I've been meaning to post this truly powerful speech from Douglas MacArthur for a while now. The words MacArthur spoke are always applicable, but seem particularly relevant now to the war on terrorism. Here's a sample from this magnificent speech MacArthur gave back in 1962 to the corp of cadets at West Point...

"Let civilian voices argue the merits or demerits of our processes of government; whether our strength is being sapped by deficit financing, indulged in too long, by federal paternalism grown too mighty, by power groups grown too arrogant, by politics grown too corrupt, by crime grown too rampant, by morals grown too low, by taxes grown too high, by extremists grown too violent; whether our personal liberties are as thorough and complete as they should be. These great national problems are not for your professional participation or military solution. Your guidepost stands out like a ten-fold beacon in the night: Duty, Honor, Country.

You are the leaven which binds together the entire fabric of our national system of defense. From your ranks come the great captains who hold the nation's destiny in their hands the moment the war tocsin sounds. The Long Gray Line has never failed us. Were you to do so, a million ghosts in olive drab, in brown khaki, in blue and gray, would rise from their white crosses thundering those magic words: Duty, Honor, Country."

It's worth your time to read this one. (Cont)

I'm up to 13 updates on Limbaugh drug case and in case you haven't heard, things are starting to look up. Click here to get all the details.

Assuming this story holds up, I wonder if it will have any impact on all of the Democrats who are dying to drop to their knees and beg France to forgive us for Bush's "cowboy diplomacy"?

"Polish troops in Iraq have found four French-built advanced anti-aircraft missiles which were built this year, a Polish Defense Ministry spokesman told Reuters Friday.

"It is not the first time Polish troops found ammunition in Iraq but to our surprise these missiles were produced in 2003."

Of course, "our friends" the French denied it that they were selling missiles to a country we were about to go to war with in defiance of UN Resolutions. What else would they say right now? If this turns out to be true, and it very well may, how dumb would we have to be to let France get involved in the decision making process in Iraq via the UN? Someone should ask John Kerry, Howard Dean, & the rest of the Democratic contenders that question.

***Update #1***: There's a reason why I used the phrases, "(a)ssuming this holds up" & "If this turns out to be true" in this post yesterday. That's because I knew it was entirely possible we'd hear something like this today...

"After a protest from Chirac, Poland said Saturday it had been mistaken in reporting that its troops found new French-made anti-aircraft missiles in central Iraq.

Prime Minister Leszek Miller met with Chirac twice to explain the mistake, said the aide, Tadeusz Iwinski. The two leaders were in Rome on Saturday for a European Union summit."

During the California Recall Symposium I asked,

"I have to wonder how many Republicans who genuinely hate Clinton are going to pull the lever for someone who's far worse morally?"

Judging by the fact that few people seem to be bothered by the latest accusations (here & here) -- which are just the cherry on top of an ice cream sundae of scandal by the way -- I'd say not many.

Hit & Run's Nick Gillespie makes a similar point...

"Regardless of whether it helps him or hurts him come October 7, this latest development creates a golden opportunity for hypocrisy on the part of a) Republicans who attacked Bill Clinton as unfit for office due to such behavior and b) Democrats who supported Bill Clinton but think Arnold is unfit for office due to such behavior."

Gillespie is right on target. Moreover, I suspect that if Bill Clinton were to join the Republican party & ran for the Senate or let's say a governorship somewhere we wouldn't win otherwise, you'd be AMAZED how fast some of the biggest Clinton haters out there would turn around. Yeah, he'd still be a sleazeball (and make no mistake about it, Arnold is a sleazeball), but he'd be OUR sleazeball.

Which leads me back California. I think Gray Davis is "Carteresque" in his level of incompetence. Furthermore, I don't think ANYONE who supports MEChA is fit to be a member of government, even at the level of dogcatcher. So the idea of having someone like Bustamante whose very loyalty to the United States is in question become governor of California is absolutely repellent to me.

But if the price of winning is supporting a seedy RINO whose only qualification for office is that he might win and he's willing to put an (R) beside his name, count me out. Were I from California, I'd waste my vote on McClintock rather than support Arnold. If that meant the Dems kept a lock on the governorship, my attitude would be, "so be it". I'd rather see the GOP lose in California than have someone like Arnold represent us.

You think Americans are ruthless capitalists? Well, I don't think we have any businesses that can top this...

"MOSCOW (Reuters) - For a Russian electricity company, pets are not just for Christmas -- they are for ransom.

Dalenergo's parent, Unified Energy System (UES), disowned the pet-snatching plan."

Lol, is that merciless or what? Someone call Miramax, this script practically writes itself...

"Saving Fluffy"

Vin Diesel stars as ex-KGB agent Alan "AK" Aloyovich who has sworn to never again pick up a gun. But after he leaves the KGB, "AK" falls on hard times and can't pay his electric bills. But things change when the goons from the electric company take away his dog Fluffy. Then "AK" turns from a mild-mannered dog lover into a AK-47 totin' killing machine! Watch as he slaughters Dalenergo employees by the dozens, uncovers their secret "zombie Commie" project, and then battles Dalenergo Director Nikolai Tkachyov & his army of cybernetic Commie zombies to the death in a 26 minute long, 49 million dollar action sequence that ends with Tkachyov being impaled on a statue of Lenin.

What's not to love about that movie?

California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger today groped for words to diminish the furor over allegations of unwelcome sexual contact and his past praise of Adolph Hitler.

"I don't remember saying or doing any of these things," said Mr. Schwarzenegger. "But I'm not the kind of person that my past words and actions would seem to indicate. In any case, I'm the only Republican candidate who can win, so don't let your conscience get in the way of doing the right thing for the party."

The famous actor questioned the timing of the recent accusations.

"Why does this come out now?" he asked rhetorically. "I have been groping women for 30 years. Those 'Hitler' remarks were made 30 years ago. The timing seems suspicious. I would have to question the morality of my opponents for using this last-minute smear technique."

If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of his work at Scrappleface

The text of David Kay's unclassified report was released tonight. After hammering home that this is an interim report and that nothing is final, Kay hit a number of points including...

The difficulty of tracking these WMD down...

-- "It is important to keep in mind that even the bulkiest materials we are searching for, in the quantities we would expect to find, can be concealed in spaces not much larger than a two car garage."

Some of the things they've found so far...

-- "A clandestine network of laboratories and safehouses within the Iraqi Intelligence Service that contained equipment."

-- "Reference strains of biological organisms concealed in a scientist's home, one of which can be used to produce biological weapons." (The Sun identifies this as 'live' botulism)

-- "New research on BW-applicable agents, Brucella and Congo Crimean Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF), and continuing work on ricin and aflatoxin were not declared to the UN."

-- "A line of UAVs not fully declared at an undeclared production facility and an admission that they had tested one of their declared UAVs out to a range of 500 km, 350 km beyond the permissible limit."

On biological weapons...

-- "With regard to biological warfare activities, which has been one of our two initial areas of focus, ISG teams are uncovering significant information -- including research and development of BW-applicable organisms, the involvement of Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) in possible BW activities, and deliberate concealment activities."

-- "...(O)ne scientist confirmed that the production line for Bt could be switched to produce anthrax in one week if the seed stock were available."

On the mobile trailers...

