Ms. Schmidt, who consistently parrots White House spin, reports that the timing of the Novak story, which was published on July 14 is now in question. Apparently, White House officals could have read the Novak story as early as July 11 when it was available over the AP wire. Here is a key paragraph from the article:

"This lawyer (a lawyer for one of the White House witnesses who talked to the grand jury -- ed.) and two others involved in the case said Fitzgerald has been trying to sort out whether White House officials mounted a campaign to leak Plame's identity, or whether they were merely spinning information that Novak's column had already put into the public domain. Prosecutors are also investigating who originally gave Novak the information."

So this is the latest White House defense strategy.

These are important for fleshing out the Bush TANG story. The first one shows that Killian was concerned about Bush and Bath's "flight certification status" in February 1972, at a time when Bush is rumored to be doing drugs. He is also rumored to have crashed a jet. We do know that he spent a lot of time in a trainer that spring (remedial training?). It also connects Bush and Bath together more tightly.

Police in Kirkuk say the head of security for Iraq's Northern Oil Company, Ghazi al-Talabani, was on his way to work when attackers opened fire on his vehicle. Mr. Talabani was killed and his driver was wounded in the attack

link

Who could have this knowledge?

Who would be willing to leak this story?

LaHaye, best-selling author of the Left Behind series is one of the leading proponents of the pretribulation rapture scenario, which more or less goes like this:

• Regathering of Jews in the Holy Land their becoming the nation of Israel
• Rapture of true believers (evangelicals) -- they will be suddenly physically transported directly to heaven
• The Tribulation, a seven year period when many very bad things happen, including attack on Israel, rise of the Antichrist, day of God's wrath, Armageddon. (Note: the best part of this from the pretribulation rapture believers' perspective, is that they get to sit in heaven and watch all the action, including the destruction of all the non-believers.)
• God's intervention and the Second Coming of Christ
• Christ's 1000 year kingdom on earth
• End of time, or eternity

• "Gruesome Iraq Images Could Shake U.S. Opinion" Reuters
• "Killings challenge US will" Christian Science Monitor
• "Grisly video could shake confidence" USA Today
• "Bush should beware the Mogadishu effect" - Howard Fineman, MSNBC

Presumably, a large number of American males kept the TV on CBS after watching an exciting basketball game.

If some of what Richard Clarke said sinks in, it could be very good news for Kerry.

• Kerry leads Bush 52 - 44
• 54% said use of 9/11 images in Bush's ads was "inappropriate
• Bush's approval rating fell back to an all-time low of 49%. It has floated in a narrow range, just above or below 50%, since mid-January.

Reuters Story

Whenever I think of President Bush's invasion of Iraq, the image that comes to mind is that famous scene in the movie "The Shining" where Jack Nicholson, playing a crazed author, tries to kill his wife, played by Shelley Duvall, who's hiding in the bathroom. As Ms. Duvall cowers behind the locked bathroom door, Mr. Nicholson takes an ax, smashes it through the door, and with a look of cheery madness peers through the splintered wood and announces, "Heeeere's Johnny."

That's the U.S. invasion of Iraq...the U.S. just crashed right through the locked door: "Heeeere's Dubya."

Here's the article:  Breaking and Entering

Of course, according to Tom, the invasion of Iraq will lead to peace in Israel, and democracy will blossom throughout the Arab world.