Anthrax Hits Home
NR’s Washington Editor Kate O’Beirne is perhaps the first pundit to be affected. (OK, she’s no Tom Brokaw, but she’s ours.).

By NRO Staff
October 17, 2001 4:50 p.m.

o the list of Americans suddenly contemplating the nightmare of biological terror on our shores, must be added one of our own: National Review's Washington Editor Kate O'Beirne, perhaps the first pundit to be affected. (OK, she's no Tom Brokaw, but she's ours.)

Reached for comment, O'Beirne said, "Oh, hell."

Following a visit to the Hart Office Building the morning after the Daschle discovery, O'Beirne has been advised that she may have been exposed and should be tested. O'Beirne is in New York City this afternoon for an NR-sponsored black-tie party with more than 100 unaffected fellow journalists (at least if fears of contagion from O'Beirne don't hold down attendance — now she'll know who her real friends are).

O'Beirne noted that NR's latest editorial advises a jittery public to go out and have a drink. In keeping with this advice, she has already been prescribed an antibiotic compatible with just this activity, and we are confident her Capital Gang fans can tune in Saturday to see her the picture of health.