Sunday, October 14, 2001 (4:00PM EDT) -- WASHINGTON (APJP) -- The political chat shows simultaneously focused on and fed the frenzy and fear surrounding isolated outbreaks of anthrax at media companies in New York, Florida and Nevada.

You've gotta admit it -- the fiendish SOBs who decided to send bioweaponized hate mail to key media whores sure managed to stir up a ton of fear and disruption.  Interestingly, one British news outlet reported a key aspect of this story: it looks like the sort of plot that Iraq, not Afghanistan, is capable of pulling off, and Team Bush hawks are looking to use this as justification for going after Saddam Hussein.

One target of these sickos is AMI, the publisher of our favorite weekly rag, the notorious and hilarious Weekly World News -- whose news "stories" are often more believable than the slanted coverage that passes for journalism at another target of their mail attacks, NBC News.

The whole thing stinks -- it gives an insidious new meaning to the word "going postal."  It also meant that any discussion of more important issues fell by the wayside -- and in the present crisis, they need to be examined in detail, even by a right-biased media.

Here's the run-down of this week's let-down.

FAUX News Spin-Day
Anthrax chat

After a quick update of the news (notable for a report by a FAUX reporter in northern Afghanistan to the effect that the Northern Alliance predicts they will take Kabul by Ramadan), Tony Snow welcomed Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson to do his share of requisite soothing song and dance following the anthrax attacks on major media and corporate offices.

Problem is, it was none too reassuring.  Let's just say that when it comes to communicating with the public either from a Beltway lectern or one-on-one with big media pundits, Thompson is unable to rise to the standards set by his predecessor, Donna Shalala.

Tony asked Thompson point-blank if it is possible to pinpoint the source of the anthrax -- and Thompson said "Sure it is... but it will take some time."

Of course, he did NOT say that Team Smirk is pretty certain as to where it came from -- Iraq -- and administration hawks are already champing at the bit for a bigger and meaner replay of the Desert Storm debacle.

Brit Hume asked if the greater danger is not the anthrax but the panic -- and Thompson said the public does not know about anthrax or, say, botulism.

Oh, come on, Thompson -- how many articles and reports have we heard in the last week that make it explicitly clear that anthrax is NOT spread person-to-person?  We're NOT idiots -- even though you and your pals on Team Shrub assume we are. 

Thompson's advice -- if you get an envelope containing suspicious powder, put it down, call law enforcement and let them handle it.  Hume suggested that nutcases will take half a dozen envelopes, fill them with baby powder, and mail them to paralyze a business -- and Thompson said it's "almost impossible" to prevent it.  But there was enough anger in his voice to suggest he was thinking, "Brit, you goddamn moron, more extremist nutcases get their news and their STUPID IDEAS from FAUX News than from any other source."

There was some talk about the pitifully small stockpiles of vaccines against various biowarfare germs.  Thompson insisted that HHS was able to "move fast... anywhere in the country," then angrily told people not to hoard the antibiotic Cipro -- which of course means that HHS is worried about a big attack!  His other very loud message: sending anthrax through the mail is an "act of terrorism" -- as if viewers haven't figured out this fundamental administration spin in the first place for themselves.

The segment was a little embarrassing for FAUX News -- Tony asked, for the most part, the right questions, but Thompson was giving the kind of answers that more than telegraphed the current administration attitude that FAUX Network viewers are a bunch of dense chuckleheads who watch their flagship political chat show without a command of the facts -- or the Team Bush spin.

We assume both Tony and Brit were bristling during the spots that followed for brokerage houses and computer makers.

"How does one get anthrax... and how does one fight it?"  Oh, great -- a non-political segment.  We switched the channel to ABC...

This Weak
Going postal with Cokie

We tuned into This Weak at nineteen minutes after the hour.  That epitome of integrity (not), the pride of Lou'zeeana, Cokie Boggs Roberts, was interviewing that hot, hot political guest -- Postmaster General John Potter.

Hoo-boy.  This was turning out to be a lousy week for political junkies.

Potter detailed how to handle a  package that may contain powdered anthrax, which, given the audience for these programs (media types, government employees, political junkies), could prove to be life-saving information.

Her next guest was John Timoney, Philadelphia's police commissioner.  This Weak was looking a lot like America's Most Wanted: Kicking Terrorist Ass.  All that was missing was John Walsh -- and believe this writer, that would have been a massive improvement.  Timoney, who sounds more like an Irish Brooklynite than a Philly native, motor-mouthed through a litany of investigative procedures, safeguards, and reassurances that major metropolitan cops and emergency services are ready to handle bioterrorism.  Timoney's style reminds us of that of enforcement guru Bill Bratton, a likely candidate for police commish under the next New York mayor, whoever it is and whenever that happens knowing Rudy's ambitions, probably early 2004).

