Plunging right ahead

"The Bush administration faced new problems today in its confrontation with Iraq as China and Russia joined U.S. allies France and Germany in rejecting early military action." So says this Washington Post story from today's paper. But administration officials continue to push war, and the NYT said today that:

Mr. Bush opened his remarks with a lengthy and impassioned case for action against Saddam Hussein, making it sound as if war was imminent.

Be sure to click on that last link and on this one. Bush appeared at a St. Louis factory where he spoke in front of a painted backdrop of boxes whose labels read "MADE IN AMERICA." In front of Bush was a small pyramid of actual boxes with tape and paper labels covering portions of the boxes. When reporters lifted the tape, they saw that Bush "volunteers" had covered up the prominent legend "MADE IN CHINA." Here's a photograph of the event.