IS DOMESTIC POLITICS IN THE U.S. DETERMINING SADDAM'S EXECUTION DATE?

Hi, it's Steve. I wanted to say I've been thinking for a while that the postponement of Bush's Big Iraq Speech until January was meant to push it forward to a time when it would steal thunder from the Democrats, just at the moment of their takeover of Congress -- and now I'm seeing that Saddam's execution might happen within days, and the whole thing now seems to be a coordinated strategy from a White House where everything is politics.

At the very least, the Bushies saw weeks ago that Saddam might be executed soon and concluded that they should hold the Big Speech until after the execution, so Bush could say, "What's my plan? Well, first let me remind you that I got Saddam killed -- I rule!" Quite possibly there's much more coordination than that -- quite possibly the administration and the Maliki government worked this schedule out. So Iraqi domestic politics is possibly being structured Bush's political plans.

Of course, it's still 2003 in Bushworld. Frankly, I don't think anyone in America except Bushite end-timers really cares anymore about Saddam, or thinks what happens to him matters. But the Bushies will feel good that they rained on Nancy Pelosi's parade. And well, you gotta hand it to them: they can still pull off this sort of political stunt, even if no one is impressed by it, and even if they still can't pull off any actual accomplishments.

...And if the execution really doesn't happen soon, it seems quite possible that the story is being floated right now to set the table for the speech.

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(Gah! Dial-up. I probably won't be posting again until I'm back home next week -- too frustrating ....)