It’s just as I expected: I was in Arizona when the Kerry-Edwards bus tour went through Connecticut, and I’ll be in Connecticut when they visit Arizona.

This reminds me of the semester when the USC women’s basketball team played UConn in Storrs, CT on my last weekend at school, and then played Tennessee in Los Angeles on my first weekend at home.

Whine, whine, whine. :)

The New York Times is reporting that the intelligence leading to today’s terror alert came from a “rich lode of information” gleaned from captured Pakistani communications operative Muhammad Naeem Noor Khan, a 25-year-old computer engineer. (Or, as Drudge put it, “THREAT INFO CAME FROM CAPTURED AL QAIDA COMPUTER GEEK.”) Excerpt:

A senior United States official…said “documentary evidence” found after the capture had demonstrated in extraordinary detail that Qaeda members had for years conducted sophisticated and extensive reconnaissance of the financial institutions cited in the warnings on Sunday. …

The documentary evidence, whose contents were reported urgently to Washington on Friday afternoon, immediately elevated the significance of other intelligence information gathered in recent weeks that had already been regarded as highly troubling, senior American intelligence officials said. Much of that information had come from Qaeda detainees in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia as well as Pakistan, and some had also pointed to a possible attack on financial institutions, senior American intelligence officials said.

The American officials said the new evidence had been obtained only after the capture of the Qaeda figure. Among other things, they said, it demonstrated that Qaeda plotters had begun casing the buildings in New York, Newark and Washington even before the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Among the questions the plotters sought to answer, senior American intelligence officials said, were how best to gain access to the targeted buildings; how many people might be at the sites at different hours and on different days of the week; whether a hijacked oil tanker truck could serve as an effective weapon; and how large an explosive device might be required to bring the buildings down.

I think this explains why Ridge said the new threat alert is not directly related to the border-crossing Pakistani arrested on July 19 with $7,000 cash and a ticket to New York. The question the reporter asked was, “Was she a catalyst in the threat reporting you’re talking about?” Ridge replied, “There’s no connection between that individual who was apprehended at the border to the information and the targeting that I’ve discussed with you this afternoon.” It’s not that they don’t believe that she’s part of the plot; it’s just that she’s not where they’re getting this info from.

“I don’t think you can be pro-doctor, pro-patient, and pro-trial lawyer at the same time. I think you have to make a choice.” –George W. Bush, in an Ohio stump speech that I’m watching on C-SPAN

Right… because all trial lawyers are evil and they have no meaningful role in society whatsoever. They should all be put out of work.

Way to eschew meaningful discussion of complicated issues in favor of demonizing an entire class of people for the sake of a big applause line, Mr. President. I think I speak on behalf of the entire incoming Notre Dame Law School Class of 2007 when I say, “Thanks.”

Drudge reports:

A domestic centerpiece of the Bush/GOP agenda for a second Bush term is getting rid of the Internal Revenue Service, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned.

The Speaker of the House will push for replacing the nation’s current tax system with a national sales tax or a value added tax, Hill sources tell DRUDGE.

I wonder if we had heard a warning call about 9/11 would we have reacted differently then?

On September 17 2001 Dan Rather was the first guest on David Letterman after the attacks. I just watched the interview again and was struck by several statements from Dan Rather.

There are many people today who want you to believe that it was President Bush who sold the American people on the idea that Saddam Hussein was connected to 9/11 and to tell you the truth I do not remember Bush saying that… but I do know that people have or had that perception.

Below is a quote from the Dan Rather Interview with David Letterman… Maybe it was the Media who created this idea…
Here is a link to the video of the interview it is well worth watching.

Quote from the Video

Dan: We now know that Saddam Hussein, we mentioned, you know, if he isn’t connected to this, he’s connected to any other things. He’s part of this “hate America” thing.
You have to understand that Saddam Hussein is somebody I have sat this close, eye to eye. When his feet hit the floor every morning, he dreams of leading a victorious Arab army into Jerusalem, and he sees himself as the new Saladin.
And his hate is deep for us. I don’t even like to use the word “hate,” but, you know, this is what we’re dealing with, and we have to wake up.

Here is a link to the text of the entire interview.

