Busting Kneecaps?

So what's going on with John J. DiIulo? The former head of the Office of Faith-Based Initiatives claimed recently that the White House puts politics ahead of policy. (No kidding?) The press started running with the story, and then we hear that DiIulo is "toning down" his criticism. Coincidentally, DiIulio's apology sounds almost exactly like statements made by Ari Fliescher, head spinner at the White House. Now we can read DiIuilo's accusations here and here, so we can make up our own minds about what DiIulo said or meant to say. The question is, did the White House put some kind of ugly pressure on DiIulo to get him to "tone down" his comments, or was he just motivated to do this out of the kindness of his own heart?

Update: Joan Walsh explains this DiIulio situation better than I did:

The very day his bracing criticism of Rove and the White House made national news, he apologized to his former colleagues, twice. It was a strange, cringe-inducing spectacle, with language out of a Soviet show trial: He called his own criticisms, as quoted by Suskind, "groundless and baseless due to poorly chosen words and examples." Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer had earlier called his complaints "groundless and baseless," so his use of the same terms seemed rote and creepy, like he'd either been beaten up or lobotomized. "I sincerely apologize and I am deeply remorseful," he said in a statement.

The rest of Walsh's story contains great background on DiIulio and the whole "faith-based initiatives" charade.

Posted 04:38 PM | Comments (1) | general politics

Bad Precedents

Can anyone recommend a blog or other source that is talking about the fact that the Bush Administration is developing a parallel legal system for "terrorism" suspects? I mentioned this a couple of months ago in relation to Hamdi v. Ashcroft, but it seems that things are only getting worse. Is it just me, or is this some seriously bad ju-ju?

Posted 04:28 PM | law school

Hurry

Give yourself a 30-minute gift today and go read "Literary Devices," a new short story by Richard Powers. According to Scott Rosenberg, the story will only be available for one more week, so get it while you can. Could the "age of the rich, self-telling, process-authored, post-human, platform-independent story" almost be here? And why can't I come up with cool ideas like that? Ok, don't answer that, just enjoy the story.

Posted 04:10 PM | ai books

Scary Funny

Speaking of funny, Get Your War On has posted a new installment. [brought to my attention by Eschaton.] I roll on the floor with every new strip. Several of the strips in this edition mention Kissinger's appointment to be the lead actor in the dramatic simulation of "an investigation into 9-11-01" (working title). For a reminder of why Kissinger is maybe um, not a good choice, see what Cristopher Hitchens has to say. More on Kissinger from the International Campaign Against Impunity. Meanwhile, the issue seems to have put Maureen Dowd in top form.

Posted 09:49 AM | general politics