butler

Leno

The wife and daughters of Yankees pitcher Jose Contreas escaped from Cuba by boat yesterday and were reunited with the Yankee pitcher. And luckily Contreas meets the three requirements for his family to stay in America: a fastball, a curveball, and the slider.

The "New York Post” is reporting today that Clinton now feels he has two more autobiographies left to write. That’s what I love about Clinton – he’s the only guy in the world who has three different versions of his life story. One for him, one for Hillary, one for the grand jury.

The big story continues to be President Clinton’s best selling book. On the news tonight they interviewed Clinton’s editor. Editor? The book is 957 pages long! What the hell did he edit?

The book is huge. And actually, it folds out into a bed.

In the book, Clinton says that "in politics, if you don’t toot your own horn, it usually stays untooted.” And if you get someone else to toot your horn, you get impeached.

In his book, Bill Clinton talks about the point where Hillary started to laugh again. It was when he told her "Look, I’ll never cheat on you again. I promise.” Apparently she got hysterical.

Have you heard this rumor Shaq may go to the Dallas Mavericks. Oh man, you thought his rap album was bad, what’s his country western music going to be like. Oh my God!

Earlier this week, Ralph Nader named his running mate. It’s Green Party activist Peter Camejo. Camejo is actually a Spanish word that means "no votes”!

A judge has ok’d class-action lawsuit against Wal-Mart that claims 1.6 million current and former female workers were discriminated against. These women say the harassment made them feel even cheaper than the crap they were selling at Wal-Mart.

The Angry Left - Bush Is Another Hitler

ESPN, Hunter S. Thompson wrote that the prisoner-abuse images were worse than "the foulest atrocities of Adolf Hitler."

Democrats unleash Gore on Bush

If Bush is another Hitler, what words are left to describe Hitler?

Just Like Stalingrad

Bret Stephens: According to Sidney Blumenthal, a onetime adviser to president Bill Clinton, compares the April death toll for American soldiers in Iraq to the Eastern Front in the Second World War.

Mr. Bush's "splendid little war," he writes, "has entered a Stalingrad-like phase of urban siege and house-to-house combat."

President Bush today runs "what is in effect a gulag," stretching "from prisons in Afghanistan to Iraq, from Guantanamo to secret CIA prisons around the world."

The factual bases for these claims are, first, that the U.S. holds some 10,000 "enemy combatants" prisoner; and second, that 122 U.S. soldiers were killed in action in April.

"The Black Book of Communism," which relates that on "1 January 1940 some 1,670,000 prisoners were being held in the 53 groups of corrective work camps and 425 collective work colonies.

As for Stalingrad, German deaths between Jan. 10 and Feb. 2, 1943, numbered 100,000, according to British historian John Keegan.

Mr. Blumenthal is not alone. Al Gore last month accused Mr. Bush of creating "more anger and righteous indignation against us as Americans than any leader of our country in the 228 years of our existence as a nation."

Every single column written by the New York Times' Paul Krugman is an anti-Bush screed.

There are two explanations for all this. One is that Mr. Bush really is as bad as Sid, Al and Paul say: the dumbest, most feckless, most fanatical, most incompetent and most calamitous president the nation has ever known. A second is that Sid, Al and Paul are insane.

So here is one aspect of this insanity: no sense of proportion. For Mr. Blumenthal, Fallujah isn't merely like Stalingrad. It may as well be Stalingrad, just as Guantanamo may as well be Lefertovo and Abu Ghraib may as well be Buchenwald, and Mr. Bush may as well be Hitler and Hoover combined, and Iraq may as well be Vietnam and Bill Clinton may as well be Franklin Roosevelt.

Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics:

Gore mentally unstable

Old Yeller - Al Gore

Al Gore does appear to be a sick man

UK 'being overrun by parakeets'

Ananova: The UK faces an invasion of parakeets, with the wild population likely to exceed 100,000 in a decade, experts are warning.

The Sun says an Oxford University study has found 20,000 ring-necked parakeets, normally found in much sunnier climes, roaming free, with numbers going up by 30 per cent a year.

It was thought the birds were surviving on suburban bird feeders, the study found many could last on wild fruit, nuts and buds.

There are 10,000 of the birds in London alone, with one roost in Esher holding 6,000.

A vineyard in southern England saw its production fall from 3,000 bottles to just 500 in one year after a parakeet invasion.

Parakeets can live for up to 34 years, and a female can give birth to 60 chicks in her lifetime.

Kerry Flops While Parachuting In For A Day

"There is no group more important to John Kerry's presidential campaign than veterans, and there is no issue more important to veterans than their access to health care," Kerry spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter said late Monday night.