-- "We have not yet been able to corroborate the existence of a mobile BW production effort. Investigation into the origin of and intended use for the two trailers found in northern Iraq in April has yielded a number of explanations, including hydrogen, missile propellant, and BW production, but technical limitations would prevent any of these processes from being ideally suited to these trailers. That said, nothing we have discovered rules out their potential use in BW production."

On chemical weapons...

-- "...(T)here are approximately 130 known Iraqi Ammunition Storage Points (ASP), many of which exceed 50 square miles in size and hold an estimated 600,000 tons of artillery shells, rockets, aviation bombs and other ordinance. Of these 130 ASPs, approximately 120 still remain unexamined.

-- "While searching for retained weapons, ISG teams have developed multiple sources that indicate that Iraq explored the possibility of CW production in recent years, possibly as late as 2003.

Another senior Iraqi chemical weapons expert in responding to a request in mid-2002 from Uday Husayn for CW for the Fedayeen Saddam estimated that it would take two months to produce mustard and two years for Sarin."

-- "Multiple sources with varied access and reliability have told ISG that Iraq did not have a large, ongoing, centrally controlled CW program after 1991.

Information found to date suggests that Iraq's large-scale capability to develop, produce, and fill new CW munitions was reduced -- if not entirely destroyed -- during Operations Desert Storm and Desert Fox..."

-- "We have multiple reports that Iraq retained CW munitions made prior to 1991, possibly including mustard - a long-lasting chemical agent -- but we have to date been unable to locate any such munitions."

On the nuclear program...

-- "With regard to Iraq's nuclear program, the testimony we have obtained from Iraqi scientists and senior government officials should clear up any doubts about whether Saddam still wanted to obtain nuclear weapons.

They have told ISG that Saddam Husayn remained firmly committed to acquiring nuclear weapons. These officials assert that Saddam would have resumed nuclear weapons development at some future point. Some indicated a resumption after Iraq was free of sanctions."

-- "Despite evidence of Saddam's continued ambition to acquire nuclear weapons, to date we have not uncovered evidence that Iraq undertook significant post-1998 steps to actually build nuclear weapons or produce fissile material. However, Iraq did take steps to preserve some technological capability from the pre-1991 nuclear weapons program."

-- "Several scientists -- at the direction of senior Iraqi government officials -- preserved documents and equipment from their pre-1991 nuclear weapon-related research and did not reveal this to the UN/IAEA.

One Iraqi scientist recently stated in an interview with ISG that it was a "common understanding" among the scientists that material was being preserved for reconstitution of nuclear weapons-related work."

Summing it up...

-- "1. Saddam, at least as judged by those scientists and other insiders who worked in his military-industrial programs, had not given up his aspirations and intentions to continue to acquire weapons of mass destruction. Even those senior officials we have interviewed who claim no direct knowledge of any on-going prohibited activities readily acknowledge that Saddam intended to resume these programs whenever the external restrictions were removed. Several of these officials acknowledge receiving inquiries since 2000 from Saddam or his sons about how long it would take to either restart CW production or make available chemical weapons."

-- "3. In the chemical and biological weapons area we have confidence that there were at a minimum clandestine on-going research and development activities that were embedded in the Iraqi Intelligence Service. While we have much yet to learn about the exact work programs and capabilities of these activities, it is already apparent that these undeclared activities would have at a minimum facilitated chemical and biological weapons activities and provided a technically trained cadre."

I still think they have an excellent chance to find a large stock of mustard gas or some other chemical weapon sitting around in one of those 120 unexamined Ammunition Storage Points (why haven't more of them been examined yet?). But even if they don't find anything more than they already have, isn't it pretty clear that invading was the only way to stop Saddam from having WMD? Either he had them in hand or as Kay indicated, he would have just waited until the sanctions were lifted -- or the heat was off -- and made them then. It's six of one and a half dozen of the other as far as the WMD go...

Reading things like this coming out of a REPUBLICAN administration just makes me want to pull my hair out...

"Bush administration officials yesterday angered lawmakers by refusing to take a position on illegal aliens obtaining U.S. driver's licenses and avoiding questions about its decision to recognize Mexican identification cards."

I'm a little confused about something -- is Bush running for President of the United States in 2004 or the President of Mexico? Now if he wants to be President of Mexico, it makes perfect sense for his administration to hedge on a position like this given that polls show the American people are strongly against illegal immigration. But if Bush wants to be President of the United States, and I think he does, maybe his administration shouldn't be taking a position that helps Mexico at the expense of the people of the United States.

The last thing we should be doing is making it EASIER on illegal aliens, terrorists, and foreign drug runners who enter our country illegally by allowing them to get a US ID or by recognizing matricula consular cards that no one who is in the US legally would need. Isn't it about time that someone in the Bush administration started to get on the right side of this issue?

There has been a lot of controversy about the leak of the identity of a CIA operative. This is trouble, because leaking classified information can lead to people getting killed, terrorists attacking, and the downfall of society itself - which is bad. So here are some tip to avoid leaks....

10. Use a metal safe to store classified information instead of a taped cardboard box labeled, "Secret! You no read!".

9. Even though it is kinda funny, don't hand out "I'm with covert agent" t-shirts to spouses of covert agents.

8. Instead of using the "He's got an honest face" policy, have full background check on someone before giving him classified information.

7. I don't care how nice a day it is; don't have meetings about national security out in the park.

6. Use advance methods to destroy classified documents. It doesn’t matter how much you crumple a piece of paper; there is technology to de-crumple it.

5. Remember: No one cares if you kill a journalist.

4. If you suspect someone of leaking information, hit him with a bat. There will be plenty of time for questions post assault and battery.

3. Before having a meeting which discusses sensitive information, spray the ceiling with a high-powered hose to make sure no ninjas are hiding up there.

2. If you know a bunch of undercover operatives, don't tell them to Robert Novak. Apparently he writes a column of some sort.

And the number one tip for avoid leaks of sensitive information...

1. You know the saying, "If I told you, I'd have to kill you"? Follow through.

If you enjoyed this satire by Frank J., you can read more of his work at IMAO.

First off, Rush Limbaugh got in trouble Monday night for saying the following about Donovan McNabb,

"I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. The media has been very desirous that a black quarterback do well,'' Limbaugh said. "There is a little hope invested in McNabb, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he didn't deserve. The defense carried this team."

I didn't weigh in on this yesterday because I had mixed feelings about the whole issue and besides, I generally don't like to post about an issue things unless I have a strong opinion on the subject.

In this case, I thought that while what Rush said wasn't racist in the least, I could certainly see how it could irritate people. Although it's not exactly the same thing, it reminded me of back in the eighties when Isiah Thomas said, "If (Larry) Bird was black, he'd be just another good guy". Although Thomas apologized and Bird didn't seem to take any offense, it still grinded on my nerves back then and I can see how other people might feel the same way.

In any case, although I wouldn't have said what Rush did there, I don't think it was an offense that merited a resignation -- especially since ESPN's ratings were way up because of Rush.

However, I suspect that wasn't why Rush really resigned anyway. My guess is that it had more to do with this story in the New York Daily News.

"Talk-radio titan Rush Limbaugh is being investigated for allegedly buying thousands of addictive painkillers from a black-market drug ring.

Wilma Cline, 42, says Limbaugh was hooked on the potent prescription drugs OxyContin, Lorcet and hydrocodone - and went through detox twice."

There are a lot of seamy details in there and it's likely that the Enquirer has even more dirt than the Post has released. I'll be buying the Enquirer later today to find out.

