Kitty Kelley Penning 'Coup de Grace' for Bush Dynasty?

Richard Clarke, Bob Woodward and indefatigable privacy maven Joe Wilson have had their shot at torpedoing President Bush's re-election. Now it's Kitty Kelley's turn, with her book "The Family: The Real Story of the Bush Dynasty" due out just after Labor Day.

Described by one media fan as "a fastidious fact-checker with an unrivaled knack for zingers such as stories of coathanger abortions," Kelley is said to have "Karl Rove's head swimming" with her latest screed.

Her last political hit piece, a 1991 bio of Nancy Reagan, purported to reveal a so-called affair with Frank Sinatra.

After the New York Times front-paged the improbable tale, Timeswoman Maureen Dowd defended her coverage thusly:

"Of course, the book is tawdry. Of course the book is, in some spots, loosely sourced and over the top. ... Of course, there are mistakes in it. ... The point, however, is that Kelley's portrait is not essentially untrue."

So are the Bushes in store for more of the same from Kelley's poison pen? Perhaps. But a recent report on her efforts suggests the Michael Moore crowd is likely to be disappointed.

"Lacking the juicy, gossipy, sexy panache of the Kennedys, the gray Bushes are content to skulk in the shadows, going back to the Skull & Bones cult at Yale and the spooks of the CIA," says South American indy media writer "Mr. Pepys" - a fan of Kelley's work.

And in more bad news for the Bush dirt peddlers, Kelley's Deep Throat, divorced in-law Sharon Bush, has reportedly clammed up.

Her husband, Neil, caused a stir back in the early '90s when his Silverado Savings & Loan went belly up. But his transgressions since then seem to amount to accepting a few extramarital favors on Asian business trips.

After Neil increased the divorce settlement, Sharon is said to have suddenly realized there was little left to tell.

Not to worry. The New York Times will certainly take whatever thin gruel Kelley produces and turn it into a national scandal.

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