Globe Misses Key Story

The Globe underplayed a key story that broke yesterday in Washington. The paper today had only the following brief description:

“Washington -- Attorney-General John Ashcroft has removed himself from an investigation into who gave the name of a CIA officer to a newspaper columnist and has turned over the inquiry to a special counsel, the Justice Department said yesterday. Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, has been appointed special counsel to head the investigation and will be given authority to take the inquiry wherever it leads. The move suggests the controversy will not go away soon and that the inquiry could cause embarrassment for some. AP”

In fact this is a key development in an ongoing story with the potential to deeply embarrass President Bush. Its significance is well described on Joshua Micah Marshall’s blog talkingpointsmemo.com in this post.

Some day this will likely produce headlines in the Globe. Today it merited only a little box in a round up column.

I am starting up a new blog on the eve of 2004 to post comments from time to time on Canadian federal and provincial politics, and occasionally American politics. As 2004 will see both a Canadian federal election likely in early May and the U.S. election on November 2, there will hopefully be things to say.

I am using the pseudonym tcnorris (hint: there is a connection to a Canadian political figure). My email address is tcnorris1920@hotmail.com. I am happy to respond to comments from readers.