Reading notes

Joe Klein at Time provides a rousing overview of the “long, hot summer of investigations and exposes that will last deep into the campaign season.” Seems kind of like a 1+-page print sidebar addendum to Fahrenheit 9/11. Very accessible.

The Vulcans — a campaign 2000 nickname for George W. Bush’s hawkish national security team — went Krakatoa last week. Dick Cheney erupted on the Senate floor, deploying the F word against Vermont Democrat Patrick Leahy, who had been belaboring the Vice President over the no-bid deals that Cheney’s old company, Halliburton, had scored in Iraq. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz suffered a meltdown in a House Armed Services Committee hearing, blasting the press for “sitting in Baghdad” and “printing rumors.” (He later apologized.) And the White House was forced to acknowledge that Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had approved, at least for a while, the use of dogs, nudity, stress positions — that is, torture — against enemy combatants.

Investigations, exposes, subpoenas, indictments, trials, convictions? — It’s only logical.

There is also some rustling among the brass about General Tommy Franks’ memoir, to be published in August. Bob Woodward reported that Franks once called Under Secretary of Defense Douglas Feith, who was charged with postwar planning, “the [Cheney expletive] stupidest guy on the face of the earth,” and some defense experts are wondering if Franks, who has a reputation for candor, will elaborate on that.

I bet Doug isn’t happy about Franks’ description. I mean, I don’t know the man, but every time his name comes up, I automatically think, Oh, yeah, the [Cheney expletive] stupidest guy on the face of the earth.

In pursuit of fairness, I’m working on taking that thought off autopilot. On the upside, competition’s getting fierce; someone else may legitimately relieve him of the title soon.