Spin this one, Gene Lyons! According to Drudge, Vanity Fair is preparing an investigative piece on the catastrophic failure of the Clinton State Department to snag bin Laden and learn vast amounts of information about al Qaeda in 1996 – occasioned by a remarkable offer to cooperate from the Sudanese government. I’ve mentioned this point several times before – and had the usual hysterical response from Clintonistas that I’m a “hater,” etc, etc. (How many Clinton-“haters” edited a magazine that pioneered Clinton’s rise as a candidate? How many enthusiastically endorsed him in 1992? How many urged not to vote for conviction in impeachment? How many wrote a screed against Kenneth Starr at the height of the impeachment battle? How many consistently supported his right to a private sexual life? I did all of the above. My disgust at Clinton comes from nothing more than close empirical observation of his public malfeasance, corruption and lies for eight long years.) The truth is that the Clinton administration was worse than incompetent when it came to preventing international terrorism: its policies were dangerously naxefve, ineffective and counter-productive. As usual, none of the main players will ever concede error. Which is why the press will have to work even harder to nail their culpability and remind us more forcefully of the damage the 42d president did.
THE CLONING HYPE: Two useful pieces dissecting the press’s recent hype of the human cloning threat. If you want to be reassured about the science and unnerved by the “journalism,” read this Buffalo News piece. For more depth on how small companies can manipulate gullible science reporters, check out this piece by my colleague Jon Cohn at The New Republic. Ignore Jon’s statist remedies – the guy would have the government take over your toe-nail clipper if he could. The rest is very smart and worthwhile.
The Dish 