DP Wannabe

A Ringing Endorsement

2006-01-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

This is almost as good as being in Oprah's Book Club. Willium Blum's book Rogue State which was published in 2000 is currently the #11 book selling on amazon.com. How did this happen? Well, just last week the book received an endorsement from none other than Osama bin Laden. Great country we live in, huh? The Washington Post weighs in on this phenomenon:

"I was not turned off by such an endorsement," he (Blum) informed a New
York radio station. "I'm not repulsed, and I'm not going to pretend I am." He
patiently reiterated the thesis of his foreign-policy critique -- that American
interventions abroad create enemies.

If I found out that the NSA was wiretapping his phones, I would not protest.

A New Way to Define Racism

2006-01-18T09:12:00.000-05:00

I’ve been thinking about this ever since I heard about Mayor Ray Nagin’s comments about New Orleans being a “chocolate” city. He wants to keep the majority of New Orleans black, which according to Nagin is “the way God wants it to be.” The problem I have always had is that racism only means discrimination against blacks yet the dictionary defines racism as “discrimination or prejudice based on race” (empasis added). In our society only whites are called racist yet the term never applies to blacks. Based on the definition of racism I must conclude that Mayor Nagin is in fact a racist. In her column today, Linda Chavez asks what would happen if we switched all the terms, from black to white and vice versa:

Imagine for a moment that Salt Lake City was hit by a massive earthquake that
toppled buildings, destroyed infrastructure and made the city unlivable for
months. Much of the city's population fled, many never to return. Then imagine
that the mayor began wistfully extolling the virtues of his town in barely
veiled racial euphemisms. "Salt Lake City has always been a plain vanilla town,"
he says, at first only before audiences he thinks will warm to the message.
Then, as the city starts to rebuild, the mayor hints that he's not thrilled that
many of the jobs to rebuild the city are going to Latinos and blacks, many of
whom did not live in Salt Lake before disaster struck.

Before long, the mayor gets bolder in his appeals. "It's time for us to rebuild Salt
Lake City -- the one that should be a vanilla Salt Lake," he says. "I don't care
what people are saying Uptown or wherever they are, this city will be vanilla at
the end of the day. This city will be a majority white city. It's the way God
wants it to be. You can't have Salt Lake City any other way. It wouldn't be Salt
Lake City."

Chavez explains my feelings exactly. I don’t like anything that distinguished between races. Imagine if there were a Congressional White Caucus. Wouldn’t you call such a group racist? Do you know that there is an International Association of Black Actuaries? What does determining when one will die have to do with what race one belongs to? What if there was an International Association of White Actuaries?

This is why my hero is Morgan Freeman who recently said on 60 Minutes that the only way to end racism is to stop talking about it.

Hating Inequality Rather Than Evil

2006-01-17T15:22:00.000-05:00

Hey folks. I can't end the day without telling you about Dennis Prager's new column titled "The Left hates inequality, not injustice" (otherwise I would not be the DP Wannabe). Even by his high standards it's a good piece about how the Left is more concerned about judges legislating "social justice" than about judges doing what they are supposed to be doing, namely rendering a just verdict.

The Kind and Compassionate Left

2006-01-16T14:09:00.000-05:00

This should be a great example of the tolerance the Left shows for those who may have a difference of opinion: There is a movement going on at the moment to discredit Kate O'Beirne’s new book Women Who Make the World Worse : and How Their Radical Feminist Assault Is Ruining Our Schools, Families, Military, and Sports. There are over 300 reviews on Amazon.com as of today - quite large for a book that has only been out for less than three weeks. Most of these reviews are one star and mostly filled with name calling. This just goes to show that even in a smear campaign the Left can't argue using reasoning. I encourage those who have read the book (I haven’t yet and therefore do not want to review it until I have) to go to Amazon and give her book the review it rightly deserves. Just be prepared to get negative feedback from those same people.

Skating Circles

2006-01-13T09:10:00.000-05:00

Wow. Froma Harrop thinks that President Bush is “skating circles” around the Democrats by baiting them into their staunch anti-war position. Harrop is no conservative (in fact in the first sentence Harrop describes Bushes skating around the Dems as “painful” and says “[b]elieve me, I take no pleasure in the sight.” If not for the first paragraph one might think that this was written by Rush Limbaugh in the way that Harrop describes how the Democrats are rising to Bush’s bait. It will be interesting to think if Rush picks up on this, we’ll have to see. (HT: Real Clear Politics)

Is the New York Times Liberal?

2006-01-13T09:02:00.000-05:00

Well, let’s see. Paul Bremer writes a column promoting his book My Year in Iraq: The Struggle to Build a Future of Hope in which he admits some mistakes and the New York Times adds the headline: In Iraq, Wrongs Made a Right. The Times is trying to discredit Bremer by playing on the phrase "two wrongs don't make a right". They are summarizing Bremer's piece by making the reader focus on the mistakes while ignoring the amazing things that have happened to the country since the US invaded. As some people like to ask: What Liberal Media?

