Natural Idiot Estimate; Bush Revulsion Syndrome

One could, if one desired, read the whole pdf'ing NIE here. But that would be a waste of time. Go instead to Harper's and get some background on the whole thing.

The White House, and particularly Vice President Cheney, has been feverishly attempting to stop its issuance. The Director of National Intelligence, McConnell, has been at odds to oppose its declassification. In sum, something was there and the war party was intensely upset about it.

This is yesterday's news, & NatSec weasel Hadley's news conference.

For comedy relief (that is, if one is amused by the street corner rantings of paranoid schizophrenics, & really, who isn't?) we provide a link to the Pontifex of The Pod People, Norman the First. The usual paranoia: The intellectual elites in the CIA are trying to make Bush look bad. Or something. It makes little sense to the rational, but the absurdity is amusing.

And the latest on Bush's news conference today from the AP: The President tries to reconcile two entirely different ideas.

Defending his credibility, President Bush said Tuesday that Iran is dangerous and must be squeezed by international pressure despite a blockbuster intelligence finding that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago.

[...]

Bush rattled some allies by warning recently that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to World War III. Until Monday's report, the administration was unwavering in its conviction that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons. Bush said he did not know about the new findings until he was briefed last week - a point challenged by some.

"The president knew, even as he was saying 'World War III' and all that kind of stuff," said Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. "He knew. He knew, he had been briefed."

[...]

"President Bush has lost all credibility with the American people," said Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "We were misled on Iraq, now it's Iran. We need to get to the truth so our foreign policy is not only tough but smart."

[...]

The president opened the session by challenging Congress, in the three weeks before Christmas, to approve money without conditions for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, pass overdue spending bills and pass a temporary fix to the alternative minimum tax so millions of taxpayers don't get hit with tax increases.

"Based on the record so far," he said, "Americans could be forgiven for thinking that Santa will have slipped down their chimney on Christmas Eve before Congress finishes its work."

He just makes one want to smack every one of his lying teeth out, doesn't he? After one has kicked him in the balls a few times. And slipped something down his fucking chimney.