Sasha Baron Cohen in Jerusalem

Great story in The Forward about Sasha Baron Cohen’s new project. Dressed in leather and studs, his arms and chest shaven, Cohen spoke in a heavy German accent, with “ultra-gay” movements and mannerisms as he interviewed a Jew and a Palestinian:

“Vait, vait. Vat’s zee connection between a political movement and food. Vy hummus?”

We exchanged astonished glances. “Hamas,” we explained, “is a Palestinian Islamist political movement. Hummus is a food.”

“Ya, but vy hummus? Yesterday I had to throw away my pita bread because it vas dripping hummus. Unt it’s too high in carbohydrates.”

The Hamas-hummus confusion went on for several minutes. Then, the interviewer declared: “Your conflict is not so bad. Jennifer-Angelina is worse.” 

Gotcha! (Almost)

Newsweek finds out Cindy McCain is behind on the property tax bills on her La Jolla, Calif. condo.

 Shortly after NEWSWEEK inquired about the matter, the McCain aide e-mailed a receipt dated Friday, June 27, confirming payment by the trust to San Diego County in the amount of $6,744.42. 

More on the Drugs in San Diego's Sewer

To answer the question I posed yesterday, Fred Sainz, a spokesman for Mayor Jerry Sanders, told me today that it was the fear of “Big Brother” that led the city to say no when the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy asked for sewer water to sample for drugs. “In a way, it felt like people’s privacy was being invaded,” Sainz said. “It just kind of felt icky.”

Was DOJ's criminal division silent on 2002 interrogation memo?

In testimony for yesterday’s House Judiciary hearing, John Yoo said copies of the  2002 “Bybee” memo were given to the Justice Department’s Criminal Division for review.

I’d be curious to hear what the career professionals in the DOJ’s criminal division had to say about this memo.It’s hard to believe they would approve of an interpretation of a law that it would make it virtually impossible under any circumstance to prosecute violators. (Background on Bybee memo here.)

According to Yoo:

We also sent drafts of the opinion to the deputy attorney general’s office and to the criminal division for their views and comments. (emphasis added)       

So where were the career prosecutors in the criminal division? Were they cowed into silence by their boss at the time, Michael Chertoff? Did they even see the memo? If they did, didn’t t this memo violate every professional instinct?Until someone breaks the silence, we’ll never know.