Matt Yglesias has a post over at TPMCafe in which he takes issue with, among other things, Harry Reid's recent claim that President Bush is "the worst president this country has ever had." Matt thinks that Bush is really bad, but perhaps not really in the running for worst ever.
Matt runs through the list of blunders and disasters, finding, not surprisingly, the Iraq War to be the preeminent screw-up.
But one thing surprised me when reading Matt's catalogue of errors and his arguments about whether they get you to 'worst ever' status: Matt doesn't mention fiscal policy.
Matt's post isn't meant to be exhaustive on the subject. So I'm not picking on him. But I'm curious how much this factors in people's minds.
To me, the wreck the president has made of the country's finances is at least arguably the biggest disaster of his administration. I think I'd still say Iraq comes out ahead because of the toll in lives and because of the degree to which it has set loose forces beyond our control. Still, though, the president's reckless and disastrous fiscal policy almost alone would put him into the grand anti-Pantheon of presidential failures.
We'll be living with the consequences for decades.
--Josh Marshall
Okay, the 3rd anniversary of the Iraq War is a grave and solemn occasion, whether you're a diehard supporter or opponent.
But allow me this moment of levity.
I've cropped this from this page on the CNN website. But the image of a young protestor in London is on various websites around the world reporting on the global protests of the third anniversary of the war. Drudge even has it up on the front page.
But look closely at the symbol on her face. Is it peace she's supporting? Or is this just some crafty Mercedes-Benz product placement?
(ed.note: Click the 'peace' and 'Mercedes-Benz' links for help interpreting. Special thanks to TPM Reader PI.
--Josh Marshall
Alas, another case of White House employees impersonating Secret Service agents. (Remember, something similar happened last year in Denver.) Actually, in this case apparently they were impersonating Secret Service agents impersonating FOX News journalists. No, I'm actually not kidding about this. Perhaps it just would have been better to say they were White House employees rather than journos working for FOX News since it's pretty much the same difference.
--Josh Marshall
The story continues to unfold.
Jonathan Landay tonight in Knight-Ridder: "A Pentagon intelligence agency that kept files on American anti-war activists hired one of the contractors who bribed former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., to help it collect data on houses of worship, schools, power plants and other locations in the United States."
The Knight-Ridder story also discusses the three White House-MZM contracts for "intelligence services" reported on earlier this week at TPMmuckraker.com.
Click here for the last week of TPMmuckraker reporting on the White House's intel contractors with Wade's company.
--Josh Marshall
Annals of Stovepiping.
More details on those contracts for "intelligence services" Cunningham felon Mitchell Wade had directly with the executive office of the president.
--Josh Marshall
Just curious. In the Rhode Island senate race, has anyone up there (my old home) brought up Sen. Chafee's staffer getting the Abramoff skybox tickets?
--Josh Marshall
I haven't posted much yet on Carla Martin, the TSA lawyer who bungled the Moussaoui case. But TPM Reader SS just alerted me to this piece out from the AP, the first graf of which reads ...
Lawyers for two airlines being sued by 9/11 victims prompted a federal attorney to coach witnesses in the Zacarias Moussaoui death penalty trial so the government's case against the al-Qaeda conspirator would not undercut their defense, victims' lawyers allege.
Note that this is an allegation at this point, not established fact, though they do seem to have some pretty decent evidence to hang their hat on.
But assuming, for the moment, the validity of the claim, who exactly does (or, perhaps, did) Martin work for? She's a government lawyer, not working on behalf of any airline. And presumably especially not airlines trying to limit their liability versus victims' relatives.
If true, this seems to me to significantly expand the scope of this story.
--Josh Marshall
Sometimes passion does trample reason, and even reading comprehension. Yesterday I did a post about the Feingold censure resolution and Democratic attitudes toward the political fight in general. Most of the post, I feel confident, was arguing against Dems who are running scared from the resolution. And yet, by much of the mail, you'd think I'd said that Feingold should be run out of the party.
--Josh Marshall
Great moments in backstabbing: Ed Rollins, Katherine Harris's former political strategist, gives an interview to the Orlando Sentinel explaining why he told her she should get out of the race.
--Josh Marshall
The final blow for Burns? Montana GOP senate leader may challenge him for the nomination.
Paul Kiel has more on Burns' predicament and a whistleblower who may run against Rep. Doolittle.
