I usually enjoy reading this blog so much I was happy to pay Salon to read it when it moved.

BUT

Reading a blog(s), 2 in a row, on the values of other bloggers I find about as interesting and intellectually stimulating as listening to high school girl A discussing why high school girl B isn't her best friend anymore.

Who is the more hateful and dishonest blogger may be an interesting dinner party conversation for bloggers, but not me.

If Glenn and his right wing counterparts manage to get over themselves (not likely I will concede) they might notice there are still 2 wars currently being lost on and 3rd in planning.

Eyes on the ball people!

Don't for second think his contempt stops at American borders. He was here is Australia last week rolling out the same 'stay the course or the sky will fall in' fantasy.

I'm genuinely ashamed we let him into the country.

I wasn't yet born but Howard Zinn mentioned in a lecture I downloaded late last year that the reason the societies tolerated the failure in Veitnam for so long was due to a well worn lie that Communism would 'spread like wildfire across the pacific... and then the US and Europe...' should the fight with the communists be lost.

Same thing here. In order to continue his failed agenda Dick has to use a fantasy of fear. The favoured tool of evil.

This surge, like the others, is just another battle in a war long lost.

Like so many I find it delusional and moronic.

George Bush is like a small child and a hot stove. You can tell them and tell them not to touch the hot stove because it will cause great pain. Eventually you just have to resign to the fact that the hot stove will be touched and pain will be the result.

Dubya has been told time and time again there is no military solution in Iraq. Therefore another surge will march along the same path to failure all the others did.

Embarrassingly, like a inquisitive child and a hot stove, I have resigned myself to the fact that there will be a surge (obviously, it's happening), the surge will fail and the result will be pain.

Pain for the families of US service men and women who won't come home. Pain for the families of the Iraqi service men that will be killed by their own countrymen. Pain for the families of the innocent men, women and children killed in war forced upon them. Pain for those helping the US who will be well remembered by the insurgents long after the surge is over.

For mine this embodies one of the greatest problems being faced by western society. Broadly, journalism has been replaced with opinion and no-one told the public.

We have these writers (IE not journalists) passing off their half arsed opinion as fact while Joe (and Josephine) Public fall for it everytime.

Many allegedly reputable news sources are simply government stenographers with a reading audience (anyone feel like a Miller?) or are simply making stuff up to advance their agenda. And then they have the audacity to call themselves journalists.

Thank gum for the likes of Glenn, Juan, Amy and the rest for 'keepin it real'.

Frankly I don't give a toss (sorry for my Australiana) what level of delusion national journalists suffer. At least Jayson Blair had the integrity to admit he made it all up. What about the rest of these Bush stenographers and half arsed opinionists that claim to be journalists. They are only fooling themselves if they consider themselves anything more than peddlers of propaganda.

Mainstream (or national) news media has the integrity of the an Enron balance sheet so I treat them as they deserve. Good for entertainment in short burst but not much else. EG When I'm waiting at the hairdresser or Doctor I could watch CNN instead of reading a 3 year old issue of 'O.K. ' magazine. They could replace the National Inquirer with Time and TV Week with NYT. The same level of titillation and lack of truth in all.

I look forward to explaining to my yet to be conceived child that journalists are what we had before blogs. Just like horse and carts are what we had before cars made them obsolete.

OK so I may be out of line because I only read the first paragraph just to be sure this wasn't a pun.

An American complaining of their mistreatment by a foreign government; you cannot be serious! As non US, and non UK I will add, citizen I find that offensive. At least Peter got to choose his destination before gaol, wasn't tortured and his loved knew which hemisphere he was in.

The US government picks up anyone they choose from any country they see fit and flies them, destination unknown, to places that would make this 'Victorian hellhole' looks like the Ritz. Per-leez.

I don't get the whole "it's only a blog, you can't trust them like..." who? Judith Miller, Jayson Blair (sorry NYT), CNN, FOX they are all liars.

Before one reads anything or anyone the agenda of the organisation or author publishing has to be understood.

I love the fact that these clowns (I don't know what else to call them, they are certainly not journalists and pundits implies some level of knowledge) are so full of themselves they think they would actually know if a CIA agent was covert or not.

Is there a list on the CIA website with full BIOs and current activity or something?

I have come to accept a vast majority of the media just arrogantly pass off their agenda as fact. They are still out their talking to America and the world and some people are still stupid enough to believe them.

Is there any hope?