BLOGGING MAY BE LIGHT THIS WEEKEND: I just got The Simpsons Sixth Season in the mail. Woohoo!

GERARD BAKER WRITES IN THE TIMES:

PERHAPS THE biggest weapon in the arsenal of America’s critics is carefully selective amnesia. Conveniently forgetting important historical facts enables tactical amnesiacs to make claims about US policy that seem to support their contention that the country’s government is uniquely evil.

The latest evidence that George Bush is a war criminal has apparently come this week with the acknowledgment that the US military used white phosphorus (WP) on enemy positions in Fallujah. This is deemed an outrage, something decent countries never do, yet more proof that the Bush-Cheney cabal is sedulously destroying the very foundations of American civilisation. . . .

In fact, WP is not a chemical weapon, not even banned by any treaty to which the US is signatory. It has been used by the armed forces in all countries in wars for decades. Indeed, if you look up the roll of US Congressional Medal of Honour winners, you will discover that quite a few received this highest military decoration precisely because they used “shake and bake” to such successful effect. . . .

But the “Bush lied to us” whine is much worse when it comes from the mouths of those who insisted only three years ago, in voting for the war, that they were taking a heroic stand in defence of national security. Half the Democratic members of the Senate — oddly enough, including all those with serious presidential aspirations — John Kerry, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden — voted for the war in 2002. The awful truth about many of these people is that their cynicism in distancing themselves from their support for the war is only matched by their cynicism in originally supporting it.

Let me be clear: some Democrats — Joe Lieberman springs to mind — supported the war for the right reasons, and continue to do so. Others — Ted Kennedy, Russell Feingold — opposed it all along. But most of those now recanting made a straight political calculation in voting to authorise force in the first place.

Read the whole thing.

COULD ABSENT FATHERS cause ADHD?

UNSCAM UPDATE:

One of France’s most distinguished diplomats has confessed to an investigating judge that he accepted oil allocations from Saddam Hussein, it emerged yesterday.

Jean-Bernard Mérimée is thought to be the first senior figure to admit his role in the oil-for-food scandal, a United Nations humanitarian aid scheme hijacked by Saddam to buy influence.

The Frenchman, who holds the title “ambassador for life”, told authorities that he regretted taking payments amounting to $156,000 (then worth about £108,000) in 2002.

The money was used to renovate a holiday home he owned in southern Morocco. At the time, Mr Mérimée was a special adviser to Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general.

According to yesterday’s Le Figaro, he told judge Philippe Courroye during an interview on Oct 12: “I should not have done what I did. I regret it.”

But he also said that the payments were made in recompense for work he had done on Iraq’s behalf. “All trouble is worth a wage,” he is reported to have said.

I’m sure he earned every dime. (Via Ed Morrissey, who wonders why this isn’t getting play in the American media).

AMERICANS: More isolationist? Or more Anglospherist?

FILIBUSTERING the Patriot Act renewal?

MICHAEL YON REPORTS on the Deuce Four’s return home from Iraq, and takes a look at the home folks.

BUDGETCUTTING UPDATE:

House Republicans sweated out a victory on a major budget cut bill in the wee hours Friday, salvaging a major pillar of their agenda despite divisions within the party and nervousness among moderates that the vote could cost them in next year’s elections.

The bill, passed 217-215 after a 25-minute-long roll call, makes modest but politically painful cuts across an array of programs for the poor, students and farmers.

They’d be in a much better position to respond to that sort of criticism if they had, you know, been willing to cut pork in their own districts.

STEPHEN BAINBRIDGE WRITES that California is squandering a golden opportunity to fix its fiscal problems.

MARC COOPER TAKES A STAB at translating the Woodward tapes.

All I can say is that those who laughed at me when I called this case “complicated” aren’t laughing now . . . . Heh.

UPDATE: “Yet another round of Plamegate guessing has exploded.” Did I say “heh?” Why yes, I did.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader C.J. Burch emails:

Marc did a great job. I laughed out loud. My favorite line was “He pissed on us. We liked that too.” Still, why should the Post be angry at Woodward for doing to them what the rest of the MSM has been doing to us for years?

I’d say “heh,” again, but . . .

MICKEY KAUS on the Murtha foofaraw: “The press is pretending to be surprised by Murtha’s views (‘An Unlikely Lonesome Dove’ … ‘a fierce hawk’) even though he’s been a known, public Iraq War skeptic since at least a year and a half ago. . . . I’m ready to be convinced that U.S. troops are doing more harm than good in Iraq, but Murtha’s speech is not convincing. He doesn’t even try very hard.” He doesn’t have to, with all the help from the press.

THIS WEEK IN THE REPUBLICAN SENATE: A roundup.

