Pro Fair Tax Editorial

Here's an educated, positive editorial about the Fair Tax, courtesy of yesterday's Gainesville Sun.

Chris Wallace: "Astonishing" Media Bias

Former ABC News anchor Chris Wallace, now host of "FOX News Sunday", discusses in an interview the tremendous amount of anti-President Bush sentiment he's seeing and hearing in the media. He says the questions he hears seem to almost always be slanted against the Bush Administration.

The Joys Of Having A Yard

The last couple of days I've spent at the new house, getting unpacked and making the place more homey. I've also been doing a bit of yard work. Now the yard itself is nearly perfect. The previous owners kept it immaculate. Our next door neighbors have already told me that we have "a lot ot live up to" where the yard is concerned. The grass is nice and lush, and in a little less than an hour it can all be cut and edged. The backyard has a nice, young weeping willow which Shannon just loves. She's always wanted one in her yard.

Being out on the back porch, watching the squirrels playing on the fence or in the yard, and things all seem so right. It also helps bring on the feelings of ownership. This is OUR yard. OUR house. Sweet...

Nothing New Here, Gore Still Unhinged

In a speech delivered to the The Media Center's We Media conference on October 5, 2005 in New York City, former VP Al Gore expounded on his views of the media's role in public discourse. It's a long, rambling, tiresome speech. I know, what else is new? Some interesting comments, though...

He talked about the "vividness and clarity" with which we (Americans) once talked amongst ourselves over "the problems and choices that we face." He says that "vividness and clarity", long lost, came back for a while in the media's coverage of the devestation from Hurricane Katrina.

I suppose he's referring to the (untrue) claims of tens of thousands of dead in New Orleans, supposedly left behind to die because of the color of their skin. Or the (also untrue) claims by New Orleans' mayor on national television of rapes and murders of women and children in the Superdome. Maybe it's the media's attempt to lay blame for all of New Orleans' mess on President Bush, while ignoring the facts (ooh, how the Left hates those pesky thinks!) that the mayor and Louisiana's Governor failed to act in a timely fashion to save their own people.

Then we get this quote...

Clearly, the purpose of television news is no longer to inform the American people or serve the public interest. It is to "glue eyeballs to the screen" in order to build ratings and sell advertising. If you have any doubt, just look at what's on: The Robert Blake trial. The Laci Peterson tragedy. The Michael Jackson trial. The Runaway Bride. The search in Aruba. The latest twist in various celebrity couplings, and on and on and on.

I have to agree with the VP here. But, here's the thing... Most of the conservative people I know, whether family, friends or through work, couldn't care less about these things. Celebrity goings on, triels, etc. are of little or no interest to most of us. (I'm speaking for my own little circle now, not generalizing for everyone). Most of the people I know who talked about Blake, Laci, Jacko, Aruba, etc. are the same folks I know who read People Magazine, watch Entertainment Tonight and watch or tape soap operas.

They are also the people I know who vote Democratic. They are the people who shape their opinions based on what they hear Barbra Streisand or Martin Sheen say. They think the Dixie Chicks were censored by the government because they spoke out against the President. They celebrity worship, or at least celebrity idolize.

In my own little circle, Gore has railed against the very people who supported him.

Finally, here's a little comment I'm not even sure how to address...

...it is television delivered over cable and satellite that will continue for the remainder of this decade and probably the next to be the dominant medium of communication in America's democracy. And so long as that is the case, I truly believe that America's democracy is at grave risk.

Allrighty, then...

The Kook Keeps Getting Kookier

Of course, I'm referring to to Cindy Sheehan. Here's a quote from her latest posting at Huffingtonpost.com

The war machine and the people who serve it in our government are getting a little afraid themselves of not being able to keep the industrial military complex rolling in the bloody dough, so George and friends have come up with a new enemy whose atrocities also can't be contained to borders and that doesn't wear a national uniform: The Bird Flu... Our new enemy of the state will be Birds who may be ill and we shall be very afraid every time we sneeze and pray that our government saves us from more imaginary threats.

It could be funny watching to see what idiotic ramblings she comes up with next, if the woman herself weren't so pathetically disturbed. She needs help. Psychological help. Grief counseling. Something. Instead, the moonbats of the extreme Left are using her as a poster child for their causes. Sadly, the media is eating it up. Cindy is a victim of their games, but she's apparently too far gone to realize it.

Move Update: We're In!

Everything has gone about as well as we expected with the move. Last Friday, in the course of four rainy miserable hours, we moved from the old place to our new house. All the painting and preliminary work went well, with my father-in-law doing a fantastic job of getting hte house ready. The only issues we had were with utilities. We were without internet from before the move until sometime Sunday, hence no updates. We do have about 30 boxes in the house, with another 30-40 in the garage, but it's totally liveable now.

