But I'd bet he could still block a few of Rick Rossovich's spikes these days...

There's nothing more depressing than seeing into the frat house basement of Dubya's brain. Yet Robert Draper's book "Dead Certain" that plunges us all down that deep, dark stairwell arrives on the scene today. I guarantee y'all that it's being almost immediately added to my loyal Bushie bashing canon of reality-based books on the shelf in my new office. For the time being, throw up in your own mouths just a bit by reading the excerpts featuring today on Slate after a weekend worth of major paper foreshadowing. My fave thus far - Dubya riffing that he "understands the enemy watches me, the Iraqis are watching me, the troops watch me, and the people watch me." Yes, we do. And what a sight you are to behold.

As to the flyby PR stunt that was Dubya's visit to Iraq yesterday, I'll give the spectacle a middling C-minus rating. We all know the pushback from the Petraeus pseudo-report was due to start early. This just smells like a huge waste of cash and newsprint. If Dubya wanted to impress the troops at this point in the debacle I think he'd need to stage a beach volleyball showdown a la "Top Gun" with a greased up Goose as he showed Ice Man how good he looks out of his flight suit. Speaking of which, Dubya showed up wearing black on a sweltering afternoon in the desert. Do you trust this man's judgment?

And to complete the Iraq trifecta of observations for the day, Tom Davis (R-VA) is my official weathervane in this entire debate of just how we figure out the way to subtly cut and run away like banshees. For those paying WAY too much attention, Sen. John Warner announced on Friday his intention to not seek re-election. Everyone expects Tom Davis, who is a snotty little neocon if there ever was one in the House, to run for the GOP nomination. Well, lookie lookie - Tom Davis is calling for an exit strategy just prior to the Bushies pushing for a stay the course policy. September is gonna get girls gone wild nasty on this debate. Tom Davis is the first one to take his shirt off. Whatever that mixed metaphor means. Just keep an eye on him. Or let me do so, and check back.

Hope your own low-fat chef-prepared lunch menus will NEVER lead you to choose the hot dog. Rock on.

"Attention: Representative Whatshisface likes the BeeGees and once smoked a clove with a dwarf in Prague. YOU WERE WARNED."

Tough Friday news dump for the GOP. White House Press Secretary Tony Snow's resigning, Sen. Larry Craig is hanging on by a thread lit from both ends, Sen. John Warner's out of the race for his guaranteed re-election in '08, and it's not even the close of bizness on the East Coast. I hope someone's told Dubya his Party's ending while he clears brush or plans for Jenna's nups or whatever is on top of his agenda in Crawford. But if I held the briefing book, here are two oddballs I'd throw into the mix.

I'm currently shaped much more like my linebacker days, but I was also a competitive runner. Mitt Romney's no competitive runner. His new ad has more heavy breathing and odd pacing than geriatric porn. Watch it if you've over 21. Or rather, don't. He's such a fraud we shouldn't encourage further virility spoofs on his part.


The WashingtonPost today buried a little gem from the Green Zone in Baghdad that I'm sure will lead to a much larger story on the spin we'll be seeing over the next few months. Obviously, soldiers are being given bios of visiting Congresspersons to shade the stories told. Or maybe this is just part of a grander plan to encourage spitting in the food of certain dignitaries. It's a brief story, but so so damn worth reading. September will be a cloudy shitestorm of empty debate wrapped in a monstrous styrofoam layer of inpenatrable lies covered in truth-retardant goo. Just like Catholic school. Hey, don't blame me - I was raised a Methodist.

Hope your Labor Day weekend is heavy on the weekend, light on the labor. Rock on.