Sheep, Sheepdogs, tribes etc...


{Pettyfogger note: I have read this entry several times and it increasingly comes across as a blather of mind-ramble. Thus I saved it and will edit and post it later when I achieve a readable form}

Libby Must go to Trial!

An unattributed opinion piece in USAToday,
Bush, Cheney can't let Libby go to trial
claims that the Bush Administration “can’t afford to let Libby got to trial” because all the ‘machinations of pushing to invade will come to light’.

Testimony in a trial likely would show that Bush, Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld were hell bent to invade Iraq, reasons be damned. When their phony cover that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction was blown, they hunkered down against anyone who told the truth about their trickery.
Joseph Wilson, a former ambassador, did that. So, possibly coached by his boss Cheney, Libby told reporters that Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked for the CIA.

It's evident from reading this bilge WHY it's not signed, because it's based on fact NOT proven or in evidence... just on DailyKos and DU talking points.

And that's why it needs to go to trial.

point: It will explain why Libby testified to one set of facts on how he learned Plame's involvement while his notes show otherwise; see my "Telephone" post, below.

point: it will explain how the investigation started in the first place. This may prove embarassing to the anti-Bush cadre in the CIA

point: It may settle the contention that Cheney PUSHED CIA into justifying the WMD existence. Could it be that Cheney merely went to Langley to find out WHY there was disagreement on the issue?

point: It may settle the issues on why Wilson was selected, when he had little experience in that field; and why he didnt have to sign a non-disclosure agreement, which would have prevented him from publishing without CIA approval; and why he didnt have to file a written report.
All those being normal practice under the circumstances.

point: Wilson would be called to testify and would have to explain why his own verbal debriefing shows that Saddam's agents tried to meet with the Niger Minister of Interior.. and he would have to testify on his understanding of the Minister's cryptic "I didnt respond because I knew what it was about"

It's time for the Administration to 'go nuclear' on all these unsupported 'attack points'; just as Delay going to trial will expose the Texas Dem's hypocrisy and dirty tricks, so will a Libby trial.

And good lawyers would get all these issues admitted into testimony, as they point to motivation and lead to the charges at hand.

Delay going Nuclear?

When rape is inevitable.... goes the old saying.

So far Tom Delay and DeGuerin are doing exactly what I had hoped for: Setting up for a trial in which the Dems find they have a sabre-tooth tiger by the tail.

So far he has refused to plea-bargain down to a misdemeanor and gotten the trial judge (A move-on.org contributor) recused. Which will leave Ronnie Earle no choice but to either ask for the charges to be dropped or proceed with a really weak case.
I predict Earle's next move will be to attempt to put off going to trial, and Delay wont want that either. It will be refused.
Then Earle will actually cite 'possible new evidence' needing depositions, once the trial is started.

Of course, ol' Ronnie MIGHT just retire and dump the case off to a subordinate. Damage control, as it were.

Then he will ask for the charges to be dropped; 'in the interest of public confidence in their elected officials'
I cross my fingers that Delay will refuse to allow the case to be dropped... and I think there's precedent for him to force it through.

While there is no doubt that the INTENDED SPIRIT of the law has been broken, it will come out that the statute was intentionally designed that way. For the benefit of Democrats, and not Republicans.
And to salve what the Dems see as their idiot electorate.

There's ample evidence on file that the Texas DSC has done exactly what Delay is accused of... thus, if the trial proceeds to verdict, the grounds for a civil case against Earle will be laid, if not actual criminal charges of malfeasance.

Before libs protest this projection; they should answer this question. If this is indeed the bright shiny jewel in Earle's career crown, WHY would he offer the plea-down?

Hmmmmm? Thought so.

One more case in a long line of GOP Rope-a-Dopes! We can always hope so, anyway.

The common ground: Wingnut Right and Moonbat Left; Hypocrisy and us chickens....

Jonah Goldberg at NRO has written the ultimate thinkpiece on political hypocrisy: The Secret Files of the Anti-Hypocrite Squad

Michael Moore, the biggest mouthpiece of the anti-hypocrite Left, constantly denounces Republicans as racists for opposing affirmative action. Schweizer reports that Moore almost never hires black people. Moore insists, "I don't own a single share of stock." He denounces clever Enron style schemes to conceal wealth and rails against Haliburton as the Mother of All Evils. He told C-Span's Brian Lamb in his best prolier-than-thou voice that he wanted nothing to do with the stock market. "That's the rich man's game."

Well, it turns out Moore's got another game going. As Schweizer reports, Moore told the IRS his home is the headquarters of his tax-free foundation, to which he contributes some of his millions for the write-off. The foundation, in turn, not only bought stock — its holdings are a Who's Who of "greedy" corporations, including Halliburton.

Some of us Republicans marveled at Nixon opening the doors to China...but the press was beside itself. Thinly veiled hints of Nixon hypocrisy permeated the pages of NY Times and other bastions of progressive thought. Which, of course, was the point. It took Nixon to do that... otherwise imagine if Hubert Humphrey had been elected and sought to do the same!
Currently, one only has to look at the recent days' events to see more examples... Fitzgerald lionized; seen as the "Anti-Starr" by all the Moonbats. While attacked by shallow-thinkers like Hannity.
Well, Starr just did his job... get into a debate with a moonbat, get past the point of impeached for sex, which is difficult.. and the argument from the left comes up empty. But that doesnt matter, they'll continue to howl at the moon about the famous 16 words being a lie while Clinton's foibles were a 'misunderstanding'.