--Josh Marshall
I'm not sure what to say to erstwhile Bush supporters other than, 'Nice try.'
In yesterday's online WSJ Peggy Noonan asks readers whether they understood George W. Bush "to be a liberal in terms of spending" when he first came on the political scene in 2000.
I've been mulling over the last few days just how to characterize this: but it is certainly a muddled and bad-faith form of ideological projection mixed with evasion.
I think Atrios or Yglesias or perhaps both have made this point recently: but liberals or Democrats aren't committed to high rates of government spending as a core principle in the way that conservatives are with tax cuts. Yes, they believe in more social spending as a general rule. And there are certainly cases when that's led to fiscal excess. The distinction is an important one -- and one conservatives have a difficult time facing. But, in any case, what President Bush has done over the last five years -- with the unfailing support of pretty much every Republican elected official and pundit -- isn't 'big spending.' It's intentionally reckless fiscal policy which is going to create havoc for the country's finances for years to come.
If a Democrat tried to send soldiers to war and forgot to buy them ammunition or passed a health care plan without enough money for necessary drugs, that wouldn't make him closet conservative. It would mean he was incompetent. And voters would hold him to account.
On the part of Noonan and others, this is just an attempt to unload on the other guys the disaster they've allowed to happen on their watch.
Noonan actually tries to argue that President Bush has been a big spender on social programs and that this is somehow tied to his 'compassionate conservatism.' But that claptrap won't survive first contact with the budget numbers. President Bush has trashed the country's finances with three things -- big tax cuts, big defense hikes and whatever pork is necessary to win the next election.
Mr. Bush's mammoth deficit spending isn't some weird sort of ideological inversion. It's a character problem -- like spending money you don't have always is. And it's one Noonan and her ideological fellow-travellers are utterly on the line for.
--Josh Marshall
Sen. Crapo is way popular in the Virgin Islands. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
Quote of the Day.
Jacob Weisberg: "The more we hear about what Allen is accused of, the less it sounds like kleptomania and the more it sounds like an application of Bush economic policy."
--Josh Marshall
Cunningham felon Mitchell Wade did counterintelligence work for the Energy Department too.
--Josh Marshall
I think I'm with Kevin Drum on this whole Feingold censure thing. It's really not that surprising that not every Democratic senator would want to jump on the bandwagon with this. But I also don't think there's any particular reason to run from it like it's Dem kryptonite or the plague. I've said this before. But I think the bigger problem for Dems is not the things they do but the very public hand-wringing and navel-gazing about how people might react to the things they do.
That doesn't look good. And it doesn't look good because it really isn't good.
President Bush really does deserve to be held accountable for breaking the law and then even more for claiming after the fact that the law actually doesn't apply to him. In constitutional terms, that bogus claim is a very big deal. So 'censure' him. Or don't censure him. But most of all don't get all bent out of shape or whiny about whether it might make some Bush supporter unhappy or might prompt some scold on the WaPo oped page to say tut-tut.
Will some swing-voter not agree? He or she will get over it.
Basically, the big tectonic plates of political motion are the key thing. And everybody should stop looking over their shoulders and jumping at every scary sound in the dark.
It's the not the same issue exactly. But Ed Kilgore has some thoughts on a related issue -- should there be a intra-Democratic party free-speech zone? It's a good discussion to have. I'm hoping we can get it started over at TPMCafe.
--Josh Marshall
We've got something I'm really looking forward to next week.
Kevin Phillips is going to join TPMCafe Book Club to discuss his new book American Theocracy : The Peril and Politics of Radical Religion, Oil, and Borrowed Money in the 21stCentury. We've also got a great list of commentators including Michael Lind, Ed Kilgore, Michelle Goldberg, Kevin Drum and John Stuart Blackton.
Grab a copy of the book if you'd like to join in on the conversation.
--Josh Marshall
Rep. Bill Jefferson (D-LA) is "disappointed and somewhat perplexed" over bribery allegations hanging over his head. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
Even more hilarious.
This morning I noted the old Washington "seasoned veteran" phase, when a president, who naturally strides into Washington on the backs of the reigning bigwigs, gets his gentle comeuppance from the DC establishment. I mentioned the case of Sen. Howard Baker, who played this role when President Reagan was on the ropes after Iran-Contra. (He became Chief of Staff.)
And now CBS radio is reporting that none other than Baker himself is pushing the White House to hire his protege Fred Thompson. (If memory serves, Thompson served as Baker's Minority Counsel on the Watergate committee, back in the day.)
