Fighting the War Here, so we don't have to cover how we're losing it over There.

The Bushies continue to show the same hand this week. Last night on "The News Hour" with Jim Lerher, Rummy repeated their argument that the media is to blame for how the Debacle in Iraq is being discussed. General Abazaid's also recently said the same. So we see yet again from horribly underprepared civilians and generals alike - when all else fails, blame the media. Rinse and repeat. This morning on "Washington Journal" while I tried to cram some breakfast into Maya, I listened to an entire call-in segment from military folks and contractors with experience in Iraq about what they think the media is missing. In other words, Brian Lamb wanted service personnel or people who's livelihood depends on work there to assess how things are really going for the U.S. That's like interviewing fans at Lambeau Field about their secret love for the Vikings - you can pretty much script the response you'll hear. But occasional nuggets of insight came through. Largely that we're facing a simmering civil war that affords us absolutely no chance of winning until we leave. And now Rummy's trying to make news saying that 20,000 troops should be able to come home after next week's election. I'd bet this exit has been rushed to implementation because of recent pressure. I'm sure the Bushies would claim that pressure is invented and driven by the media. And the Orwellian logic spins fast enough to actually separate our heads from our shoulders.

Speaking of that pesky ol' media - this morning's entry in the "So NOW You Tell Me" Sweepstakes breaks down the al Qaeda/Saddam link used by the Bushies throughout the run-up to invading Iraq. Although the informant who gave that bad intelligence has long been discredited, the way that intelligence was gathered hadn't been mentioned until this morning. Well, su-prise, su-prise, su-prise! The Egyptians beat it out of the guy after the CIA used their "rendition" policy to hand him over in 2002. So Dubya used a bundle of coerced lies to help justify an invasion that even Paul "What Me Worry?" Wolfowitz now says shouldn't have happened if there were no WMDs or terrorism links. I still like the gams on the whole "how was this intelligence used by the Bushies" angle. Media, shmedia. This is about history.

Sounds as though most of the Country's dealing with Winter's "Big Time!" arrival. San Francisco is typically temperate and we're heading out for Maya's morning walk. Sorry. Although I do love those first big storms of the winter and we're expecting a cold, white Jesus-mas back in 'Sconi. This well-timed aesthetic blast should kick-start the Holidaze retail sector. We're gonna do our own consumerist cavorting this weekend - I plan to wear a bikini, just because I can. Hope your own lists have been checked and checked twice. Rock on.