But, the long and short of it is, Limbaugh's housekeeper rolled over on him, she did wear a wire, and the New York Daily News confirmed there is a Palm Beach County investigation going on.

I was going to wait until Limbaugh got on the air today to hear his side of the story before I commented. However someone who caught the show yesterday said he's not going to be on the air today. So I went to Rush's page and perused this "non-denial denial"...

"I am unaware of any investigation by any authorities involving me. No governmental representative has contacted me directly or indirectly. If my assistance is required in the future, I will, of course, cooperate fully."

While the fact that his housekeeper says she took a $120,000 in hush money from Rush and then turned around and went to the Enquirer and the police indicates there's some malice involved here, there is likely some truth to the story or Rush would be publicly denying the drug allegations right now.

Interestingly enough, I ran across this post Google from back in 2001 which does seem to indicate Rush does have a history with Oxycontin...

"Rush Limbaugh (talk radio) talked about OxyContin at length today--maybe an hour of his 3-hour show. The talk was mostly about the abusers of the drug, and that it was a shame that the abuse affected people who really need it."

Expect quotes from that show to turn up somewhere in the near future.

Assuming he's guilty (and that's of course not a given), Rush is going to have it tough for the next few weeks at least. While he should have to defend his actions in a court of law, I sincerely doubt that he'll end up going to jail over a first offense involving painkillers like this. He will however probably end up going to a detox center somewhere and getting cleaned up which is something he tried and failed to do on his own twice according to the article. In the interim, he can get fill-in hosts to keep the show going and then once he's clean, he can get back on the air. While this is certainly going to be a happy day for his enemies & an embarrassing day for Rush, he'll recover. As G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North could tell him, being in the middle of a big scandal doesn't have to be a career ender. There are going to be a few dark days ahead for Rush until he gets past all this, but I certainly hope he keeps his chin up, cleans up, and then gets back on the radio...

***Update #1***: Tragically, this Sept 10, 2001 story from the LA Times could be relevant as well...

"A powerful and potentially addictive painkiller used by millions of Americans is causing rapid hearing loss, even deafness, in some patients who are misusing the drug, according to hearing researchers in Los Angeles and elsewhere.

...(Vicodin is a combination of acetaminophen and hydrocodone and is also sold under the brand names Lorcet, Lortab and Hydrocet.)

***Update #2***: Here's more on Vicodin & hearing loss...

"Knoll Pharmaceutical Co., the makers of Vicodin, added a hearing loss warning to the drug's label in 2000, but it seems to have gone largely unnoticed. The FDA worked with the manufacturer on the wording of the warning. They plan no additional action, because hearing loss seems to be a very rare side effect that occurs only when the drug is used inappropriately.

Some doctors think the problem may be much more common that is currently believed. Because determining the cause of a person's hearing loss is often difficult or impossible, doctors may not be making the connection between hearing loss and Vicodin. This situation is compounded by the fact that patients may be unwilling to reveal the extent of their painkiller use."

***Update #3***: I spoke with Florida defense attorney Steven Casanova who has a lot of experience in dealing with Florida drug laws, and this is MUCH, MUCH, more serious than I originally thought.

He told me that if Rush was buying more than a few ounces of OxyContin or hydrocodone -- we could be talking 15-20 pills here -- he could be facing a conspiracy to traffic in a controlled substance charge. Mr. Casanova informed me that would mean Rush could be facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years. That's despite the fact that this is his first offense and that the drugs would be for personal use.

However, NBC news reports that...

"CNN reported Thursday that sources close to the investigation that it did not identify said Limbaugh had turned up as a buyer of powerful painkillers but that he was not the target of the investigation.

Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the Palm Beach County state attorney's office, told The Associated Press early Thursday that his office could neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was under way."

That's a bit ambiguous, but it could indicate that they're not planning to prosecute.

***Update #4***: According to a quote in this article (it costs $2.50 to view the whole thing) from the LA times, there is no link between Rush's deafness and the painkillers he took.

"The doctors said Thursday that Limbaugh's rapid hearing loss is not related to high doses of Vicodin or other painkillers, a phenomenon House Institute researchers have been studying and announced last month."

Hmmmm....did they actually check for that or were they just assuming he wasn't on painkillers? If they did test and Rush definitely wasn't on painkillers back then, it would undercut the maid's story. Unfortunately, there's not enough info to go on at this point...

***Update #5***: Fox News has more on how Rush came to the attention of law enforcement...

"Newspaper reports alleged Limbaugh got the drugs from his housekeeper. But a source close to the investigation told Fox News that Limbaugh had other drug suppliers and could become a target of future criminal probe.

Asked about the culpability of Limbaugh in an investigation which did not target him, the source told Fox News that he could still face charges for having a large quantity of prescription painkillers without a prescription, but said no charges are imminent."

***Update #6***: According to his website, Rush will be on the air tomorrow.

***Update #7***: From WorldNetDaily...

"The Daily News reported today, citing a law enforcement source, Limbaugh is expected to be questioned within days as part of a probe into former Florida pharmacist Louis Beshara. The paper said Beshara and his wife, Gloria, allegedly supplied drug dealers with thousands of prescription hydrocodone tablets.

"If the evidence is there, he could be charged," the source told the paper."

***Update #8***: I caught the opening of Rush's show and predictably he was very vague about the drug issue. He called it an "emerging situation" and promised to give his audience all the details -- maybe "more than we want to know" once he knows what's going on.

Reading between the lines, Rush seems to be saying that if and when he doesn't have to worry about being prosecuted in the Florida probe, he'll explain what happened on the show. Given how serious the criminal side of this could be, that's probably the best to approach it.

***Update #9***: WorldNetDaily provides what could be some good news for Rush...

"(T)he South Florida Sun-Sentinel today cited local defense attorneys who indicated prosecutors might not have a case against Limbaugh, even if everything the Clines have said is true.

Former prosecutor Marc Shiner told the Florida daily nearly all drug cases are based on someone getting caught with the drugs. In some instances, he said, a trail of criminal activity left by the defendant, such as prescription fraud, could lead to drug charges."

On the other hand, supposedly they have tapes of Rush making a buy while his ex-maid was wired. Also, in a case like this that involves a celebrity and has gotten media attention, the police are going to feel a lot pressure to charge Rush with SOMETHING just to show that they're not giving him any special treatment. Time will tell...

***Update #10***: Apparently the Florida police were gunning for someone named Louis Beshara who along with his wife Gloria Rodriguez were selling pills out of their pharmacy. They have apparently already arrested Beshara & Rodriguez. As earlier reports indicated, it doesn't sound like Rush was the primary target of the operation. There's no info yet on whether they're just going after the dealers or the buyers as well.

***Update #11***: I finally read the Enquirer article and there were some details of interest there as you'd expect...

-- Rush was detoxified twice and reportedly came close to death the second time.

-- Cline kept a ledger of her purchases for Limbaugh and emails from Rush asking about purchasing drugs.

-- Cline claims Rush kissed and groped her in "desperate attempts to see if she was wired by cops"...

-- According to the article, Marta appeared to be unaware of what was happening.

-- Cline first started buying pills for Limbaugh back in March of 1998.

