CARPET BOMBING BUSH The verdict is out on Wesley Clark's new book, "Winning Modern Wars," and the verdict is mixed. The first part of the book is a dull rehashing of the 1991 Gulf War, but apparently Clark unleashes his personal JDAMS after page 91 and articulates a no-hold-barred critique of the Bush administration's approach to international relations. This review provides enough detail that you probably won't need to read the book.

THE GENERAL AND THE PUNDITJosh Marshall recently found himself stuck in a car with General Wesley Clark, a recently announced candidate for President. It's a good interview, especially since Clark went into it unscripted. Here are a few tidbits that grabbed my attention:

CLARK: Because in foreign policy and foreign affairs you have to work with allies. It doesn't matter what the threat is. And in the world that I learned to work in, international law trumps diplomacy. And, except under the most extreme circumstances, diplomacy trumps force. Force is the ultimate action, but improperly applied, force only kills people and breaks things. It gets you into something. It doesn't give you your success.

::: snip :::

TPM: I noticed that Doug Feith, who's obviously the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, had a statement a while back saying that the connection between terrorist organizations and state sponsors was, I think he said, the principal strategic thought behind the administration's policy.

CLARK: It's the principal strategic mistake behind the administration's policy. If you look at all the states that were named as the principal adversaries, they're on the periphery of international terrorism today. Syria -- OK, supporting Hezbollah and Hamas -- yeah, they're terrorist organizations. They're focused on Israel. They're getting support from Iran. It's wrong. Shouldn't be there. But they're there. What about Saudi Arabia? There's a source of the funding, the source of the ideology, the source of the recruits. What about Pakistan? With thousands of madrassas churning out ideologically-driven foot soldiers for the war on terror. Neither of those are at the front of the military operations.

THE GENERAL AND THE PUNDITJosh Marshall recently found himself stuck in a car with General Wesley Clark, a recently announced candidate for President. It's a good interview, especially since Clark went into it unscripted. Here are a few tidbits that grabbed my attention:

CLARK: Because in foreign policy and foreign affairs you have to work with allies. It doesn't matter what the threat is. And in the world that I learned to work in, international law trumps diplomacy. And, except under the most extreme circumstances, diplomacy trumps force. Force is the ultimate action, but improperly applied, force only kills people and breaks things. It gets you into something. It doesn't give you your success.



TPM: I noticed that Doug Feith, who's obviously the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, had a statement a while back saying that the connection between terrorist organizations and state sponsors was, I think he said, the principal strategic thought behind the administration's policy.

CLARK: It's the principal strategic mistake behind the administration's policy. If you look at all the states that were named as the principal adversaries, they're on the periphery of international terrorism today. Syria -- OK, supporting Hezbollah and Hamas -- yeah, they're terrorist organizations. They're focused on Israel. They're getting support from Iran. It's wrong. Shouldn't be there. But they're there. What about Saudi Arabia? There's a source of the funding, the source of the ideology, the source of the recruits. What about Pakistan? With thousands of madrassas churning out ideologically-driven foot soldiers for the war on terror. Neither of those are at the front of the military operations.

PLAME'S GETTING SERIOUS Here's a couple of interesting interviews pulled together that demonstrate two things. 1) The leak about Valerie Plame's job as a CIA agent is serious, and it has implications for Plame, for her contacts overseas and for national security. How serious those implications are remain to be seen. 2) This will grow. And it presents a clear threat to the ability of the Bush administration's hopes for a second term. Stay tuned.

STILL GETTING IT ON David Rees' pace has slowed, but his sharply critical commentaries on the Bush administration, Iraq and other issues du jour continue to engage.

MR. BURNS IS RUNNING THE COUNTRY Too Stupid To Be President presents another wryly animated Flash-driven political statement. If you scrounge beneath the headlines, you might know that Diebolt is a company that builds the electronic voting machines that are landing in precincts around the country. The president of Diebolt is a staunch Republican, and there has been some reporting recently about the number of bugs and backdoors in Diebolt's popular systems that raise questions about voting rights and electoral accuracy. Paranoia aside, the real issue about electronic voting is that it can be manipulated, there is no paper trail and it is potentially de-democratizing.

