Friday, November 21, 2003 Life in Berkeley Believe it or not, it does get cold around here sometimes. Today, while everyone else puts on 5 layers, gloves, scarf and hat (it was 50 degrees freezing this morning), I chose to wear my wonderful Dartmouth hoodie. Around school, a few folks asked "Why don't you purchase a Cal sweatshirt?" (Answer: Why spend $50 for yet another hoodie, and also, nobody at grad school actually has school pride, except this one weekend because of the Cal-Stanford football game. We don't even go to school on campus. And nobody at public policy school owns Cal gear. The nearby coffee shop had a Cal colors day yesterday, and I was the only one of my friends to get the school pride discount, and that was because my Tabard sweatshirt, which I wore yesterday, happens to be blue and gold.)
Walking home after school, I stopped in a bakery for a cookie. "So, you went to Dartmouth?" asked the clerk. "Yes," I replied. "And now you're here, in Berkeley?" she said. "Yes. It was a long trip," I responded. "So, did you write for that right-wing newspaper at Dartmouth?" she inquired. "No, oh no, I wrote for the left-wing one." I quickly proclaimed. "Good. Good. Dartmouth. Crazy. Well, have a nice day," she sighed as I walked off with my delicious cookie.
Posted by Richie Jay,
7:03 PM
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An "atrocious hairball of a film" Here's a good round-up of crictism of "Cat in the Hat," the pretty universally paned film opening this weekend, that caused a Globe reviewer to write "If the producers had dug up Ted Geisel's ['25] body and hung it from a tree, they couldn't have desecrated the man more."
Posted by Clint,
10:40 AM
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Anybody listening to Kurt Richebacher?
Is the Bush administration pulling one over us? Last week I emailed Mr. Foster Friess, manager of the Brandywine Investment Fund, to ask him to clarify comments about the real figures concerning the supposed economic recovery of the United States. His comments were made on Louis Rukeyser's Wall Street, this past week, on PBS (and I imagine, NBC). I received a kindly response from a J. Weldon who gave me the name of a former chief economist of the Dresdner Bank.
Conducting a search of Dr. Richenbacher's name, I was surprised that while a special guest of Mr. Rukeyser is talking about the bogus economic recovery, non of the media seem to raise an eyebrow on the subject. Who'd have guessed that annualised figures would distort things as much as they do? The conclusion of a letter for the Daily Reckoning:
Yet by far the single biggest contributor to this sudden surge in real GDP growth from the first to second quarter came from the calculation of the price deflator for computers. Measured in current dollars, this investment inched up by $0.8 billion in the first quarter and by $6.3 billion in the second quarter, but the hedonic deflator boosted the two numbers in real terms to $15.3 billion and $38.4 billion. Hedonic pricing of computers in the first quarter accounted for 43% of real GDP growth and for 44% in the second.
The bullish consensus, flatly disregarding the overwhelming hedonic component, immediately hailed the sharp rise in computer investment as the rapid comeback of high-tech investment. Wall Street celebrated with the NASDAQ up 56% since March.
In its absence, nonresidential investment remained dead in the water across the board.
Warm regards,
Kurt Richebächer, for The Daily Reckoning
I highly suggest you read what this man has to say. I found a good log of his recent writings here. I also recommend doing a search of Kurt Richebächer.
Posted by Anthony,
9:51 AM
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Two Yankees on the Ticket? From Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.'s Nov. 18 commentary for The Nation:
Rather than repeating this stereotypical and condescending approach of appealing to whites in the South with a "balanced ticket" and "social conservatism," Howard Dean dares a new approach--to join whites and blacks around a common economic agenda of good schools and healthcare.
That's Howard Dean's approach and his challenge. I support him because I think it's the right strategy politically, economically and morally.
Jackson's saying that because Dean is going to run on economics, schools, and healthcare that he doesn't need a Southerner on the ticket. He also says that to do so is Dean's "approach," and he's in a position to know. I wouldn't be so swift to dismiss the possible value of a balanced ticket.
The primaries haven't even started, and no one's got the nomination, so any VP decision is probably half a year away. But let's have some fun here. Chime in on the comments section. Go ahead and put whoever you want in the top slot.
Posted by Clint,
9:45 AM
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For the Record According to the LA Times, The Nation surpases The National Review as America's widest circulation journal of opinon. Score: 158,810 to 157,616.
Other items of note in the article: The New Republic had pumped up its circulation numbers by more than 40% to get better ad rates. Astoundingly, The Nation only had 18,000 subscribers before 1978, when Victor Navasky came onboard as publisher.
