Opaque Lucidity

It Has Just Begun

I should probably wait to write this, but we are never as real as we are in the moments after we hear news that touches us deeply. Terri Schiavo’s life was ended today. She died of the effects of dehydration, a death that is slow and incredibly painful (don’t start in with your “she couldn’t feel anything” arguments---you’re bringing a knife to a gun fight). And we watched it happen; indeed, if the polls are to be believed, most Americans agreed with the decision to starve this woman to death.

With this case, our judiciary and most of our population has arrived at the conclusion that some life is not worthy of life. I know the argument: no one wants to live Terri’s life. That’s correct. But every life has worth and purpose. If you don’t believe that, then what keeps you alive and getting out of bed every morning? You live your life because you are a parent, or someone in your life depends on you. You live your life because you are passionate about your job or your hobby or your faith. You live your life because you believe you are meant to defend other peoples’ lives.

I believe that some lives teach us to show compassion, mercy and hope. You don’t want your life to only serve as a lesson to others; I’m sure Terri didn’t want that, either. But Terri’s final days were probably of more service to our society than anything she did before. We were all tested by this, and we failed.

Regardless of your thoughts on this, there is one inescapable fact: Terri Schiavo was not “let go” or “allowed to die”. There was no plug to pull, to quote the idiocy of Larry King. Terri was killed with the full agreement of our law givers and enforcers.

God help us.

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Bread and Venom

From Bread and Circuses:

Republicans think government should begin and end in the bedroom.

They want people to have an absolute right to be born, to be poisoned by toxins in the waters whose pollution they have no interest in regulating, to be told who you can marry, to be maimed in the workplace for which harm they don't want you to be properly compensated, to get into a car accident because of faulty car design, again with a cap on your payment, and then to be kept indefinitely alive in a coma regardless of your wishes. If your spouse then shoots the corporate exec who didn't recall the faulty car, because it was cheaper to pay off the victims, then the Republicans want to kill your spouse. Their policies do cover you from the cradle to the grave; there's certainly no denying that.

So the next time I gently tee off on some crazy Dem or another, remember: this is what's out there on the other side of the blogosphere. Asshats.

From The Porch

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Please let me know what you think of this. Those of you who haven't met me probably won't get much out of it, but I'm not offended. Be honest.

We Don't Need No Stinkin' Fair Use!

The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday in the MGM vs. Grokster case, which promises to decide whether or not peer-to-peer software companies are responsible for the piracy that takes place on P2P networks. The recording (RIAA) and film (MPAA) industries contend that these companies are successful only because of the illegal files they helped to spread. The software companies claim that their software has legitimate uses and that what circulates on P2P networks is beyond their control.

You may believe that this case has no bearing on your life because you don’t download music or, if you do, you use a legal service such as iTunes. But you would be wrong. On top of P2P software companies, the RIAA/MPAA legal hit squads are also considering if they have a fair chance of winning a case against manufacturers of MP3 players such as Apple, Creative, iRiver, etc. for helping to contribute to the illegal file-swapping environment. This may seem far-fetched, but keep in mind that it was the MPAA who wanted to keep VCRs out of your hands in the early ‘80s.

All copyright law has, in the past, included a common agreement on fair use by the buying public. Fair use includes things like being able to rent a movie and show it at home during a party or make a mix CD out of songs in your CD collection. Napster and its descendents made us all take a hard look at fair use, since it had become obvious that these services stretched the limits. But the RIAA/MPAA, instead of bringing alternatives to the marketplace with the intent of enticing people to remain legal, have simply attacked the very concept of fair use through judicial edict. They only conceded to online music stores when file-sharing moved out of the realm of the college dorm and into living rooms. Would we have iTunes if there had never been a Napster? I wonder.

Some of you have spent more time researching this case than I have, so please add any information you have. If the MPAA/RIAA is victorious, wouldn’t it make sense to sue Cingular because drug deals have gone down over cellular networks?

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The Snob, The Journalist, The Blogger

I have written many letters to the editor in my life. Most were published, some were ignored and one prompted a call from the person who wrote the offending column. I am tempted to write one to David Shaw for his column on Sunday (HT: Hugh Hewitt), but I now have my own, unmoderated forum with which to deconstruct him.

As you know, there is a large legal question brewing about whether or not bloggers are journalists. This is not for bragging rights or societal acceptance, but rather because journalists are afforded many, many rights with regard to sources and protection from legal recourse. Shaw's assertion is that while the definition of "journalist" is broad, bloggers really shouldn't be in the club. Why? Because "real" journalists have to answer to an editor, publisher, etc. while those of us out here in our pajamas can sit in mom and dad's basement and just make stuff up.

If the courts allow every Tom, Dick and Matt [Drudge-ed.] who wants to call himself a journalist to invoke the privilege to protect confidential sources, the public will become even less trusting than it already is of all journalists.

Where did this mistrust of journalists come from? Was it born with the blogosphere? Of course not---it has been built like a wall, a brick at a time, by every self-aggrandizing reporter and columnist who was more concerned with changing the world than reporting facts. The fathers of mistrust have names like Rather and Jennings, men who had ascended to their ivory towers years before blogs even existed. To think that journalistic integrity is somehow this cracked crystal vase that would be fine if only those pesky bloggers would shut up is to live in a fantasy world.

Many words lose their meaning over time, and journalist is one of them. We are all journalists in a fashion. The big difference between and blog and a newspaper or nightly news show is that a blog has very little pretence: you know that it is the work of, at most, a few people. None of us claims to represent anything more than ourselves. I am not doing the work of the American people in ferreting out truth; I am merely putting my thoughts in a public space. So are the guys at Powerline and Instapundit and Little Green Footballs.

Take it or leave it, but at least you know what you're getting. Can we say that about David Shaw?

The Conservative Wilderness

The Washington Post reports today on a study which purports to show that American colleges and universities are even more liberal than many of us imagine. Here are some highlights:

The study appears in the March issue of the Forum, an online political science journal. It was funded by the Randolph Foundation, a right-leaning group that has given grants to such conservative organizations as the Independent Women's Forum and Americans for Tax Reform

Have you ever seen a foundation of any type introduced as "left-leaning"? Please bring proof from a MSM publication.

When asked about the findings, Jonathan Knight, director of academic freedom and tenure for the American Association of University Professors, said, "The question is how this translates into what happens within the academic community on such issues as curriculum, admission of students, evaluation of students, evaluation of faculty for salary and promotion." Knight said he isn't aware of "any good evidence" that personal views are having an impact on campus policies.

The fact that Mr. Knight's title has the word "tenure" in it tells me that, perhaps, he's a little biased.

"It's hard to see that these liberal views cut very deeply into the education of students. In fact, a number of studies show the core values that students bring into the university are not very much altered by being in college."

Really? I can show about 30 personal examples of people who left their church and/or changed their party affiliation after attending a four-year institution. Even Catholic girls' colleges grow agnostic liberals as if they're in high demand. I don't know what his definition of "core values" is, though, so maybe I'm out in left field.

What's more, the study found, 65 percent want the government to ensure full employment, a stance to the left of the Democratic Party.

Are you surprised? These people live in a world where lifetime employement is virtually guaranteed.

The most liberal faculties are those devoted to the humanities (81 percent) and social sciences (75 percent), according to the study. But liberals outnumbered conservatives even among engineering faculty (51 percent to 19 percent) and business faculty (49 percent to 39 percent).

This is hardly shocking. Humanities and social sciences are less fact-based and more interpretive, a area in which liberals thrive because there are very few set instances of hard fact.

The most left-leaning departments are English literature, philosophy, political science and religious studies, where at least 80 percent of the faculty say they are liberal and no more than 5 percent call themselves conservative, the study says.

My wife, whose degree is in English Literature, introduced herself and her major at her first Campus Republican meeting some years ago. The room was quiet, and then someone spoke up: "You're all alone over there, aren't you?"

Teach your children well the things you value and love.

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Dying Bees

This is a little frightening. Pollenation is one of those things that you just assume happens all the time because that's the way it's always happened. Wow.

Winding Down?

There's an interesting article in today's Washington Times concerning the changing, and weakening, insurgency in Iraq. Of course, you can ask ten people in-country and receive 10 different answers, but the trend seems to be on the side of the coalition and the Iraqi people. I read something in the article that I had never quite considered:

Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, who commands the Army's 1st Cavalry Division and just returned from a year-plus tour overseeing Baghdad, is telling audiences that Osama bin Laden made a crucial mistake when he publicly encouraged Zarqawi.
It meant that the Saudi bin Laden was telling the Jordanian Zarqawi to slaughter Iraqis.