As Ann Landers once replied to a writer who said she doesnt go to church "because of all the Hypocrites, there"... where else would you have them?

Well, I'd rather NOT have them in politics.. but those beltway idiots are people too, so I guess there's no helping it.

Libby indicted for losing at 'Telephone'?

The report isnt in yet, but most sources say Libby will be indicted for giving false statements in testimony during Fitzgerald's investigation.
{No links because that's everywhere}

Which causes one to think about how often we can recall exactly what went on in a conversation occuring months or years before.
While we must assume that there's evidence pointing to Libby KNOWINGLY making those statements, that won't be totally clear until trial, if there is one.

But there's a bigger issue at play... the Bush Administration has taken heat from the left, since day one, about it's 'secrecy and gamesmanship'.. and where will the charges come from? From Bush Administration talking to the press.

How much easier to just adopt a strict 'no comment' rule. On ANYTHING... cause you never know what's gonna come back and bite yer ass.

Summary: You can't look silly playing 'Telephone' if you refuse to play in the first place.

Miers withdraws; Neocons "give Left a sword"

I cant put it better than Hugh Hewitt

"I gave them a sword.": The consequences of the anti-Miers movement.

In his interviews with David Frost, Richard Nixon declared:

"I brought myself down. I gave them a sword and they stuck it in and they twisted it with relish."

I was on the fence on Miers... she might have been alright.. or she might have been another 'Souter'... influenced by her 'Senior Partners'' sense of compassion and purpose.
I sincerely hope that the repair for this fiasco will be the nomination of Janice Rogers Brown.
When the left on the judiciary panel brings up her supposed 'anti-minority' decisions, anyone with half a brain will be able to trump that with another of her decisions which are irrefutable as to 'minority rights'.

Condi strikes fear into the hearts of mortals...

Evidently 2008 is just around the corner.

The subtleties of media and SIG spin, are starting to hit home like a ton of bricks:

As seen in USAToday

From ThePen has an interesting finding on just how easy it is for a file photo to accidently fall into the Photoshop tank at USA Today.
Before the 'slip-up'


This is a good followup to a Wash Post article taking Condi to task for not being militant and bitter about her childhood in Birmingham... almost stating, flatly, that MS Rice was in denial.. nevermind she has publicly spoken of her father guarding his church with a rifle and of the loss of her playmate in the bombing.What Rice Can't See

By Eugene Robinson

Tuesday, October 25, 2005; Page A21

Rice's parents tried their best to shelter their only daughter from Jim Crow racism, and they succeeded. Forty years later, Rice shows no bitterness when she recalls her childhood in a town whose streets were ruled by the segregationist police chief Bull Connor. "I've always said about Birmingham that because race was everything, race was nothing," she said in an interview on the flight home.

When she reminisces, she talks of piano lessons and her brief attempt at ballet -- not of Connor setting his dogs loose on brave men, women and children marching for freedom, which is the Birmingham that other residents I met still remember. A friend of Rice's, Denise McNair, was one of the four girls killed in the bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church. That would have left a deep scar on me, but Rice can speak of that atrocity without visible emotion.

Perhaps Ms Rice has let the examples of her childhood motivate... rather than define.. her life? Don't we ALL wish we could do that?

One MIGHT suspect that the writer REALLY feels that Rice is corrupt... else how could she possibly be a conservative. And part of this administration.

What do we call someone, on the other hand, who constantly brings up the torturous events of childhood as the modus agendi for their current beliefs and actions?

What do we call someone who uses a platform of striving for "equal rights" and acceptance... yet constantly points out that their constituency has special needs and deserves special recognition?

In benign cases, we might call them neurotic...

Omen Update:

USAToday installed the original phot, with an apology.

Editor's note: The photo of Condoleezza Rice that originally accompanied this story was altered in a manner that did not meet USA TODAY's editorial standards. The photo has been replaced by a properly adjusted copy. Photos published online are routinely cropped for size and adjusted for brightness and sharpness to optimize their appearance. In this case, after sharpening the photo for clarity, the editor brightened a portion of Rice's face, giving her eyes an unnatural appearance. This resulted in a distortion of the original not in keeping with our editorial standards.

Uh..okay. Now lets look at those two again... I'm sorry but I dont see how it could have been anything but intentional.
Anyone who's messed with image altering software knows it can be tricky, BUT that's why you look at it after the edit... to make sure it didnt do something unintended.

Birmingham Church bombings, Iraq 'insurgency' and the media.

A Powerline post reminds us of the Church bombings of 42 years ago, and points to:
NT TImes: Rice Pays Homage to Victims of Church Bombing

"As God would have it, they were at Sunday school when America experienced homegrown terrorists of the worst sort," Ms. Rice said in an emotional ceremony at a park across the street from the church, which was bombed in 1963. In her speech, she sought to connect her childhood in the segregated South to her work as the first African-American woman to be the nation's top diplomat.

