There Will Be No Ponies

Yglesias has it exactly right about the failure of the current crop of presidential candidates in both parties:

In both political and policy terms, I think all of the candidates should consider that in the real world they need not Iraq policies that will make sense in the fall of 2007, but Iraq policies that will make sense in January 2009 after over a year of additional political stalemate in Iraq, continued bloodshed and refugee flows, and continued deterioration of the readiness of the American military.

Atrios' take on that same point is more simply stated: There will be no ponies. Only "lots more dead, maimed, and displaced Iraqis."

Horton Hatches An Intervention

Scott Horton, the learned lawyer who blogs for Harper's Magazine, wrote a letter to the editor of the Washington Post, Fred Hiatt, yesterday.

In the letter he extols the superb reporting of Wapo's Karen DeYoung and makes well-deserved glowing references to the superb reporting work of other WaPo prize-winning reporters, like Walter Pincus and Dana Priest, over the last five years.

About what to do about the Iraq disaster, he writes:

[I]f there is one question at the core, it goes to the accepted key metric: civilian casualties. Now you assigned this story to Karen DeYoung, one of your best, and yesterday she delivered a discussion and analysis that is nothing short of brilliant—easily the best piece that has appeared on the story so far. I read it once, and then went back to the beginning and read it again, compared it with several other pieces and pretty quickly concluded that this was definitive. The reporting is steady, comprehensive, and the analysis goes like a laserbeam through a stick of butter. This Karen DeYoung is one hell of a reporter, already holds one Pulitzer and is certainly on the road to more.

Unfortunately, that letter won't be appearing in the Post. All that superb reporting is consigned to page A-16, the traditional dust-bin for work the Post editors view as too scary to be shown to readers who merely scan headlines.

Horton's letter is an undisguised intervention. He advances the suspicion that Post editor Fred Hiatt has been sipping, again, from the same bottle that brought you the Iraq War in the first place.

Sure, Hiatt has apologized for the error of his ways. Sure, he acknowledged he's been wrong about just about everything about the Iraq War. Sure, he has given us absolutely no reason to suppose that a person of his shallow mind and defective intelligence is worthy of running a monthly church newsletter, much less a national newspaper.

But inside the D.C. beltway filled with Serious Persons, Fred is considered a Very Serious Person, as Atrios would mockingly point out. In other words, Fred Hiatt is beyond intervention. They all are.

Shorter George Packer

Shorter version of George Packer's "Planning for Defeat": There is no solution to Iraq. Bush broke it and it can't be fixed.

Waiting for Patraeus Godot

From Think Progress: "New Twist In Saga Over ‘Petraeus Report’: There Will Be No Report"

In the latest twist to the ongoing saga over the Petraeus White House report, a senior military official tells the Washington Times today that there will actually be no report at all.

A senior military officer said there will be no written presentation to the president on security and stability in Iraq. “There is no report. It is an assessment provided by them by testimony,” the officer said.

The only hard copy will be Gen. Petraeus’ opening statement to Congress, scheduled for Monday, along with any charts he will use in explaining the results of the troop surge in Baghdad over the past several months.

To recap, first the public was incorrectly led to believe that Gen. David Petraeus would issue his own report about the situation on the ground in Iraq. Then the Los Angeles Times reported that the so-called “Petraeus report” would “actually be written by the White House.”

Now, apparently there will be no written report from Gen. Petraeus at all. While Petraeus’ statement to Congress will be made available, the public will not know what information he is providing to President Bush. The lack of transparency over Petraeus’ “report” will only intensify the high level of skepticism surrounding his statistics.

This reminds us of something... Ah, yes. Here it is.

VLADIMIR: We're waiting for Godot.
ESTRAGON: (despairingly). Ah! (Pause.) You're sure it was here?
VLADIMIR: What?
ESTRAGON: That we were to wait.
VLADIMIR: He said by the tree. (They look at the tree.) Do you see any others?
* * *
ESTRAGON: He should be here.
VLADIMIR: He didn't say for sure he'd come.
ESTRAGON: And if he doesn't come?
VLADIMIR: We'll come back tomorrow.
ESTRAGON: And then the day after tomorrow.
VLADIMIR: Possibly.
ESTRAGON: And so on.