If the General is correct, then could it be that Iraqis are gaining a sense of nationalism over tribal or religious loyalty? It is, perhaps, only the formation of national identity and loyalty which will lead to long-term stability in the country.

Redefine

The Terri Schiavo case has brought a phrase to the fore that has been used in the abortion debate for years: the culture of death. This phrase is used by pro-life advocates to describe those who support abortion, assisted suicide and the starvation death of Mrs. Schiavo. It’s appealing to use phraseology such as this because it creates a clear demarcation line between one side and the other. But it’s inaccurate, and not for the reasons you might believe.

Modern liberals and their fellow travelers in our society have become very good at redefining even the most basic points of any argument. Move away from life issues for a moment and take a look at poverty. The number of families living below the poverty line in the United States has risen in direct proportion to the illegitimacy rate. It’s simple math: one-parent homes do not, on average, earn the same income as two-parent homes. The logical solution, to most conservatives, is to encourage abstinence and marriage. But the liberals, who “care” more, dropped this idea on its head. First, they redefined illegitimacy and began calling is single parenthood in an attempt to remove the social stigma associated with having bastard children. Was this kind? Yes, it was. Did it solve any problems? No, it didn’t. The illegitimacy rate in the United States is still incredibly high and costs all of us more and more every year. All the liberal solution did was introduce some newspeak into the lexicon and make everyone feel better about themselves.

When attacked on the concept of single parenthood, liberals respond by saying that single parenthood should be respected as another lifestyle choice, just like marriage. Anyone who says otherwise is trying to push their morals on everyone else. It does not matter, apparently, that children from two-parent households tend to do better in school, are less likely to take drugs, have a lower suicide rate and are more likely to seek a higher education---the liberals made it an argument about me wanting you to live by my moral standards.

And so it is with life issues. Instead of admitting that abortion is murder of an unborn child and that they support it anyway, liberals have redefined what life is. Life, it would seem, is defined as any condition that you find comfortable and livable. Don’t want to see a child born into poverty? Abort it! After all, you wouldn’t want live that way, would you? So it is with Terri Schiavo: since you don’t want to live that way (or you wouldn’t want to deal with someone who does), kill her. Anyone who believes otherwise is a religious zealot. Do you think I’m overstating the case? Go cruising around the blogosphere for an hour and tell me I’m wrong.

Many in our nation talk about how divided we are. I agree. It is not issues which divide us, for the debate over issues small and large has always consumed this country. Our division comes from the fact that the argument is no longer made from a common ground of common belief and basic fact.

Hopes Dashed

The University of Kentucky just lost to Michigan State. My hopes for a University of Louisville/UK championship game have been dashed. Well, at least we won't have to rebuild the city afterwards, I suppose.

By the way, I hope you had a Happy Easter. I thought of lost friends today.

It's An Adventure!

I just saw an ad for the US Navy that ended with the phrase: "because rocket science is more fun if you actually have rockets." That's not the new Navy slogan, but it did make me think if some slogans we come up with in "A" school:

1. The Navy: it's not just a job, it's two jobs.
2. The Navy: it's not just a job...well, maybe it is just a job.

And my favorite:

3. The Navy: it's not just a...awwww, f*** the Navy.

We kid because we love, you know.

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Finally, My 10 Things

It's time to lighten up the day a bit (yes, I know it's Good Friday, but shouldn't we be glad that....oh, hell, nevermind). So, I'm returning to my list of 10 Things I've Done That You Maybe Haven't because it keeps popping up on the blogs I read:

1. Live in a 140-year old house
2. Met Chuck Yeager, the first man to fly faster than sound
3. Went to the emergency room dressed as the Cowardly Lion
4. Made the run from Jeffersonville, IN to Gate One, Naval Station Charleston, SC in 8 hours flat (that's 630 miles).
5. Got quoted in the Washington Post by a syndicated columnist.
6. Married the first girl I dated out of high school (but it took me a while; she can tell that story if she wants)
7. Threatened a car full of teenagers with a semi-automatic weapon (I didn't have a round chambered---I'm not a maniac or anything)
8. Walked over the Falls of the Ohio on a rickety walkway connected to a train bridge (Steve, I know you did this, too; I'm running out of ideas)
9. Single-handedly corrupted a SQL database, thus erasing one days' worth of work for 300 people.
10. Played Blackjack all night (7 hours) in a casino and came away with more than I walked in with.

Huh?

I don't know anything about Pakistan, but I do know they are supposed to be an ally in our war on terror. Even so, is this a good idea? Couldn't we start them out with, say, F-86 Sabres left over from the Korean War and then proceed from there? Wait, wait, I've got it---let's sell them some surplus Canadian stuff. They'll never miss it.

Broken Kristol

Bill Kristol is mad. And it's a sight to behold. (HT: Hugh Hewitt)

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Wow, That's Gotta Hurt

TORONTO (CP) - An American war dodger who fled the U.S. military because he believed the invasion of Iraq was criminal has lost his bid for refugee status in Canada in a case closely watched on both sides of the border.

"Mr. Hinzman is disappointed," said House.

Disappointed? Ya think?

Endgame

Terri Schiavo's parents are out of judicial options. 1PM EST Friday will mark one week since her feeding tube was removed. She will be dead in less than a week.

Other options remain, but they all require action by Governor Bush in Florida. He could order the National Guard to remove her by force from the hospice, an action that would probably result in his impeachment. He could have her seized by the state's APS (Adult Protective Services) unit, a move that would also mean violating a court order. But neither of these things is likely to happen. Terri Schiavo's death order was signed a long time ago, probably about the time her "husband" became an adulterer. One day, I promise we will learn the truth about Micheal Schiavo, and the truth will be hard for many in this country to swallow.

There's more here, a thought that entered my mind last week and refuses to leave. I can't shake the belief that I'm not just angry about Terri Schiavo; I'm angry about what we're becoming. I fear that we are moving in a direction which will lead to the destruction of everyone not considered desireable, productive or beautiful. We already have abortion for the sake of convienence---how much further do we need to go? Assisted suicide---already legal in some places. Are we far from saying that killing people like Schiavo early on is preferable (despite any wishes she may have) becsause, after all, she's used up a lot of health care resources?

I hope I'm wrong, but history tells me that first-nation societies have been here before. The results were genocidal.

That Ship Has Sailed

Powerline is all over the "Republican talking points memo" non-story. To catch you up, the drift of this tale is that Republican Senators were supposedly sent a copy of talking points concerning the Schiavo legislation. ABC ran with the story as if they had something (Dan Rather, call your office) but now they appear to be backing off. Shocking! After all, logic and a lack of evidence never stopped the MSM before.

The Dems and their minions in the MSM need to realize that you just can't play these games anymore. There are too many people out here now who can smell a bad play from a mile off and they will act to find the truth. The networks are acting as if they're still the only game in town.

Here's a thought, and something that points out my bias: had the Dems been accused of circulating a memo like this, I wouldn't be surprised at all.

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Where's NOW Now?

You probably know by now that the 11th Circuit Court appeal for Terri Shiavo was turned down today. There is another legal step involving the Supreme Court, but I'm not a lawyer so I won't delve into it here. Hugh Hewitt has an excellent post on the matter.

A caller to Bill Bennett's show yesterday raised an interesting question: why have we not heard from any feminist organization with regard to the Schiavo case? Unless I missed it (which is, admittedly, very possible), no one from NOW has hosted a press conference to say yay or nay on the issue.

One could conclude from this, possibly, that these groups wish to stay above the fray. But when have they been silent in the past on any issue involving a woman or women? No, I think the answer lies elsewhere. Stepping back from what is a heart-rending situation, let's look at the facts of this case:

1. A woman was being fed via a feeding tube. According to some, she is brain-dead; according to others, she isn't and only needs physical therapy in order to leave a fuller life than the one she has now.

2. Her "husband", who is her legal guardian, claims he knows what's best for his wife and that he is only following her own request to "not be allowed to live like this."

3. The woman's parents and family are willing to care for the woman for the rest of her natural life, if only her "husband" will sign over his legal guardianship.

4. The courts side with the husband because, legally, he has the right to make life and death decisions for a woman who can not, in her current condition, make them for herself.

With these facts in mind, let's take a look at abortion.

1. A pre-born baby is completely dependent upon her mother for everything: nutrition, life support, etc. until very late in the pregnancy. Some argue that life begins as conception; others claim that life doesn't really begin until the child can make it on her own outside her mother's womb.

