Sunday's CNN Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer will feature a live interview with Johnny Spann, the father of CIA agent Mike Spann, who was murdered in Afganistan. We will be on immediately following Mr. Spann to react to his interview and discuss the cases of John Walker Lindh, the Buffalo Six, the Oregon suspects and detainee Yaser Hamdi--the segment begins at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Eric Alterman's new column in the Nation is out. In it, he faults the media for its negative treatment of Al Gore and says,

"Personally, I never really liked Gore, and he's not my choice for 2004. But he sure galvanized Tom Daschle and other Democrats to face up to a frightening juggernaut for war they would have preferred to duck for the sake of re-election. Naderites take note. It was not "smart" in the Washington sense. It was not strategic. But damn it, it was brave. The victim of a stolen presidency demonstrated why democracy matters. The more media chicken hawks sink their tiny beaks into his ass, the more--just this once--I admire his courage."

Jerry Falwell, in an interview to be broadcast Sunday on 60 Minutes, called Mohammed a "terrorist." In a later interview with the Associated Press, he stood by his statement.

"In response to Falwell's remarks, Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relation in Washington, said: "Anybody is free to be a bigot if they want to. What really concerns us is the lack of reaction by mainstream religious and political leaders, who say nothing when these bigots voice these attacks."

"Hooper noted that Falwell and Robertson will speak at next week's Christian Coalition convention in Washington alongside House Majority Whip Tom DeLay and other politicians."

"How can these elected representatives legitimize this kind of hate speech by appearing on the same platform with Islamophobes and Muslim-bashers?" Hooper asked."

Saturday we posted about the Julius Caesar Anti-War Hoax. It's been getting an unusual amount of hits today, and some comments, including one mentioning that Barbra Streisand quoted it at the Democratic Fundraiser Sunday night.

We checked Ms. Streisand's official website today and her remarks from that night appear verbatim. She said:

"BJS: You know, really good artists have a way of being relevant in their time… but great artists are relevant at anytime. So, in the words William Shakespeare,

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind…And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded with patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader, and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."

BJS (contd.): Imagine that was written over 400 years ago… It's amazing how history without consciousness is destined to repeat itself. So…from the words of William Shakespeare to the words of Irving Berlin…"

Once again, here is the link to the text of Julius Caesar. We didn't find the passage in it, but maybe we overlooked it.

Urban Legends says the quote is false.

"Yet as popular as the quote is, it's not real. These words are not anything Julius Caesar ever wrote or said. No biographies of Caesar or histories of Rome contain these lines, and scholars who have made it their business to know everything about the man draw a blank on this quote. Likewise, Shakespeare did not stuff this soliloquy into the mouth of the title character in his play Julius Caesar, nor did any of the Bard's other characters utter it. No record of this quote has been found prior to its appearance on the Internet in late 2001. "

On the one hand, Ms. Streisand was there to provide entertainment, and if her repeating the quote caused those in the audience to cough up bigger bucks for the Democrats, who cares if the quote is real? On the other hand, if it's false, (and in the comments section to our original post plenty of people thought it obviously a fake) how could someone with her command of the arts not know it?

Update: Someone else who believed the quote is Gossip Columnist Liz Smith who says in today's Newsday: "No matter one's political affiliations, Streisand's commitment and the deft way she handled the complicated new lyrics was breathtaking. Why, she even recited a bit from William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar," making the point that "400 years later, justice is wearing a shroud."

Update: Drudge reports this as an "exclusive" at 10:04 this morning. We posted it at 10:03 a.m. And "Jack" posted it at 8:15 a.m. in a comment to our original outing of the hoax this past Saturday. We thought we had Drudge beat, until we remembered the two hour time difference. Hope he doesn't get mad at the e-mail we sent him saying we got the Streisand quote first. We didn't. We'll settle for being the first to report the quote itself was a hoax.

Final Update: Barbra Streisand responds upon learning the quote is a hoax

Elton of Busy, Busy Busy takes us to ""Stacy", the ridiculous-in-the-extreme television ad/commerical aimed at discouraging drug use among minors by the Office of National Drug Policy.

Elton adds the tag line:

"And this is John Ashcroft, the Attorney General who supports the criminalization of marijuana despite the fact that it is used routinely by millions of people without harm, and who tries to pretend that any violence resulting from this state of affairs is Stacey's responsibility."

We think "Stacy" should be replaced with this ad about "Jane" that we received today from someone in Buffalo :

"This is Jane with her marijuana . . .