WHY IS MURTHA’S STATEMENT ON THE WAR NEWS when he said basically the same thing a year and a half ago? This is from May 6, 2004:

Signaling a new, more aggressive line against the Bush administration’s policy on Iraq, Rep. John Murtha (Pa.), the House Democrats’ most visible defense hawk, will join Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) today to make public his previously private statements that the conflict is “unwinnable.”

And he’s the Democrats’ hawk? (Via The Corner).

UPDATE: More on Murtha here and here.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Damian Lewis emails:

I live in SW Pennsylvania in a district that adjoins Rep. Murtha’s 12th congressional district. It seems odd no one has mentioned how the year 2000, Pennsylvania re-districting plan, pushed Murtha into a much more left leaning district. I believe he had to do this, just to avoid a primary fight.

I think a lot of the antiwar and “Bush Lied” stuff is about keeping the base happy.

N.Z. BEAR has put up a topic page on the Bob Woodward revelations. Meanwhile, Media Bistro looks at a leaky Post newsroom.

SO I’M IN THE CINCINNATI AIRPORT, and though I was a bit worried about flying Delta on this trip, the flights have been smooth, pleasant, and on-time. Plus, the ticket was dirt-cheap. Given Delta’s problems lately, it’s been a pleasant surprise so far. Let’s hope the last leg is as nice.

UPDATE: Jeez, I shouldn’t have spoken so soon. My flight’s delayed now. Thanks, Delta!

MICHAEL BARONE: “I recall that some years ago Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan argued that the CIA should be abolished, and I argued that that was a ridiculous and irresponsible position. As usual when Pat and I disagreed, Pat turned out to be right.”

RIGHT SIDE REDUX is blogging — and videoblogging — from the Capitol Hill blog fest, and has a list of other bloggers participating.

ADAM BONIN REPORTS on a very positive F.E.C. ruling on Internet free speech.

“AIDING AND ABETTING:” John McCain rips into those calling for a troop withdrawal.

UPDATE: For the benefit of those who don’t follow the link, I guess I should stress that McCain is ripping a lot of Republicans, too. And they deserve it. Hugh Hewitt isn’t very happy with them, either.

I DIDN’T KNOW that Richard Clarke worried that Osama would “boogie to Baghdad” if we invaded Afghanistan. Interesting. “Clarke’s opinion was based on intelligence indicating a number of contacts between al Qaeda and Iraq, including word that Saddam had offered bin Laden safe haven.”

Funny that we haven’t heard more about this.

UPDATE: Reader Robert Toups emails:

Of course we knew that Osama would “boogie to Bagdad”! Back in 1999, CNN reported that Saddam granted Osama bin Laden asylum.

He’s right: “Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has offered asylum to bin Laden, who openly supports Iraq against the Western powers.”

I don’t know how much this matters now, except as a reminder that the revisionist nobody-could-imagine-Saddam-and-Al-Qaeda-in-alliance claim isn’t exactly supported by the history.

PEJMAN YOUSEFZADEH writes on why calls for withdrawal from Iraq are dreadfully wrong.

And check out the new NoEndButVictory.com site for lots more.

UPDATE: Here’s more, from Congressman Mike Conaway’s blog. Also some strong words from Tammy Bruce.

AVIAN FLU UPDATE: So far there’s no sign of human-to-human transmission in China, according to the W.H.O.

OKAY, it’s not quite the Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer from Neal Stephenson’s The Diamond Age, but the impact of this $100 laptop for kids may be pretty revolutionary in the less developed world. I’d like one!

PORKBUSTERS UPDATE: Mark Tapscott reports:

OK, maybe miracle is a stretch but something rare and needed has occurred on Capitol Hill in the past day. Senate and House negotiators agreed last night on a 2006 $142 billion HHS-Education Appropriation bill that has no earmarks, or pork barrel projects.

Is that progress? Well, the 2005 HHS-Education Appropriation bill contained nearly a billion dollars worth of pork.

He suspects that it’s a trick, with pork simply relocated to other bills yet to come. Stay tuned.

UPDATE: The House voted against the pork-free conference report. In an update, Tapscott notes:

On the GOP side, 209 voted for the conference report, 22 voted with 201 Democrats and Bernie Sanders against the report. Not a single Democrat voted for the report. Looks like “GOP-led House” is a thing of the past. This is the reverse of the 1960s when coalitions of Republicans and conservative Democrats were a major road block to liberal proposals for more government programs.

Jeez.

GET YOUR POSTS READY: OSM will be hosting a Carnival of the Pre-War Intelligence. What did we know, or should we have known, when? There’ll be a post on the OSM site later, but here’s some advance notice. Get your posts ready, and send the links to .