August 5-7, 2005

August 5-7, 2005

CNN has "suspended" Robert Novak – finally. You can read why here, but suffice it to say that the pressure of being the biggest sleaze bag in journalism seems to have finally worn on him.

What he did to get fired is far less important than the fact that CNN kept Novak on the air long after it became clear he disclosed his sources in the Valerie Plame leak investigation rather than risk jail. Instead of suspending him right then and there, they kept him on the air even as NY Times reporter, Judy Miller, languished in jail. Shame. Shame. Shame! I blush for you, CNN, since you seem incapable of blushing for yourself.

I can guess why they kept Novak on the air. He was CNN's token right wing nut. Keeping him on the air was CNN's way of proving to the right it too could be "fair and balanced." And, they also knew that if they canned him back then Novak would have grabbed the first cab to FOX News studios and spilled his guts to Bernie Goldberg about how CNN was the Great Satan of liberal media.

Shame on you CNN. You knew Novak was a nut when you hired him. So, yesterday that nut cracked. It's distressing it took that rather than his onerous, quisling behavior in the Plame matter to embarrass you into finally doing the right thing.

So, who will CNN replace Novak with? Gotta stay "fair and balance," ya know. How about Gordon Liddy or Ollie North? They're both at least a crazy as Novak, and younger too. All I can say is it's a good thing CNN wasn't around in 1940 or they probably would have hired Charles Lindbergh to "balance" those snakes in the liberal, anti-Nazi media.

Stupid Politician Tricks
Life has imitated art again! Question: What do you think of when you think, "New Jersey?" The Garden State? Nah. You think Sopranos, the mob, corrupt union officials.

Ta da!
TRENTON, N.J., Aug. 4 -- Senator and gubernatorial candidate Jon S. Corzine lent the president of New Jersey's largest state workers union $470,000 when the two were romantically involved three years ago, then forgave the debt last year. Corzine turned the 10-year mortgage into a gift to Carla Katz last December, according to court documents. The move came a week after he kicked off his campaign for governor and several months after the two stopped dating. (Full Story)

What a friggin genius! This was more than test of character, it was an I.Q. Test as well. Did he really think he could run for governor and no one in the opposition would dig up this tasty little nugget? Oh, and nothing like confirming every cliché Republicans hold dear about Democrats and their "unholy" alliance with big labor.

Jesus H. Christ Corzine, what were you thinking? Oh, wait, I just saw the photo of the "borrower." I know what he was thinking. Man, I bet that was one hot little loan closing session! (Oh, you have such big pen, Senator..... Sign right here, dear... and here, and here .. and .. Can I roll over for a lower rate?... Is there a severe penalty for early withdrawal?)

Good bye Corzine. But not to worry, I'm sure DiTech has a desk waiting for you.

(P.S. to other dumb pols -- hint.. the money usually passes hands the other way... union official to politician.)

More Kids Die. Bush Says... "Blah, Blah, Blah"
It was a bad week in Iraq for other people's kids. Twenty one US Marines died in just two attacks. Most of them were in their 20's, coincidentally the same age as their Commander-in-Chief's twin daughters.

CRAWFORD, Texas -- Even as public support for his policy in Iraq continues to erode, President Bush says the U.S. will "stay the course" and American troops will remain in the dangerous, war-ravaged country. The president, facing a grim and growing death toll, also said new threats of even more violence from al-Qaida's second-in-command would not intimidate the United States into retreat. (Full Story)

Bush, who is on his annual five-week vacation in Texas, responded to the deaths. He sent his condolences to the families of the dead Marines (all from Red State, Ohio,) assuring them that their deaths were "worth it."

But not worth enough, apparently for any of the Bush clan to risk their lives or the lives of any of their kin. The Bush girls, like their father before them, are content to let others do the dying.

My daddy always told me, "Never write checks other people have to cover." Bush has written checks other people are having to cover with the lives and limbs of their kids.

Question: How many of the funerals of the 1800 plus US soldiers killed in Iraq has Bush or Cheney or Rumsfeld attended?

Answer: Zero. (Their deaths were "worth it," but apparently not worth an appearance at their grave sites by any of the guys who got them killed. Shame. Shame. Shame.)

Ayman al-Zawahri says, "Blah, Blah, Blah"
This week bin Laden's Dick Chency, Ayman al-Zawahri, released another video tape on Aljazeera , the Arab world's version of CNN. You remember, these are two guys. Bin and Al are the ones Drugstore Cowboy Bush said he was going to get "dead or alive." That would have been about three years. Well, at least he got it half right, they are both still alive and making jihadist TV commercials.

If you missed Ayman's latest diatribe, you didn't miss much. It was the same ole' Islamo-fascist bullshit – the West is corrupt, the West is desecrating holy Muslim lands... the West is stealing Arab oil (at $62 a barrel !)... blah, blah, bullshit..blah, blah.

If Aljazeera is going to keep giving these homicidal maniacs airtime I'd like to see them at least balance their message. The best way they could do that is by posing the following questions to their viewers after one of these speeches:

* When was the last time you turned over shinny new digital camera and saw, "Made In Syria" stamped on the bottom?
* When a loved one was in the hospital hooked up to a life-saving piece of high-tech medical gear, did it have a plaque on it saying, " Made in Somalia?"
* When is the Arab Leagues module for the International Space Station going to be ready for launch?
* When was the last time Saudi Arabia produced anything that has not been dead 6 million years and pumped from the ground?
* When was the last time Iran produce anything more useful than woven floor coverings?
* Those satellite phones bin Laden likes to use to reach out and touch somebody, where invented and made where? Oh, and who put those satellites in orbit, Pakistan?
* Those vaccines against polio, typhoid fever, small pox etc. you get for your kids were discovered and manufactured where, Gaza?
* The Internet, on which jihadists proudly post the latest pictures of what they've blown up, was invented, developed and managed by whom, al Zaquari?
* Those jet airliners you like to ride to Mecca and crash into Western cities are made where?

The point being, of course, if radical Middle Eastern Muslims think they have the answer to the world's problems, then why hasn't their culture produced anything worth noting since the Great Library at Alexandria 1600 years ago? And why is all they seem able to export now is random death and destruction? Hum?

I don't mean to be jingoistic or ethnocentric here. The West has its own shortcoming, to be sure – (George W. Bush for starters.) But if given the choice I doubt many people would trade the benefits of the West's modernity for the "quaint" (and brutal) traditions of 10th century Islam. (Are you still beating our wife? Hey, she was asking for it not dressing that way.)

You get the point. And, I think ordinary Muslims of the "Arab street" would too, if only the Arab media had the guts to balance their content. The fact of the matter is that the world is leaving the Arab world behind, it has left it behind.

If I were a Muslim living in the Middle East I would blame people like bin Laden and al-Zawahri for that, not the West. And, if I were an Arab reporter interviewing a jihadist soldier I would pose the following question:

"Okay, Ali, we already know you can make a bomb out of ordinary household products. Now, what else can you make?"


Quote of the Week
"I once joked that if President Bush said that the Earth was flat, the headlines of news articles would read, "Opinions Differ on Shape of the Earth." The headlines on many articles about the intelligent design controversy come pretty close."
(NY TImes columnist Paul Krugman)