As the End of Bush Days draws near, the desperation and insanity of the administration and its neoconservative policies become more and more apparent. One of the most recent examples is Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's address to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on June 3, where she once and for all crossed over to the dark side and swore fealty to Lord Cheney's quest to start a shooting war with Iran.

With Boobs-on-a-Billy-Goat Rice onboard the Cheney train, can Armageddon be far behind?

You can rest easy. Political pundit and former presidential candidate Pat Buchanan predicted on Sunday that there is a "fifty-fifty chance of U.S. air strikes on Iran by October." I just love the all out commitment involved in making a fifty-fifty prediction: there’s a hundred percent chance you’ll be right. Of course, the very fact that Pat Buchanan mentions something might happen means the odds are that it won’t.

Don’t get complacent, though. Just like the cataclysmic natural disaster that strikes every century or so, once in a blue moon it turns out that Pat Buchanan knew what the hell he was talking about.

Similarly, we might expect that the Bush administration knows that attacking Iran would be the worst imaginable thing they could do—for the Bush legacy, for U.S. foreign policy, and for stability in the Middle East. A strike on Iran would be an act of sheer lunacy; so the Bush administration might just try it.

“The United States is a nation engaged in what will be a long war.” – Quadrennial Defense Review Report (February 6, 2006)

“No nation has ever profited from a long war.” – Sun Tzu (long ago)

The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review Report noted that it was “imperative” for the Department of Defense to “hedge against uncertainty over the next 20 years.” The DoD will have to hedge a sight longer than 20 years if John McCain gets himself elected in November. McCain has “no objection” to American troops staying in Iraq for a hundred, a thousand, or heck, make it an even million years. He’s not likely to meet a lot of resistance to that policy from the Pentagon. Ten thousand centuries’ worth of job security doesn’t grow on trees.

Our old playmates Russia and China won’t object to McCain’s plans for a million-year replay of the Cold War either. The only concern they have on that score is McCain’s penchant for either changing his mind or forgetting what he said in the first place.

Kevin Hall/McC: U.S. confirms Russian jet flew low over Nimitz task force
In Saturday's incident, the Tupolev fighter bomber flew below 3,000 feet and was intercepted by U.S. fighter jets and escorted away. The jet managed to fly over the U.S. carrier fleet and the Nimitz, Cartwright confirmed.

Buzzing a battle group is strange behavior indeed, given the totally awesome power of the U.S. Navy. Unless of course the Navy is underfunded, overtasked, wearing out, and spread thin. Or as the Republicans like to call it: "strong on defense".

RIA Novosti: U.S. changes position on START-1 treaty - Sen. Lugar

WASHINGTON, January 31 (RIA Novosti) - The George W. Bush administration has changed its stance on the START-1 nuclear arms reduction treaty, and will agree to Russia's demands for a legally binding replacement, [Senator Richard Lugar] said. . . . "Last year, I was concerned by reports that U.S.-Russian negotiations did not include discussions of a legally binding treaty or the continuation of a formal verification regime. I am pleased to report that the Administration has changed course and will accept a legally-binding regime."

Glad they've (apparently) changed their minds. Now all we need to know is why and how that happened. With this administration it's best to believe nothing of what you hear, and half of what you see.

I made the sound of one jaw dropping Monday when National Security Adviser Steven Hadley said that the latest National Intelligence Estimate on Iran "suggests that the President has the right strategy."

RIA Novosti:  Iran unlikely to threaten U.S. territory in next 10 years
"MOSCOW, November 8  - Iran has no capability to build nuclear weapons that could reach U.S. territory within the next seven to 10 years, a Russian military expert said on Thursday."

In the climactic scene of the movie Savage Seven, when all is seemingly lost, the leader of the biker group rolls with his force of two hundred Harley-riders across the desert to rescue the town from the evil-doers, while Cream sings Anyone for tennis.

That's the image being painted by Team Fantasy in the White House, backed up by the flying chimps in Congress: America to the rescue!

Question is, who TF asked them?