Posted by Clint,
9:28 AM
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Thursday, November 20, 2003 Syria told U.S. Canadian wouldn't be tortured: Ashcroft
This just gets more and more interesting. Canada's Solicitor General denied that the RCMP ever gave info to the INS. This week the story changed. Now Ashcroft is believing what the Syrians have to say. I thought that the Bush administration in principle didn't believe Arab states.
>Date: 20 Nov 2003 17:43:10 EST >From: Alston B. Ramsay >Subject: $300 Reward >To: (Recipient list suppressed)
The Dartmouth Review is offering a $300 reward for information leading to the successful arrest of the individual or individuals responsible for the burglary at the Review's office. The crime occurred Tuesday morning between 1 AM and 8 AM at 8 Webster Avenue--the Zeta Psi house. Issues were scattered on Zeta Psi's front lawn, and issue bundles were left on BG's back lawn (near the path), the woods behind Sigma Nu, and in the dumpster between Sig Nu and BG. The perpetrators entered the office through the window facing BG, closest to Webster Avenue. At least 2300 issues were stolen--valued around $500--and the police are currently investigating.
Today I looked at the Buzzflood website for the first time. One of the headlines:
Dartmouth College's affect on modern grammar
What they meant, of course, was Dartmouth's effect on modern grammar, or maybe "How Dartmouth affects modern grammar." But then, maybe the title contains all the information about Dartmouth's grammatical influence anyone needs.
Posted by Nic,
3:36 PM
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Who Says They Only Report the Bad News?
Posted by T. Wood,
2:49 PM
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More Keggy in the News
Today's Valley News features a long article on Keggy. It's not posted online, unfortunately. My favorite sentence:
"Keggy has no gender, no race, no creed, no religion. He's a perfectly acceptable mascot," says [Chris] Plehal, a 21-year-old senior from the Washington, D.C. area.
There's also talk of Keggy articles in upcoming issues of Playboy and Sports Illustrated. We'll see if anything happens on that front.
Posted by Clint,
7:25 AM
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Middle East peace plan with the morning paper. For the last two years shadow governments comprised of prominent Palestinian and Israeli moderates (the Israeli delegation is lead by a former Justice minister) have been negotiating a peace plan. It's called the Geneva Model-Accord, and it's a bright spot if you are feeling like neither side particularly wants peace.
The interesting thing is that now that they've reached agreement, they are planning on delivering or mailing a copy to each and every Israeli, and each and every Palestinian. Almost two million Israelis got theirs this week, and Palestinians will get theirs soon.
The plan isn't fully done. Technical sections dealing with Water, Economic Relations, and Legal Cooperation are going to be left to experts in those fields. But the plan is remarkably comprehensive, and does give a good idea of what kind of plan will eventually be agreed to. The plan calls for:
* A return to (basically) the 1967 borders. * An international verification group made of the "quartet." * Resettlement of all Israelis living across the '67 borders * A connective West Bank-Gaza Strip corridor to be under Israeli sovereignty * No Palestinian army, but a permanent Multinational Force, and a strong internal Palestinian Security Force * Jerusalem as a dual capitol, with sovereignty parcelled out on a monument by monument basis, with the old city under dual sovereignty, and policed by a joint unit. * All refugees choosing to settle on the Palestinian side of the '67 borders will be allowed. Some will be allowed to settle in Israel. Those wishing to stay in their host countries will be allowed to at the discretion of the host countries.
In my opinion, there are only five possible endgames to this conflict.
1. The status quo is maintained indefinitely, with settlement and repressive occupation activity continuing, and continued Palestinian violence. 2. Israel exterminates every Palestinian. 3. Palestine, with allies, wipe Israel off the map. 4. One federal unified secular state, with joint democratic governance. 5. An agreement that looks almost exactly like the one put together by the Geneva group.
One, two and three are or aught to be unacceptable to humanity. I think four is really not a bad idea, and has been getting more discussion of late, but I'm not so naive as to believe its possible. So that leaves five.
The frustrating thing is that both sides realize this. Every action taken that moves further from a Geneva like plan just needlessly prolongs death and suffering.
Posted by Clint,
6:59 AM
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Wednesday, November 19, 2003 For Viewers Like You Many of our readers may have noticed that, lately, there have been some DNS troubles 'round these parts. But no more. We're back on FreeDartmouth.com, and as ad-free as PBS. But credit where credit is due:
This service has been financed by the gracious gambling debts of Mr. Stefan Beck,
which was made possible by the generous assistance of Miss Amanda Morris,
and an additional courtesy from Miss Liz Middleton.
