I could only skim this. Too much ado about not very much. I was about to ask who's Ed Kilgore, when it said at the end that he has been active in Georgia politics. Oh.

Both he and Glenn Greenwald are under the illusion that the "Democratic" party is worth saving, that it is some kind of bastion against evil, and that the "American" political class is somehow reformable.

After Bush, it will be interesting to see what happens. Obama, not exactly the knight on a white horse he's been made out to be, will be charged with undoing the damage of the Bush criminal regime. The elephant in the room, though, is not the "Republicans," but climate change. That will be trumping everything, including the colors of the various dogs who walk the halls of Congress.

The best way to look at what is going on, I believe, is to put yourself in Bush's shoes. There is a growing momentum for impeachment, and when he leaves office there is a good likelihood that he will face lawsuits, and possibly arrest should he travel overseas. Attacking "Iran" would pretty much seal his fate. Even in the "U.S.", where our extremely compromised political elite is supposedly afraid of "tearing the country apart," the response to another fake war would likely be impeachment and incarceration. Especially with $6 a gallon gas.

Still wearing Bush's shoes, one can easily imagine his predicament. A completely hollow man, he is at the mercy of forces around him. I suspect that Gates is a much more powerful figure than anyone realizes. A genuine military man, he likely laid down the law on the Cheney faction of the gang, telling them in no uncertain terms that jail awaits them if they try to pull another invasion. He has the goods on all of them, no doubt, and can hold it over their heads for sheer fun if he wants.

Unless Cheney can pull a fast one, he is through as the power behind the throne. Personal power is the drug that makes life worth living for such people, and without it, it's all downhill. Plotting a resurgence to power might just be too much for his heart of stone.

What this era reveals is that all of these wars, rumors of war, threats and intimidations are just games among gangs - Machiavellian intrigue within and without criminal regimes that have little to do with the actual "countries" or citizens involved, except as pawns and resource bases.

All that matters among these elites is gaining power and exercising it, similar to the low-rent seeking of crystal meth that has become epidemic in some regions. Like crystal meth, power is a drug that makes people addicts on the first use. Much more harmful than crystal meth, it is easily disguised. One's teeth don't rot so quickly, and dental work is free when you are part of the gang in charge.

This country isn't going to elect John McCain as its president, stupid as it is. Rove and his fellow schemers know that it is all about image, but there's really no way to make a silk purse out of this sow's ear. More likely there is an "underground" movement to replace McCain, having him drop out for "health reasons."

What this points out is that "democracy" is an illusion, more about the creation of celebrity than anything else. Rove, "genius" that he is, uses Obama's superior celebrity as a weapon of reverse psychology, attempting to convert his strenght into a weakness.

I suspect that Obama is smart enough to pull a double reverse, turning the "strength" of the Rove strategy into a weakness. If celebrity is such a bad thing, then let's have a complete nobody for president. Woops. We've already done that. How about the nearest person on the street, or a randomly picked entrant in a national lottery?

The celebrity gimmick likely won't last long. McCain is tired, lifeless, and has no answers. If the country is dumb enough to "elect" him, then we are finished anyway, so we might as well get it over with quick. This is the real test. How dumb are we? We'll find out soon enough.