First of all, let me state for the record that I believe the government when it says there is a serious threat of a new terrorist attack, and I believe that those who claim otherwise are idiots. To honestly argue that something this serious might be fabricated for purely political purposes shows a disturbing level of blind Bush-hatred.

But that doesn’t stop me from acknowledging that the following comment from Tom Ridge this afternoon was highly inappropriate:

I certainly realize that this is sobering news, not just about the intent of our enemies, but of their specific plans and a glimpse into their methods. But we must understand that the kind of information available to us today is the result of the president’s leadership in the war against terror, the reports that have led to this alert are the result of offensive intelligence and military operations overseas, as well as strong partnerships with our allies around the world, such as Pakistan.

Memo to Tom Ridge: a Homeland Security press conference announcing the most serious terror alert since 9/11 is not the appropriate venue for a bit of campaigning. If he had said “the result of the government’s efforts in the war on terror,” that would have been fine (or at least less bad). But the president’s leadership? Could he be a little more shameless? Is he trying to shatter his own credibility?

Ridge’s inappropriate plug for Bush doesn’t reduce the true significance of the terror alert — not in the mind of a rational person thinking objectively, anyway. But it will inevitably give fuel to the conspiracy theorists, which is unfortunate. Of course, maybe that’s the administration’s secret plan: get the whole left wing frothing at the mouth about partisan terror-alert fraud, so that when a terrorist attack really does happen, they’ll look like total idiots, and will drag their candidate down with them.

I would like to see John Kerry make a brief statement about the alert, saying something along the lines of, “Protecting our nation from terrorism is not a partisan issue. All Americans recognize the seriousness of these threats, and we all hope that our government and our fine law-enforcement personnel will be successful in thwarting any planned attacks by our enemies.”

UPDATE: Uh-oh, did I just call my fiancée an “idiot”? Oops! Looks like I’ll be sleeping on the couch when I get back to Arizona… :)

But I hadn’t seen her post when I wrote that, so it doesn’t count!! Anyway, I don’t think Becky really believes a conspiracy is afoot; I think she’s just thinking out loud, and being somewhat contrarian (as she is wont to do), and also perhaps being a bit, um, facetious. Of course, I suppose it’s possible that Bush really is planning on sending a chimp as a stand-in for him at the convention… :)

“Be vigilant … if you see any strange people around who are strangers with cameras.” –D.C. official, at a press conference

In his press conference this morning, Tom Ridge cited five specific buildings as possible Al Qaeda targets: The World Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C., the Prudential Building in Newark, N.J., and the Citicorp buildings and New York Stock Exchange in New York City.

The New York Stock Exchange

UPDATE: I wonder whether this alert will: 1) cause Al Qaeda to call off this particular plot and look for an alternative; 2) cause them to “move up” the plot to an earlier date, quite soon, in the hopes of catching us off-guard before we’ve fully put our security measures in place; or 3) have little or no effect on their operational plans.

If Al Qaeda were to choose option 2 or option 3, and were to successfully pull off an attack against one or more of these buildings, it occurs to me that that would be a major success for the terrorists, and would be perceived as a major failure for the government and Bush. This announcement by Ridge has really raised the stakes, in a way.

In response to a reporter’s question, Ridge said the Pakistani woman who was apprehended illegally crossing the border with a fishy passport, $7,000 in cash, and a plane ticket to New York (see previous post) is not connected to this plot. Uhh…. riiiiight. I’m thinking Ridge may have just said that because the woman’s name was specifically mentioned and she, unlike Al Qaeda as a whole, enjoys the presumption of innocence. That’s just a guess, though.

Tropical Depression One has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Alex, and a Tropical Storm Warning has been issued from Cape Fear, NC to Cape Hatteras, NC, including Pamlico Sound. Here is the discussion. Alex is expected to hit the Carolinas later today (though its wind speed is only 40 mph, so this is not exactly going to be a devastating wind storm). The longer-term forecast track continues to call for the storm to go out to sea well south of New England:

I just realized no one has ever preached the benefits of the Bush or Chimp website, so I figured I’d let everyone in on what the Republicans don’t want you to know . . . Bush is nothing more than a chimpanzee!