From NPR:

Investigators believed Berger had wanted to review box W-049 for a special reason, although he certainly did share that reason with Nancy Smith and the other archivists. He wanted to find a copy of a highly classified fifteen-page report that he had asked Clarke to prepare in early 2000; it reviewed what had gone right and wrong in the government's efforts to respond to millennium threats. It was clear that major attacks by al-Qaeda and its sympathizers had been thwarted in December 1999, including the bombing of Los Angeles International Airport. The Algerian-born terrorist who intended to carry out the bombing, Ahmed Ressam, was arrested by an alert customs agent as he tried to cross the border from Canada.

Berger's assignment to Clarke to write the "after-action report," which included a list of twenty-nine recommendations for overhauling government antiterrorism programs, might have been seen as one more bit of evidence of Berger's admirable focus on the threat.

But in his paranoia, Berger could see that the report might be read differently—would be read differently—if it became public. Certainly it would be read differently at the Bush White House and among congressional Republicans eager to find a Democratic scapegoat for 9/11. Since several of Clarke's recommendations had not been acted on before Clinton left office, Berger had reason to fear it would be seized upon as proof that he had not done all he could to prevent a terrorist attack. All of his hard work at the White House, all of his obsession with bin Laden, would be beside the point.

...

It was on his third visit, on September 2, 2003, that Berger began to steal the documents themselves. He had finally found a copy of Clarke's 2000 after-action report; it had been faxed to the archives a few weeks earlier from Clinton's presidential library in Little Rock, Arkansas.

He created the same distraction with Smith, claiming he needed to make a phone call for business. She obliged. But Berger turned out to be a lousy thief, and he was detected almost immediately. Another archivist, John Laster, bumped into him on his way to the men's room. "Okay, I know this is odd," Laster wrote to Smith in an e-mail later that day. He explained that when he passed Berger in the hallway, he saw him "fiddling with something white, which appeared to be a piece of paper or multiple pieces of paper" that had been "rolled around his ankle and underneath his pant leg, with a portion of the paper sticking out underneath.''

Smith was alarmed. She tried to convince herself there was an innocent explanation. In a return e-mail, she speculated that Laster had seen something else—maybe a white compression sock, the sort used for phlebitis and other circulatory problems; maybe the sock had the same color as white paper. Berger was overweight. He had seemed agitated. Maybe there was some health problem.

Surely Berger wasn't stealing classified documents, she thought. She prayed. For an archivist responsible for classified documents—and few documents were as highly classified as the ones Berger was reviewing—the idea was almost too much for Smith to bear. Taking secret documents was a crime, of course. Surely it would ruin Berger, ending his hopes for another important government job; he might even be sent to jail. And there was every reason to think the archives staff would be punished—fired?—for having allowed it to happen.

It was too late to try to reconstruct the files Berger had already gone through; they had never been fully cataloged, so it was impossible to know exactly what he might have stolen.

Much as she dreaded the idea, Smith decided that she would have to test Berger on his next visit to the archives. He was due to return on October 2. Smith and her staff gathered the files that Berger had asked to see on the next visit and carefully numbered each document on the back in a light pencil. If he took something, Smith could detect it instantly.

Posted by: Ace at 02:49 PM | Comments (36)
Post contains 694 words, total size 4 kb.

Posted by: Ace at 02:14 PM | Comments (21)
Post contains 4 words, total size 1 kb.

CNN has spoken. Judging entirely from the pictures they use to illustrate their stories on Super Tuesday, it's safe to say they are using the power of image-making to endorse a candidate for president.

This is nothing new. Ever since Richard Nixon was told to wear a gray suit before his debate with John F. Kennedy, the media has used framing, camera angle and most recently, photoshop, to achieve the image to manipulate images and with it, public perception.

This year, you'll never guess who they "endorse." more...

Posted by: Slublog at 01:15 PM | Comments (19)
Post contains 274 words, total size 2 kb.

He got the Beauchamp story wrong, but he's got this one right.

Oh, and this is a hoot. The NYT has figured out why McCain fared so poorly through December -- it's because, of course, he tacked to the right and attempted to woo actual conservatives.

If he had just been his own liberal maverick self throughout the primary, presumably, he would have sewn this thing up back in September.

This is good too: The Liberal Media Finally Gets Its Man. The press' undying love for McCain will die, suddenly, the moment he gets the nomination.

Posted by: Ace at 01:14 PM | Comments (19)
Post contains 116 words, total size 1 kb.

I feel it my obligation to right a wrong that my co-blogger, DrewM., committed this morning.