According to Senate roll call records, Kerry has missed at least three votes this year on veterans' issues, including one on a Democratic proposal that would have allowed up to $2.7 billion in extra spending for veterans' medical programs.

Kerry Flops in Rare Appearance at Work

NewsMax: Poor John Kerry. After months of refusing to do the job for which he is still on the American taxpayers' dole, he deigned to make a rare appearance yesterday in the U.S. Senate. But it was all for naught.

Kerry spent seven whole hours in Washington waiting to vote on a proposal to increase spending on veterans' health care, then finally took off to beg for money from his fellow travelers in San Francisco.

During his rare appearance in the Senate, Kerry took the floor to accuse Republicans of refusing Democrats the "normal courtesy" of voting on a proposal. He did not mention that he has repeatedly failed to display the "normal courtesy" of showing up for work and that Democrats have repeatedly refused the "normal courtesy" of voting on President Bush's nominees.

The (Boston) Globe disclosed that Kerry's absenteeism rate this year is not the previously reported 87 percent. It's 89 percent. Yet Kerry insisted again Tuesday that he would not resign from the job that he has repeatedly refused to do.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle grumbled that Majority Leader Bill Frist said Kerry should not be allowed to "parachute down and have a vote" after skipping work for so long.

Read more on this subject in Related Hot Topics:

Kerry Parachutes In For A Day

Romney - Kerry Presidential Run Costing Home State

Rare Kerry appearance causes uproar in Senate

Leno

John Edwards is the number one pick to be John Kerry’s vice president. Can you imagine the debate between Dick Cheney and a trial lawyer like Edwards — one guy has spent his career in an ambulance, the other guys has spend his career chasing it.

You sound as happy as Bill Clinton's book publisher.

Bill Clinton’s book is already number one on the "New York Times” bestseller list. The book is called, "My Life...As A Dog."

Clinton reveals one night when he was five or six years old back in Arkansas. His step dad fired a gun in the house but it didn’t hit him or his mother. So it looks like this bad aim thing runs in the family.

The most quoted thing in the book is where Clinton talks about after the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, he slept on the couch for two months. That’s how you know Hillary was mad…they had separate bedrooms and she still made him sleep on the couch!

Today Monica Lewinsky was not sympathetic. She said if Bill thought the couch was uncomfortable, he should try getting under that little desk.

In a card filled out by Hussein for the Red Cross, under occupation Hussein wrote, "President of the Republic of Iraq”. And you thought Al Gore had a hard time dealing with the reality he lost to Bush.

A Texas jury just found the man who streaked the Super Bowl halftime show guilty. In a sign of the times you know why he said he streaked? "Because he could.”

Letterman

A sure sign that it’s hot…I was walking down the street and went by St. Patrick’s Cathedral and I saw a nun rubbing a cold beer across her forehead.

Do any of you go to movies? It’s great entertainment but it costs so darn much these days. $12 a ticket. That’s the great part about this show. You get disappointed for free.

I was thinking about this. Why does it cost so much to go to a movie today? It costs the theaters more now to make their floors sticky.

How many folks plan on buying a copy of the Bill Clinton book? He was here in New York for a book signing. You wait in line. Mom and I went. We finally got up there to get the book signed and mom says, "How are Rosalyn and Amy?”

Bill Clinton is really busy right now. He’s so busy signing books that he had to cancel his 3 o’clock intern.

I went to the book signing and I was surprised the book was already 30 percent off – just like his pants.

Conan

Today J. Lo and husband Marc Anthony announced today that they are not expecting a baby. However, they went on to say that they are expecting a divorce.

Kilborn

The latest reviews for the new Michael Moore film are in. It got thumbs up from Ebert and Saddam.

Kerry Parachutes In For A Day

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat John Kerry on Tuesday brought his presidential campaign to the Senate, where he was hit with Republican ridicule for being a relative stranger on Capitol Hill this election year.

"Senator Kerry, who hadn't been here all year, who's missed 80 percent of all votes this year, parachutes in for a day and then will be taking off once again," scoffed Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist.

GOP SPOILS KERRY DAY OFF IN D.C.

Sen. John Kerry yesterday canceled a day on the campaign trail and went back to the Senate in hopes of voting for veterans' health care, but Republicans pulled the rug out from under him by stalling the vote.

The tricky legislative maneuver had Republicans gloating, but left Kerry and other Democrats fuming — especially after he canceled an important campaign trip to New Mexico to return to Washington.