Great News for Republicans

2006-01-11T08:56:00.000-05:00

What liberal media, you might ask?

The Washington Post has the following headline:

Differing Views on Terrorism: Americans Divided on Eavesdropping Program, Poll Finds

From the headline it would seem that Americans are 50-50 on whether the presidents tapping of suspected terrorists’ phones are wrong. The article itself says that “fewer than a third said such intrusions are unjustified.” 75% of Republicans say that the eavesdropping is justified while 61% of Democrats say that it is unjustified. Independents are 55-45 unacceptable.

There are several things to be learned from this article: The first is that if 66% think that the eavesdropping is justified it can hardly be called “divided”. If a president was elected with 66% of the vote national vote his (or her, or HER) victory would be given the headline of “landslide” not “divided”. The second thing to learn is that either the Washington Post-ABC pollsters are really bad in math and should be fired or else there are way more self-identified Republicans than Democrats and independents combined. Pretty good news if you ask me.

“Alioto” Central

2006-01-10T09:31:00.000-05:00

This is the number one place on the web for continuous coverage… just kidding. But, here are some good places to go if you want to keep up with what’s happening:

Bench Memos (via National Review Online) – many contributors.
Also via NRO: The Corner
Captain’s Quarters

After the hearings are over for the day, pretty much everyone will have something to say so I won’t list them all.

While you're interested, check Byron York's column where he analyzes Senator Kennedy's claim that "Alioto" is against individual rights.

I'm Back!

2006-01-10T07:56:00.000-05:00

After many months of not writing, I've decided to continue blogging. I had so much fun before but it was taking up so much of my time. Well, I've decided that it's worth being able to influence all of my many readers ... wait, how many of you read this blog anyway? I can't tell, but I'd like to think that it's a lot. Please if you read this just take 20 seconds to write a simple "Right on" or something like that in the comments, just so that I know that you many readers in fact exist. Heck, even if you disagree you can write that I'm a wacko fascist. It's a free country, right? The more often I get comments the more I am encouraged to write more.

So, here goes. How can I begin a new season of blogging without mentioning my man Dennis Prager. For those of you not paying attention to the top left of this blog that is who the DP in "DP Wannabe" is. His weekly column is about the movie Munich and about the concept of revenge in general. Check it out.

I'll be writing more throughout the day on various stories and columns that I find newsworthy. Oh yeah, and don't forget to comment.

Columnist Wannabe

2005-05-20T10:32:00.000-04:00

I apologize to all my millions of devoted readers (I can dream, can't I?) for not posting anything since Tuesday, but I've been very busy and it's been hard to find something that was not a rehash of what people have been saying. The Newsweek story has been the main topic of interest for the last week or so and most of what could be said has been said already. I wanted to get a good feel for the various opinions that are being offered before I give my own.

There are three issues that this story brings up that I want to discuss. The first is why Newsweek had to publish this story to begin with. The editors have claimed that they could not have foreseen the consequences of writing this kind of story. If this is true then one must say one of two things: either 1) they have no knowledge of the Muslim world and that the extremists would love for these kinds of stories to come out so that they can point to the US as being evil occupiers, or 2) they are lying. Being seen as liars or as incompetent are the two things that a news organization must avoid at all costs.

The second issue that this story raises is the clear bias of the press. This is an idea that has been talked about many times, most recently with the CBS forged memo incident. The editors at Newsweek come across many stories that are verified by evidence that is as flimsy as what this story had and reject it for lack of sufficient verification. One can bet that had a story been presented that showed US troops in a positive light and had the same evidence it would have been rejected, either because of the source or because it did not fit in with their ideology. The MSM in general does not like to report about the good things that the US is doing in its foreign policy either because it is not sensational enough or because they would like the public to focus on any of the negative minor issues. An excellent example would be the coverage of Abu Ghraib versus their coverage of the Iraqi election. The election stopped being a front-page story days after it happened yet when a few misguided individual troops abused Iraqi prisoners it was front-page news for months.

The third issue that the Newsweek story raises is how they do not hold themselves to the standards that they set for those they criticize. When White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan suggested that the best way for Newsweek to undo the damage that their story had caused would be to write about how the troops at Guantanamo Bay are told explicitly to respect the Muslim practices of their prisoners, ABC correspondent Terry Moran asked McClellan whether he thought that he had the right to pressure the media to write a particular kind of story. It is incredible to me how Moran accused McClellan of doing the very thing that they do all the time. In almost any editorial that disagrees with the Bush Administration (i.e. almost all of them), the writer calls upon the Administration to change something about their policy. The president does not need to listen to any of the pressure being applied (and thankfully, he usually doesn't). Similarly, what McClellan was suggesting should be considered to be the same thing as what the editorial writers themselves suggest others do.

