And Speaking of Clinton...

His speech launching his new memoirs, "My Life", just reminds me again how much I miss the man...

"A lot of presidential memoirs, they say, are dull and self-serving," the two-term president told a booksellers convention.

"I hope mine is interesting and self-serving..."

More echoes of Nixon and Vietnam

Bush's trip abroad after his "almost bizarre" announcement of George Tenet's departure is working out to be yet another perfect example of his personal disconnect, while skeptical (or worse) Europeans largely dismiss his attempts to draw similarities between the Iraq conflict and WWII. But his reception in Italy is stronger than I had imagined it would be:

U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to Rome drew protests and disrupted transportation, as 10,000 police and soldiers guard against terrorist attacks and patrol demonstrations against the occupation of Iraq.

The city's Ciampino airport is banning flights for two days because of the visit by Bush, who met the Pope after talks with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. Bush is also holding meetings with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Flights arriving into Ciampino were diverted to the Leonardo Da Vinci airport, with delays of as long as three hours.
...
Bush's visit contrasts with his predecessor Bill Clinton's 1994 trip to Rome, when the former U.S. president was met with crowds of cheering revelers. Richard Nixon was forced to move entirely in a helicopter during a 1969 visit to the capital after anti-Vietnam war protests turned violent.

Yes it's been a while

I'll get back to this I swear. There's just so many things going on right now, both in politics and in life, that I feel like where does a person start? Does it really mean anything that GWB is consulting an attorney? Is there any truth to the rumor that he knew about the leak ahead of time? Would that REALLY be surprising? Was he really so upset when the leak came out? As many have pointed out, if he was truly determined to get to the bottom of the leak, he could have asked the members of his staff to sign an affidavit swearing their innocence, a move he never even considered actually making. And in any case, slimeball politics have always been a part of his machine, and the fact that people are always willing to pass it off on the people around him, starting with Rove, is really weak. The fact that people are always more than ready to assume his personal innocence when the man is so very willing to keep himself surrounded with others that are proven thugs would seem to serve as testimony to the public's gullibility. Fortunately, that willingness to be suckered appears to be wearing out.