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August 31, 2004
Vol. 7 No. 35
In this
issue:
1. Mountain or Mole Hill?
2. Protesting Smarts
3. Iraq's Ups and Downs
4. Quick Hits
5. New at Reason Online -
Reason's team coverage of the Republican National Convention
6. News and
Events
If it's true that the FBI has been investigating links between Pentagon officials and Israeli interests for more than a year, then we are long way from the end of the "Pentagon spy" story. It is not even clear whether arrests in the case are imminent, the unmistakable sign that an investigation is over.
Thus, in the near-term the biggest fallout from the matter will be strictly political. In a wartime election year, questions about the allegiances and motivations of the incumbent's national security team can be political dynamite. Can John Kerry possibly take advantage of this angle?
He has already tried to carve out a sort of "Bush Ultra" position on foreign policy that holds that a Kerry administration would do what the Bush team tries to do, only better. This promise of an improved U.S. foreign policy would also entice other nations around the world to help the U.S. more, or perhaps just a new face in the White House would do the trick; the Kerry campaign is not very clear on this.
More important, the current Kerry defense buzzwords are "strong" and "strength." To take advantage of any burgeoning Bush national security scandal there would have to be some "trust" in the mix, too. Unfortunately for Kerry, his inability to put an end to the whole Swift Boat mess threatens his ability to project trust.
Nevertheless, should a brace of top Bush officials face charges in the coming weeks as a result of the FBI's investigation, this issue could vault to the front of presidential campaign issues and stay there.
http://www.johnkerry.com/pressroom/releases/pr_2004_0830.html
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/World/ap20040830_248.html
One of the most striking things about the thousands of protesters who streamed through New York City on Sunday was how happy they seemed to be. They hate the prez all right, but in the way one might hate breast cancer or AIDS. The emphasis seemed to be on creating some sort of hip, vibrant street theater, and big part of that was having clever, witty signs whose messages managed to work in references to both oil and George W. Bush's IQ.
In fact, many protestors' objections to a second Bush term seem to turn on the notion that the man is just not smart enough to be president. It follows from that view that the protestors must think John Kerry is smarter than Bush, or at least smart enough to reach whatever brain-power threshold they have in mind for the office. But this has interesting implications.
If Kerry is so much smarter than Bush, for example, why do Kerry's policies differ so little from those of that dullard Bush? Further, if this presumption about Kerry's candlepower is widespread heading into the debates, he might end up facing high-intellect expectations that no candidate can match.
Bush, on the other hand, would face low expectations he can surely overcome. According to this line of thinking, Bush the knuckle-dragging, mouth-breather need only grunt into the microphone to receive a hearty "well done, chap," from debate handicappers.
Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani is the biggest winner coming out of the Najaf siege. Sistani's call for marchers to descend on the holy city clearly demonstrated that his authority extends further than the barrel of a gun, a rare thing in Iraq today.
But Moktada al-Sadr can still put gunmen in the street. The question now is whether he will ever again be able to seize some important piece of Iraq and hold onto it. Sadr probably did not really believe he could just claim the Imam Ali shrine for his own, at least not on the first try. He will, of course, remain a major player.
The Iraqi government is also slightly better off after the conflict. Even though Sistani was needed to end it, the government took a hard line against a militia, dispatched troops, and dislodged the troublemakers. It was not a flawless performance, but neither was it a disaster.
And U.S. forces managed to keep the awesome firepower at their disposal harnessed just enough to avoid damaging a sacred Shiite site yet still inflicted serious loses on the enemy. The downside is that the enemy now gets to slip away and regroup, but the alternative -- a Shrine of Ali lying in ruins -- was far worse.
http://www.iht.com/articles/536437.html
Quote of the Week
"We are out in force. We want to make sure no one gets scammed." - - Kristen Ploska, press secretary for Florida's Business and Professional Regulation Department, explaining why department investigators gave a cease-and-desist order to a man who was helping his friend repair his hurricane-damaged roof. State law defines such help as unlicensed contracting, subject to fines of up to $5,000.
http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/082804/b0128howell.html
Entitlement Boom
Fed chief Alan Greenspan notices that federal entitlements for baby-boomers are unsustainable. Is it too late for medical savings accounts to save the day?
http://www.ncpa.org/prs/tst/20040331bttst.htm
Tagged, You're It
A uniform maker says it puts RFID tags in its products to help keep track of the clothes, count the number of times they were laundered, etc. Really..
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/surveillance/2004-08-30-rfid-uniforms_x.htm
CSPAN, FCC. FCC, CSPAN
One FCC commissioner thinks the broadcast networks "owe" America more coverage of the political conventions. He must not have cable.
Why Stories Die: Investigating Self-Censorship in the Media, 7PM, September 15, 2004, The Arts Club of Washington, 2017 I St., NW, Washington, DC.
A free-for-all discussion featuring Reason's Nick Gillespie, US News & World Report's Jodie T. Allen, and others about the reasons why worthy articles all too often end up on the editorial scrapheap. For more information, call 202-331-7282.
Reason Senior Editor Brian Doherty will be reading from and signing his acclaimed new book This is Burning Man at Powell's Bookstore, 1005 West Burnside Street, Portland, Oregon on Monday Sept. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Doherty will also be reading and signing at University Bookstore, 4326 University Way NE, Seattle, Washington on Tuesday Sept. 21 at 7 p.m.
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