Only when the media realize that these three problems are prevalent in their reporting and take steps to eliminate them will they be able to claim the objectivity that so many of us want from our reporting.

Another Blog on the Newsweek Scandal

2005-05-17T13:29:00.000-04:00

Yes, I know. Everyone has something to say about the false Newsweek story about the desecration of the Koran that led to 15 dead in Afghanistan. I just don't want to be left out. DP has a column this week where he talks about the scandal and that both Newsweek and the Muslim rioters are to blame for what happened. Brilliance as usual. For the record, I am not DP; I wannabe like DP, hence the name. DP is so good that he talked about this Newsweek article last Friday before the story came out that it was false.

The Media Research Center devoted its coverage today almost exclusively to the MSM's take on the scandal. The press keeps saying that it wasn't a big deal and - shades of Rathergate - postulate that the story was "fake but accurate". Keith Olberman (yet another Michael Moore wannabe) thinks that the White House allowed this story to be published in order to discredit the left-wing press. He probably thinks like Walter Cronkite who said just before the election in November that Karl Rove arranged for the Osama Bin Laden video to come out in order to sway voters towards Bush. What's amazing to me is how the media can say that the Bush Administration is stupid on one hand and then accuse them of being diabolically brilliant in being able to engineer all these conspiracies that they are talking about.

Is Star Wars Anti-Bush?

2005-05-17T13:28:00.000-04:00

You know, I'm getting sick of stories like this one that compares Bush to Darth Vader. Can't there be a movie without any political undertones? I've been waiting several years for this movie to come out and now I'm going to be looking for political messages during the movie instead of actually enjoying it.

Year 0.5 AA (After Arafat)

2005-05-17T13:26:00.000-04:00

It's been half a year since Yasser Arafat died and Daniel Pipes wants to know how the Palestinians are getting along without him. Not well, he says. There are three things that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is doing that does not bode well for the future of the Palestinians: hiring terrorists as soldiers, inciting the population, and having a revolving-door policy with regards to taking prisoners. Unless these things are changed there will be no indication that the Palestinian leadership really wants peace with Israel. Read the article, it's a good one.

"Newsweek Lied, People Died!"

2005-05-16T12:41:00.000-04:00

That's what everyone seems to be saying. In their May 9th issue, Newsweek published a story about how American troops in Guantanamo Bay were flushing copies of the Koran down the toilet in front of Muslim prisoners. The results of this article were several riots in Afghanistan that left 15 people dead. Newsweek has since issued an apology saying that the story came from sources that were "not credible". As expected, many writers have talked about this issue, including National Review, Powerline, Front Page Magazine, and Glenn Reynolds. The latest is that some Muslims in Afghanistan think that the US government pressured Newsweek to apologize for the story and that the events really did happen as they were reported.

My question is this: Had there been no riots and no people being killed would we ever have found out that Newsweek was publishing stories that came from sources with no credibility? Makes you wonder what other stories slandering the US that did not directly lead to deaths Newsweek and the MSM have made up.

I'm Lazy on Fridays

2005-05-13T10:45:00.000-04:00

That's why this will be short. I'm just kidding, in reality it's kind of a slow day for interesting things to write about, but here are some quick ideas:

Muslims March Against Terror
Muslims will march against Islamic terror on Saturday My 14th in Washington DC. It will be interesting to see how many show up and the media attention it gets. (Hat Tip: Front Page Magazine)

Opinion Journal on the building of the Freedom Tower In NYC
I remember thinking that we should rebuild the original towers and wondering why nobody shared my view. I guess it's just because I was reading the NYT. It turns out that many conservatives think that we should be able to rebuild what was destroyed rather than building a mostly useless memorial. Why not just build it on the first floor? If Israel did that for every terrorist attack, the whole country would be one big memorial.

Column: Texas cheerleading law shouldn't have been needed
It's a sad state that we're in if the impropriety of cheerleading has gotten so bad that we need to make laws to prevent the corruption of our values.

Kathryn Jean Lopez on why the Dems are fighting over Bolton
They don't want anyone there who will tell the truth to the murderous regimes represented at the UN. They also hate that he represents the thinking of the Bush Administration as well as the majority of the US voters who reelected the president last November.

Happy Israeli Independence Day

2005-05-12T11:35:00.000-04:00

It's amazing how little any of the newspapers mention the 57th anniversary of Israel's creation. Here's something interesting to note: This will be the year marking the 38th anniversary of Israel's capture of Jerusalem during the Six Day War of 1967. That means that Israel has had control of all of Jerusalem for twice as long as the amount of time that it was occupied by Jordan (19 years). Also important to note is that it is infinitely longer than the amount of time that it was part of an independent Palestinian state, which was never since Palestine was always occupied by a foreign entity since the time of the Romans.

