Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, Puts a Pedal to the Metal

And now the most interesting two minutes in television, the latest from the wartime grapevine:

Driven to Destruction
When a Palestinian tried to drive a carload of explosives into a Tel Aviv nightclub on Friday night, he was shot dead by an Israeli security guard. When he fell out of the car, it blew up, but he was the only one who was killed. Had we at last found someone the Reuters news agency would be willing to call a terrorist, or at least a suspected terrorist? No. To Reuters, the man was a "suspected Palestinian militant." The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, closely tied to Yasser Arafat's Fatah party, praised the driver for his "remarkable, heroic martyrdom."

Oh, It's You
Speaking of cars and drivers, Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who has made a practice of having a staff member pick her up and drive her the one block from her apartment to her Capitol Office each day, reportedly tried to run a Capitol roadblock last week. Roll Call reports that Jackson was riding in a Mercedes, which was behind a car carrying Michigan Congressman John Dingell. When Dingell's car was waved through this checkpoint on the edge of the Capitol grounds, the Mercedes raced through right behind it. Police rushed the car and ordered it to stop. Only when the dark-tinted windows were rolled down did they realize Jackson Lee was the passenger. She was allowed to pass after a close check of the vehicle.

Five Israeli Soldiers Guilty of Looting
Five Israeli soldiers, found guilty of looting and vandalizing Palestinian property during the Israeli military operations in the West Bank, have been sent to jail. The Jerusalem Post reports that the five were sentenced to up to five months in prison, and busted down to the rank of private. Another six have been charged with looting and vandalism and the paper says 20 more are being investigated on similar charges.

A Chance to Replace What He Didn't Like?
David Childs, a prominent New York architect who's at work designing new structures to replace the New York buildings destroyed on Sept. 11, has some strong views on the Trade Towers and what they represented. Time magazine quotes Childs as saying the towers were symbolic of "the mid-century arrogance of architects." He adds, "What they did to lower Manhattan was an act of vandalism just as complete at Sept. 11."