No one seems to be writing opinion pieces quite the way I would, so I decided to do it myself.

The name? Taverns are places where one goes to discuss the interesting events and things in the world, so this is my tavern.

I will offer my views on politics, economics, and whatever else strikes my fancy.
I will occasionally publish the entire article from another journal for purposes of causing discussion.

 

More Failure of the Media

Josh Marshal has an excellent short essay today. First he discusses the FBI informant, Republican fundraiser and Chinese agent Katrina Leung. He points out that "Now it seems clear that higher-ups at the FBI suspected or knew Leung was a double agent as early as 1991. " Through her sexual relationship with here FBI handler, James J. smith, she "managed to compromise not only the campaign finance investigation but perhaps also a great deal of US espionage against China over the last two decades."

ABC News, Fox, AP, the Los Angeles Times, and CNN have all run stories on the spy scandal, without mentioning the fact that Leung has been a major Republican activist and fund-raiser. "Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, Utah Republican, said in a letter delivered Wednesday to Sen. Patrick J. Leahy of Vermont, the panel's ranking Democrat, and Republican Sens. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, that the committee was "too busy" to hold hearings in the spy case. Washington Times "

Marshall goes on to point out "Now, one could go on about this and note that all the while that the FBI was investigating the Democrats, and all the while the Republicans were hyperventilating and milking the whole thing for political gain, one of the lead agents in the investigation was carrying on with a Republican fundraiser who also happened to be a PRC double-agent, probably helping to compromise and misdirect the investigation in various ways.

Here, though, is the deeper problem. What does it say about the Republican party that one of their activists was a spy? Not much. At least, not necessarily. It's embarrassing that one of their fund-raisers, someone who gave money to GOP politicians and no doubt rubbed shoulders with many of them, was a spy. But does it mean the Republicans are traitors? That they're compromised in some way? That they're soft on China?

The real issue, as nearly as I can see it, is the terrible, persistent failure at the FBI to deal with counter-intelligence. But, then, this isn't exactly the standard the Republicans followed, is it? "

Then he goes on to discuss the dilemma faced by democrats regarding how to handle this issue publicly. Respond as the Republicans did by creating a major scandal out of not much in terms of evidence (but a lot more here than the Republicans had) or rise above it, approach it as a real problem that needs resolving and go on, in effect disarming themselves in the face of normal Republican demagoguery?

As usual, he presents an excellent essay. Go read it.

Oh, and if you wonder why the media went wild with the much weaker evidence that the Democrats were being used by the Red Chinese, yet ignore this real connection to the Republican Party, go read David Brock's book "Blinded by the Right: The Conscience of an Ex-conservative". It sets out the massive right-wing set of institutions designed to publicize right-wing causes and attack their opponents in an organized (and well-financed) manner.

posted by Richard at 12:40 PM