<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4611.1300" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV>He's a trog of the worst sort re Israel and Iraq -- but when it comes to personal liberty, Safire is one of the better elite scribes (recall his defense of Marion Barry's rights after Barry was set-up in a crack sting -- Safire was virtually alone on that front).</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>And this is nice:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>" . . . [T]he blessed stupidity of Pentagon officials in entrusting this dangerous surveillance to one Adm. John Poindexter. He was convicted of five felony counts of lying to Congress about Iran-contra, but the jury's verdict was overturned because Congress had immunized him. This was hardly the person to ask elected officials to trust with unprecedented, unchecked power." </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If only he were this good when it comes to Sharon's treatment of the Palestinians. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><<A href="http://nytimes.com/2003/02/13/opinion/13SAFI.html">http://nytimes.com/2003/02/13/opinion/13SAFI.html</A>></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>DP</DIV></BODY></HTML>