It looks like the whole Paul O'Neill thing is fading quickly. With the government now investigating him, he made an appearance on NBC's Today show this morning, and was seriously backpedaling on many of the statements in his book. He asserted that the whole thing about Bush planning for war with Iraq before 9/11 has been spun by the media, and that he thought this was a responsible move by the Bush administration. I haven't read O'Neill's book (like I'm going to buy that), but it its believable that the desperate left would seize upon any scrap of evidence that could be used against Bush, whether it has substance or not. O'Neill also said he would "probably" vote for President Bush in the next election.

We all know that this guy was a lousy Secretary of the Treasury. It seems plausible that his statements weren't all that bad, and the left is simply running with them because that's all they have. It also seems plausible that he's a weenie and doesn't have the backbone to stand by his statements. Either way, this is shaping up to be a non starter.

Put this one into the vast "evaporated hopes of the left" file.