A correction that ran in yesterday's New York Times: "A front-page article on Tuesday about criticism voiced by American military officers in Iraq over war plans omitted two words from an earlier comment by Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, commander of V Corps. General Wallace had said (with the omission indicated by uppercasing), 'The enemy we're fighting is A BIT different from the one we war-gamed against.' "
God forbid
Let's pray House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is far off with her prediction that "thousands" of U.S. soldiers will wind up losing their lives in the Iraqi war. Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, told CNBC's "Capital Report" on Tuesday that "there are other ways to go about it than to have thousands of people killed on both sides." Link
Inside Politics
A 'serious' newspaper
Rogue reporter Peter Arnett's new employer — Britain's Daily Mirror — said yesterday that its antiwar stance could lead to sales dropping below 2 million for the first time in seven decades.
The Mirror recently juxtaposed photos of President Bush over a bombed Baghdad market with the caption, "He loves it."
Industry estimates suggest the Mirror recorded "average circulation of 1.989 million in the week the war began and 1.984 million last week, during which it ran a series of front pages condemning the conflict," Britain's Guardian newspaper reported yesterday.
"The dip below the 2 million barrier will come as a psychological blow for the paper, which has been ploughing a new furrow as a 'serious' newspaper," the Guardian said.
Editor Piers Morgan surmised the drop was attributable to "older readers who think it's unpatriotic to continue criticizing the war," but says, "We just won't be hypocrites and change our line."
A recent London Times editorial called Mr. Morgan "the toast of the cheese-eating surrender monkeys," a reference to — who else? — the French.
The professional's touch
Presidential hopeful Gary Hart recently met with 35 supporters in a New Hampshire restaurant, and is due to return later in the month, according to the Manchester Union-Leader.
A few have broached the touchy subject of Mr. Hart's affair with Donna Rice, which effectively removed him from the 1988 presidential race. Will the indiscretion matter this time around?
It won't be a serious issue, says local Democratic heavyweight Dan Calegari.
"After all, Bill Clinton made him look like an amateur," he said.
[That's what this country needs. An amateur pervert president.]
Holding steady
Support for the war in Iraq remains "steadfast," according to a survey of 2,700 Americans conducted March 27 to April 1, and released yesterday by the Pew Research Center. Some Americans are more steadfast than others, however.
Among them: 61 percent of conservative Republicans say the war is going "very well," while 47 percent of moderate to liberal Republicans agree. Among Democrats, 32 percent of moderates and 27 percent of liberals share that view. Among men, 85 percent of those ages 25 to 29 say war was "the right decision." The figure stood at 82 percent for men ages 18 to 24 and 81 percent for men 30 to 49. The highest percentage of women who thought the war was the "right" course of action was among those ages 30 to 49, at 72 percent.
The cold war
Billed as the conservative alternative to left-wing Ben & Jerry's, Star Spangled Ice Cream has introduced some timely new gourmet flavors: "I Hate the French Vanilla," "Iraqi Road," "Smaller Governmint," and "Nutty Environmentalist." They join other relevant flavors, such as "Cowardly German Chocolate" and "Irrelevant Belgian Chocolate." Information is available at
www.starspangledicecream.com. Link
