The Domino Theory:
Oh, those goddamn dominoes - the thing about them is that if you line 'em all up, in curves, over bridges, on and on like some bizarre stunt for the geeks who love the Guiness Book of World Records, then you gotta push the first one and watch the rest do their click-a-click run as they tumble over, making leaps over chasms, falling in rows of two or three, turning so that they fall as one picture but then reveal another, clattering to a final rest, and all the neat rows you've laid out so carefully, are, in the blink of an eye, just a big mess on the floor you've left for others to clean up.

And so it seems that dominoes are beginning to fall. With the release of the expurgated August 6, 2001, President's Daily Briefing (which apparently could have been titled, "Look, You Stupid Motherfuckers, We're Going To Be Attacked So Fucking Do Something About It. Damn, Bitch, Does Bin Laden Have To Bite You On the Ass Before You Act?" and the President and his people would still be saying that there was nothing in there to warn them that we're going to be attacked), any aura of "war president," any aura of the common sense good ol' boy leader, any aura of having a government run by "grown-ups" has been blown out of the water. No, there probably wasn't anything that the Bushkoviks in and of themselves could have done to stop 9/11 - it was the violent result of years of ego, ignorance, and arrogance in the intelligence community.

But, you know what? They could have at least fucking tried. And more and more, it's become apparent that they didn't even fucking try. Clinton tried. A President Gore would have kept trying (although the Republican Congress would have hounded him every step of the way by saying that he was distracting from stealing the election - do not fucking kid yourself about that - you wanna know one of the major reasons 9/11 happened? Try the impeachment witch trial). But Bush was too stupid, Ashcroft too obsessed with porn and prostitutes, Rumsfeld and Cheney too into getting Saddam in order for any of them to pay attention to Richard Clarke, the FBI, Sandy Berger and others who were screaming, "Bin Laden" like a crowd of painted football fans at a Packers game. And Condi? It's become starkly apparent that her main qualification for being National Security Adviser is that she is a black woman. And Powell? He was a bone thrown to those who didn't want the administration full of ideologues bent on world domination. Oh, yeah, and he's black. Affirmative action in action, baby.

Generously, the history of Bush's first eight months in office will read like the story of blind people who tried to make a movie - good intentions, shitty outcome, wasted time and money. The fact that the media hasn't driven a stake into the heart of this administration is tragic.

Tonight's gonna be a helluva test to see if the press has turned a corner in its Rovean fealty and obeisance, when Bush holds his third prime time press conference of his presidency. Back from the ranch and ready for action, Bush will face reporters. Expect the repetition of the same phrases endlessly, the refusal to answer questions directly, and a pre-planned list of questioners. If the gathered reporters follow the rules set down by Rove, Card, and their cronies, and no one asks follow-ups or demands a straight answer, then, fuck it, we may as well watch reruns of America's Funniest Videos for all the effect it will have on the discourse of this nation. (God, let someone ask him why he needs Dick Cheney to appear with him before the 9/11 Commission.)

But here's a vague sign of something: the headline today in the New York Times is "Bush Sees Need For Reorganizing U.S. Intelligence," but in print the sub-headline is "No Specific Plan Offered," which is, of course, like buying a ranch in 1999 in order to look like you're a cowboy. It's a sub that undercuts the seemingly firm leadership of the headline.

The PDB is the pushing of the first domino. Oh, how we're waiting to hear the magnificent click of the rest.