A MISSION FROM GOD
(HE AIN’T DRINKING, HE GOT RELIGION)
According to Seymour Hersh, writing in the New Yorker, the President now believes that, in Iraq at least, he is on a mission from God...
"Bush’s closest advisers have long been aware of the religious nature of his policy commitments. In recent interviews, one former senior official, who served in Bush’s first term, spoke extensively about the connection between the President’s religious faith and his view of the war in Iraq. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the former official said, he was told that Bush felt that "God put me here" to deal with the war on terror. The President’s belief was fortified by the Republican sweep in the 2002 congressional elections; Bush saw the victory as a purposeful message from God that "he’s the man," the former official said. Publicly, Bush depicted his reëlection as a referendum on the war; privately, he spoke of it as another manifestation of divine purpose."
And the manifestation of this manifestation would seem uncomfortably close to the classic bunker, with the leader moving toy armies around on the map while the henchmen distance themselves...
"The President is more determined than ever to stay the course," the former defense official said. "He doesn’t feel any pain. Bush is a believer in the adage ‘People may suffer and die, but the Church advances.’ " He said that the President had become more detached, leaving more issues to Karl Rove and Vice-President Cheney. "They keep him in the gray world of religious idealism, where he wants to be anyway."
The only guys I have ever trusted on a mission from God were Jake and Elwood Blues, and only then in the narrow context of staging a rock concert in suburban Chicago to save the orphanage. All else rapidly goes David Koresh.
For the full story...
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/articles/051205fa_fact

The secret word is Nutjob

GOVERNMENT FALLS IN CANADA
But nothing to do, it would seem, with aliens. (See yesterday)

PANDA WALKS (I am not a bear)
Today the panda Tai Shan (or Butterstick, as wonkette and I prefer to call him) was rolled out at the National Zoo in Washington for a photo op. The results will be all over the media, but here’s an adorable link to Butterstick enjoying a rasta-spliff plus a full panda timeline...
http://www.wonkette.com/politics/butterstick/index.php
And the event also gives me the chance to post another link to the panda cam...
http://animal.discovery.com/cams/pandavidr.html

THE LACMA GARAGE
Due to be torn down tomorrow, the parking structure at the LA County Museum has become a transitory assembly of graffiti covering all of the walls. Hipsinster blogs about the explosion of guerrilla art, but we need to see some pictures. If any have been posted, do tell.
http://hipspinster.blogspot.com/

AND GET FRANK RICH FOR FREE (Instead of paying at the NYT)
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/112705Y.shtml

CRYPTIQUE – You butter your margarine.