‘Richard Perle, the former head of the Defense Policy Board, known in the Beltway as the "Prince of Darkness," has been on TV a lot lately in a much-publicized public spat with former CIA director George Tenet, who recently accused Perle of targeting Iraq days after 9/11.

John Bolton, former UN-hating ambassador to the UN, recently won the Bradley Prize for "outstanding intellectual achievement" - achievement that presumably includes helping make the case for the Iraq disaster and support for a future invasion of Iran. In his acceptance speech, Bolton cheekily credited Tehran, Pyongyang and other rogue nations for his success, thanking them just for "being themselves."

And while Scooter Libby crashed at trial, Doug Feith soft-landed into a tenure track at Georgetown, where he will now teach history, a subject he spent the past five years or so violently misinterpreting.

The neo-cons remain a bold presence in the media for a number of reasons. Number one, they still have real political power.

Dick Cheney is still the vice president, and the Pentagon is still guided heavily by the neo-con-dominated Office of Special Plans (OSP), where the power is now reportedly concentrated in an office called the Iranian Directorate, charged with helping make the case for war with Iran.

Amid all the public hand-wringing about a congressional demand for an Iraq withdrawal timeline, Washington is abuzz with rumors that the neo-cons are loading up for one last historical Hail Mary, a "long bomb" to throw at Tehran before Bush leaves office.

The knowledge that they are crazy enough to try something like that makes people in the capital take them seriously.’

Neocon II: Lie Hard with A Vengeance