Conservative Doctor Swayed FDA Decision

2005-05-12T11:33:00.000-04:00

The Washington Post writes that a doctor who was an Evangelical Christian managed to change the minds of the FDA over the issue of Plan B contraception. Even though the minority report that was written by this doctor reflected scientific opinion, the article seems to indicate that this report was entirely influenced by his religious beliefs. It's amazing to me how the media feels that no one seems to be able to arrive at a non-liberal position using logic and facts.

Palestinian Authority Wants to Delay Elections

2005-05-12T11:32:00.000-04:00

They say they want to wait for the Gaza "disengagement" but the real reason is that the ruling party Fatah wants to make sure that the terrorist group Hamas doesn't have the chance to gain more seats in the government. Some members of Hamas have threatened to resume attacks against Israel if the election is not held as scheduled. Why punish Israel if they are not the ones delaying the election? Because Hamas has nothing to gain if they can't take over the government and might as well go back to doing what they do best - try to destroy the "Zionist Entity".

Just Because People Have Jobs Doesn't Mean the Economy is Good

2005-05-12T11:30:00.000-04:00

So says Bob Herbert in his NYT column today. I don't know why I comment so much on his columns, but then again I don't know why the Times puts up with the likes of him or Karl Marx Wannabe (Paul Krugman), but I digress. He comments today on how the 274,000 jobs created was higher than expected but he complains that not enough of that is in the jobs of teenagers or even the 20-24 age group. He compares the numbers to 2000, which was around the peak of the dot-com bubble. Oh, so there were slightly more 20-24 year olds working during the dot-com bubble, no kidding. The liberals spent so much time during the election saying that the most important thing was jobs and now that we get good news they still complain. One gets the feeling that the Bush Administration can do no right even if there was no unemployment at all, because after all there are still people who are making more money than others.

Hanoi Jane Wannabe

2005-05-11T13:49:00.000-04:00

The Media Research Center does some excellent reporting on Friday's PBS show NOW with David Brancaccio, who interviews flaming leftist and Air America radio host Hanoi Jane Wannabe (Janeane Garofalo). You need to read this, it's so funny to hear Garofalo and her near-hysteria over the fact that Bush won the 2004 election. Also important to note is the softball questions Brancaccio asks Garofalo and the subsequent attack questions Brancaccio asks former "libertarian" congressman Bob Barr.

I Don't Know Why the NYT is Complaining

2005-05-11T11:02:00.000-04:00

Today's NYT editorial criticizes Bush for "hit[ting] a home run on public relations while striking out on substance." They say that the president has done nothing to stop Russia from their proliferation of nuclear material vis-à-vis Iran. You'd think they'd be happy: doing well on foreign relations while accomplishing virtually nothing of substance would practically make Bush a Democrat.

Zarqawi: Dead?

2005-05-11T10:59:00.000-04:00

Hugh Hewitt says that there is a report going around that says that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was either killed or injured in the recent US offensive in Iraq. Much as I would like to believe the report, I will reserve judgment until more information comes out.

Was Bill Cosby Right?

2005-05-11T10:56:00.000-04:00

Yes, in my opinion. But Newsweek's Ellis Cose disagrees and says that in reality whites should take the blame for "the ills of America's inner-city ghettos." The writer's anecdotal evidence comes from a black ex-offender who says that:

I robbed ‘cause I was hungry ... If he’s going to put food on my table, if he’s going to give me time to pursue education vigorously, then fine. But if he’s not, then I’m going to hold up my end of the bargain and make sure I get something to eat.

In other words, if he doesn't have enough food it gives him the right to steal and it's the non-blacks' responsibility to give them food and free education. Read Walter E. Williams' column on how blacks themselves can avoid not having food.

It's Tuesday and You Know What That Means…

2005-05-10T10:38:00.000-04:00

That means that DP has a new column. Dare I say it, brilliance as usual?

Anti Krist-of

2005-05-10T10:35:00.000-04:00

He doesn't like what the pope says, so let's change the religion! Also telling is when he quotes a girl who is against the Church's position on contraception when the girl thinks that

she could better judge her contraceptive needs than elderly cardinals, then added, "We have to take care of ourselves, because they're not looking out for us."

So a young girl knows better than the Pope about Catholicism? Ooookay.

Anti-Karl Max Wannabe

2005-05-10T10:32:00.000-04:00

Jack Kemp explains why the raising of taxes won't solve the social security crisis. Take that Paul Krugman!

Gay Men Like Different Pheromones

2005-05-10T10:31:00.000-04:00

So claims a NYT article. Also claims that there are different brain patterns for homosexuals. The article does treat this with a bit of skepticism, especially since the concept of pheromones hasn't been proven. However, I would be interested in finding out if anybody objected to the findings from the Left since they feel that men and women should have the same brain chemistry, otherwise it could lead to the conclusion that there may be different aptitudes for different subjects. I wonder if MIT professor Nancy Hopkins feels like vomiting when she reads this.

Woman Arraigned for Finger-In-Chili Incident

2005-05-10T10:23:00.001-04:00

She cost them an estimated $2.5 million in sales. I'm betting that she'll get off easy.

