All The Secrets That Are Fit To Print

This should make your blood boil. The New York Times, which editorialized incessantly about the Bush Administration’s supposed disregard for the covert identity of Valerie Plame, has printed the details of another highly-classified CIA operation.

The famed Times columnist Seymour Hersh just wrote a piece in which he attempted to make a case that the Bush Administration is more dangerous wounded and is intent on attacking Iran because, as he assumes, what does Bush have to lose now since he is so intent on destroying the world? In the midst of his utter useless rambling, he writes the following paragraph to help prove his point:

“In the past six months, Israel and the United States have also been working together in support of a Kurdish resistance group known as the Party for Free Life in Kurdistan. The group has been conducting clandestine cross-border forays into Iran. I was told by a government consultant with close ties to the Pentagon civilian leadership, as “part of an effort to explore alternative means of applying pressure on Iran.” (The Pentagon has established covert relationships with Kurdish, Azeri, and Baluchi tribesmen, and has encouraged their efforts to undermine the regime’s authority in northern and southeastern Iran.)”

The only way a “Pentagon Consultant” would be aware of such a covert-funded operation would be to have a high enough security clearance to make him aware of so-called “Black Budget” CIA programs that are so sensitive as to be compartmentalized. Even Members of Congress and key staff would only be given portions of these facts, so secret is the nature of such programs.

This means three things: first, the person leaking this information to Hersh is guilty of violating his security clearance and may face charges such as treason or espionage. Second, it also means Hersh is not in possession of all the facts due to the sensitive nature and compartmentalization of the operation. Finally, good reporters are supposed to have corroborating facts from others with similar knowledge. In this case, Hersh merely reports what he heard from one source and then writes later that the entire program was denied by an Israeli “spokesman.” This is less than corroborating evidence and does not pass the smell test of anything more than someone going to The Times with stories of Big Foot.

What we have here is one person, for whatever reason, telling a reporter about a covert operation and, with no real fact-checking, it ends up in the New York Times. If the story is true, it blows a potential CIA program and puts dozens if not hundreds of lives in danger. If not true, it further destabilizes the crumbling relationship with Iran. Either way, it appears that Hersh did not break a sweat to weigh the potential damage to national security versus what constitutes news at The Times.

I have lost track of the number of instances The Times has printed sensitive or classified information. They were the first to write about the CIA prisons used to interrogate and determine the intentions of not very nice people (winning a Pulitzer for this story, by the way). They wrote about the SWIFT tracking of terrorist financing, rendering useless a valuable method of connecting the monetary dots between various groups intent on killing American civilians, many of them in The Times' circulation area. The Times was also the first to publish stories about the warrantless surveillance of telephone conversations between suspected terrorists and those living in the U.S., again blowing a valuable counter-measure to hear what likely bad people were planning to do to Americans and other international targets.

We can argue the merits or even constitutional basis for all the leaked programs, but these debates should be done in private and deliberated by Members of Congress or judges with appropriate security clearances. They should not be leaked to the press by those with their own agenda and certainly the publishers should have enough sense to consider the danger in exposing top secret programs.

There is, of course, a free press and the rights of free speech. However, if The Times continues to do the journalistic equivalent of yelling fire in a crowded theater, they may become the poster child for curtailed press rights and, in the end, this could become the legacy of The Times.

Michigan Gets Hosed Again By Trojans

Also posted on Laz's Sports-O-Rama.

Looking at this from as much distance as possible, I don’t know how USC can jump ahead of Michigan in the most recent AP and USA Today poll. Yes, I am more fan than outsider, but let’s take a look at the situation strictly from cold, hard facts.

Michigan had one loss, a 3-point loss to the Number 1 team all season, while USC also had one loss, a 2-point loss at Oregon State, which did not even finish in the Top 25. The teams had one common opponent in Notre Dame. While it’s true that USC gave the Fighting Irish a real pasting last night, they did so at home, winning by 20. However, Michigan also gave Notre Dame a good spanking, beating them by 26 AT South Bend. Which win is more impressive: a win by 26 points on the road or 20 at home?

