All Is Not As It Seems

Varifrank has a longish but fascinating speculation on what may actually be going on in Lebanon right now. It's quite interesting and would explain a few things, much as what Wretchard did at the Belmont Club. Many of the conclusions the two write about match up closely.

Here’s what I’m talking about. When you see news coming from Israel, its censored. That’s a good thing. I support that, its saving lives. When you see news from Beirut, its also censored. It’s also mostly propaganda. It’s a fact. I think were all over the age of 5 here, so I don’t think anyone who reads this blog is going to slap themselves in the head and shout “ Oh say it isn’t so!”

But knowing this simple set of facts, knowing that both sides want to put the best shine on their version of the story at all times, then ask yourself this;

“Why is it that stories coming from Israel this week are so damn pessimistic”?

Israel has press organizations, agents and other people to spin the story. They can put the proper pressure to ensure on the media to ensure that the story is told as close to the way they want it told. Yet, the stories coming from Israel seem to me to be bleak and nasty and full of fear and dissention, almost to the exception of any sort of good news.

Today, my "spider senses" started to twitch when I watched a news story told from a hospital from Israeli troops who had just returned from inside Lebanon. They were talking about the Hezbollah troops like they were 20 feet tall, each of which had 6 popeye sized arms with a .50 caliber machine gun and a full belt of ammo in each oversized hand.

I thought to myself for just a second, this doesn’t feel right. First, the only info that gets out is the info they want out, so why would Israeli government officials be so interested in letting this message get out? These are Israeli troops. These are not European conscripts. These guys know what defeat means. It means they will be feeding their families to the ovens of Hezbollah and the Iranians. They will fight to the death because failure means the end of everything. There is no line of retreat for Israelis. To Israelis there is no honor in losing, just death.

Israelis don’t talk like this in battle…so why are they and more importantly, why are we seeing it?

Shouldn’t the message being sent by the Israelis be “ We’re jubilant, we’re winning, we’re happy joyful fighters protecting our homeland, kicking the crap out of the Arabs again”? We’ve always seen that before haven’t we? even when they faced attacks by big armies from all three sides at once, they were cheery and happy in the face of battle. Defeatism and doubt are not things that you hear from the Israeli army.

Why send or allow to be sent, the exact opposite of that message?

One possibility is that things really are bad. Ok, I can accept that. But are they? Work with me for a second. Let’s ask ourselves the question again in a slightly different way;

“Why would any government be interested in sending a message of their own weakness at the beginning of a shooting war”?

Well, you do it because you want the enemy to commit…..

Like I said, fascinating read. Worth taking the time. Note also the update in which it is noted that a dog did not bark. Very interesting.

A Road Out?

Brent Scowcroft writes in today's Washington Post an outline for a plan for a comprehensive settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. On paper it would appear to be a reasonable plan. There are a number of compromises that would make everyone involved less than happy (Usually a good sign that the compromise is workable).

The outlines of a comprehensive settlement have been apparent since President Bill Clinton's efforts collapsed in 2000. The major elements would include:

· A Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with minor rectifications agreed upon between Palestine and Israel.

· Palestinians giving up the right of return and Israel reciprocating by removing its settlements in the West Bank, again with rectifications as mutually agreed. Those displaced on both sides would receive compensation from the international community.

· King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia unambiguously reconfirming his 2002 pledge that the Arab world is prepared to enter into full normal relations with Israel upon its withdrawal from the lands occupied in 1967.

· Egypt and Saudi Arabia working with the Palestinian Authority to put together a government along the lines of the 18-point agreement reached between Hamas and Fatah prisoners in Israeli jails in June. This government would negotiate for the Authority.

· Deployment, as part of a cease-fire, of a robust international force in southern Lebanon.

· Deployment of another international force to facilitate and supervise traffic to and from Gaza and the West Bank.

· Designation of Jerusalem as the shared capital of Israel and Palestine, with appropriate international guarantees of freedom of movement and civic life in the city.

These elements are well-known to people who live in the region and to those outside who have labored over the decades seeking to shape a lasting peace. What seems breathtakingly complicated, however, is how one mobilizes the necessary political will, in the region and beyond, to transform these principles into an agreement on a lasting accord.

The current crisis in Lebanon provides a historic opportunity to achieve what has seemed impossible. That said, it is too much to expect those most directly implicated — Israeli and Palestinian leaders — to lead the way. That responsibility falls to others, principally the United States, which alone can mobilize the international community and Israel and the Arab states for the task that has defeated so many previous efforts.