-- On the upside for Rush, he went through detox on June 11, 2002, reportedly had a bad time of it, and then paid her off soon after. That was the last time he bought drugs from from her which COULD mean Rush has been clean for more than a year. Cline did tape her last two deliveries, but it sounds like she wasn't wearing a wire, she was just doing it on her own. Furthermore, Cline went to the police back in November of 2002. If the police still haven't gone after Limbaugh yet, it COULD indicate that they have no evidence against him other than what Cline gave them and may not have enough to prosecute him.

***Update #12***: Rush has hired Roy Black to represent him. That's a very smart move.

***Update #13***: Apparently when I said this, "If the police still haven't gone after Limbaugh yet, it COULD indicate that they have no evidence against him other than what Cline gave them and may not have enough to prosecute him," I was in the right ballpark. From Newsmax...

"James Martz, the prosecutor who heads up the Palm Beach County, Florida task force investigating the Limbaugh case noted that police never actually caught the talk star purchasing any drugs. "Shy of that, we have very little leverage in the state system," he told the Palm Beach Post.

Martz told the Post that any such evidence is of little value because it's difficult to actually verify who sent the email."

There's more in there, but Rush looks to be in good shape at this point...

***Update #14***: Here's another article from the Palm Beach Post that indicates Rush isn't going to jail...

"(T)he chance of criminal charges ever being filed against Limbaugh is next to nil, say criminal defense attorneys who have handled numerous drug cases.

Sources also said Limbaugh won't even be questioned by law enforcement officials, unless the commentator chooses to cooperate on his own."

If Rush makes it out of this without going to jail, that's a big plus for him. I'd never want Rush to get any special treatment from law enforcement, but if he doesn't go to the big house, that suits me just fine.

Furthermore, since Cline hasn't provided Limbaugh with anything in more than a year, since he did detox, it's possible that he's clean now. That would be great news as well if it's the case.

The following is from a John Kerry editorial that ran today.

"...Senator Joe Biden and I have offered legislation to repeal tax cuts for individuals whose income are in the top 1 percent, and use the savings to pay for President Bush's $87 billion request for Iraq.

With 130,000 troops sacrificing every day in Iraq, terribly unfunded domestic programs and historic debt growing in Washington, it is an equitable and responsible proposal. And I am confident that these patriotic Americans are prepared to sacrifice as well."

Oh, so now Kerry is tying patriotism to paying higher taxes? So what if they're not prepared to sacrifice THEIR MONEY, does that mean they're NOT patriotic? That certainly seems to be what he's implying doesn't it?

Hey John Kerry, if paying higher taxes is YOUR definition of patriotism, why don't you liquidate your wife's half a billion dollar ketchup fortune and contribute it to the government? Then we could use the money to fund art made with animal feces, more statues of Robert Byrd, to protect endangered flies, and for all the rest of those "terribly unfunded domestic programs".

PS: I just love how Kerry recognizes that having a large debt is bad, yet thinks we're not spending nearly enough, and just expects people to give him more of THEIR MONEY -- let me say that again for the benefit of the tax and spend crowd on the left, THEIR MONEY -- to fund whatever he wants to do.

Ok Folks, I have one banner ad left. Banner ads run 468x60 & cost $20 a month. If you're interested, send $20 to my Paypal account (which is also located in the support section -- please mention what the money is for in the comments section) and email me your 20kb or smaller banner ad. This will be the 4th add sold and it's first come, first served.

I don't usually post the material that I receive from RNC Research, but this quote they sent out from a Joe Lieberman aide about John Kerry getting an endorsement from Gary Hart was too good to pass up...

"I am glad that Michael Dukakis' Lt. Governor is getting endorsed by Gary Hart. He should roll-out McGovern and Mondale while he is at it. 'People who never became President for Kerry.'"

That's positively "Coulteresque"! Ya gotta love it...

Robert Novak has now for the first time definitively identified someone in the Bush administration as his source...

"During a long conversation with a senior administration official, I asked why Wilson was assigned the mission to Niger. He said Wilson had been sent by the CIA's counterproliferation section at the suggestion of one of its employees, his wife. It was an offhand revelation from this official, who is no partisan gunslinger. When I called another official for confirmation, he said: "Oh, you know about it." The published report that somebody in the White House failed to plant this story with six reporters and finally found me as a willing pawn is simply untrue."

First off, even though this looks as if it is far from the malicious leak that it was originally portrayed as, the "senior administration official" who let this drop should be fired. There is simply no excuse for putting the identity of a covert agent into the hands of the press.

Next, although there was another "official" involved, it doesn't appear that he did anything legally or ethically wrong. In fact, he apparently gave Novak far less info than the CIA itself did about Plame.

"At the CIA, the official designated to talk to me denied that Wilson's wife had inspired his selection but said she was delegated to request his help. He asked me not to use her name, saying she probably never again will be given a foreign assignment but that exposure of her name might cause "difficulties" if she travels abroad. He never suggested to me that Wilson's wife or anybody else would be endangered. If he had, I would not have used her name. I used it in the sixth paragraph of my column because it looked like the missing explanation of an otherwise incredible choice by the CIA for its mission."

However, there is another issue here. It's very difficult to reconcile Novak's account with the stories of the WAPO's anonymous aide & anonymous journalist. Both sources claim that administration officials were actively calling reporters and trying to get this story out there prior to Novak breaking the story. That opens up a whole different can of worms: Was Novak's source calling other people? If so, then his "casual aside" was likely not so casual. Then there's the possibility that the person Novak talked to WAS DIFFERENT than the one calling reporters. Of course, there's also the possibility that someone at the WAPO is making these anon sources up Jayson Blair style. Some people might also point out the possibility that Novak's lying about how he got the story and the anons are telling the truth. But if Novak's willing to go on record and they're not, you certainly have to give the benefit of the doubt to Novak.

Last but not least, there is a side story here that I find interesting. Joe Wilson originally got the ball rolling on this and he even made what could fairly be called slanderous charges against Karl Rove given that he has now said he has no "specific information" about who leaked this story. Now that it has been revealed that Joe Wilson gave $2,000 to John Kerry's Campaign & met several times with "advisers to Mr. Kerry", that raises some intriguing questions as well. For example, was this incident discussed with them? Did anyone in the Kerry camp suggest going public with this or trotting out Rove's name as the source of the leak? Like I said, this is a side issue, but a lot of people would be interested in knowing if Wilson is engaged in partisan mud slinging at the behest of the Kerry campaign.

***Update #1***: Here's a little more meat for that "side story" I mentioned. Joseph Wilson is quoted in the WAPO editorial as saying,

"Neo-conservatives and religious conservatives have hijacked this administration, and I consider myself on a personal mission to destroy both."

It sounds like someone is grinding a James Carville sized partisan axe here doesn't it?

***Update #2***: Ah, the twists and turns just keep on coming with this one. Now the whole "covert operative or desk jockey" issue is being raised again. That's important because if she's a covert operative, leaking her name is a crime, but if she's not it's just business as usual in Washington. Here's WAPO military reporter Vernon Loeb on the subject...

Vernon Loeb: I don't think the national security has been compromised at all by this leak. Plame was not an overseas operative, but a Washington-based analyst who maybe would have worked overseas in the future.

&

Vernon Loeb: I could be wrong, but I think she was basically an analyst. I know she is not now based overseas. And if the CIA is going to be sending people like her overseas to build clandestine networks of agents, we're all in trouble, because a lot of people in Washington know she works for the CIA, and I doubt it would have been very hard for people overseas to figure it out.