WRITING ON THE RIVER The James River Writers Festival showcases the local talent that has made the break to reach national audiences, including old-timer Tom Robbins and the more recent success stories of Tom DeHaven, David Robbins and Sherri Reynolds. It all comes together this weekend at the Library of Virginia in Richmond.

WHY CHUCK D TRUMPS COOL J Rappers LL Cool J and Chuck D took their contrasting opinions to Capitol Hill yesterday, where they weighed in on the issue of online file sharing at a Senate hearing. Chuck D took the stance that artists and consumers should have stronger rights than record companies, while LL Cool J argued that file sharing is basically stealing.

Chuck D wasn't about to let online freedoms be curbed. "P2P to me means power to the people," he said. "I trust the consumer more than I trust the people at the helm of these [record] companies."

LL used a rather bizarre metaphor to render the practice of illegal file-sharing down to its basic element: stealing. "If a contractor builds a building, should people be allowed to move into it for free, just because he's successful?" asked Mr. Cool J, as he was addressed at the hearing. "Should they be able to live in this building for free? That's how I feel when I create an album or when I make a film and it's shooting around the planet for free."

NOBEL PRIZE WINNER FOR LITERATURE NAMED South African writer J.M. Coetzee has landed the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature. The reclusive Coetzee has published 8 novels and numerous articles and manifestos.

The 63-year-old writer, long a favored contender, was tapped for the prestigious award for his ability to write fiction that "in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider.''

In its citation, the Swedish academy said Coetzee's novels are characterized by their well-crafted composition, dialogue and analytical brilliance.

"But at the same time, he is a scrupulous doubter, ruthless in his criticism of the cruel rationalism and cosmetic morality of western civilization.''

Horace Engdahl, the permanent secretary of the academy, said the decision was an easy one.

"We were very much convinced of the lasting value of his contribution to literature. I'm not speaking of the number of books, but the variety, and the very high average quality,'' he said. "I think he is a writer ... that will continue to be discussed and analyzed and we think he should belong to our literary heritage.'' ...

... "There is a great wealth of variety in Coetzee's works,'' the academy citation said. "No two books ever follow the same recipe. Extensive reading reveals a recurring pattern, the downward-spiraling journeys he considers necessary for the salvation of his characters.'' ...

... The academy has given the award to Europeans for the last eight years. Since 1980, only three winners have come from Africa, three from South America, two from the United States and one from Asia. It's been 14 years since someone from the Middle East was given the nod, Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz.

The writer, whose full name is John Maxwell Coetzee, holds a Ph.D in computer-generated language. He is best known for "Dusklands'' and "Disgrace,'' which won the 1999 Booker Prize.

SUPA-FREAK BBC News profiles filmmaker Quentin Tarantino, who broke all boundaries with "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" before dropping the ball with "Jackie Brown." He's back with the over-the-top kung-fu-driven and cartoonish bloodfest, "Kill Bill."

"It was a wild ride," said his muse Uma Thurman, the film's central character, a vengeful bride who awakes from a four-year coma to become an unlikely ninja warrior.

"A cruel older brother, that's what he's like. Me in the dirt, with blood everywhere is his favourite thing in the whole world. He wants to rough me up every day. He wants to see me mad."

Tarantino has described the film as "the movie of my geek-movie dreams" - a notion backed up by cast member Julie Dreyfus, who said: "His enthusiasm and attention to detail are extraordinary.

"It was like a crash course in his movie obsessions."

His love of kung-fu, noir and blaxploitation movies was formed as a lonely child growing up in suburban Los Angeles, often skipping school where he saw himself as "the dumb kid who couldn't keep up with the class".