Scowcroft goes on to argue that the so-called Quartet should be the driving force behind the whole thing. The problem is, of course, that this has all been on the table before and the terrorists have refused the deals and just gone on doing what they do best - kill people and chances for peace. Maybe the answer this time is to do it differently. To go after Hezbollah so hard that they have to negotiate for real this time.

And maybe that's what Bush's strategy is this time.

Osama Bin Chicken?

A new documenary informs us that Osama bin Laden was noted for running away when the bombs started falling. That is according to a long-time associate and former ally.

Osama Bin Laden talks tough, but other mujahedeen laughed at him in Afghanistan because he would get scared and bolt when under fire, a new documentary reveals.

"When Bin Laden used to hear the explosions, he used to jump. He used to run away," his longtime friend Hutaifa Azzam says on "CNN Presents: In the Footsteps of Bin Laden."

Via Klein Verzet in The Netherlands (The blogosphere has many strange routes!).

Human Shields

In the third week of a war started by Hezbollah, after weeks of warning civilians to get out of Southern Lebanon, the Israeli Air Force Struck at a town that had been the launch site for hundreds of artillery rockets fired into Israel. At least 57 civilians were reported killed. 37 of the dead were children. The Prime Minister and the Defense minister of Israel have expressed their regret over the incident.

 Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that he needed 10 days to two weeks to finish the offensive in Lebanon, a senior Israeli government official reported Sunday.

Olmert met with Rice on Saturday night to discuss the 19-day-old offensive in southern Lebanon. Their meeting came before the IAF strike in Qana early Sunday.

Following the strike, Olmert and Rice scheduled a new meeting on Sunday evening.

Earlier, Olmert expressed deep regret for the harm inflicted on the civilians in Qana Sunday morning when at least 57 civilians - 37 of whom were children - were killed as the IAF fired missiles at a building in the southern Lebanese town.

"I express deep regret, along with all of Israel and the IDF, for the civilian deaths in Qana," said Olmert. "Nothing could be further from our intentions and our interests than harming civilians - everyone understands that. When we do harm civilians, the whole world recognizes that it is an exceptional case that does not characterize us."

"In contrast," Olmert said, "Hizbullah has launched rockets with the aim of murdering innocent civilians in northern Israel."

The prime minsiter vowed that the fight against Hizbullah would continue despite the Qana tragedy.

"Hizbullah, like other Islamic terror movements, threatens the entire civilization. When we decided to respond, we knew that we would need to be strong in the face of difficult situations," said Olmert.

Olmert said that the area was a focal point for the firing of Katyusha rockets on Kiryat Shmona and Afula. He said that from the outset of the conflict, "hundreds of rockets have been fired from the Qana area."

Obviously the death of children in war is a horrible thing. What has to be kept in mind here is one simple question: In the third week of a war started by Hezbollah, after weeks of warning civilians to get out of Southern Lebanon, what were children doing in that town in the middle of a war zone? There is only one answer, they were there specifically to create this kind of news event should Israel hit the village. This is the utter depravity of Hezbollah on display and the world should condemn it as such.

Obviously the death of children in war is a horrible thing. What has to be kept in mind here is one simple question: In the third week of a war started by Hezbollah, after weeks of warning civilians to get out of Southern Lebanon, what were children doing in that town in the middle of a war zone? There is only one answer, they were there specifically to create this kind of news event should Israel hit the village. This is the utter depravity of Hezbollah on display and the world should condemn it as such.

Pigeon Dive Bombers

So if Sunday you're free,
Why don't you come with me,
And we'll poison the pigeons in the park.
And maybe we'll do
In a squirrel or two,
While we're poisoning pigeons in the park.

We'll murder them all amid laughter and merriment.
Except for the few we take home to experiment.
My pulse will be quickenin'
With each drop of strychnine
We feed to a pigeon.
It just takes a smidgin!
To poison a pigeon in the park.
(Tom Lehrer, Poisoning Pigeons In The Park)

Something went awry when a contractor went to perform his duties at a Schenectady, New York hospital. The pesticide he spread around was only supposed to make a few pigeons sick, instead, dozens of birds started dive bombing people around the hospital, causing them to shut down their emergency room.

"Birds were coming down like dive bombers," said Fire Chief Robert Farstad.

Ellis Hospital said its emergency room continued to treat patients during the incident Thursday evening but had to divert ambulances to other hospitals.

