Monday, March 22, 2004

The Bush spinners wonder why Richard Clarke waited till now to publish his book. Interesting timing, they say, right in the middle of an election. Anyway Clarke was asked that question on The News Hour today, and he said the White House put a security hold on the book for several months, otherwise it would have come out sooner. He also said he wouldn't serve in a Kerry administration, which takes care of another objection. Anyway, we now have triangulation, between Paul O'Neill and Richard Clarke, there are two ex-Bush insiders with consistent stories on the nature of the Bush organization. One or two more and even the staunchest Bush supporters are going to wonder if we wouldn't be better off with Kerry. [Scripting News] "60 minutes" chose Sunday to release the interview because they are owned by Viacom. Viacom also owns the publishers of Richard Clarke's lastest book. 60 Minutes was just plugging the book. That is not to say that the book is without merit. It just says that Viacom was plugging it with everything that they had. Personally, I am deeply intrigued by what the President knew and when he knew it. 6:32:10 PM     Comment []

There was a sad story in the Mercury News over the weekend about a local high school student who was stabbed to death in a fight early Saturday morning. Apparently he and a friend were driving and enraged a fellow motorist. The other driver started following them, honking his horn and flashing his lights. The two teenagers drove into a residential neighborhood, got out of the car to confront the other driver and his companion. A fight broke out and both the teenagers were stabbed. Clearly stopping to confront an enraged driver is the wrong thing to do. What should you do? If you have a cell phone call 911. If you don't drive to the nearest police or highway patrol station. Do not drive home and do not stop to confront the other driver. I had this happen to me on Highway 85 about 8 years ago. Someone cut me off and I flipped him off. He then let me pass him and started following me. I got off the freeway and started driving toward the Cupertino police station. As I neared the station, the person stopped following me. 12:46:11 PM     Comment []