Best of the Web Today - August 17, 2006
By JAMES TARANTO
Roll the Tape
For those of you who can't get enough of us, we've begun participating in Wall Street Journal Video, a free service of WSJ.com. We'll be sitting down weekly with the Journal's Ed Crane to chat about the latest goings-on. Click the link above to watch the first installment, in which we analyze the Lieberman-Lamont race.
Who Is Catherine Mayo?
Passengers on a London-to-Washington flight got quite a scare yesterday, less than a week after the foiling of a massive plot to bomb planes departing from London and the day on which, according to some reports, the plot had been scheduled to be carried out. The Boston Globe reports:
A 59-year-old Vermont woman's behavior aboard a trans-Atlantic flight triggered a massive security response yesterday, with Air Force F-15 jets escorting the plane to [Boston's] Logan Airport, where federal agents seized the woman, authorities interrogated passengers, and police dogs sniffed through luggage for explosives.
The woman was found not to be a terrorist threat. . . . The woman, identified by two local security officials as Catherine C. Mayo, will probably be charged today with interfering with a flight crew, authorities said. Mayo's former husband said she had "emotional issues" and had been on her way home from vacationing in Pakistan. . . .
About an hour into the flight, passengers said in interviews, Mayo began nervously pacing up and down the aisle while wearing an oversized sweatshirt and muttering to herself. At different times, she told passengers that she suffered from claustrophobia and that she was an undercover reporter testing flight security. At one point, Mayo urinated on the floor, passengers said.
Then, Mayo began screaming at flight attendants who were trying to calm her. Two male passengers stepped in, subdued her, and restrained her with handcuffs provided by a flight crew member. The two passengers, a corrections officer and a federal air marshal in training, took the woman to the back of the plane and sat beside her until the plane landed, authorities said. She continued mumbling to herself but seemed calm by the time the plane touched down at Logan, passengers said.
Boston's WCVB-TV adds some details:
"She showed a lighter and was like, 'They let me bring this on the plane. I'm a journalist, and I'm going to try to sneak stuff on the plane,' " passenger Matthew Bolton said.
That account was unconfirmed by authorities, but NewsCenter 5 learned there was a Catherine Mayo from Vermont who wrote for the Daily Times of Pakistan in 2003. The woman who was arrested is a U.S. citizen, authorities said.
Searching the Pakistan Times Web site, we found five of Mayo's columns, all from 2003:
o "State of the Union 2003," Feb. 25
o "The Blue Planet," March 4
o "Value of Dissent," March 18
o "Letter to My Granddaughters," June 24
o "Freedom After 9/11," July 22
Here's a sample of her writing, from the first article listed above:
I think the US people have forgotten that President Bush didn't win the election. He only got the job because they couldn't decide what to do with pregnant chads in Florida. . . . When President Bush announced that God was telling him to bomb Iraq, my stomach turned over. He has no right to include God in his State of the Union address. It is forbidden by law; the church and state are completely separate in the United States. No politically elected person can use religion for his own ends.
The government of the US has changed in the last few months, and the citizens of the country haven't noticed yet. It has become an oligarchy. Its leaders rule with a wave of their hands, laughing into their sleeves. They can create any truth they want, and then create proof that it is real. They are accountable to no one. . . .
The people of the US don't have power anymore. That's what the Muslim world needs to understand. When President Bush says that he is God, the ordinary people go out and shovel the snow out of their driveways. There is nothing else they can do.
From what we see on some of the blogs, some of the email we get, and even the work of some major newspaper columnists, we'd say quite a few people these days have "emotional issues" that center on politics. Thank goodness most of them manage to control themselves while on airplanes.
Carter Judge: Hear No Evil
"A federal judge in Detroit on Thursday ordered the Bush administration to halt the National Security Agency's program of domestic eavesdropping [sic], saying it violated the U.S. Constitution," Reuters reports:
Judge Anna Diggs Taylor said the controversial practice of warrantless wiretapping known as the "Terrorist Surveillance Program" violated free speech rights, protections against unreasonable searches and the constitutional check on the power of the presidency.