The hospital had brought in an exterminator to use a pesticide to get rid of pigeons on the roof. The chemical was designed to poison a few birds, whose distress calls would then drive off other members of the flock. Instead, more than two dozen pigeons were stricken.

Emergency workers spent hours searching the hospital grounds and putting dead birds in red hazardous-waste bags.

We here at Blue Crab Boulevard know the truth of course. The birds were not poisoned at all. They were warriors in the animal uprising and the dive bombing was intentional. Yet another fowl kamikaze incident. The power diving pigeons of perdition have arrived. You have been warned!

Lending a Hand, Part Three

Well, Linda Kay, the exotic dancer who kept a severed human hand, affectionately named Freddy, in a jar of formaldehyde on a bedroom dresser, has been arrested. She remains in Jail. Her attorney says she plans to plead not guilty.

Linda Kay was arrested late Friday, two days after authorities said she skipped a court appearance. She was taken to the Middlesex County Jail, where she remained late Saturday in lieu of $100,000 bail.

Her attorney, Donald DiGioia, said he looked forward to discussing his client's case with prosecutors.

"She is a good, gentle individual who has a nontraditional job," DiGioia said Saturday night. "She has no criminal record."

Kay, 31, of South Plainfield, was taken into custody with the help of the bail bondsman who initially had posted her bail, authorities said. No new court date has been set.

She was charged last week after police were called to her home on a report that a roommate was suicidal. The roommate was not home, but Kay was. Officers discovered six human skulls and a severed hand in a jar of formaldehyde in her bedroom, according to the police report.

DiGioia declined to discuss his conversation with Kay about the hand. He said he expects the county prosecutor's office to review the matter to determine if a crime has been committed.

"There's been a tremendous amount of media attention for a crime on the lower end of the spectrum," he said. "She's gentle and not a violent person at all. This has been a frightening and terrifying experience for her."

Earlier posts here and here. Actually, the attorney is quite right, there has been an awful lot of focus on this, but that's due to the unusual nature of the charges, I suspect. What does make me wonder about this whole thing is what appears to have been excessively high bail for what is really quite a low level crime.

Deadly Rain

More than 100 rockets fell on Israel Sunday. Only a single person was lightly wounded, however.

One person was wounded in a rocket barrage that landed in Kiryat Shmona shortly after 2:45 p.m. on Sunday. He was listed in moderate condition, MDA reported. Three other residents were lightly wounded, and two suffered from shock. All the wounded were evacuated to a local hospital.

Earlier, one person was lightly wounded and several others suffering from shock in Kiryat Shmona as rocket barrages continued to pound the city on Sunday afternoon. In one barrage of at least 10 rockets, a house sustained a direct hit. Other damage was also reported.

A total in Kiryat Shmona and Acre as over 100 rockets rained down again on northern cities. Twenty-nine people suffered from shock. All of the casualties were taken to Nahariya Hospital.

The first alert sirens sounded in Haifa and Tiberias at seven a.m. Several rockets landed in open territories in Haifa. There were no reports of rockets falling in Tiberias.

Nahariya and Acre were also hit Sunday morning. Seven rockets hit Nahariya, one of them reportedly hitting a car.

Meanwhile, Deputy OC Northern Command Brig.-Gen. Alon Friedman said Saturday that the missiles fired at Afula on Friday were not Iranian-made Fajr-5s, as originally reported, but an older Syrian-made rocket. This was the first time missiles of this type have been fired at Israel by Hizbullah.

Police in the North said in a statement that one of the missiles that landed near Afula contained 100 kg. of explosives - an amount that could have caused extensive damage and casualties. No one was wounded in the attack, and the Home Front Command instructed residents of the city to remain indoors. The attack caused a fire, and a helicopter was scrambled to help firefighters contain the blaze.

Larger warheads on longer range rockets is not at all good news for Israel.

A Very Special Spot In Hell

Long term readers here know how I loathe the intentional murder of children. That loathing extends to those who abuse children. Which leads us to the new detail just released by the police about the shootings in Seattle. The brave Jihadi took a gun and held it to the head of a 13-year old girl to force his way past security.

These are the minutemen of Michael Moore. The abusers of children. The users of human shields. For this was an act of terror. This man, whether acting alone or not, was a Jihadi wannabe at best. There is a special place in Hell for people such as these.