"It was meant to shatter our spirit," she said of the bombing. "It was meant to say that we shouldn't rise up. Just a few weeks after Dr. Martin Luther King said, 'I have a dream,' it was meant to tell us that, no, we didn't have a dream, and that dream was going to be denied."

Then as now in Iraq, the atrocities of killing innocents are meant to dispirit and bring fear. Now as then, these will fail.

But there is a vast difference.

Then, there were no excuses made for the bombers in the media. There was no attempt to blame the government for 'inspiring' these bombings by means of the Civil Rights Act of 64. No calls to roll back forced integration as in Little Rock... Or for nationalizing the Guard....no Hollywood and Entertainmment apologists for Maddox, Faubus and George Wallace.

Imagine our outrage were it so.

And imagine if just a few papers and magazines and public figures were have to come out in support of the Klan and Segregationists... can you imagine that they might be emboldened to repeat such cowardly acts? I can.

Naturally these media and celebrities would couch their outrageous views in terms of "cultural" and "religious" differences from the rest of America. Would, at the least, view with sympathy these acts in relation to the old south seeing the end of a "way of Life".
Of course, if some did that, they would have to overlook the various lynchings and assassinations that came before and were yet to come.

But in the end reason and freedom won... as it will in Iraq. But this time, for Iraqi's, it will come at a much higher price.

And the irony of just who it was that made it so difficult and bloody by encouraging the terror killers will not be lost in the lessons of history.

Miers hearing: Roe v Wade opinion troubling

Powerline links to OpinionJounal: Did Christian conservatives receive assurances that Miers would oppose Roe v. Wade?

This is a problem.

The hard stand taken by the Dems that Roe v Wade is inviolate is only buttressed by the context of this 'conference call'.

Roe v Wade was bad law, based on a non-existant Constitutional right, only available through a stretch of the imagination as to what the Framers might do when confronted with need for "Privacy of Action".

But there comes a time when we must move on. Revisiting this, over and over, serves no good purpose and puts Conservatives in the ridiculous position of advocating legislation through the courts.

On the Conservative side, we have to recognize that the insistance on abortion rights is only the bell-sheep of the Privacy tenet which serves MORE purposes than just the right to abort. It implies that other private actions are bound by the tenet. "Right to marry whoever and however many you please" being the next obvious application.

But it's possible to take a stand and be firm without overturning Roe. And without the fallout that would result.

Miers had better frame the best argument she's ever done to avoid the trap.

Bush to Blair: Going 'beyond Iraq', "Secret conversations" Revealed!!!!

Much ado about nothing, as usual.

The October 16 UK Independent has an editorial about 'secret conversations in which;

The US President told Tony Blair, in a secret telephone conversation in January 2003 that he "wanted to go beyond Iraq".

He implied that the military action against Saddam Hussein was only a first step in the battle against WMD proliferation in a series of countries.

Mr Bush said he "wanted to go beyond Iraq in dealing with WMD proliferation", says the letter on Downing Street paper, marked secret and personal.

It goes on to name Pakistan and Saudi Arabia as examples..

This is germane to ANYTHING, how?

Could it be that the Independent staff had this waiting in the wings in case the Iraqi constitutional referendum went off with minimal troubles to report?

When you READ it, there is no new news there, though I assume that the readership of the Galloway-apologist rag will claim otherwise.
When the left trumpeted far and wide, on the event of the Iraqi invasion, that Bush was a 'hypocrite' as he had close ties with the Saud's who in turn funded Wahabism and, thus indirectly -if not DIRECTLY-, the education and suppport of Al Quaida 'volunteers', I dont think any of us dismissed that fact.. most of us had read of and known that for years, and I'm pretty sure that Bush knew that too.
And Pakistan being a hotbed of world-order-anarchists isnt news, to anyone who pays attention, either.

And are we to believe that this was a revelation to Tony Blair? So what was the intent of the conversation? We don't know for sure. I would assume under linear thought processes that Bush thought a regime change in Iraq and Afghanistan would pressure changes within Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.

But the published ARTICLE seems to IMPLY that Bush might have considered military options against the two. Though the paper is clever enough to not come out and say it.

They leave the reader to make the connection. And, of course, anyone sho might read the Independent to find out what's really going on in the world, and who the bad actors are, will drink the kool-aid.

Miers, McCain, Buckley, Limbaugh, Kerry, LBJ and Frum

and NE Corridor Elitism = Bad News, all around!

Yeah, I know... all that makes little sense in the point of the current discussion. And yet it does.

I dont know WHAT Bush and Rove were thinking in this nomination but it SURE HAS BROADENED The political discourse.

No longer can Conservatives point to Liberals' Harvard Yard populism with disdain and derision. We have that in our own!
Our own National Review elitists have weighed in and found this 'common girl' wanting! Beltway 'high-church Conservatives' want her withdrawn! The nerve of that Texas oaf who was on their fringes, by dint of "Skull&Bones" and Harvard Attendance to bring in a commoner to the most prestigious stage of governance!
Note what
Beldar's blog has to say about it!
The view that Harriet Miers lacks the proper 'Credentials' because of her law school and/or lack of bench experience seems credible on the face of it, but when you get DOWN to the goal of putting an associate on the panel who will consider more than primae facie legal precedent as applied to modern society, does it REALLY matter all that much?

