River in Egypt

I ran the PR for the UK edition of All the President's Men so I have soft spot for Woodstein and the guys were total pros (of course) when they came over to promote.

That was back in the early 1970s when we were all sprightlier.

Bob Woodstein has gone on to be the grand old man of ace exposes and I can't wait to read his latest pronouncements on the State of Denial in which Dubya has dumped us.

I take it that the press "over there" is full of leaked reviews of the book and highly placed deniable comments.

In my inbox is (equally well-placed) pals' take on the hullabaloo:

NYT bought Bob's STATE OF DENIAL (release next week), in time for front page story.

Brattish Daily News *also* bought a copy, even though the Times gets all the credit.

They say Woodward found himself "speechless" by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's repeated refusals to take responsibility or admit to how bad the situation in Iraq has become.

"How could he not see his role and responsibility? I could think of nothing more to say."

Scramble by Woodward's *own* paper to throw up a story that mimics some of the other reports.

CBS get their skates on for the usual Friday revelations from Sunday's pre-release 60 Minutes interview.

Back on the ranch, the cement dries on the drive and the rats are back.