Nary a single world we were told in the build-up to our illegal war in Iraq was true. Worse, the truth was known and willfully repressed. John Cole’sTim F’s exquisite wrap-up of recent revelations about what the CIA knew and when they knew is absolutely must reading, and you have to keep in mind he was totally pro-war and pro-Bush. This post is the perfect antidote for fools who continue to insist Bush declared war on Iraq in good faith and with the best intelligence available. Rubbish. These people really belong in jail. If we were to apply their insistence back in 1999 that Clinton’s crime – lying about a blowjob – merited impeachment, then by their logic Bush’s crimes would merit the chair. (Of course, I reject their “logic,” and would be satisifed if Bush were sentenced to, oh, I don’t know, maybe 20 to 30 years hard labor.)

Update: Damn, Cole Tim is in fine form today.

Congratulations to Mary McCarthy, this week’s rightwing hate magnet. Whether or not she committed a crime remains to be seen, but you can practically smell the flopsweat as the rightwing blogosphere dances chanting around her burning effigy in an effort to drive away unpleasant visions of a fading party and a presidency sunk beyond repair….

Apparently among other crimes McCarthy gave money to the Democratic party. Score one for the Partisan Activist smear. By the same logic convicted spy Larry Franklin must damn the entire neoconservative circle in which he ran, correct? The Wolfowitzes and Perles who feted Franklin and treated him like a cherished pal must answer for their questionable connections. Hearings, I say, we need hearings! Or not. You see, Larry Franklin was a Republican so what he did was ok, and even if it somehow hurt America it certainly does not say anything bad about Republicans even though he was tightly knit into their leading circle. Just one low-ranking bad apple. It makes no sense to exonerate Franklin’s friends and indict McCarthy’s, but good luck telling that to someone when they have a good simmering hate on.

The foaming-at-the-mouth right wing bloggers kicking her to death in the public square provide a particularly ugly picture of just how desperate the Republicans now are. Cole does say McCarthy probably broke the law and probably should be punished; but the reaction on the right is hypocritical beyond words.