PROVE IT, PUNK ASS
Since Salon has fallen into the pit of subscription irrelevance, I tend to review and assess differing political-viewpoints more from Slate than anywhere else. Fred Kaplan's ongoing War Stories usually smell good and look good and don't mask any heinous hypocrisies. Here, he asks the question, "Do we have the goods on Saddam Hussein?"

Unless I'm just plain stupid, I think the answer is no. An Iraqi official was correct to mock the U.S. for withholding its mysterious and damning proof. In fact, most sensible people in the world would do well to mock the U.S. for its preposterous game of hide-the-proof until the "appropriate time." As the Iraqi official said, isn't now the appropriate time to come forth with the proof (or for that matter, last week, or last month, or six months ago)? What the hell is my government waiting for? This isn't a novel in 5 acts, or a play in 3, where buildup and timing of climactic revelations are critical to a drama's success.

There's no good reason for freaks like Wolfowitz to dismiss the significance of putting up or shutting up. I am disturbed that the establishment press (with its legions of battle-hardened loud mouths and busy bodies) isn't doing a better job of demanding that the White House and its orbitting Death Stars account for their unrelenting propaganda. And how dare Wolfowitz suggest that we should be more interested in believing the U.S. government than the Iraqi government. His arrogance and naivete are more revealing than anything in my government's flimsy little incrimination files.