Under the Radar

MEDIA – RIGHT-WING ECHO CHAMBER 101: Even since the story broke three days ago that the administration failed to secure 380 tons of powerful explosives in Iraq, President Bush and his surrogates have been unable to stem the political damage. Enter the right-wing spin machine. This morning, the headline on the Drudge Report blares in 36-point font: Russia tied to Iraq's missing arms; Pentagon: Weaponry relocated before war. Drudge links to a story in the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Washington Times written by Bill
Gertz. In that story, Gertz reports John A. Shaw, the deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology, "believes the Russian troops, working with Iraqi intelligence, 'almost certainly' removed the high-explosive material that went missing." On Fox and Friends this morning Fox News jumped all over the Russian rumors. Drudge, Gertz and Fox wildly distort the story – but unless you read the Financial Times, you might not realize it. Drudge's headline notwithstanding, "the Pentagon distanced itself from [Shaw's] remarks." Pentagon spokesman Larry Di Rita – who has enthusiastically embraced any theory that would exculpate the administration – when asked about Shaw's comments said, "I am unaware of any particular information on that point." Drudge and Gertz fail to mention that Shaw "has not provided evidence for his claims." Russia, through its U.S. embassy, "rejected the claims as 'nonsense', saying there were no Russian military in the country at the time."

IRAQ – RAMADI SLIPPING: The New York Times reports the provincial Iraqi capital of
Ramadi, a city "which is larger and strategically more important than its sister city of
Falluja," is in danger of falling into insurgent hands. "While Ramadi is not exactly a 'no go' zone for the marines, like the insurgent stronghold of Falluja…officers say it is fast slipping in that direction. In the last six weeks, guerrillas have stepped up the pace of assassinations of Iraqis working with the Americans, and marine officials say they suspect Iraqi security officers have been helping insurgents to attack their troops. Reconstruction efforts have ground to a halt because no local contractors are willing to work." The disintegration of authority in the region "puts in jeopardy both the Bush administration's plan to stage nationwide elections by Jan. 31 and any sense of legitimacy such elections might have. It also complicates the American military's plans to invade
Falluja, because of the close coordination between insurgents in the two cities."

VOTING – ABSENT ABSENTEES IN FLORIDA: Election officials in Florida are wondering how many of "a batch of 58,000 absentee ballots" in Broward County have been "lost." County voters requested the ballots more than two weeks ago, but hundreds have reported not receiving them. In recent days, the complaints have overwhelmed the phone system. The county has responded by blaming the US Postal Service. "That is something beyond our control," said Deputy Supervisor of Elections Gisela Salas. "We really have no idea what's going on."

VOTING – JUDGE HALTS CHALLENGES IN OHIO: A federal judge in Ohio "temporarily stopped hearings Wednesday on Republican challenges of thousands of voter registrations, ruling in favor of Democrats who alleged that the challenges were an attempt to keep legitimate votes from being counted." The Republicans had challenged as many as 35,000 registrations in the crucial swing state, because "mail came back undelivered." Meanwhile, late on Wednesday, Ohio Secretary of State Ken Blackwell issued a directive that, "for the first time, will allow political parties to apportion partisan challengers by precinct instead of polling site." The directive will allow partisan operatives to overload challengers in competitive precincts. In Ohio, the Republican Party has registered 3,600 challengers, while the Democratic Party has registered 2,000.

MEDIA – U.S. GETS LOW MARKS FOR FREEDOM: Reporters Without Borders, a group that evaluates freedom of the press throughout the world, ranked the United States "22nd alongside Belgium and behind countries including Bosnia, France and Trinidad and Tobago on a media freedom index released this week." The report cited "violations of source confidentiality, persistent problems in granting press visas and the arrest of several journalists during anti-Bush demonstrations." Iraq ranked 148th and was described by the group as "the most deadly place on Earth for journalists in recent years."

WAL-MART – COMPANY OPPOSES HEALTH INSURANCE FOR WORKERS: Vice President Cheney's favorite company, Wal-Mart, is pulling out all the stops to block Proposition 72 on the California ballot, "a measure that will require employers to provide basic health insurance to workers." Besides spending $500,000 to aid opponents of the measure, AP reports that Wal-Mart is breaking a tradition of trying to stay out of politics by spending more than $2.4 million on California races this fall – "well beyond any previous sum the company has spent here in one year." Wal-Mart's big funding to block Proposition 72 came just one day after TV ads cited a study from a University of California research group estimating "California taxpayers spend $32 million a year providing health care to Wal-Mart workers."