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President Clinton named his second-term national security team: U.N. Ambassador Madeleine Albright for secretary of state; retiring Republican Sen. William Cohen for secretary of defense; National Security Adviser Anthony Lake for CIA director; and Lake's deputy, Sandy Berger, for national security adviser. Editorialists and analysts agreed that there were no unpleasant surprises. Albright's novelty as a woman overshadowed Cohen's novelty as a Republican. Feminist groups were delighted. Jesse Helms gave his ringing approval. Pundits unanimously vouched for Albright's "strength," in implicit contrast to 1) other women and 2) Warren Christopher. Television networks replayed videotape of Albright mocking Cuba's cojones. At the same time, reviewers noted her reputation as a "decent, thoughtful, sensitive, and devoted mother" (NBC). Insiders worried about Cohen's maverick streak and lack of executive experience, but applauded his honesty and solid jump shot. TV reviews of Albright glowed: Ted Koppel called it "a terrific day for men and women in this country." Print reviewers were less sanguine, worrying that these names would not supply Clinton the doctrine or direction he currently lacks. (posted 12/6) | | The National Football League suspended Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Leon Lett for a year for failing a second drug test. Commentators seized on Lett's suspension as yet another sign of Dallas' hubris, decadence, and imminent decline. Several other Cowboys, including star receiver Michael Irvin, have been suspended for drug and alcohol abuse; one player escaped a sexual-assault charge by paying off his accuser. Moralists wrung their hands over the Cowboys' corrosive influence on children, questioning (yet again) their image as "America's Team." Tom Landry, who coached the team during its Christian era long ago, and was fired when current owner Jerry Jones bought the team, suggested that a Cowboys victory in this year's Super Bowl would send the wrong message to kids. Critics advised rooting for the San Francisco 49ers as a more wholesome, family-oriented alternative. Meanwhile, Jones promised to reform the Cowboys' amorality, vowing, "We'll stop at nothing to get better."(posted 12/6) |
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| Celebrity crime revolving door. Out: Charles Keating, the poster boy of S&L corruption, has been set free (on bond) after a judge threw out his 1993 federal racketeering, conspiracy, and fraud convictions on the grounds that the jury had improperly taken into account his prior conviction on state fraud charges (which also have been overturned). The early line is that the feds would have trouble convicting Keating a second time, but can't stand the embarrassment of letting him walk. There are hints that judges considering an appeal by former Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega are skeptical of prosecutors' conduct in his 1992 drug-smuggling trial and might throw out his conviction. Experts following the O.J. Simpson civil trial are worried that the judge may have given O.J. still more grounds for an appeal, and thus a second escape from punishment, by letting plaintiffs introduce hearsay testimony about a domestic-violence-hot-line call by a woman named "Nicole." In: A jury ruled that the Circuit City appliance chain has systematically discriminated against its black employees. And Archer Daniels Midland Chairman Dwayne Andreas, one of the country's top political donors, suffered another PR and personal blow when his son Michael, a former ADM executive, was indicted on price-fixing charges. (posted 12/6) |
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| A backlash is building against medical marijuana. The Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing to denounce recently passed ballot measures in California and Arizona. Chairman Orrin Hatch and other politicians explained that voters had been hoodwinked by a deceptive ad campaign orchestrated by out-of-state (and originally out-of-country) drug-legalization financier George Soros. Federal and state law-enforcement officials, led by drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey, openly discussed joint efforts to circumvent the newly approved medical-use laws, prompting the Los Angeles Times to warn against "reefer madness." The media weighed in with stories on the dangers of drug use and the proliferation of head shops. While pleading that the voters had been fooled and that the feds should step in, conservatives continued to denounce federal judges for nullifying recent voter-approved California ballot measures against affirmative action and aid to illegal immigrants. (posted 12/6) |
