Vietnam Papers, V.A. SNAFU, Iraq Picks Iran and Zogby Says.

Submitted as proof that conservatives are more interested in image than human lives, more Vietnam Papers.

Henry A. Kissinger quietly acknowledged to China in 1972 that Washington could
accept a communist takeover of South Vietnam if that evolved after a withdrawal
of U.S. troops -- even as the war to drive back the communists dragged on with
mounting deaths.

President Richard M. Nixon's envoy told Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai: "If we
can live with a communist government in China, we ought to be able to accept it
in Indochina."

Kissinger's comments appear to lend credence to the "decent interval" theory
posed by some historians who say the United States was prepared to see
communists take over Saigon as long as, to save face, that happened long enough
after a U.S. troop departure.

The sound you hear is the wailing of conservatives all over the country just finding out that their heros admitted defeat in 1972, but hung around three more years to look good. What's thousands of lives compared to looking good?

Senior officials at the Veterans Administration say they knew about the information theft for 13 days before they told VA Secretary Jim Nicholson. Hands up, everyone who believes that.

Now hands up for everyone that believes this is just a lame attempt to cover the butt of another one of Bush's incompetent appointees.

Senior officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs knew that sensitive
personal information about veterans had been stolen from a VA employee's home
within hours of the crime but did not tell Secretary Jim Nicholson until 13 days
later, according to a VA briefing
document.
Michael H. McLendon, VA deputy assistant secretary for policy, learned of
the May 3 burglary less than an hour after the worker reported it to his
supervisors and to Montgomery County police, according to the briefing document,
given to congressional committees this week and obtained yesterday by The
Washington Post. McLendon met with two high-ranking VA information security
specialists the next day.

Once you drop below 30%, you can't even buy respect. Iraq is siding with Iran on nuclear development. What can Bush do? He can't attack them, he already has. So he's used up his complete range of diplomatic skills.

Life sucks when people find out your just a wanker in a $4000 suit.

BAGHDAD, May 26 -- Iraq's foreign minister said Friday that Iran had the right
to develop nuclear technology for peaceful uses but that he hoped for a
diplomatic solution to a crisis that has strained Iran's relations with the
United
States.
"We think there is a principle, which is that the Islamic Republic of Iran
and other countries have the right to possess nuclear technology if it is for
peaceful purposes," Hoshyar Zebari, the Iraqi foreign minister, said at a
televised news conference in Baghdad with his visiting Iranian counterpart,
Manouchehr Mottaki.

According to Zogby, Congress and Big Business are just a little more popular than anthrax. The media beats them, but not much. And the President and the Judicial system are still fooling between a quarter and a third of the people.

Three out of four (75%) said they trust government less than they did five
years ago, just 5% said they think corporations do right by the consumers they
are in business to serve, and only 25% feel the reporting is fair and accurate
in the newspapers they read or the nightly broadcast network news they watch on
television. Nearly 60% said they believe the “state of honesty in America” today
is in poor shape (18% said it is in the worst possible shape).

Overall, just 3% said they think Congress in general is trustworthy, compared
to 24% who said President Bush is trustworthy and 29% who said they can put
their faith in the national court system, the survey shows. Corporate leaders in
America are nearly as widely distrusted as Congress – just 7% said they are
trustworthy.

The good news is that three quarters of us think we can get by with a little help from our friends.

However, Americans do feel they can bank on the actions and words of their
friends and co–workers – 75% said the people they work with and live near are
trustworthy. Almost everyone (97%) said they consider themselves to be
trustworthy, and 85% said they think their personal goals in life are less
important than acting with honesty and integrity

.

And it's Saturday.