Cokie's next guest, former Secret Service Agent Charles Vance, talked about possible retaliation by Al Qaeda; he assumes that terrorists will attempt a different type of attack than previously carried out, a view that is pretty much in line with that of other intelligence experts.

Following the break -- and speaking of germs -- George "Staph" Stephanopoulos chatted with Pakistan's foreign minister, who played down pro-Taliban protests, and tried to convey the issue of Afghanistan's political future after the Taliban is out (he sees it as a certainty).  Pakistan supports the UN program for a multi-ethnic government for Afghanistan. Should the deposed King head an interim government?  He said yes.  Even though he's allied with the Northern Alliance?  "We have nothing against the Alliance" -- and the foreign minister even praised their fight against Soviet invaders.  The issue -- Pashtuns are the majority (i.e. ethnic tensions will remain).  He assailed the Taliban for "mortgaging their policy to foreigners" -- a message that has NOT hit the US media (i.e. Saudis, outside Taliban authorities and others essentially co-opting and hijacking Afghanistan).

When the round table began -- and we saw George "Migraine" Will" putting his mouth into gear -- we decided to turn back to FAUX News Sunday.

FAUX News Sunday (con'd)

We tuned in in time for this "below the fold" story from Tony: the lead singer of legendary heavy metal band Anthrax has announced that the power-anthem ensemble may (gasp) change its name -- to something like "Basketful o'Puppies".  We're NOT making that up.

Panel time! Brit said anthrax is not a big problem.  Mara Liasson said anthrax is containable, smallpox is not.  Juan said the country is in a panic and needs to be reassured.  

Wow -- those FAUX pundits sure know when to go out on a limb.

Brit has "no doubt they had 'intel' about this threat" -- and there is a certain "cover your butt" mentality when Sen. Bob Torricelli wants to call a board of inquiry.

Funny how Brit did not say word one about the Torricelli "scandal" having essentially collapsed, leaving the  ruthless but lovable Torch slightly singed but a much bigger powerhouse among his Democrat colleagues.  Besides, Brit -- the danger is that Torricelli will look into events leading up to September 11 and the very real possibility that some on Team Bush knew something was coming and chose to do nothing.

Juan said nobody knows what's going on and people aren't going to restaurants or museums.  Hume disagreed, saying life does go on, we will prevail, and we can't be thrown off by one person dying of anthrax (you could almost hear "God Bless America" in the background)!  Juan replied by saying we've "gotta get used to the fact that we're at war."  Mara claimed the government is "deathly afraid of spilling the beans" on what they know -- and there is (still) a concern about checked baggage on airplanes.  Tony took a little time to dis Saudi Prince Halal for giving New York City $10 million -- then criticizing the US's Palestinian policy.  Rudy told Halal to keep his money.    Mara said that the Prince was trying to link the Palestinian brouhaha to the attacks on America.  Brit called the Prince "disgusting" in his most contemptuous tone as he railed about America defending Saudis while Saudis support Palestinian terrorists.  Juan slammed the Saudi leadership for a form of fundamentalism abusive to their own people.  Mara pointed out that the attackers from September 11 came from comparatively prosperous Arab states -- like Saudi Arabia.

My, what a great way to convey the message that they're all a bunch of louts -- at a time when we should  be wielding influence to open their culture not by innuendo but by actions.

Tony's final word -- only evil people slay large numbers of others under a "religious" pretext.

He should have gone further -- by exposing the killers as political pawns, not pious Muslims.

-- Morrie Friendly

McLaugh-In!
We decide to purge Pat "Puke Cannon" -- check out the result!

Our number one issue -- there he was again!  In the opening shot of the McLaugh-In Group, we saw him again on the far right: arch-bigot Pat Buchanan was back.

We decided to run an experiment this week: ignore EVERY word this reactionary bomb-thrower says.  The results follow.

John's issue one: the "Muslim Firewall" of moderate Islamic nations; so far, the reaction is lukewarm, although some nations are lending secret support. Pakistani strongman Musharraf has purged his inner circle of Islamic hard liners.

Eleanor Clift said that Pakistan's position is very touchy -- they are not giving direct aid to the war against the Taliban and run the risk of anarchy.  Tony Blankley, on cue from John, said that finessing the Kashmir issue will be a test of Musharraf's political acumen -- and the "purging" of hard liners was not complete in that he promoted one of them to his chief of staff.  Mort Zuckerman thinks it would be wise for Pakistan to "cool it" on Kashmir -- and we don't have control of the long-term problem in the region; he thinks that Pakistan will hold for the next six months to a year.  John calls the situation scary because of the question of Pakistan's stability.

