GEE, THAT'S KIND OF IRONIC

On the same day that the CIA Director testifies that al Queda is still a threat to be taken seriously, bin Laden's chief advisor and ideologist, the Egyptian doctor, pops up with two relatively recent tapes. The story of the tapes runs on page A-8 of the Times. Tenet's testimony runs on page A-16. (Of course, they can't resist a bit of a cheap shot in the article. Noting that Tenet says the threat is at least as great as last year, they then note that, "In his State of the Union address last month, President Bush described the world as having become "a better and safer place," since American forces overthrew Mr. Hussein last year." Not until later in the article do they note that both Tenet and FBI Director Mueller think we are safer despite the threat, but nice try anyway. In any event, I digress.)

What's on the front page? A business story. And another of these absurd cultural pieces left over from the Howell Raines era.

What does it take for people to take this seriously? The top three intelligence people in the country (the head of DIA was there as well) just said that we are in as great a risk of attack as we were last year, and of course last year we were in great a risk as the year before. Why does no one seem to want to pay attention? Why isn't this front page news? Someone is crazy here, and I don't think it's me. We have just been told we're at risk of another terrorist attack and that doesn't seem to grasp the media's attention. That just staggers me. It makes me want to grab someone by the lapels and shake them. WHAT ABOUT THIS STORY IS DIFFICULT FOR YOU TO UNDERSTAND? WHYT ISN'T THIS YOUR TOP PRIORITY? WHY DO I SEEM TO BE THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THIS IS IMPORTANT?

I must just be missing something here. Because either they're off their nut -- or I am.