it was a real omertà thing

* xymphora:

"Wurmser is not only a madman; he’s an incompetent madman."

* xymphora:

"The other way in which oil plays a role in Israeli-dominated Washington is that it provides a thin window through which the Zionists can slip warmongering arguments. A small conspiratorial group like the Zionists, with power derived from the fact that it is dedicated to one issue only, needs a hook on which to finesse the various power factions. The main oil interests – not to mention all those concerned about the real interests of the United States - were against the Iraq war, but weren’t sufficiently sure of themselves, and sufficiently ready for the Zionist tricks, to mount a proper defense to the concerted attack of the Bush Administration. The pretense that the attack was really about oil – a private nudge-nudge, wink-wink reason – provided the front behind which the real reasons could be hidden. The Republican interests were captured by the fact that war is perceived as a way to keep political power, and the Bush Administration was captured by nothing stronger than sheer corruption. Forget about oil – every single piece of hard evidence points against it as a motive for Bush Administration actions. It was power, corruption, and Israel."

(wow - that post got a 100 comments!)

* driftglass:

"Screwing around with Blogger becomes ever more eerily like trying to date Virginia Madsen; after a few tries, wisdom and ego demand that I move on to more realistic, immediate and high-ROI tasks..."

* don:

"US reps of both parties should be watching the fun & games in Italy closely, and for the same reason: to see what happens when a left party grows a pair, fights for contested elections and then starts digging hard into the ex-ruling right's corrupt activity. The Dems should be taking notes, the repubs shold be sweating buckets."

* from the VF article on the Duke:

But a source who knows the details of the scandal suggests this is too simple an equation. "People are missing the completeness of the corruption: It wasn't 'Get me a hooker and I'll get you a defense contract from the appropriations committee,'" he says. "It's 'I will take care of you and meet your every wish, need, and fantasy, and in exchange you are going to take care of me!' Wilkes tried to corrupt completely—it was a real omertà thing.

unfortunately, none of my personal pet outstanding interests have been resolved in this article. damn!