Iraq
update: 1) Having refused to negotiate with Iraq or to ease sanctions, the
United States offered to ease sanctions on Iraqi oil sales if Iraq lets
U.N. weapons inspectors resume their work. Pundits cried appeasement. Iraq
rejected the offer and insisted that the world accept Iraq's conditions for
resumption of inspections. 2) Russia said that it has worked out a deal with
Iraq, but didn't say what's in the deal. Critics objected that the deal
reportedly would include a U.N. pledge to cut short its weapons-inspection
program. The charitable view: Russia is playing good cop , while the
United States plays bad cop. The uncharitable view: Russia is selling us out.
3) The Wall Street Journal accelerated the backspin against military
action with a Wednesday piece criticizing "facile Washington commentary" that
exaggerates the ease of deposing or crippling Saddam Hussein through force.
(
Slate
gives you "The Gist" on Iraq since the Gulf War.) (11/19)
A
federal regulator banned Teamsters President Ron Carey from seeking
re-election, concluding that he was involved in a scam to launder union money
into his 1996 campaign. Editorialists bemoaned the fall of an idol (see
Slate
's assessment), arguing that his legacy of reforming the
Teamsters transcends his personal lapse. Left-wingers complained that
right-wingers would use the ruling to tar the whole labor movement.
Right-wingers, led by the Wall Street Journal , obliged them. Defenders
pointed out that Carey hadn't murdered anybody (unlike past Teamsters bosses),
and rationalized his scam as a "desperate" response to the threat posed by his
more corrupt opponent, James P. Hoffa. Reformers consoled themselves with the
hope that regulators will likewise throw Hoffa off the ballot for campaign
violations. (11/19)
Terrorists massacred 58 foreign tourists in an Egyptian temple. None was
American. The victims were shot, hacked, and mutilated. Egypt's biggest
extremist faction, the "Islamic Group," claimed responsibility. Analysts
suggested a further escalation of violence. The Los Angeles Times linked
the massacre to similar bloodshed in Algeria and blamed it on poor security.
The Chicago Tribune blamed Egypt's neglect of social and economic
inequality. (11/19)
Texas
is considering whether to replace school textbooks with laptops .
Arguments for the switch: 1) With lower laptop prices plus volume discounts, it
will be cheaper than new textbooks. 2) Laptops will make it easier to update
the curriculum. 3) Students learn more on computers. 4) It'll give poor kids
access to technology. Best argument against it: Kids will lose their laptops.
Bottom line: The question is when, not whether, the switch will happen.
(11/19)
Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the United States to plead for
Jewish unity. The inside spin: Non-Orthodox Jews in the United States are
furious at Netanyahu's collaboration with Orthodox Jews in Israel who are
denying state recognition to non-Orthodox institutions. The conflict--in
addition to anger over Netanyahu's management of peace talks with the
Palestinians--is affecting American Jews' donations to Israel. Netanyahu's
message: American Jews are "partners" with Israel in resolving this conflict,
and there are no "second-class Jews." The outside spin: Why isn't Clinton
meeting with Netanyahu during his visit? "Good for Clinton! Netanyahu has
earned this snub," said the Chicago Tribune , noting that the Israeli
prime minister's rocky relations with the Palestinians were screwing up the
U.S.-Arab coalition against Saddam Hussein. (11/17)
Justice
Department officials predict that an independent counsel will be named to
investigate Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt . This is likely, according
to the Washington Post , because the dispute over whether Babbitt traded
a decision on an Indian-casino license for Democratic-campaign money involves
facts that the department can't resolve in its allotted three months. An
independent probe of Babbitt would include examination of top White House and
Democratic National Committee officials, particularly Harold Ickes, possibly
leading to a wholesale investigation of Clinton's fund raising, as Republicans
have hoped. (11/17)
Chinese
dissident Wei Jingsheng was released from prison and exiled to the
United States. The first-day spin: It's a triumph for human rights and a
vindication of Clinton's constructive-engagement policy. The second-day
backspins: 1) Wei brought his punishment on himself by thumbing his nose at the
Chinese government. 2) China's offer to exile him was old news. 3) China has
thereby rid itself of an irksome "martyr" and his influence on the country. 4)
Other Chinese dissidents are still in jail. 5) Trading nuclear technology and
helicopters for him at the recent summit was a lousy deal. (11/17)
Former
teacher Mary Kay LeTourneau was sentenced
to six months in jail
and three years of treatment for having sex--and a baby--with a 13-year-old
student. She had pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree child rape. She
was 35 and married with four kids at the time. Controversy 1: The Los
Angeles Times asks whether it was rape or, "as dozens of male respondents
to local newspapers and talk radio programs suggest, the answer to every
schoolboy's dream." Corollary: Should the fact that LeTourneau and the boy
still "love" each other count against her (as psychologists insist) or for her?
The boy's mother says: "I don't feel that this is a crime. My son does not feel
victimized." Controversy 2: Did she get off lightly because she's a woman,
whereas men are jailed longer for similar crimes? The respectable rejoinder:
She's a first-time offender. The naughty rejoinder, offered by her lawyer:
Critics just want to punish her because "she is attractive." (11/17)
Congress killed payments to the United Nations and the International
Monetary Fund for the rest of the year. The reason: an abstruse quarrel over
abortion funding. The payments to the United Nations were already overdue.
Clinton spokesman Mike McCurry called the decision "utterly boneheaded" because
1) the United States needs U.N. support against Iraq and 2) the IMF needs the
promise of U.S. financial support to help quell financial panic in Asia.
Another end-of-session deal will allow more than a million illegal
immigrants to stay in the United States but tighten controls on future
illegal entrants. Immigrant spokesmen welcomed the relaxation but said it was
unfair to future comers and favored some groups (Nicaraguans and Cubans) over
others. (11/14)
The
mastermind and the driver in the World Trade Center bombing were
convicted. They face life sentences. Four lesser conspirators were convicted in
1994; another suspect escaped, probably to Iraq. The remaining mystery is
whether some other person, group, or country funded and orchestrated the
bombing. The sunny spin: We nailed the terrorists. The ominous spin: The
terrorists nailed us first, more are coming, and there are too many to keep
track of. Meanwhile, the FBI ended its probe of the TWA Flight 800 plane
crash, leaving mechanical failure as the only theory under investigation.
Editorialists labored to connect the two contrary outcomes. (Various sites,
among them MSNBC, provide CIA video of the reconstruction of the crash of TWA Flight
800.) (11/14)
The Washington Post
reported more evidence of the alleged Chinese plot to influence U.S.
elections. 1) FBI intelligence files indicate that Democratic fund-raiser Maria
Hsia has been a Chinese agent. 2) "Reliable" reports say that John Huang gave a
classified document to China while in the Commerce Department, but the FBI
can't confirm this. 3) "Fragmentary intelligence" suggests that China wanted to
channel money to Clinton's campaign. The spin: Why didn't the Justice
Department get this information earlier? Attorney General Janet Reno didn't get
it and give it to Senate investigation chairman Fred Thompson until his
hearings had ended. Analysts called it another blow to Reno's credibility and
another reason to appoint an independent counsel. (11/14)
