The American Spectator

Jessica Lynch may not remain a soldier much longer. According to several government sources who handle ethics issues for government employees (technically Lynch is such an employee and must go through the Defense Department on ethics-related matters), Lynch has already lined up a book deal, but was told she could not profit from it or even work on it until her service with the U.S. Army is complete. /p>

Lynch is considering a number of media opportunities, including TV interviews, magazine articles for which she would cooperate, and the book deal. For her to profit from any of them, she would have to receive a waiver from the Defense Department, request her discharge due to her injuries or not re-enlist when her current tour of duty is up. The Defense Department could cite her injuries and grant her an honorable discharge or reassign her to duty more conducive to her rehabilitation.

p> DASCHLE DEFORESTATION br> How nervous is Sen. Tom Daschle about his upcoming re-election bid (that is, if he doesn’t retire)? Enough to stab his environmentalist supporters in the back. /p>

Daschle very quietly introduced a bill last week that a number of South Dakota and national environmentalist groups have opposed in the past when similar legislation was introduced by Republicans. The bill would allow and provide funding for the thinning of trees in high-hazard forests across the country.

Daschle introduced the bill after seeing the amount of press coverage given to recent wildfire outbreaks out west, and recalling that the threat of wildfires was actually a campaign issue used by former Rep. John Thune against Sen. Tim Johnson in their Senate race last year. Daschle expects Thune to challenge him in 2004.

“We’re disappointed to say the least,” says a volunteer staffer for the Environmental Defense Fund in Washington, D.C. “Tom has been a staunch ally of ours for years. It’s always sad to see someone you trust sell out for nothing more than political gain.”

On principle, thinning the forest isn’t something many environmental groups have opposed, but lately, they have been lobbying against it, in part out of concern that Republicans would use such a bill to increase logging in federally protected lands.

Daschle has opposed a number of timber-related bills in the past, and has been one of the most vocal senators in the Democratic caucus calling on his colleagues to excoriate the Bush Administration for its positions on environmental issues.