Some news stories in today's papers that will be worth your time and attention:
+ John McCain's strategy for relaunching his campaign appears to be based on tying himself even more tightly to the war in Iraq. Color me confused. The man claims Iraq is safe enough that you can wander some of its streets alone and in safety, then heads to a market in Iraq with the protection of 100+ soldiers and several helicopters. You would think that would make his reconsider. But apparently not. Despite the fact that the trip to the market has already made McCain a laughing stock, he's still out there trying to paint the trip a success. McCain today:
I observed that our delegation "stopped at a local market, where we spent well over an hour, shopping and talking with the local people, getting their views and ideas about different issues of the day." Markets in Baghdad have faced devastating terrorist attacks. A car bombing at Shorja in February, for example, killed 137 people. Today the market still faces occasional sniper attacks, but it is safer than it used to be. One innovation of the new strategy is closing markets to vehicles, thereby precluding car bombs that kill so many and garner so much media attention. Petraeus understandably wanted us to see this development.
One more time, for the record, here's how that market looked one day after McCain's visit:
...21 Shia market workers were ambushed, bound and shot dead north of the capital. The victims came from the Baghdad market visited the previous day by John McCain, the US presidential candidate, who said that an American security plan in the capital was starting to show signs of progress.
+ "If we were to leave before the job is done, the enemy would follow us here" right? Wrong. And McClatchy's Washington Bureau has decided to step up and call him on it:
“The president is using a primitive, inarticulate argument that leaves him open to criticism and caricature,” said James Jay Carafano, a homeland security and counterterrorism expert for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy organization. “It’s a poor choice of words that doesn’t convey the essence of the problem - that walking away from a problem doesn’t solve anything.”
Go take a look at the whole thing, then head over to ThinkProgress for more.
+ White House Looked Past Alarms on Kerik: WaPo adds a new twist to the Bernie Kerik saga:
When former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani urged President Bush to make Bernard B. Kerik the next secretary of homeland security, White House aides knew Kerik as the take-charge top cop from Sept. 11, 2001. But it did not take them long to compile an extensive dossier of damaging information about the would-be Cabinet officer.
They learned about questionable financial deals, an ethics violation, allegations of mismanagement and a top deputy prosecuted for corruption. Most disturbing, according to people close to the process, was Kerik's friendship with a businessman who was linked to organized crime. The businessman had told federal authorities that Kerik received gifts, including $165,000 in apartment renovations, from a New Jersey family with alleged Mafia ties.Alarmed about the raft of allegations, several White House aides tried to raise red flags. But the normal investigation process was short-circuited, the sources said. Bush's top lawyer, Alberto R. Gonzales, took charge of the vetting, repeatedly grilling Kerik about the issues that had been raised. In the end, despite the concerns, the White House moved forward with his nomination -- only to have it collapse a week later.
This is the man who is serving as our Attorney General. Despite the links Kerik had to organized crime, Gonzales thought he was the right man for the job. What wonderful judgement this man has.
+ Scandal puts spotlight on Christian law school: Speaking of Gonzales and his Department of Justice, today's Boston Globe has a fascinating look at the conservative christian law school that has sent over 100 thirty-somethings to work on Gonzales' staff. It's a tier four, bottom of the barrel institution. But despite that, well, here's just one of the examples of the success its graduates have found under the current administration:
Many of those who have Regent law degrees, including Goodling, joined the Department of Justice. Their path to employment was further eased in late 2002, when John Ashcroft , then attorney general, changed longstanding rules for hiring lawyers to fill vacancies in the career ranks.
Previously, veteran civil servants screened applicants and recommended whom to hire, usually picking top students from elite schools.In a recent Regent law school newsletter, a 2004 graduate described being interviewed for a job as a trial attorney at the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division in October 2003. Asked to name the Supreme Court decision from the past 20 years with which he most disagreed, he cited Lawrence v. Texas, the ruling striking down a law against sodomy because it violated gay people's civil rights.
"When one of the interviewers agreed and said that decision in Lawrence was 'maddening,' I knew I correctly answered the question," wrote the Regent graduate . The administration hired him for the Civil Rights Division's housing section -- the only employment offer he received after graduation, he said.
The school is dedicated to helping students understand "how legal rules should be changed to better reflect 'eternal principles of justice.'" How very American of them. Want more? Slate's Dalia Lithwick has what you need.
+ al-Sadr calls for attacks on U.S. troops: Until now, he had been watching the surge from the sidelines. No longer. If the goal of the insurgency is to make US leadership look foolish, they are doing a bang up job.
Back for more later....
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