Werewolves of Baghdad.

Slate correspondent Daniel Benjamin pokes holes in Condi and Rummy’s recent spurious comparisons between postwar Iraq and Germany. Yep, it’s more revisionist history emanating from Team Dubya. In related news, Jack Beatty laments Dubya’s lack of postwar vision, which now seems ever more constrained to lining the coffers of Halliburton.

Here Comes the Judge.

As McCain-Feingold nears its day in court, advocates and opponents of reform look to Chief Justice Rehnquist as a major swing vote (along with Justice O’Connor). Hmmm…I have to say I don’t have much faith in Rehnquist’s jurisprudence at this point, but perhaps he’ll surprise me.

Preseason Review.

In case you haven’t been following along up to this point, the NY Times summarizes the state of the 2004 Democratic field heading into Labor Day weekend (Gen. Wesley Clark excepted, for the time being.) On the other side of the aisle, Dubya’s 9/11 actions are given the rose-colored Showtime treatment (with Timothy Bottoms of That’s My Bush! playing Dubya again, no less.) Let’s see…Lying about witnessing the first attack, reading The Pet Goat for ten minutes while the WTC smoldered, disappearing from public view for the remainder of the day while jetting to Omaha, scampering about atop the ruins (and remains) a few days later while playing fratboy games with a megaphone…It should make for an interesting film, if they pause long enough to stop waving the bloody shirt.

Candid Kauai.

Hello all…my intermittent cable woes continue over here, which is severely cutting back on GitM updates. (The Time Warner technician, having proclaimed that nothing is wrong on Friday, will be returning next Wednesday.) But, in the bright spot of connectivity this morning, I uploaded a sampling of the first wave of Hawaii pics, which you can see here: [1/
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4]. As you can see, life there was good.

Space in the Balance.

As Mars draws closer than it’s been in over 59,000 years, the Columbia Accident Investigation Board published its final report, and it doesn’t hold back on NASA’s institutional failings. As I’ve said numerous times before, I very much hope we as a nation reaffirm our commitment to space, although I expect very little leadership in this regard from the Bushies — particularly with all our money currently pouring into Iraq. “‘Kennedy was able to relate space exploration to a greater national cause,’ a Bush adviser said earlier this week. ‘I’m not sure that exists today.’” Well, a greater national cause won’t exist unless it’s articulated and promoted by our elected officials. (Besides, since when has the non-existence of something ever stopped Dubya before?) At any rate, despite the vacuum of leadership in the White House, hopefully NASA will take this moment at the crossroads to get its act together and work to redevelop its vision. (Mars link via Blivet.)

The Big Mo.

Riding the wave of the Sleepless Summer tour, Howard Dean is not only 21 points up on Kerry in NH, he’s just raised another $10 million over the past few months (other than Clinton in 1995, a fund-raising record.) I had planned to go to the Bryant Park rally last night, but opted to watch the aptly-named Chris Moneymaker win the World Series of Poker instead. Ah well…if Dean keeps this type of stride going, I expect he’ll be back.