Mort then turned (on cue from John) to anthrax attacks (keep in mind that the show was taped late Friday) -- it's making people, especially law enforcement, nervous.

John was one of the few this weekend to emphatically point out that media companies are being attacked -- and Mort said that when you attack the press, you get press.  John argued it's revenge for dissing bin Laden (we say they're both right -- but should have slammed the press for ignoring other stories).

How is the military operation going?
Eleanor:  Short-term, good; long-term, uncertain -- she did not see an obvious tie of the anthrax incidents to bin Laden, and added it's time for Team Bush to calm the public, not scare it.
Tony: "We're in for a fairly long period of tightening the noose" -- conditional good job.
Mort: "First-rate... I don't think anyone can fault it."
John: So far, so good -- on anthrax, the point made by Team Bush for citizen involvement is good, but it "could get out of hand."

Wow.  Notice how rational, intelligent and focused this show is when Pat Puke Cannon is ignored?  You could almost start to enjoy this right-leaning gathering of professional bloviators!

Issue two: a Palestinian State!  Bush's apparent lean toward the idea, said John, drew an immediate rebuke from Ariel Sharon -- who compared Bush indirectly to Neville Chamberlain.  Colin Powell telephoned Sharon, and Sharon apologized.  But Sharon's words, claimed John, showed a realignment of the Middle East.  John then showed a video clip of Bush saying that he supports a Palestinian State -- under certain conditions.

Is this just rhetoric?  Tony said no -- and Sharon bristled because he had not been consulted, thereby causing Sharon's "scared" outburst.  Eleanor: A Palestinian State is the price for support from moderate Arab states -- and it can be workable.  Was Sharon trying to activate his Israeli support?  Mort called Sharon's rhetoric "inappropriate," but there is an issue: how do we get there from here?  There has to be an end to the violence, and there must be negotiation between the parties.  Eleanor: Israel is terrified of seeing Iraq dragged into the war.

John then turned to Arafat -- and his information minister, who lambasted the September 11 attackers.  Palestinian police even fired into a crowd of bin Laden supporters, killing a few -- and Bush said that the world should applaud Arafat's moves against Islamic extremists.  Eleanor: Arafat is walking a real tightrope. Mort: Clinton was a supporter of a Palestinian State, and Arafat didn't help him.  John: there's a significant shift and this has triggered an engine that is running independent of Bush -- will we not be in the debt of Arab nations?  Eleanor: the nations are taking one stand, some of their people are taking another.  Tony: "there are many rotations before the end of the game."  Mort cited that Churchill said he'd do a deal with the devil to defeat the Nazis, and then he read off a litany of Arab states that contain extremists -- in other words, Bush has made a deal with the devil himself.

Predictions!! Is a Palestinian State in America's -- and Israel's -- best interest? 
Eleanor: It's the inevitable endgame.
Tony: It won't happen, but is in both nations' interests.
Mort: It won't happen, is in both nations' interests, but NOT Jordan.
John: You're right -- we'll wait and see...

-- Dave "Doctor" Gonzo

Meet the Press
Tim Russert on a full state of alert!

America on a full state of alert!  Fear of terrorist attacks -- and an anthrax attack on NBC itself!  The US presence in Afghanistan causes riots in Pakistan -- will this nuclear state remain stable?

After showing his talent as a carnival barker promoting the notion that fear and instability reign, Tim Russert first turned to a Taliban spokesman, saying 5,000-plus people were killed in New York alone -- you can end the attacks by turning over bin Laden to America.  The Taliban spokesman, who looked a bit jittery, said in halting and sometimes difficult-to-decipher English that America should send evidence, not planes -- to which Tim replied that Pakistan has said there's evidence to indict and bin Laden has all but admitted complicity.  The Taliban spokesman again said he wants to see the evidence.  Tim said that it's thought the Taliban is owned by bin Laden -- and a trial by the Taliban of Osama would be a joke.  The Taliban called American justice a joke.  Tim then rubbed the spokesman's nose in the Taliban's boasts that there would be a military response -- and there has been none.   The Taliban spokesman said that the real war will start when ground troops hit Afghanistan.  Will America capture bin Laden?  This was telling -- the Taliban spokesman said he didn't know -- which means that clearly, the Taliban fear such a situation.  Is Al Qaeda responsible for the anthrax attacks?  The Taliban spokesman said America has many enemies and should not focus so much on Osama as they have in "the latest years" -- then the spokesman threatened America with more attacks!