Here's an idea, who can come up with the most humiliating GOP 'wise man' President Bush could have foisted on him?
David Gergen would be pretty good, though I know Republicans don't consider him one of their own anymore, and I guess with good reason.
James Baker is daddy's guy. So that would be rough. But if he took a formal position at the White House he couldn't manage the family's foreign investments. So that might not be workable.
Late Update: Okay, not likely, but TPM Reader TK suggests Bush being saddled with Brent Scowcroft in some foreign policy role. Yeah, that would smart.
--Josh Marshall
Hilarious. GOP tries to coax Jessica Simpson into appearing at a party fundraiser, starts whining when she declines.
--Josh Marshall
And she's in! Justin Rood's got the run-down on Katherine Harris' appearance on Hannity & Colmes.
--Josh Marshall
Ouch! Pew has the president at an anemically feeble 33%. How low can he go? Do I hear 28%? 29%?
--Josh Marshall
Yesterday we mentioned how CREW brought an IRS complaint against Grover Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. Here's a bit more from Paul Kiel on Norquist's money-laundering tax, at least the one he charged Abramoff for the service of making the gambling money spick and span so it could be passed on to Ralph Reed. Take a look. There're some great email quotes.
"Grover kept another $ 25K!," says an exasperated Abramoff at one point.
--Josh Marshall
A new foundation: The Military Religious Freedom Foundation. It'll be a watchdog group to protect and defend the separation of the church and state within the US armed forces.
--Josh Marshall
A question to consider. Duke Cunningham is in the federal prison system. Last I heard he was in a federal processing center in Oklahoma. Mitch Wade has pled to various felonies and is awaiting sentencing. There are three other Cunningham conspirators listed in Duke's plea -- Brent Wilkes, Tommy Kontogiannis and Kontogiannia's nephew.
Now, normally, when indictments take a long time to come down, I figure it's just that the prosecutors don't feel they're in a hurry and are taking their time to put together the most rock-solid case they can.
But maybe not.
What's the state of the Wilkes investigation? And what about Kontogiannis? He's a major NY real estate developer tied to one of the biggest congressional bribery scandals ever. Have you seen any follow-up reporting on that investigation? Anything in the Times or the Daily News? Is there even really an investigation?
I really don't quite understand who Kontogiannis is in all this or just what his role was, though his background looks fairly spooky. But Wilkes is the real player at the heart of this scandal, not Wade.
There are real reasons to be suspicious that the CIA is applying pressure to limit the scope of this investigation or knock it down altogether.
--Josh Marshall
So tonight's the night!
Katherine Harris heads over to FOX News tonight to make her "major announcement."
--Josh Marshall
Tax cheats who get big government contracts and the members of Congress who love them. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
Well, there you have it. We've officially entered the "seasoned Republican veteran" phase of the president's downward spiral. At CNN, Dana Bash is reporting that, "a move is afoot among some friends and confidantes of President Bush to persuade him to bring in at least one seasoned Republican veteran to help his struggling staff."
Happens to all of them really. Happened to Clinton very early, and was probably good to get out of the way. It was why Sen. Howard Baker was brought in as Chief of Staff after Iran-Contra. And there are many other examples.
More than anything though this is what happens when the resident establishment in DC rises up to geld a weakened president.
Couldn't happen to a nicer guy of course.
--Josh Marshall
April is the cruelest month? Maybe for the White House. Two top White House officials go on trial next month.
--Josh Marshall
I'm not sure fiction can outdo the fact that Jack Abramoff and his partner Adam Kidan had on payroll a couple mobsters who iced their estranged business partner in a streetlight ambush. But Law & Order CI is doing their 'torn from the headlines' take on the Abramoff scandal this weekend.
Here's the promo ...
SLAYING OF SECRET SERVICE AGENT HAS DETECTIVES SNIFFING AROUND LOBBYIST, CONGRESSMAN AND INDIAN CASINOS --The brutal beating murder of a female Secret Service agent in her home has Detectives Logan (Christopher Noth) and Barek (Annabella Sciorra) sniffing around the many clients of her husband Jay (guest star David Alan Bashche), a well-connected lobbyist who is working both for and against an unpopular tribal Indian gaming casino on Long Island. But the detectives want to know why the victim's husband hid their laptop and shredded files soon after discovering her body -- and his curious dealings with a slippery congressman widen the police investigation to include more hidden crimes. Jamey Sheridan and Courtney B. Vance also star. TV-14 V
For Law & Order obsessives like those of us in the TPM household it sounds like a treat.