If what Loeb is saying is true, this whole scandal is just a big bag of nothing that no one even deserves to be fired for. But I guess we'll find out as this continues to unfold...

***Update #3***: Wow, this is a refreshing change from how the Clinton administration handled scandals....

"The president has made it very clear that anybody that has information related to this investigation should report it to the Department of Justice. And that means anybody inside the administration or outside the administration. No one wants to get to the bottom of this more than the president," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan."

***Update #3***: Loeb added this in the same chat yesterday about Plame's covert status...

Vernon Loeb: I've already acknowledged my mistake. Goodman is right, Plame is in the clandestine service.

That's a bit confusing since I'm not sure I see where Loeb "acknowledged (his) mistake" elsewhere in the transcript. His statement actually just appears to a 180% shift from what he said earlier in the same chat with no explanation.

Thanks to Mark Kleiman for pointing this out to me.

Back in January, I put together a list of the, "The 100 Most Popular Political Websites On The Net". It got some attention, more than a few links, and it was lot of fun to put together.

Fast forward to today. I have once again decided to rank the most popular websites using Alexa.com. But, I think you'll find their have been some significant improvements. Nine of months of experience has allowed me to do a more thorough job of finding websites that may have been left off of the original list. Furthermore, as a bonus, I decided to toss in 25 more websites than last time. Last but not least, not only do I show the Alexa Rank of all pages that are listed, I show how many spots they've moved up or down since the last time I put this together. (Cont)

Washington, DC - The Hormel Corporation today issued a worldwide warning about counterfeit packages of SPAM that have begun to appear in the marketplace. SPAM, Hormel's signature product and a staple of gourmet restaurants and kennels throughout the world, has been in short supply of late largely due to its rapidly expanding use on the internet.

Although the recipe for SPAM is a closely guarded trade secret, the foodstuff is thought to contain puree of swine intestine, desiccated rat ovaries, sawdust and a gelatinous bonding agent made from sheep brains. Scientists have long touted the health benefits of daily SPAM consumption, noting the quasi-meat substance's ability to destroy cancer cells and just about any other thing it comes into contact with.

Harvey Stadlmeier, Hormel's Director of Communications, spoke to this reporter about how to tell the difference between real and fake SPAM. "Real SPAM has a gooey jell covering that has a brownish tint and smells like bat guano," said Stadlmeier. "Fake SPAM smells like doggy doo-doo. There's a big difference."

If you enjoyed this satire by William Grim, you can read more of his work Broken Newz.

It looks like I'm going to have 1 banner ad spot and at least a couple of button spots in the support section available for October.

-- Banner ads run 468x60 & cost $20 a month. If you're interested, send $20 to my Paypal account (which is also located in the support section -- please mention what the money is for in the comments section) and email me your 20kb or smaller banner ad. I will sell a maximum of 4 of these ads per month.

-- You can also buy an 88x31 button in the "support section" of RWN for an entire month. The button ads appear on every page of RWN. If you're interested, send $15 to my Paypal account (which is also located in the support section -- please mention what the money is for in the comments section) and email me your 3kb or smaller button. If you'd like to have a button bigger than that, then contact me and we can negotiate a rate.

-- You can purchase a link in the main section of RWN. The post will be marked as an advertisement & it can run up to 400 words. The post will begin at the top of the page and will work it's way down. Posts on RWN's front page stay up for 3 days. If you're interested, send $5.00 to my Paypal account (which is also located in the support section). A maximum of 1 of these advertisements will be sold per day.

Those numbers are fairly cheap given that so far for September I have 143,282 daily uniques & 258,217 pageviews. Last but not least, it's first come, first served.

I'm going to post about the Plame leak again, because what I said yesterday cuts to the heart of the matter and yet still doesn't seem to be sinking in.

Therefore, let me say it again...Robert Novak did not identify who told him Wilson's wife was a CIA agent and who gave him her name.

Let me repeat that...Robert Novak did not identify who told him Wilson's wife was a CIA agent and who gave him her name.

I am repeating this because so many people are getting it so wrong. Josh Marshall? He has it wrong. Calpundit? He's wrong too. Howard Kurtz from the WAPO? He's just as factually incorrect as the other two. CNN? Just as bad as the other three.

As I pointed out yesterday, Robert Novak said in his original column that he talked to two administration officials, but he DID NOT claim that they were the source of the leak...

"Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him. "I will not answer any question about my wife," Wilson told me."

Also, if you read Novak's comments from yesterday on the Drudge Report about the issue, you will notice that he again DOES NOT source the leak...

"Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this. In July I was interviewing a senior administration official on Ambassador Wilson's report when he told me the trip was inspired by his wife, a CIA employee working on weapons of mass destruction. Another senior official told me the same thing. As a professional journalist with 46 years experience in Washington I do not reveal confidential sources. When I called the CIA in July to confirm Mrs. Wilson's involvement in the mission for her husband -- he is a former Clinton administration official -- they asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else. According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operator, and not in charge of undercover operatives'..."

You'll notice that Novak DOES NOT say the White House originally gave him the information in either column and that makes all the difference in the world. Why you ask? Because of the difference between these two conversations...

Robert Novak: So tell me a little bit about Joe Wilson.

Administration Official: His wife is a CIA agent named Valerie Plame. She had him sent to Niger.

If that was how it happened, a crime was committed. However, Novak DOES NOT say that is how it happened. In fact, it could have gone like this....

Robert Novak: A source told me that Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA agent and that she might have been wrapped up in this somehow.

Administration Official: That's true, she had him sent to Niger.

See that conversation? It's NOT a crime. If you read Novak's words carefully, you'll notice that there's NO WAY to determine which way the conversation actually went.

So why is Novak being so careful with his words? Could it be because his actual source is in the CIA and he's trying to protect them? As I mentioned last night, Wilson says Novak ORIGINALLY told him his source for his information on Plame's identity was in the CIA...

"Bob Novak called me before he went to print with the report. And he said, a CIA source had told him that my wife was an operative. He was trying to get a second source. He couldn't get a second source. Could I confirm that? I said no.

After the article appeared, I called him and I said: "You told me it was a CIA source. You wrote senior administration officials. What was it, CIA or senior admiration?" He said to me, "I misspoke the first time I spoke to you." That makes it senior administration sources."

Wilson's credibility is shot at this point, but let's take what he said at face value. Is it not entirely possible that Novak truthfully told Wilson that his source was from the CIA, but changed his story after realizing he gave him too much information? It could even be that Novak only has a limited number of sources in the CIA and feared Plame might find out who his source actually was. Heck, maybe when Novak said he misspoke because he meant that Clifford May or one of the many other people who probably knew her real identity had already told him. In any case, at NO TIME has Novak identified the White House as the source of the leak.

So the ONLY THING we have so far that points back to the White House (since Wilson has now recanted his original claim that Rove or someone else in the White House leaked the story) is the WAPO's anonymous aide who appears to have gotten his story wrong. The article in the post says...

"Novak attributed his account to "two senior administration officials." An administration aide told The Post on Saturday that the two White House officials had cold-called at least six Washington journalists and identified Wilson's wife.

She is a case officer in the CIA's clandestine service and works as an analyst on weapons of mass destruction. Novak published her maiden name, Plame, which she had used overseas and has not been using publicly."