Tim then welcomed "Crisco Justice Minister" John Ass-KKKroft, who called the Taliban spokesman all propaganda ("The American people see it for what it is") and since they cannot fight, all they can do is talk.   -- For once, the neo-fascist evangelical was right -- and on two points in succession.  However, Ass-KKKroft seems to think proselytizing Arabs to an extreme form of Christianity is good as he slammed the Taliban's announcement that they would try eight foreigners for preaching illegally.

Ass-KKKroft was vague on what was being done to investigate and prevent anthrax attacks -- but said it's premature to see a link between the September 11th attacks and the anthrax mailings (note that NONE of the Bogus POTUS's team are saying "Smells like Saddam").  Tim talked about an anthrax vaccine, and Ass-KKKroft reviewed the facts of the case -- including anthrax being non-contagious. 

Is the public health system prepared for a broad bio-attack?  Ass-KKKroft called it Tommy Thompson's job -- but did say bio-attack teams were in New York City within eight hours of the attack on the World Trade Center.

Tim then turned to the alerts stating that more attacks were expected in days.  Ass-KKKroft said that "people are learning to adjust their behavior" -- looking for people videotaping fuel depots, looking at their mail, and so on (there's a hint: refineries and chemical plants may be a target of terrorism).  Tim courteously pointed out the disconnect between the "go out to restaurants, ball games" and "terrorist attacks are expected" messages.  Ass-KKKroft said that terrorists want to bring America to a halt.

So that was the gambit: Ass-KKKroft is the Team Smirk messenger boy out to send four messages. First and second are the two conflicting memes pointed out by Tim. Number three: law enforcement at all levels is on high alert, and they will not rest as long as a threat is out there.  Fourth, it's inappropriate for the public to make judgment calls on how Ass-KKKroft and the Bush oligarchy are prosecuting the war on terrorism.

But Tim managed to sneak a few zingers into the chat, including a Washington Post article that detailed terrorists having overstayed their visas and others sneaking into the country.  Ass-KKKroft gave the sort of "we're doing OK but we could use more authority and manpower" answer that gives raw meat to bigots and extremists out to completely kill immigration -- and due process.

Tim also brought up the 100-0 vote in the Senate that would federalize many aspects of airport security, something Bush loathes.  Ass-KKKroft wants to "enforce standards" for security personnel vigorously, pointing out that he was prosecuting a company called Argen-Bright for violating the hiring rules for near-minimum-wage airport security personnel -- in effect, Ass-KKKroft is saying that the burger flippers... er, security personnel must be American and cannot be felons.

How reassuring -- now tell me, Ass-KKKroft, are these personnel armed? Trained in police and military procedures?  Trained in criminal investigation?  Of course not -- why, that might require federal personnel, UNIONIZED federal personnel, that would make well above minimum wage.

Ass-KKKroft's appearance did little to reassure this viewer that DOJ is taking the proper tack -- especially with respect to the politicization of airport security and his support for a system that sells YOUR security to the LOWEST bidder.

Tim then welcomed his next guests, Sen. Bill Frist and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Dr. Sue Bailey.  Why isn't Tim inviting the Democrat chair of the Senate HELP Committee?  This favoritism toward Republicans is symptomatic of Russert's -- and NBC News's -- bias, and is simply unjustifiable, even if Frist was a cardiologist.  Frist admitted that the government is underprepared for a massive biological attack.  Dr. Bailey explained the medical procedure for dealing with suspicious mail.

Following the break -- former Prime Minister of Pakistan, the very eloquent Benazir Bhutto. She said that Pakistani strongman Gen. Musharraf has consolidated his leadership by purging Islamic hard-liners from his cabinet; she hopes that he will return Pakistan to democracy despite the uncertainty of the nation's future.  She said that he "showed nerve" by removing two of his key supporters in the coup that put him in power from his government and then allying with the US, and suggested that he could build a coalition with a mandate.  

Tim pointed out that she had said a few months back that Musharraf had no mandate; Bhutto replied that in a time of crisis, the man in power, regardless of legitimacy, deserves broad support.

Sound familiar?  As in Al Gore won in Florida?  Yet the Dimwit is in the White House -- and in a time of global crisis, even the President-Elect denied his post and destiny has shown real class and patriotism (certainly greater than Little George, who deserted the Air National Guard) and lent Bush his support!

Tim recounted news reports of Bhutto being tried and convicted in absentia; does Bhutto fear being arrested if she returns to Pakistan?  She said that it is a possibility.  Would she participate in a unity government with Musharraf?  She doubted she could -- unless there were assurances of participation by opposition parties.

Tim then quoted comments by Bhutto concerning arming the Muhajedin against Soviet invaders in the 1980s.  She was critical of America having armed hard-liners.  Bhutto basically said there was little choice at the time -- and that in the past, she'd supported the Taliban when they'd claimed that they would support peace in Afghanistan after the Soviets were ousted.  Will it be possible to capture Osama bin Laden? She's not optimistic.

