In the belly of the beast

The political climate in the US has been swinging sharply anti-Bush of late, a remarkable change indeed, and one with global implications.

The al-Jazeera memo story is finally getting mainstream US media coverage, with the consensus being that Bush did indeed want to bomb al-Jazeera HQ in Qatar. Even the hard right websites aren't defending Bush on this. Still, the coverage here in the States has been muted compared to elsewhere, just query Google News with "al-Jazeera memo" and you'll see most the stories are not from US media. (The Nation, a small leftist magazine that has been publishing in the US since 1865, has said they will print the memo if it is provided.)

What US media is focusing on more and more is the Iraq War. How it's gone wrong. This is a sea change from a year ago. Most of the populace now believes the Iraq War was a mistake.

Another major breaking story is the Jack Abramoff investigations. He's a lobbyist who has been indicted. He spread tens of millions around, other indictments are assumed to be coming, and could include members of Congress and prominent neocons. My blog has multiple posts on this.

The changing US mood on the Iraq War, the Abramoff scandal, and Bush's abysmal handling of the Katrina and Rita hurricane recovery has resulted in the cratering of Bush's popularity and reputation at home.

How this crumbling administration will now act towards the rest of the planet remains to be seen. But the neocon agenda now seems blown to bits. And that's good news for everyone else.