--Josh Marshall
Feingold: "I’m amazed at Democrats, cowering with this president’s numbers so low. The administration just has to raise the specter of the war and the Democrats run and hide."
--Josh Marshall
Okay, you think we're kidding with stuff like the 'evil twin' defense. But, believe me, it's not just Claude Allen.
Yesterday we brought you the news that The Hill, the capitol hill newspaper, had unearthed an old article from the 1984 Republican convention which had some very harsh quotes from Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH). She's the one who narrowly beat Paul Hackett a few months back and then, soon after, called Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) a coward on the House floor.
So, anyway, the old article had Schmidt raging against now-Senator Liddy Dole. But the big thing was that she said young GOP activists " look like young Hitlers to me. … They’re so grim and deadly serious about the cause."
Okay, so that's 1984 -- twenty-two years ago. So young GOP activists are now in their early forties to early fifties, i.e., they run today's GOP. So that's not great.
Anyway, here's where we get to the evil twin defense de Schmidt.
When confronted with the Hitler remark, Schmidt's Chief of Staff Barry Bennett, "that Schmidt made the comment, explaining that her twin sister, Jennifer Black, who was also mentioned in the paragraph, made the remark."
--Josh Marshall
TPMmuckraker has the Claude Allen charging document and more details on Allen's case. The 'evil twin' defense takes a pretty big hit.
--Josh Marshall
Disgraced Delay finally scores a courtoom victory. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
A slew of readers have written in this morning about the "evil twin" theory Claude Allen appears to be floating as a defense for his recent shoplifting spree.
Now, the great majority of you have noted that in the reality-based world this theory of the crime is exceedingly improbable. But I for one would at least like to stand up for it on the basis of originality and sheer neo-Brady Bunch theatricality.
And it got me to thinking how many other Bush administration crimes went unexplained for the lack of this straightforward approach. Has Melvin "Dutch" Libby saddled his brother with his intrigues? Can Brownie get in on the act? Dick Cheney? The possibilities are endless. Help us spin them out.
--Josh Marshall
Niger Bamboozle Redux?
Washington Times reports on claims from "Venezuelan opposition figures and press reports" that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez may have plans to sell uranium to Iran.
(ed.note: Special note of thanks to TPM Reader JH for the tip.)
--Josh Marshall
Oh, now this is just too 
weird.
As you know, we've been following the bizarre case of Claude Allen, former top advisor to President Bush who was arrested a few days ago and booked and charges stemming from a lengthy shoplifting spree.
Now, here late this evening I got an email from TPM Reader WH who directed my attention to today's All Things Considered on NPR in which Michele Norris interviews Michael Fletcher, a reporter with the Post who's been covering the story.
Now, right at about 1:40 into the interview comes this exchange ...
Norris: We should note something, Michael. Apparently Claude Allen has a twin brother?Fletcher: Yes, he does. He has an identical twin brother who even close friends can’t tell them apart when they see them. And people have seen him and close friends say that Mr. Allen has indicated to them that maybe his brother holds the key to this entire puzzling affair.
Now, I take it I'm not reading too much into this to think that the idea here is that this is a case of mistaken identity in which the virtuous Claude Allen has been nailed for the crimes of his evil twin Floyd.
I have to tell you this new story seems so insane and ridiculous that I half suspect it's actually true. And, no, I'm not entirely kidding. Who could come up with such a story?
Now, through the miracle of the TPM research service (in this case, aka TPM Reader ET), we've acquired these two scans of the two brothers from their High School yearbook, senior and junior year ...
Now, just to show we're a good sport about all this and willing to play this out to its inane conclusion, here's a passage from tomorrow's piece in the Times ...
People who talked to Mr. Allen Monday said he remained surprisingly upbeat in the face of the charges. He said only one side of the story had been heard, said one former colleague who asked not to be identified because the conversation was private.Like others who know him, his stepmother cannot understand the turn of events. "I simply have no idea where things could have gone wrong in his life," Mrs. Allen said.
Floyd was the twin who "kept running into bad times," while Claude Allen intervened repeatedly to help him, she said.