The ruling marked a setback for the Bush administration, which had asked for the lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union to be thrown out, arguing that any court action on the case would jeopardize secrets in an ongoing war on terrorism.
Last week the Detroit Free Press profiled Judge Taylor, noting that she "is a liberal with Democratic roots" who campaigned for Jimmy Carter in 1976 and was "rewarded" in 1979 with a judicial nomination. The paper adds:
Even if Taylor harpoons the spying program, experts said, the decision likely would be overturned by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals.
"Given the composition of the 6th Circuit and its previous rulings in related areas, it seems more likely to favor national security over civil liberties if that issue is squarely presented," said Carl Tobias, a law professor at the University of Richmond in Virginia. "And that's what this case is all about."
The Justice Department has already appealed.
Dem vs. Dem
The sectarian strife within the Democratic Party is moving closer to civil war, the Hill reports:
A group of Senate Democrats is growing increasingly angry about Sen. Joe Lieberman's (D-Conn.) campaign tactics since he lost the Democratic primary last week.
If he continues to alienate his colleagues, Lieberman could be stripped of his seniority within the Democratic caucus should he defeat Democrat Ned Lamont in the general election this November, according to some senior Democratic aides. . . .
"I think there's a lot of concern," said a senior Democratic aide who has discussed the subject with colleagues. "I think the first step is if the Lieberman thing turns into a side show and hurts our message and ability to take back the Senate, and the White House and the [National Republican Senatorial Committee] manipulate him, there are going to be a lot of unhappy people in our caucus."
This sounds to us like a bluff. If Lieberman wins re-election as an independent, his party will have every reason to make nice with him--not only to ensure that the seat stays Democratic, but also to ensure that the party isn't captured by the Angry Left, the limited political appeal of which would have been demonstrated by a Ned Lamont defeat.
A new poll from Quinnipiac College suggests that Lieberman is the favorite, despite his primary loss. Lieberman leads Lamont 53% to 41% among likely voters, with Republican Alan Schlesinger picking up a lowly 4%. Here's the partisan breakdown, again among likely voters:
o Republicans: Lieberman 75%, Lamont 13%, Schlesinger 10%
o Independents: Lieberman 58%, Lamont 36%, Schlesinger 3%
o Democrats: Lamont 63%, Lieberman 35%, Schlesinger a big fat goose egg
The funniest result is that Lamont leads the Republican nominee among Republicans. We wouldn't have guessed that. Otherwise, though, the race is shaping up more or less as we'd expected, with Lieberman losing some Democratic support (he had just over 48% in the primary) but beating Lamont by a margin of more than 60 points among Republicans.
It's too early to put a fork in Lamont, of course. When we interviewed him in May, he was running 46 points behind Lieberman among registered Democrats. But can he win independents over the way he did Democrats? Byron York notes one poll finding that is ominous for the challenger:
In the poll, 23 percent of those surveyed had a favorable opinion of Lamont, while 27 percent had an unfavorable opinion. Seventeen percent said they had a mixed opinion, and 32 percent said they haven't heard enough to have an opinion.
The trend in Lamont's unfavorable rating shows that as people get to know him, more have developed an unfavorable opinion of him than have developed a favorable opinion.
Even among Democrats, only 39% view Lamont favorably (plus 16% "mixed"). His victory was mostly an anti-Lieberman vote, and Lieberman gets considerably higher favorable ratings from independents (47%) than from Dems (26%). There may be a way for Lamont to win, but we don't see what it is.
Honor Roll
David Shapiro, a columnist for the Honolulu Advertiser, reports that Rep. Ed Case, a moderate who is challenging Sen. Daniel Akaka in next month's primary, is backing Joe Lieberman's re-election bid, bringing the list to eight:
Senators:
o Tom Carper (Del.)
o Daniel Inouye (Hawaii)
o Mary Landrieu (La.)
o Ben Nelson (Neb.)
o Mark Pryor (Ark.)
o Ken Salazar (Colo.)
Representatives:
o Ed Case (Hawaii)
o Brad Sherman (Calif.)