Tim then asked Bhutto about her criticism of Islamic extremism -- how is it that hate pervades the hearts and minds of Muslim youth, and how do we get the message that democracy and debate are healthy values?  Bhutto urged dialogue, not confrontation -- but also acknowledged that Islamic dictatorships are a problem, and societies can and must be opened up.  Does she agree with the assessment that bin Laden wants to lead the entire extremist Muslim world?  Essentially, she said yes -- and that he is exploiting issues to great success.  The underlying causes of the violence, she said, should be eliminated -- thereby eliminating Osama's power base.

Tim's final word -- a tribute to legendary political cartoonist Herbert Block who died at the beginning of the week, and a moment from the memorial service at the Pentagon earlier this week as a member of the United States Marine Band played Taps.

Wow -- that's two weeks in a row Tim hasn't made any oblique references to Bill Clinton.  The methadone must be working.

-- Donna Wynner

Cap It All Gang
The Gang's all here -- even Kate -- and check out this week's feature: New, non-gargantuan length!!

The lead topic is the government's spreading of generalized warnings and the anthrax scare. Clips were shown of Smirk, Tommy Thompson, the always-paralyzed-with-fear John Ashcroft, and the truly creepy man behind the curtain,  Bionic Dick Cheney.

Bob "The Vampire" Novak is next with his opinion that all these "alerts" and warnings and mixed messages emanating from the White House are creating turmoil and unnecessary anxiety and it is hampering the country economically (translation: hammering the value of his stock portfolio).

Margaret Carlson points out that Cheney says these anthrax things are not a coincidence, yet Tommy Thompson came out early and often blithely saying everything was "under control" when it obviously was not.

Margaret is correct in feeling insulted when the government does not give us correct information (and allow us to be the judges), but instead comes out and says simply not to worry.

The ever-lovely (ahem) Kate O'Beirne feels the many warnings and alerts from the FBI are justified.

Al Hunt thinks that it's unavoidable that mixed messages get sent.

Well, for THIS administration it seems inevitable, Al!

Hunt points out that it's horrible for the government to try to cover up the fact that they are NOT prepared for biological attacks.

Novakula again pleaded for reason and perspective in all this. He said someone had called him the day of the anthrax scare and told him not to open his mail, so he'd rushed to do just that and rejecting the paranoia (hmmm... does anthrax have the same effect as garlic on vampires?).

Margaret pointed out the unhinged double message being sent by the White House: we're supposed to be on high alert, yet also to go about our business as usual. She wondered what the next level of alert is: are we going to have to sit in our homes and listen to the radio?

After a break, The Gang returned with a clip of Maj. Gen. Henry Osman of the US Army, whose ears make him resemble a car driving down the road with both doors wide open. Apparently infected with Smirk's rampant inability to speak English, Osman said that we haven't "degradated" all the military targets in Afghanistan at this point.

The imprecise and misguided "precision-guided weapon" that turned innocent Afghani civilians into sausage was mentioned.

Is the attack going according to schedule? Kate says yes -- and she assumes that special forces are already on the ground. Kate also believes that the misguided guided missile was just, to use Tim McVeigh's very favorite term, "collateral damage."

Shields says that may be true, but this is one of the world's poorest countries; moreover, due to war deaths over the years, 42% of the population is under the age of 15, meaning that much of this "collateral damage" were slaughtered children. He also said that British military figures and the US are indicating that this attack will continue through winter and on into the summer. Can or should we sustain it that long? Pakistan needs it to be over as quickly as possible to avoid a complete uprising (of course, you KNOW that Smirk will keep it going at least until the next election).

Hunt said he hopes that it doesn't continue for a long time, and says it can't go on that long or it would cause a violent uprising in Arab countries.   He drew a parallel by noting that the so-called "Drug War" was endless, that we said we'd get Pablo Escobar and that would be it. Well, we did. There wasn't even a minor blip in the amount of drugs still entering the country, and the endless and futile "drug war" continues.

Margaret said the "war" is going the right way, but pointed out that we had 23,000 troops on the ground in Panama, and it took two weeks to find Manuel Noriega in a country we "owned."  She added that we might topple the Taliban before even having anything else to take it's place -- and Pakistan won't accept the Northern Alliance as new rulers. This might be reason enough to slow down at some point.

Novak said that there could have been operations to infiltrate and turn the Taliban and install a different government in Afghanistan, but that it can't be done with bombs falling. But he excused Smirk and Co., saying that he was under "enormous public pressure" to take military action.