DrewM. posted the "Ask Men" Top 100 Babes list without noting a crucial fact: the readership of "Ask Men" and "Men's Health" share the same key demographic. That demographic? Men who are ghey, or are pretty damn curious. Like John Edwards. Allegedly.

Is it any surprise, then, that the ultra sexy Kate Mara didn't make this list? It would have been less surprising if David Beckham had.

Which is why when I need a definitive ranking of hotties, I turn to Maxim as my trusted guide. And where does Maxim place Miss Mara? At #43.

I actually would have rated Miss Mara, heiress to the New York Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers a little higher. But that's because I would have factored in her incredible skills as an actress, which I am confident will earn her an Academy Award within the next year. Maybe two, tops. Don't believe me? Rent Urban Legend: Bloody Mary. You will be spellbound.

In any event, as the new official "It" girl of AosHQ, Miss Mara's good name needed to be restored. And I'm not gonna slight Maxim for ranking her at 43.

It gives me leverage, after all. When we go out, I'll be able to say "You know what, I could be wasting time chatting up 42 chicks hotter than you." Playing on their insecurities works every time.

Posted by: Jack M. at 12:15 PM | Comments (50)
Post contains 252 words, total size 2 kb.

I doubt he could make it interesting to me again, unless he charges into the studio and bitchslaps Nancy Grace on air.

I'd watch that.

Posted by: Dave In Texas at 12:09 PM | Comments (26)
Post contains 37 words, total size 1 kb.

more...

Posted by: Ace at 12:06 PM | Comments (29)
Post contains 692 words, total size 5 kb.

Really?

It's strange to me, as it is to Bryan, than Hollywood never seems to consider that leftwing films fail due to their leftwing politics and hence need no "reinvention." In those cases, it's always due to other reasons. Usually the audience is blamed for its inability to grapple with "difficult issues." But Hollywood doesn't seem to consider that perhaps the audience has a point.

In the case of 24 and its declining ratings, politics are immediately flagged as the culprit, despite the fact that the show has recently featured some full-tilt leftist-conspiracy Truther-style plotlines.

It's not a secret why 24 has lost some of its mojo -- the show often seems random and farfetched in its increasingly convoluted plotlines especially as a season draws to a close. Additionally most of the plotlines and twists have been done before. The audience recognizes it as padding, and padding that they've seen before. As soon as the main plotline begins running out of steam, it's a virtual certainty that a) someone in Jack's family (or a girlfriend) will be kidnapped, b) there will be a bomb smuggled into CTU, c) CTU will have a suspected mole, d) CTU will be taken over by "the suits" who don't understand Jack's frequent rallying cry that "I just don't have the time" and e) there will be an attempted coup in the White House.

Joel Surnow told me when some bloggers met with him that only the first eight episodes of the show are plotted out; the rest is improvised week-to-week as the season wears on. That surprised me, so I asked again, just to make sure I caught that right: You mean you don't at least have plot mile-markers all figured out ahead of time so you at least know you're going to have X happen in episode 12, Y in episode 15, and Z in the conclusion? Nope, they don't.

I know they can't write all 24 hours of script in advance of production, but I thought at least they had the major plot-turns mapped out for all 24 hours, and during the season they just figured out how to script these already-planned incidents and contrive secondary plotlines. Not so; they're as in the dark about what happens in episode 18 as the audience is.

So it seems sort of inevitable, then, that sometimes the season's main plot will end far too early, as has happened recently, and they're forced to contrive an entirely new plot for the last six or eight episodes. And it's no surprise then either that many of these plotlines seem to be replays of 24's Greatest Hits.

Seems like the problems with the show have less to do with public mood and more to do with not properly planning a mega-plot that can carry -- that has itself enough room for incident and plot twists -- for almost all of the 24 hours of a season, rather than sputtering out to an end with six or seven show to go.

But I guess I'm wrong -- it turns out that it's just that the show isn't quite leftwing enough.

Posted by: Ace at 11:56 AM | Comments (28)
Post contains 541 words, total size 3 kb.

When it rains it pours:

The Herald reported Saturday that a Patriots employee filmed the Rams' final walkthrough prior to Super Bowl XXXVI, though it's unclear if they were instructed to shoot the video, or if the coaches used the information.

Sheesh.

Thanks to CJ.

Posted by: Ace at 11:29 AM | Comments (32)
Post contains 63 words, total size 1 kb.

McCain will take a lot of delegates from California even if Mitt wins because most delegates are awarded district-by-district.

McCain's blowing Romney away over the "character" issue. I accept that character counts, but so do policies, don't they? A guy with a strong "character" who opposes your policies will be more effective in thwarting you, wouldn't he?

Posted by: Ace at 11:16 AM | Comments (27)
Post contains 65 words, total size 1 kb.