Kerry's anger at the vote-switching comes at an awkward time for him. He's under fire for missing 98 of the 115 Senate votes this year, and Massachusetts Republicans claim he's not doing his job and should quit the Senate.

Several GOPers seemed happy to rob Kerry of the high-profile vote.

"I'm in no hurry to have a vote on it," Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) told The Post.

Read more on this subject in Related Hot Topics:

Romney - Kerry Presidential Run Costing Home State

Kerry Hits a Republican Bump in the Campaign Road

Kerry, Senate Secretary Facing Ethics Complaint

Mudslinging in '04 Nothing Compared to History

Contested presidential elections and negative campaigning go hand in hand -- all the way back to 1796 and America's first competitive race between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

Adams' foes accused him of being a closet monarchist. In the 1800 election, with the same two participants, the slime only thickened. Adams was now a solicitor of women, having allegedly ordered a U.S. warship to fetch his mistresses from England. Jefferson added legal prostitution, incest and rape to his portfolio.

And so it went in America for the remainder of the 19th century -- no rules, but plenty of unruly behavior. Among the lower points along the low road of presidential politicking:

1856: Californian John C. Frémont runs on the slogan "Free Soil, Free Speech, Free Men, and Frémont." His enemies add "Free Love" to the list, alluding to Frémont's illegitimate birth.

1860 and 1864: Democratic newspapers picture Abraham Lincoln as a primate, calling him "Honest Ape."

1868: Republican spokesmen allege that Democrat Horatio Seymour's family is prone to insanity (Seymour's father had committed suicide). Democrats caricature Republican Ulysses S. Grant as a slob and a drunk.

1876: Republican Rutherford B. Hayes, a Union general, is accused of robbing the Civil War dead and shooting his mother in a mad pique. Democrat Samuel J. Tilden is, in GOP words, "a drunkard, a liar, a cheat, a counterfeiter, a perjurer, and a swindler."

1884: Grover Cleveland becomes the Democratic president. After a newspaper reveals that Cleveland fathered a child out of wedlock a decade earlier, Republicans chant: "Ma, Ma, where's my pa?" "Gone to the White House, ha-ha-ha" (GOP campaign parades also feature a baby carriage).

Cleveland backers go into damage-control mode, alleging that Republican James Blaine was the groom at a shotgun wedding. And they insinuate that the GOP candidate is a dishonest influence peddler, chanting: "Blaine, Blaine, the Continental liar from the State of Maine."

Fast-forward now to the presidential campaigns of the modern era. There are still instances where candidates crossed the line.

In California's 1950 Senate race, Nixon had called Democrat Helen Gahagan Douglas "the pink lady" for her leftist voting record.

The 1964 election produced the fabled "Daisy Spot" linking the hawkish Republican Barry Goldwater to an atomic blast... the ad showed a little girl counting petals on a flower, followed by the countdown to a nuclear bomb explosion, as mirrored in her eye.

Even the now-infamous Willie Horton ads from the 1988 election pale in comparison to 19th century tactics. The ads linked a Horton murder-and-assault spree to a Massachusetts weekend prison-pass program.

A century earlier, Dukakis himself would have been portrayed as the rapist.

So where does the 2004 election stand in this scheme of presidential mudslinging? Look no further than the gold standard of vicious campaigns: the elections of 1824 and 1828 pitting Andrew Jackson against John Quincy Adams.

Let's suppose Kerry were so bold as to directly blame Bush for soldiers' deaths in Iraq. Jackson was accused of executing his own troops in the War of 1812.

Maybe the Bush campaign would then suggest that Kerry is an opportunist for twice marrying a wealthy woman. Adams was called "The Pimp" for allegedly providing a woman to the czar of Russia.

Would either side go negative against either Laura Bush or Teresa Heinz Kerry with the same savagery that was directed against Louisa Adams?

Democrats claimed Adams was an illegitimate child and had premarital sex with her husband.

Like professional wrestling, voters will have to differentiate between genuine wounds and feigned injuries.

America the Beautiful? Not in this campaign. Welcome to Whine Country.

Leno

John Kerry has called for an increase in the minimum wage. He said people out there are struggling and you can't always fix the problem by marrying a rich woman.

Today is the first day of summer – it’s also the longest day of the year. Unless of course you’re Hillary Clinton watching "60 Minutes” then yesterday was the longest day of the year.

Clinton told Dan Rather last night that the worst day of his life was the "day he told Hillary the truth”. So he’s not going to do that again. Not fool around. Tell Hillary the truth. Not gonna make that mistake. "What the hell was I thinking of when I did that?”

I was watching President Clinton tell his story last night, I promo came on the screen that said "stay tuned for ‘Cold Case’” which I though was an interview with Hillary.