The idea that Bush nominates yet another 'crony' in the aftermath of Katrina where Michael Brown performed dismally is at the root of a lot of this carping. But there's a difference. Brown excelled at bureaucracy, and his credentials in that arena, to say nothing of his acting the bureaucrat to the bitter end is also his failing.

The difference is Bush KNOWS Miers. and Dubya may be dyslexic and inarticulate but he aint stupid.
And what is WRONG with a justice who KNOWS what it takes to run a law firm.. and what it takes to manage a state bar. And what, therefore, is BEHIND a lot of the legal wranglings that go on backstage in any litigation.

If Miers had come out of Harvard, Yale or Stanford.. I suspect we wouldnt be having this discussion, never mind she never sat bench.

Even Rush Limbaugh is torn, and an example, as well... his hero was William F Buckley, but anyone would have to admit that Limbaugh's presentation of the same points as Buckley would make is like night and day
While Buckley was often the subject of parody for his learned demeanor and dry ivy-league cynical wit, Limbaugh takes it to the level of the common guy. Both can poke holes in the Liberal stream of thought, both employ a cynical approach but, in Rush's case, to 'get it', you dont have to be upperclass educated elite.

Suppose you had to have 'credentials' to be a political satirist/pundit.. and the model was Buckley? Rush would still be doing PR for Sports teams.

Hell... for that matter, Randi Rhodes would be doing "Homemaker's Corner" for some local radio station. While I would prefer the latter case, look at what we'd have missed in the former example.

And then there's McCain... he is relatively silent on this. The problem with McCain is that he is between a rock and a hard place. Harry Reid already stole his thunder with his advocacy, so McCain cant be the 'building bridges' leader. PLUS he knows that he'll be left high and dry when Reid invokes the "I was for her before I voted against her" parlor trick.
Let's face it, McCain KNOWS he screwed the pooch with Campaign Finance Reform, which ended up making things worse rather than better. And McCain knows that his 'cred' stems from elitism, in his case back through his Dad, plus his POW experience, never mind his work on the Senate floor; suspect at the least.

So I suspect that McCain is waiting to see how the hearings go... and I am for that. In fact, I wish everyone would have waited.

Because, nerve-racking as this is, I suspect that Rove and Bush have dreamed up yet another "Rope-a-Dope" and will prove - yet again - just how incompetent our elected officials become once they're marinated in the beltway sauce.

And, as enjoyable as that is, it isnt good for the American Voter's opinion of our system.

****

The other names? Ah, I just threw those in there ....
UPDATE:
Someone sent an EMAIL to Hugh Hewitt, wherein he coined the term for this beltway elitism "EVIAN Flu"

A Little on the Side

A little common sense, that is.

If you dont like wading through a huge stack of 'favorites' or 'bookmarks' depending on what your browser calls them, you tend to discover 'GEM' sites over and over again.
Such a one is The Post Chronicle

And one of my favorite political commenter/observers, Thomas Sowell, writes for it.

Here's excerpts of two of his latest:
Spoiled Brat Politics

An editorial in a recent issue of the National Geographic's "Traveler" magazine complained that kayakers in Maine found "residential development" near national parks and urged its readers to use their "influence" to prevent such things.

"You are the stakeholders in our national parks," it said.

Really? What stake do kayakers and others of like mind have that is not also a stake held by people who build the vacation homes whose presence offends the kayak set? Homeowners are just as much citizens and taxpayers as kayakers are, and they are even entitled to equal treatment under the 14th Amendment.

The essence of bigotry is denying others the same rights you claim for yourself. Green bigots are a classic example.

And Spoiled Brat Politics: Part II

The idea that what I want overrides what you want has increasingly become part of our thinking, our policies and even our laws. There is literally a federal case before the Supreme Court over the fact that many colleges and universities refuse to allow military recruiters on campus.

Why? Because, as the academics will tell you, they are opposed to the military, either in general or because they think the military are discriminating against homosexuals or for whatever other reasons they have.

These academics have every right to be against the military, for any reason or for no reason.

If they don't like the military, they can stay away from the military, since there is no draft. But what they want is to keep other people away from the military, by preventing students from hearing what the military recruiters have to say, as students hear what recruiters from all sorts of other institutions and movements have to say on campus.

The reason there is a legal issue is that a federal law has been passed, saying that colleges and universities that forbid military recruiters from coming on campus are no longer eligible to receive federal money.

Academics are outraged. They see this law as a violation of their freedom -- including their right to violate their students' freedom. It is classic spoiled brat politics, based on the idea that what I want overrides what you want.

See the connection?
It's nothing more than common sense... you cant reasonably expect, in a free society, to be excepted from the rules governing the use of commonly held resources or commonly provided protections and services.
In the one case, you have no more say, as a visitor, than one who invests in the locale. .. and to say there should be no private investment in the locale makes the whole determination of what IS an investment quite subjective.

