NewMexiKen intended to take the day off but I think these are must reads:
There is a popular sentiment among the Washington elite that what went wrong in the run-up to the war in Iraq has been sufficiently examined, and that it’s all water under the bridge anyway.
It’s popular in the White House and among Republicans for obvious reasons. But it’s also remarkably popular among top Democrats and the establishment media, because they aren’t all that eager to call any more attention to the fact that they were played for suckers.
There are, however, some people who believe that what led this country to launch a war of choice under false pretenses must be examined in detail — over and over again if necessary — until the appropriate lessons have been learned.
Otherwise, one might argue, history is doomed to repeat itself.
Enter history, stage right.
Once again, powerful neoconservative politicians who just know in their hearts that there is a terrible threat posed by a Middle Eastern country they have identified as part of the axis of evil are frustrated by the lack of conclusive evidence that would support a bellicose approach. So they are pressuring the nation’s intelligence community to find facts that will support their argument.
And, at Slate, Emily Yoffe in a fun, insightful article:
I am a baby boomer, which makes me one of those sickening, self-obsessed, rapidly aging people you nonboomers wish would just shut up and shuffle off already. Although at age 50 I still have a margin of five years of “youth” before I can become a resident of Leisure World, the frequent entreaties I receive from AARP remind me how long ago my youth really was. (And if you think the Bush administration is monitoring you, try keeping your 50th birthday a secret from AARP.) For this Human Guinea Pig, I wanted to preview what old age would be like. Usually this column is about exploring odd corners of life so you don’t have to. But this time, I’m just getting there ahead of you, because if you’re lucky, you’ll get there, too.
Oh, and via Duke City Fix, How Angry Is Your City?. Albuquerque is 14th; Orlando — Orlando ? — is first.
What makes me angry is that when I thought it would be fun to comment at Duke City Fix that Albuquerque’s being ranked 14th made me angry, some commenters had already beaten me to it.