Dreadful news today that the president may be wavering in his intent to destroy the Iraqi regime. If true, then those of us who have supported the war on terror need to revise our assessment of this president. He told the German press yesterday that there is no plan to invade on his desk. He said it almost proudly. His military leaders, in a sign of their determination to risk nothing and achieve nothing, are now leaking to the Washington Post that they have all but scotched a serious military option in Iraq. The arguments they are using sound like they might come from a Gore administration. After all that this president has said, after all that he has asked, a reversal on this central question would be nothing short of a staggering betrayal of trust, a reversal of will and determination. Of course, there should be no peremptory, rushed or botched war. Of course, all options should be examined. But the signs are unmistakable. This president, having begun as an improvement on his father, is showing signs that he could end up as something even worse. It’s time he heard from his supporters that this is a critical matter on which there can be no compromise. If he balks, it will be worse than his father’s betrayal on taxes. It will be a betrayal of the very security of the American people.
THE WEAKNESS OF WEAKLAND: It might seem unseemly to pile on to Archbishop Weakland’s admission of a $450,000 hush-money settlement he paid to a man whom he allegedly sexually attacked twenty years ago. But here goes. The story of the “date rape” seems extremely hazy and not-so-convincing to me. The real story is that a bishop had a long and difficult affair with another man, eventually found the strength to return to celibacy – but then used the Church’s money to buy his former lover’s silence. That’s the scandal. What this is about is not sex as such. Weakland didn’t abuse a minor and, so far as I can tell, committed no crime. That puts this in a different category than the other recent revelations. And the violation of his privacy in this, including the publication of a deeply personal letter, is appalling. But what he did do – and recently – was use the church’s money to save himself some bad publicity. Not just any money – but almost half a million dollars! It seems to me that that money was stolen by the archbishop from his parishioners. It must be returned. More and more, these members of the hierarchy seem to think they’re immune to even the most basic accountability, that they can use the authority of the Church to buy themselves and their friends and underlings out of trouble. Weakland deserves compassion in as much as he had an adult emotional relationship which he clearly eventually ended. But he should not be excused for abusing the power of his office to rob the Church to protect his own reputation. The problem, as I have tried to emphasize, is not so much the abuse of sex as the abuse of power. And solving that dynamic is exactly what Rome has no intention of doing.
THE RAINES DOCTRINE: “We respect our readers’ right to express their opinion.” – Howell Raines, New York Times. Just not his writers’.
LEVY UPDATE: Well, we have now been told that, contrary to previous reports, the place where Chandra Levy’s remains were found had not been searched last year. And we’re told that the DC cops are playing down the idea that a man who had assaulted two women during the same period of time in the same part of Rock Creek Park had anything to do with it. Every time I criticize the DC police, I’m told that I don’t know what I’m talking about, that such complaints are second-guessing from amateurs, and so on. Still, I’m only passing on what we’re told. I hope the case gets another break soon.
THE CASE AGAINST EUROPE: I really should have linked to Michael Gove’s recent dismemberment of European pretension in the Times of London. Better late then never. As Bush deals with these faint-hearted states, this is mandatory reading.
LETTERS: Why some bloggers are a pain in the butt; why I’m a lefty on the overclass; why George W. Bush shouldn’t be let off the 9/11 hook; etc.
AN INTERN VENTS: A classic memo from an intern reprinted in the New York Post yesterday. I found it thanks to “Tapped,” the American Prospect blog. Everyone who has ever been an intern will know exactly what she means. Hearst should be ashamed of firing her. They should give her a column.
THAT EMAIL: I quoted from about Alterman’s narcissism was taken from an actual blog. I didn’t notice that in the email. Apologies. Here’s the site whence it came.
The Dish 