SEATTLE - The man suspected in a fatal shooting rampage hid behind a potted plant in a Jewish charity's foyer and forced his way through a security door by holding a gun to a 13-year-old girl's head, the police chief said Saturday.

Once inside, police say, Naveed Afzal Haq opened fire with two semiautomatic pistols. One woman, Pam Waechter, 58, of Seattle was killed at the scene. Five more women were wounded.

Haq, 30, was ordered held on $50 million bail Saturday pending formal charges of murder and attempted murder.

Haq, a Muslim, told authorities he was angered by the war in Iraq and U.S. military cooperation with Israel.

"He pointedly blamed the Jewish people for all of these problems," Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said at a news conference Saturday.

According to a statement of probable cause, Haq told a 911 dispatcher: "These are Jews and I'm tired of getting pushed around and our people getting pushed around by the situation in the Middle East."

Muhammad Ullah, a close family friend and a senior member of a mosque founded in part by Haq's father, described Haq as a quiet loner with few friends.

In a statement, the Islamic Center of the Tri-Cities offered condolences to the shooting victims and said "we disassociate this act from our Islamic teachings and beliefs."

Seattle police said Haq picked up the two handguns and spare ammunition just days earlier, and appeared to have targeted the federation after a cursory Internet search for Jewish organizations.

He also was stopped shortly before the shootings in Seattle for a minor traffic infraction, and was cited and released, Kerlikowske said. Haq had a valid driver's license and his actions did not raise any suspicion, the chief said.

One of the women wounded in Friday's shooting — hit in the arm as she shielded her pregnant belly — helped bring the crisis to an end by crawling into her office, calling 911, and convincing her assailant to talk to dispatchers, Kerlikowske said.

"She's a hero in my eyes," he said at a news conference.

That woman, Dayna Klein, 37, was hospitalized at Harborview Medical Center along with the four others wounded.

Jewish Federation officials identified the other wounded women as Cheryl Stumbo, 43; Layla Bush, 23; and Carol Goldman, 35, all of Seattle; and Christina Rexroad, whose age and hometown could not immediately be confirmed.

The 13-year-old girl taken hostage at the beginning of the melee was not shot, police said.

When Haq got on the phone with 911 operators, he identified himself by name and said, "This is a hostage situation and I want these Jews to get out," according to a statement of probable cause.

At one point, he told the dispatcher he wanted police to call the media and that he had a gun pointed at a woman's head. He said he was acting alone and had not been drinking, court documents said.

These are the actions of a barbarian. These are acts of war.

Caught Red-Handed

The Sunday Herald-Sun in Australia carries pictures that were smuggled out of Lebanon. They show, quite distinctly, that Hezbollah is taking up positions in civilian areas, are carrying arms and launching rockets from those areas and are wearing civilian clothes while doing so so as to be able to hide once they've don't what they came to do.

All of these things are war crimes. Every single one.

THIS is the picture that damns Hezbollah. It is one of several, smuggled from behind Lebanon's battle lines, showing that Hezbollah is waging war amid suburbia.

The images, obtained exclusively by the Sunday Herald Sun, show Hezbollah using high-density residential areas as launch pads for rockets and heavy-calibre weapons.

Dressed in civilian clothing so they can quickly disappear, the militants carrying automatic assault rifles and ride in on trucks mounted with cannon.

The photographs, from the Christian area of Wadi Chahrour in the east of Beirut, were taken by a visiting journalist and smuggled out by a friend.

They emerged as:

US President George Bush called for an international force to be sent to Lebanon.

ISRAEL called up another 30,000 reserve troops.

THE UN's humanitarian chief Jan Egeland called for a three-day truce to evacuate civilians and transport food and water into cut-off areas.

US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a UN resolution aimed at ending the 18-day war, and:

A PALESTINIAN militant group said it had kidnapped, killed and burned an Israeli settler in the West Bank.

The images include one of a group of men and youths preparing to fire an anti-aircraft gun metres from an apartment block with sheets hanging out on a balcony to dry.

Others show a militant with AK47 rifle guarding no-go zones after Israeli blitzes.

Another depicts the remnants of a Hezbollah Katyusha rocket in the middle of a residential block blown up in an Israeli air attack.

The Melbourne man who smuggled the shots out of Beirut and did not wish to be named said he was less than 400m from the block when it was obliterated.

"Hezbollah came in to launch their rockets, then within minutes the area was blasted by Israeli jets," he said.

