I’ve not been real high on Washington Post editorials lately, but this one on Hu Jintao’s visit gets half-way to some important issues.

The Washington Post has run an important piece this morning on the rapidly increasing year on year costs of the Iraq War. Rather than becoming less expensive each year, American costs have increased, in constant dollars, each year.

My email has been overflowing today with comments and reactions about what I have written and said in a number of radio interviews about Iran. The comments on TWN and emails have been very helpful.

Evelyn Iritani of the Los Angeles Times wrote an interesting piece on Rob Portman’s departure as U.S. Trade Representative to serve as Joshua Bolten’s successor at the Office of Management and Budget. Susan Schwab, who is now one of three Deputy USTRs, will be succeeding Portman as America’s third female U.S.

Seymour Hersh’s article on Bush’s plan for war with Iran has helped confirm the worst suspicions of those on the left scared of another neocon-like and neocon-led war in the Middle East and has bolstered some on the far right who were afraid that the White House had become too weak to take on the…

For those who have the time and interest, I’ll be speaking with Al Franken today at 2:30 pm about what’s brewing with Iran. More later.

John Bellinger is the best that it gets in the Bush administration. As I’ve written before, there is a multiple personality reality in any presidential administration, and the trick is to try and make sure that the “dominant personality” of the administration gets the nation on what is mostly a constructive, enlightened course.

President Bush is rebuffing the nation in clinging to Rumsfeld. Someone remind the President that his Secretary of Defense presided over behaviors that led to the image below, and to far worse: The calls for Rumsfeld to depart will only intensify now.

Others, including House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, have said Doha was dead over and over, but today I believe it. U.S. Trade representative and former Ohio Congressman Rob Portman will move over to take Joshua Bolten’s position as Director of the Office of Management and Budget.

When Henry Kissinger was making his way into China to negotiate China’s coming out details, all sorts of subterfuge was deployed to disguise Kissinger’s travel. The press was told that he was seriously knocked out with intestinal disorders while he was secreted out for a quick trip to Beijing.