Revenge of the Odds and Ends

More miscellaneous items of notes. Please tell me if these feature bores you.

Robert Gates was sworn in as Defense Secretary. I notice there was no big media event for his first day. Odd. Guess the White House didn't want to do anything to remind people about the war before Christmas.

Related... Talking Points Memo looks back at Donald Rumsfeld's history of buck-passing.

Tony Snow continues to make Scott McClellan look honest and transparent in comparison.

The Bush administration's policy on nuclear proliferation continues to be criminally neglect and hypocritical. While lecturing other nations not to pursue nuclear programs under the threat of sanctions and/or war, the administration has also "signed legislation [today] to let America share its nuclear know-how and fuel with India even though New Delhi refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty." And we wonder why no one takes us seriously?

A 29-year-old Navy veteran who went to Iraq as a security contractor, became a whistleblower, and was accidently detained by the U.S. military for over three months, recalls the abuse he suffered while imprisoned. As Tim at Balloon Juice notes, if this is how we treat American citizens, what do you think they do to random Muslims?

Finally, election results in Iran are being seen as a rebuke of policies and allies of President Ahmadinejad. It'll be hard for the neocons to pretend this is a dictatorship now. In related news, Salon's Alex Koppelman explores a different view of that country's leadership.