More on Blogging

2005-05-10T10:23:00.000-04:00

Glenn Reynolds on the Adam Cohen blogging editorial. Good piece.

Arizona Governor Vetoes English

2005-05-10T10:20:00.000-04:00

Gov. Janet Napolitano vetoed a bill Monday that would have made English the state's official language and required that government functions be conducted in English. Oh, I see, so if I'm in Arizona I should have to sit through a government function in Spanish. Yeah, that makes sense. (Hat Tip: Michelle Malkin)

NYT: Give More Money to Terrorists

2005-05-09T11:54:00.000-04:00

A NYT editorial today wants the US government to give hundreds of millions of dollars to Holocaust denier and current PA leader Mahmoud Abbas. The argument is that if we give more money to the Palestinians there will be less terror. Even according to far-leftists, that would be absurd. The last time we gave them money it either went into purchasing arms for terrorists or ended up in Swiss bank accounts.

Bush’s First 100 Days

2005-05-09T11:53:00.000-04:00

Hugh Hewitt lists some remarkable accomplishments of the first 100 days of the president’s second term.

Woman Awarded $45,000 for Cat's Wrongful Death

2005-05-09T11:52:00.000-04:00

She claimed emotional distress. The legality of this ruling aside, there are some other disturbing aspects. What if my goldfish was killed and it caused me emotional distress? What if my china set was broken and it caused me emotional distress? This ruling is a clear-cut case of speciesism – discrimination on the basis on species. If you think it’s crazy for someone to be emotionally distressed over a goldfish, that’s what the rest of us think about the woman with regards to her cat.

Michael Moore Wannabe

2005-05-09T11:48:00.000-04:00

Bob Herbert in his NYT column today once again bashes Bush for sending troops into Iraq because of WMD, not sending enough armored vehicles, etc. etc. etc., nothing new. His claim at the end is preposterous, that had the president consulted his father they would not have gone to war. Let me get this straight: with intelligence from the CIA as well as British and Russian intelligence, not to mention the fact that Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who had killed hundreds of thousands of his own people, Bush 41 would have recommended against going to war? It’s a good thing we didn’t have someone like Herbert as president in December 1941.

Al-Jazeera emerges as unlikely U.S. ally!?

2005-05-08T16:30:00.000-04:00

That is the actual headline – minus the exclamation point and question mark. This article says that the Islamic TV network has of late been broadcasting stories that cast a positive light on the Bush Administration, such as the Iraqi elections and the “Cedar Revolution” taking place in Lebanon. Here’s a thought: maybe the reason they’re doing this is because that is actually what is happening in real life. Maybe, just maybe, the facts on the ground might lead one to conclude that there are some positive developments coming out of the Middle East. Besides, al-Jazeera must be a good network; after all, they are broadcast in Canada while Fox News is not because of their right-wing slant.

Zarqawi Aide Captured

2005-05-08T16:29:00.000-04:00

Fox News reports that “Amar al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Abbas, was captured three days ago in Baghdad. Al-Zubaydi allegedly helped plan an attack on Abu Ghraib prison in April in which up to 60 insurgents attacked a U.S. base with homicide car bombs and rocket-propelled grenades, wounding at least 20 U.S. troops and 12 detainees.” We’re closing in on the most wanted man in the world at the moment (that would be Zarqawi – bin Laden hasn’t been effective at anything in three years). Only a matter of time…

Artist Draws Paintings of Abu Ghraib “Torture”

2005-05-08T16:28:00.000-04:00

As I noted on Friday, the MSM will do anything to make sure that we remember what happened at Abu Ghraib by constantly referring to it as “torture”. This article only serves to blow out of proportion what happened there and to remind us all that the American soldiers are brutal occupiers. I wonder if this artist will paint pictures based on the real torture that Saddam did to his own people. Who am I kidding?

Anti-Krist Wannabe

2005-05-08T16:26:00.000-04:00

NYT columnist Nicholas (anti-Krist)of condemns Pope Benedict XVI for not advocating condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS. I hate to say it, but a man who is named Nicholas should understand Catholicism better. The Pope, like his predecessor John Paul II, feels that the best way to prevent AIDS is to advocate not having sexual intercourse with people other than the spouse. If the African people won’t listen to the Pope when he advocates abstention, why does Kristof think that they would listen to him if he said to wear condoms?

Do I Detect a Hint of Jealousy?

2005-05-08T16:23:00.000-04:00

Here’s a NYT article about why the blogosphere is not as good as the MSM. Basically, the main reason the writer says that the MSM is better is because it has credibility and accountability. Credibility, eh? Oooookay… As for accountability, the writer suggests that the bloggers verify the stories that they are writing about. How about this, I’ll come clean about my biases if they come clean about theirs. If readers don’t like what I write they’re welcome not to read it and can even attack it if they like. Similarly, if the readers, listeners, watcher, etc. don’t like what you write they can choose not to tune in and can attack you if they like. Sounds like a fair deal to me.