Actually Novak DIDN'T attribute his account to "two senior administration officials," but that's beside the point for the moment. Novak also expressly said that "(n)obody in the Bush administration called me to leak this" which doesn't fit with the account of the WAPO's anonymous source.

Given all of this, isn't just a wee bit early to start making wild charges about the White House breaking the law on little more than the word of anonymous source who already looks to have been wrong about part of the information he gave?

***Update***: The WAPO now has a second anonymous source that is pointing the finger at the White House...

Another journalist yesterday confirmed receiving a call from an administration official providing the same information about Wilson's wife before the Novak column appeared on July 14 in The Post and other newspapers.

The journalist, who asked not to be identified because of possible legal ramifications, said that the information was provided as part of an effort to discredit Wilson, but that the CIA information was not treated as especially sensitive. "The official I spoke with thought this was a part of Wilson's story that wasn't known and cast doubt on his whole mission," the person said, declining to identify the official he spoke with. "They thought Wilson was having a good ride and this was part of Wilson's story."

If this is true -- and I do mean to say "if" given that this is another anonymous source -- whoever leaked this in the White House is toast. If this reporter will leak it to the Washington Post, they'll probably talk about it to the DOJ as well.

***Update #2*** However, some of the details given in the anon's account ("the CIA information was not treated as especially sensitive") could help avoid a trip to prison for whoever did this if it ever gets that far according to this WAPO story.

"The law enacted to stop Agee and others imposes maximum penalties of 10 years in prison and $50,000 in fines for the unauthorized disclosure of covert agents' identities by government employees who have access to classified information.

The measure says people who engage in a "pattern of activities" intended to identify covert agents and who have "reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States" can be prosecuted. Smith said that language was aimed at the publishers of the Covert Action Information Bulletin and others who made it a practice to identify undercover CIA agents."

It seems to me that whoever leaked this information, in the Bush administration or otherwise, probably wouldn't meet this part of the standard...

"The measure says people who engage in a "pattern of activities" intended to identify covert agents and who have "reason to believe that such activities would impair or impede the foreign intelligence activities of the United States" can be prosecuted.".

Pulling a pattern of activities out of this, given what we know so far, seems to be a bit of a stretch. But I'm sure the lawyers will haggle that out before this is all over if they ever pin it on someone...

***Update #3***: Novak has now definitively sourced it to a Bush official, although it certainly doesn't appear to be the sort of malicious leak it's being portrayed as...

"'It Was An Offhand Revelation From This Official, Who Is No Partisan Gunslinger. When I Called Another Official For Confirmation, He Said: "Oh, You Know About It."

Despite the fact that Democrats, not Republicans, are the party that heavily relies on donations from the rich, the GOP is often accused of favoring the rich at the expense of the poor.

Yes, we're in the pocket of the rich, we're Robin Hood in reverse....yeah right, that's bupkus. The left and the right simply have different attitudes about the rich. Michael Novak touches on this during a well written column about bush hater Jonathan Chait...

"Chait explains it this way: Only if the "affluent" (his word) pay a lot more in taxes, can government have enough resources to "help the poor." If Bush does away with progressive taxation, then the middle class will have to pay more taxes, and that will doom government programs. The middle class will rebel. As Chait puts it:

The rich should be the indispensable heroes of liberals, because the rich are the linchpin of the liberal agenda, the one true hope for liberal success. Liberals need the rich. Take away high taxes from the rich, and the liberal program flounders, Chait suggests. Why, then, do liberals hate the rich? It's easier to understand why sheep hate to be shorn, than why liberals hate those they shear."

Oh I understand it perfectly well. As Novak said, many people on the left view the wealthy as a necessary source for revenue for the bloated government programs that they love so much. So in order to have an excuse to milk the wealthy dry, the left to demonize them at every opportunity so other people won't protest when they're being mugged by the government.

Sure, we may be talking about some small business owner who built up a huge, successful, business from scratch and created thousands of jobs in the process of getting some nifty new product out to people, but he has to be made into a "bad guy". He has to be a greedy, mean, Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is so selfish that he doesn't want to "share" his "good fortune" with everyone else. Sure, that "good fortune" he had may have meant working 80 hour weeks for years on end while he built up a company, but so what? ? He "owes" everyone else his money.

Now me personally, I don't look at it like that. I'm not jealous of what the rich have earned, I don't resent their success, and I don't think they should "owe" America any more in taxes percentage wise than what the rest of us do (yes, I'm talking about a flat tax). Especially since -- and this is just going to kill some people -- most of the rich contribute far more than the poor or middle-class do to our country. That's not a dig at the poor or the middle-class (of which I am a part), it's just an acknowledgement of reality.

Most -- although of course not all -- of the people in our country who got rich did so by providing an excellent product or service to the public. In the process of doing so, they created jobs, not only at their own companies, but at other companies whose products they bought. Then as they became wealthier, their donations to charity, their tax dollars, and their investments in the economy paid truly massive dividends for our country. So why should they be vilified for that?

You also have to consider that when you drag a rich man down with high taxes, you can be sure that he's not going alone. People who worked for him personally, who benefited from his purchases of their products, people at his company, people who desperately needed his investment dollars -- all of them may very well go down the tubes with him. The more you raise taxes on the rich, the less they're going to be willing and able to contribute to the American economy.

That's why I always wonder how people can believe politicians who claim that they're going "to get the economy going again" while simultaneously talking about how they're going to raise taxes on the rich. It doesn't make sense, especially since we've already tried it before with dismal results. Back in the Carter years we actually had a top income tax bracket of 70% and the economy was in the worst funk since the Great Depression. Is that really what we want to go back to? I know my answer, but I suspect there are a lot of people on the left who would jump at that 70% tax bracket if they thought they could get it. The economy would eventually nose dive because of it, but boy would they have fun using that money to socialize vast chunks of the American economy in the interim.

So it's not that the right is in the pocket of the rich, it's just that we don't hate them, we're not jealous of them, & we don't feel a need to tear them down in order to further our agenda.

I am going to be on DennyRadio today at 5PM EST. They want to talk to me for 20 minutes or so about my Stupid Debating Tricks article. I'm not sure how we'll stretch that out for 20 minutes, but then again time always seems to fly for me when I'm on the radio.

If you want to hear the show, just hit the "Listen Live" button on the DennyRadio page linked above and you can listen in.

***Update***: I don't think the host had even read the article before we got on the air =) They must have desperately needed some filler in that spot...

Ah, there's nothing like government working for the people and handling the important issues like the weight of bookbags kids are carrying...

"Loaded with notebooks, books and a binder which alone weighs 6 pounds, the backpack Brito lugs to Framingham's Cameron Middle School is 25 pounds of strain on his back, shoulders and neck.

"If it's a problem that students have in Massachusetts, New Jersey and California, it's most likely students across the country are dealing with it," said Kafka, who would like federal lawmakers to take up the issue."

Is that what the Revolution our Founding Fathers started more than 200 years ago has come to? A vast nannystate that's actually regulating how heavy kid's bookbags are? I mean what do you think Ben Franklin or George Washington or James Madison would say if you told them back in 1776 that one day that our government would be such a vast, overreaching colossus that it would be regulating these sorts of piddly irrelevancies?

