"We now call it 'compassionate cutting and no child left behind running'..."

Everyone's kicking the War Over Iraq ugly can of worms further down the road today. The absurdity of "stay the course" now being banned sloganeering by the Bushies should float to the top of this slurry. But the press conference that Gen. Casey and Ambassador Khalilzad gave this morning will be today's buried lead. They've now put a date on our withdrawal - 12 to 18 months. They blamed the Iraqis for not sending enough troops to Baghdad. They blamed Iran and Syria for everything else. And in the midst of the presser, the power went out. In the Green Zone. Since the Bushies so firmly believe in imagery and love to stage the stuffing out of any event, the fact that this presser went so off the tracks with our two top dudes on the dais...well, even Barney the Dog can see that this whole mess is swirling toward the drain. Plus much more menacingly, someone's now got an American soldier as a prisoner. Poor kid's awaiting whatever sort of torture payback we can expect from here on out thanks to the idiocy of Dubya's torture stance. If you've got something else to focus on today, do so. On our end, Maya woke up with a fever and is essentially strapped to my side all day. But we're gonna make it fun (forced smile)...

Hope you own clouds have sparkling silver innards all day. Rock on.