In the case of the kayaker, should he succeed in blocking housing along the pristine riverway, will he THEN turn his attention to eliminating walking trails?
After THAT how about invoking rules that one cant set foot on the banks for fear of disturbing flora and fauna?

And we must note that there are those who advocate closing certain wilderness areas against ALL human encroachment.. no matter the reason or motive for being there.

In the case of Academia vs Military, it simply boggles the mind. They have the right to shun the military all they want.
But they should have to go the extra mile and disturb their little comfort zone to do that.
They DONT have the right to disallow freedom of speech and movement to an arm of the same government that feeds them.. at the same time as they are celebrating their OWN freedom of dissent.

But, as Sowell points out.. there's an underlying factor at work, too. That is the litigation industry. If it wasnt for all this foo-foo, what would all the lawyers do?

And note the line ads for class action suits on that site!
Ironic, wot? Ah,well...

The Delphi Automotive Parts Crisis - why did it happen?
Delphi is the amalgamation of former GM parts disions: Delco, Harrison, Inland and quite a few others, including the former Frigidaire Automotive line.
It recently filed for reorganization under bankruptcy... leading many to fear tens of thousands of high wage jobs lost.

This may seem to some a little bit of a surprise but, to those of us with close ties, it's been forewarned a long time.

* If GM hadnt started the benefits package to attract scarce labor after WWII, in order to meet pent-up consuner demand we wouldnt be having a lot of these problems


* If GM and Ford hadnt been shortsighted and knuckled under too easily to easily to the unions, they wouldnt be going slowly bankrupt... it's not a matter of 'if' but 'when'

* if Unions had tended to their knitting and acted more like a guild than a labor agent, we wouldnt have a lot of this mess.
The charter of any union should be to protect their interests, thus the membership, by providing a quality product at a reasonable price. Doing so involves weeding out rejects.

My whole family is GM/Harrison/Delphi... my dad and brothers retired from Dayton plants; fortunately they saw this coming and, having a choice during the spin-off, opted for GM retirement over Delphi.
- A no-brainer, you say? Uh, no... strangely some likened the spin-off to the forced divestiture of ATT. They thought that, freed of the GM shackles, like the Baby Bells - Delphi would take off and fly. Not EVEN close!

EVERY family dinner involved a 'preaching to the choir' litany about the waste and corruption in the assembly lines. The unions were self-centered and corrupt when I worked there in the sixties and it only got worse.
Just from MY experience:
- Had two grievances filed on me when I was on the line for attempting to streamline my job, incidently increasing quality
- On overtime assignments, I was repeatedly bumped into the worst job on the line by a union committeeman, who had a total on 1.5 years on the job, 1 less than me. That stopped when my foreman suggested I file a grievance against the committeeman.

My Father in Law, OTOH, was ALSO a retired 30 year GM employee, but he was notorious for complaining that auto prices were too high for him to afford a new car (he'd have had to cut down on his VFW bar tab) and, in the same breath, brag about how he didnt do anything the whole shift.

The locals in Dayton were, and presumably are, more concerned with appealing the cases of their members caught dealing drugs than helping Delphi find a way to keep the plants open.

And NO, my family WASNT management they were line workers.. and my brothers both were foremen at one time then gave it up because upper plant management didnt care about trying to eliminate waste and low productivity, only about 'making the shift quota'... much of which ended up in the rework bin, because it couldnt pass the final quality check.

Now all that doesnt seem remarkable on the face of it... but do we remember WHY Japanese cars got their market in the US?

Bottom Line for Unions: They would rather have permanent layoffs, and protect the high wages and benefits of the remaining workers

Bottom Line for automotive middle management: "Dont rock the boat, all that matters is short term numbers"

Bottom line for US corporations? "Pay it now AND pay it later."

Summary for ALL of us: The shift from corporate pension to independent retirement funds, IRA and 401K, came 30 years too late.

Al Gore on 'freedom' of Press

TPMCafe:Gore on the Threat to American Democracy

on the face of it, seems to be reasoned speech on the value of the free press.

But there are subtle hints, here, that he thinks it is TOO free.

It would appear to the dispassionate reader that he lauds the 'net as allowing the citizen discourse on the issues of the moment... but then:

The present executive branch has made it a practice to try and control and intimidate news organizations: from PBS to CBS to Newsweek. They placed a former male escort in the White House press pool to pose as a reporter - and then called upon him to give the president a hand at crucial moments. They paid actors to make make phony video press releases and paid cash to some reporters who were willing to take it in return for positive stories. And every day they unleash squadrons of digital brownshirts to harass and hector any journalist who is critical of the President.

For these and other reasons, The US Press was recently found in a comprehensive international study to be only the 27th freest press in the world. And that too seems strange to me.

Among the other factors damaging our public discourse in the media, the imposition by management of entertainment values on the journalism profession has resulted in scandals, fabricated sources, fictional events and the tabloidization of mainstream news. As recently stated by Dan Rather - who was, of course, forced out of his anchor job after angering the White House - television news has been "dumbed down and tarted up."

The coverage of political campaigns focuses on the "horse race" and little else. And the well-known axiom that guides most local television news is "if it bleeds, it leads." (To which some disheartened journalists add, "If it thinks, it stinks.")