Personally, while I always hate to put words in the mouths of the original "Team America", I'd have to think they'd be furious. So furious that were I Kafka I would not even walk over the grave of Thomas Jefferson out of fear that he'd claw his way out of the dirt, wrap his bony skeletal hand around my throat, give and earsplitting shriek and drag me back into the grave with him as a lesson to big government toadies all across our country.

In fact, that would make a great horror film -- the Founding Fathers are back from the grave and fighting for freedom against a bloated government! Once they fought the British, but now it's personal! Ben Franklin is stalking the halls of Congress, Thomas Jefferson is at the IRS, and Patrick Henry is taking out the trash at the EPA. Just imagine it...

Congressman Porkbarrel: Har, har, har! These new regulations will be worth millions to the lawyer's union!

EPA Hippy: And the habitat of the speckle nosed water owl will be protected at a cost of only 4 billion dollars. I guess that local community will have to make do without that school and hospital they were planning to build on the land.

Congressman Porkbarrel: (Smirking)....Such a shame

(Congressman Porkbarrel & EPA Hippy both laugh maniacally -- then the lights go out).

EPA Hippy: What's that?

Congressman Porkbarrel: It could be a power outage or maybe a generator blew out. It could be practically anything except perhaps the furious ghost of Patrick Henry back from the dead and looking to wreak vengeance on us for all of this government waste.

Patrick Henry: Wrong Porkbarrel! I'll give both of you one chance to make it out of here alive. Complete this famous quote, "Give me liberty or..."

Congressman Porkbarrel & EPA Hippy : GIVE ME DEATH!!!!! Uh-oh...

Patrick Henry: Give you death eh? You got it! (Throws on hockey mask & whips out chainsaw) -- scene ends in a bloody mess.

OK, that's kind of a B movie concept for a horror film, but I'd watch it...not at the theater of course, on video, but still...it would make a fun movie.

In a breathtaking and unprecedented display of bipartisan courage, Representatives and Senators of Congress banded together almost unanimously to support the creation of a nationwide FTC Do-Not-Call list to block telemarketers’ calls to uninterested consumers. The vote was 412 to 8 in the House, and 95 to 0 in the Senate.

“We don’t care if this is or isn’t a popular measure,” said Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy. “It’s the right thing to do.”

These sentiments were echoed by House Majority Leader Tom Delay: “Sometimes you have to make the tough choices. I applaud our colleagues across the aisle for joining us in this difficult crusade for justice.”

President Bush has made it clear he will support this measure regardless of the possible negative impact to his standing with the nation: “Lincoln may have freed the slaves, but I’m freeing the people of this nation from harassment of telemarketers, and I don’t care who disagrees.”

In a related story, Representatives Rob Bishop (UT), Kendrick Meek (FL), Ted Strickland (OH), Chris Cannon (UT), Ron Paul (TX), Lee Terry (NE), Jeff Flake (AZ) and Tim Ryan (OH) will all be voted out of office this coming Election Day.

If you enjoyed this humor by Russell Lutz, you can read more of his work at The Skeptician.

The traffic is still pouring in from the Fark link to my "Stupid Debating Tricks -- 9 Of My Least Favorite Debate Tactics" article. In fact, so much traffic is pouring in that it looks like this has been the second best day I've had this year. Furthermore, I broke my record for the number of eyeballs on the page at one time by hitting 1010 between 4-5 PM EST this afternoon. Not too shabby!

Also, the JewishPress had their readers vote for their favorite websites. While RWN didn't make the top 20 or the honorable mentions, their editor gave us a plug anyway. Thanks for the mention guys!

***Update***: Today turned out to be my best traffic day for the year. I finished the day with 20,824 daily uniques and 30,984 pageviews.

As many of you have no doubt heard, the CIA is, "looking into an allegation that administration officials leaked the name of an undercover CIA officer to a journalist". The agent in question, Valerie Plame, is the wife of Joseph Wilson, a leftist holdover from the Clinton administration who embarrassed the Bush administration by revealing that he went to Niger and didn't find any evidence that yellowcake was sold to Iraq. Supposedly Plame recommended her husband for the assignment and the theory that is being floated is that someone in the administration revealed her name to get revenge on Wilson.

However, there is a big flaw in much of what's being written about this story. That flaw is that it is being treated as a given that this story was leaked by a member of the Bush administration. While that may turn out to be the case, there is little at this point beyond a leak from an anonymous source to indicate that is what happened. Part of the confusion comes from a misreading of Robert Novak's original column breaking the story. Here's what he said,

"Wilson never worked for the CIA, but his wife, Valerie Plame, is an Agency operative on weapons of mass destruction. Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger to investigate the Italian report. The CIA says its counter-proliferation officials selected Wilson and asked his wife to contact him. "I will not answer any question about my wife," Wilson told me."

Notice that Novak did not reveal who told him Plame worked for the CIA. Most people are assuming that the two senior administration officials he talked to gave him Plame's name, but that's not what Novak said. It's entirely possible that Novak already had the name and then simply asked the officials to confirm the story (which would not be a crime especially given that the CIA themselves confirmed Plame's name). Now I know some of you are probably thinking, "Come on Hawkins, how else could Novak have gotten the name if the Bush admin didn't give it to him?" Well according to Clifford May's column in NRO today, it wasn't a big secret...

"On July 14, Robert Novak wrote a column in the Post and other newspapers naming Mr. Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, as a CIA operative.

That wasn't news to me. I had been told that — but not by anyone working in the White House. Rather, I learned it from someone who formerly worked in the government and he mentioned it in an offhanded manner, leading me to infer it was something that insiders were well aware of."

Moreover, an early story done by Time also mentioned Plame's name, but said their source was "government officials" which is not a phrase one would normally expect to see applied to senior members of the Bush administration...

"And some government officials have noted to TIME in interviews, (as well as to syndicated columnist Robert Novak) that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, is a CIA official who monitors the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. These officials have suggested that she was involved in her husband's being dispatched Niger to investigate reports that Saddam Hussein's government had sought to purchase large quantities of uranium ore, sometimes referred to as yellow cake, which is used to build nuclear devices."

So the only tie we have between this story and this Bush administration is a WAPO story quoting an "administration aide" & Joe Wilson himself...

"An administration aide told The Post on Saturday that the two White House officials had cold-called at least six Washington journalists and identified Wilson's wife."

Wilson has suggested publicly that Bush's senior adviser, Karl Rove, was the one who broke his wife's cover. McClellan has called that "totally ridiculous" and "not true."

Wilson sounds like he's just blowing smoke. In fact, he has already backed off of his claims that Rove leaked the story...

"Wilson said he did not have any knowledge that Rove was the leaker or authorized the leak. ''But I have great confidence that at a minimum he (Rove) condoned it and certainly did nothing to shut it down,'' he told ABC's ''Good Morning America.''

So all we really have so far is an anonymous "aide" who is obviously trying to damage the administration -- well assuming the WAPO is accurately quoting a legit source. This certainly wouldn't be the first time the WAPO published a story from an anonymous source that seemed to be less than credible, so how can you really be sure?

In any case, a felony was committed here. If someone in the Bush administration did the crime, then they should be fired and put on trial. That's the law and it applies to everyone. However, before people start leveling wild accusations against the Bushies, they ought have better sources than an "anonymous aide" and a bitter husband who has already had to eat some of his own words about this very matter. There is going to be an investigation and if what that anonymous aide & Wilson said is true, there are an awful lot of people who know about this -- far too many to cover it up. Only time will tell...