In 2001, Floyd Allen declared bankruptcy in Virginia; a year earlier he was ordered to pay $6,450 in a civil suit brought against him by a travel company, according to state and federal records.
So who'll put $50 down on the evil twin theory?
--Josh Marshall
The first signs of distancing?
From the Times ...
At the White House, senior staff members continued to express astonishment about the theft charges against Mr. Allen, who was described as an engaging, devout and largely powerless adviser to Mr. Bush.Although Mr. Allen had the vaunted title of assistant to the president for domestic policy and worked from a coveted West Wing office, he did not set policy so much as carry out the decisions of Mr. Bush's inner circle, particularly Karl Rove, the deputy chief of staff. Mr. Allen managed some of the domestic policy paper flow between the White House and government agencies.
Wasn't he put in charge of quarterbacking the Katrina response at the White House?
Actually, maybe that does mean he was powerless...
Late Update: Sunday's Post had this too say ...
Bush named Allen his top domestic policy adviser last year. With a West Wing office and a salary of $161,000 a year, Allen was the top-ranking African American on the White House staff. His broad portfolio involved advising Bush on policy issues including health care, space exploration, housing and education.In a White House where real power is centered in a few hands, Allen was not so much a decision maker as he was purveyor and tailor of Bush administration policy. Still, Allen was frequently at Bush's side, accompanying him on trips around the country and briefing him and the media on the administration's domestic policy initiatives.
Despite its prominent profile, the chief domestic policy job was only a consolation prize for Allen. Bush had named him in 2003 to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit, but the nomination was scuttled by Senate Democrats who saw Allen as too conservative and too inexperienced, and blocked it from coming to a vote.
--Josh Marshall
Cut-n-Run by any other name would smell as ...
President Bush vowed for the first time yesterday to turn over most of Iraq to newly trained Iraqi troops by the end of this year, setting a specific benchmark as he kicked off a fresh drive to reassure Americans alarmed by the recent burst of sectarian violence. Bush, who until now has resisted concrete timelines as the Iraq war dragged on longer than he expected, outlined the target in the first of a series of speeches intended to lay out his strategy for victory.
More from the Post.
--Josh Marshall
According to a new piece out in tomorrow morning's Post, when first caught shoplifting, former presidential advisor Claude Allen admitted "that he was committing fraudulent returns."
This appears to stand in at least some contrast with the subsequent claims of Allen's lawyer, Mallon Snyder, that the series of at least 25 thefts were a product of "misunderstandings."
After the initial incident, a detective with the Montgomery police department was assigned to the case and using credit card statements and surveillance videos was able to document the string of "fraudulent returns."
--Josh Marshall
Reversal of fortune watch (from the SD Union-Tribune) ...
In the Vietnam war, Randy “Duke” Cunningham piloted Navy F-4 Phantom jet fighters to fight the enemy.While a congressman, he lounged aboard private jets hired by contractors who bribed him for government contracts.
On Thursday, he flew in shackles alongside other criminals on “Con Air,” the nickname for the government airline used to transport prisoners around the country.
The flight from San Diego to Oklahoma City was his first – but surely not his last – aboard an airplane operated by the U.S. Marshals Service.
After a layover of a week or less, the former congressman will board another plane bound for North Carolina, where doctors at a federal prison hospital will evaluate his physical and mental health.
Passed on without comment.
(ed.note: Thanks to TPM Reader PP for the tip.)
--Josh Marshall
The Independent: "Middle Eastern anger over the decision by the US to block a Dubai company from buying five of its ports hit the dollar yesterday as a number of central banks said they were considering switching reserves into euros. The United Arab Emirates, which includes Dubai, said it was looking to move one-tenth of its dollar reserves into euros, while the governor of the Saudi Arabian central bank condemned the US move as 'discrimination'. Separately, Syria responded to US sanctions against two of its banks by confirming plans to use euros instead of dollars for its external transactions."
--Josh Marshall
The CNN/Gallup poll has always been comparatively friendly to President Bush. Today they have him at 36% approval.
--Josh Marshall
It was coming to this. Responding to Sen. Feingold, Sen. Specter is now arguing on the floor of the senate that FISA is unconstitutional. Ergo, President Bush couldn't have been violating the law becuase it's not valid law.
Quite a way for Specter to end his career.
--Josh Marshall
Sen. Frist pushing Feingold's censure motion to the floor.