Come on.  I don't think the majority of the country would have minded had we NOT taken immediate military actions in the form of these air strikes. We're adults, and we don't need to be entertained ("Lookit that Elmer! They blowed that up reeeal good!") and pacified by watching billions of dollars being spent as we flex our military muscles. I think we would have survived without seeing little flashes on a green screen, blurry surveillance pictures, and without the daily military PR campaign complete with high tech computer graphics extolling the power and might of our hugely expensive military hardware. But hey, at least a few members of the press get to take rides in F-16s!

And Mark Shields corrected dour, sour "Blob", pointing out correctly that there was not tremendous pressure from the American public to launch a military offensive, noting that the public is very patient. The only real pressure was from the far right wing of the Republican party, from whom Little Lord Smirkleroy takes his marching orders.  Sad, but true.

The attempts of the White House to deny information to the public and even to our representatives in the government was the next topic of pundit prognostication.

Then a video clip was shown: Smirk saying "I took it upon myself" to limit briefings to only a handful of people. Junior, NEVER take it upon yourself to do ANYTHING. PLEASE! We're BEGGIN' you! You're supposed to leave that stuff to the "grown-ups" around you that were touted so highly during the campaign.  Of course, this dimwit wasn't aware that what he tried to do was illegal. He obviously thinks that the executive branch now supersedes the legislative branch of our government. He's said TWICE how nice it would be if the US were a dictatorship, as long as he was the dictator. So this was just another little stab at testing the waters. Thank God someone pointed out that he wasn't dictator just yet.

Margaret said that this stuff was over-reaching and said that the White House would love to keep all kinds of things secret, but that using the catch-all excuse of putting troops at risk is not valid for withholding all kinds of information: we have a right to know what's going on.

She said that there may be some sort of coded messages in bin Laden's statements and thinks some "experts" should figure that out. (HOW?) But, Margaret says, the media should be the judges on this sort of thing, not the government.

First of all, the entire phony excuse of "coded messages" in these statements is an absolute JOKE! Think about this for a moment: when bin Laden is shown on tape urging all Muslims to rise up and attack Americans and American targets, are we worried that there may be a coded message in there where he is secretly telling his followers to rise up and attack Americans and American targets?   It's RIDICULOUS!  And certainly, bin Laden has many, many ways to contact the outside world. We are told he has a global network. Are we so stupid as to think that his followers couldn't be contacted simply by phone, fax, or any number of common methods relayed through his network? Are we really so stupid as to think that these taped remarks are his ONLY way of communicating?? They keep telling us how sophisticated and well organized bin Laden is -- then they expect us to believe that he runs his entire terror network via coded messages on tape! HA, HA, HA, HA!  Then, even if you accept those ludicrous notions, the fact remains that no matter what Condi Rice tells the networks, no matter if the networks censor these statements, the fact remains that they WILL be broadcast pretty much to the REST of the free world. And I would imagine they'd be available on the 'Net as well. 

So even IF this notion of coded messages were anywhere near true, anyone that wants to see it certainly can. They broadcast it in the U.K. or any other country. The terrorist there sees it, and can simply contact the terrorist in the US via e-mail or any number of methods.

So this entire "coded messages" thing is a complete sham for the express purpose of not allowing the American public to hear what the Taliban and bin Laden have to say.

I feel that is an OUTRAGE!  We have a RIGHT to hear this. Let us judge for ourselves that it's BS.  American citizens being the only people in the free world that can NOT see or listen to these things is seriously WRONG. The White House has NO business trying to deny us the right to watch the terrorists' statements.

And just how shaky must the White House be if they feel that it's "dangerous" for the American people, you and I, to see and hear what the enemy is saying?  Are they afraid that it would turn public opinion against our government?  That's preposterous.  Attention, Shrubling: DON'T give us phony-baloney reasons to keep it from us!

Novak then surprised us all by noting that all governments attempt to keep secrets, but said that Republican administrations in particular were noted for their efforts to keep what they're doing secret (wow! mark this down on your calendar, kids) -- and during times of war, Novak said (come to think of it, I can't remember a Repug administration where we weren't at war), Repugs are even MORE obsessed with keeping what they are doing from the public.

Bob then noted another very crucial bit of evidence in Junior's little security snit. None of the supposed information that Smirk was so livid about, the information that was supposedly leaked by someone in the Congress, was ever PUBLISHED!  No one knows what it was. Have you heard this leaked information? Neither have I. Neither has anyone. So what's the big deal?

Kate, in typical Repub fashion, called for an investigation to find out who the non-leaking leaker was!  Lunacy.

Hunt then nailed it by saying it was more the Rove faction trying to hype Smirk as this angry, tough guy, and noted that it was stupid and unnecessary.

Personally, I've seen enough of the "Smirk as tough guy" crap lately to gag a maggot.

