Kurd Appeal 
Bush benefactor and oily Texan Ray Hunt had help from the US Government in signing an oil deal with Kurdistan, separate from the central Iraqi government.
Iraq called the deal illegal, and the State Department claimed to shocked and surprised by it. But State knew months in advance, Congress has now shown.
Hunt’s daddy H.L. built a Mount Vernon replica to live in, but Ray has chosen a more direct path to power. Hunt serves on the President’s Intelligence Advisory board, gave Southern Methodist University $35 million for Bush Library land, and lobbied the President to pick SMU.
Nothing To See Here, Keep Moving 
We’ve recently seen release of ever more definitive documents showing that nothing happened in the Gulf of Tonkin, despite the use of the “Incident” as Lyndon Johnson’s Vietnam War MacGuffin.
Now we learn that the Kennedy Administration’s finest hour, the storied grace under pressure of a wise beyond his years Jack Kennedy, was kind of a bust too.
Specifically, the moment of high seas drama when Soviet Missile ships turned back from the US Cuba blockade, the Eyeball to Eyeball/Other Fellow Blinked stuff – that didn’t happen either.
Happier Days 
The Washington Post’s Michael Dobbs is unleashing his account of the Missile Crisis semi-serially in the paper, with vast companion documents and excerpts available on the National Security Archives website.
Only A Mad Dream 
Invisible Man 
The timeless aura of Plain Speakin’ & Brisk Walking Harry Truman claims another victim.
The 2008 campaign has already featured John Mccain wistfully recalling halcyon days when Truman strolled the capitol, accompanied by a single Secret Service agent.
Barack Obama has topped that on a visit to the Independence shrine, imagining Truman did it with no security.
“The thing that I envy most about Truman was that when he was in the White House, he could go out and take a walk. He could put on that fedora and take a stroll, without someone following himâ€
Obama had better watch his back. While he hit the Truman Memorial Building, and Truman’s home, Obama skipped the Truman Library, making the Library Board Chairman all huffy.
Trumanesque or Trumanish? 