***Update***: Interestingly enough, the White House also seems to taking the same sort of line that I did in this post...

"Asked about the possibility of an internal White House investigation, McClellan said, "I'm not aware of any information that has come to our attention beyond the anonymous media sources to suggest there's anything to White House involvement."

Also, it's nice to see that the Bush administration also seems to be handling this situation correctly,

"McClellan said Bush had no patience for such activities and suggested anyone involved would be fired.

"I think I answered that question earlier. No. The president expects his administration, everyone in his administration, to adhere to the highest standards of conduct, and that would not be," McClellan told reporters."

***Update #2***: From The Drudge Report, Novak comments...

"'Nobody in the Bush administration called me to leak this. In July I was interviewing a senior administration official on Ambassador Wilson's report when he told me the trip was inspired by his wife, a CIA employee working on weapons of mass destruction. Another senior official told me the same thing. As a professional journalist with 46 years experience in Washington I do not reveal confidential sources. When I called the CIA in July to confirm Mrs. Wilson's involvement in the mission for her husband -- he is a former Clinton administration official -- they asked me not to use her name, but never indicated it would endanger her or anybody else. According to a confidential source at the CIA, Mrs. Wilson was an analyst, not a spy, not a covert operator, and not in charge of undercover operatives'...

So to sum up, there was no leak, there's still no one going on the record to indicate that a Bush administration official originally gave out her name, the CIA was told Novak was going to use her name and didn't strongly object, and she's an analyst -- not a spy, not in charge of any undercover operatives who would be harmed by her name being revealed. As per usual with these kinds of stories, there hype is much bigger than the actual reality.

***Update #3***: Boy the info keeps rolling in on this one. First off, Drudge has revealed another piece of information that undercuts Wilson's story. It seems that Mr. Wilson donated some funds to the political campaign of one John Kerry...

Wilson, Joseph C
5/23/2003 $1,000.00
Washington, DC 20007
JC Wilson International Ventures/Bu -[Contribution]
JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC.

So that begs the questions: Is Wilson, the former Clinton holdover using this whole thing to simply do a little partisan sniping that he thinks might help the candidate he supports?

Also, I ran across another fascinating bit of info on Pejman's page. It seems that we now definitively know who the first person was to connect the name Valerie Plame to Joseph Wilson...was Joseph Wilson on his Middle East Institute bio page....

"He is married to the former Valerie Plame and has two sons and two daughters."

Now of course, he didn't mention that she was a CIA agent there. But I'm a little puzzled about something. We have another Washington Post story that says this...

"Wilson said a producer from another network told him about the same time, "The White House is saying things about you and your wife that are so off the wall that we won't use them." Wilson said the series of similar calls he received, which included four journalists from three networks, stopped on July 22, after he appeared on NBC's "Today" show and said the disclosure of his wife's maiden name could jeopardize the "entire network that she may have established."

Uh, if revealing his wife's maiden name really jeopardized an "entire network" then why did Wilson do just that in his bio? That sounds like exactly the sort of question that the mainstream press should be asking Wilson doesn't it?

***Update #4***: Wilson has now climbed most of the way down from his original story...

"...I don't have any specific information. I would hope that an investigation would yield the information as to who was responsible for the precise leak.

What I do have are any number of journalist sources, none of whom I have any reason not to believe, who have said that the White House was pushing this story after the leak, after the Novak article, and including [Bush political strategist] Karl Rove."

At first he was claiming Rove leaked the story. Now Wilson doesn't have any "specific info" and he's talking about people at the white pushing the story after the leak. Yeah, he's really credible at this point...

Here's another interesting little tidbit from the same Wilson interview...

"Bob Novak called me before he went to print with the report. And he said, a CIA source had told him that my wife was an operative. He was trying to get a second source. He couldn't get a second source. Could I confirm that? I said no.

After the article appeared, I called him and I said: "You told me it was a CIA source. You wrote senior administration officials. What was it, CIA or senior admiration?" He said to me, "I misspoke the first time I spoke to you." That makes it senior administration sources. "

So originally, Wilson is claiming that a CIA source told him about Plame. Then Wilson said Novak reversed himself. Since Wilson has changed his story so many times, I don't know that we can take his story at face value. But has anyone considered that maybe Novak's CIA source fed him story and that he's dancing around naming where it came from because it would be easier for people to identify his CIA source than a White House source? In any case, as I keep pointing out, there is no one at this point other than anonymous aide the WAPO came up with that points this leak back to the White House.

The Cable News Network (CNN) today announced a new series of special reports on the positive news from Iraq. CNN producers acknowledge the series comes in response to critics who say the news media report little but shootings and turmoil.

The new series, "Iraq's Silver Lining," will focus on "the few good things which have resulted from the overthrow of Saddam Hussein."

Here are brief summaries of this week's "Silver Lining" reports...

Monday: U.S. troops teach Iraqi orphans how to play American football. These children were not orphaned during the American invasion which brought devastation upon so many Iraqi families due to errant bombs and trigger-happy soldiers. These are just orphans whose parents died of natural causes, or abandoned them, like the U.S. abandoned the world community and acted unilaterally to attack Iraq even though it has not been proven to have weapons of mass destruction.

Tuesday: U.S. soldiers rebuild and repaint a Baghdad elementary school, where little children used to hear of the greatness of Saddam Hussein, who apparently didn't have any weapons of mass destruction. In the new curriculum, children will learn about George Bush's oppression of the Iraqi people, and his miserable failure as a world leader.

Wednesday: Sewer line repairs can be dirty work, but an Army Corps of Engineers unit has jumped in with both feet to help the local people restore sanitary conditions in Mosul. The work serves as a daily reminder of the stench of the U.S. occupation of Iraq where frustrated, peace-loving men reluctantly carry out sniper attacks on Americans just to free their women and children from the heavy hand of oppression. More than 80 Americans have been killed in such attacks since George Bush landed in a tax-funded military jet on the deck of an aircraft carrier and claimed that the war was over.

Thursday: On the streets of Baghdad customers jam markets which overflow with everything from food to consumer electronics. It's another sign of American cultural hegemony leaving its stain on this ancient tribal civilization. Soon this great people will be reduced to a bunch of slack-jawed video gamers and "Iraqi Idol" worshipers.

Friday: U.S. Marines restore power to a small community which hasn't had reliable electric service for years. This allows local Muslims to attend peaceful night-time religious services where the Imam demands the immediate retreat of the satanic infidel who overthrew the democratically-elected government to impose his brand of Christian immorality upon the followers of Mohammed.

If you enjoyed this satire by Scott Ott, you can read more of work at Scrappleface.

As you'd expect, I've spent a lot of time arguing with left-wingers. As a result of those discussions, I've learned a lot of the little tricks the left -- and yes, sometimes those on the right -- like to use when arguments are going against them. Here are some of those techniques...

1) Attack The Messenger: Instead of addressing the argument that has been made, people using this method attack the person making it instead. This is particularly easy for many delusional people on the left who believe that almost everyone on the right is a racist, sexist, homophobic, Fascist who longs for the return of the Confederacy and is planning to start throwing leftists in prison camps if they let their guard down for five minutes. The charge made doesn't even have to be accurate, in fact it's better in some ways if it's off target. That's because the more whacked out the charge is, the more compelled your opponent will feel to spend his time defending himself while you continue to make your points. (Cont)