The bogeyman resurfaces

So the State Department sought to suppress the release of the new Bin Laden tape. It's an interesting wrinkle in the latest of late October surprises.

The appearance of bin Laden, alive and not desperately unhealthy, during the race's final weekend is obviously cause for rumination. The timing -- Friday afternoon, quitting time EDT -- seems orchestrated to coincide with the beginning of our reflective weekend free time.

Bin Laden, the worst mass murderer on the planet, addresses Americans directly in a way that we've not seen before. Gone, it seems, are his rants about 15th century Spain, infidels in the holy land and the blood of Americans raining down in his grand vengeance. The new bin Laden is more soft-spoken, seems like he's seen Fahrenheit 9/11, asks us to please reconsider putting the screws to the Muslim world if we value our safety, and according to the AP, uses "what appeared to be conciliatory language." This can't be: a kinder, gentler UBL?

Whether it will help either side, I can't say for sure. The State Department's attempt to quiet the release of the tape does tip its hand somewhat, though. And the more times Bush pronounces UBL's name, the more we are reminded that he's still at large and that mission has not been accomplished. I'm tentatively giving the edge to Kerry on this development.

My freaky Republican correspondent in Texas expresses surprise that UBL "didn't explicitly endorse Kerry," but wonders if he "was just trying to stay within the bounds of McCain-Feingold."

Meanwhile, the other tape does appear to be Gadahn, according to recent reports. Yikes.