Touart's Tearful Tumble

The above photo appears on the front page of today's Pensacola News Journal. Is it intended as a visual metaphor for the blind eye retiring county administrator George Touart turned toward his undisclosed, tangled business dealings? Is it a symbol of the poke-in-the-eye delivered by the "frenzy of articles" over the past couple of weeks in the News Journal?

Or does the photo depict Touart reading some of those "heated... blogs and e-mails and between his supporters and detractors?" That would be consistent with the new trend among politicians we've been witnessing lately, from the men's rooms of Idaho to the board rooms in Escambia County: when all else fails, blame the bloggers.

George Touart's Sun Sets

The unmistakable threat in Thursday's PNJ editorial that if George Touart didn't resign county commissioners might be the next to go apparently worked. Local Pensacola channel 3, WEAR-TV, is reporting Thursday evening that county administrator George Touart "announced tonight he is retiring."

At once, it seems. Like, tomorrow.

"Touart says he'd like to take leave immediately," the TV report says, "and receive a severance package."

Wouldn't everyone? Not this way.

Notes the channel 3 web site --

Touart was under intense pressure over his personal business relationships. Some of the people he did business with, did business with the county.

Before breaking into wild applause, let's take a moment and stroll down memory lane. George Touart was a last-minute ringer thrown into the final round of new administrator candidates by (now) former county commissioner Tom Banjanin. Rumors Tuart had been forced out of a prior administrator's job elsewhere in the South were pooh-poo'd. Banjanin himself admitted he'd rather hire a good ol' boy with deep Pensacola roots than some highly qualified, well educated, honest administrator with a proven track record.

Well, he got what he wanted. Take a note, commissioners: maybe that wasn't such a good idea, after all.

Reports Reporting

With the latest round of Friedman units now exhausted, are you confused about which Iraq report is which? Carpetbagger has the player program and the scorecard.

The Ghost of Scandals Past

Today, the PNJ once again goes after Escambia County administrator George Touart's scalp. "Touart represents a 'good old boy' style of politics that is hurting the county," the newspaper editorializes. Tonight, he should "announce his retirement as administrator at the end of his current contract in April."

This is no namby-pamby 'good government' editorial. It not only deconstructs Tuart effectively, it also bares some mean-looking fangs for the county commissioners to see -- just in case they have the idea Tuart's problem isn't their problem, too:

[C]ommissioners share the blame, because Touart answers to them. And they answer to the voters. They now have a responsibility to clean this mess up, one way or another.

Coming from the PNJ, that's a rare and undisguised threat to crusade against any hold-out commissioners who don't work and vote to force Tuart's retirement.

For those who've been asleep the past month, ace reporter Michael Stewart has an accompanying summary of the facts. Here is an excerpt:

The issue erupted last week after the News Journal revealed that Touart has a contract to purchase a Panama City condominium with Neal Nash, vice president of Martine's Corp., which was about to sell the county 217 acres of property off Bauer Road for $1.4 million to be used for Perdido ball fields.

Touart failed to tell commissioners about the condominium contract before the land purchase came before the commission for a vote. He also did not reveal he once owned a $62,000 boat with Nash and that the two had vacationed together.

In addition, Touart is a partner in Global Employment Services, a Mississippi-based company that bought three lots in Nature Trail subdivision for $147,500. Nash is a partner in the Nature Trail development.
***
After questioning by the News Journal, Touart also revealed last week that he and then-Commissioner Bill Dickson and local accountant Barry Dickson invested $27,000 each to go in with a group of investors to purchase property in Biloxi.

Investors in the 2005 land purchase included local developers Cliff Mowe and the late Allen Levin.
***
The News Journal later learned that Touart's business, Global Employment Services, has been employed by Beck Disaster Recovery to provide labor for disaster cleanup in several states. Global Employment Services provides temporary and permanent staffing to companies and industries.

R.W. Beck Group Inc., which owns Beck Disaster Recovery, has been providing recycling and other services to the county since 2001.

