They mean what they say and they say what they mean

There's a whole genre of chic lit called colloquially "Had I But Know." (HIBK) "Had I but known that the man I married was really a fortune-hunter with a mad wife and a homicidal mother-in-law, I never would have moved to this remote yet exotic island, where my life is in danger." Etc. The reader knew all along, of course, because when you pick up a book with a nervous-looking woman in a huge, billowing gown standing before a castle on the cover, the HIBK is implied.

And now we have a HIBK presidency, when all of us who looked at the cover of this particular book knew perfectly well what was going to happen. It was inevitable. Just as anyone who read the Republican Party platform knew perfectly well what they planned to do. It's not a secret. All you have to do is pay attention.

Via Chris Floyd, we see that Obama plans to run his foreign policy just like everyone else indebted to the military industrial complex. Now we know, and there should be no surprise later. Via Juan Cole, we see that everything the US government does in Iraq makes Iran stronger, and this is no surprise either. It's not an accident. People who pay attention have been saying for years that Bush will try to instigate an attack on Iran. Cheney said a foothold in the Middle East is essential to gain some control over their oil as it slowly grinds towards depletion. We are in the Middle East to stay, and that won't change.

So war with Iran, which everyone says is impossible, will almost certainly happen. It's what the Cheney administration wants, and they get what they want or people die. If I'm wrong, great. But we have to talk about this. This issue is too important. We can't be so afraid of looking stupid and being called conspiracy nuts that we remain silent.

The Cheney administration really does do what they say they will do.