I trusted Bush, and unless something big develops on the weapons front in Iraq soon, it appears as though I was fooled by him. Perhaps he himself was taken in by his intelligence and military advisers. If so, he ought to be angry as hell, because ultimately he bears the responsibility.

It suggests a strain of zealotry in this White House that regards the question of war as just another political debate. It isn't. More than 100 fine Americans were killed in this conflict, dozens of British soldiers, and many thousands of Iraqis. Nobody gets killed or maimed in Capitol Hill maneuvers over spending plans, or battles over federal court appointments. War is a special case. It is the most serious step a nation can take, and it deserves the highest measure of seriousness and integrity.

When a president lies or exaggerates in making an argument for war, when he spins the facts to sell his case, he betrays his public trust, and he diminishes the credibility of his office and our country. We are at war. What we lost in this may yet end up being far more important than what we gained.

Mark Bowden - author of Black Hawk Down and a very interesting profile of Saddam - on the problems resulting from selling a war on false pretenses.

In other words, the GOP has to starve the government to stay in power. (Which is the opposite of FDR aide Harry Hopkin's mantra, "tax tax tax, spend spend spend, elect elect elect." ) It's far easier to cut taxes than to cut government programs. So the GOP will try to cut taxes every year that George Bush is president, without cutting many programs whole hog. The debt will pile up, of course, and eventually, it'll bankrupt the government, especially the two most popular entitlement programs, Social Security and Medicare. Since conservatives hate those programs, they don't mind, especially if it precipitates them being privatized. And they probably won't be held responsible by voters for the country's fiscal disaster, because Democrats will be trying constantly to restore federal spending -- so it'll look like it's at least partially their fault.

TAPPED nicely sums up the Republican strategy behind the tax cuts.