"Until the Hezbollah fighters arrived, it had not been touched by the Israelis. Then it was totally devastated.

"It was carnage. Two innocent people died in that incident, but it was so lucky it was not more."

Why is it that I doubt I'll see these pictures in the US media?

Damning With Faint Praise

Well, here's David Broder's piece that will get him dropped from a LOT of left-wing non-denominational, multi-culturally inclusive, non-judgmental holiday card lists (And drop the word holiday if that offends and use 'best wishes'). He's, shall we say, less than pleased with Lamont's - and the Democrats - long term prospects versus a short-term and short-sighted - potential upset over Lieberman.

For many Connecticut Democrats, the overriding motive is to send a message against the war, against the Bush administration, against Washington — everything that Lieberman represents to them. On the night after the Clinton-Lieberman rally in Waterbury's Palace Theater, I came here to meet with some of these voters among the 200 people attending a wine and cheese fundraiser with Lamont and his wife, sponsored by a coalition of feminist organizations.

….

The people backing Lamont are nothing if not sincere. But their breed of Democrats — many of them wealthy, educated, extremely liberal — often pick candidates who are rejected by the broader public. Many of the older Lamont supporters went straight from Eugene McCarthy and George McGovern in the 1960s and '70s to Howard Dean in 2004. They helped Joe Duffey challenge Sen. Tom Dodd in Connecticut for the 1970 Democratic nomination on the Vietnam War issue, only to lose to Republican Lowell Weicker in November. Lamont's campaign manager, Tom Swan, is also director of Connecticut Citizen Action Group, a populist organization founded in the 1970s by Toby Moffett, a Ralph Nader protege and anti-Vietnam activist who was one of the "Watergate babies" elected to the House in 1974. Moffett's political career also was ended by a loss to Weicker, who stayed in the Senate until Lieberman finally beat him in 1988.

Democrats everywhere are looking to Connecticut for clues about the party's direction. The primary will probably point them leftward, toward a stronger antiwar stand. But often in the past, the early successes of these elitist insurgents have been followed by decisive defeats when a broader public weighs in. That is why this contest is so consequential for the Democratic Party.

Elitist insurgents - pretty well wraps that one up. It's kind of funny watching the chickens come home, isn't it? All the damnation of the administration by the Washington press has spawned something the press now realizes is too extreme and not good for the party they support. And they are scrambling.

Hartford Courant For Lieberman

I have remarked on the outstanding coverage the Hartford Courant has given to the Lieberman-Lamont match up. They have been almost a model for neutral reporting (the New York Times would do well to emulate them). Today, they came out and endorsed Lieberman. It is a very well crafted endorsement, neither harsh, nor pandering. I would encourage anyone interested in reading well written editorial content to read it. But the closing lines are truly outstanding:

Mr. Lieberman's history of enthusiasm for military interventions overseas is an anomaly in a man famous for mediating among warring factions in Washington. But to dismiss this moderate — a vanishing breed in a Congress sundered by extremism on both sides — for dissenting on a single issue would be a terrible waste. And a mistake.

It would show an intolerance unworthy of any political party.

Kudos to the folks who crafted this endorsement. That it echoes much of what I have written on this subject, doubtless colors my judgment, but I do like a well crafted editorial.

Mel Gibson Uproar

There's a lot of activity in the blogosphere over the story that Mel Gibson was a)arrested for DUI and b)Made a complete ass out of himself with a tirade of nastiness and Jew-hatred.

He has issued a lengthy and very public apology. It sounds like he is being both honest and is genuinely sorry for his behavior.

Frankly, he's likely damaged himself very badly indeed. There really isn't a need to keep twisting the knife. I think Dan Riehl has an excellent take on the whole issue.

Chavez In Iran

Cindy Sheehan's main squeeze Hugo Chavez visited Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in Tehran on Saturday. They apparently pledged mutual support.

Anti-U.S. leaders Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad met in Tehran on Saturday, pledging mutual support for one another, state media reported.

Chavez' two-day visit came as Iran faces renewed international criticism for its nuclear program and as a backer of Hezbollah, engaged in fighting with Israel since they captured two Israeli soldiers July 12.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council on Friday reached a deal on a resolution that would give Iran until the end of August to suspend uranium enrichment or face the threat of economic and diplomatic sanctions.

Following talks, Chavez pledged that his country would "stay by Iran at any time and under any condition," state television reported.

Ahmedinejad said he saw in Chavez a kindred spirit.