There are those who say the Pac 10 is a stronger conference and therefore Michigan’s in-conference wins mean less. The pollsters don’t agree. The Pac 10 has two teams in the Top 25, No 2 USC – disputed, mind you – and No. 21 California. The Big 10 has three teams in the Top 7 with a combined record of 34-2. While both conferences had fairly weak non-conference schedules, the Big 10 still won 41 out of 52 games, a 79 percent winning percentage. The Pac 10 had far fewer games outside of their conference but still won 23 of 31 games – a 74 percent winning percentage. Once again, the edge goes to the Big 10.

I will grant that USC had quality wins over Arkansas and Nebraska and a final strong win over Notre Dame, but they looked pretty weak during a four-week string of three close wins over Washington State, Washington and Arizona and then a loss at Oregon State. Michigan was never seriously challenged in any win with the exception of a 7-point win at Penn State – once ranked 15th in the country.

Slade441 attempts to make good points but doesn’t have the research to back up his arguments as are displayed in this intelligently written report. He does make sense in one of his recent posts of keeping the old-fashion bowl game schedule, which would have pit Michigan against USC in the Rose Bowl. That is the only way to really settle which team is better and then the winner of that game would end up playing a one-game playoff against, presumably, Ohio State to determine the national champ. I would be in favor of that.

While I expect Michigan to get hosed in the near-term rankings, I do think they will end up ranked Number 2 following USC’s humiliating defeat in the Fiesta Bowl against the Buckeyes. I just may end up getting the last laugh on this.

Of course this isn't the first time USC snuck ahead of Michigan. Who could ever forget the cheating Charles White in his fake touchdown during the 1977 Rose Bowl? There can be nobody alive who doesn't remember that, right?

Coulter Says It Best

The more or less universally hated Ann Coulter (at least by liberals) makes good points in her most recent column. She addresses the imans who were not allowed on the U.S. Airways flight to Phoenix the other day, likely resulting in numerous lawsuits and plenty of harrumphs. Read Ann if you're interested.

More Mars Versus Venus Confusion

In the never-ending battle between the sexes, I have a story that I think you will agree demonstrates the differences in our genetic make-up.

Late last night, tucked in bed in my pajamas – you know, the kind with the booties sewn in with the buttons on the back – I made an amorous maneuver. I simply nestled with Mrs. Laz and put my arm around her. Truth be told, I was a still a little under the spells of slumber and prescription medication so the move was more instinct than good planning.

When I awoke, Mrs. Laz was un-mistakenly happy. “Do you remember snuggling with me last night?” she cooed.

My memory was fuzzy. I wondered if I was still dreaming. It was 9 a.m., so still awfully, awfully early in the morning for rational thought. I answered the only way I knew how; truthfully. “Oh, I thought you were someone else.” I said, somewhat without thinking clearly.

The next thing I know, I got socked in the arm and it really hurt because I have been swimming and building up my guns, which is what I call my arms when there is a hint of muscle. Mrs. Laz was quite angry at my response and continued to beat me about the arm and neck. This is not the best way to wake up.

I am not sure where things went wrong. I do remember dreaming about Jennifer Lopez and had Mrs. Laz been sleeping on her stomach I may not have made the mistake in identification, but that seemed so beside the point to Mrs. Laz.

So here’s my question, and I hope I will get some diverse answers and, further, that the answers will not become gender-specific: Should I have been rewarded for the initial act of love and affection rather than punished for a sleepy comment? Didn’t the love come first? I await your responses.

Say It Ain't So, Bo

Nobody may know Bo like I know Bo. He was Michigan. He was as big of an icon in the 1960s and 1970s in Michigan as any professional athlete or coach. When you thought of the Wolverines, you thought of Bo. You may not have always been happy with Bo, but it’s difficult to argue his career coaching record, which includes finishing in the Top 10 in college football 16 of his 21 years at Michigan and only twice out of the Top Twenty. No Schembechler team ever finished without a winning record on his way to198 career coaching victories.