Curiously, Sen. Inouye is backing Sen. Akaka, who is backing Lamont over Sen. Lieberman, over Rep. Case. (That sentence was deliberately awkward.)
Also curiously, we have received two messages from the John Kerry* campaign in as many days raising funds for three Senate candidates. Here's a passage from today's:
If the Bush administration could plan and execute the war on terror as well as it executes its shameless pre-election fear-mongering, we'd all be a lot safer.
That's what strong, principled Senate candidates like Ned Lamont, Bob Menendez, and Dan Akaka are making clear to voters in three of America's closest, high-stakes Senate contests.
What these three have in common is that all support Kerry's cut-and-run approach to Iraq. What Lamont and Akaka have in common is that they are running against Democrats; only Menendez has a serious Republican opponent. Kerry's efforts are less about furthering the Democratic Party than about furthering the Angry Left within the party.
* Who as of Sept. 10 will have served in the Senate for 66 times as long as he served in Vietnam.
Honest Mistake?
A doozy of a correction from today's New York Times:
An article on Tuesday about President Bush's defense of American policy in the fighting between Israel and Lebanon incorrectly described the planning that led to Mr. Bush's meetings on Monday at the Pentagon and the State Department. Mr. Bush's schedule for the day was prepared weeks ahead as part of the annual presidential review meetings; it was not devised last week as part of a White House effort to seek political advantage on national security after Senator Joseph I. Lieberman's loss in Connecticut's Democratic primary and news of a disrupted terrorist plot in Britain.
Everyone makes mistakes, of course, but this one does suggest just a hint of bias.
Back Against the Wal
The New York Times reports from Des Moines on the latest front in Democratic class warfare:
Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, a likely Democratic presidential candidate in 2008, delivered a 15-minute, blistering attack to warm applause from Democrats and union organizers here on Wednesday. But Mr. Biden's main target was not Republicans in Washington, or even his prospective presidential rivals.
It was Wal-Mart, the nation's largest private employer.
Among Democrats, Mr. Biden is not alone. Across Iowa this week and across much of the country this month, Democratic leaders have found a new rallying cry that many of them say could prove powerful in the midterm elections and into 2008: denouncing Wal-Mart for what they say are substandard wages and health care benefits. . . .
"My problem with Wal-Mart is that I don't see any indication that they care about the fate of middle-class people," Mr. Biden said, standing on the sweltering rooftop of the State Historical Society building here. "They talk about paying them $10 an hour. That's true. How can you live a middle-class life on that?"
The paper quotes Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, another Wal-Mart foe: "All you need to know is Joe Lieberman and Ned Lamont have appeared at these events. That's pretty good evidence that Democrats across the country are rallying around this issue."
Are we missing something here? We understand that unions are an important (if diminishing) Democratic constituency, and they hate Wal-Mart for having thwarted their efforts to organize employees there. But as the Times notes, there are 1.3 million Wal-Mart employees, and many times that many Wal-Mart customers, who benefit from the store's low prices and convenience.
Not only that, but Wal-Mart has become a quintessential symbol of middle America. A campaign against Wal-Mart is a snob's idea of populism.
Palimony
While her husband remains in stable condition after dying at a Paris hospital, Suha Arafat "secretly married Lahasn al-Trabulsi, the brother-in-law of the Tunisian president, a number of days ago, a Tunisian website reported," according to YnetNews.com. Here's the jaw-dropper, though:
Two years ago, after Arafat's death, Suha was personally promised by Mahmoud Abbas' staff that she would receive USD 22 million a year, on the basis of an agreement Arafat himself sent his wife while on his death bed--USD 11 million to cover her lifestyle in Paris for half year.
Abbas and Palestinian senior figures were forced to come to a deal with Suha, after she "created facts on the ground," in accordance with French law, and prevented PA members from visiting Arafat as he was dying, or to take decisions on disconnecting the life support machine, until she received her promise. PA senior figures concluded it was worth paying her and ending the episode.
Well, we suppose it's better than spending those millions on suicide bombs and anti-Semitic textbooks.