Today's editorial sends an unmistakable message: if county commissioners don't force Tuart to quit, the newspaper will work ceaselessly to see that voters retire them, too. That could mean anything from unrelenting pressure by an aroused press to the eventual call (conveniently timed as we approach an election year) for a grand jury investigation, followed by subpoenas... indictments... trials... and even convictions.

Commissioners, take note: As Julie Hauserman wrote for the St. Pete Times, there was another Escambia County commissioner scandal not so long ago. It, too, "started with a pair of questionable county land purchases and widened from there."

If by tomorrow Touart hasn't announced his retirement, keep a lookout for the Ghost of Scandals Past. He's sure to be paying a visit by Christmas-time. We suspect he'll look a lot like this fellow.

There Oughta Be A Law

In a new feature for this blog, from time to time we will propose a new law. Here's the first one:

"Never, ever should anyone be allowed to announce their candidacy for anything on a late night talk show."

In choosing took announce his candidacy on the couch next to the jovial Mr. Leno, Mr. Thompson was following the example of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who chose that forum to declare his candidacy for governor of California.

Iraq War: 18 (-) 15 (+) 3 = Pentagon Grade Inflation

NY Times:

Despite all Mr. Bush’s cheerleading, a new report by nonpartisan Congressional investigators tells a much grimmer and closer to reality tale, concluding that the Iraqi government has failed to meet 11 of 18 military and political benchmarks to which it had agreed.

The report by the Government Accountability Office said that Iraq’s government has failed to eliminate militia control of local security forces, failed to increase the number of army units capable of operating independently, failed to enact long-promised legislation essential for political reconciliation and even raised doubts whether the government is capable of spending $10 billion in reconstruction funds.

And that was the buffed-up version. An earlier draft of the G.A.O. report had the Iraqis failing on 15 of the 18 goals, until the Pentagon protested that the grading was too harsh.

Bush: Mission Accomplished x 4, or 5, or 6 or ~

New York Times, Sept. 5:

[A] president who has unveiled four or five strategies for winning over Iraqis — depending on how one counts — may now be on the cusp of yet another.

Citizens Insurance: 1 x 3

Paige St. John via the PNJ: Citizens may triple commercial rates

Citizens Property Insurance is eyeing premiums for its commercial hurricane coverage dramatically higher than what it now charges.
* * *
Hurricane insurance for a $500,000 business near the coast in Escambia County would go from $1,615 a year to $4,023, and in Santa Rosa County from $2,384 now to $8,636.

Felix : 5 x 2

Jeff Masters' Wunderblog:
A strengthening Hurricane Felix powered ashore as a Category 5 hurricane near the Nicaragua/Honduras border at 8am EDT this morning, bringing 160 mph winds and an 18-foot storm surge to this sparsely populated region. Felix weakened for a period yesterday as it became too tightly would to maintain its eyewall, but a new eyewall formed last night in time for Felix to regain Category 5 strength before landfall. This year marks the first time in recorded history that two Category 5 storms (Felix and Dean) have made landfall in the Atlantic basin in the same year. Since reliable record keeping began in 1944, there have been 27 Category 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic. Eight of these have occurred in the past five years.

Felix Labor Day Update

Category 5. Very strong but very small, with a current wind field of only 30 miles diameter. Future forecast track is now in some doubt:

THE OFFICIAL FORECAST BASICALLY EXTRAPOLATES THE CURRENT DIRECTION OF MOTION FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS...WITH ONLY A GRADUAL DECREASE IN FORWARD SPEED. AFTER THAT A MODEST BEND TO THE RIGHT IS FORECAST...ALTHOUGH NOT ALL OF THE MODELS CONCUR... WITH THE GFS... GFDL... AND ECMWF NEVER TAKING FELIX OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE.

South Texas, pay heed.

Do You Trust the Folk Who Started the Iraq War?

Do you trust the folk who started the Iraq war? They're planning a new one. Says our favorite Northwest Florida neigh-blogger: "Stupid, Just Stupid."

Is he talking about the Bush cabal -- or us for letting them rule the country into ruin?