Old Blackwater, Keep On Rolling

The shooting of Iraqi civilians by the Blackwater security firm hired to guard American officials in Iraq only serves to demonstrate the folly of trying to fight a war outsourcing it. After giving sweetheart deals to private companies serving our servicepeople, the government has taken to hiring private soldiers to beef up security for Americans in Baghdad. The Iraqi government convened long enough to condemn the shootings - they can't convene long enough to do anything else - and the Bush administration uncharacteristically expressed shame in the incident. Blackwater would have been black eye for the White House, and deservedly so, but they were spared by the fact that the media were to busy focusing on O.J. Simpson's chronic inability to stay out of trouble.

(Speaking of which, Simpson now has eleven counts against him, and he issued a statement stating his 100 percent innocence and promising to look for the real robbers and kidnappers once he beats the rap. All right, I made that last part up.)