Following up, catching up

Every now and again, it becomes time to follow up on some previous issues.

First of all, it is gratifying to see that James Earl Carter Jr. is not getting away with the libel, blood and otherwise, that he created with his book.

Many organizations including Honest Reporting, the Israel Project, CAMERA, the ADL and others, including honest non-Jewish commentators, have spoken out against these lies. People have quit his organization, the Carter Center, and 14 members of that group's board have quit, saying Carter is no longer an honest broker but an advocate for the Palestinians.

It's particularly gratifying since this center and his Habitat for Humanity (humanity but never Israel) are his legacy. That legacy is getting the muddying it deserves. Keep up the good work.

In a previous blog, called Love Letter to Joe Lieberman, I urged Connecticut's junior senator to look to his own house because of complaints about a lack of responsiveness by his staff to constituent concerns.

Today (Jan. 16, 2007) I had a long conversation with Clarine Nardi Riddle, Lieberman's chief of staff. It seems Joe read my letter (the blog entry was a copy of the letter I sent to Joe, hence the title) and asked Ms. Riddle to inquire.

To those who may read this and are not familiar with Ms. Riddle, she was, among other things, the attorney general of Connecticut, a judge and associate counsel in New Haven. She said one of her main concerns was constituent service, so my cavail was particularly troubling.

Well, she listened to me and told me how many pieces of e-mail and snail mail they get a day (thousands, as you might expect) and that each one is answered. I told her that the vast majority of responses I got while campaigning were positive. She appreciated that, but said the few negatives were still troubling. She said there was little staff and that things fall through the cracks, like a letter I had written inviting Joe to a toast dinner I know he would have wanted to attend had he known about it.

To her credit, she said she traced the letter and admitted it was mishandled.

She also asked that anyone with similar complaints should let her know.

There's a e-mail creator on Lieberman's Web page http://lieberman.senate.gov. Use it. That's how my letter got in front of Joe.

I also want to say I was a little harsh in my entry telling Lieberman to shut up. I didn't mean it literally. He shouldn't. But he should rethink his Iraq stance. Enough is enough.

On another matter, there was a piece in the New York Times sports section saying the New England Patriots were wrong in celebrating their win in San Diego.

PUL-EEEZE

First of all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. And for the Pats to copy the victory dance of that Charger defenseman, is flattery. And if it's not, then the Chargers need to shut up and play better next time.

And for the Pats who went over the the MVP of everything (is that like the king of all media?) and said they were sorry for celebrating because he's such a classy guy, PUL-EEZE. You won. They didn't. Nuff said.

On a more serious note, Condoleezza Rice has gotten the prime minister of Israel and the president of the Palestinian Entity to say they will meet.

No comment until they do, if they do. I don't predict the future.