nf: There are more important things than selling newspapers. One would think the national security interests of the United States would be one of those.

The idea that the US "national security" is somehow threatened by this story is absurd. There is nothing to indicate that the program is classified--in fact the USAID representative in Gaza & the West Bank is discussing the program openly ON THE RECORD.

The only way that this story could conceivably hurt national security stems from the fact that it provides more evidence to the duplicity of the Bush regime. Bush's moral claims to be a supporter of democracy are undermined when his government tries to influence elections in a foreign country.

If the Palestinian Authority, the European Union, Canada, or some other foreign government or national tried to do the same sort of stuff in the US, it would violate Federal election laws.

Karen Hughes and her ridiculous taxpayer-funded spin machine can do very little in the face of contradictory actions.

There are more important things than selling newspapers. One would think the national security interests of the United States would be one of those.

Tell that to Mr. Gertz and the Moonie Wash Times.

On that note, one wonders why the Post decided to run this story this morning rather than, say, Thursday.

A newspaper is motivated to break stories before their competitors. It would be stupid for them to wait to get scooped by another media outlet. The more stories they break, the better reputation they build, and the more papers they sell. It's in their fundamental interest as a capitalist enterprise to beat the competition.

This may not meet your big-government, socialist sensibilities, James, but that's the way the market workd.

Far-fetched, yes -- but we often joke about Karl Rove somehow getting Howard Dean elected chairman of the DNC...