Elementary, My Dear Cheney

I'm not getting the fuss over the August 6 PDB. I've read it over and over and fail to see how it could possibly be used to prove that the Bush administration should have foreseen 9-11.

Come on - it reads like a space-filler in a tabloid magazine, an article thrown together at the last minute because J-Lo's lawyers have called to say they'll press charges if the magazine runs an article about how she's been sleeping with Brad Pitt. I could have pieced together a more in-depth report with my ass.

But it's because of the slap-dash, grade school quality of the report that it'll work out so well for Bush. Nobody can claim that he should have read it, slapped his hand on the desk and declared "They'll be attacking the Twin Towers on the 11th! Call the constabulary!" That would be silly. Especially if you imagine him wearing a deerstalker at the time. I do. Heh. Doesn't he look funny?

Ahem, anyway... I'm guessing the report was declassified simply because anyone who claimed that he could have predicted 9-11 by reading it would instantly lose credibility. By declassifying it as if it was some hugely sensitive intelligence they steered the discussion in such a way that it is focussed only on this piece of paper and nothing else, drawing media attention from other, more incriminating evidence of their failure.

Even so, Bush always likes to make life tough for himself.