"Sod is hard work - kinda like freedom."

Dubya's gave another speech this morning before the Council on Foreign Relations trying to tie the Iraqi debacle to not only 9/11 but the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Timing, after all, is everything in politics. And abusing tragic timing is Rule #1 if you're in power, as we've seen time and time again from Dubya. He's trying to put a good face on everything that's gone wrong by pointing out that Iraqis now have 3 million cellphones. And a new soccer field ("with new sod") in Najaf. Amazingly, Dubya's admitted early on that reconstruction has begun with "fits and starts". Love the antiquated cliche` - so drip-coffee-and-a-bear-claw-in-Crawford. But the willingness to recycle old justifications make this just more of the same propaganda. The most telling passage was lifted from one of the many references to Senator Liberman's support of the Debacle. "He's got Joementum!" apparently said that it was important to point out to the American people that the "plan" has not remained "stubbornly still, but has changed over the years." Parse that out and you've got loads to work with. My brain pivots on the "over the years" admission, moreso than the "stubbornly still" Freudian alliteration. In other words, for all the spinning, spinning, spinning to keep this from turning into a rhetorical trip down the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the Bushies have failed miserably. Will this speech change a single iota of the discontent that's now inherent in any mention of Iraq? If you think so, I'd love to forward you some emails I've been receiving for years from lawyers of my dead distant relatives. Apparently, just as in the continued justification of the Debacle by the Dubya, I'm much better off than I realize as this tragedy unfolds.

Over the last week, Maya took an unwelcome turn from consistently sleeping through the night to what I realize is babyish normalness. And for once, it seems as though our Sherlock Holmesy reaction was appropriate. Her room was too cold. Hypothermia can occur even in California apartments. Sarah likes to see her breath when she gets up to pee in the middle of the night. I no longer have any feeling in my extremities. Yada yada yada. So we got a space heater yesterday for Maya's room and she slept through last night in cozy bliss, we're happy to report. Of course, I went with the coal-fired model, so black lung is a risk. But just as in Dubya's decision to go into Iraq, I believe that criticism of my solution is not appropriate at this time in our Nation's history.

Lots more to catch up on. Back soon. Rock on.