Lots of things continue to happen, and STILL can't figure out what to say about them. I feel like digressing to a piece on the marks of a real journalist... As an outline:

1. Recognizing the important facts
2. Recognizing the lies
3. Spotting the missing information (Especially hard to see what isn't there, and the Bushies are trying REALLY hard to make sure most of the truth is NOT out in public.)
4. Knowing where to focus when writing about things

A number of items floating around in my head, and still don't know what to make of them. One is actually about Rove, Dubya, and the crazy nickname thing. I knew about Dubya's "Boy Genius" nickname for Rove, but I didn't realize that Rove becomes "Turd Blossom" when things aren't going Dubya's way. Doesn't sound like a very friendly joke. Perhaps a love-hate relationship? Or maybe just more evidence of Dubya's mental imbalance and confusion.

Not sure whether or not to classify it as more evidence, but a few days ago Dubya got the networks to give him air time for a major speech. Apparently he was expected to announce the start of the war against Iraq, but instead he just mumbled about Israel and the Palestinians. Calling wolf big time? Perhaps trying to keep Saddam off balance? Actually, my guess is that something caused him to lose his nerve at the last second, but it's hard to imagine what. He very clearly has no choice but to punt the UN, so what else is he waiting for? Or maybe there was a terrorist plot they don't want to tell us about? I didn't hear anything about another increase of the alert level, though there have been lots of jokes about the perpetual alerts, duct tape, and the Great Ductator. About the only thing I'm pretty sure of is that these must be "Turd Blossom" days.

Perhaps worth noting that Dubya recently gave his first press conference in over a year. Apparently came off quite badly, looking very staged and bogus, and Dubya acted like he was drugged to the gills. Around the same time he cancelled a planned speech to our "allies" when they were unable to guarantee a friendly reception. The report there was that he wanted to be assured of receiving a standing ovation and that there would be no heckling or protests. That one is a sign of thinking he's some sort of king. Doesn't exactly surprise me--I've long regarded him as King George II. However, a number of people have commented on how Dubya seems to be losing his already weak grip on reality. Heaven help us all when he snaps completely.

Back on the joke topic, I actually managed to make one in Japanese, though it doesn't translate very well. �uƒCƒ‰ƒN‚É“ü‚炸‚ñ‚Î�A�Ζû‚𓾂¸�B�v The Japanese all recognize it immediately as based on a Japanese folk saying about the tiger's lair, and they even laugh at it. The original says that you have to go into the tiger's den if you want to get a tiger cub, though the modified version would translate as "If you don't go into Iraq, you can't take the oil." Unfortunately, the translation is very flat and doesn't capture the funniness of the original.