Or, More Likely, the Other Way Around
"Gross overcrowding [of California prisons] has led to a sky-high recidivist rate."--subheadline, The Economist, Aug. 10
Life Imitates 'South Park'
"There is something out there which threatens our very existence and may be the end of the human race as we know it. I'm talking of course about-Manbearpig. It is a creature which roams the earth alone. It is half man, half bear, and half pig. Some people say that Manbearpig isn't real. Well, I'm here to tell you know, Manbearpig is very real, and he most certainly exists--in fact, I have pictures."--"Al Gore," "Manbearpig," originally aired April 24
"For the past 15 years, residents across Androscoggin County [Maine] have reported seeing and hearing a mysterious animal with chilling monstrous cries and eyes that glow in the night. . . . People from Litchfield, Sabattus, Greene, Turner, Lewiston and Auburn have come forward to speak of a mystery monster that roams the woods. Nobody knows for sure what it is, and theories have ranged from a hyena or dingo to a fisher or coydog, an offspring of a coyote and a wild dog."--Associated Press, Aug. 16
Homer Nods
Louis XIV reigned for 72 years, not 71 as we said in an item yesterday (since corrected).
Business Reporter Takes Over Crime Beat
"Hidden Bodies Often a Signpost of Fraud"--headline, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Aug. 16
This Just In
"Three Continents Collide to Create Australia"--headline, Physorg.com, Aug. 16
They Didn't Use Enough Nails in June
"Housing Construction Falls in July"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 16
What Did They Use for Bait?
"Feds Catch Drug Kingpin While Fishing"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 16
What Are They Smoking?
"East Europe Migrants Help Take Jobless to Six-Year High"--headline, Daily Mail (London), Aug. 17
'Get Off Me, Fatso, I'm Hungry!'
"Overweight 'Top World's Hungry' "--headline, BBC Web site, Aug. 15
His Date Stood Him Up
"Peltz Is Seen With 2 Seats at Heinz"--headline, New York Times, Aug. 17
Mexican Jumping Beings
"US Immigrant Population Jumps"--headline, Reuters, Aug. 15
Undocumented Waterfowl
"Woman Goes to Church to Duck Deportation"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 16
'Nice Nest You Got There. Be a Shame if Anything, Uh, Happened to It, Know What I Mean?'
"Chicken Plant Told to Cut Crow-Scaring Racket"--headline, Canadian Broadcast Corp. Web site, Aug. 16
The Butterfly Effect
"China Draws Line in Sand to End Pollution for Good"--headline, Reuters, Aug. 16
"Inner Mongolia Wants Help in Battling Dust Storms"--headline, Reuters, Aug. 16
A Top Story, in More Ways Than One
"Blouse Stays On as Head of Detroit Chamber"--headline, Detroit Free Press, Aug. 16
Thanks for the Tip!--XCV
"Health Tip: Hemophiliacs, Be Cautious"--headline, HealthDay.com, Aug. 17
Bottom Stories of the Day
o "Nebraska Man Arrested for 226th Time"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 16
o "Guilty Plea Entered in Latest DUI Charge"--headline, Seattle Times, Aug. 16
o "No Explosives Found in Port of Seattle Containers"--headline, KATU-TV Web site (Portland, Ore), Aug. 16
o "Time Magazine Moves Delivery Date From Monday to Friday Beginning Next Year"--headline, Associated Press, Aug. 17
Math Hysteria
"Consumer Prices Up, Factory Output Slows," reads the headline of an Associated Press dispatch from yesterday morning. If you think that sounds bad, read the first paragraph:
Consumer inflation accelerated in July, reflecting a big jump in gasoline and other energy prices. In evidence that the economy is slowing, industrial output in July slipped to just half the June pace.
Industrial output dropped by half in just one month? Holy cow, this makes the Great Depression look like a mild downturn! At this rate, the economy will literally cease to exist by the end of August!
Oh wait, false alarm. Here's the third paragraph:
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve reported that output at the nation's factories, mines and utilities increased by 0.4 percent last month, just half of the 0.8 percent gain in June.
So industrial output didn't slip at all; it grew. It was the rate of growth that slipped. This is such a bad mistake we have to wonder if the reporter was deriving drunk. |
