What I Missed Over Thanksgiving

It was good to take a few days off, but I can see I missed a bunch of interesting stories.

First up is Fred Thompson's Boo-Hoo Moment.

When the camera returned to Thompson, he was visibly angry. "This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth," he said.

Wallace tried to defend his network: "Well, I don't know that -- I mean, I don't know that Fox has been going after you, and I certainly don't think Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes . . ."

"From Day One, they said I got in too late, I couldn't do it," Thompson interrupted.

He later blasted Fox for running criticism from "your own guys, who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it. [It] kind of skews things a little bit."

I see that Allah had it first, of course. The amusing thing about Thompson's outburst is that it provides actual proof that the man is alive and still running for president. There were a few weeks where I wasn't quite sure.

Second, a federal judge is fed up with secret filings and verdicts based on secret evidence in terrorism cases. Last week, she ordered that prosecutors and lead defense counsel be granted security clearances so that they would be able to actually, y'know, participate in the case of jihad promoter Ali al-Timimi.

Judge Leonie M. Brinkema was burned before when, in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial, the CIA told the her that there were no audio or video recordings of terrorist interrogations. That was revealed to be a lie (or at least a serious mistake) last month. As in the Moussaoui case, the CIA has made secret filings in Timimi's case. Understandably, she doesn't want to proceed unless the prosecution and the defense have an opportunity to examine the filings.

As a general rule, it's a bad idea to lie to a judge.

Third, "labor, business and farm organizations" have managed to stave off a DHS program that would have cracked down on employers of illegal aliens and probably deprive the illegals of jobs, too.

On Oct. 10, [Judge Charles R.] Breyer barred the government from mailing Social Security "no-match" letters to 140,000 U.S. employers, citing serious legal questions about requiring companies to resolve questions about their employees' identities, fire them within 90 days, or else face potential fines and criminal prosecution.

The case was set to proceed on the merits. Sensing defeat, the Department of Justice asked for a delay while DHS comes up with a new program.

What else did I miss?

posted by Gabriel Malor at 11:44 AM

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