href="http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/06/15/barr.defamation.ap/index.html">CNN.com
- GOP congressman sues Clinton, Carville, Flynt
Two stories
in a row out of Atlanta, this can't be good. Anyway, when this story
first broke I didn't catch that Larry Flynt was included. That just
makes it so much more ridiculous. Having seen Bob Barr on television
many times, I am perfectly willing to testify in court that Larry
Flynt would have absolutely no need for confidential FBI files to
embarass him. All that is required is to shine a light on his
hypocritical, small-minded ideas. One last thought, won't this
lawsuit take important time away from Barr's quest to have
everything in the country named after Ronald Reagan, no matter the
cost?

I was watching the href="http://www.atlantabraves.com/">Atlanta Braves game tonight
and href="http://alt.superstation.com/Sports/Story/0,9001,25|89|92|2162,00.html">Pete
van Wieren of TBS had
the gall to say that the reason players are not arrested for illegal
steroid use is that the players are legally prescribed the steroids
to help them heal from injuries. Now, I know there are quite a few
celebrity-enabling doctors out there, but I am reasonably sure most,
if not all, would balk at prescribing the amount of steroids Ken
Caminiti admitted to taking. I guess I am a purist, but it pains me
to see the integrity of the game diminished by the talk of steroids
and amphetamines in baseball.

Homeland
Security
I am reserving final judgment on the idea of a
homeland security department in the federal government, but my
initial impression is not good. A massive reorganization of
government would be difficult with a huge budget, but doing it on a
shoestring, as has been suggested by the Bush administration, is
going to be impossible. Saying a > $30 billion dollar budget is a
shoestring may seem ridiculous, but the proposed budget is not all
it is cracked up to be. Most of that money is already allocated to
the shifting organizations and what little extra there is was
“stolen” from other areas. For example, $1.2 billion is taken from
the $1.5 billion Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory budget, with
only 324 people being moved . Now, I have worked at LLNL and I can
tell you that of the >8000 people working there, a significant
fraction have no place in homeland security. In addition, a large
fraction of the employees currently work at supporting our nuclear
arsenal. It will be difficult to do this with very little budget.
Obviously, Congress will have to appropriate new money and then the
Bush administration will be able to blame them for increasing the
deficit. I guess we already knew this was all about politics anyway.

href="http://www.prospect.org/webfeatures/2002/06/tapped-s-06-10.html">Tapped
does a pretty good job debunking the White House Trashing story. To
make a long story short, there was damage, but not more than
expected. I think the real controversy here is the GAO report that
probably cost 10 times the amount of the damage to prepare. Also
interesting that Bush White House staffers have keyboards that cost
$75. Even fancy keyboards can be had for $40. Maybe they could hire
Al Gore to teach them to eliminate waste.

Rampant Illegal Drug
Use
I don't really understand how the story of the widespread
use of illegal drugs in baseball has not created a huge furor.
Forgetting for second steroids, what about amphetamines? Aren't they
beyond the pale, as it were? It is one thing to rationalize steroid
use as "just a way to put on muscle". It is another thing entirely
to suggest that third baseman John Doe is walking out on the field
all cranked up on speed. The players union suggests that drug
testing would be a violation of the players' privacy. That's a weak
argument against testing for steroids, but when the average locker
room apparently contains more speed than a convention of long-haul
truckers, it seems ridiculous to suggest that it is a privacy issue.
This just may be the lever that allows the owners to demand drug
testing as part of the new collective-bargaining agreement. I hope
that some industrious prosecutor looks into this a little further.