Late Update: Sen. Feingold spoke, powerfully and eloquently, I must. Now, Sen. Specter is carrying the president's water. A sad moment. Specter is arguing, in essence, that FISA is unconstitutional.
--Josh Marshall
Ahhh, these are troubled days, aren't they?
Two posts below I linked to a piece on RNC Chief Ken Mehlman knocking out a State Department appointee on behalf of his friend Jack Abramoff. In the post I said Mehlman "killed" the appointment.
Now comes TPM Reader AP suggesting that, given that the Abramoff saga does involved at least one actual murder, that I be more careful with my usage.
Wrote AP ...
Given that the current GOP scandalous web extends to real, non-metaphorical murders in Florida, I think I would be reluctant to post that Mehlman "killed" a State Dept. appointment. I understand that you didn't say he killed the appointee, but I did do a double take, and it'd be nice to keep enough bredth in the language to accurately convey the full range of GOP misconduct.
So just to be clear, in case there was any confusion, Mehlman did not actually kill the appointee Allen Stayman on Abramoff's behalf or anyone else's. He merely derailed the appointment, leaving Stayman, presumably, none the worse for wear in physical terms.
Hope this clarifies things.
--Josh Marshall
Okay, so back in January, in one of his many 
attempts to de-Republicanize the scandal tied to his friend Jack Abramoff, RNC Chief Ken Mehlman said, "When you look at this scandal, there's no question both Democrats and Republicans received money. . . . We shouldn't be pointing fingers."
Well, it's no surprise Ken Mehlman doesn't want any fingers pointed since one of the big fingers would be pointed at him.
As we noted here, Mehlman killed a State Department nomination as a favor/political payback to Abramoff. The favor in question had to do with knocking out a guy named Allen Stayman who'd earlier made it harder for Abramoff to keep the sweatshops running on Saipan.
So here's where we need your help. Ken Mehlman has been serving up lots of bamboozlement on the Abramoff scandal -- how it's not a Republican scandal, how the malefactors should be punished, how he barely knew Abramoff, and so on and so forth.
Gotta good Mehlman quote along these lines? Send them in and we'll post the best.
--Josh Marshall
RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman killed State Department appointment on friend Jack Abramoff's behalf.
--Josh Marshall
Mean Jean, the early years.
Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH) got a lot of bad press earlier this year for calling Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) a coward. But apparently she's been a bit of a loose cannon going way back. The Hill has a piece today which digs up a 1984 quote in which she said of Liddy Dole "“I hate that woman ... I just can’t stand her."
Of young GOP activists: "They look like young Hitlers to me. … They’re so grim and deadly serious about the cause.”
--Josh Marshall
Bob Ney and John Doolittle leasing fancy cars on the federal dime. That and other news of the day in today's Daily Muck.
--Josh Marshall
Bizarre, ironic, cosmically just?
In the follow-up to the death of Slobodan Milosevic and the inquiry into the nature and cause of his death, there's now this bizarre new chapter of the story out of the Netherlands. Initial reports say that Milosevic died of a massive heart attack. But now a Dutch toxicologist says that shortly before Milosevic's death, blood tests of the imprisoned war criminal showed traces of a drug called rifampicin, a drug which among other things would counter the effects of high blood pressure meds (it kicks your liver into overdrive and breaks them down more quickly).
Now, why would these drugs be in Milosevic's system? Was someone trying to kill him or (what came to my mind first) was this a rather indirect manner of suicide?
Here are the key grafs from the report ...
Uges told Reuters he believed Milosevic took the drugs himself to try to prove that his medical care at The Hague was inadequate in an attempt to go to Russia for specialist medical treatment.Last month, the war crimes tribunal rejected his request to travel to Moscow for treatment.
"I am so sure there is no murder. There is not any reason for that," Reuters quoted Uges as saying.
"I don't think he took his medicines for suicide -- only for his trip to Moscow. When he was in Moscow he would be free. That is where his friends and family are. I think that was his last possibility to escape the Hague," Uges said.
There's something absurd and petty and somehow silly about it. Perhaps a fitting ending for one of the late 20th century's great and most destructive opportunists.
--Josh Marshall
Another update on the Katherine Harris senate campaign death spiral. This one from Orlando Sentinel DC Bureau Chief Tamara Lytle.
--Josh Marshall
Katherine Harris to spend more time with family?
Senate candidate Katherine Harris plans "major announcement" about her candidacy next week.
--Josh Marshall
