Thursday June 5
35 Years Since RFK
Today marks the 35-year anniversary of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. It is hard for me to believe that so much time has passed, as our country and its political landscape are quite dramatically different now than they were then. But the shock and horror of that night are still with me and the loss remains palpable. Politics in America has simply never been the same since RFK died.
Posted by glenn at Diving Miss Monica
Seems that in Iraq these days, the most popular vehicle is a Toyota Land Cruiser SUV, which the locals have nicknamed "Monicas," after Monica Lewinsky. [In Iraq, Its Moniker is Monica].
It is indeed tempting to say that this shows the reach of global mass culture. But where many Americans thought the Lewinsky affair was sleazy, Iraquis (or at least the men) see it differently. "We think Clinton was a very lucky man," said Hamid Mustafa, 55, a car trader in Irbil. Mustafa said he was baffled by the political crisis triggered by Bill Clinton's affair with the young intern.
Where Are the WMDs? (Reprise)
Newsweek's lead political story asks, finally, "Where are Iraq's WMDs?" Nowhere is the answer, so far. Bush says the weapons of mass destruction have been found, but all he's got is a few mobile labs without even residue in them. The intelligence community complains it was pressured, but the political bigwigs reply they just wanted "analysis" of the intelligence data. Probably a contradiction in terms. So the Pentagon's top policy adviser held a rare press briefing Wednesday to try to rebut accusations that senior civilian policy makers had politicized intelligence to fit their hawkish views on Iraq and to justify war on Saddam Hussein. Somebody's lying here.