Timing

ThinkProgress has a couple of reports...

We'll have to wait until after the election for the Foley report so that maximum political cover can be maintained.

The House ethics committee report on the Foley page scandal will not be released before Election Day. The AP notes, “The lack of a report leaves voters to sort through conflicting Republican accounts in deciding whether GOP leaders failed to protect teenagers in their care.”

But Saddam's verdict will be scheduled "provide maximum political benefit".

The verdict in the trial of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein was recently postponed until November 5, two days before the U.S. midterm elections. Media Matters has questioned whether “the date for the verdict’s release [was] set to provide maximum political benefit for the administration and congressional Republicans.”

Asked today whether the verdict would be a factor in the U.S. elections, White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said, “You are absolutely right, it will be a factor.” Snow said the verdict “may fit into a larger narrative about an Iraqi government that has been doing what the president has said all along.” He portrayed the decision as yet another turning point for Iraq. “This is a benchmark episode, where the Iraqi people are taking control of their own destiny,” he said.

You wouldn't be feeling cynical right now, would you...?