Must-reads

Two fine pieces sum up our present situation:

Thom Hartmann not only sums up the argument for Rovian manipulation in Rathergate, he also provides an important bit of history when he details the first Kerry-v-Bush dust-up. That battle occurred when Kerry uncovered the dirt on the crooked bank BCCI, which had Bush family connections.

Xymphora, whoever the hell he is, delivers an impassioned summary of the situation in Iraq. An excerpt:

And still, the Americans are losing, and losing badly. They are not just losing the battle of hearts and minds, as that part of the war was lost a long time ago. They are also not suffering under the PR problems that you would think would be caused by ever increasing numbers of American casualties, as those statistics are either hidden from the American public or apparently are of no concern to it. They are actually losing in the good old fashioned way that would have been understood by the Ancient Greeks. Each time they have a battle, the Americans suffer more debilitating casualties than the resistance. The Americans are losing for the simple reason that they are running out of troops. This explains the more and more ridiculous stories we see of attempts to deal with the lack of American troops. It also explains the reliance on aerial bombardment of civilians.