2. A pre-born baby's mother has legal guardianship of her baby during her pregnancy. Some mothers have abortions because of economic conditions, drug dependency, or a lack of a stick-around sperm donor. They don't want their child to "live like that."

3. Millions of couples who can not have children wait for years to adopt babies in the United States. Many of them go to places like China to adopt because there are so few babies placed for adoption here. Yet, abortion kills over a million pre-born babies in this country every year. Almost all of them could be adopted, if only their mothers cared enough to give them life.

4. The Supreme Court decided in 1973 that a woman has a right to have an abortion; in other words, she was given the right to make decisions for someone who, in their present condition, can not.

Now it becomes clear. Feminists groups must remain silent because if they speak in favor of starving Terri Schiavo to death, they may appear to be in favor of a man being able to make life and death decisions for women (you know, the whole slippery slope thing). If they come out against Schiavo's "husband", then they would logically have to re-examine 30 years of arguments for abortion.

Either way, they might just wink out of existence. And wouldn't that be a shame?

Did None Notice?

By now, you are familiar with the school shootings which took place at Red Lake High School in Minnesota. It almost seems as if these shootings continue an all-too familiar theme in this country: loner comes to school and shoots indiscriminantely, then kills himself.

But there were warning signs. Jeff Weise was always seen in a black trench coat, black clothing and seemed obsessed with ideas of Nazism and racial purity. He was a frequent poster to several white supremecist sites, which seems unusual given his Native American ancestory. He posted over the summer that his Indian brethren had lost a sense of racial purpose and that less than 1% of them still spoke their native language.

I know this question has been asked before and will be asked again, but didn't anyone see these actions as a cry for help? In hindsight, it's obvious that the boy was trying to identify with something, probably so he wouldn't feel so alone. Did he have unrestriced internet access? Did anyone notice what he wore EVERY DAY?

We have more Red Lakes and Columbines in our future if parents and teachers don't wake up to the realities facing them.

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Deletion

I had to delete the latest audio entry because I made it using the speaker phone on my cell while I was driving home. Not a great idea under the best of circumstances, but the truck is loud and the speakerphone is pretty bad. I'll try to stick to doing these things from a stationary location.

Those of you who have dial-up connections may find that you have trouble getting the audio posts. Please let me know how bad it is. I want to provide the same access to everyone, so if I need to find another solution, I will.

By the way, this is not podcasting, as I stated in my test post. Podcasting would actually allow you to take the audio file, download it and do whatever you wanted with it. Unfortunately, this service does not allow that, so you have to be sitting in front of your PC to hear my words of wisdom. Help is on the way, possibly in June, but I'm not going to say anything more about that yet.

As always, thanks for reading (and listening).

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Sowell On Schiavo

Thomas Sowell, one of the greatest minds of our age, has an excellent column today concerning Terri Schiavo (courtesty of Town Hall):

If the tragic case of Terri Schiavo shows nothing else, it shows how easily "the right to die" can become the right to kill. It is hard to believe that anyone, regardless of their position on euthanasia, would have chosen the agony of starvation and dehydration as the way to end someone's life.

If nothing else comes out of all this, there needs to be a national discussion of some humane way to end life in those cases when it has to be ended -- and this may not be one of those cases.

Thanks to Powerline for linking to this.

Nothing For Now

The federal judge presiding over the Schiavo case has ruled that he will not force the feeding of Terri to begin again. More later. Much more.

Linux, Linux, Linux

My manager is attending BrainShare this week. BrainShare is Novell’s annual festival of all things geeky, held in Salt Lake City every spring. I received an e-mail from him this morning which centered around one theme: Linux, Linux, Linux. The revolution is coming; some would say it’s already here.

For those of you who don’t speak in bytes and binary, Linux is an operating system like Windows or OS X. It’s open source, meaning that anyone can look “under the hood” and make changes, fix security problems, etc. as long as you’re willing to share your work with the rest of the community. Linux is a generic term for the kernel, or core, of the operating system. Companies (like Suse, which is owned by Novell) take that kernel and build the rest of the OS on top of it. The finished product is called a distribution. Many users do not consider it proper to refer to your operating system as Linux; instead, it should be referred to by the distribution name (“I’m running Suse 9.2 but it won’t see my tuner card”).

Why should you care? Because Linux will, in my opinion, have an effect on your life, especially if you use a PC at home or at work. Until now, we have all adjusted the way we work based on the way Windows works. You don’t realize it because most of you have never used any other operating system. It’s like a bunch of people carrying an elephant around on their backs instead of riding it. Those of us in the IT field who deal with desktop machines have gotten so used to Windows’ various quirks that we don’t even think about them.

I could move most of our end users to a Linux machine and they would be up and running and comfortable in a few hours, maybe less. The desktop(s) is/are familiar, with icons and something that passes for the Windows “Start” button. Installing applications can be daunting for new users, but it’s not hard to learn once you unlearn the way it’s done in Windows. That’s not to say that Windows is terrible as a desktop operating system in terms of usability; in fact, I like Windows XP quite a bit.

But consider this: have you ever been doing something on your PC and thought, “why can’t I do this or that or why didn’t they make a button for this?”. The cool thing about Linux is that, no matter what little improvement you think of, I can almost guarantee that someone, probably in his or her spare time, thought of the same thing and is actually working on the solution. They’re not waiting for the next release of Windows and hoping that their little doodad is in there---they’re making it happen right now. And after they turn their project loose on the world, there’s going to be feedback and maybe another person who says, “That’s neat, but I think I can do better.” And then he’ll go off and improve on it.

In the end, we all get a better product that is still cheaper to buy and own than Windows (many distributions are free) that is infinitely customizable and isn’t plagued by all the spyware/virus problems of Windows. It’s a new world of computing at the front door.

By the way, the spellchecker in Word 2002 does not recognize non-capitalized “linux” as a word. Funny, that one.

Culture Of Death

As I write this, Michael Schiavo is on Larry King and Terri's parents are on Hannity & Colmes. We're in a strange holding pattern until the federal judge reviewing this case reaches a decision. Mr. Schiavo seems weirdly placid, something that I can only attribute to a sedative or anti-depressant. I can not read his heart, and so I won't make any assumptions, although I have a theory which I believe time will show to be true. The pain in the hearts of Terri's parents must be unimagineable.

Dr. Bill Hammesfahr is talking to Sean Hannity right now. Dr. Hammesfahr spent a year with Terri Schiavo and is as familiar with her case as anyone alive today. According to him, there are only four licensed doctors who have examined Terri who say that she is in a PVS. Furthermore, Dr. H claims that they were all paid for their analysis by Michael Schiavo, whereas he did his work pro bono. It makes one wonder.

If nothing else, this case is going to make all of us rethink our definition of life. As my friend Hash has told me, we can keep a group of organs alive almost indefinitely. But is a person in that state really a person? Or just a body? It depends on who you ask. But Art Bell made an interesting observation on his radio show last night: if you don't know a person's wishes (and, other than an ever-changing claim by Michael Schiavo, we have no idea what Terri wants), shouldn't we err on the side of life?

Many people, both liberal and conservative, laugh at the idea of the slippeyr slope. But let there be no doubt: this case is an enormous fork in the road. We see a story about an abortion performed because of a hair lip and cleft palate and we are shocked. But why? Isn't this a natural product of a society that values looks and earning capacity above all else? After all, most abortions in this country are performed out of convienence, not out of concern for a "damaged" baby. In our ever more fast world, inconvienent infants are now disposable. Why not adults?

The Logic Of Dean

Howard Dean has called all Republicans "brain-dead". Cute. According to him, Democrats will once again come to national prominence only when they learn to be very "focused".

That's exactly the wrong message to send to the faithful in his party. When Democrats win, it is precisely because they are not focused on issues or their own agendas. Take John Kerry, for example: he said he had a plan for Iraq, but none of us knew what it entailed other than going back to the UN for something. What he ran on was the Democratic base's hatred of President Bush. Had it not been for the blogosphere and the swiftboat vets, he probably would've won.

This kind of tripe from the Left goes back to what I have always said: liberal arguments are always based on emotion. Bombarding a liberal with facts is pointless, because the emotion of the issue has already been cast. This helps to explain why Democrats do so well among young people---they have drama on their side.

Passed

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush signed emergency legislation sent to him by Congress early Monday to allow Terri Schiavo's parents ask a federal judge to prolong their daughter's life, capping days of emotional debate over who should decide life and death.

The House passed the bill on a 203-58 vote after calling lawmakers back for an emergency Sunday session for debate that stretched past midnight.