If you enjoy reading FreeDartmouth.com, please send your thanks to Mr. Beck for his funding. And let's hope that he gets his money's worth from our comments section.
Posted by Nick,
6:08 PM
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Mass. Court's gay marriage desicions Nathan Newman loves the language of the decision, but is fearful of the political results from judicial activism. Something to consider.
(also, Newman claims of U.S. child labor standards: "Killing children in violation of international law- it's not just for third world dictators.")
Posted by Timothy,
5:06 PM
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Bernie Goldberg is so full of it Daily Howler has the goods. It is pathetic conservatives rely on Goldberg. for 'facts' to support their myth of overbearing, dominant liberal media. Some more howling: "It’s hard to find polite English words to describe Goldberg’s utter contempt for his readers—or to describe his contempt for American democracy, which he’s determined to shit on again... This time around, will Goldberg’s reviewers tell their readers just how badly they’re being misled? Will TV pundits—Chris Matthews, for example—dare to tell their trusting viewers that Bernie Goldberg is at it again?" (via Roger Ailes and atrios)
Posted by Timothy,
4:45 PM
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Fair trade, not free trade...I'd love to see Dick Gephardt win the Democratic nomination. Only because it would be great fun for "Gep" and George Bush to argue over who hates free trade more. My money's on Bush though:
Exhibit A: The Bush administration, in a further escalation of trade tensions between the United States and China, announced Tuesday it had decided to impose quotas on three types of textile products in an effort to give the U.S. textile industry temporary breathing room from a flood of Chinese imports.
Exhibit B: GEORGE Bush's administration has called on US companies in Britain to relocate jobs to America in an astonishing move that could trigger a major trade war. US-based multinationals have been told they will receive compensation from American trade authorities if they cancel contracts in Britain and take jobs home.
When you factor in the newest cut-and-run strategies for Iraq, Bush is looking more and more like Dennis Kucinich each day. Interesting.
Posted by Brad Plumer,
1:59 PM
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Opposition: Finally, a pair of senators with some guts:
Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said Tuesday that they would support a potential filibuster to kill a pending energy bill, even as the measure passed the House...
Snowe and Collins had voiced criticism of the compromise bill unveiled Friday. But their public support of a potential filibuster could embolden a minority of Democrats to block the bill by talking it to death. Sens. Judd Gregg and John Sununu, both R-N.H., and John McCain, R-Ariz., have also said they would support a filibuster.
Good thing we still have actual opposition in the Senate. Has anyone seen Tom Daschle? At last report he was sitting by the TV with his juicebox, Very Proud of Himself for saving all the caribou in Alaska, and Very Excited about all the ethanol subsidies coming his way. Oh, and getting a little antsy over the potential filibuster...
PS. This Times Article has all the dirt on the energy bill. Naysayers include the Heritage Foundation, Citizens for Tax Justice, the Cato Institute, and Public Citizen. When was the last time these four groups agreed on anything? If Tom Daschle puts his weight behind this, he deserves to be thrown out of Capitol Hill. And hey, where's "Mr. Environment" himself, Joe Lieberman?
Posted by Brad Plumer,
1:31 PM
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What's up with Kansas? A Jayhawk had this to say about our new mascot. Thanks for the heads up, Lis.
Highlights: Dartmouth’s lighthearted search for a campus mascot shows a dark side of college life. At college campuses all across the nation, alcohol is a normal part of the college experience.
...
Rule of law is the backbone of any democracy. When a majority of citizens expresses its will through a legitimate legislative process, we create a system of laws by which we are all expected to abide. Democracy involves the recognition that proper government comes from the expressed will of the majority with respect for the rights of the minority. Any law validly created with this process should be binding on all persons in the society.
It is hard to defend the idea that the minority is able to break a law whenever it feels like it, especially when no great value like justice is on the table. Yet that is exactly what is practiced when an underage person takes a drink. In an age where the word “patriot” is starting to become a compliment again, legions of young people unthinkingly attack the very fabric of their country.
...
It is impossible to claim to love democracy while spitting on the process that causes it to work. No one who loves America and its democracy can violate the laws of our country without good reason.
And as far as Keggy goes, it’s time to kick him and the college life he represents to the curb.
Can we love both America and Keggy at the same time? Is Keggy a threat to our very democratic institutions? Does anyone rage anymore... in Kansas?
