Well, I thought the Iranian mess had ended a little too easily.  It seems I may have been right.  If you read between the lines of this story you see that Poodles is sowing the rhetorical seeds for Iran Crisis II, Bite of the Poodle (the first one was "Bark of the Poodle").  We are being offered the insinuation that "elements" linked to the Iranian regime maybe, just possibly, were linked to the four British deaths.  Hmm... elements like, say every Iraqi Shiite maybe?  I mean with family ties, religion and tribal affiliation who isn't going to be "linked" in some way to Iran? Of course we have this, which sounds like reasonable talk.

"Now it is far too early to say that the particular terrorist act that killed our forces was an act committed by terrorists that were backed by any elements of the Iranian regime, so I make no allegation in respect of that particular incident," Blair said.

More below...

Story here

Presumably they mean Iranian militants.  Then again maybe it's just going to be a little recreational homicide to blow off stress.  Anywho, it's just what I expected Bush to do after his curious SOTU address.  I mean if you had made a speech repudiating everything you've done for the last six years but weren't really serious about it what would you do?  Well you might do something so completely crazy that it distracts everyone from holding you accountable for the speech and leads them instead to start pleadings along the lines of "just put down the gun and let the panda go and we'll talk".  

I am a student right now at the University of Central Florida here in sunny yet dorky Orlando.  I left the lecture hall this morning and proceeded back to my car.  On the way I noticed that flying amongst puffy Giorgio de Chirico clouds there was a small single engine plane towing a banner.  What would it be?  What corporate slogan inducing me to buy some crap I don't need was it hanging in that cold blue sky today? Find out below the fold.

Here's a short one for you (my first diary too).  So why did Durbin back down?  Why, oh why.  We finally get someone in congress who speaks the awful truth honestly and then he - backs down.  This is going to be used by the right wing "conflation machine" the same way the Rather memo is used to silence any discussion of Bush's bizarre National Guard record.  Now, when people attempt to discuss Guantanamo the wingers will just say "your senator Durbin said that kind of stuff and he had to apologize".  Then they will call you a traitor and the usual shouting match with unfold.