I'm already hearing the complaints that this has become "political". Just for the record, the Senate and House are political bodies; everything they do is political. And there are no guarantees that this will change anything.

Put Off

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress on Sunday put off action on a bill aimed at prolonging the life of brain-damaged Terri Schiavo, in the face of anticipated objections from at least one Democrat that could temporarily stall the measure.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, convened the House in rare Sunday session, but immediately recessed it until further notice.

Why not just wait until after the Easter break (which, for Congress, is a WEEK long)? Or better yet, just bring it up after the 2006 mid-term elections.

Update On Schiavo

There is still no concrete action on the part of Congress today, although that could change by this evening. I've received more e-mail about this issue than I ever have over the course of a single day, so I know that many of you are thinking of this today.

For those of you who are wondering about an activist judiciary and the like, try to remember that this is, after all, Florida. This is the same judiciary that made such a disaster out of the 2000 election that the Supreme Court had to step in. If left alone, they'd still be counting votes in Tallahassee.

Daily Kos--Off The Rocker?

The Daily Kos, which is probably the most widely-read blog on the web, is reporting what is perhaps the most crackpot theory I've heard in a while: that the Pentagon is going to float the idea of bringing back the draft some time after March 31st.

I'm a little disappointed in Kos, mainly because he's an Army veteran. He knows, as I do, that the people who run the military don't want to have anything to do with a draft for many reasons. First, the military is very different now than it was during the Vietnam era. Most jobs are very technical and require someone who is both intelligent and wants to learn. You don't always get these qualities with a draft.

Second, the nation is different now than it was 30 years ago. People fought the draft during Vietnam, but not to the degree that I believe that would fight it now. We've created two generations of spoiled brats since 1973 (my generation included) wherein only a small percentage is willing to live the life of sacrifice necessary to be a good solider, sailor, airman or marine.

I don't think the Pentagon wants the hassle. This is just more scare tactics by the Left, eager to put some fear out there for the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

The Deal

About 45 minutes ago, a deal was reached within Congress for a bill (which may be signed on Sunday) that would allow the feeding of Terri Schiavo to resume while a federal judge reviews lower court rulings in the case.

I know that some of you out there are questioning my conservative credentials right now, wondering how I could support federal action on what should be a state matter (since it is not implicitly claimed as a federal responsibility in the Constiution). My answer is two-fold:

1. Congress is calling for federal oversight on a lower court ruling. This is not new, as judicial review is a common practice.

2. The wording of the bill is very specific to this case and, according to quotes in the linked story, sets no precedent.

I know I promised to start a top 10 list thing on the weekends and we may return to it tomorrow. But I think this case is of tantamount importance to our society, and so is worth spending some extra time on. I hope you understand.

The Nuts And Bolts Of Thirst

As you read this (after 1PM EST Friday), Terri Schiavo is dying. She's not dying in the way that we're all dying, but she is deliberately being cut off from food and water. She will not die of starvation, but of dehydration. Here's what will happen to her over the next week or so (courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News and the AP):

_Day One: The percutaneous endoscopic gastrotomy tube, which is placed through the skin and into the stomach, is removed in a simple surgical procedure. Patients who do not have mental cognition to have a sense of thirst or hunger will not be uncomfortable.

_ Days 10 to Death: Patients do not appear to respond to their environment at all and may appear to be in a coma. Length of death process is determined by how well-nourished patient was and how much body fat and fluid they had when procedure began. May be outward signs of dehydration, like extremely dry skin. Kidney function declines and toxins begin accumulating in the body. Toxins cause respiratory muscles to fail. Multiple organ systems begin to fail from lack of nutrition.

I'm not my normal concerned right now. I'm angry, the sort of angry that makes me want to break things and hurt people. I won't, of course, and I know that there are countless people around the world suffering as I write this. But this one woman, in this country, is being allowed to die a slow, agonizing death because a man who has moved on with his own life claims that she once said she didn't want life support.

And, for the record, there is evidence (see my earlier post) that Terri does possess mental cognition. That means that she will feel the same pain you or I would if we were allowed to die of thirst. It would be less cruel to smother her with a pillow.

This is the splendor of our acheivement.

PVS

From Drudge this morning:

**Exclusive Fri Mar 18 2005 00:50:07 ET** The Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pension (HELP) Committee, Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming) has requested Terri Schiavo to testify before his congressional committee, the DRUDGE REPORT has learned. In so doing it triggers legal or statutory protections for the witness, among those protections is that nothing can be done to cause harm or death to this individual.

Members of Congress went to the U.S. Attorney in DC to ask for a temporary restraining order to be issued by a judge, which protects Terri Schiavo from having her life support, including her feeding and hydration tubes, removed... Developing...

The Terri Schiavo case has been in and out of the news in recent weeks, but it looks as if things may be coming to a head soon. This case is important because it deals with an assumption that a person is in a permanent vegatative state (PVS). However, recent reporting suggests that Schiavo has not had the therapy and examinations necessary to reach such a conclusion. If this is true, then this may not be an issue of letting a person with no hope of recovery die in peace, but an issue of neglect and abuse by a man who should not be her legal guardian in the first place due to the life decisions he made after his wife's hospitalization.

Terri Schiavo deserves to live, not because she is alive, but because she may have the opportunity to live a fuller life.

Once Again, No Bias Here

If you listened to the President's press conference yesterday, you heard this question (transcription courtesy of Hugh Hewitt):

THE PRESIDENT: Elisabeth.

Q: -- is your choice to be the President of the World Bank. What kind of signal does that send to the rest of the world?

Now, I'm sure Elisabeth didn't mean to work any bias into that question. Were I the President, I would've asked her how she knew the current conflagration in Iraq is one of the most unpopular wars in our history. I would then ask to her to please list the most popular wars from least to most. Where would the Spanish-American War fit in there, you think? "Well, it's got nice rhythm, Dick, but I can't dance to it."

Hugh Hewitt made an excellent point about this question with regard to Jeff Gannon. If you recall, the Gannon hunt began when he made the terrible mistake of asking a few softball questions during a press briefing at the White House. As we can now see, had he accused the President of being a coke-sniffing draft-dodger who only went to war with Iraq for oil, he'd be writing for the New York Times or doing long, low-voiced, somber pieces for NPR. Instead, he was outed for being (gasp!) gay. I guess liberals only love gays when they vote for Democrats.

If you can't see the obvious bias in the MSM, you're not paying attention. But based on the blogs I read every day, there are many people out there who still like to assume that since GE owns NBC and Rupert Murdoch owns Fox that all media has a conservative slant. One fellow whose blog I forgot to bookmark (sorry, man; drop me an e-mail and I'll credit you) explained the liberalism in media this way (I'm paraphrasing):

UPDATE: here's the actual blog link.

Most reporters start out at a small newspaper or radio station. They are overworked and underpaid. Anyone who aspires to wealth will immediately go into some other line of work, while the liberal, who is not motivated by money, will stay on. Most editors actually want a diverse opinion base on staff, but all the conservatives leave.

Uhuh. Here's my take on that:

Most reporters start out at journalism school where they are indoctrinated by professors who exist in a tenured environment wherein competition is not only frowned upon, but is illegal. These professors instill in their young pupils the idea that a free and open economy is essentially evil and leads to war and injustice. Thus, all war is a result of business dealings gone awry. Spreading democracy and freedom is just a cover for writing big checks to Haliburton.

Our young journalist (we'll call her Elisabeth) graduates and moves out in to the real world. She works for a small media outlet, where she is overworked and underpaid. Her chums from college who majored in finance or accounting or engineering are making more money than her, which doesn't seem fair since she works just as hard. She begins to despise businesspeople just like her professors did because, after all, she is only underpaid because they are overpaid (since liberals believe that any economy is a zero sum gain).

One day Elisabeth gets to join the White House Press Corps. The President represents everything that is soulless and wrong about society: he has firm beliefs which don't need to be nuanced and finessed; he's from Texas; he's against abortion; he's a Christian. So when she finally gets to stand up and speak truth to power, do you think she's going to just ask a fact-finding question? Of course not. She has to work in her beliefs because, by God, she got into this racket to change the world, not report the facts.

But then, she still comes off like an idiot. Nice try, Liz.

Late

Sorry about the lack of posts today. I have a situation here at work that is probably going to keep me here very late. Thanks for stopping by; please check with me in the morning.

Retraction

Philip Bennett, the Managing Editor of The Washington Post, responded to Hugh Hewitt this evening concerning his Chinese interview of a few days ago (see "Imperial US" below). Bennett claims that his answers were heavily edited and some were complete works of fiction.