And, please -- what's with the Chimp's obsession with "evil"? He literally can not appear without using the word incessantly -- for example, a DOZEN times in his phony press conference alone!

Al then continued with his clear-headed assessment by saying that there WAS something that was leaked and reported that the White House was pissed about. An official saying that there was a 100% chance of terrorist retaliation if we attacked Afghanistan. Reporting that was absolutely proper, no matter what Chimp's handlers say.

Al also points up that we should never forget that it's the GOVERNMENT that wants to control information, and it's not the role of media to let them do it.

I wish someone would tell the media that!

Mark Shields revealed that Robert Dallek, the presidential historian, did a piece in "USA Today" on the 12th of September saying the president should have returned to the White House and shouldn't have run like a scared bunny to Omaha. This is a perfectly legitimate point of view.

Dallek then got a call the next day from Herr Rove, whom he'd never met, saying he was wrong because the White House was going to be attacked, and so was Air Force One. Rove said they had reports of this.

Of course, they've never been able to supply any information, or any supporting evidence, and they've backed off the story.

Shields says this is the White House telling people that they know more than you do and expecting them to toe the line, even when it's BS.

Mark was upset as well about all the talk about invading Iraq. Of course, we need all the information we can on this and a full, free public debate. These kind of momentous decisions shouldn't be "made by a council of elders", Shields said.

This brings to mind a vision of Dick Cheney in some subterranean hideout with an eye patch and quasi-military outfit hissing directives into a speaker. He's lit by the glow of a high tech global map filled with blinking lights displaying which countries contain the most untapped oil and which corporations want what. Let's hope the Taj Mahal isn't sitting on top of an oil deposit!

Kate snapped that members of Congress need to keep their mouths shut (hmmm... wonder if Kate's ever considered heeding that advice herself? naaaah!).

Hunt reminded us all of how the government lied to us during the Gulf War by saying that everything was going perfectly, that we'd hit all our targets, etc. only to find out later that that wasn't the case.

Only days ago, Rumsfeld reported that we'd achieved total air superiority and that all their offensive capabilities against aircraft had been destroyed. Then the next day they said that wasn't the case.

Yet there are millions of people out there that still get furious at you if you even suggest that the government might not always tell the truth.

Novak recounted the history of military/press relations by saying that reporters were free to run around and report in Vietnam, and the military decided they weren't going to let that happen again, so they tried to totally control what information we got about a war that we, as taxpayers, were supporting. He firmly states that there is going to be even LESS information given to us about this "war."

How comforting.

Margaret brought up the primary problem with secrecy, which is that far, far, far too much is classified as top secret that isn't remotely that sensitive. All done in order to make sure it doesn't get out.

The newsmaker of the week was Bill Richardson, eight-term Democratic Congressman from New Mexico, United States Ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy in the Clinton Administration -- and a man twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize as a diplomatic troubleshooter.

Richardson felt that there will have to be a U.N presence in Afghanistan for a long period of time after this for humanitarian reasons as well as to try to stabilize any future government. This is "nation-building" at its finest, something Smirk condemned the Clinton Administration for doing and vowed he wouldn't do.

Well, just add THAT promise to the growing list of lies told during his campaign.

He also feels that Iraq should be dealt with, but to do so in the wrong way would jeopardize the entire coalition.

The "Beyond the Beltway" segment didn't even make it outside the D.C. beltway this week. They only made it to Georgetown -- where they found guest John L. Esposito of Georgetown University, the founding director of the Center for Muslim/Christian Understanding at the school, and author of "Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality."

I've seen Esposito interviewed before and he has an excellent grasp of the Muslim world -- facts that are very important for the American public to comprehend.

He stressed again the difference between the majority of Muslims and the extremists that comprise the terrorist groups.

He also made note that there is widespread anti-American sentiment even among Arabs that are in business, etc. and who admire American principles.

This, he says, is because of our double-standard in the Middle East.

Voicing the same rational point that caused Rudy Giuliani to hand back $10,000,000 in needed relief money to a Saudi prince last week, Esposito noted that our double standard in regards to our Israel policy was a cause of even moderate Arabs growing ill will towards us.

It is evidently not allowed in the U.S. media for anyone to even QUESTION our policies towards Israel without either being completely censored or roundly and immediately condemned.  Somehow, Esposito got around it.

Esposito also pointed out our double standard -- for example, "in terms of our going into Kosovo because we are concerned about self-determination and human rights, but we look the other way when we watch the Russians go into Chechnya, or with regard to Kashmir."

