Republicans Eat Their Own

Conservatives protesting the nomination of Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court have come up against a bedrock defense by the White House -- but undeterred, they are splitting the GOP with their rants. Its clear that the President is not going to take their advise -- so leave it-- there are more serious issues threatening the GOP.

The Dems are successfully painting the GOP as the party of corruption with the indictment of DeLay, the Frist stock sale and the forthcoming indictment of Scooter Libby and Carl Rove. Of the latter grand jury deliberation, I see no other result. Too much money and time has been spent for the grand jury to not indict. And we may see an "O. J. Simpson jury" like decision. Can you imagine the histrionics if there is no indictment.

Its interesting to compare how Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been treated versus the way the Democrats treated Ken Starr. The Democrats, as part of their defense of Clinton, excoriated Starr as, at least, a sexual voyeur. Perhaps they felt they needed more than the facts to defend Clinton, whereas the Republicans feel, naively so, that the facts will set them free.

Levin's Independent investigation NOT

Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Michigan) wants to create an independent commission to investigate the treatment of detainees since 2001. And the Washington Post thinks its a scandal that Republicans are not clamoring to support his proposal.

That a journalist would consider this a serious proposal is amazing. Levin knows there is no chance in hell that an investigation will take place, but with the just-fell-off-the-pumpkin-truck Wapo pundit carrying the Democrat's water, he has an issue.

Woe is me, Levin opines, those mean, guilty of atrocities, Republicans just don't want their crimes exposed --And I would only be looking for the truth -- honest. I promise I wont turn the investigation into a political snuff job for 2006 -- honest.

Anyone out there in cyberland who believes that Levin is just a well meaning senator fighting for the rights of terrorist, raise your hand, send me your address and I'll send you a brochure on "Gold at $750."

Outrage Over Katrina Reporting

It's outrageous. We saw a complete breakdown of the media on Katrina reporting and yet no Harriet Mier like outraged, instead the MSM is compounding the slander with constant claims that President Bush's low poll numbers are affected by reports of his administration's tardy response to Katrina - and what they do not report is that most of the dire reports were false.

The New York Times columnist David Sanger cites the President's approval number as 37% based on several reasons, but main among then, the government's alleged late Katrina response.

It takes a blogger, Gateway Pundit, to capsulize the lies of Katrina coverage based on a rare negative story in the Washington Post .

CNN reported repeatedly on Sept. 1, three days after Katrina ravaged New Orleans, that evacuations at the Superdome were suspended because "someone fired a shot at a helicopter."Fact: Louisiana National Guard officials on the ground at the time now say that no helicopters came under attack and that evacuations were never stopped because of
gunfire.

Folklore: During a briefing carried live on local radio and local and national television, Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) said, "We have gotten reports, but unconfirmed, of some of our deputies and sheriffs that have either been injured or killed.

"Fact: Of the thousands of law enforcement officials who converged on New Orleans, only one was shot. The wound to the leg was self-inflicted in a struggle, a spokesman for the Guard said last week.

Folklore: CNN host Paula Zahn speaking of "reports" of "bands of rapists, going block to
block.

" Fact: No evidence to support this. Officials made arrests for a double homicide and two rapes in Jefferson Parish and one rape in Orleans Parish.

Folklore: Then-Police Chief Eddie Compass "little babies [are] getting raped."

Fact: Compass has retracted this.

As I went online this morning a picture of CNN's Anderson Cooper appeared on my home page threatening to bring up my oatmeal. He's getting his 15 minutes of fame when he should go back to j-school to learn how to report. Cooper, Fox's Shepard Smith and Geraldo Riveria masturbated their egos over Katrina coverage. It was "cry TV" at its worse.

A Tale of Dueling DeLay Headlines

Perception is reality so say the politicians, and headlines over DeLay's indictment stories elucidates. Reuters headlines their story thusly: "Delay Seeks Dismissal of Texas Charges" - a headline that is common to most of the MSM, but there's nothing new here. According to Law and Order TV, defendants always seek dismissal when they're guilty. Democrats are getting little spots on the front of their trousers reading this headline over and over.

In a recent e-mail exchange with my nephew-in-law. He asked , "Where would he find the truth "- a question that has been asked before, sometime ago and since. "Is it in the MSM or the Alternate media, and what is "main stream" and what is not," he asked. All I could tell him is that one man's truth is another man's lie in politics and the media.

Diogenes would have hellava time with today's MSM, blogs and alternate news.

