Crisis and Delusion

Plagued by nightmares sparked by Seymour Hirsch's terrifying New Yorker story on Bush's messianic plotting, Epictetus awoke (groggily) in search of comforting words. The finely architected sentences that comprise "The Ambassadors" helped speed the subway ride, but for some reason, Henry James's descriptions of Paris did surprisingly little to dispel the dread this time.

So, on to Juan Cole, who does his usual in reminding all and sundry of reality. Read him if you want to know how far off Iran is from being a threat (and it's far). He even allows that Bush may be engaged in traditional sabre rattling–since he, like the Irani ruling faction, is suffering such dismal approval numbers. But don't look for any comforting words on whether Bush will actually hold back. This president, as succinctly summed up by Lady Epicteta over wine last night, "is delusional. And you know what? I blame him less than those people who voted for him."