THE TENSION: The Decline and Fall of Western Civ for 29 Sep

Heads up folks, this news rolls downhill.

As if taking pages from the DNC playbook, echoes of John Kerry and Howard Dean's talking points magically appear when Al-Qaida No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri condemned President Bush in a video statement released Friday, calling him a failure and a liar. "Why don't you tell them how many million citizens of America and its allies you intend to kill in search of the imaginary victory and in breathless pursuit of the mirage towards which you are driving your people's sons in order increase your profits?" al-Zawahri said in a portion of the video released by the Virginia-based IntelCenter, according to AP. I don't expect the al-Zawahri video to make a big splash in Western media; anti-Bush statements from terrorists tend to shift the focus in the press from Bush as enemy to terrorists as the enemy. It is, however, interesting to note that bin Laden remains deathly silent.

The New York Times upstages the Washington Post's exclusive in "State of Denial: Bush at War, Part III," the election-timed book by Bob Woodward. Based on the Times story, which says the book reports that Bush has been concealing level of Iraq violence, a couple of questions arise. If Bush has been concealing the level of Iraq violence, how does that speak to the quality of reporting in Iraq? Why does Woodward feel the need to backhand the press (who will lovingly embrace the book) in his attack on Bush? Woodward is a prime example of legacy media. At this point in his career Woodward probably assumes anything he writes will be accepted without question as canon in the official history of the time. Elitist? Absolutely. Should we be surprised? Not one bit.

At his briefing this afternoon, Tony Snow, White House press secretary, faced probing questions from reporters fueled by numerous tidbits and charges already emerging from Bob Woodward's new "State of Denial" book, reports E&P.

'The average Washington memoir ought to be subtitled, 'If only they'd listened to me'...

AP reports the Senate unanimously approved $70 billion more for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan Friday as part of a record Pentagon budget. Conversely, Reuters reports the U.S. Congress on Friday moved to block the Bush administration from building permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq or controlling the country's oil sector, as it approved $70 billion for funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Former President Carter is urging northern Nevadans to elect his son, Jack, to the Senate to help combat a Bush administration he says has brought "international disgrace" to the country, reports KESQ. Carter's sentiments echo al-Zawahri's statements reported above.

CNS News reports the upcoming mid-term election is important because the U.S. is "in a deep hole, and Republicans don't want to quit digging," Sen. Hillary Clinton told a gathering of Democratic women in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. "The damage that has already been done to our country in the last six years is incalculable," she said.

And finally, The New York Post reports billionaire liberal financier George Soros, who spent millions of his fortune trying to oust President Bush in 2004, yesterday said he hopes to stay out of politics from now on. Yeah, right.