DANGEROUS SABRES

Reckless to say the least--Are both the Iranian leader and President Bush simply posturing to shore-up sagging poll numbers?-- Mr. Bush seemed intent on ratcheting down the nuclear rhetoric after Hersh's weekend dispatch sent waves of fear and loathing thru the body politik dismissing such as wild speculation--Who cares whether the price of oil spikes roofward?-- American drivers as the wild speculations continue won't balk at $3/gallon--The consumer sector will just haul out the plastic and keep the economy sputtering along--Does 16 tons of patriotic duty now include burying the american family deeper in debt?--If certain investors are long oil the sabre rattling gambit may indeed be a boon-- But in a most unprecedented display of frustration a long grey line of ex-generals has targeted Don Rumsfeld's incompetent conduct of both the strategic planning of the Iraq war and the operational implementation of the war itself demanding Rumsfeld resign or be fired--Not a demand Bush jr. is very capable of acquiesing to (or a demand he can arrogantly afford to take lightly) considering it is his very war to which the generals are leveling such very serious criticism--A crisis of leadership or the lack thereof is gaining momentum--Bush clearly appears bereft of understanding the actual facts on the ground--While he claims to have a strategery for victory and keeps claiming it time and time again mostly in front of military audiences his inability to explain this concept in even the most simplistic terms to the American people whom he is asking a great deal of patience from is dramatically eroding his political position--Mr. Cheney may soon emerge from his mahogany spiderhole after sunning himself on his refrigerator lightbulb or the flicker of Foxnews to deflect this criticism and wave an israeli sword toward Iran which will bring us to the next round of debate--And another ante-up in oil prices--