An Energy Pearl Harbor?

The Joys of Living in a Fantasyland

FANTASY # 1

Event: A CBS News poll shows Bush at an all-time low approval rating of 34%.

Response of Bush followers: The poll is biased, unfair, and therefore we can happily ignore the results.

Murtha: The ‘Only People Who Want Us in Iraq’ are Iran, al Qaeda, and China:

"Let me tell you, the only people who want us in Iraq is Iran and al-Qaeda. I’ve talked to a top-level commander the other day, it was about two weeks ago, and he said China wants us there also. Why? Because we’re depleting our resources — our troop resources and our fiscal resources."

Watchdog: What Ever Happened to the Civil Liberties Board?:

"For more than a year, the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board has been the most invisible office in the White House. Created by Congress in December 2004 as a result of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, the board has never hired a staff or even held a meeting. Next week, NEWSWEEK has learned, that is due to finally change when the board's five members are slated to be sworn in at the White House and convene their first session. Board members tell NEWSWEEK the panel intends to immediately tackle contentious issues like the president's domestic wiretapping program, the Patriot Act and Pentagon data mining. But critics are furious the process has taken this long—and question whether the White House intends to treat the panel as anything more than window dressing. The delay is 'outrageous, considering how long its been since the bill [creating the board] was passed,' said Thomas Kean, who chaired the 9/11 Commission. 'The administration was never interested in this.'"

An Energy Pearl Harbor?:

"'We call our brothers in the battlefields to direct some of their great efforts towards the oil wells and pipelines. . . . The killing of 10 American soldiers is nothing compared to the impact of the rise in oil prices on America and the disruption that it causes in the international economy.' -- A jihadist Web site"

Guards Fault Homeland Security Protection:

"The agency entrusted with protecting the U.S. homeland is having difficulty safeguarding its own headquarters, say private security guards at the complex."

Internet Critic:

The 50 best Web sites

Today's print edition of the Tribune offers up the, ahem, 50 very best Web sites.

Russian student 'forced to behead man' in kidnap plot:

"When Roman Bespalov told police a local thug had savagely beaten him, he unleashed a chain of surreal events that allegedly led him to be forced into beheading a complete stranger in a forest glad"