"I feel I have met a brother and trench mate after meeting Chavez," Ahmedinejad was quoted as saying by state-run television. "We think Iran and Venezuela should share all experiences of each other, stay by each other and they have to be supporters of each other."

The Venezuelan leader has been on a trip that included a visit to Belarus where he met with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who is dubbed "Europe's last dictator" by Washington and shares Chavez's strong anti-U.S. views.

Earlier this week he secured an arms agreement with Russia in Moscow that
prompted the U.S. criticism.

While in Qatar on Friday, Chavez said it meant Venezuela could eventually
export guns and ammunition to Bolivia and other allies once it opens a factory to make Russian-developed Kalashnikov rifles under license.

Chavez accused the United States of "threatening" to stop supplying replacement parts for the weapons to leftist Bolivian President Evo Morales' government. If the U.S. follows through, Chavez said, "we could supply Bolivia… and other friendly countries that also require a minimal level of defense."

"Maybe in the future we'll become an (arms) exporting country," Chavez said.

Bilateral trade last year between Iran and Venezuela was valued at
approximately US$1 billion (-790 million). Iranian investment in Venezuela includes a production line for tractors and several housing projects.

This is not what I would call an encouraging development.

UPDATE: AFP Coverage here.

UPDATE: CNN reveals that Chavez has a very strong stomach, given rumors of Ahmedinejad's lack of personal hygiene.

Rockets Continue

More than 90 rockets were launched by Hezbollah into Israel on Saturday. A number of towns were hit and several people are reported to have been wounded.

Five people sustained light shrapnel wounds Saturday when over 90 Katyusha rockets fired by Hezbollah guerillas struck towns across the Western Galilee on Saturday.

The injuries occurred in Nahariya and Ma'alot, where several homes sustained direct rocket strikes. In Ma'alot, five Katyushas also fell in open areas.

At least four rockets fell in open areas in Safed, causing no injuries or damage. One rocket struck a medical facility in Acre, causing a large amount of damage but no injuries.

In Tiberias, two rockets hit a factory, causing some damage. Another five fell in open areas in the city. Five rockets landed in the vicinity of Rosh Pina, causing no injuries.

The barrages come a day after more than 100 rockets hit northern Israel; five of them, said to be a new long-range missile, landed in the Afula area

The attacks are not slowing appreciably at this point.

New York Times Attempts Hit On Lieberman

Well, no real surprise, but the New York Times is going to endorse Lamont in the Sunday paper. (Anyone know if they are in the habit of making endorsements in Connecticut primaries?) Adam Nagourney has a preemptive post-mortem of the Lieberman campaign as well.

“I shared with the senator that Ned was in,” said Mr. Olsen, a former state Democratic chairman. “And I told him that it was very serious.”

Mr. Lieberman, he said, nodded in appreciation.

But Mr. Lieberman responded lethargically to those warnings until two months ago, according to interviews with his associates and aides. They cited a variety of reasons: a misreading of the depth of antiwar sentiment among Connecticut Democrats, an exodus of experienced political advisers after Mr. Lieberman’s failed presidential bid in 2004, a relatively green Senate campaign staff and the pride that often settles around a politician after many years on the public stage.

[The New York Times, in an editorial published on Sunday, endorsed Mr. Lamont over Mr. Lieberman, arguing that the senator had offered the nation a “warped version of bipartisanship” in his dealings with Mr. Bush on national security.] The price of Mr. Lieberman’s slow start was on display on Friday, 11 days before the Aug. 8 primary. Mr. Lieberman, reshuffling his schedule after Democrats warned him that he was still not campaigning with enough urgency, set off on a 10-day bus tour across the state, with a sharp new message.

A half dozen advisers from Mr. Lieberman’s past campaigns turned up at his headquarters to provide support, responding to e-mail messages and other entreaties, including some from Mr. Lieberman’s wife, Hadassah.

As I said, it's no surprise the NYT is coming out for Lamont. It's obvious they have a strong anti-Bush bias and Lieberman has supported the war in Iraq. Lieberman's also one of the few credible voices left in the Democratic party on national defense, though. The more centrist Democrats realize what a disaster it would be for Lieberman to lose, hence all the help. It remains to be seen if they can pull it off. But I've said all along, if Lamont wins, the Democrats as a party will lose.

The other thing is that even with the NYT trying to swing their rapidly diminishing weight behind Lamont, I wouldn't count out a pro like Lieberman too soon.