Category Archives: Politics: US

washingtonpost.com: Leaks Probe Is Gathering Momentum. The good news is that the professional prosecutors are getting heavily involved in the Plame Affair. The bad news is that Ashcroft isn't recusing himself. It sounds as if there is enough momentum here that if the professionals decided to prosecute there's no way Ashcroft could stop them. Worst case, he warns folks in the admnistration about what's coming down, most likely allowing damage control operations. (Very worst case, he sabotages the prosecutors by spilling beans, but I think that Justice has done all the obstruction it can get away with already, by giving the administration 24 hours to shred stuff before moving in to seal records.)

The administration has raised the 'threat level' indicator. Note to self: Add

1. why the whole concept is asinine and
2. how the British do responsponses to terrorism so much better than we do

to the list of blog entries I mean to write Real Soon Now™.

Another example of why we need to bring back shame to politics. (Honor and decency would be better, but shame at least provides a decent simulacrum).

Having admitted he got free work on his home from contractors (bribes? kickbacks?) and from aides (theft of public services? extortion?), and then lied about it (amazingly, the press is clearly more comfortable saying this part was wrong), Connecticut Governor Roland is hanging tough: Rowland Vows to Stay On as Governor. It's not even his first offense! “Earlier this year, Mr. Rowland paid a State Ethics Commission fine for paying less than market value for vacations at home owned by people who did business with the state.”

That there is as little shame among the political class in New England as there is in California is hardly surprising. What's interesting is whether the New England public is quite as inured to this as the folks who voted for Schwarzenegger. The NYT story suggests that it might not just blow over: A University of Connecticut poll released this week showed that 55 percent of Connecticut residents thought the governor should resign. Four newspapers called for him to step aside and some lawmakers have even talked about the possibility of impeachment.”

Wouldn't it be a change to have an impeachment trial about an impeachable offense?

Conventional wisdom will soon converge on the surprising failure of the Saddam capture to produce any long-term move US public opinion. You read it here first (don't miss the “chopped down Christmas Tree”!).

Mark A. R. Kleiman nails part of the Schwarzenegger mendacity: A governor whose word is his junk bond. The other part, of course, is that (never plausible) the promise to balance the state budget and protect school funding is already inoperative.

Politicians used to have to pretend to be honest. I miss shame. How do we bring it back?

The Miami Herald | 12/10/2003 | Pentagon, press wage war over coverage is a nice but fairly conventional op-ed piece by Reuven Frank, the former President of NBC News, concerning just how tightly the Pentagon and the White House try to control news coverage coming out of Iraq. If you read papers and blogs regularly you won't learn anything new; if you don't this is a great catch-up. Its conclusion, however, is priceless:

President Kennedy said after the Bay of Pigs fiasco that victory has a hundred fathers but defeat is an orphan. In Iraq today, victory has a hundred press officers; defeat is classified.