"GWEN IFILL: Senator Graham, are there elements in this report, which are classified that Americans should know about but can't?

SEN. BOB GRAHAM: Yes, going back to your question about what was the greatest surprise. I agree with what Senator Shelby said the degree to which agencies were not communicating was certainly a surprise but also I was surprised at the evidence that there were foreign governments involved in facilitating the activities of at least some of the terrorists in the United States.

I am stunned that we have not done a better job of pursuing that to determine if other terrorists received similar support and, even more important, if the infrastructure of a foreign government assisting terrorists still exists for the current generation of terrorists who are here planning the next plots.

To me that is an extremely significant issue and most of that information is classified, I think overly-classified. I believe the American people should know the extent of the challenge that we face in terms of foreign government involvement. That would motivate the government to take action.

GWEN IFILL: Are you suggesting that you are convinced that there was a state sponsor behind 9/11?

SEN. BOB GRAHAM: I think there is very compelling evidence that at least some of the terrorists were assisted not just in financing -- although that was part of it -- by a sovereign foreign government and that we have been derelict in our duty to track that down, make the further case, or find the evidence that would indicate that that is not true and we can look for other reasons why the terrorists were able to function so effectively in the United States.

GWEN IFILL: Do you think that will ever become public, which countries you're talking about?

SEN. BOB GRAHAM: It will become public at some point when it's turned over to the archives, but that's 20 or 30 years from now. And, we need to have this information now because it's relevant to the threat that the people of the United States are facing today."

Somehow this has been totally missed by the media.  This is from an interview on December 11th, and Senator Graham admits that there is evidence that a foreign government at the very least assisted in the 9/11 attacks.  Its obviously not Iraq, since there's no way this information would have been classified if that were the case.  Why hasn't this story spread beyond PBS (and the blogosphere of course)?

Who ever could it be?

[via Instapundit]

"Though still publicly coy about whether he'll run, Hart is preparing a series of policy speeches that he will deliver at universities across the country beginning in January. The first will be on national security, the second on economic policy, the third on foreign affairs, and so on. (The itinerary is not yet set, but Smith, who's working on the logistics, suggests that somewhere in Iowa would be a logical first stop.) Hart says public reaction to these speeches will help him decide whether the climate is right for a run. "I want to see if people think they make any sense. And, if the speeches do receive any press attention and have been critiqued, maybe they will have the effect of getting some other candidates to respond." But, Polkinghorn and Smith's infectious enthusiasm notwithstanding, says Hart, "I have no need to be in office. I am not a career politician. People say my career ended in '87, but I didn't see it as a career. I saw it as public service. I don't need to be president. I thought I had something to offer in the '80s--and maybe I have something to offer in the new century."

Polkinghorn and Smith are certainly convinced. The moment Hart decides to go for the gold (and possibly before) Smith will drop out of Harvard and head for Denver. Polkinghorn is more ambivalent about leaving med school but clearly hates the idea of missing the action. Hart says he has counseled (and will continue to counsel) the young men against discontinuing their studies. "I've said, 'Don't do that. It's not chopped liver to be at Harvard Medical School.'" Still, he hedges, "What an opportunity for them to learn American politics up close and personal." He points to the grand times he had as a volunteer for John Kennedy's and Bobby Kennedy's presidential campaigns and as director of George McGovern's 1972 White House bid."

A good article on TNR Online about the 2 young folks behind the push to get Colorado's own Gary Hart back in the national political spotlight and into another run for the Presidency. 

[via Instapundit]

"Clearly, the best solution would be for Americans to realize the danger of SUVs and simply stop buying them. Social pressure can be a powerful determinant on car choices, as seen in Japan, the one country where SUVs have not caught on because of cultural checks that emphasize the good of the community over that of the individual. There are signs that perhaps public sentiment is beginning to shift against SUV drivers here, too, as activists have begun to leave nasty flyers on SUV windshields berating drivers for fouling the environment and other offenses. But for a true reckoning to take place, image-obsessed Americans will need to fully understand the SUV's true dangers--including to themselves--before they will willingly abandon it to the junkyard. Spreading that message against the nation's biggest advertiser--the auto industry--will be tough work. Drivers can only hope that Bradsher's book will cut through the chatter. "

The Washington Monthly reviews the New York Times' Detroit bureau chief, Keith Bradsher's new book, "High and Mighty: SUVs -- The World's Most Dangerous Vehicles and How They Got That Way."

[via AlterNet]

"Welcome to the world's first digital news archive. Now you are here you can preview items from the entire 3500 hour British Pathe Film Archive which covers news, sport, social history and entertainment from 1896 to 1970. You can also license higher resolution copies of the same items for PowerPoint Presentations and Web Publishing."

Mmmmm....newsreels.  Wired has a writeup about it.