You thought the Reagan funeral helped the Bush campaign, wait till you see the Osama bin Laden funeral. That’s going to be the big one.

Northwest Airlines announced a new slogan today – "where the hell are we?”

This is unbelievable! A Northwest Airlines flight landed at the wrong airport in South Dakota. How many airports are there in South Dakota? How do you land in the wrong one?

The plane landed at an Air Force base miles away. It’s bad enough when they were just losing our luggage. Now they can’t find the plane either.

In fact the pilots didn’t even realize they landed at an air force base until they got off the plane and couldn’t find the skybar.

Not so good news for Disney’s new film "Around the World in 80 Days"? It looks like it's going to be in blockbusters in around 8 days.

According to Forbes magazine Mel Gibson is the world’s most powerful celebrity. After he won the award Mel said, "Thank you Jesus!”

Bin Laden is Quite Sane — Are We?

Victor Davis Hanson: Murdering 3,000 Americans, destroying a city block in Manhattan, and setting fire to the Pentagon were all pretty tough stuff.

And for a while it won fascists and their state sponsors an even tougher response in Afghanistan and Iraq that sent hundreds to caves and thousands more to paradise.

True, al Qaeda is now scattered, the Taliban and Saddam gone. But the calculus of a quarter century — threaten, hit, pause, wait; threaten, hit, pause, wait — is now entrenched in the minds of Middle Eastern murderers.

The billionaire capitalist George Soros — who grew fabulously wealthy through cold and calculating currency speculation, helping to break many a bank and its poor depositors — now makes the moral equation between 9/11 and Abu Ghraib.

For this ethicist and meticulous accountant, 3,000 murdered in a time of peace are the same as some prisoners abused by renegade soldiers in a time of war.

Aristocratic and very wealthy Democrats — Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Howard Dean, and John Kerry — employ the language of conspiracy to assure us that we had no reason to fight Saddam Hussein. "Lies," "worst," and " betrayed" are the vocabulary of their daily attacks.

A jester in stripes like Michael Moore, who cannot tell the truth, is now an artistic icon — precisely and only because of his own hatred of the president and the inconvenient idea that we are really at war.

Europe believes an American president, not bin Laden, is the greatest threat to world peace. Russia, the slayer of tens of thousands of Muslim Chechans and a big-time profiteer from Baathist loot, lectures the United States on its insensitivity to the new democracy in Baghdad.

Meanwhile, in Europe, Iraq, and the rest of the Middle East, we see the same old bloodcurdling threats, the horrific videos, the bombings, the obligatory pause, the faux negotiations, the lies — and then, of course, the bloodcurdling threats, the horrific videos, the bombings...

No, bin Laden is quite sane — but lately I have grown more worried that we are not.

Leno

Clinton told Dan Rather that his infidelity almost ruined his marriage and that he and Hillary received counseling. Now wasn’t Bill Clinton’s counselor Jesse Jackson? I think I see part of the problem right there.

Bill Clinton said he had an affair with Monica Lewinsky because he could and that he was with Paula Jones because he lost a bet.

The Summer of Bill Clinton has started. That’s what they’re calling Clinton’s book tour. The Summer of Clinton. You know as opposed to the "winter of Hillary”.

Clinton also said that for a time he felt embarrassed and ashamed. You know, that feeling you get after watching Paris and Nicole on "The Simple Life.”

The 9/11 commission said they found no "collaborative relationship” between al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein. It’s kind of like the FBI and the CIA.

Janet Jackson claims in a new interview that the Super Bowl halftime controversy was a conservative plot to distract people from what was really going on in the world. Oh yeah, it was just a vast right breast conspiracy.

Even Hillary Clinton is going "shut up!”

Madonna announced she is changing her name to Esther, because it’s an ancient Hebrew name that’s in the Bible. Unlike Madonna?

There’s a rumor the L.A. Clippers may move to Anaheim. Sure, when teams win the NBA title what do they do? Go to Disneyland. The only way the Clippers will ever get to Disneyland is to move there!

According to "USA Today” the new trend in furniture is furniture made of concrete. You thought it was hard finding friends to help you move before!

Aides Contradict Kerry on Iraq-al Qaida Connection

NewsMax: When they worked for the Clinton administration, Kerry advisers Sandy Berger and Jamie Rubin argued that Iraq helped al Qaida make deadly VX gas at a Sudanese pharmaceutical plant - an argument they used to justify President Clinton's decision to take out the facility in an Aug. 20, 1998, cruise missile attack.