He’s Not as Dumb as I Thought

2005-05-08T16:22:00.000-04:00

Former presidential candidate John F. Kerry is at odds with the Massachusetts Democratic Party over their advocacy of same-sex marriage in their platform. This puts him against the likes of Fredo (Ted) Kennedy and Philip W. Johnston, the party chairman. Kerry rightly realizes that the Dems need to distance themselves from this issue as much as possible since should the Democrats be associated with redefining marriage it will spell the end for them in the national elections.

Redefining Torture

2005-05-06T10:19:00.000-04:00

DP on his show yesterday talked about how though what happened at Abu Ghraib was a immoral and can be considered evil, it pales in comparison when it is compared to real torture, which involves trying to inflict as much pain as possible. An example of real torture can be found in an article today in the NYT where several Iraqis' arms and legs were purposefully fractured and ropes were put around their necks. All of this happened before they were murdered and left in a garbage dump in Tikrit. The liberals want what happened at Abu Ghraib to be defined as torture, which takes away from the real meaning of torture. Interestingly, there is an editorial in the Washington Post today where the writer discusses the rise in prisoner sexual abuse over the past two decades. The word "torture" is never used and my bet is that this story won't get anywhere near as much coverage as Abu Ghraib since it is not particularly damaging to the Bush Administration. It goes to show how similar acts can have different names, depending on whom the media is blaming.

Karl Marx Wannabe
Paul Krugman believes Republicans used bribery to pass the 2003 Medicare bill. Hey Paul, when you accuse people of bribery, you better have some sort of proof or you look silly.

Terrorist State in the Making
The Palestinians voted again and the terrorist organization Hamas made significant gains. But it doesn't matter, because after all these are the people who are dedicated to peace.

Mothers Day vs. Marxism
Ellen Goodman of the Boston Globe wrote a column saying that motherhood is in decline because the government is not giving enough money to new mothers. She says that the US is only one of five countries in the whole word that doesn't give paid maternity leave (Is that statistic for real? There are something like 170 countries, that doesn't sound right). She has a truly Marxist view of the world.

The Guardian: Was Bush Right?

2005-05-05T11:51:00.000-04:00

They didn't quite put it that way, but slowly there are some on the left who are coming to the realization that there are some great things that are resulting from the US invasion of Iraq. Check out the article and let me know what you think. I'd love to get a discussion on this one.

Terrorists Want to Repeat Madrid

2005-05-05T11:16:00.000-04:00

They wanted to do it for the US election last November, but all they could muster was a tape by Bin Laden. Now, they want to disrupt the British elections and the only thing they can do is try to blow up the British consulate in New York. I have to say, this is pretty pathetic, even for them. Nobody was hurt, thank G-d. It's clear that this is the preferred method of terrorism at this point. We want to change their regimes, and they want to change our governments. They were emboldened by their success in Madrid on March 11th, 2004 and wanted the same for the US and British elections. It will be interesting to see whether the results are affected by this, though considering that there were no casualties I doubt there will be. If Blair were to be defeated, it would probably be by the Conservative Party, which would probably be even worse for the terrorists. Who knows, maybe they want Blair to win, thinking that he won't last long with the direction that the Labour Party is taking at the moment.

Michael Moore Wannabe
Bob Herbert in his column today continues his infatuation with Aidan Delgado, a returning US soldier who fought in Iraq and has been passing around pictures of supposed US atrocities. Funny how it's only Herbert who seems to be paying any real attention to this guy. Herbert claims that "Americans' attitude toward war in general and this war in particular would change drastically if the censor's veil were lifted and the public got a sustained, close look at the agonizing bloodshed and other horrors that continue unabated in Iraq." Maybe so, but if they got the entire picture, which would also include what life was like under Saddam and the torture (real torture that involves pain not just the humiliation that the MSM loves to show about Abu Ghraib), the people would realize the amazing positive effects that this war will have on the Iraqi people and the greater Middle East for generations.

Anne Coulter Brings Out the Best in People
Check out her interview on Hannity & Colmes last night. The more the students try to heckle her like this, the more they will turn normal people off to what they are saying and make them more interested in people like Coulter and David Horowitz.

Palestinians Won't Disarm Terrorists
I actually changed the headline, which read "militants" not terrorists. The term takes away from what they are purposefully doing to civilians. Do you think they want peace? To paraphrase the famous quote, I know what peace looks like, and this, sir, is not peace.

Talent on Loan From Bill Cosby

2005-05-04T14:12:00.000-04:00

It is because of things like this that I realize why Bill Cosby is my favorite comedian. Not my favorite black comic, my favorite comedian period. He is one of the few really funny people in the entertainment industry who doesn't use crude or inappropriate humor as one of his main forms of comedy. His famous sitcom, The Cosby Show, was truly great because it featured a family of African-Americans, yet there was very little if any attention given to racism, something that one will never see in a sitcom involving blacks today. Cosby came under fire for his comments at the NAACP where he criticized poor blacks for their spending habits, speech patterns, and parenting, saying they had to start taking some personal responsibility for themselves.

