Short Cuts

Monday, March 10, 2003

Blix Blindness: There was major mumbling over the weekend about Hans Blix's failure to mention the damning evidence in his own shelved 167 report on Iraq's development of a drone that can spray deadly disease. Here the London Times reports that the U.S. and U.K. will press him to explain his omission from his Friday presentation. We're not holding our breath for a satisfactory answer. The report, that Blix refused to release, nonetheless was widely distributed around the U.N. One anonymous recipient told the New York Times on Saturday the he got his on the corner of East 53rd and Lex.

It Sounded Good At The Time: 60 Minutes producer Don Hewitt has always glommed credit for everything the show has done in the last thirty years and it's only fair he take the blame for the 90 second snooze fest presented last night. Former president Bill Clinton (is his head getting pointier or is it our set?) and Senator Bob Dole staged what was billed as a 'debate.' Dole, who looked tired and borderline Tammy Faye-ish, got in a tiny zinger about the Clinton library we are told but by then we had nodded off. It takes twice as long to read Tom Shale's review in the WaPo than it did for them to say whatever they said. Who can remember?

Grim Gridiron: Gridiron dinner participants, who suited up for the most inside of Washington's insider running of the bull, walked a fine line Saturday night. War looms and its not the time to crack wise. The remarks of the various speakers are supposed to be off the record but the good stuff always leaks out. This is a good thing as this report in the WaPo shows that presidential candidate Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina hired a writer with a since of humor. To wit: "I know what you're thinking: He's even better looking in person," he quipped. He went on to challenge a columnist's suggestion that he was nothing more than a Ken doll. "A Ken doll is plastic, lacking in substance and can be bought for about $10," he said. "There's at least one difference right there." This may be as good as he gets.

Downgrading the Doyenne: Insiders noticed the dissing of Helen Thomas at W's Thursday night press conference. She was sent to the third row after years of sitting right up front, opening and closing the questioning as befit her position as "senior White House correspondent." Brit Hume on Tony's Snow's Sunday show explained that Ari Fleischer actually likes her up front. Her frequent hectoring ("Why does the President want to kill innocent Iraqi citizens?") only makes him look better and explains why he has never looked her in the eye and said, "Helen, I curse your moustache."

-Your Locked and Loaded LComStaff