contrapositive

GEORGE SMILEY HE AIN'T Watching George Tenet last night on 60 minutes was enlightening, and not in a good way: The man came off as petulant, arrogant and intellectually sloppy.

I'm sure CBS shot hours of footage and whittled the interview down to the most explosive bits. But the head of the CIA--the chief intelligence officer in the land--should be an analytical powerhouse, studious and unflappable. At least those are some of the strengths I'd be looking for if I were doing the hiring.

If Tenet possesses those qualities, he sure didn't show it.

AL HEARTS GEORGE To recap:

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales struggled Thursday to convince skeptical senators he did nothing improper in firing eight federal prosecutors, losing ground as a second senator from his own party joined the calls for his resignation.

[...]

Seventy-one times he fell back on faulty memory, saying he could not recall or remember conversations or events surrounding the firings.

[...]

In Iglesias' case, Gonzales recalled an Oct. 11 conversation with Bush and White House political adviser Karl Rove about voter fraud concerns during which the prosecutor's name came up. "I now understand that there was a conversation between myself and the president," Gonzales said.

I will go down with this ship
And I won't put my hands up and surrender
There will be no white flag above my door
I'm in love and always will be

SMALL, DIRTY MINDS Much of what's sick, twisted and just plain wrong about Fox News is on view here.

VONNEGUT IS DEAD The great American writer was 84 years-old.