Posted by Graham,
3:02 AM
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Tuesday, November 18, 2003 Keggy in the News
Apparently Keggy the Keg just got about a minute and a half of coverage on ESPN's PTI show. I didn't see it. Sounds as though Michael Wilson didn't like it but Tony Kornheiser did.
It is an unusual charity brochure: a 13-page document, complete with pictures of fireworks and a golf course, that invites potential donors to give as much as $500,000 to spend time with Tom DeLay during the Republican convention in New York City next summer — and to have part of the money go to help abused and neglected children.
Representative DeLay, who has both done work for troubled children and drawn criticism for his aggressive political fund-raising in his career in Congress, said through his staff that the entire effort was fundamentally intended to help children. But aides to Mr. DeLay, the House majority leader from Texas, acknowledged that part of the money would go to pay for late-night convention parties, a luxury suite during President Bush's speech at Madison Square Garden and yacht cruises.
And so campaign finance watchdogs say Mr. DeLay's effort can be seen as, above all, a creative maneuver around the recently enacted law meant to limit the ability of federal officials to raise large donations known as soft money.
"They are using the idea of helping children as a blatant cover for financing activities in connection with a convention with huge unlimited, undisclosed, unregulated contributions," said Fred Wertheimer, president of Democracy 21, a Washington group that helped push through the recent overhaul of the campaign finance laws.
Other lawmakers may well follow Mr. DeLay's lead. Already Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, is planning to hold a concert and a reception in conjunction with the convention as a way of raising money for AIDS charities.
I mean, I'm not sickened by this: it is sadly par for the course. That is the disturbing part. Remember all that crap heaped by Republicans about the Buddhist Temple and Gore? These GOPers have *absolutely* no shame, it seems.
Posted by Timothy,
1:58 PM
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Historical Analyis of PATRIOT Act
Today's Baltimore Sun has a piece by a couple of Terrapin History professors on the history of civil liberties during war time and the approach that the Bush administration has taken. The authors argue that the Bush administration's effort is with precedent, but that it follows the legacy of McCarthyism and Japanese interments rather than war-time efforts to expand civil liberties such as Brown v. Board of Education and the Emancipation Proclamation.
To wit: "Wars create opportunities to both increase and restrict freedom. The chosen course depends almost entirely on those in power - mostly in the White House. Present restrictions are a policy choice that reflects the general principles of the Bush administration, not an inevitable response to a military crisis. "
It is an interesting analysis, although one feels as though the argument for civil liberties restrictions is at least as strong as for expansions. The real point is that a good administration would be cognizant of the options available.
Posted by Brian,
12:29 PM
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Gay marriage in Massachusetts?!? That's what Andrew Sullivan seem to say. Though there's no link to his quote of the court decision, so I can't yet bring myself to believe it is legal. Wow.
Update: Drudge links to this article, which leads with "Massachusetts' highest court ruled Tuesday that same-sex couples are legally entitled to wed under the state constitution, but stopped short of allowing marriage licenses to be issued to the couples who challenged the law. The Supreme Judicial Court's 4-3 ruling ordered the Legislature to come up with a solution within 180 days." Hmmm.
Posted by Timothy,
10:55 AM
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Top Ten Marxist List Crooked Timber points to survey. I can't figure out why there are two number 7s, followed by a number 8. In the case of ties, you should follow truth in advertising for subsequent listees.
Posted by Timothy,
10:40 AM
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Monday, November 17, 2003 Reparations Jacob Levy posts on this and links to this article by Jeremy Waldron. (I'm taking a class this semester on multiculturalism taught by Waldron, and in class today he pressed his case against rectifying historical injustices even further, arguing against the very concept of 'indigeniety').
Posted by Timothy,
9:12 PM
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Clark on Fox News Look at this clip of Clark on Fox News and see how he doesn't take crap from the anchor. Look especially at the last few seconds and the message Clark was trying to send and its potency. If people believe it, it is pretty damning against Bush and Clark could be damn effective.
Update: Jon beat me to this below. I need to refresh the webpage more often apparently, but I'm glad we share the same opinion.
Update: Brad says in comments: "If you can't watch the video, the full transcript is here... You don't get the full effect, but it's decent."
Posted by Timothy,
7:15 PM
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Dean's Other Flag Issue I noted here that Clark's favoring of Flag Burning Amendment to the constitution contradicted his talk of a New American Patriotism celebrating dissent. I've seen over the web that a lot of people are pissed off at Clark for this, and for many would-be supporters, this is the straw that broke the camel's back.