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Scientists may have discovered water on the moon. Radar signatures indicate that four football fields of dirty ice lie beneath a moon basin, evidently deposited by comets. The discovery excited grand speculation about colonizing the moon, melting the ice for drinking water and oxygen. The less romantic view was that the water might be better used as fuel for moon-based rocket launches into the solar system. Killjoys pointed out that water could be carried to the moon from Earth anyway; finding it on the moon just saves a lot of money. Science reporters suggested that the ice revelation, combined with recent signs of past life on Mars, will turn the political tide in favor of fattening NASA's budget. (posted 12/5) | | A state judge instructed Hawaii to stop prohibiting gay marriages--the first ruling in U.S. history upholding such unions. Although the decision could be overturned by Hawaii's Supreme Court, gay-rights advocates called it the beginning of the end of sexual discrimination in marriage, while opponents of gay rights denounced it as anti-democratic judicial activism. The early prognosis was that the gay-marriage movement still faces an interminable series of court battles, and its first legal victory will only energize the growing political backlash. (posted 12/5) |
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| Newly released FBI documents reveal that Thurgood Marshall served as an FBI informant while running the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund in the 1950s. USA Today broke the news that Marshall had divulged Communist efforts to infiltrate the NAACP and had forewarned the FBI about an NAACP resolution that would criticize the Department of Justice. Other papers played up the anti-Communist angle and played down the NAACP-sellout angle. Scholars and editorialists rushed to defend Marshall, explaining that 1) He was an anti-Communist patriot. 2) He had to appease the FBI to prevent it from turning on the NAACP. 3) Back then, everybody did it. And 4) You can't judge a man without standing in his shoes. "Marshall's place in history untainted by FBI role," assured a USA Today editorial. (posted 12/5) |
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| Early Christmas shopping was up 20 percent from last year, sparking economic jubilation on front pages across the country. "Crowded Stores Buoy Hopes of Retailers," crowed the Los Angeles Times. Not everyone was happy. "Seasonal products and decorations ... are about to clog shop aisles and windows like bad cholesterol," grumbled a USA Today editorial. On the opposite page, an op-ed headline suggested, "Kwanzaa alternative to commercialism."(posted 12/3) |
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| Attorney General Janet Reno rejected a Republican request for an independent counsel to investigate Democratic fund raising. Reno said she had yet to find "specific, credible evidence" implicating a high-ranking government official (i.e., higher than John Huang)--the legal requirement for an outside counsel. Instead, she created a Justice Department criminal task force to look into the matter. Saturday's New York Times criticized Reno, but the Sunday-morning TV pundits opined that the independent-counsel system had already been irretrievably politicized. Republican senators called Reno's decision "suspicious," but, cheered on by the Washington Post, vowed to get at the facts through congressional hearings. Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal reported that in a 1993 letter, Indonesian magnate Mochtar Riady urged Clinton to normalize relations with Vietnam. The early spin was that the letter didn't prove a quid pro quo, but was yet another example of documents sat on by the stonewalling Clinton White House. (posted 12/3) |
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| A panel of economists appointed by Congress is expected to propose a new inflation index to replace the Consumer Price Index. The new index will reduce the official inflation rate, thereby trimming annual cost-of-living increases in Social Security and other federal benefits. This increasingly looks like the way Democrats and Republicans will agree to prune entitlements, while sharing the cover of a technical correction. A "Week in Review" piece in the Sunday New York Times observed that if the lower inflation numbers are applied to the economic statistics of the past couple of decades, the perceived stagnation of real wages turns out to have been a healthy increase. (posted 12/3) |
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Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic cracked down on political opponents after two weeks of escalating public demonstrations. The protests were over Milosevic's annulment of municipal elections that appeared to have been won by opposition parties. Police arrested several protesters, and threatened the rest with unspecified "consequences." The short-term betting favors Milosevic, on the grounds that the working class is too distracted, ignorant, and cowardly to join the opposition. The long-term betting favors a bloody ouster of Milosevic, in the Serbian tradition. Idealists (e.g., Anthony Lewis in the New York Times) accused the Clinton administration of idly standing by while the Communist tyrant oppresses his people. More skeptical news reports indicate that the opposition leaders are no angels. Western diplomats are quoted "privately" saying that Milosevic is easier to reform, because he's trying to undo his reputation as a butcher. (posted 12/3) | Photograph of Madeleine Albright by Win McNamee/Reuters; photograph of the moon from Reuters; photograph of Slobodan Milosevic from Reuters
--Compiled by William Saletan and the editors of S LATE.
