22 July 2003

We didn't mean it like that!

[source, source]
The [California] state's budget crisis took a surreal turn Monday after a frank discussion by a group of Democrats on the budget and its impact on their re- election was accidentally broadcast throughout legislative and reporters' offices. Members of the Assembly Democrats' progressive caucus were heard making candid, if not intemperate, statements such as one by Los Angeles Assemblyman Fabian Nunez that they may want to "precipitate a crisis" over the budget this year. That might persuade voters to lower the two-thirds vote threshold needed to pass a spending plan, he reasoned.
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White House redacts Saudi Entity link to terror

[source]
According to Newsweek, a congressional joint intelligence inquiry has concluded that Saudi Arabia was deeply implicated in the attacks of September 11. A close associate of the al-Qa'eda hijackers, Omar al-Bayoumi, is alleged to have been working as a Saudi agent, operating from the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles. The Bush administration has censored an entire section from the report, detailing the Saudi role in the events leading up to the attacks. These suppressed passages are said to explain how Saudi diplomats provided financial and logistical support for the terrorists.
Sucking up or playing for time? Something to keep an eye on.
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No suppression of dissent here!

A roundup by Daniel Drezner and Kesher Talk. There is the mob assault on a polling center that published a poll that only 10% of Palestinians were comitted to the right of return. In addition [source]
Years ago, [Al- Quds University president Sari] Nusseibeh was beaten up at Bir Zeit University for promoting dialogue with Israelis. Last year, he was dismissed as the PLO's representative in Jerusalem after he publicly questioned whether demanding the right of return was either logical or feasible.
Such a paradise the Palestinian Authority will build once the oppressive Israelis are gone!
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UN-justified

The UN Commission on Human Rights will be sitting in judgement on Israel this week. And who are those that will judge? The standard paragons of UN virtue: [source, source]
the chairwoman in charge of proceedings is a Libyan, Najat al-Hajjajia. […] one of her first actions at the beginning of the year was to use the platform to launch a political speech against the US over Iraq. […] Reporters Without Borders said of al-Hajjajia: "Censorship, arbitrary detention, jailings, disappearances, torture; at last the UN has appointed someone who knows what she’s talking about." […] the Commission barred the non-governmental body, Reporters Without Borders, from attending its meetings as a punishment for criticising Libya’s record on human rights. Also on the commission is Cuba, which recently summarily executed three ferry hijackers and sentenced 75 political activists and journalists to prison terms of between six and 28 years for "anti-state" activities. The US likened Cuba’s election to the commission to putting Al Capone "in charge of bank security". "Cuba does not deserve a seat on the Human Rights Commission. Cuba deserves to be investigated by the Human Rights Commission," said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.
I can't believe the US actually spoke up like that. Powell must have been out of town.
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