This is Jane's supplier of marijuana . . .

These are the farmers who could be making a living cultivating hemp for thousands of industrial purposes helpful to the environment, and who could also raise marijuana for inexpensive sale to US adults. . .

These are the AIDS and cancer patients who need the clinically proven medical benefits of marijuana . . .

These are the legislators who continue to maintain a black market in marijuana by prohibiting its cultivation and sale, while permitting sale of far more dangerous substances, like tobacco and alchohol which are legally sold to the adult public . . . .

And so on . . ."

Received today from Ampersand by way of Skippy (who has a lot of anti-war news on his site today):

"Hi. I'm emailing to ask you to participate in a "blogburst" to generate letters to Congress and local newspapers opposing a unilateral U.S. invasion of Iraq.

A "blogburst" is when many blogs write about the same subject on the same date, and link to a central index so that readers can easily find other participants. The idea behind this blogburst is for both bloggers and readers to write letters to Congress and newspapers on Monday, October 7th. You can read the details here .

One unique thing about this blogburst is that I'm encouraging blog readers to participate, and providing a space to publish their contributions.

If you would like to participate, please email me back (including the URL of your blog, please) and I'll add you to the Open Letters blogroll. You might also consider posting a link to the Open Letters page on your blog, although that's definitely not required. Thanks! Ampersand "

Come on folks, let's blogburst.

An e-mail purporting to be a quote from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is making the rounds. We were skeptical because it wasn't accompanied by an act or scene number and because it's only been a day since we were taken in by the phony Ascroft article. Here is the quote:

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar. "

We checked the text of Julius Caesar and couldn't find it. We then did a search for the quote and found Urban Legends Reference Pages: Questionable Quotes which says the quote is false.

"Yet as popular as the quote is, it's not real. These words are not anything Julius Caesar ever wrote or said. No biographies of Caesar or histories of Rome contain these lines, and scholars who have made it their business to know everything about the man draw a blank on this quote. Likewise, Shakespeare did not stuff this soliloquy into the mouth of the title character in his play Julius Caesar, nor did any of the Bard's other characters utter it. No record of this quote has been found prior to its appearance on the Internet in late 2001. "

Too bad, we liked it.

We got this email today from two nationally prominent lawyers. It isn't for real, but we didn't know that when we read it. What's scary as you read it is that it could so easily be true with this Administration. [we deleted the name of the wire service for liability purposes and any spacing glitches are our's]

We should also mention that it fooled the higher-ups of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers as well--by the time it was discovered to be a hoax (by astute NACDL Media Affairs Director Dan Dodson), one call to a congressman had already been made to express concern and a staff meeting was in the works as to how to respond.

Update: We were just told that the Congressman mentioned above believed it too and made some phone calls of his own before learning it was a hoax.

Ashcroft Assails Disclosure Rules

Filed at 11:13 p.m.

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 -- Calling the nation's criminal disclosure laws "a grave threat to national security," Attorney General John Ashcroft today called for an overhaul of the rules that allow criminal defendants and their lawyers access to evidence against them before trial.

The Attorney General indicated that the Justice Department would be submitting "significant" amendments to the disclosure rules to Congress by early next week, and that he expected "immediate" Congressional approval.

"To give them evidence in advance of a trial is to place bombs in the hands of terrorists," Ashcroft said.

Ashcroft did not specifically mention the name of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker" now facing the death penalty for his alleged involvement in the September 11 attacks in New York and Virginia. But it was widely understood that Ashcroft's comments and the forthcoming Justice Department proposals were a reaction to news that prosecutors had given Moussaoui 48 classified FBI reports that, in the words of presiding judge Leonie M. Brinkema, "could compromise significant United States national security interests."

Ashcroft noted that the disclosure of these classified reports was an error by prosecutors, and that the existing disclosure rules did not actually require the classified reports to be turned over to the accused terrorist. But Ashcroft defended the proposed changes as "necessary" and "long overdue," even if they were not actually responsible for the disclosure to Moussaoui. "The fact that somebody may have goofed," Ashcroft said, "should not distract us from the fact that the only reason a prosecutor was even in a position to make this
mistake was because of these liberal disclosure rules that we have in federal court."

Existing rules entitle a criminal defendant to request early disclosure of certain statements, reports, and physical evidence in the hands of prosecutors to help him prepare his defense at trial. Ordinarily the disclosure is made to the defendant's attorney, but because Moussaoui is representing himself, the documents were supplied directly to him.