The Wolverines could be boring at times – the cheer “up the middle, up the middle, pass, punt” was invented in Ann Arbor – and you were often suckered into believing their mighty 10-0 record headed into the final game of the season was good enough.. But too often the season ended with a loss to chief nemesis Ohio State and Woody Hayes or, if Michigan got by the Buckeyes, it invariably lost in the Rose Bowl.

There was the heart-shattering loss to Stanford and Jim Plunkett in 1970 (heart shattering to Bo too, as it turns out, as he suffered his first heart attack before the game). And of course who can forget the cheap Rose Bowl loss to USC in which Charles White fumbled the ball before heading into the end zone in 1977? Well, Mrs. Laz may remember because she almost decided to stop dating me after I went outside and laid in the middle of a rain-dampened Lamont Street waiting for a car to swiftly end my misery following that loss. You would think she would recognize by now that I take the Wolverines very seriously, wouldn’t you?

The rivalries between the Big 10 and the Pac 10 brought out the fight in us and I remember the pranks I played on the Biggest USC Trojan Fan In The World, Hank Snow. The day of one Rose Bowl game between Michigan and USC, I placed an ad in the San Diego Union urging all Wolverine fans to attend a lunch and rally at Hank’s house to support the team and made sure his telephone number was prominently displayed so fans could call for directions. I don’t know who had more fun with that prank.

To my cousin, the Michigan Wolverines were everything to him and his family and Bo was an early inspiration in his life. When cancer took him at the young age of 39, he was buried in a Michigan Wolverine casket and dressed in Michigan hat, scarf and jacket.

Bo brought that spirit out in people and gave me and 110,000 Wolverine fans in the Big House so many good memories. He was a class guy in an awkward time in our history and understood the role Saturday football could have on the American psyche. He loved his players, knew their families, knew what the games meant to Michigan, knew that the first 10 or so games were meaningless if he couldn’t beat the Buckeyes or get to the Rose Bowl. He placed all the fans’ expectation on his shoulders and drank bottles of Pepto Bismol instead of complaining about the pressure he was constantly under; pressure he created himself just by winning.

He not only had a great sense for the importance of the game of football and its value to the community and the University, but he took great pride in understanding the relationship between athletics and real life lessons. If he didn’t, he wouldn’t have made the controversial decision as Michigan’s athletic director to fire basketball coach Bill Frieder on the eve of the NCAA Tournament because Frieder announced he had taken a job with Arizona State. He said he didn’t want an Arizona State coach to lead his team; he wanted a Michigan coach. Steve Fisher took over as coach and his team won the NCAA championship, proving Bo’s instincts right.

I remember many of the players but it was always Bo we counted on to deliver us the victories we needed. I wonder if the players on this year’s team will be pushed for one more victory knowing his spirit will be hovering around Columbus. If they win, I can just imagine the big grin on Bo’s face as the clock ticks down to zero and his good buddy Woody is on the other side of the field cursing under his breath.

All Sports All The Time

I heard from a few of you that you either don't much care for sports or don't care for my writing about sports. But I used to be a sportswriter...it's in my blood, dammit. Also, I have a daughter in sports and she needs to know her dad knows more about sports than she does.

In the interest of keeping all heads calm, I have created a new site just for sports. I call it Laz's Sport-O-Rama and you can link to it here or to the right at my Link section under sports.

Although I may have to write in this space about Michigan beating Ohio State by one-point to keep USC ranked #3.

More Kinky Stuff (revised)

Kinky Friedman, muscian, writer and part time candiate for governor of Texas had this to say about the Nov. 7 elections (and I am told I got it wrong the first time): "The American voter has spoken, and they have mumbled." Couldn't have said it better myself.

See other Kinky stories (well, not kinky in the sense that may attract Agent 69) by clicking here.

Only Useful Idiots Need Apply

There are some days that you vow to remember because you have a feeling in your gut that it will mean something. For me, it was early 1993 and Bush 41 had just lost to Clinton 42 (at the time there was no expectation there would be a Bush 43 and Clinton 44). I was inspired to see James Baker speak about foreign policy, mostly because we shared the same interest in the recently crumbled Soviet Union. If I said I remembered where he spoke, I would be lying, but it was likely at Carnegie Endowment for Peace or the American Enterprise Institute or some other such think tank that employs people smarter than the rest of us.

