Coastal warfare
Sen. John Kerry's presidential campaign is taking issue with Rep. Billy Tauzin's statement that the Massachusetts Democrat ought not show his face in Louisiana because of his opposition to an energy bill that included financing for coastal restoration projects in Louisiana. "Here are the facts," Kerry campaign spokeswoman Renee Lapeyrolerie said. "George Bush has spent tens of millions of dollars to prevent coastal erosion in Iraq, but he has stubbornly refused to appropriate one single solitary dime to curb the problem in Louisiana. Mr. Tauzin knows this, and his time would be much better spent lobbying George Bush for his constituents than by trying to deflect attention from Bush's failed policies."
That imperfectly worded talking point goes back to yours truly. It should read "Bush had appropriated a hundred million for Iraqi wetlands..." (rather than coastal erosion), unless there's a new Iraq program I'm unfamiliar with. But the connection of the coastal erosion issue to funding for Iraq goes back to me (in this case). My belief is that every issue that can be connected to Iraq in some way, should.
Also, Loyola History Professor Nabil al-Tikriti has a letter reprinted by Juan Cole.