In fact, one of the few things that Red state and Blue state America agree on is that they don't trust the news media anymore.

Noted: Gore's reference to 'fabricated' sources, is what got Rather busted.

So in context, while we cant dispute the paid actors or paid columnists... though we might differ on how really EFFECTIVE they were, it seems to be the thought that counts.

And, Schizo Al ignores the fact that the 'digital brownshirts' (hows THAT for cloaked invective!) seem to be, on the whole, nipping at Dubya's heels or outright biting at him for some of his current policy decisions!

- Cronyism for appointments to SCOTUS and FEMA

- Immigration Policy (or lack of it)

- Spending and National Debt

What rankles here is that Gore implies that criticism by either the press or citizen journalist/bloggers is dangerous... he lauds Tom Paine, now, but neglects to note that Paine was regarded by the elite establishment, THEN, as seditious and fear-mongering.

So which is it, Al? Is the 'net - which you godfathered {that part IS TRUE, BTW}- a force for good or evil?

And you lament the 'scandalization' of the news.. are you saying that started lately... like say, ummmm, with Fox News?

I dont think it did... I think you are blowing smoke.

Yellow Journalism got it's moniker LONG before TV or even radio... and for that matter, existed before Tom Paine.
Of course, that's inconvenient for the point you are trying to make.

What I THINK is, that you are distressed that YOUR informed message isnt being accepted without quam by the idiots in the "Red States"

In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, there was - at least for a short time - a quality of vividness and clarity of focus in our public discourse that reminded some Americans - including some journalists - that vividness and clarity used to be more common in the way we talk with one another about the problems and choices that we face. But then, like a passing summer storm, the moment faded.

The clarity and focus, he neglects to mention, were clarity and focus on "reporting facts" later found to be NOT TRUE! So.... tell me again how that emotional disparagement of the supposed actions of a minority 'our finest hour'?!!!!

The final point I want to make is this: We must ensure that the Internet remains open and accessible to all citizens without any limitation on the ability of individuals to choose the content they wish regardless of the Internet service provider they use to connect to the Worldwide Web. We cannot take this future for granted. We must be prepared to fight for it because some of the same forces of corporate consolidation and control that have distorted the television marketplace have an interest in controlling the Internet marketplace as well. Far too much is at stake to ever allow that to happen.

Are you SURE, AL?!!!!

And who WOULD those forces be... Google? Umm...look AGAIN, Al! They are bona fide "enlightened Liberals"! Or maybe you're concerned that they'll turn to the dark side.

Or are you pointing to advocacy of the UN taking control of Domain Name Services?
Fighting over America's control of the Internet

Since the UN already arbitrates rights to URL names.. such as "fatalbert" {which it awarded to Bill Cosby, against a squatter's claim} ... one has to wonder WHY it's important for the UN to have control over DNS.

Could it be that it needs control over access to sites which dont follow "informed" speech or ideas?

So anyone who reads this, just MIGHT want to read that speech again.. and figure out for themselves just WHAT Gore advocates as a remedy.

To help you out, questionaires for journalism students and current journalists point to 85% identifying themselves as Democrat or Liberal.. and taking up journalism so as "to make a difference".

So I guess you'd have to wonder if Gore REALLY wants the press to be objective.. and report facts without bias.
Isn't it REALLY that he longs for the press that was extant during the Carter Administration, for example... where the only conservative viewpoints might be found in High-Literacy magazines like "National Review"?

Or do we have reason to rejoice in the fact that, even given Dubya's mistakes and inability to articulate, that THIS man is NOT President!

For Service, speak English

...stuck in a window of your bar or customer service establishment is likely to get you hauled up before your state civil rights commission.

That's what happened to a bar owner in a Cincinnati suburb, whose hispanic population has grown to 5000.

No.. he didnt refuse service to anyone. No, he didnt refuse to hire a hispanic.. at least that's not noted by any evidence collected by the Ohio commission.

Someone saw the poster, decided it was bigoted in content and complained to big brother.

Presumably, it made the passer-by feel "uncomfortable".

Bar's 'Speak English' Sign Discriminatory, Commission Rules

"I thought, 'Oh my God, It's 2005 and people are still living in the past," neighbor Loraine Robertson said. "It's really embarrassing where I live. I've got kids and they ask me all the time how somebody can put up a sign that's so racist toward other people."

"Racist?" - I wonder.

I wonder if a Parisian who came to town to sample Cincinnati culture would ALSO be asked to order in English.

I wonder if someone from Bavaria who was seeking out long-lost emigre family in the heavily German populated region would ALSO be asked to order in English?

I wonder that a suburban mom doesnt teach her kids the difference between 'racism' and bigotry, or maybe just 'bias'. Or maybe I know already. Racism has a connotation of 'hate'. I wonder if that neighbor would admit to any of her OWN biases?

Because the basis of the complaint is that it made the reader feel 'uncomfortable'. Thus anyone who feels 'uncomfortable' is obviously biased against those whose words or actions.. or even presence.. makes them feel 'uncomfortable'.