If this were the NY Times, I would put a retraction on my old blog site and hope you found it next year some time. But I try to hold myself to the same standards to which I hold others, so let me be the first to say that I should've waited to hear more about the Bennett story before posting what I did. Any Chinese paper should've made me suspicious; it will not happen again.

Thank you for reading.

Beep-Beep!

This is just funny.

Bloom Off The Rose? Hardly!

Some of the good ol' boy NASCAR crew chiefs are in trouble for cheating. I can almost hear the laughter as those of you who scoff at stock car racing are thinking that, finally, here's proof that these racers are no better than NBA or MLB guys.

They may or may not be; I really don't care. What's important to remember here is that this kind of cheating has gone on since the beginning of the sport. In some areas, this is just another aspect of the race. Is it right? No, but you could make the argument that bump-drafting isn't right, either.

I still believe that NASCAR racing is the best choice for a family-friendly sport.

The UAW Blinks

This update just in:

The United Auto Workers union waved a white flag Monday in its parking skirmish with neighboring reservists, but the 1st Battalion, 24th Marines are not accepting surrender.

"I talked to Ron; I let him know that I understand he has rescinded his decision," said Lt. Col. Joe Rutledge, a top-ranking officer at the reserve infantry rifle battalion. "However, I've made my decision -- either you support the Marines or you don't."

Like A Red Rubber Ball

When I leave for work in the morning during winter, the sky is still dark and, if I’m lucky, the stars are still out. But as winter turns to spring, the eastern sky turns orange earlier and earlier until, around March 10th, the first sliver of sunrise peeks over the eastern Kentucky hills. I am always reminded of beautiful sunrises I have been blessed with, all of them connected to something significant in my life. This morning was no exception.

I graduated from boot camp 15 years ago this week. It was a happy time, for I had completed what had been the greatest challenge of my life up to that point. My parents came to Orlando for the event, which was sort of an unspoken affirmation of my decision. But for all the work and sweat and friendship of that time, my fondest memory is of a sunrise.

Every morning in boot camp involved PT. We would get up long before the sun rose and head out to a large asphalt area known as The Grinder. Once there, we met up with the other companies and did all the things the military is famous for: pushups, sit-ups, jumping jacks, etc. Then we ran. Some days, we ran two miles and called it a day. But once in a while our Company Commanders would be in a mood (I think they both had marriage troubles) and we would run until they were tired. It seemed like this happened once a week.

We were about three days from graduation when our senior Company Commander, a First Class named Vaughn, decided to let us run ourselves into the ground. His idea was to have us run until all the other companies left The Grinder and went back to their barracks. We ran for about an hour, until I could no longer feel my legs. I think I had achieved the fabled “runner’s high”, for I was almost euphoric. As we made our turn and faced east once more, there it was: the tip of sunlight peeking out from the top of the orange grove on the other side of the base fence. In my state, I thought it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. Since we were normally back in our barracks getting dressed when the sun came up, it was the first sunrise I had seen since coming to Orlando in the middle of the night on January 16th. It felt victory.

You can tell I have a long drive to work, can’t you?

Berlin or Beijing?

Hugh Hewitt is posing an interesting question on his show this evening: will the demonstrations in Beirut today and in the past two weeks lead to Berlin 1989 or Tianamen (sp.) Square 1989? That is, will we see the dawn of a free, democratic Lebanon or a crackdown by the military on the civilian population?

I vote Berlin for one reason: times have changed in the Middle East. Iraq held elections in January and there are rumbles of discontent from many in Iran. We can argue about why this is, but I believe it is because George W. Bush has thrown down the gauntlet: if you stand for democracy, we will stand with you. And he means it.

Hugh was talking to Claudia Rossett, who is in Beirut. She said that people know of Bush's promise and they speak of it openly. It means something to these people. She spoke of signs thanking the free world for the attention they are receiving. But there is also this plea: don't forget about us.

As the President has promised, so he must do. An America who does as promised will win many friends in that part of the world; an America who abandons those struggling for freedom will earn generations of enemies.

The Imperial US

Philip Bennett, the Managing Editor of The Washington Post, was interviewed by the Chinese paper People's Daily last week. His answers are not surprising for a mainstream American journalist at the beginning of the 21st century, but the basic beliefs which lead to such opinions never fail to puzzle me. His basic assertion is that America has no business leading the world.

The history of Western civilization is surprisingly cyclical. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the present day, different nations have risen to positions of leadership in the world. Some have done so through commerce and innovation; others have done so through force of arms. I believe that most liberals today see the United States as just another imperial power in a long line of such nations. The fact that this nation is the first true republic to hold a position of leadership and that we have achieved the position more through influence than violence is somehow lost.

That is not say our record is spotless. We supported dictators in the name of stopping the spread of communism. We supported suppression of even the most basic human rights in the Philippines. Thousands of Americans of Japanese heritage were imprisoned during the Second World War for no other reason than that their parents came from Asia.

But it is not overreaching to say that democracy would be dead today were it not for the United States. Europe remains free because of two American interventions during the 20th century. Our post-war occupation of Japan all but guaranteed a freely elected government in a nation which had known only despotism. Even the young democracies in the former Soviet states owe many of the freedoms they enjoy today to our Cold War policies, especially those of Ronald Reagan.

Many on the Left believe in the concept of a balance of power. In their eyes, a communist superpower kept the United States in check, as if there is some moral equivalence between us and the former Soviet Union. America as the world’s strongest nation is somehow wrong. This is the crowd that supported unilateral disarmament and who scoffed at the idea of helping freedom fighters in Central America. Any mistake in our foreign policy is one mistake too many (except, of course, if it’s made by a Democrat) and points out how imperialistic we really are.

Who would stem the spread of Islamo-facism and, eventually, Chinese economic hegemony in the world if there were no United States? England? France? Germany? The answer is no one.

Slipping

I'm afraid I owe you all an apology. Since I haven't been posting much from work, I've noticed that the quality of my posts has slipped. I'm at my best early in the morning; I'm full of ideas and opinions.

I shall endeavour to do better.

Remind Me...Why Unions?

The UAW...keeping Dems in office and the shirker employed. Man, I hate unions. And now, they're coming down on the Marines.

UPDATE: Sly sends the following information in case you want to make a call:

The UAW can be reached at 313.926.5000. Ask to speak to someone in the PR department. You might want to mention, as Sly did, that you're seriously considering buying foreign cars from now on.

Podcast

You may or may not have heard about podcasting; if not, you will soon hear about it in the same way you hear about blogs now. Podcasts are, in essence, audio blogs. The name comes from the iPod, which is currently the portable audio player of choice among the technorati. Here's how it works:

1. Someone creates an audio file (the podcast) using his PC, a microphone and some inexpensive software.

2. The file is uploaded to a blog, FTP server, etc. and is made part of an RSS feed.

3. The end user (you and I) download software such as iPodder which allows one to find podcasts, download them and listen to them on a computer or portable media player.

You may think that there's nothing technologically new here, and you're correct. However, podcasts are starting to show up in the blogosphere, meaning that it may soon take hold as a new way to spread news, opinion, etc. I have everthing necessary to create podcasts at home; the only thing I need is a server that will let me host them. If I can find someone willing to donate some space to a poor Hoosier, I will start producing an audio version of my senseless ramblings. I know that's what you've been waiting for.

15th

Charlotte Clare was born at 4:16PM EST today. She is my brother Ken's second daughter, our fifth niece and my parents' fifteenth grandchild. Ken and Jeanne live in Virginia, so we won't be seeing young Charlotte until later in the summer. But she will be in our thoughts.

"...Whaddya Think?"

I'm sorry. Really.

Saturday Fun

When I had the Dattblog, I tried to post something fun on Fridays. This turned into an attempt at a Top 10 list every week. So, for the sake of fun, I’m going to resurrect my Top 10 (or 5, depending) List, but for Saturday. This week is a list of 5: The Five Worst Films I Have Seen In A Theatre, in no certain order. Drumroll, please:

1. The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh. This craptacular piece of cinema consisted of a non-plot which served to showcase a few NBA stars of the day. It had to do with an NBA team, the astrological sign of Pieces, and a little kid. I’ve blocked the rest out.

2. G.I. Jane. Had I not seen this movie with my wife and in-laws, I would’ve walked out. I rarely see a Navy movie that I enjoy; this was a Navy movie that the Navy had disowned. Ten minutes in, it was obvious that no one who had ever worn a uniform had been involved with the making of this Demi Moore-infested dump. As you know, Moore stars as a wannabe female SEAL who must overcome sexism, outright harassment and an atrocious script. The winning line from chest-enhanced Moore? “Suck my ____”. Very, very classy.

