"It was shortly after I helped mold American

public opinion in favor of the invasion of Iraq,"

said Thomas Friedman, columnist for The

New York Times, "that I could afford to build

my $9.3 million mansion in Bethesda and my

massive chateau in Aspen, complete with its

own lake. God! How much easier it was to get

rich quick that way than selling Fuller

Brush products door-to-door."