Blogging Around
One Verrry Interesting Article and One Kickin' Blog

Atrios is off on other worldly pursuits, and has turned Eschaton over to a few trusted associates until his return. Tena posted a great blog link tonight that led me to an interesting story.

First the story, then the blog link. A Counterpunch article, glommed from U.K.'s The Independent, carries a story by reporter Robert Fisk (gotta cough up turkee for the article at the Independent's site) about Saddam's appearance in Kangaroo Kourt last week. Fisk touches on something that's been nagging at me since I saw my first audio-less clip of Saddam in the Iraqi courtroom.

The reason no audio? The U.S. censored it.

Wait.

I thought this was an Iraqi trial. Did the goosesteppers at the CPA Headquart...er... American Embassy miss the memo? Iraq is now a sovereign nation! Check the CNN archives. Jurisdiction over Saddam has been turned over to Iraqis. Check the Fox News archives. Iraq gets to run its own court system. Check, well, ANY damn archives. According to Fisk, the Iraqi judge wanted audio, but the U.S. forbade it.

(Rhetorical, French-laden question.) Who the fuck's in charge over there, anyway?

So, the U.S. military cut the feed. (Poorly, fortunately.) Was the Bush Administration concerned over what Saddam might say? Just another example on how absolutely bullshit this whole sovereignty thing is. It's also another indictment of the U.S. press and media - why didn't any of the networks scream bloody hell over what transpired??

A lot of people have wondered if Saddam will ever make it to trial. They worry about his health. He should, too. Dead men tell no tales.

The blog gem brought to the surface by Tena is a sparkling blog I've not read previously - Body and Soul (and, yes, you're already blogrolled, Jeanne). Body and Soul captured both the Counterpunch.org story, and also an interesting counterpoint to the Washington Post revelation that the Bush/Cheney re-selection committee has passed out marching orders to various churches and pastors.

Jeanne rebuts. Good stuff. Go. Read.