ROCK AND ROLL IS HERE TO PLAY Genius is often overlooked, especially when it is a bit flamboyant and tasteless. Take the rock act Tenacious D, for instance. Better yet, take the talent behind Tenacious D, the opposites attract partnership of Jack Black and Mike White. The two couldn't be more different on the surface, and yet their similarities continue to bring them together. Their rock parody, "School of Rock," opens this week, and Maryland's SunSpot takes a look at this unlikely dynamic duo.

But as the rock gods would have it, in the late '90s, the struggling twentysomethings wound up as neighbors.

The pair quickly discovered that they were both drawn to the so-called devil's music -- Black because he was hungry for the rock idolatry that's reserved for crushing ax slingers, and White because he enjoyed being close to the pagan mayhem.

"I was like, 'I wanna rock! I wanna act; I wanna be in the arts,' " said Black, who, when he met White, was still searching for breakthrough roles and playing in the folk-metal/comedy duo Tenacious D.

White, on the other hand, had less riotous ways of displaying his proclivity for all things rock.

"I'm a closet rebel, just like I was in high school," he said.

The self-described "dork-on-a-fork" couldn't pull off a clutch guitar solo if he tried. But the "born scribbler" knew how to write about a guy who could.

HE REALLY IS A BIG, FAT IDIOT Rush Limbaugh, conservative talk show host and political gas bag, has resigned from his job as an ESPN-NFL commentator. If you're surprised to discover that he resigned because of controversy created by an offensive comment, you've obviously missed the last decade. Limbaugh basically said that quarterback Donovan McNabb isn't as good a player as the media portrays him to be, and that he has been elevated by the press because he is black. Combine a poorly thought offhand remark with a reputation for being a conservative blowhard and you're bound to get controversy.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh resigned as an ESPN football commentator late on Wednesday after his comments about black Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb drew a blitz of criticism, ESPN said ...

... In the ESPN statement Limbaugh said: "My comments this past Sunday were directed at the media and were not racially motivated. I offered an opinion. This opinion has caused discomfort to the crew, which I regret."

The statement did not include an outright apology to McNabb.

Limbaugh said before Sunday's matchup between the Eagles and the Buffalo Bills that the media wanted McNabb to succeed because he is black. His words prompted criticism from McNabb himself, former NFL quarterback Warren Moon, and several Democratic candidates for president.

IT'S IN YOUR HEAD Author and social philosopher Michael Gurian takes a stab at the brain chemistry of men and women in an attempt to explain why exactly, well, we seem to operate on different wavelengths.

Like a guide through a secret forest, his book leads the nonscientist through the complex world of brain science and relates it to some of the most frustrating sources of conflict between men and women in long-term relationships.

The male brain secretes less of the powerful primary bonding chemical oxytocin and less of the calming chemical serotonin than the female brain.

So while women find emotional conversations a good way to chill out at the end of the day, the tired male brain needs to zone out all that touchy-feely chatter in order to relax -- which is why he wants the remote control to zap through "mindless" sport or action movies ...

... Male hormones such as testosterone and vasopressin set the male brain up to seek competitive, hierarchical groups in its constant quest to prove self-worth and identity. That is why men, paradoxically (from a hormonally altered new mother's point of view), become even more workaholic once they have kids, to whom they must also prove their worth.

EVERYTHING YOU EVER WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT SPY SCANDALS (but were afraid to ask) The Post's Jefferson Morley presents a handy Q&A about the current storm a'brewing around the White House. Whether the leak about former Ambassador Wilson's CIA wife is as serious as some Democrats make it out to be is debatable. What is not debatable is that for the first time in three years, the Bush White House is finally getting some tarnish on its political hide. Nobody likes a snitch. Not even a passive electorate.

LITTLE BOY BLUE Between dodging trees while driving through a 'Harry Cane' (as they were called in 1627), clearing trees at the new homestead, recovering from Texas-induced stomach turmoil and hating color swatches more with each passing day, I've not had time to update much. I promise to return by Thursday with more missives from the world. Now, go forth and multiply already.