Passing the buck

Where does the buck stop? The buck stops with the president, that's where. That's why he's the head of state- he is the ultimate authority in the United States. If he makes a speech, and that speech contain lies, he cannot pass the buck to the CIA or whichever intelligence service vetted it. What Bush did when he sacrificed CIA director Tenet was an embarrassment.

I don't have proof that Bush knew that the Niger documents were forgeries. But I have difficulty believing that Bush is blameless, that he is a mere dupe. If he is a dupe, that speaks to a failure of leadership. If he put the CIA in such a position where it could not air its true doubts and reservations about Iraq intelligence, this also speaks to a failure of leadership. A president who does not command the honesty of his generals, his intelligence agencies, and his security advisors is a bad leader.

For Tenet to be blamed for something that Bush said is disgraceful, but not as disgraceful as the whole affair as it has passed thus far. Not only has the White House blamed Tenet, but it has minimized the significance of Tenet's perceived sins. Tenet may have let Bush say those falsehoods, the White House says, nevertheless, Bush is still "confident" in the CIA. Furthermore, it considers the Iraq/Uranium issue "closed."

That's ridiculous. Actions have consequences. If the CIA is entirely to blame, Tenet should resign. If not, the parties responsible should be punished. You can't deceive the American people on matters of national security and get away with it. I believe this matter should be investigated. I think it should be determined definitively how Bush ended up including statements in the SOTU that the intelligence community knew weren't true. Because this is a significant matter- it's a matter of public trust.

Geez.

RIP Buddy Ebsen

RIP Katherine Hepburn

RIP Gregory Peck

RIP Barry White

RIP former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson

RIP Herbie Mann

RIP Strom Thurmond

RIP former Georgia Gov. Lester Maddox

(kind of odd two prominent segregationists dying so close together)

I guess the best explanation is that the Summer heat kills, but it's kind of astounding how many prominent figures have died in the last few weeks

Fewer Haters, Please

Bad behavior is too often rewarded.

For example, Ann Coulter, one of America's most prominent public intellectuals, is fired from magazines or removed from syndication with some frequency, but we still hear from her far too often. Far too often for someone who laments that Timothy McVeigh didn't blow up the New York Times building intead, for someone who advocated executing the American Taliban only in order to intimidate liberals, for someone who thinks we should invade Muslim countries, kill their leaders, and convert them to Christianity.

Whereas most public intellectuals would be widely condemned for such sentiments and then ignored, Coulter has evaded such a fate. She has done so by upping the ante, among other things. She has just released a book entitled Treason, in which she attempts to rehabilitate the reputation of Joseph MCarthy and to tar all who don't subscribe to her extremist views as traitors. For this, prominent righty blogger and columnist Andy Sullivan has sort-of called her on her schtick. But, as is his custom, Andy stops short. He even calls her a babe(!). That anorexic horse-faced viper? Not in a million years. But for Andy, it's a good start.

Television, which is the medium through which Coulter has developed her fame, is well suited for the extremism, opportunism, and sensationalism that is her hallmark. For the last two weeks, you could not watch the cable news networks without seeing the brittle hysteric hustling her McCarthy apologia. In writing this entry, I am a guilty party, but it is my great wish that Coulter fades into the obscurity she so sorely deserves.

It seems possible, even likely, that a right wing demogogue who shares many of her characteristics maybe headed to such a fate. I write of Michael "Savage" Weiner. This cultural pollutant has been fired from his MSNBC gig spewing hate on Saturday afternoons. Apparently he told a homosexual who called into his show he should "get AIDS and die." By the way, "Savage" has also lost syndication of his radio show in some major markets recently. It seems "Savage" is on the outs.

Hooray. If only the same thing could happen to O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, and Joe Scarborough.