EVENING UPDATE,  JANUARY 25,  2008

•   First, thanks to Urgent Agenda readers for making this a great week.  Our numbers are way up.  The more readers we have, the more we can do.

•   Dennis Kucinich has dropped out of the presidential race.  Notice the difference?

•   Scott Johnson, at Power Line, links to a critically important National Review Online story by the superb Claudia Rosett.  It's about the Pentagon, which has something to do with national defense, firing its leading truthteller about militant Islam, while keeping on an apologist with a strange and disturbing history.  As Scott says, don't be deceived by Claudia Rosett's title, "Questions for the Pentagon."  She answers many of those questions.  This is not happy talk.

The story reminds me of some unpleasant history.  During the so-called McCarthy Era, many liberal anti-Communists actually sympathized with McCarthy's mission, but considered him out of line and badly behaved.  It was common to hear people say, "McCarthy is the best friend Joe Stalin ever had."  They said it because McCarthy's antics turned people off, and made anti-Communism, at least in some eyes, not quite respectable.  The result:  The left, and its allies in the press, started using the fear of "McCarthyism" to prevent any serious discussion of far-left infiltration into American life.  During the Vietnam conflict, agitators with long histories on the extreme left were simply described as "anti-war activists."  That sin of omission continues to this day.  Challenge it, and you're a "McCarthyite." 

I heard a Smith College professor defend Betty Friedan's dishonesty about her far-left background by saying that she didn't want to be asked "McCarthyite" questions.  Nice excuse.  No need to tell the truth.  Just use the magic word.

I think we're seeing some of this today.  It doesn't involve Communism.  It involves the extremist brand of Islam.  Increasingly, it's become not quite respectable to ask too many questions, to probe too deeply.  Why that's "culturally insensitive," the modern version of McCarthyism.  Or, it's "hate speech."  After all, we must not upset people.  At one college in New York City, the administration threatened to report to the police students who wanted to show the film, "Obsession."   This occurred six blocks from Ground Zero.

This attitude has infiltrated into the United States Government.  It's a kind of ideological "don't ask, don't tell."  So, we have this scandal at the Pentagon, which is likely to grow.  There's serious talk of a congressional investigation.  Write your congressperson or senator.  Demand one.  Let's have it out.

The "anti-war" movement prolonged the Vietnam War, and paralyzed American morale.  The "anti-war" movement today is trying to do the same.  But no one asks the political backgrounds of the people leading this movement.  Why, we don't want to go back to the McCarthy era, do we? 

We have a right to know the backgrounds and beliefs of those who are employed by our government.  They are our servants.  It's not the other way around.  Read Claudia Rosett's story, and get those e-mails going. 

•   Must I defend Hillary Clinton?  Why does fate place me in this awful position?  What sins have I committed?

Well, here goes.  There's a photo of Bill and Hillary circulating.  Between them - there always seems to be someone between them - is one Tony Rezko.  You may remember that he's the allegedly shady character for whom Barack Obama did some legal work.  Hillary brought that out in their last debate. 

The picture is being used to embarrass Hillary.  It's wrong.  First, there's so much else to embarrass her by, why use this?  Second, this is classic guilt by association.  As she says, quite rightly, or leftly,  "I probably have taken hundreds of thousands of pictures. I don't know the man. I wouldn't know him if he walked in the door."

I'll buy that unless someone can prove otherwise.  You just can't hold politicians responsible for every person they pose with.  Okay, you ask, should Obama be held responsible for doing legal work for this guy?  The answer depends on whether he knew of any illegality the man had committed, and the nature of their relationship.  Obama is innocent until proved guilty.  

Look, I'm all for guilt by association if the association is serious, and clearly wrong.  But a photo?  No, I'll give our home-grown Evita a pass on that. 

You know, he doesn't look like a nice guy.  And neither does the one in the middle.

•   Students at Choate Rosemary Hall, attended by JFK, among others, are deeply upset at the choice of Karl Rove to be their commencement speaker.  Oh, the dears.  We go through this ritual every year.  Get a commencement speaker anywhere to the right of Trotsky and some students rush to the mental health clinic.  Question:  Does anyone ever remember a commencement speech?  Sometimes, we have trouble remembering the name of the speaker.

But, if the students are serious, maybe they can have an alternative graduation and invite, say, Hugo Chavez. The school, however, should impose a condition:  If Chavez comes, he should be permitted to confiscate all the students' stock portfolios.

There are ways to shut students up.

•   This site is devoted to the sport of figure skating.  Skating fans make soccer fans look like librarians.  It is a sport filled with passion.  So, just to remind you, the US Nationals, from St. Paul, will be broadcast on NBC this weekend - Saturday afternoon and evening, and Sunday evening.  NBC promises HD, and I hope they do it right and give us widescreen HD. 

Skating is in some trouble.  Audiences have declined thanks to a new, complicated scoring system that no one understands, the lack of major stars who sustain over the years, and scandal.  No, by scandal I don't mean that they've had one.  They haven't had one.  That's the problem.  When they have a good scandal the people come.  They haven't had a whopper since French judges cheated at one of the past Olympics.  If you know of any way to start a scandal, let me know.  I'll pass it on to the US Figure Skating Association.  There could be some free tickets.

•   I just read that Bill Clinton is saying that Hillary and John McCain are very close.  Now, you don't think he's going to accuse her of...no, not Hillary.  Not in the Oval Office.  He shouldn't have used the term "very close."  If Leno doesn't pick up on this, he's unfit to wear the mantle of Johnny Carson.

Be back tomorrow morning.

Posted on January 25, 2008, 6:40 p.m. EST.