Ashcroft declined to elaborate on the Justice Department's proposed amendments, saying that they were still under development. But the "basic idea," Ashcroft said, is that a defendant should not get access to anything in the government's possession unless he can persuade a judge by "clear and convincing evidence" that the item is "absolutely necessary" to his defense and that the national security of the United States would not be "in any way compromised" by the disclosure.

Criminal defense lawyers were immediately critical of the Justice Department plan, contending that the disclosure laws were not in need of reform and that it had been a government error, not the existing rules, that caused the disclosure to Moussaoui. "It's the PATRIOT Act all over again," remarked Barry Feinman, executive director of the American Council of Criminal Defense Attorneys, referring to the legislation passed in the weeks after the September 11 terrorist
attacks that made sweeping changes to a variety of criminal statutes and procedural rules. Feinman noted that nothing in Ashcroft's announcement suggested that the proposed changes in disclosure rules would apply only in terrorism cases.

The Attorney General, however, dismissed concerns of the sort voiced by Feinman. "This is the kind of talk that does nothing to strengthen us, but only gives aid and comfort to the enemy," Ashcroft said.

******

Once again, the above article is a hoax.

House Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX) was called on the carpet today by two House members for what they say are ignorant and disparaging remarks about Jews.

At a campaign stop, Armey was asked about the split between liberal and conservative Jews. Armey replied "I always see two Jewish communities in America: one of deep intellect and one of shallow, superficial intellect."

He was quoted in the Florida paper as also saying conservative Jews were drawn to "occupations of the brain," in the sciences, while liberal Jews gravitated toward "occupations of the heart," like the arts.

Two Jewish members of the House Democratic leadership Representatives, Martin Frost of Texas and Nita M. Lowey of New York, issued a joint statement calling Armey's remarks "breathtaking in their ignorance."

Armey, in our view, also isn't smart enough to know when to keep his mouth shut. When asked about the statements, which he doesn't deny making, he said they"reflected his long-held view that conservatives were smarter than liberals"...."Liberals are, in my estimation, just not bright people," he said. "I have not been impressed with the intellect of the left since I was a freshman in college."

The event at which he made the remarks was hosted by Katherine Harris. They were seeking to woo Jewish voters from the democratic sector to the Republican sector.

Sorry, Dick. We don't think this is the way.

Tomorrow on CNN's Late Edition with Wolf Blitzer:

"Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.) and Rep. Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) debate congressional action on Iraq; Rep. Porter Goss (R-Fla.) and former CIA director James Woolsey discuss the intelligence hearings on 9/11; a discussion of U.N. weapons inspections in Iraq with former U.N. chief inspector David Kay, former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Patrick Lang, American Enterprise Institute's Michael Ledeen and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.); an update on the Middle East peace process with Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher, Saudi foreign policy adviser Adel al-Jubeir and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres; and former U.S. attorney Joe diGenova and defense attorney Jeralyn Merritt discuss terror cells in the United States. (CNN at noon)."

The terror cell debate will be at 2pm eastern time.

Drawing on the recent commentary surrounding President Bush's botching of the expression "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me," Uggabugga says:

"This brings to mind the whole set of malapropisms by the President - commonly referred to as Bushisms. These Bushisms haven't been analyzed in any thorough manner, so we decided to take a look at the current set, and see if there was a pattern. There is. An apparent failure to translate thoughts into coherent speech, which manifests itself in several distinct ways..."

Uggabugga has made a chart of Bushisms, complete with analysis.

It's a fun read.

Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn is soon to receive the names of the three finalists selected by the city's Police Commission for the position of LA Police Chief. From this list of three, Hahn will make the final selection. To prepare the city for his choice, he is embarking on a media campaign.

In Monday's Los Angeles Times, he outlined what he is looking for and expects in the new Chief.

"My expectations for the new chief are very clear: reduce crime, improve morale and recruitment, implement the reforms mandated by the consent decree, expand community policing and embrace the role of civilian oversight."

"Among the new chief's top priorities must be to return the LAPD to its fully authorized level of 10,000 officers. Additionally, he or she must commit to getting the LAPD's highly trained officers, many of whom are sitting behind desks at headquarters, back out on neighborhood streets. The new chief must change the LAPD from a top-heavy command-and-control department into a proactive, community-based organization."

That sounds like former NY Police Commissioner Bill Bratton to us. Bratton has both the ability and the proven track record - that's exactly what he did for New York. We hope Mayor Hahn agrees that Bratton offers the city its best, if not only hope of turning around a police department so ravaged by scandal and distrust.