No Answers, Just More Questions

The WashingtonPost has a story on Iraqi prisons that I've seen no mention of recently. Apparently, a large prisoner riot on January 31st led to a handful of deaths and a need to re-examine how the US Military is handling this rising tide. Ugly details and ominous forecasts throughout.

Hendrik Hertzberg gives a downer rundown of Gannongate (or "Nothinggate" as he predicted). Skillfully presented and a great primer for any of the handful of people out there interested yet uninformed about this brouhaha. Unfortunately, Hertzberg never touches on the elements that really matter - what classified materials and special access Gannon/Guckert was given. But the comparison to Travelgate in the Clinton WH is worth the trip.

I missed the Gannongate debate on Howie Kurtz's "Reliable Sources" yesterday. The transcript offers some tasty morsels of gay-bating counterspin from a "right wing blogger" (John Hinderaker, Powerlineblog.com). And some very interesting defenses of the reporting on JD/Jeff from bloggers (including John Aravosis, Ameriblog.com). My one conclusion - Kurtz is increasingly a pain in the ass. I remember seeing him struggling with his laptop all the way through a Howard Dean rally in Lebanon, NH last January before the Dem Primary. In other words, I have a hard time seeing him as a stellar example of professional reportage. Well-placed doofus is more like it.

Scott "My Brother's a Doctor And All I Got Was This T-shirt" McClellan tries to clear up the way Gannon/Guckert got his day pass in an interview with Editor & Publisher that went live on Friday. Sounds like more buck-passing to me. In effect, he blamed the day pass approvals for JD/Jeff on an unnamed assistant. They'll probably next say he/she was a temp.

All sorts of Hunter S. Thompson obits are running throughout the mediasphere this morning. My favorite Hunter quote sums it up for me:

"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity to anyone . . . but they've always worked for me."

He really lost it over, well, the last handful of decades. But the occasional nugget of deranged truth made his mountains of prose always worth the read. I'm sure he just couldn't stand the thought of another Dubya term. Or maybe the bats finally swooped low enough to really get to him. Whatever caused him to shoot himself, Hunter will be missed.