Gov. Howard Dean said he doesn’t support a constitutional amendment banning flag desecration, but is comfortable with suggesting it to Congress as the Vermont Legislature did last week. “I favor protection of the flag, but I do not favor a constitutional amendment,” Dean said Monday. “A constitutional amendment should be passed only in very rare circumstances.” ... The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that flag burning and other forms of desecration are themselves expressions of free speech and therefore protected by the First Amendment. That means the only way to protect the flag is by amending the Constitution. Dean didn’t agree. Asked if he were trying to have it both ways, he pointed to the wording of the resolution that passed [in Vermont]. “The resolution was crafted so that people like me could take a position supporting the flag without supporting an amendment,” he said. The Vermont commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Montpelier’s Ron Gascon, said he was satisfied with the wording of the resolution. “It says the people of Vermont favor protecting the flag from desecration,” he said. “ ... We are in favor of a constitutional amendment, if that’s what it takes. But we are happy to get anything that says Vermonters are in favor of protecting the flag, as a message to our national legislators. ... What we got was better than nothing.” Gascon said he could only speak for himself and many VFW members he’d spoken to but believed a majority also favored an amendment. He also said veterans were aware that politicians were trying to play to both civil libertarians worried about the Constitution and those who supported amending it. “We aren’t naïve,” Gascon said.
Anyone know the full story of the Vermont law? Because I'm ready to get mad at Dean.
P.S. What the heck?! Now I find that Kucinich repeatedly voted in favor of a flag-burning amendment. Have we no left here? Have we no respect for civil liberties in our political discourse?
Go check out Wesley Clark on Fox News. Josh Marshall has a link to the clip of which I speak.
They should put him on O'Reilly; that's the kind of shout down Bill needs.
Posted by Jonathan,
6:53 PM
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Interview with the Vampire
I loath emotional appeals, but even the not-care-nicks must find Bush's answer disingenuous and ghoulish. Sir David is about to ask whether Sadam actually possessed W of Mass D.
SIR DAVID: But did he really --
PRESIDENT BUSH: And he's a danger to his own people as well. Remember, we discovered mass graves with hundreds of thousands of men and women, and children, clutching their little toys, as a result of this person's brutality. Go ahead. Sorry. (Chuckles.)
From an interview with the BBC's David Frost. Bush then proceeded to kill Sir David and devour his liver.
Posted by Timothy,
1:15 PM
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"You should've seen the ones we declined." The Washington Post's Dana Milbank had a must read this Saturday. It's a masterpiece of double entendre and sly comments, woven around Bush's "world exclusive interview with The Sun."
Take the time to really enjoy that link. On my browser's loading of the interview, the left hand navigation bar had items on Kylie Minogue "wear[ing] fishnets for her revealing poses," "the new flame for Die Hard star" refered to as a "Willis warmer," and the cleverly titled "It's a cheeky little number; Who's hitting, or touching, a bum note?" And what would The Sun be without of course, and invitation to "See loads more [page 3] girls on our super cyber site."
Pretty hot stuff.
Forget about trying to imagine the outroar if our last president had done an interview with a publication that prints bare breasted woman on a daily basis. The noteworthy thing is that Bush has never granted one on one print interviews with The L.A. Times, The Tribune, or The Globe. This year, which I needn't remind you included among other policy highlights, his foolish decision to invade another country, has yet to see a one on one sit down with any US publications save Leaders magazine, USA Today, and Sports Illustrated. I've taken the liberty of organizing those links in ascending order of journalistic prestige--and it was a pretty tough call for the bottom slot.
Posted by Clint,
10:19 AM
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Sunday, November 16, 2003 Not your grandma's travelogue: Now that Howard Dean's trying to reach out to all them bigots down South, he's going to need to get a handle on his newfound friends. Luckily, Snooze Button Dreams is here to help with The Howard Dean Guide to Southern Bigots:
Howard wants to get a solid constituency in the South but, based on recent comments, he's going to be having some problems doing so. Let's face it, saying that we should quit basing our votes on "race, guns, God and gays" shows pretty conclusively that he doesn't know his target audience. He's lumping all of us Southern bigots into one big group when there are actually three distinct types of Southern bigot. You got yer white trash, yer rednecks and yer good ol' boys and Howie is going to need to tailor his voting instructions to each group.
Read on. Oh read on. This is hilarious.
