Is Gallaudet University's Dean 'Deaf Enough'?

Now some fresh pickings from the Political Grapevine:

Patrol Problems

U.S. citizens patrolling the Mexican border to stop immigrants from illegally entering the country are facing a new obstacle — the U.S. govern ment. California's Inland Valley Daily Bulletin reports that the U.S. Border Patrol is informing the Mexican government on the whereabouts of Minutemen and other civilian border patrol groups.

A Border Patrol spokesman called the notification process "standard procedure" meant to reassure Mexico that the U.S. is observing the rights of Mexican citizens. But Minuteman founder Chris Simcox says it's "unbelievable that our own government agency is sending intelligence to another country."

Murdoch Raising Money for Hillary

Rupert Murdoch, the chairman of FOX News parent company News Corps, will host a political fundraiser in July for New York Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton. Murdoch has a considerable reputation as a political conservative and his newspapers vehemently opposed Clinton's Senate run in 2000.

But the New York Senator recently appeared with Murdoch at a party celebrating the 10th anniversary of "FOX News Sunday" and the Financial Times quotes a source involved in the Clinton fundraiser as saying that Murdoch "has respect for the work she has done on behalf of New York."

Not Deaf Enough?

The faculty at the nation's only liberal arts college for the deaf has given a vote of no-confidence to incoming president Jane Fernandes because, she says, she is "not deaf enough" for the job.

Fernandes, who was selected by Gallaudet University's board of trustees last week, was in fact born deaf, but grew up speaking, and did not learn American Sign Language until she was 23. Fernandes is also married to a retired Gallaudet professor who can hear and has two hearing children.

The university's outgoing president decried the protest as "identity politics," saying, "We are squabbling about what it means to be deaf."

Naming Names

Dana Priest reports that "Army Lieutenant General Lee Blalack, a legendary special operations officer who now holds the title of deputy undersecretary of defense for intelligence and warfighting support," is the driving force behind a campaign to expand the Pentagon's role in intelligence operations. Unfortunately, no such person exists.

The man Priest describes is actually Lieutenant General William Boykin, while Lee Blalack is, in fact, a Washington attorney who serves as disgraced California Republican Duke Cunningham's defense lawyer. The Washington Post has since issued a correction on its Web site.

—Fox News Channel's Aaron Bruns contributed to this report.