Not So Fair Game: The Valerie Plame Blame Game

Mark Hemingway's column quotes a retired CIA officer who debunks some of the outrageous assertions in the new film Fair Game.

As Hemingway notes, there are those who believe that CIA officer Valerie Plame's cover was "blown" by the White House for political reasons and her agents were killed due to her being "outed' as a CIA officer.

You can read Hemingway's column via the below link:

http://www.sfexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/retired-cia-officer-quit-saying-the-valarie-plame-leak-was-a-big-deal-already-108219474.html

The late, great journalist Robert Novak covered this saga in his autobiography, The Prince of Darkness: 50 Years of Reporting in Washington.

In the two columns below he names his sources in identifying Plame, after the two men came out and admitted they were the sources.

In the first column, Novak reveals that the CIA spokesperson was the secondary source.

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=15988

In the second column, Novak reveals that Richard Armitage, a State Department official who opposed to the Iraq War, was the primary source.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/13/AR2006091301572.html

Although I've not seen the film, I'm sure it is deceitful due to the political views of the film makers, and I'm sure it is simplistic.

But like all of the other recent left wing, anti-war films, I'm also sure this film will bomb at the box office.

Bernard Cornwell Discusses The Fort, His Latest Historical Novel

Bernard Cornwell, the author of the terrific Richard Sharpe series, discusses his new historical novel, The Fort, with Sarah Crown from the British newspaper The Guardian.

Cornwell (seen in the above photo) tells how he learned about a "forgotten story" from the American War of Independence, and how he came to debunk legendary hero Paul Revere.

You can view the video interview via the below link:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2010/nov/03/bernard-cornwell-fort-novel

You can also go to an earlier post and read about the novel and listen to an audio interview with Cornwell via the below link:

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http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2010/10/bernard-cornwell-on-his-new-historical.html

The Lessons of the Vietnam War's Tet Offensive for the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

George Mason University's History News Network offers an interesting piece by James S. Robbins on the lessons of the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War for our ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Robbins, the author of This Time We Win: Revisiting the Tet Offensive, sets the record straight on one of the commonly held misconceptions from the Vietnam War.

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.hnn.us/articles/133486.html

You can also read a review of the book in The Washington Times by Gary L. Larson via the below link:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/10/the-truth-about-tet/

Forman in Convicted Cop-Killer Mumia Abu Jamal's Trial Speaks Out

 

Michael Smerconish, a Philadelphia Daily News columnist, interviewed the foreman of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal's trial from 30 years ago.

Abu Jamal (seen in the above photo) was convicted of murdering 25-year-old Philadelphia Police Officer Daniel Faulkner (seen in the below photo), three decades ago, and he is now going through yeat another judicial appeal in a long series of appeals.

You can read the Smerconish column via the below link:

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/opinion/columnists/20101111_Michael_Smerconish__Foreman_of_Mumia_Abu-Jamal_s_jury_breaks_his_silence.html

You can also read my GreatHistory.com piece about the book Michael Smerconish wrote with Maureen Faulkner, the widow of Officer Faulkner, via the below link:

http://greathistory.com/widow-of-slain-policeman-fights-on.htm

You can also read my 2003 Crime Beat column on the Abu Jamal case via the below link:

http://pauldavisoncrime.blogspot.com/2012/11/crime-beat-column-cop-killer-look-back.html

Mark Twain: America's First Blogger

In her Los Angeles Times review of The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1, Laura Skandera Trombley calls Twain "America's first blogger."

Trombley bestows that title to Twain because she sees his autobiography as "a freewheeling record of his thoughts, unrestricted and unfiltered except by the King - himself."

The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume 1 will be published on Twain's birthday, November 30th.

You can read Trombley's piece via the below link:

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-twain-autobiography-20101114,0,4101342.story

Happy 90th Birthday, Mr. Bond

The web site MI6.co.uk reports that today is James Bond's 90th birthday.

The birth date of Ian Fleming's fictional iconic character comes from Ian Fleming's biographer, John Pearson, who also wrote a "biography" of James Bond.

You can read the piece via the below link:

http://www.mi6.co.uk/news/index.php?itemid=9057&t=mi6&s=news

Dashiell Hammett: The Bull of Baltimore

 

Lauren Weiner at The Weekly Standard states the case for Baltimore's claim to crime writer Dashiell Hammett.

Hammett, author of The Maltese Falcon, The Thin Man and other crime classics, was a private detective before he became a writer, and he did much of his detective work in Baltimore.

Baltimore, Weiner notes, shaped Hammett's art and his worldview.

Hammett is one of my favorite writers, despite his foolish admiration of mass murderer Stalin and his foolish attachment to the American Communist Party.

You can read Laurn Weiner's piece via the below link:

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/bull-baltimore_516136.html