The topic is being brought up now because of a new book put out called "Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?". (Read about it on MSNBC.com) Rush Limbaugh weighed in on this in his radio show yesterday, saying the author unfairly criticizes Cosby because he is a rich black man who does not understand the poor black man. This, says Rush, is a form of Marxism, i.e. that the entire struggle is based on the haves (the rich) and the have-nots (the poor).

I agree with Rush (you will find that this will happen often). Only when people are accountable for their own actions and they are not given a pass because they are poor or black will our society be able to rid themselves of racism once and for all.

Laker Girls

2005-05-04T10:51:00.000-04:00

Just trying to get your attention. Here are some of today's internet articles you should know about:

Massachusetts Democratic Party to add same-sex marriage to its platform
In case anyone forgot, this is the state that has Fredo (Ted) Kennedy and Howard Dean Wannabe (John Kerry) as its senators and last year had its state supreme court legalize same-sex marriage almost a year ago. They might be able to get away with that in liberal Massachusetts, but if the national Democratic Party platform adopted it, it would mean the end of the party in several states, including many of the "blue" states. Keep it up boys, there's nothing like clarity!

Columnist scorns media for accusing Christian Right of promoting "theocracy"
The writer, John McCandlish Phillips, who himself is an evangelical Christian, accuses columnists like Karl Marx Wannabe (Krugman) and Anne Coulter Wannabe (Maureen Dowd) of implying that our "religious extremists", a.k.a. the Right, bear a striking resemblence to the jihadists that we are fighting. McCandlish used to write for the NYT and at the time was the only Evangelical among the 275 news and editorial employees. I guess affirmative action only works one way, huh?

WSJ bashes The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Now don't get me wrong, I like Jon Stewart. He's very funny, the show is well done, and I watch it often. The main problem is that he and the other comedians on the show spend most of their time bashing the conservatives, though Stewart as of late has become more optimistic about Iraq. See James Taranto's coverage of the interview with Nancy Soderberg. Very telling. If he was an equal-opportunity news basher on both sides, I'm sure there would be no complaint.

The Washington Times has a good editorial on the Dems changing opinion on the filibuster.

Israel News
Protesters rally against West Bank university - a college in Ariel is being "upgraded" from a college to a university and the Palestinians don't like it saying that it is a land grab. Hey wait, isn't Hebrew Univesity in what was part of Jordan before the '67 war?

Daniel Pipes warns about US no longer classifying Hamas as a terrorist organization. An unfortunate result of the Palestinian "democracy". If they become the majority, the likely future Palestine will be a terrorist state.

Schools Teaching Ideology, Not Facts

2005-05-04T10:00:00.000-04:00

DP in his third hour yesterday quoted this article from The Weekly Standard in which the author brings numerous examples of how facts are distorted in order to promote "multiculturalism". A must read for anyone who is attending or has children attending any school in America from elementary through graduate school. It is sickening to me to think that our education system is sacrificing teaching real scientific data in favor of Leftist ideology.

Evening Edition

2005-05-03T19:50:00.000-04:00

Welcome to all to my first ever evening edition! I'll make it short, I'm a busy man...

Sharansky Quits the Israeli Cabinet
Doesn't support the Gaza disengagement. For the record, neither do I. Arik, if we're going to retreat, can't you at least get something in return?

Florida Court Allows 13-year-old to Have an Abortion
Guardians have no say, of course. On a related note, in Washington State, a law was nearly passed saying that children have a right to privacy when they are on the phone and that the parents can't eavesdrop.

News Anchor Wannabe

2005-05-03T10:31:00.000-04:00

I may never get to do Brit Hume's job, but here are some of the highlights of today's news and commentary:

Sudan
Equal Opportunity Pundit: NYT's Nicholas Kristof attacks Bush for his failure to mention Darfur in any of his speeches. He's correct, and the president should address the issue of the genocide taking place in Sudan.
Don't be Like Clinton: Tom Malinowski in a Washington Post Column warns the Bush Administration that they shouldn't copy the actions of what the Clinton Administration did with regards to Rwanda, and that they should back up their rhetoric with political and military muscle.

Human Rights Watch
NYT Praises Bush?!: For condemning the appointment of Zimbabwe to the UN's Commission on Human Rights. A good piece.
Everything's Abu Ghraib: WP's Eugene Robinson worries that the Global War on Terror will be remembered for the torture scandals of Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. If the media have their say, he will be right.

DP Wannabe
My man DP has a new column this week. Brilliance as usual.