(Genteel nod to Callie for the link)
Posted by Brad Plumer,
10:49 PM
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It's Gonna Be Yankees v. Angels (I'm an idiot and wrote "A's"), circa 2002 John Kerry and Howard Dean have opted out of the federal matching funds package. Wesley Clark stayed in.. I think it's a bad call on his part, but the case he makes is that since he entered late, he can keep up with the big boys spending-wise more easily this way. That's pretty-much based on the assumption that Dena and Kerry don't generate more than 60 or so million bucks. We'll see.
On the related note of primary funding, if Bush is running in the Republican primaries (that is suposedly what his war chest is for), shouldn't he be campaigning in NH at some point? Because if he had a pair, he'd come by Dartmouth and get some loud advice.
Posted by Brian,
12:15 PM
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Safire's Theory In his most recent column, former Nixon speechwriter and distinguished NY Times columnist William Safire puts a pretty conspiratorial spin on the upcoming Democratic primary season. He seems to imply that the entire 2004 process is little more than a Hillary in '08 stalking horse. Pretty ridiculous and I'm backed on this one.While he does sound oddly deluded on that point, he does present a very interesting analysis of the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination: Howard Dean, Wesley Clark, and...John Kerry. Among his most interesting observations: 1--The Dems are dividing into three camps: the insurgent, loud, Dean uprising; the Clinton-centrist Clark supporters; and of late, the Kennedy-Left (seeking electability) in John Kerry. "Both power centers of the Democratic establishment...are frantic at the prospect of losing control" to the brash Dean and fear a "McGovernesque debacle" for the party. Exactly what the Dems don't need right now. 2--Why is the Left looking at Kerry? The other viable candidates were unavailable. "Not Joe Lieberman (too centrist and moralist), not Wes Clark (property of the Clintons), not John Edwards (too light)." The Left looked the party and realized that the internecine battles were not in their favor. Safire claims that former New Hampshire Governor Jeanne Shaheen led the charge for this movement and that the "Kennedyization" of Kerry is most obvious in his new campaign manager, Mary Beth Cahill, late of Teddy's staff and Emily's List. [My favorite part of this bit is that for years people have thought Kerry tried to emulate JFK...Safire wants us to know we got it all backwards] 3--Dean isn't electable and Safire is gleeful about it. He supposes that Dean will tear the party apart as the nominee. Dean has too much hedged on the war and his economic plan will look ridiculous if the tide of war starts to go the other way...and there is a lot of time for the tide to change. 4--Are Clark and Kerry enough to stop Dean? Safire does not think so but they might be. Safire fails to acknowledge that Kerry is about to get trounced in Iowa and NH. If he loses NH, where does he plan to start winning (Mr. Roth first brought this to my attention a few weeks ago and he was quite astute)? 5--His last bit, on Dean and how much he has hedged on the war: "What if the war on terror begins to succeed by next summer, casualties decline, Saddam is found or Osama is killed? In that case, Bush would campaign on both growing prosperity and impending victory.
In that case, the Clinton-Kennedy establishment would be better off maintaining control and losing respectably with Kerry, Clark or even Gephardt than getting buried in a landslide with Dean. And in 2008, as Jeb Bush and Condi Rice fight out their G.O.P. primaries, Hillary will be tanned, rested and ready. " I don't believe Hillary is electable right now. The Senator certainly does motivate people, but she motivates them in both positive and negative directions and it has always seemed her negatives outweigh her positives, polling-wise.
Posted by Brian,
11:49 AM
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Interesting, interesting... Stephen Hayes' new article in the Weekly Standard details a "secret memo" from Doug Feith detailing the connection between Iraq and al-Qaeda. Liberals are already suspicious (here and here), and the usual racists over at Little Green Footballs are trying to figure out how they can use this info to justify nuking Palestine. And while the froth flies, here's what the Defense Department had to say about the matter:
News reports that the Defense Department recently confirmed new information with respect to contacts between al-Qaida and Iraq in a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee are inaccurate... The selection of the documents was made by DOD to respond to [a question by the Senate Intelligence Committee]. The classified annex was not an analysis of the substantive issue of the relationship between Iraq and al Qaida, and it drew no conclusions.
Individuals who leak or purport to leak classified information are doing serious harm to national security; such activity is deplorable and may be illegal.
Deplorable? Illegal? Awww... but Hayes was so excited to shout "gotcha!" at all those greasy little protesters. Cut him a little slack, yeah?
At any rate, this whole story deserves a hearty "To be continued..."
