DID HE DOCTOR HIS NOTES?

More details on Andrew Gilligan’s “reporting.” It’s looking worse – we could be headed for Jayson Blair territory here. On a broader note, an insider in London I trust tells me I’ve misjudged why this story has been such a big deal in Britain, and could still damage Blair. In Britain, the tradition has always been an extremely bright line between politics and intelligence agencies. Whereas in the U.S.. there’s competition and rivalry among various spy agencies, and an understanding that presidents and Congress may use different pieces of evidence to make their case, in Britain, this has historically not been the case. Intelligence is generally presented to the public straight from the agencies themselves or never presented at all. Blair’s “dossier” was therefore unique and unusual in British history. It didn’t doctor intelligence reports, but it sure did spin them to make the strongest case for war possible. In the U.S., that’s not exactly news. In Britain, it was and is, and has come to symbolize for many the obsessive concern with news management that has been a hallmark of the Blair premiership. That – and the fact that they didn’t experience 9/11 directly – helps explain why Blair has had to endure far worse Monday morning quarterbacking than Bush.

AND THE BATTLE BEGINS: A married Canadian couple have been refused entry to the United States because they refused to fill out immigration forms as separate, single people. Good for them. As marriage spreads throughout the West, this is going to become an even bigger problem. The U.S. is already a country that bans any foreigner with HIV from entering the country. We’re spending $15 billion on AIDS in Africa out of “compassionate conservatism” but won’t alloow a single African with HIV to visit here. Now the U.S. is going to keep gay people out, HIV or no HIV, – but only those who have decided to take responsibility for each other in marriage. (Thanks to DiscountBlogger).