[PornoDoggy]

I'm not exactly known for my robust defense of the Bushites. Still, IMHO, people are making too much of the whole "exclud[ing] CIA director Porter Goss" stuff.

Favoring Negroponte over Goss is little different than favoring the National Security advisor's recommendations over those of the Secretary of State.

This administration operates more on ideology than reality. That would still be true if the ill-timed intelligence reorganization had not taken place. Arguing about which pencil-necked geeks attend specific meetings won't change that.

The thing about "The Downing Street 'Memo'" is there is no real smoking gun for Americans. Everybody with the brain of a slug knows that "... intelligence was "fixed" to sell the case for war to the American public; ... the Bush Administration’s public assurances of "war as a last resort" were at odds with their privately stated intentions".