Getting Moved In

The move into the house has officially begun. My father-in-law is getting the painting inside finished, and we've started moving things from the old place to the new one. We did have a nasty little surprise the first time we opened the mailbox.

Nobody thinks twice about a mailbox. You either like the way it looks, or you don't. In this case, we did. So we didn't give it any more thought. Until we opened the blasted thing. A nice flowering vine was growing up around the post. It looked great, except that the vine had grown into the mailbox itself. Lots of vine tangled inside the box. Not a problem. But inside the box, with the vine, about a dozen big ugly cockroaches. Urgh! I absolutely detest these bugs, no the mailbox, it's post, and the ground around it are going to be drenched in some highly potent roach death liquid. They'll be sterile for years! The pretty vine around the mailbox... already gone. I pulled it, and the roach or two that were on it, and they've been disposed of.

I'm just glad I found them before my wife...

Saxby Stands Up For U.S. Beef

Senator Saxby Chambliss, chairman of the Senate Ag Committee, is considering seeking trade sanctions against Japan if that nation's ban on U.S. beef isn't lifted. Japan says it's concerned about the potential for BSE, also known as Mad Cow Disease, to infect U.S. cattle. Let's look at some facts, shall we?

There have been two cows in the U.S. found to be infected with BSE. One of those was born, and spent most of its life, in Canada. The other was an older cow, born before a feed ban was instituted in the U.S. to prevent the spread of BSE.

Japan, on the other hand, has a national herd size that is only 3.6 percent the size of the U.S. herd. Yet they have seen 20 confirmed cases of BSE.

Do the math. Japan has seen 10 times the BSE cases we have. Yet we raise more than 27 times the number of cattle. Sounds like their biggest fear should be their own cattle.

Reach Them While They're Young

The Left hates it, but one of the most popular children's books right now is titled "Help! Mom! There are Liberals Under My Bed!". It's written by Katharine DeBrecht, pen name for a mother of three from South Carolina. Here's the book description from Amazon:

This full-color illustrated book is a fun way for parents to teach young children the valuable lessons of conservatism. Written in simple text, readers can follow along with Tommy and Lou as they open a lemonade stand to earn money for a swing set. But when liberals start demanding that Tommy and Lou pay half their money in taxes, take down their picture of Jesus, and serve broccoli with every glass of lemonade, the young brothers experience the downside to living in Liberaland.

Oh, do you recognize the characters under the bed?

Crafting An Associated Press Story

We get an interesting look at how a story is written (and rewritten) for the Associated Press, courtesy of Rightwingnews.com, and Mary Katharine who compiled the info.

A little background: Cindy Sheehan was arrested yesterday while protesting outside the White House.

An AP story was filed at 1:57 pm by correspondent Jennifer Kerr. The lead was:

Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who has used her son's death in Iraq to spur the anti-war movement, was arrested Monday while protesting outside the White House.

At 3:00 pm, an update to the story was posted, with a slightly altered lead:

Cindy Sheehan, the California woman driven by her son's death in Iraq to re-ignite the anti-war movement, was arrested Monday while protesting outside the White House.

Thirty-eight minutes later, another update appears, with another tweaked lead:

Cindy Sheehan, the California woman who became a leader of the anti-war movement following her son's death in Iraq, was arrested Monday along with dozens of others protesting outside the White House.

The thinking inside AP headquarters, blogger Mary Katharine says, must have been something like this:

"You know, because the whole process was, like, so organic. Cindy didn't really "use" or "drive" anything so much as she "became" the conscience of a country veering horribly off course. It was her simple request to meet with the President, her private grief, and her authenticity that won us over. Not that we're on her side, mind you."

Seems like a lot of thought went into making Ms. Sheehan sound more and more favorable as the story was being reposted. Why do you suppose the AP would try to portray Sheehan in a more positive light? Can you say... agenda?

Global Warming Hysteria

Jerome Corsi at WorldNetDaily tackles the ongoing frenzy on the Left to blame Hurricane Katrina, as well as everything else weather-related that happens, on global warming. Now that Babs Streisand and Robert Kennedy Jr. have proclaimed global warming the second worse evil on the planet (after President Bush), we should all be motivated.

I still wonder, though. If global warming is causing stronger, deadlier hurricanes, why aren't we seeing stronger and deadlier hurricanes in the Pacific Ocean? Or the Indian Ocean? Or in the southern hemisphere? I don't get it.

The Liberal Left Shows More Class

Bill Maher, host of the HBO show "Real Time", compared first lady Laura Bush to "Hitler's dog" during his Friday night cablecast.

That's the same show on which aging comedian George Carlin referred to Barbara Bush as a "silver d----e bag".

These comments, on top of those I mentioned last week from Bette Midler and Kanye West's outrageous statements the week before, show the true nature of the bitter, hateful Left. Anything they disagree with will be ridiculed, blasted and insulted. People of compassion my a--.