3. The Godfather III. I’m probably going to hear about this choice, but I can no longer maintain any sort of cultural bias with regard to this expensive mistake. Two words: Sophia Coppola. Francis’ daughter was cast in this film at the last minute and you immediately understand why---she couldn’t act her way out of a wet paper bag. Rumor has it that one of the test audiences actually clapped when she was killed.

4. Sylvia. This is a biopic about Sylvia Plath, the American poet who committed suicide in the 1960’s. I expected a film that would show a happy woman’s descent into depression despite her success. What I got was a bleak, soulless film that made me feel as depressed as Plath did. I don’t mind crying during films, but coming out of the theatre feeling that life is crap is not my idea of a good time.

5. Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. I was warned about this movie, but I went anyway. My friend Mike turned to me when we saw the preview one weekend and said, “This is going to be a crapfest.” I will never, ever doubt him again. Jude Law and Gwenyth Paltrow (also in Sylvia) do a respectable job considering they have nothing to work with, but they can’t save the day. Not only is this movie bad, but someone should do time in prison for wasting that much money.

Feel free to throw out your own list.

Kurtz On Board, Thankfully

Howard Kurtz, the man who was kind enough to mention this blog in his Washington Post column a few weeks back, has written about the FEC and the status of bloggers. His thoughts are comforting, at least to me:

I'm not one of these people who thinks you need a graduate degree, an ID card or an official stamp of approval to call yourself a journalist. Anyone with an idea and a computer can now play the role of reporter, commentator or social critic. People can tell the difference between a New York Times correspondent and BozoBlogger.com, and both have something to contribute.

What about the heavy hand of government regulation? The Federal Election Commission, as you may have heard, is considering slapping some restrictions on political bloggers following a federal judge's ruling on some McCain-Feingold litigation.

Thanks to Captain's Quarters for shining the light on this one. And let me be clear: I'm not worried about me. I will never be called into court over this little anthill of mine. But the medium is important, maybe as important as TV and radio were in their infancy. Let's not let a few agenda-driven minds cut this thing short before it blossoms.

Now THAT'S Censorship

Two weeks ago Ann Coulter wrote a column about Jeff Gannon and the whole overblown controversay about his attendance of White House press briefings (by the way, for those of you who were just sooooo hot about this story----why did it die so soon?). In it, she refered to Helen Thomas' racial heritage. Evidently, the old lady of the White House press is of arabic origins. If you follow the link above, you'll notice that the term has gone from "Arab" to "dyspeptic". Here's the column in its original form.

Coulter writes in her latest column:

Twenty-six congressmen have signed a letter denouncing me for a column I wrote two weeks ago; for the past two weeks, I've been attacked on MSNBC and CNN, in the Detroit Free-Press and on every known liberal blog and radio show.

What's more, Coulter told Michael Medved that several of the congressmen called her publisher and asked that she be, more or less, blackballed.

I've written here before that for someone to be censored, there must be government interference in that person's free speech rights. If this is not an attempt at censorship, then the word has no meaning. You may think Coulter is wrong or worse, but does she not have the right to have her opinion published? This happened over two weeks ago. Where are Michael Moore and Sean Penn, two empty-headed bozos who falsely call themselves victims of censorship almost daily?

If the same fate had befallen say, Maureen Dowd, the wailing noise from the ACLU would be deafening. But not a peep to defend conservatives' rights.

But, then, did any of us really expect anything different?

Pyongyang Times

Hugh Hewitt has a column in the Weekly Standard today concerning the LA Times' North Korea coverage from last week. It's good stuff that brings clarity to the issue.

But the LAT still doesn't get it.

If IIlegal, I Will Be A Lawbreaker

There's some buzz going around concerning campaign finance laws (McCain-Feingold in particular)and blogs. If these laws were applied to blogs, then every link to a campaign website would be considered coordination with the campaign. Captain's Quarters has excerpts from a Rocky Mountain News article with some details.

If McCain-Feingold is applied to bloggers, I will link to every political organization and campaign that I visit. I don't get much traffic, but this is ridiculous. Do these people understand what a hyperlink is?

In Kentucky

The President will be in Louisville today as part of his sixty city tour designed to drum up support for Social Security reform. It's no surprise to those of us who live and work here that the local liberal rag, The Courier-Journal, has an editorial blasting the President. They mention that he will be surrounded by carefully-screened supporters who will ask softball questions. They are wrong on both counts. My manager will be on the same stage as the President this morning, so I know whereof I speak. He was not asked about his party affiliation nor was he given a question to ask. He and his wife did have to go through a security screening, but this is normal. Strike one, CJ. Here's some other highlights of the editorial:

In that spirit, here are some questions we would have liked to ask...
Mr. President, what exactly is your "plan"? Wouldn't it have been better to offer the specifics first, and then seek public and congressional support?

I think the "plan" has been made pretty clear: a small percentage of your social security tax would be diverted into a private account which would be invested in pre-approved investments. This plan would be voluntary and only available to those who are now under 55. Yes, there are still details to be worked out because, as the President said in the State of the Union:

"I will work with members of Congress to find the most effective combination of reforms. I will listen to anyone who has a good idea to offer."

Why have you referred to a Social Security "crisis," when even pessimistic forecasts don't envision a shortfall before 2042? Anyway, isn't it just as well that there is no crisis, since private accounts wouldn't alleviate the solvency pressure on Social Security by even a penny?

The 2042 date is bogus. The trouble will begin in 2018 or 2022, when the payroll taxes collected for Social Security will not cover the cost of promised benefits. To quote the Houston Chronicle:

"In either 2018 or 2022, the amount of taxes collected to fund Social Security, known as payroll taxes, will be less than the benefits promised. At that time, the trust fund will begin cashing in its bonds and using the proceeds to make up the difference.

But that money will be used up by 2042 or 2052. Then, the system will be insolvent and only able to pay 73 percent of the future retirees' benefits."

Even if the date was accurate, is the CJ saying that we should just ignore the problem until, say, 2035? Bill Clinton did that was terrorism and look what it got us.

You led the country into a costly war to meet the supposed threats of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction and its relationship with terrorists. Neither existed. You proposed huge tax cuts to whittle down a surplus but then plunged ahead as the surpluses turned into large deficits. Why should Americans believe anything you say about something as important as Social Security?

I know this is old, but these were NOT the only reasons for going into Iraq. I quote the war resolution voted on by a joint session of Congress in October, 2002:

"Whereas Iraq persists in violating resolution of the United Nations Security Council by continuing to engage in brutal repression of its civilian population thereby threatening international peace and security in the region, by refusing to release, repatriate, or account for non-Iraqi citizens wrongfully detained by Iraq, including an American serviceman, and by failing to return property wrongfully seized by Iraq from Kuwait;"

As for the tax cuts: the Reagan tax cuts of 1982 proved that large enough tax cuts actually increase government income and grow the economy because people tend to spend their tax savings. This isn't doctoral-level stuff.

The tax cuts that you have had enacted will cost the country about $11 trillion over the next 75 years ...

Classic liberal statement of "fact". Cost the country? How? By letting people keep more of what they earn? And are they taking economic growth and inflation into account?

I'll be watching today, but unfortunately I won't be able to live-blog the event. I'm sure the CJ won't be there, either.

Danny Boy

Dan Rather’s last broadcast as anchor of the CBS Evening News is tonight. He’s not retiring from the network, but giving up this job is a major career concession. It is clear to everyone that he is being fired from the position because of his involvement in the Air National Guard documents scandal. Regardless of what he knew and when he knew it (had to throw that in for those of you who remember Watergate), he made a series of very bad calls. And he thought he would get away with it in the same way he probably has before.

But it is a different age, an age in which no one is above scrutiny and every fact uttered on the airwaves can be checked in a matter of seconds. Men like Rather can not exist in an environment such at this. He came of age when the network news had some credibility and was driven by the story, not by an agenda. It must have been difficult for him to realize that his position at the top of the news mountain had been given to cable news, talk radio and millions of bloggers. In short, he doesn’t matter anymore.

I was going to watch his broadcast tonight, but then I realized that I can’t remember the last time I saw a network news broadcast. It’s been at least seven years and maybe ten. But I remember something that G. Gordon Liddy said about Dan Rather many years ago: “People watch Rather for the same reason they sit at the third turn during the Indy 500---if you watch long enough, you’ll get to see the big crash.” I missed the crash, the cleanup and the investigation. You probably did, too.

