Capital briefs

* FINALLY, IT FITS: Sometimes the New York Times gets it right-slowly. On Wednesday, May 21, the paper printed a one-column, front-page, above-the-fold story headlined, "U.S. Analysts Link Iraq Labs to Germ Arms."

Discussing the mobile bio-weapons laboratories pictured in last week's HUMAN EVENTS, the Times said a Bush Administration report entitled, "Iraqi Mobile Warfare Production Plants," had concluded "two mysterious trailers found in Iraq were mobile units to produce germ weapons." The Times also reported that the United States had discovered a third mobile laboratory in Iraq. "The big vessels in two of the units," said the Times, "could be used to produce an estimated 500 liters of liquid anthrax and 50 liters of botulinum toxin per batch within two to three days-millions of lethal doses."

* SEE DICK RUN, NOT VOTE: The Hill reports that Rep. Dick Gephardt (D.-Mo.), who is running for President, has missed 162 votes in the House this year. That gives him an 85% absence rating. The magazine also notes that Gephardt's chronic absenteeism hasn't stopped the former House Democratic leader from lamenting that many Americans do not vote in elections. "People don't vote," Gephardt complained at the May 3 Democratic presidential primary debate in South Carolina. He then added that he wants to be the President "who restores faith and hope in people that we can solve the major problems that this country faces."

* KERRY CUTS CLASS: The Hill also noted that Sen. John Kerry (D.-Mass.), another presidential candidate, has missed 34% of this year's Senate votes due to campaign appearances-and that does not count the time he took off earlier this year for prostate surgery.

* WHAT ABOUT NORMANDY? Sen. Mary Landrieu (D.-La.) made a curious assessment last week of the effectiveness of the U.S. armed forces that defeated Nazi Germany and fascist Japan. Arguing in favor of affirmative action at Southern University on May 15, Landrieu mentioned President Truman's decision to integrate the military. But she could not ascribe Truman's decision to mere justice-the correct belief that racial discrimination should never be tolerated (a principle which, of course, undermines affirmative action). She had to take a swipe at the armed forces that had just won World War II. "People think he did it because it was the right thing to do, and that's correct, it was," said Landrieu. "But I'll tell you why he did it, it's very important to know-because the white segregated forces couldn't do the job," said Landrieu, according to the Baton Rogue Morning Advocate.

* DEPENDS ON MEANING OF 'BIG': Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D.-Conn.), another Democratic presidential hopeful, announced last week he would soon reveal his own federal health care plan. Meanwhile, he blamed other Democratic candidates for advocating "big government" in this area while promising his own proposal would "not be a big government, big spending program." Right, Joe. Now he has released a plan for something called the "American Center for Cures" that will start at a cost of $150 billion over ten years. According to the Washington Post, this center will "transform advances in scientific and medical research into new drugs, treatments and vaccines for chronic diseases." Lieberman may want to study the activities of the National Institutes of Health. It already performs this function at a cost to taxpayers of $27 billion per year-and growing.

* HOPE THEY'RE RIGHT: No fewer than seven of the nine Democratic presidential candidates showed up in Washington, D.C., on May 20 for the first-ever presidential forum sponsored by the radical feminist fundraising group, Emily's List.

All of the Democrats pledged their allegiance to abortion on demand-and declared President Bush a threat to this "right." Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) said: "The Supreme Court is at stake in this race as never before in modern memory. We need to stand up for civil rights, for equal rights and for the rights of privacy." Former Sen. Carol Moseley-Braun (III.) said, "If George W. Bush is reelected, you can be about certain that in six years Roe v. Wade will be gone."

* A REAL WOMEN'S MAN: Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, at the Emily's List event, continued his quest to anchor the Democratic left on most issues in next year's primaries. "Based on my record in Vermont," he said, "you won't find a better feminist running for President."

* FREE SPEECH UP IN SMOKE: After supporting the 1st Amendment-busting McCain-Feingold campaign finance law, the Bush Administration is now signaling its desire to enact a global treaty banning pro-tobacco speech. On May 21, in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organization (WHO) approved the draft of the "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control" which, according to the New York Times, "would ban advertising and sponsorship of television programs and entertainment by tobacco companies." In Geneva, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson cautioned the WHO crowd that the Bush Administration wants to review the text of the treaty first before pushing for ratification. But, he said, "Together, we can and will make the global threat of smoking a thing of the past."