While the discussion was about the Soviets, the after-speech questions created a lively discussion on the 1991 Iraq War and other regional hostilities. There were two other panelists, one I can’t remember and the other was Robert Gates, the future defense secretary and the then recently former Director of the CIA.

And this is why I remember that day: a question was asked about why we didn’t topple Saddam when we had the chance. Baker first answered that the coalition of countries pummeling Iraq was dead set against it as were the Saudis who were nervous about hot-headed Iraqis slipping across the shifting desert border into Saudi Arabia. It was reasoned that once Iraqis were allowed in, well, there goes the neighborhood.

Gates followed up with his answer that was classic Washington smart-talk but, if you were listening carefully, came out as a response from someone we politely call a “conciliator.” He told us that Saddam could be contained by diplomatic measures and, if we had to get tough, UN sanctions would keep him on a short leash. He admitted there was pressure from Iran to take Saddam out, but no other neighbor other than the Kuwaitis had much of an opinion on the matter. Keeping everyone in the loop, he also asked the Soviet-less Russians what they thought of the situation and was told that it would be impolite to remove Saddam and suggested we slowly back away from Iraq’s oil wells.

So Gates had been busy building a consensus for what would become post-war Iraq 1991-style: a 12-year killing field by vengeful Baathists, an impoverished and uneducated underclass suffering under a dozen years of economic sanctions with no franchise rights in the Oil For Food scandal and millions of nervous Kurds and Shiites who felt completely betrayed by the skedaddling American troops.

Back then, a contained Saddam mixed with allies as far as we could see (or until 2003) was what the so-called neo-cons were pushing. Even Dick Cheney had happily approved of this plan (although he is the only significant one of the bunch to later change his mind).

Now that the voters have sent a message to the ruling elite that is so nuanced that it can mean anything anyone wants it to mean, the race is on to find the nearest exit sign out of Iraq. You may think President Bush means what he says about not leaving Iraq until the job is done, but the hiring of Gates signals that his mantra is no longer operative. Bush even spoke today about how interested he is in the Baker-Hamilton (yes, James Baker) report and hopes it will produce new ideas for winning the peace in Iraq. But he already knows what it says because he just hired one of the principal architects of the Iraq plan in Robert Gates (suggested, of course, by none other than James Baker). Don’t these guys have a handy way of boomeranging back into our lives in the name of service to our leaders?

Here’s the simple truth, when you have James Baker, Lee Hamilton and Robert Gates setting the Iraq agenda, the appeasement to follow will make Neville Chamberlain look like John Wayne. The President has not only abdicated his responsibilities to an unelected group, he has signed a death warrant for millions of Iraqis and offered a view of America that will whet the appetite of terrorists around the world. Good luck to us all, bin Laden’s cave looks like the only safe place in the near future.

Random -- But Intertwined -- Thoughts

Air travel is a pain in the behind, there’s no getting around it. Passengers get herded onto a plane like cattle, fed like chickens and tied down to one spot like veal. And to think we pay for this privilege. I traveled for nine hours this past Sunday, but I had it better than Laz Jr. who was returning from Italy. His trip ate up 23 hours of his life and in the end, they lost his luggage for two days. Two days is a pain, but does not equal my tragic luggage escapade in Ghana (see earlier posts).

There was a full moon on Sunday which may explain a few things about passenger behavior. The moon seemed stationary off the wing and I wasn’t sure if I was in a bad Christopher Cross moment, waiting for ET to buzz by or getting a flashback of how Bill treated those Jehovah Witnesses who attempted to save him as a teenager.

I sat next to a Stage 4 talker who didn’t get a whiff of a hint that I needed my alone time, even when I put my headphones on. I do know a lot about her kids though. It also wouldn’t have mattered as I had a headphone malfunction, rendering my IPOD of no real value for the majority of my trip. I think I will take back-up precautions next trip.

