CBS San Francisco TV (KPIX, CBS5) news hit a two-for-one: They covered both the Downing Street memo and the California tsunami warning in the same newscast. Yesterday, I questioned the silence of coverage on both topics, drawing an off-the-cuff comparison between the two (yes, the comparison was a playful stretch, so sue me). In the case of the earthquake, we can understand the 24 hour delay. But it took TV news much longer than 24 hours to get to Downing Street.

Looking forward to several cycles of investigation into why Bush and Blair felt it was legal to fit intelligence around policy. All signs indicate the move toward war marched forward rapidly when neither dangers to the U.S. nor links to terrorism had even the thin substance of rumor. In fact, the memo indicates a healthy, and (now) cleary accurate, skepticism on the part of British intelligence.

___===_____

Rumors of the Big Wave

I live near Mavericks, and so my interest in large waves is a local habit. That I compared an offshore earthquake and the potential for an accompanying tsunami to a British memo that smells as rotten as burglars in suits stuffed with large amounts of U.S. currency breaking into a D.C. hotel named Watergate is merely evidence of an overly associative imagination. The connection: some events appear not to merit notice. The earth moving beneath the sea, well, yeah, it's an event that is born to drown. Iffy Brit intel guys who can't write clear memos, indeed, their ethos is up for debate. But it's all we have, and we must use what truth might rise from what goes unsaid or what gets said poorly.

Did you know that for years no one believed there were waves at Mavericks? And get this, the place is literally under the radar, as it sits offshore from a large satellite dish. I know I'm free associating. But maybe you and I can imagine into place all the information we need to see things, to change them, and to be good citizens again.

By the way, another earthquake hit southern California today. Tell me if you felt it.

Thank you for you time.