Bad things are happening in countries you shouldn’t have to think about. It’s all George Bush’s fault, the vice president is Satan, and God is gay. There. Now I’ve written Frank Rich’s column too.
Now it’s the Danger Room‘s turn to take a whack. Sharon Weinberger writes today that Rich’s latest column is “the most bizarre article I’ve read all year,” and that Rich’s attempt to connect the suicide of Air Force official Charles Riechers to the alleged misdeeds of Blackwater is “worthy of the best tin-foil hat conspiracies.” Weinberger’s authority on matters of corruption in the military and among private contractors is unquestioned, and she’s no closet wingnut, so when she lays the smackdown on Rich…you know he’s really fouled up his facts:
First he draws a line from former Pentagon Inspector General, Joseph Schmitz, who, by some accounts, did a crappy job investigating the Air Force/Boeing lease deal (um, he couldn’t locate the former Pentagon acquisition czar; I think someones asked him if he tried the phone book). Anyhow, I digress. Schmitz then exited the Pentagon, joining up with Prince Holdings, parent company of Blackwater. We assume that makes Schmitz bad, because Blackwater is accused of killing civilians. No Riechers, but wait, I’m getting there…. Well, the only connection is that Pentagon IG investigated the Air Force (yeah, that’s the IG’s job!), and then he went to work for Blackwater. And Riechers worked for the Air Force (a couple years after Schmitz left). Get it? They were practically brothers! Why didn’t someone just make that final “seven-degrees of separation” connection: Schmitz, for those who don’t read US Weekly, is the brother of Mary Kay Letourneau, the ultra-hot high school teacher who was jailed for sleeping with her under-age student. Betcha didn’t know that! Actually, that’s only four degrees, so that would mean Riechers is linked to Letourneau as well.
Ouch! Go read the whole thing.
