http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/04/hastert-colombia/. Undermining the Executive branch seems to be something of a habit with Republicans. No wonder then, that they see it so readily in the actions of Democrats.

An earlier commenter has somewhat obliquely pointed this out, but: bentonite and chlorine are everywhere in modern society. These common, cheap chemicals allow us to live safe, clean, comfortable modern lives.
Bentonite is cat litter, liner material for landfills and man-made ponds, and a component in some drilling muds. It is a swelling clay that is commonly used as a water barrier in many construction applications.
It was probably mixed with finely divided anthrax for the purpose of absorbing (adsorbing) atmospheric water vapor that would otherwise cause clumping of anthrax spores. The attacks occurred in Florida and the Washington, D.C. areas, both of which are very humid through most of the year. Clumps of >100-10000 spores would not disperse well in air; finely divided silica gel or bentonite help prevent this. These two benign, mundane industrial materials are very commonly used to inhibit clumping of powdered materials, and the world is full of people who know it.
Chlorine is not benign, but it is cheap, and clean municipal water supplies would not exist without it. You can no more remove it from the world than you could remove fuel oil and ammonium nitrate.
That bentonite is mysterious and threatening when first encountered by journalists and propagandists is only demonstrative of their absurdly rarefied liberal arts educations -- and their total lack of exposure to the practical arts of modern society. These neurotic twits should have had the opportunity to do construction work during their summer breaks -- it would have improved them more than the desirable, unpaid internships they probably took instead.

While I agree with your characterization of the mystery and lack of knowledge of common chemicals, what does it have to do with liberal arts education? A liberal arts education by definition exposes people to a wide range of subjects and instruction before specialization. These people are suffering from lack of exposure. My bet is they didn't get a liberal arts education, in anything but name.
-- ondelette

In fairness, it has nothing to do with a classical liberal arts education. You were correct to call that out.
Familiarity with common industrial chemicals and their applications generally doesn't come with even a wide-ranging, fully adequate formal education. People who've been through engineering programs, especially ChemE, might know just how commonplace bentonite is, but many of the truly erudite don't -- and I wouldn't call Mssrs. Ledeen or Reynolds erudite. Not when posting on the same letters page as Bill Timberman and Art James.
What I should have written is: in this age of Google any functional adult can find out quickly about the uses and prevalence of these chemicals. For well-vetted information: journalists and think tank doyens could have their interns or stringers place quick calls/emails to engineering professors or the science/engineering librarian at a local research university and know within a day as much as they could want about such additives.
The deathless, breathless prose Glenn quoted over the past few posts comes from men who couldn't be bothered to find out basic facts about the world they live in.

Robert Stevens, the first person to die in the anthrax attacks just happened to be the photo editor at the supermarket tabloid "the Sun" which ran the picture below.

http://www.newsgarden.org/columns/images/jenna.jpg

I predict that no one will comment on this coincidence.
-- Jonathan Hoag

I'd always wondered about that. The other targets were so clearly leaders of the Democrats or "Libruls". The lack of mention in the newsmedia of the obvious political bias in those attacks always amazed me. It's as though they were afraid to speak clearly about them.

...two weeks ago I bet the commentor known as "Fluffy" that Gonzo would be gone by monday. It didn't happen. The bet was a bottle of wine if I won, and a contribution to charity if he/she won. I stand ready to send the money, should the victor stand forth and name the charity.

P.S. He's still toast, dammit.

-- casual_observer

Permalink Wednesday, April 11, 2007 12:43 PM

Thank you for reminding me. Please give the equivalent of the cost of a bottle of the wine to Glenn.
I won't be using Fluffy in the future; it is apparently too commonplace and there is someone who comments on TPM who uses it as a handle. I am not he.
I will miss it. I liked the image it conjured up -- an obese, pampered white Persian cat that tries to digest too much UT, and then discreetly vomits up the inevitable commentary hairball on the rug. The new, cream-colored rug. In the living room. Right in front of the fireplace.

Fluffy