Entries for September 25, 2006

I've criticized the Washington Post in the past for running lead stories on the front page that were not worthy of attention–particularly in the Monday paper, which is the recipient of a lot of stories that have been languishing on the in-type list for months. But today the Post led with a story that I think deserves the attention the paper has given it. "FBI Is Casting a Wider Net in Anthrax Attacks" is the headline. The story suggests that the FBI investigation of the anthrax attacks that occurred almost exactly five years ago–five years ago!–was pitifully incompetent. The first three paragraphs report that the initial laboratory tests of the anthrax were inaccurate. "Countless scientific tests at numerous laboratories" have shown that the anthrax was "far less sophisticated than originally believed" and undercut the FBI's theory that it must have come from a government scientist.

Here's the transcript of Chris Wallace's explosive interview with Bill Clinton on Fox News Sunday. It's worth watching the video to see the famous Clinton temper in action. Interestingly, Clinton relied heavily on the book by Richard Clarke, which was widely interpreted as supporting the claim that Clinton did more to get Osama bin Laden than George W. Bush did in his first years in office. But, as Byron York points out in nationalreview.com, Clarke's book does not support Clinton's claim.

I seem to notice a pattern emerging from poll results for Senate and House races. Republicans are doing better, in comparison with the Bush 2004 performance, in the Northeast and big metropolitan areas, than they are in states and districts with substantial rural and small-town populations. It looks as if the big margins Bush won in rural and small-town counties–margins that were essential to his wins in states like Ohio and Missouri–are not there, at least not yet, for Republican candidates with serious Democratic opponents. But Republicans in the Northeast and perhaps in other big metro areas (as in the two seriously contested House races in the Chicago suburbs) are running even with or ahead of Bush's showing.