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December 13, 1999 6:40PM
SPY STORY
Asian-American civil rights groups were screaming racism well before Wen
Ho Lee's arrest last Friday for security violations at the Los Alamos
nuclear weapons lab. So today's onslaught in a front-page New York Times
story hardly should surprise.
"I'm deeply suspicious of the way they went about this," says Tina Hsu, a
Chinese-American lawyer in Washington. "He's not even charged with spying.
He's been charged with mishandling information. He seems like a
sacrificial lamb."
Let's acknowledge up front that Lee may in fact be guilty of nothing more
than sloppy work habits that were endemic where he worked; he will now
have the opportunity to make his case in court. But let's also recognize
what a canard it is to say Lee is "not even charged with spying." The
statement proves nothing. Alger Hiss wasn't charged with spying, either.
He was sent to prison on a perjury charge, back in the days when perjury
was a crime.
NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS
President Clinton, speaking on Friday in Little Rock about his library: "I
want it to be a place with a lot of touch and involvement and learning."
But will there be an internship program?
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Congressman Bill Thomas's plan to prevent a redistricting nightmare for
Republicans in California was just shot down by the California Supreme
Court. Thomas had wanted to put an initiative on the ballot transferring
redistricting from the legislature to the court. Previous initiatives to
this effect have failed, so Thomas also included a provision to cut
legislative pay. This, the court ruled today, violates the state
constitution's single-subject rule for initiatives. It looks like
Republicans will just have to roll up their sleeves and try to win the
legislature.
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Updated By:
Ramesh Ponnuru - Senior Editor
John J. Miller - National Political Reporter
Kate Dwyer - Editorial Associate
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