In March 2003, days before the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, American war planners and intelligence officials met at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina to review the Bush administration’s plans to oust Saddam Hussein and implant democracy in Iraq.

Near the end of his presentation, an Army lieutenant colonel who was giving a briefing showed a slide describing the Pentagon’s plans for rebuilding Iraq after the war, known in the planners’ parlance as Phase 4-C. He was uncomfortable with his material – and for good reason.

The slide said: “To Be Provided.”

A Knight Ridder review of the administration’s Iraq policy and decisions has found that it invaded Iraq without a comprehensive plan in place to secure and rebuild the country.

…”We didn’t go in with a plan. We went in with a theory,” said a veteran State Department officer who was directly involved in Iraq policy.

WARREN P. STROBEL and JOHN WALCOTT, Knight Ridder Newspapers: 9-24-2004

You are going to want to download this video of Jon Stewart on Crossfire (undergroundclips). Like Rafe, I first heard about this from a blog (for me it was scripting.com) and downloaded a version of it via a torrent many bloggers linked directly to. Like Rafe, I think Stewart looked pained, but for me, it was a delight to see hypocracy faced so directly.

Who explained his positions better? Who was closer to the silent majority in this country who only speak during elections? Who looked Presidential? Who talked policy instead of attempting to sling mud and labels? Kerry. The polls are coming in and they agree with me. Bush now seems like an Osama Bin Laden denyer. He can’t help but lie to cover his tracks in his failure to bring him in. Next thing you know he will say that Bin Laden never attacked us and that Saddam did.

One thing that made me cheer was Kerry’s explaination of the role faith plays in his life and his views on homosexual marriage and abortion. “We are all God’s children.” Refreshing. There are those who use religion as a tool to point fingers at others and tell them to change. There are those who use religion to look in the mirror to ask “what is it I should do?”.

And like Garret, Ritalin did come to mind in watching Bush’s new demeanor.

Dan Gillmor’s assembled a group of panelists to share a week long discussion on e-voting that the public can participate in.

According to the Committee of Seventy Philadelphia’s experience with electronic voting has been a success (so far), and explain how.

The Left Coaster has some information on how to protest this corporation effectively: challenge each of its TV station licence renewals.

A blog focused on boycotting Sinclair advertisers is up and comment threads are getting plenty of activity.

Josh Marshall shares his outrage.

Much more at Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire.

Folks, I just express how upset I am by this, or how upset you should be too.

More info at DailyKos.

The nation’s largest TV chain orders all 62 stations to show an anti-Kerry movie without commercials next week.

More at CNN Money. Why isn’t this worthy of their front page I wonder?

Discussion at Democratic Ungerground.

President Bush again sounded insulted that anyone could dare criticize him or ask him a question. Kevin Drum sums it up nicely for me. Really. He does remind me of someone who is a bit… bipolar. And Kerry does need to find a new way to say “I have a plan”. Then again, Mithras could be right in saying that Bush may have won slightly since his strategy seems to be to pursue the ‘dumb’ vote.

Bottom line, even with a better Bush effort, Kerry sounded and looked Presidential, gave substantial answers to questions, and handled the heat nicely, while Bush did not. Like Garret, I gotta wonder about those folks who want to see Bush reelected in the face of so much evidence. As he says, leadership requires effective communication. Something Bush is not capable of.