Nuclear bombshell

Sometimes it pays to have insomnia, because occasionally you're allowed to report a scoop like this. (The full NYT story, three pages in length, is much more detailed--and much more damning to the Republicans--but is available only upon registration, so I've linked to a much more sketchy secondary source. For those who are registered, the NYT story is here.)

Now, maybe I'm no political pundit, but I gotta tell ya, this story is to me so (excuse the pun) explosive--posting Iraq's nuclear secrets on the Internet in the hope to gain some political advantage!!--that it could mean the end of any doubt about the outcome of the upcoming election. It plays directly into the "war on terr'r" issue that is supposedly the Republicans' trump card. If this story isn't blown up at least to the dimension of the Kerry flub, I don't know what...

(Update: It's now twelve hours later--two pm PST--and so far this story, despite first appearing on the front page of the NYT, has gotten no traction whatsoever, not even on AirAmerica talkshows. The "sex scandal" du jour, about "Rev." Haggard and his foibles, has bounced this incredible story of security breach off the news. It makes one wonder: Has Rove now devised a way to blast truly significant terrible news away from public attention by covering it with slightly less ugly news?)

(Up-update: End of the Friday news cycle, ten pm. The story did make some TV newscasts as a secondary or tertiary item, without much analysis, however. The implications weren't explored much, and Bush supporters were quick to chime in that the existence of such atomic plans were proof that Saddam Hussein had WMD potential, notwithstanding that these plans were pre-1991 papers that had been turned over to the UN inspectors already. But then finally, KO--that's my new hero, Keith Olberman--led his MSNBC Countdown newscast with the story, with extended commentary, and just now, on the web, the Truthout commentator, William Rivers Pitt, nailed the story. )

I can go to sleep now.