And the world didn’t miss a beat, Dan. Not a beat.

I Quit The Race---Really

I had to put a new motherboard in our home desktop PC last weekend. It wasn’t an upgrade, really, since the old mobo was only six months old (it was acting funny, and not in a “ha-ha” kind of way) and the new one used the same chipset. But I also replaced our case, so everything looks new even if it isn’t. And since I got to experience that new electronics smell (you geeks know what I’m talking about), it was a Good Thing.

Then, my new copy of Maximum PC arrived. For the uninitiated, Maximum PC is sort of like the DuPont Registry for computer enthusiasts----full of neat stuff I can’t afford. Every issue is crammed full of information, but I always flip to the PC reviews first. You may wonder why I do this since I haven’t bought an off-the-shelf PC in almost ten years and I never intend to. The reason is that each reviewed PC is compared to what the magazine calls the Zero Point PC. The Zero Point PC is an average, but fast, machine. Our desktop machine almost exactly matches the specifications and performance of the Zero Point PC.

Until this month. This month, the Zero Point PC was upgraded to reflect current top-notch machines. If I were to build such a machine, it would cost the better part of $3000 (that’s just for the PC, not the monitor, keyboard/mouse, etc.). The specs are staggering, but some of the reviewed PCs are even faster. This leaves us with a PC that, overall, is about a year old but is already being left in the dust.

So I quit. There was a time when a nice rig would be considered fast and new for about a year. Now, you would have to upgrade every six months in order to keep up. It’s not that I need a PC this fast----but like motorheads, I like having the horsepower at my fingertips.

My only hope is that some sort of “Classic PC” movement will take hold just as it did with automobiles. Then, when our PC is four or five years old, people will look at it and say, “You’ve got a 6800GT in there? Man, those were sweet!”

I think I’ve gone ‘round the bend.

The McCain Munity Court-Martial

There seems to be a bit of a rising tide story today about Senator John McCain and a Cablevision contribution. Captain's Quarters is on it, and the Kansas City Star has an interesting AP timeline that will bring you up to speed quickly.

I have a great deal of respect for Senator McCain. He is the real thing when it comes to sacrifice and heroism. But this is not the first time that McCain has been embroiled in controversy, although his involvement in the S&L scandal was limited. If the allegations are true, this could turn into a very ugly mess for the Senator. Although I would hate to see his career end on a note such as this, we must demand high ethical standards of ALL our Senators, not just the ones who sit on the other side of the aisle.

THK, Please Go Away

Drudge linked this story at the top of his site this afternoon. Heinz-Kerry would be considered a laughable lunatic if her and her husband hadn't come so close to winning the White House. Try to imagine her as First Lady...wow, my head hurts. Here are some highlights:

What made Teresa Heinz Kerry so refreshing to some voters, and threatening to others on the 2004 campaign trail...

When you see the word "threatening" or "threat" in the first sentence of an article, you know a liberal's on board. Instead of admiting that some people just don't like THK for whatever reason, Joel Connelly has to make us scared of her. And "refreshing" is another word for "embarrassing".

"You cannot have bishops in the pulpit -- long before or the Sunday before the election -- as they did in Catholic churches, saying it was a mortal sin to vote for John Kerry," she said.

Heinz Kerry gave no examples.

That's because there AREN'T any, Joel. Priests in the Catholic Church don't talk about politics from the pulpit, they talk about issues. Some issues which are political also contain a moral component.

"The church has a right and obligation to teach values," Heinz Kerry declared. "They don't have a right to restrict freedom of expression, which they did."

???? Because some bishops said publicly that they would refuse communion to Kerry? That's their right, THK, if they feel he is living in a state of mortal sin. Go look at your cathecism and get back to me.

Heinz Kerry is openly skeptical about results from November's election, particularly in sections of the country where optical scanners were used to record votes.

"Two brothers own 80 percent of the machines used in the United States," Heinz Kerry said. She identified both as "hard-right" Republicans. She argued that it is "very easy to hack into the mother machines."

Once again, no examples or proof. She should go work for Howard Dean.

"Think about last year," she said. "Once John had his nomination, the Republicans spent $90 million to destroy his reputation."

You mean those guys he served with in Vietnam who accurately called him a liar? They weren't on anyone's payroll. What she's probably talking about are the ads put together by the RNC. Go look at those and then look at the ones put out by Moveon.org (one even depicting G.W. Bush as a Nazi) and tell me who was trying to destroy reputations.

"We have to develop a discipline for this party, so the people of this country know more clearly what it is to be a Democrat," she said.

THK, we know what it is to be a Democrat today. That's why you lost.

10 Things I've Done That You Probably Haven't

I've seen the above title on three different blogs today. I don't know how it got started or why, but I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with a list of 10 without getting into very personal and/or potentially illegal things. I guess I'm pretty pedestrian.

Anyway, feel free to post your own list.

Vice City

It came up again last night: video game violence. This time, the show was '60 Minutes' and the story was about a high school dropout who shot and killed a police officer in Alabama. The shooter had been a devotee of the game 'Vice City'. The emotion squad was out in full force, including a clip of the slain cop's brother asking why games had to be so gosh darn violent.

I watched the segment with my oldest sister, who is a nurse with 20 years of experience. While she does not like violence in video games (her and her husband limit what games their sons can have in the house), her first statement was telling: this kid wasn't mentally stable to begin with. While the death of a police officer at the hands of a teenager is tragic, it is hardly a fair indictment of the video game industry.

‘Vice City’ is one of the most violent video games ever created. In it, you play a gangster sent on various missions. Each mission nets you a certain amount of money which you can spend on different types of weapons. You can, however, choose to just wander the streets and be a menace. You can club people to death, steal cars, etc. The game is completely immoral.

But it’s also legal, the same way that violent movies are legal. The unspoken truth here, the one that ’60 Minutes’ paved right over, is that personal responsibility still rules the day. There is no one alive of sound mind in our society who does not know that killing people at random is morally, ethically and legally wrong. Blaming a video game when people act out in this way is like blaming McDonald’s for heart attacks and diabetes. People who are prone to real-life violence will find inspiration even if we ban violent video games, movies and rap.

When I see stories like the one last night, I always wonder what the warning signs were. Why did the teen drop out of high school? Did he get into trouble before? Did he have a job? These things matter because discussing them would put concepts such as parental responsibility on trial. And it’s much easier to get money out of a software company.

Blogging the White House

In a sure sign that blogging is coming of age, a blogger is being granted daily access to the White House briefing room.

In related news, Dan Rather is retiring this week.

Italian Whiplash

Giuliana Sgrena is now saying that she can not rule out the possibility that she was deliberately targeted by US troops.

It is important to keep in mind that Sgrena writes for a Communist newspaper in Italy that is both anti-American and strongly opposed to the occupation of Iraq. I find it inexcusable that a supposedly credible journalist would throw out unfounded conspiracy theories less than 72 hours after her release. One can't help but wonder if she might have an agenda of her own.

We will most likely find out this week if a ransom was paid for Sgrena's release. If money WAS paid, what do you think it will be used for? Humanitarian aid? Or do you think it might be used to further fund sub-human criminals who target our troops and innocent Iraqis?

The Iraqi View

Hindrocket over at Powerline posted some poll results concerning Iraqi opinions on terrorism, satellite TV networks, etc. Interesting reading.

Lateral Upgrade

I'll be replacing my PC's motherboard on Sunday, so I apologize if the posting is light or non-existent. The current board is only about six months old, but it has never been quite right or really stable. We'll see what the new one brings.

So It Begins

I really, really hate to see this.

Friendly Fire

You know by now that US forces fired on the speeding car carrying Giuliana Sgrena to safety. Sgrena is an Italian journalist who has been held by insurgents in Iraq for the past month. Evidently, someone was able to negotiate her release (details are sketchy at this point).

My first inkling of this came earlier today from Reuters. The headline? "American Forces Shoot at Freed Hostage." Wow. Of course, you have to read the article to find the ONE line which mentions the circumstances of the incident: the car was speeding and made no attempt to stop at a US checkpoint. Any one of us would've been shot under those conditions. As one would expect, the Italian Prime Minister wants an explanation and someone's head.

The European press is going to have a field day with this. Our troops in Iraq will be presented as reckless cowboys who shoot at anything that moves. PM Silvio Berlusconi, already in trouble at home for sending 3,000 Italian troops to Iraq, will undoubtedly have to reconsider staying the course and possibly ending his career.