The Red-Blue Divide
There's a statement in this opinion piece that I don't like:

"Mrs. Bush's performance, and her husband's reaction, wasn't a shock to the reporters who cover the White House. For years they have tried to convince their friends outside Washington that Mr. Bush is actually not a close-minded dolt, and Mrs. Bush is no Stepford Wife or Church Lady. Yes, they're Texans who go to church and preach family values, but they're not yahoos or religious zealots.
The coverage of Mrs. Bush's comic debut may change some minds, but for devout Bush-bashers, it's much easier to stay the course. If you live in a blue-state stronghold, a coastal city where you can go 24 hours without meeting any Republicans, it's consoling to think of the red staters as an alien bunch of strait-laced Bible thumpers." (Italics mine)

It bothers me to think that the perception that liberals have of those who go to church and preach family values is that they are crazy Bible-thumpers. Is this satirical, or are they really that shallow?

To filibuster or not to filibuster?

2005-05-03T10:03:00.000-04:00

In today's New York Times editorial, the editors accurately cite the fact that Bush has gotten over 200 judges confirmed, and yet the Republicans are going nuts over the few "extremists" who have been filibustered by the Democrats in the Senate. What they fail to mention is that most of the rejections have been over judges appointed to the court of appeals. While previous presidents such as Clinton, Bush 41, Reagan, and Carter have enjoyed a 95% acceptance rate of appeals court judges, GWB has gotten only 50% of his judges accepted. This is what is making Republicans crazy, yet the MSM will never report this perspective on the issue.

Hugh Hewitt has an excellent post on this subject today, go check it out.

David Greenberg in today's LA Times says that contrary to what Republicans claim, they have used the filibuster as well to block Supreme Court nominees when in 1968 they filibustered the nomination of Abe Fortas. Yet in that very same article, he notes that it was a bipartisan effort and many Southern Democrats also opposed the nomination.

No, we don't have an agenda

2005-05-02T13:40:00.000-04:00

MSNBC.com Headline: Wave of violence
Death toll reaches 127, including 11 Americans, since interim Iraqi government sworn in.

The MSM has these expectations that as soon as a democratic government is sworn in, all violence will cease. This is just like the "Mission Accomplished" headline, that as soon as a major positive event occurs they think that there will be no more problems. Why can't they give them a few months to let them accomplish some of their goals in fighting the terrorists?

Read the article here.

WashPost: Bush losing his mandate

2005-05-02T13:35:00.000-04:00

Oh, so now these people admit that President Bush had a mandate to begin with? The entire article is based on polling data and what the public thinks of the Social Security plan, Tom DeLay, judicial filibusters, etc. etc. The popularity poll is just that - a poll on how popular a president is at a particular time. When there are major changes taking place, a president will always take a bashing in the polls. It doesn't help that the various media outlets have been trying to undermine GWB on every issue. There are things that even I disapprove of, but that doesn't mean that I don't trust the president's judgment on a whole host of issues. It would be interesting to see what the numbers are now that GWB has had the chance to speak to the people directly without the media putting a false headline like they did on Friday saying that Bush wants to lower benefits of higher-income workers, which not only is patently false, but as Democrats they should be celebrating this.

Karl Marx Wannabe

2005-05-02T13:31:00.000-04:00

Karl Marx Wannabe (Paul Krugman) is doing his best to make sure that the Social Security system will bankrupt the US economy by making sure that the status-quo will remain. First he says that the percentage of pre-retirement salary benefits would be maintained under the "Bush scheme", and then he says that the average worker would face a ten percent cut of his or her benefits. Aside from the inconsistency, he says several other things that irk me.

One: I believe in Thursday night's press conference, the President said that the lower income workers' benefits would grow faster than the higher income workers' benefits.

Two: Not once in the whole article does he actually say how much in dollars the "cuts" will be, either in 2075 dollars (the randomly selected date he uses) or in today's dollars. How are we supposed to check any of these numbers, Paul? Oh yeah, that's right we're not.

One other thing, Paul. Didn't the Times hire you as an economist, not a political commentator? Why do you need to cite Jason Furman of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities to give you this information? You advised a Fortune 500 company (it was Enron, but that's another story), can't you come up with some of these numbers yourself?

Welcome

2005-05-02T02:52:00.000-04:00

Wow, my first post. This is so cool. If someone other than myself is reading this the day it was posted then I am amazed. I'm sure that sometime in the future after I have come up with some huge scoop that changes the political landscape because of the importance of my discovery, throngs of people will go back into the archives and read this humble post, wanting to get a glimpse of my genius. Well, congrats, you found me. You officially have no life if you took the time to go back and read this post, which contains nothing of any particular significance.

Okay, for all you normal people who just like to read blogs, here's how it's going to work (I think). I'm going to be looking all over the web and other types of media, trying to find something that will interest the reader and hopefully stimulate some discussion. I'll post links and add some pithy commentary that will hopefully influence the reader's thinking.

What's DP Wannabe, anyway? DP is my favorite, and I am but dust under his feet. I'll be making references to his stuff a lot.

Anyway, enough from me. Welcome, and happy hunting!