Right Here

Beating around the...well, you know: The dominant news of the week -- not to mention Harry and Hilary -- was who knew what, when, and where concerning the elusive Weapons of Mass Destruction. The current spin depicts Shrub and his cohorts as "exaggerating" or being misdirected by almost everyone. In the "intelligence" services (except for those who knew they were powerlessly contributing to a "pattern of deception and deceit" to quote Florida Senator Bob Graham.

Poll Watch: The Gallup Poll reported this week that 31 percent of Americans think that "the Bush administration deliberately misled the American public." Shrub's approval rating with regard to Iraq, according to Gallup, has shrunk to 63 percent. More interesting has been the Zogby Poll. Shrub's job performance rating has declined to the point where 41 percent view his performance negatively.

Shrub Approves Racial/Ethnic Profiling: Although the major headlines announced that the President had issued a federal ban on profiling, in fact, the guidelines approve the use of such profiling in cases of "terrorism" and "national security." But, c'mon, how often do those topics really crop up? (Washington Post, New York Times)

Annals of Corporate Crime: The Rite Aid former CEO joined the growing ranks of corporate criminals. Martin L. Grass pleaded guilty this week to defrauding shareholders and obstructing justice. Among other acts, he overstated company earnings by $1.6 billion in 2000 and brought the drug store chain to near bankruptcy. (Baltimore Sun)

Annals of the New York Times: Head firmly up the bum of the Bush Administration, the New York Times' David Rosenbaum concludes that, while "Bush May Have Exaggerated", but Rosenbaum couldn't find any traces of lying. He presents us with numerous fallacious statements by Bush, but then decides "There is no evidence the president did not believe what he was saying." And we all know that if you believe something to be true, it is. Right? Baltimore's banking on it.

Over there

Giving Blair some stiff upper lip: Across the Pond in Britain, where journalists (and even some politicians) still have guts, Robin Cook (former foreign secretary) and Clare Short (former internal development secretary) gave testimony to Parliament that the justifications for war in Iraq were deliberately deceptive, stating that it is "now clear that Saddam Hussein did not represent a 'clear and serious threat'".

Meanwhile, in the Occupied Territories... Despite repeated warnings from the US about "damaging the peace plan", Israel continues its assassination campaigns against Hamas militants, killing 2 top Hamas leaders last week. Colin Powell says that shouldn't stop peace efforts. Peace is much easier to achieve when the other party is dead, after all.

Arab diplomats "expressed irritation with Israel's continued policy of targeted killings".

This week in history:

In 1948 the United Nations adopted its International Declaration of Human Rights (the US was not a signatory). The US Supreme Court struck down a provision in Maryland's constitution requiring state office holders to believe in God. Correction: In last week's "history" we erroneously attributed the invention of the musical triangle to the grandfather of Mayor George Oboe. In fact, he had invented the ocarina.