I suggest that Loraine Robertson pack her kids into her car at 10PM and cruise Vine Street in Cincy and see how 'uncomfortable' REALLY feels.

I doubt that will happen... as it's well known that Vine street at night is pimp and pusher territory.

The Cincy paper has an opinion, of course, and it sure doesnt come down on the side of free speech or 'right to refuse service to anyone': 'Speak English' a sign of bigotry

People should denounce bigotry - or the perception of bigotry - as soon as it raises its head because of the ugly stain it leaves on a community.

We expect no less from the progressive citizens of Mason and elsewhere concerning Tom Ullum's sign in the front window of the Pleasure Inn on U.S. 42. In block letters, it reads: "FOR SERVICE SPEAK ENGLISH." Can non-English-speaking people even understand what they're reading?

"or the perception of bigotry" - Oh my! Seems to me that's mighty subjective. How do you QUALIFY bigotry, then? If the perceiver has a degree in social sciences? Or just if they understand the difference between bigotry and racism? Or maybe if some panel finds they dont have a "biased" thought, themselves?

I wonder if it occurs to that writer that every human being has his biases.

I wonder if he'd admit it in writing. Presumably not... if he knows what's good for him, anyway. He might be hauled up on a count of fomenting 'hate-speech'.

You who come down on the side of PC'ness will be happy to note that Al Gore and a host of other progressive minded folks plan on doing something about that!

...more on that to come.

Keep Reminding ourselves

One of my favorite sites which I visit to note how things are REALLY going in Iraq, is IRAQ THE MODEL The authors dont sugarcoat things but they present what must be a pretty accurate picture of how things are going for the majority of Iraqis.
From that site you can surf to any number of Iraqi and middle eastern blogs with varying points of view... some pretty critical of US policy, but worth reading for the real views nonetheless.
Recently he linked to a post in Friends of Democracy

..... That was how we abused our freedom given to us for the first time in our lives, thanks to the boots of Marines which crushed Saddam's Fedayeen and Baathists.

I truly believe that our salvation as a nation depends on our being completely honest with the United States; to prove to her that we are Iraqis first and that we do not conspire against her with Iran or Syria or anyone; to thank and to acknowledge her role in liberating us, otherwise we will be heading to disaster.

The United States is the sole player in Iraq today. A new Marshall plan in Iraq would contribute greatly to our economic development. We should learn from the Japanese, the Koreans and the Germans. We should ask them how they dealt with America, how they reassured her that her interests were secure and how they were reconstructed by her to become among the world's greatest economic superpowers. Perhaps the secret is that none of these countries were neighboring Iran or Syria? Nevertheless, we should learn to overcome our geographical fate because, unfortunately, it can never be changed.

That could be done by even more Iraqis refusing to submit to the natural urge to react to foreigners showing their power, turning that emotion, instead, against foreigners and anarchists who demonstrate their power by killing innocents.

Truly, no army can defeat a terror campaign... it takes the will of the society under attack to do that.

My Shame!


When I heard and read on the MSM about all the violence and rampant killing and rapes in the superdome and convention center it did not ring true to me.
I am truly ashamed that I did not speak up!

I believed that there MIGHT be 10,000 dead from the flooding, but did not question it. It WAS possible, though it didnt make sense even considering what I saw and know.

And I believed that the death toll in the two evac centers might be very high... but I could NOT believe all those accounts of savagery from word of mouth to correspondents which was then relayed to the world really happened based on what I knew of human nature.

But I said nothing in protest. I never went on record as NOT believing it!

Granted, i have been to NO only twice.. and I knew that the cops there have real problems and that certain neighborhoods are not safe anytime.
BUT
Due to my age and interest in not only the news but human nature and why people might do what they do and when might they do it... I should have really known better.

These rumors of mayhem did not reflect what I KNEW happened previously in times of urban crisis. But I passively accepted that they MIGHT be true.

Knowledge of human nature tells me that the vast majority of people, no matter their daily attitudes and indiscretions.. even to the point of murderers rapists and thieves... will support others in time of crisis.

Looting of electronics and jewelry stores doesnt count... that is fallibility, greed or just 'business'.

But for those same people to set on the weaker of the other victims is beyond belief.

But I said nothing. And I am ashamed of that.

How about you?

The NFL, The Great Society, Byron Leftwich and Condi Rice...

Ah, I love the parallels of Sport to Life!

Randall Cunningham, Dennis Green - Affirmative Action; certainly both were competent but always at the backs of their minds..... were they REALLY top shelf or did they just get the chance, because...

Byron Leftwich, Marvin Lewis - Equal Opportunity

Now bear with me here...

I picked Leftwich because there's no one who watches the game that would put him in the mold of Cunningham or Vick or Donovan McNabb.

Racking my brain for a comparison, the closest I come is Doug Flutie.
I AM NOT saying that Leftwich doesnt owe his chances to Cunningham's pioneering efforts... what I am SAYING is that Randall may have got where he got, partially by affirmative action but NO ONE drafted Leftwich with that even remotely in mind.
And you'd have to consider, also, that he sure doesnt match up to the black QB stereotype. He's judged on his abilities to read defenses and his durability alone.

