What's Going On?

For anyone thinking things are really not all that bad in Iraq, take a look at Juan Cole's Informed Comment blog. He keeps close tabs on outbreaks of violence around the country.

Cole also simplifies some of the confused politics in the Chalabi-Allawi debate:

"The Chalabis are corrupt con men whose lies helped embroil the US in the Iraq quagmire, and the charges are not implausible. But Ahmad Chalabi is also a powerful rival to his distant cousin, Iyad Allawi. Allawi favors rehabilitating the ex-Baathists. Chalabi favors purging them. Allawi deeply distrusts Iran. Chalabi has a strong Iranian connection. Allawi wants to crack down on the militias of the religious Shiite parties. Chalabi has increasingly allied himself with the religious Shiite leadership, despite being a secularist himself. "

If that's too serious for your tastes, here's another dumb-ass Bush quote. It's going to be a long election season at this rate...

"Love means that, it's love. Like, it's love. It's really, really, you know, love. It is the most love thing in the universe. Take out everything in the world that isn't love and what you've got left - that's love. It's a bit like oxygen, but more lovish."