Tuesday, July 20, 2004

Eschaton is hip to the fact that Hersh said other interesting things in his speech to the ACLU beyond the horrific allegations on abuse, specifcally the $1 billion or so that is supposedly missing from the Pentagon. I picked that one out in my original transcript, too. I'd like to hear more from Hersh on the situation at the Pentagon. Here's what he said to the ACLU: "The disaffection inside the Pentagon is extremely acute." He tells the story of an officer telling Rumsfeld how bad things are, and Rummy turning to a ranking general yes-man who reassured him that things are just fine. Says Hersh, "The Secretary of Defense is simply incapable of hearing what he doesn’t want to hear." Also important and in need of further coverage: Hersh told the crowd that the Iraqi insurgency was operating in 1-to-3 man cells a year ago, and now operates in 10-15 man cells, and despite the harsh questioning, "we still know nothing about them...we have no tactical information.” When is the big media going to pick up that speech? And when is Hersh going to give us a full report on what he says in it? 4:46:04 PM    comment []

My friend and office neighbor Alex McFarland has a big new job -- he's moving to Colorado Springs to head up apologetics for Focus on the Family. 3:47:01 PM    comment []

"The words 'In God We Trust' will soon grace the facade of a second governmental building in Davidson County following a 4-3 vote by the Thomasville City Council Monday night to place the national motto over the doors of Thomasville City Hall," reports Rachel Leonard of The Dispatch in Lexington. People were talking about America's "Godly heritage" in Thomasville yesterday, but they don't seem to know much about it. The phrase "In God We Trust" didn't appear on US money until the Civil War -- the Founders were serious about this kind of stuff -- and only became the US motto in 1956, just two years after the words "under God" were inserted into the Pledge of Allegiance. Dispatch: "The vote was greeted by applause and shouts of 'Amen!' from motto supporters, who packed council chambers." 2:39:23 PM    comment []

Instapundit: "MORE MISSING SECRET DISKS at Los Alamos. Hmm. Sandy Berger hasn't been out there lately, has he?" 2:12:38 PM    comment []

Erskine Bowles kicks off a bus tour of the western 2/3 of the state today with a stop in Raleigh. He'll be in Burlington for lunch tomorrow, and Greensboro tomorrow night. The website says the Raleigh event is at 7 PM at the Southend Brewery and Smokehouse, 505 West Jones St., but does not say where he'll be in GSO. NASCAR legend Junior Johnson will be with Bowles for his stops in the mountains. 1:58:38 PM    comment []

Happy birthday to my beloved son, who celebrates the occasion at Scout camp in the Blue Ridge. I am not an objective reporter on this issue, but I am willing to state it as fact: Elijah rocks. 9:45:29 AM    comment []

The official Democratic convention blog...and the independent Democratic convention blog created by Dave Winer. 9:42:51 AM    comment []