More later. Much more, I'm afraid.

Shining Planet

I’m hooked on the new ‘Battlestar Galactica’. I’ve always been something of a sci-fi fan (Star Trek, mostly), but I’ve never looked forward to a show as I do this one. It’s very thought-provoking in that it presents a realistic look at what would happen if most of the inhabitants of a planet were killed and the survivors had to escape to space in order to begin a new life. The fugitive fleet, led by civilization’s one remaining warship, faces all the problems you would expect: food and water shortages, civil unrest and the personality conflicts that make any show worth watching.

But there is a disturbing pattern beginning to form, and I hope I’m wrong about where the storyline is heading. The Cylons (the bad guy robots who were created by man but then turned against humans) are religious. Not only are they religious, but they’re monotheistic whereas the humans tend to believe in some sort of Roman “god squad” hierarchy. The religious question is becoming a fairly big focus of the show and I can’t help but wonder where it’s going to lead. This season’s worth of shows had already aired in Great Britain, so I could easily find spoilers on the web. That would also ruin remaining episodes for me, so I’ll have to wait. But I have a theory (did you have any doubts? ;-) :

The Cylons are hoping to convert humanity to their monotheistic (Christian?) beliefs. To accomplish this, they had to “purify” the race by killing all but 50,000 people. These people are then put through trials to ensure that they are worthy of God’s love. They will ultimately be led to a place (maybe the home world of a race who helped upgrade the Cylons in the first place) where this will all be explained.

If the show goes in this direction, I will be sorely disappointed. Why? Because the whole season will end up being a subtle attack on Christianity (and maybe religion in general---shades of our terrorists?). If you know how this ends up, please don’t post any spoilers here or leave comments like, “you’re dead on”; I’ll delete anything of that nature, but I’d like to hear from those of you who watch the show regularly and have a take.

Uncle Kim

I should know better, but I read the LA Times every now and then. So when Hugh Hewitt said that he was going to make his entire show today about North Korea because of a front page piece in that paper, I fully expected to find some sort of “let’s be reasonable” platitudes reminiscent of President Clinton in 1994. I could not have been more wrong.

The article consists of a conversation between the reporter and a North Korean man who is trying, supposedly, to drum up business for his country. The reader is left with the impression that the ensuing conversation is magically free of bias and Dear Leader-dictated talking points because the man would not give his name. Thus, it’s a real, honest look at life and opinion in the North.

And guess what? They blame George W. Bush because Pyongyang only gets six hours of electricity a day. And remember that “Axis of Evil” thing? That was really, really bad. Oh, and Sec. of State Rice is no Madeline Albright. Is this guy from North Korea or the DNC?

I can look past some of this because it’s nothing new from the Left. After all, there were many in this country who sang Josef Stalin’s praises while millions died of starvation in the Soviet Union. The ‘Blame America First’ crowd is just trying to focus on another poor victim of our bullying. If we were only to leave North Korea alone, all would be well, flowers would bloom and Kim Jong Il would be free to pursue an acting career at Sean Penn’s feet.

It would be absurd if we weren’t talking about a despotic regime responsible for the deaths of millions of people. Despite the opinions of the colossally ignorant at the LA Times, Kim Jong Il is Hitler with nuclear weapons. When his regime collapses or is driven from power, we will see the internment camps and the other travesties foisted upon Kim’s victims. The same people who are now crying over our harsh words will be asking why we didn’t do something sooner.

This Is All I Will Say About This Case

Party Of Nine

The Supreme Court ruled yesterday that states could not execute anyone who committed his crime before his 18th birthday. This ruling will affect 19 states, including Kentucky. Those of you who read this blog often know that I am against the death penalty. Thus, you probably think that I see this as a good thing. I don't, and it has very little to do with the death penalty.

What the Supreme Court did yesterday could be considered rule by decree. It basically ignored states’ laws and rights over a matter in which there is no discernable federal interest. This is much, much larger than restrictions on the death penalty; it is a redefining of the bounds of the Court. The Supreme Court, an unelected body whose purpose is to interpret law, is now creating it without legislative sanction.

Since the late 1960’s, the Court has moved, more and more, towards becoming a legislative body. This has been done with the blessing of those whose agenda could never be made into law nationwide. The Roe v. Wade decision of 1973 is a prime example. Another scary trend is the increasing use of foreign law in stating precedent. If foreign law can come into play when discussing the death penalty, why is it ignored when the discussion turns to abortion?

We tend to ignore the Supreme Court until a new justice comes on the scene. But believe me when I say that the Court’s importance in our daily lives is going to do nothing but grow.

It's Democracy, Stupid

Captain's Quarters has an awesome analysis of the current goings-on in Lebanon, Syria and Ukraine and how they all relate to Iraq. Though the naysayers will laugh the same way they do when those of us who understand history tell them that Ronald Reagan helped bring about the end of the Soviet Union, it is logical to wonder how much of an effect an open election in Iraq is having and will have on the other nations in the Middle East. As Hugh Hewitt posted earlier, events could move as fast as they did when the Berlin Wall fell. Please, please let it be.

Speaking of Reagan, Josh Marshall's fill-in, Ed Kilgore, is already trying to take the wind out of this administration's sails. While he's at it, he's giving us idiot Republicans a lesson in common logical fallacies. It amazes me that the White House can be responsible for every half-looney Arab who picks up a weapon with the intent of killing Americans (read what he has to say about the insurgency), but this administration can't possibly be given any credit for a free and open election which may help re-shape all of the Middle East. Post hoc ergo propter hoc, indeed.

Sad how these same angry Lefties who said that there was NO WAY an Iraqi election could take place on time are now trying to dim the hopes of the Lebanese and others who are striving for freedom in their time. It's just further proof that their arguments come from emotion, mainly hatred of our President. These people can never, never, never be trusted with this nation's foreign policy decisions.

Saving Him From What?

After ABC aired “Saving Private Ryan” unedited on November 11, 2004, the American Family Association (AFA) complained that the network was out of line because the film contains language and violence which would normally not be allowed on broadcast television. Yesterday, the FCC ruled that ABC was within the rules by airing the movie uncut because the language and violence were necessary for historical realism.

What is or isn’t appropriate on network TV and who should decide is an area in which I consider myself pretty libertarian in my outlook. Groups such as the AFA are applauded in conservative circles when they attack someone such as Howard Stern, but we are all left scratching our heads when they go after a historically accurate but gritty movie that shows Americans in their finest hour. But the AFA, like the golem of old, is a force that can not be directed remotely once it is set loose. At least they’re consistent, in a way.

The problem with the FCC is, in my opinion, twofold. First, they respond to those individuals and groups who scream the loudest. Thus, people like Howard Stern are persecuted while Adam Carolla and Drew Pensky, the hosts of ‘Loveline’, are allowed to slide despite the fact that the language on their show is much more graphic. You can make the argument that ‘Loveline’ is on late a night, but who is the target audience? Underage teenagers. Stern’s target audience is males 25-45.

Second, the FCC has gotten into the business of “obscenity interpretation”. In their decision yesterday, the Commission looked the other way on language because of the nature of the work in question. That’s fine, but who’s to say that it’s still not offensive? Some will argue that it’s obvious that Stern uses suggestive language for shock value. That may be true, but who makes the call? If it’s the FCC, then aren’t those standards up for interpretation by the next Chairman? After all, I don’t think it’s possible to quantify intention.

There is a solution I believe would work well: the FCC needs to publish a list of words and phrases which can not be spoken on broadcast TV or radio regardless of intent. If you use these words, you will be fined. Use them again and you’re gone. Period. Nothing could be considered “suggestive” or whatever unless it contained a word or phrase on that list. Do you think Stern is still offensive even though he doesn’t use the banned words? Then don’t listen. The same could be done with images: no bare-chested women, no rear ends, etc.

The biggest weapon against obscenity, real or imagined, is the channel selector and the on/off switch. If enough people turn off Howard Stern, he will go away (he’s going to Sirius radio next year where he can say anything he wants). It’s like people complaining about pornography. Why do you think X-rated films are a multi-billion dollar industry in this country? Could it be because people buy them on DVD or pay-per-view? And who are these people? Could a multi-billion dollar industry be supported by dirty old men and child molesters? I think not. There are some very, very mainstream people buying this stuff. You probably go to church with some of them.

I think the AFA would be a little more effective if their members spent more time convincing their families, neighbors and congregations to turn off the dirty stuff and quit buying it. After all, I’m sure many of these people would agree that charity should begin at home.