Anyway, flying is boring and flying is far too lonely, even if you have an overly-friendly seatmate. As boring as flying is, it didn’t even come close to putting me to sleep as my night at the movies the evening before did. I saw “Marie Antoinette” which was directed and written by Sophia Coppola. I had hoped Sophie would surprise me again after her wonderful first film, “Lost In Translation,” despite what the critics had to say. “Marie Antoinette” was roundly booed when presented at Cannes, but I figured getting jeers from the French was more of a reason to see it than not.

I hate to admit, I side with the French. “Marie Antoinette” stunk like an unbathed Frenchman and Sophie added beaucoup d’stink with her strange direction and choice of accompanying music. Since Marie (real name: Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen, if you cared) was sent off to France to be a queen when she was 12, Coppola took the occasion to treat the film like a modern-day teen flick with “Legally Blonde” like pastel colored opening set to the music of Siouxsie & The Banshees and followed up by such music luminaries as Bow Wow Wow, Adam & The Ants and Radio Dept. Hardly the kind of 18th Century music one would have expected for such a period movie.

I know what Sophie was thinking: she wanted to present Marie as accessible to mindless moviegoers in such a way that it would seem familiar to us. In other words, she didn’t trust us enough to comprehend that this was a young queen-to-be with teenage desires for fun and frivolity. And just in case there was one person who didn’t make the connection, she hammered it home throughout the movie.

Coppola did another bit of hammering on her sole theme of the movie: that Marie was bored and confined to doing mostly boring activities. As a result, it became a boring movie about boredom – two hours of it. Lost in Coppola’s translation of the life of Marie Antoinette was the story of the French Revolution and the beginning of the French Republic. Instead the movie ends with the King and Queen leaving Versailles, giving many movie-goers the idea that she lived happily ever after in some far distant land rather than soon facing the guillotine. Yikes this movie is bad and gets no stars from this Laz.

Speaking of disappointment, I know what a lot of you are thinking. Following Tuesday’s election, you’re waiting for me to grab my gold fish and Rene Zellweger and just … FREAK OUT. But I’m not.

As you may note from an earlier post, I suggested republicans had done very little to earn another round of power from American voters – even though I don’t think democrats deserved a shot in the driver’s seat either. While I may be disappointed in the results, I think an anecdote may better express what I think will happen the next two years:

I was in Paris on the evening of an election that gave Socialist Lionel Jospin the votes to lead the French government. Jospin was anxiously watching election returns in a hotel ballroom that was adjacent to a ballroom where the center-right parties were preparing for a victory that never came. As it happened, I was camped out with the center-right folks and attempting to make use of my seven years of first-year French on grim campaigners. The main knock against the then-ruling center-right was unemployment, which had been hovering above 10 percent for most of the previous five years. Jospin had campaigned on the platform that he would increase employment by limiting the workweek for all employees to 35 hours, forcing employers to hire more people to make up for the missing five hours. Well, it sounded stupid to me too. But it didn’t to the French who bought the bad bit of economic theory and gave him the keys to the Cabinet.

When it appeared there would be no victory in our ballroom that evening, my friend Jean and I strolled next door to see what happy French women looked like. While strolling, we found ourselves near Jospin who was wiping his sweaty brow with a handkerchief and speaking with advisors. I suspect the realization that he had won was just beginning to sink in and we overheard him say to his advisors, “well, I guess the unemployment problem is our problem now.”

And that’s what I think is going through the minds of many democrats tonight. They promised “a new direction.” Many suggested significant changes in our Iraq policy and restoring oversight to the Presidency on such issues as the Patriot Act, the NSA surveillance program and curtailing torture of suspected terrorists (make them watch “Marie Antoinette” over and over, I say).

The voters, in their infinite wisdom, put the democrats back in charge and now every problem they have been beating into our heads has become their problem. In one evening of an Election Day hangover, ownership of all our ills was shifted from President Bush to the democrats and the American people will be expecting them to be fixed and fixed by New Year’s. I suspect there are a few democrats who wished they had a plan to clean up the problems (other than bringing George McGovern out of mothballs) because there is no getting around the expectations and limited patience of the American voter. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, unemployment in France went up, not down, and Jospin’s government was out at the next election. Don’t be surprised if we soon hear “Off with their heads” when fickle voters don’t believe they’re getting the Nirvana they voted for.