it seems each day more scum accumulates on the surface of the murky water which is the bush administration. anyone who knows they are looking into a cess pool is not surprised at the filth which bubbles up. they suspect what lurks below and take each tiny underreported news item which makes it to the surface as a bit of evidence confirming their suspicions. some people are perfectly happy of course, and no matter how many steaming turds float by, they will be unperturbed, breathing deeply and managing to smell only roses. then there are those who are neck deep but amazingly remain totally uninterested. whichever group you belong to here are some recent stories you can sniff, and find to be either putrid or pleasant. those who are uninterested should just slip beneath the waters now and not bother coming up for air.

1) bush administration began planning iraq invasion the day he took office. you don’t say? (story here or here)

2) experts from a prominent think tank charge that the administration “systematically misrepresented” the threat posed by iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. really? (story here, or here. summary of findings here. “iraq’s arsenal only on paper” with images of said paper here. overview of entire debacle here)

3) powell admits no evidence of connection between iraq and terrorists. seriously? (story here or here)

4) u.s. quietly withdraws team of weapon hunters from iraq. no way. (story here, and here)

5) french law enforcement authorities have made vice president dick cheney the target of a criminal investigation for his role in a massive bribery scandal. good ol’ dick? couldn’t be. (story here, or here)

6) for the first time, the chairman of the independent commission investigating the sept 11 attacks is saying publicly that 9/11 could have and should have been prevented. is that right? (story here). in a related story condi rice does not want to testify under oath to the commission (story here). also related: in an extraordinary request, the bush administration asked the supreme court to let it keep its arguments secret in a case involving a man detained since just after sept 11. mmm hmmm. (story here)

7) patriot act II quietly signed into law. uh oh. (story here. read it.)

8) since the beginning of the war in iraq, the u.s. has sought not just to influence but to control all information, from both friend and foe. no shit? (story here)

9) when president bush travels around the u.s., the secret service visits the location ahead of time and orders local police to set up “free speech zones” or “protest zones,” where people opposed to bush policies are quarantined. you mean where the t.v. cameras cant see them? nah. (story here)

10) texas school success story which inspired the “no child left behind” program was a fraud. sensing a pattern here folks? (story here)

take a big whiff folks. mmm mmm mmm. good stuff.