"Good News" Blogger Calling It Quits

Arthur Chrenkoff, the Australian blogger who chronicled the positive news stories out of Iraq and Afghanistan in his regular "Good News From..." columns, has filed his last reports. He's taken a new job, which will prevent him from blogging, so he recently said goodbye to the blogosphere. His contributions will be missed.

At Least One Crackpot Doesn't Blame Bush For Katrina

Scott Stevens, a weatherman in Idaho, has been in newspapers across the country where he was quoted in an Associated Press story as saying the Yakuza Mafia used a Russian-made electromagnetic generator to cause Hurricane Katrina in a bid to avenge the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima. He has left his TV job to pursue his conspiracy theories full time.

To read more, here is Stevens' website: www.weatherwars.info

It's Not Just Kanye

I see that when liberals get together, even to raise money to help flood victims in New Orleans, they can't leave their hate for Republicans (and President Bush in particular) at the door. This from Rolling Stone online...

New Orleans descended on New York for two concurrent concerts, dubbed From the Big Apple to the Big Easy, Tuesday night to raise money for the victims of Hurricane Katrina...

... A few artists angrily denounced government officials for their slow response to Katrina's devastation. "I Wish New Orleans was dry and Washington was underwater," said Tom Waits.

Bette Midler had even stronger words: "I got a letter from the Republican Party the other day. I wrote back, 'Go f--k yourself.'" She then added, "George Bush is a fan of mine -- he came to see me in the Seventies. His coke dealer brought him."

Isn't that classy? Even when the situation isn't about them, they can't help but take the stage and put their face (and hatred for the Right) front and center. We learn more and more about the failures of the local and state leaders, but these lib celebs still hammer home the "Hate George Bush" message. Must make the Left so proud.

Actually, it probably does. And that's all the worse.

Eight Days?

Time flies, don't it? We're still getting everything ready for the big move, which will hopefully be two weeks from tomorrow. Any of you with strong backs, come on down! We have a little something you can carry.

DeLay Gets It Wrong

The Washington Times is reporting that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay "said yesterday that Republicans have done so well in cutting spending that he declared an 'ongoing victory,' and said there is simply no fat left to cut in the federal budget." I hate to get down on a Republican leader, but sometimes you must.

DeLay is way off base. Sure the Republicans have been generally more responsible financially than Democrats were when they controlled the Congress. And granted the attacks on September 11th, higher costs for oil, the War on Terror, etc. have in their own ways led to more spending that anticipated when Bush took office in January 2001. But spending is still out of control, as evidenced by the recently passed $286.4 billion Transportation Bill.

I'm a big believer in transportation and infrastructure funding and construction. I suppose I'm one of those people who believe you really can build your way out of congestion. When the roads bill was passed, like transportation funding bills in the past, I look to see what progress will be made with that funding. This bill provides for many much-needed projects. But, it's also full of pork...

$800,000 for a parking facility in Peoria, IL
$750,000 for construction of horse riding trails at Jefferson National Forest
$440,000 for a bike/pedestrian path in Powers, OR
$2.8 million for the West Ridge Nature Preserve in Chicago
$850,000 for construction of bicycle and trolley path in Hattiesburg, MS
$250,000 for pedestrian and streetscape improvements in Ellaville, GA
$1.3 million to construct a recreational visitor center on the Mesabi Trail in Virginia, MN
$2.5 million for landscaping enhancements along the Ronald Reagan Freeway Route 118 in CA
$2 million for a parking facility in Bozeman, MT

The list goes on and on and on. 200 pages of these earmarked expenditures. Most are probably justified. Many are not.

There's still a tremendous amount of cutting that needs to be done. DeLay is living in a dream world if he believes otherwise.

Update

I'm more comfortable with the whole house-buying experience than with shopping for a new car, but it's still a nerve-wracking endeavor. As if that weren't stressful enough, it's our busy time at work. Evenings and weekends are spent preparing for the big move, so precious little time is available for other things (like blogging).

Funny thing... since the wedding, I've found less and less time to post. What's up with that?

Blame Amid the Tragedy

Bob Williams writes on the Wall Street Journal's Opinion Page that Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin failed their constituents. It's a fantastic piece, and includes this gem:

"A year ago, as Hurricane Ivan approached, New Orleans ordered an evacuation but did not use city or school buses to help people evacuate. As a result many of the poorest citizens were unable to evacuate. Fortunately, the hurricane changed course and did not hit New Orleans, but both Gov. Blanco and Mayor Nagin acknowledged the need for a better evacuation plan. Again, they did not take corrective actions. In 1998, during a threat by Hurricane George, 14,000 people were sent to the Superdome and theft and vandalism were rampant due to inadequate security. Again, these problems were not corrected."

What do they say about learning from the mistakes of the past?

Hollywood To The Rescue

Megan Basham calls out the "foreign actors telling us what's wrong with our government" following Hurricane Katrina. An excellent read.