And he owes his chances more to Chad Pennington's success than he does Cunningham's.

Now we come to Marvin Lewis...
Go to a library in Cincinnati and read up on the recent history of both the Bengals and the city, itself.

If you are at ALL a fan of the NFL, you dont need reminded of the hate, distrust and contempt of the Bengals fan toward the Bengals FO management which consists mainly of the Brown offspring. This began when Sam Wyche was let go because he was threatening to Mike Brown's authority to run the team.
While Brown WANTED the team to be successful, he thought he could do it by the book. In doing so, he forgot about the mistakes of his father when he retired from coaching the team.

About the city... all the non-Ohioan hears about race and the city is that there seems to be a constant bickering, sometimes blooming to near warfare of the white and black populations.

And certainly, the rabid white Bengals fan would have to be counted among the bigoted troglodytic faction.. wouldnt he?

Why, then, would these bohunks cheer when they heard the news that Marvin Lewis was being considered as the new head coach and the hope of turning the team around? I mean LOOK at him! He's BLACK!

In my conversations with other Bengals fans, many of those that DIDNT especially favor Lewis brought up a candidate they thought was a better choice, and was available.. and THAT person was - gasp- Dennis Green!

But Marvin Lewis WAS hired.. and as we Bengals Exiles hoped and prayed he would.. he insisted on, and was given, unparalleled {for the Bengals} control of the team. ESPECIALLY considering he had never been an NFL head coach.

But we didnt want him because he was black.. we didnt want Green because he was black.

Some wanted Green because he had much of the traits of Forrest Gregg; but Green has a problem... he -rightfully- believes that he's getting most interviews because he's black and has a chip on his shoulder because of that. While, in reality, when he's not hired it's because he's like Forrest Gregg. But how is Green to know which is the case?

Lewis, on the other hand, owes much to Green's pioneering efforts but his head is clear of those niggling doubts. He was hired because of his abilities and promise, his skin color was not a factor.
Unless you want to propose that he was only STILL untried because of it.

Well, he has done it.. he has turned the franchise around... and he hasnt done that by 'being black' he has done it because he is a natural leader and innovator and knows his football and how to manage his players.

And his assistants and players will know that their selection is based purely on merit not their color. The fans know that too.

Which brings us to the point: while Affirmative Action had its day and needed to be tried to prove the points it did, its day - like that of integration by bussing- is OVER.

Those that come behind, whether they be athletes or lawyers or teachers or administrators NEED the peace of mind in knowing they got where they did SOLELY on their own.

Affirmative Action WAS a good thing, continuing it makes it a failure in what it was meant to accomplish.

And THAT, gentle folk, explains Condi Rice and Janice Rogers Brown and JC Watts... and explains why the more the Al Sharptons, Jesse Jesse Jacksons and that mouth-foaming mad dog who's heading the New Panthers spout their drivel, the more black voters come over to the Republican/Conservative side.

And the more the Libs claim that Bush black appointees are turncoats and only there as mouthpieces.. the MORE thinking white liberals will turn away in disgust.

Denial and diatribe only extends so far, before it becomes buffoonery.

And speaking of FORMER buffoons, the BENGALS ARE BACK!

Chinese web-bots are downloading Little Green Footballs' site
And presumably others, as well.

The commenters dont all seem to grasp the total significance of the activities... which is, I think, "Better know the resistance" But that is just the latest in a long line of interesting facts, not the least of which is technology transfer through Clinton political Campaign contributions... but it didnt start there.

Check out the number of Chinese students and technical types just in Columbus... there's some with small tech companies with contracts to Battelle and OSU ... research type think tanks.

Truly some who must have ties to Red Army, Inc.
And I know for a fact, that the FBI is well aware... (tho how much GOOD that does is suspect)
The BRIGHT side is, however, found in the old song..."How you gonna keep 'em down on the farm...."

It's the same as my opinion on the stupid Castro embargoes... either our system can compete with any other or it cant.

I'm QUITE sure it can.

And to those Chinese info-analysts:
While they are financing our lower cost of living, with QUALITY goods (sorry to those who think otherwise but I've been around a long time)...
We are financing a slow peaceful revolution in Mao-Land by buying them.

Have fun with THAT Concept, Comrades!

Breaking News:

Greenpeace and Sierra Club policy wonks are scrambling to find a connection between the Mars Rovers and Big Oil, Halliburton and the Bush Administration after it was revealed that Martian ice caps are rapidly melting.. apparently due to global warming.

When it was suggested that increased solar activity might be the cause of the phenomenon on both planets, activist Barba Streisand exclaimed: "Dont be an ass.. you know how far away Mars is from here?"

Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and New Black Panther Party leader Attorney Malik Zulu Shabazz suggested it was a Bush plot to kill indigenous Martians.

Meanwhile, commenters on Markos Zuniga's Blog DailyKos are suggesting a CIA plot to siphon off the CO2 polar caps from Mars to Earth in order to hasten the economic disruptions already in the works for Cuba and Venezuela.

Cindy Sheehan, after consulting with interstellar statesman Ramsey Clark, demanded an immediate end to the occupation of Mars, in addition to Iraq and New Orleans.