Homey don't play that.

Maliki snubs Bush big time refusing this evening's meeting, and no matter how Dan Bartlett tries to spin it, Bush travelled a third of the way around the world only to be shown up.

As I said below, the memo "leak" is about boxing out Maliki's choices, and in this snub, Maliki is pushing back.

And, amid the gossipy, "gotcha" coverage in the US press, don't miss the far more significant response,

Iraq's president said Wednesday he had reached a security agreement with Iran, which the United States accuses of fueling the chaos in the war-torn country. Iran's president called on countries to stop backing "terrorists" in Iraq and for the Americans to withdraw....

"We discussed in the fields of security, economy, oil and industry. Our agreement was complete," Talabani told reporters. "This visit was 100 percent successful. Its result will appear soon."

The US is trying to lever Iraq away from Iran and force Maliki to choose. Forcing this choice is a fairly big risk.

As trial lawyers often say, "never ask a question you don't already know the answer to."