While Sen. John Kerry has accused the Bush administration of misleading America by falsely claiming there were operational ties between Iraq and al Qaida.

In a 1998 op-ed to the Washington Times, then National Security Advisor Berger defended the attack on Khartoum's al Shifa pharmaceutical plant, contending:

"Other products [besides VX gas] were made at Al Shifa. But we have seen such dual-use plants before - in Iraq. And, indeed, we have information that Iraq has assisted in chemical weapons activity in Sudan."

As State Department spokesman at the time, Rubin and his boss, Madeleine Albright, backed Berger's position on the attacks.

On Friday, Weekly Standard editor Stephen Hayes, who first noted the Kerry-Berger/Rubin contradiction, confronted Rubin on the issue during an interview on CNBC.

The Kerry adviser admitted that "Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein played footsie with each other," but he insisted that ultimately "they came to a decision, and the decision was 'We are not going to become allies.'"

Indian train late every day for 16 years

Ananova: Commuters on an Indian train running late every day for 16 years hope the election of a local man as railway minister will improve things.

Laloo Prasad Yadav comes from Chapra - the starting point for the Srantah Express.

It has run almost five to six hours behind schedule every day because commuters use the emergency cord to stop the train near their homes.

The Indo Asian News Service quotes rail official Asit Chaturvedi saying the train would get delayed by five to six hours by the time it reached Allahabad.

Despite protests and efforts by railway officials, the train has never kept to the timetable.

Commuters now hope the recent election of Yadav to the rail portfolio will see train times get back on track.

How to Kill an Inconvenient Putin Story

Vanity: Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin made what CNN called a "bombshell" statement that "Russian Intelligence services had warned the US Government several times between 9/11/2001 and the beginning of the Iraqi invasion of Iraqi plans to mount terrorist operations on the USA and on American interests overseas."

Putin said, in effect, Iraq was planning terror strikes; but he did not say Iraq had actually carried any of these plans out. He also said he had been opposed to the Iraqi invasion, because it did not meet international norms.

Putin's announcement caused no end of consternation in the world media, and a check of Google showed some 600 newspapers had printed something about the story.

The prestigious New York Times led off with a story on its International Page, which I believe, is about where the comics would be in a well ordered newspaper.

The tone of the Times article was suitably "sniffy".

The Times said it had consulted its sources (3 aging "queens" and a young crossdresser)in the State Department, who knew nothing about Putin having forwarded intelligence, and were "scratching their heads" over the matter...so there!

Not to be outdone, The Washington Post ran a sensational story (on Page A-11) that looked as if it might have been cribbed from The New York Times, complete with head scratching, and suggestions Putin really didn't mean it.

The Post did add one small detail: that Putin told a British documentary crew in 2001 he had passed a warning to President Bush about a possible terrorist attack, not long before 9/11.

Putin apparently told the crew the data he had was too vague to be of use.

The Post hinted, with elephantine delicacy, Putin may have made yesterday's disclosure out of friendship with Bush.

The Gannett paper in my area usually puts stories it is uncomfortable with in the "filler" section. The editor decided to follow his heart and skip it altogether.

The editor was in good company: NBC, ABC and CBS ignored the story too, and Fox relegated it to "the crawler" at the bottom of the screen.

Well, I guess you couldn't blame those folks: There wasn't a single Abu Ghraib photo to go with the story, a single way for Hillary Clinton, Al Schumer, Ted Kennedy or Rev. Al Sharpton to go before the cameras.

There was just some foolish, no-longer-Communist Russian shooting his mouth off.

Read more on this subject in Related Hot Topics:

Putin Helps Bush On Iraq-Qaeda Link, Attacks Media

Putin's relationship with Bush is warm by the accounts of both leaders, and last week he said he has no patience for those who criticize Bush on Iraq.

Rush: Let 'em come out and say Putin is lying. I mean, everybody's gotta lie.

Dog psychology lessons 'help postmen'

Ananova: Giving postmen training in dog psychology has reduced attacks on them by 80 per cent, the German post office is claiming.

Deutsche Post said yesterday that all 79,000 of its delivery workers have now been on the courses, introduced in 2001, says the Daily Mail.

And it says the training has been much more successful /em>than a previous attempt to issue all workers with CS gas.

That failed because they claimed they were attacked before they could use the canisters.

On the two-day courses workers learn how to read a dog's body language, how to mask their fear, and how to move slowly and speak in a soothing voice.

Trainer Rolf Stoewe said: "The biggest mistake most postal staff make is to run off."

"It's not rocket science. I am surprised more postal services do not use trainers."

# posted by Charles : 3:17 AM