But back to headlines: Texas media, perhaps more knowledgeable of DA Earle's proclivities, head the story so; "DeLay Attorney Accuses Earle of Jury Shopping." The not so flattering use of "jury shopping" puts the spots on the back of the Dem's trousers. Another Texas paper offers, "DeLay Lawyers Allege Misconduct by Earle"-- more moderate but still edgy, associating Earle with the word misconduct. Substitute "accuse" for "allege" and you have the fair and balanced Fox headline And lastly the KC Star chimes in with, "Indictment Called Illegal" -- my favorite.

One might say that analyzing headlines is an exercise in trivia pursuit, but in this dumb downed country of ours who reads boring stories about politics, and that's what the Democrats are counting on -- perception is reality.

Salazar Cheered Like a Republican

It must be hell in the Senator Salazar (R-CO) camp -- sort of like the final scene in the classic film "The Quiet Man" when Ward Bond as Father Lonagan clutches his scharf about his neck to hide his collar and asks his flock to "cheer like Protestants" when the Rev Playfair drives by with his bishop.

Senator Salazar had to cheer like a Republican when he recently voted for the confirmation of John Roberts as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court - but is he fooling his flock? Maybe so.

On a recent Saturday morning talk show, the host commented (I paraphrase) said he liked Salazar because he, Salazar, took both sides referring to his yes confirmation vote. Here is a would-be-politically-astute talk show host falling for one of the oldest political gambits since the Roman Senate convened.

The confirmation of Roberts was a done deal and since Salazar represents a red state -- one that voted for Bush - and promised to give Bush's judicial nominees an up or down vote on the senate floor, the Democrat leaders gave him a pass.

Be there no doubt that, if Salazar's vote was critical, he would have voted (cheered) like a Democrat. Some would say the gambit was obvious, but, if a would-be-politically -astute talk show host bought it, what are the sheeples thinking?

Democrats are masters of the big lie and 2006 will tell us whether voters are sheeples or peoples.

Racist Katrina Reporting

DR Bill Bennett is being excoriated for his alleged racist comment, while the racist press coverage of Katrina has gone unreported.

The question is whether the press believed rumors of rapes, murders and thuggery because New Orleans residents were mostly black? Did reporters not confirm reports of crimes in the Superdome because it's what they expected from a black New Orleans population - where the murder rate is ten times that of New York City?

The press lied -- they should be vilified for their exaggerated reports .

The Los Angeles Times story, "Katrina Takes a Toll on Truth, News Accuracy," flatly declares that "a frenzied media recycled and amplified many of the unverified reports," and "[h]yperbolic reporting spread through much of the media." At this point there is no disputing that media hysteria overwhelmed most of the mainstream media's talking heads and even their old school newspaper reporters and editors. The only question is whether the mainstream media will admit that it suffered another pratfall in full public view.

The press not only lied about what was happening -- they drove a wedge into the always tenuous relationship between races. Polls reported that 6 out of 10 African Americans believed that a racist administration intentionally delayed help -- while 8 of 10 white people felt there was no racism in the government's reaction to Katrina. And the divisive rumor reporting was driven home by the blogger like histrionics of Anderson Cooper, CNN; Shepard Smith, Fox; and Brian Williams, NBC.

Surprisingly their emoting was lauded by Howard Kurtz and other media critiques. Kurtz opined, "For once, reporters were acting like concerned citizens, not passive observers. . . Maybe, just maybe, journalism needs to bring more passion to the table -- and not just when cable shows are obsessing on the latest missing white woman." [WP]

CNN's Anderson Cooper is defending his Katrina reports. He claims he received information from local and state officials, and, because there was no working telephones, he could not confirm those reports.

Thus he reported unsubstantiated rumors passed to him by sources whose object it was to garner as much help as possible, as fast as possible -- and a report about a 7 year old girl raped and murdered in the Superdome would speed help along. Where was his journalistic skepticism? An editorial in the Arizona Republic opines as follows:

Journalists have a saying, "If your mother says she loves you, check it out."' It's an affirmation of one prized journalistic skill: skepticism. We saw few skeptical reporters covering Katrina. As the stories grew more ghastly, journalists should have remembered to exercise that skepticism and to attempt to separate verifiable fact from unfounded speculation or rumor. That's every bit as important to hurricane coverage as the reporter hanging on to the lamppost as the wind howls

The press's Bush bashing template also applied. Political opportunist trumpeted Bush bungling as chaos allegedly reined. The press gave race hustlers Jackson, Farrakhan and Rangel a stage upon which to rant their vitriol. They compounded the false reports of rapes and murders to bolster their fading stars and to brand the administration as racist.

It was a perfect storm of press malfeesance.