I'm certainly not alone in the War Room as a person who regularly tries to rip Dubya, the GOP and assorted others well-deserved new assholes over various issues. Still, many (most? all?) politicians deserve it somewhere along the line, not just the Current Occupant et al.

In the interest of fairness, a couple of questions.

How long has it been known that the Clinton administration also had a "separate communication system"? Who knew this, when did they know it, and did ANYONE publicize it? If not, why not? Did any other administrations similarly circumvent the existing and official White House system, either out of expediency or secretiveness?

We should all be appalled at attempts to hide and obscure the real record of official actions, no matter who does it. We should all also be irate that the media has evidently done a shockingly poor job of reporting on this topic, since these secret communications systems aren't widely known.

"Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely."

That's really all you need to know about this incident.

*sigh* I don't know which is more sickening -- that Wolfowitz and other such people don't expect to be held accountable for anything, or that they're probably CORRECT in that expectation?

What's wrong with Americans these days anyway? Where's the outrage over such overt corruption and the blatant impunity with which Wolfowitz and others thumb their noses at us?

From USA Today:

"Former United States secretaries of State Henry Kissinger, Gen. Alexander Haig, Lawrence Eagleburger and George Shultz have endorsed Senator John McCain for president," the McCain campaign just announced in an e-mail to reporters.

"These are Americans who selflessly led our country into a modern era of security and stability, and I am proud to have their support," McCain says in the news release. "We share optimism in America and dedication to winning the war on terror."

The statement includes these words of support from the retired diplomats:

• Kissinger: "The world's challenges are radically changing and our country needs John McCain's experience and optimism."

• Haig: "John McCain is a leader with a vision for a more prosperous, secure America."

• Shultz: "He understands the enormous threat terrorism poses to our way of life and is prepared to fight and win this war from the first day he steps foot in office."

• Eagleburger: "As our country adjusts to new challenges, John McCain's experience and record as a common sense conservative make him the best candidate for our country's future."

...most notably "The Decider", among other titles.

Seems like what we really need now is someone to be "The Navigator" -- a person who can read a map and tell whoever's at the wheel WHICH WAY TO GO.

We'll never "turn the corner" unless that Navigator shows up, and it ain't gonna be Dubya. His sense of direction is fatally flawed. He actually seems to be following the somewhat famous UPS system -- they reportedly route their delivery trucks to make right turns almost exclusively. (This apparently does speed their routes and reduce fuel consumption by avoiding lengthy waits for left turns.)

Hey, maybe we should start calling Dubya the "UPS President" because he can ONLY make conservative-friendly "right turns" -- or if the good folks at UPS object, how about the "OOPS President"?

"...the president said he wants to talk with congressional leaders so that they can 'report on progress on getting an emergency spending bill to my desk . . .'"

Job #1 for Majority Leader Reid and Speaker Pelosi will be to INFORM the Current Occupant that Congress does not "REPORT" to any President. Once they get agreement on that little detail, it may be time for true discussions and negotiation between the co-equal branches of our Federal government.

But let's have some additional fun. Compare the Bush quote you cited with almost anything that comes directly from his brain & mouth -- your quote is a White House release that's actually cogent and sensible, unlike almost anything from Bush that's off-the-cuff or spontaneous.

He obviously never wrote that item, and probably only studied it long enough to spout the words in his typically stilted and sloppy fashion. His speaking skills are so poor that you'd swear English was his second language!

The Current Occupant needs more than just a refresher course in civics. Let's add English composition, logic, and speech to the ever-growing list.

After marveling that the U.S. and Japan could be strong allies after World War II, Bush extended his amazement to the next conflict this way (copied from the official White House transcript of his visit to the American Legion post today):

"How about after the Korean War? Some of you are Korean vets, I know. I bet it would have been hard for you to predict, if you can think back to the early '50s, to predict that an American President would say that we've got great relations with South Korea, great relations with Japan, that China is an emerging marketplace economy, and that the region is peaceful. This is a part of the world where we lost thousands of young American soldiers, and yet there's peace."

The Current Occupant obviously doesn't know that we were allied to South Korea after World War II, during the Korean conflict, and ever since. Why then should we be surprised that he knew almost NOTHING about Iraq's history, religious divisions, etc. as he led us into that charming war of choice, since he knows just as little about our OWN history?

We're being led by arguably the most ignorant man who ever occupied the White House. Worst. President. Ever.