Julian Borger, Washington Bureau Chief of The Guardian, rang me in Florence yesterday to talk about Bush and Blair. I told him that I do not think that Bush was predisposed to giving Blair many legacy-building gifts, which is how Borger ended his piece. I’m traveling to Athens today. More later.

Sidney Blumenthal has a powerful piece in Salon today. He strikes out at the “Turning Point” and “Victory” rhetoric that continues to emanate from the White House. If there were another President in the White House, I think that a rhetoric of defeat, of being stalled, or having made incorrect choices would also be tough….

(Sorry for AWOL status. I spent yesterday in Athens and have just arrived for a conference in Florence where the internet is out at the hotel and in short supply elsewhere.

On Tuesday, Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will spend some time with President Bush in Washington. Hopefully, they will engage in some “re-visioning” of what is possible in moving forward on the resolution of Israel’s borders in a negotiated process leading to a Palestinian state.

Expect a post from me this evening. I’ll be traveling today to London for some quick meetings with foreign policy hands. Tuesday and Wednesday, Athens. Wednesday night through Saturday, Florence for a major terrorism conference sponsored by the NYU Center on Law and Security. More soon.

Bobby Ray Inman’s claims are “BS”, claimed one very prominent Washington insider after reading TWN‘s report on Inman’s claim that Richard Armitage would be indicted in the Valerie Plame Wilson outing probe.

(Former NSA Director Bobby Inman speaking at George H.W. Bush Presidential Library) Michael Hayden’s CIA Director confirmation hearings start today in the Senate Intelligence Committee at 9:30 a.m. I’ll be listening.

A job opening in the State Department’s Bureau of International Organization Affairs has just been posted. This would be an ideal spot to watch what the US Mission to the UN is doing and particularly the US Ambassador to the UN, John Bolton.

I’m up at the Woodrow Wilson School today at Princeton University through tomorrow. Will post tomorrow morning, but until then — by popular demand — another Oakley picture and an open thread.

Wednesday this week, the Valerie Plame grand jury will assemble again, and that might be the day that Jason Leopold’s report on Rove’s indictment last Friday either makes global news or fizzles out.