An iconic postwar British playwright who hated America so much, Harold Pinter, died yesterday. He really despised George Bush’s war in Iraq, as well as the other American wars and killings: “The crimes of the U.S. throughout the world have been systematic, constant, clinical, remorseless, and fully documented but nobody talks about them.” Indeed, freedom is on the march. Let’s end with a happier quote: “When the storm is over and night falls and the moon is out in all its glory and all you’re left with is the rhythm of the sea, of the waves, you know what God intended for the human race, you know what paradise is.” [NYT]

• Reliable Source: Subject matter of “Syriana” was toned-down for the heartland. [WP]
• Under the Dome: Bill Clinton will be in town tomorrow to receive award from National Education Association. . . George Clooney hired outside communications firm to “manage the political fallout” for “Syriana”. . . National Republican Congressional Committee misspells site of fundraiser: it’s at a spelling bee, not a “spelling bell.” [The Hill]
• Rush & Molloy: Nobel laureate for literature Harold Pinter: “The invasion of Iraq was a bandit act, an act of blatant state terrorism, demonstrating absolute contempt for the concept of international law.” [NYDN]