"While I was disappointed that more attention had not been paid to this, I was not surprised to see ... a very thoughtful article by Lawrence J. Korb underlining exactly how significant Mr. Haass's article was," Frank continues.
Korb, a former assistant secretary of defense under President Reagan, wrote that he agreed with Haass that the ongoing war is directly contrary to earlier rationale given by President Bush and his top officials.
As for his questionable timing of inserting the pair of articles, Frank states: "The adage better late than never is relevant."
BUSH THE BULLY
These days, President Bush is blamed for just about everything - including a popular video game that stereotypes Haitians and Cubans.
"This despicable video game portrays Haitians as ugly criminals and lower forms of human life who must be obliterated once and for all," Rep. Kendrick B. Meek (D-Fla.) says of the Rockstar Inc. video game "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City."
"What makes this matter even more offensive is that by its immigration policies and pronouncements, the Bush administration fosters a view of Haitian asylum seekers as potential terrorists rather than bona fide refugees," the Democrat adds.
This columnist doesn't play video games, but according to the congressman, to win the game the player - an ex-convict - is hired to recover stolen drug money on the streets of Miami and in his pursuit faces police officers and gangsters from Cuba and Haiti. Armed with a machete, knife, gun and baseball bat, the game urges players to "kill the Haitians" and "kill the Cubans."
OVERALL FEELING
We picked a unique day Tuesday to view more than 230 daily newspaper front pages from more than 30 countries that are displayed over the Newseum's award-winning Web site: www.newseum.org.
"This exhibit supports the Newseum's mission of helping the public better understand the press by allowing people to see how different newspapers cover the same story," says Peter S. Prichard, president of the Washington, D.C. musuem. "If you take the time to really look at these front pages, you'll begin to comprehend the wide variety of editorial decisions that are made every day."
Except that Tuesday a clear majority of newspaper editors around the world appeared to be in agreement with President Bush's assessment of the captured Saddam Hussein, or so we gather from their identical headlines: "Good Riddance."
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
"But most of all, I will truly miss the other half of the Kosher-Cajun Caucus and I hope someday to join him for bagels on the bayou." - Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) reacting to news that Sen. John B. Breaux (D-La.) will retire at the end of this congressional session.
STROM'S WARNING
Truth has a biological advantage, observes conservative black commentator Armstrong Williams.
"It doesn't need the artifice of man to survive," he says. "It lives and breathes freely on its own."
The well-known Washington pundit is referring to 78-year-old Essie Mae Washington-Williams, who confirmed this week one of the oldest rumors of Southern political folklore: She is the mixed-race daughter of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.).
As we've all read, Williams' mother worked as a maid in the Thurmond family home - although Thurmond's family and his staff, until now, had denied it.
"Through my long working relationship with the senator, I know otherwise," Armstrong Williams writes. "There was a conversation that occurred at a 1996 Washington Urban League ceremony honoring myself and Sen. Strom Thurmond for the growing bonds between black and white Americans. Back stage, Sen. Thurmond leaned over and said, 'You know, I have deep roots in the black community ... deep roots.'
"His voice softened into a raspy whisper, 'You've heard the rumors.'
"'Are they just rumors, Senator?' I asked.
"'I've had a fulfilling life,' cackled Thurmond, winking salaciously."
Williams says the subject came up again while he and the senator were attending a South Carolina State football game in Orangeburg.
"He mentioned how he had arranged for Williams to attend S.C. State College while he was governor. 'When a man brings a child into the world, he should take care of that child,' said Thurmond, who then added: 'She'll never say anything and neither will you ... not while I'm alive.'"
ANOTHER FLAKE
Should Americans pay tribute to Johnny Appleseed?
Not if a lone congressman has his way.
Continuing his call for senators to reject the omnibus appropriations bill for 2004 and force congressional appropriators to cut thousands of pork-barrel projects, Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) draws attention to this week's $450,000 earmark for the Johnny Appleseed Heritage Center in Ashland County, Ohio.
Johnny Appleseed, born John Chapman in 1774, was by some definitions the equivalent of a modern-day drifter. He traversed the backcountry, often in his barefeet, clearing land and planting apple seeds - millions of apple seeds.
Flake, for one, doesn't believe an odd fellow like Appleseed should be revered, particularly at taxpayers' expense.
"If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, then congressional appropriators won't need a check-up for quite a while," Flake notes.