It should be noted as well that Bush is now saying a Palestinian STATE should be a part of any settlement in the Arab/Israeli conflict. This outraged Ariel Sharon, but he quickly backed down. I suspect that Bush is doing this as part of a deal for cooperation from Jordan and Egypt and other Arab nations, and he somehow got word to Sharon that it was only talk, so not to be upset. Time will tell.

And now on to the OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK!

SHEILDS: "Secretary of State Colin Powell served two tours Vietnam where he was twice wounded and decorated for valor. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage served three combat tours in Vietnam as a Navy SEAL officer. But Powell and Armitage, because they have resisted a U.S. attack upon Iraq without national debate, are not tough enough for Newt Gingrich, former Reagan appointee Richard Perle and Bush Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz, who are part of the group plotting the invasion of Iraq.  Gingrich, Wolfowitz and Perle never wore the uniform of their country. The definition of silence ought to be 'Gingrich, Wolfowitz and Perle swapping war stories.'"

HA, HA, HA! A classic from Shields!

NOVAK: "Amid professions of bipartisanship, Democrats still refuse to grant a hearing for Otto Reich, President Bush's anti-Castro nominee as Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. Reich's main antagonist, Senator Chris Dodd, claims Reich, as ambassador to Venezuela, sought admission to the U.S. of accused anti-Castro terrorist Orlando Bosch, but State Department sources say secret cables show Ambassador Reich protested when Venezuelan officials smuggled Bosch into this country.  A hearing could determine the truth, but is Senator Dodd afraid of the truth?"

CARLSON (smiling): "I don't think so."

Ha, Ha!  Touché, Margaret!

CARLSON: "For your safety, American traveling public, the airlines are no longer allowing you to leave your seat during the first or last half hour of a flight. This means on the Washington to New York shuttle, not getting up at all, even to use the bathroom. Should you dare to, the plane will be immediately diverted to Dulles, 25 miles from Washington and, more significantly, three miles from the nearest taxi stand. Meanwhile, the airlines are still using a security company to screen bags fined $1.2 million for hiring convicted felons.  The airlines are strapping down the wrong people!"

O'BEIRNE: "In an unprecedented action, U.S. military planes dropping desperately needed food and supplies to the Afghan people have shared the skies with military bombers. Under the Taliban regime, which claims to care so deep about the children in Iraq, half the children in Afghanistan suffer from chronic malnutrition.  It's outrageous that this humanitarian effort has been criticized by some in the media and international aid groups as unseemly propaganda."

Well, that's because it IS, Kate. Doctors Without Borders, to cite one example, is a very respected group worldwide. They are on the ground and know what reality is. They have condemned it as a cruel PR stunt, which it is. We've dropped perhaps 100,000 rations on a country where literally millions are starving. Then we kill many that these rations are supposed to save.  And that's not to mention the fact that the bombing prevents all movement of aid supplies and trucks, so no one is able to be fed!

HUNT: "Saudi Prince Waleed gave $10 million to the victims of the World Trade Center attack, but then the Saudi billionaire put out an accompanying statement blasting the Israelis and somehow suggesting September 11 was tied to the Palestinian issue. That was outrageous, as is any attempt to try and use this tragedy for your own agenda.

In another one of his splendid moves, Mayor Rudy Giuliani gave the money back to Waleed and told him where he could put it."

Al, where did you leave reality? His statement did not "blast" Israelis at all, it simply suggested that we take a look at our policies towards Israel as a part of the solution to terrorism. And the September 11th attack WAS tied to the Palestinian issue! How could one not be aware of that? The terrorists THEMSELVES have stated that. You think it's outrageous to state the truth?   There's the argument that to change any of our policies would legitimize terrorism as a tool for change. But I don't see the wisdom in hanging onto policies that are going to continue to cause continued terror and global instability.  I think at this point EVERYTHING should be looked at.

Hunt continued to condemn anyone using this attack for their own agenda. I agree. But I didn't hear any outrage when Netanyahu and others from Israel were here before the fires were even out and appearing on every show in town to try to make sure that Arafat was included in our war on terrorism. I didn't hear any howls when the right rushed in to use the attack as justification for everything from the phony "Star Wars" missile defense scam to capital gains tax cuts.  Dozens upon dozens of groups have tried to use the attack to promote their agenda, including Smirk. So try not to be so "outraged."

Morrie Friendly is a political strategist who lives in Georgetown.

Donna Wynner is an attorney.  She lives in scenic Fort Lee, New Jersey.

Dash Riprock is a free lance smart-aleck based in Moline, IL Share your thoughts (or recipes for that matter) or direct your wrath to dashriprockapj@hotmail.com 

Copyright © 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1997, 1996, American Politics Journal Publications, Inc.
All rights reserved. Read our privacy policy. Contact us.
ISSN No. 1523-1690