NEWS NOTES

In case you missed this tale over the weekend: There he was, Mr. America, the inimitable Bullshitter-in-Chief doing his embarrassing best in Beijing. After meeting with reporters, he tried to exit through a locked door, right. When it wouldn't open, he resorted to a bad imitation of MAD mag's Alfred E. Newman, the doofus he most resembles. Click the photo to see the entire sequence.

Then there was the serious stuff about Curveball:

BERLIN — The German intelligence officials responsible for one of the most important informants on Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons of mass destruction say that the Bush administration and the CIA repeatedly exaggerated his claims during the run-up to the war in Iraq. -- From the Los Angeles Times

Or this about the guiding hand of torture:

WASHINGTON -- A former top State Department official said Sunday that Vice President Dick Cheney provided the "philosophical guidance" and "flexibility" that led to the torture of detainees in U.S. facilities. [What's more] retired U.S. Army Col. Larry Wilkerson, who served as former Secretary of State Colin Powell's chief of staff, told CNN that the practice of torture may be continuing in U.S.-run facilities.
-- From CNN.com

Or, for more fun and games, there was the tale recapping the corruption inquiry that threatens those sweaty Republican sweethearts in Congress.

-- Tireless Staff of Thousands