Hans Blix

Jason Horowitz writes about the reaction among conservative leaders to the pro-Second Amendment, strict constructionist, marriage-between-a-man-and-woman version of Rudy Giuliani. Bob Barr says, "It's a sleight of hand."

Niall Stanage interviews former UN weapons inspector Hans Blix about the Bush administration's increasingly hard line with Iran. Dark stuff.

Albert Gore III tells Spencer Morgan that as far as he knows, his dad is thinking about winning an Oscar -- and that's all.

Azi Paybarah talks to an Eliot Spitzer donor who thinks that the governor's reforms could set him up to be President.

Azi also reports from a Barack Obama meet-up, where some female supporters explain why they chose the Senator from Illinois over the Senator from New York.

Steve Kornacki thinks Hillary Clinton could be the next Ed Muskie.

Joe Conason thinks the New York Times needs to reckon with its history on the Clintons and Whitewater.

Harry Siegel still doesn't quite know what to make of Ground Zero.

Nick Von Hoffman says that the Scooter Libby trial is a test for the press.

And there's lots of good stuff here.

-- Josh Benson

Under Terry Gross's fine questioning on Fresh Air today, Hans Blix pointed out that the U.N.'s reports on WMD in Iraq proved to be much more accurate than all the national reports on the same question, from the U.S. and U.K. In view of the tragedy that resulted from the bad national reports, he argued that this demonstrates the fitness of international inspection bodies.

The neocons have of course been trying to discredit the U.N. forever (concern for Israel is again a factor). They will, for instance, tell you all about the Iraqi oil-for-food scandal, the details of which I have somehow forgotten. Isn't it funny, though, how the war they pushed for in Iraq has backfired on their agenda? It has wound up giving the U.N. more prestige (and driven Bush to seek out an international consensus on Iran).

The dispute over Iraq's Al Samoud missiles illustrates how United Nations inspections might have bro  read more »

It may not have matched the white-knuckle drama of the October 1962 Cuban missile crisis-when U.N.  read more »