two things about this op ed piece

Some former semi-senior schmuck at the State Department has written a piece published in the Post about the nasty things Syria is doing in Lebanon. Two things to ask yourself about this piece.

1. Why now? What new has happened in Syria? Far as I can tell, it's just a chance to get Nancy Pelosi's trip to Syria back in the news, and repeat again Syria's interference in Lebanon.

2. Why this person? Well, the writer isn't merely a former schmuck at State. She's a former schmuck at State called Liz Cheney who got her job at State because her daddy is somebody you may have heard of, de facto vice president Dick Cheney. Now, that fact might be relevant, but the Post merely notes, The writer was deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2002 through 2003 and principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs from 2005 to 2006.

Not false, but incomplete. That would be like printing a piece by Woody Allen about the joys of adoption and merely identifying him as an actor and director without noting his own uniquely personal experience with the jollies I mean joys of adopting young girls.

The real unspoken subtext of this piece is, "daughter of vice president gets to associate opposition politician with nasty Syrian leader in a paper of record."