...for someone like RR, who built a career pretending he co-wrote the Basement Tapes. Had Dylan been less generous, he surely could've ended this pathetic façade long ago. And then no one would be debating his worth, as if anyone was interested outside aging hippies seeking music they heard on commercials for new automobiles. For only a sad fool could say something like

I don't listen to my old music; it's just not what I do. But I had to listen to it in putting this album together

or of Levon

I know he's upset about something.

Exactly, RR. You're not a Zimmerman nor a Lennon. Nor even an Baez, an Elvis, a Clapton. Just a washed-up has-been, hoping to make yet another buck controlling the only thing he ever did that was worth anything...the time when he sat at the feet of gods.

...Tenet would known as an unreliable narrator.

Even as he gives new ammunition to those opposed to the war, the new history smacks of little more than self-service. An attempt to tell "his side of the story," and hey, if they can sell a few books in the process, what's the harm? He'll appear on Larry King (if he hasn't already) and every other soft pundit's show, hawking his 'version' of the truth. There are two sides to every story, right?

Yet many of us will have trouble forgetting that AP photo of our President hanging the medal of freedom around Tenet's neck -- the same smug look on his face that now adorns his book cover.

And we'll ask ourselves: exactly why should we believe him this time around?

With the exception of the "foaming at the mouth" conservatism on its editorial page, and lack of a sports section, the WSJ is consistently the best all-around American newspaper. They have, at times, been equally quick to praise the free-market credentials of someone like Jerry Garcia as they have of George W. Bush. Equal opportunity capitalists, if nothing else.

But I'm afraid they'll lose this 18-year subscriber if Murdoch takes the helm. AL is right that Rupert can't help but micromanage every pub he owns, and no doubt his purchase of the WSJ would be a sign that he intended to take American business journalism down the same troubling road as his other media ventures. Capitalism deserves a better advocate.

So, the only way to stop the war is to continue it. Seriously, how sad are democrats? It was this same reasoning that led the party to choose Kerry over Dean, because Kerry "understood politics" while Dean was all emotion and fury.

The time for equivocating is over. I was one of those people intrigued by Dean in '03, but who believed he was unelectable (an opinion, no doubt informed by six years living "inside the beltway"). But if dems at least had the guts to put forth an anti-war candidate in '04 - even when he lost - they'd have a position of strength from which to speak.

Now that a democratic congress has put it's stamp of approval on the war, I'm afraid the message is loud and clear: dems care about politics and power, not stopping this war.

Another bay area publication making excuses for Bonds. Yawn. You see, when you live in a city that just won a championship, or whose star player just broke a long-revered record, you're allowed to ignore things like grand jury testimony. It was leaked anyway, right? How could that be true? The more important things are your hometown glory and bragging rights, and oh yeah, how wonderful that player has been to your child.

Maybe McCain just doesn't like cheaters. And I think one could argue against cheating, and still support a racist pig like Don Imus. After all, as bad as he may be, at least Imus let it all hang out on his radio show. The only people who were shocked by what he said about the Rutger's team were the ones who had not been listening. For his part, Bonds has never admitted - in public, at least - that he took performance-enhancing steroids.

...there's really no evidence electronic voting has been any less than perfect, so I'm not really sure why he'd care. After all, just because Diebold is a shameful self-promoter does not mean the company has helped the GOP steal elections or anything.

Wired's Threat Level blog is running a search for the most shameful self-promoting Wikipedia edits uncovered by the new tool. The leading contender, now, is Diebold's deletions of criticisms of its voting technology -- but if you unearth any yourself, be sure to let me (and Threat Level) know.

A Blockbuster spokesperson denied they edit movies: Manjoo agrees! Next he'll be asking our President if the U.S. supports torture: then delight in reporting that Tony Snow says we do not. And salon readers will collectively sigh and wonder why they pay $40 a year to be told that Blockbuster is good for the movie industry.

NBC should be smarter than this. There is a very small market for video downloads, right now, even amongst the 18-35 age group. Didn't a survey out this week say only about 12% of that population has even bought a video in the last month?

What NBC fails to realize is Apple's price point - while doing little for their current bottom line - is the only thing keeping legal downloading alive right now. Raise the price to $4.99 for an episode of The Office and no one, repeat, no one will pay for it. Frankly, not even Heroes is worth that price.

Do the math -- at that rate, the box set of an average TV show's season would cost $110 retail (at 22 episodes per season). Double the cost for the privilege of downloading? What are they smoking over there at NBC?