MSM: Graphic 9-11 Coverage Inappropriate, But Fine For CNN to Show Sniper Video?

Will someone please explain to me the MSM's standards for airing graphic footage?

At the time of 9-11 itself, the MSM apparently made a collective decision that it wouldn't show any of the graphic evidence of the horror that had been visited on thousands of our fellow citizens. No pictures of victims. No close-ups of the poor souls who chose to jump rather than being consumed by the flames. Even years later, there was somber MSM discussion, as here and here, as to whether movies like 'World Trade Center' or 'Flight 93' had come too soon.

And God forbid a GOP commercial should portray even the most fleeting image of 9-11. "Political exploitation!" screams the MSM. As if it's wrong to bring into the political debate the most pressing issue of our times.

But a hyper-realistic movie portrayal of the assassination of Pres. Bush? Why, as NewsBuster Noel Sheppard has pointed out, that wins a critics award at the Toronto Film Festival.

And terrorist footage of deadly sniper attacks on US troops? Not only did CNN decide to air it multiple times, but the decision has been supported in the MSM. Take today's column, What's really going on in Iraq, by the Boston Globe's Joan Venocchi, who writes "CNN was right to broadcast this material, even if insurgents supplied it."

But Vennochi gives away the game when the sole source she cites in support of the decision to air the sniper footage is . . . John Kerry, whom she describes as "a strong critic of President Bush's Iraq war policy." Other than the minor detail of having voted to authorize the war, of course. Oh, and Kerry did vote for the $87 billion before he . . . but I digress.

[snip]

So, Ms. Vennochi and Sen. Kerry, since you're interested in Americans seeing "more truth," what about the graphic truth of 9-11?

Why Ted K loves Globe, hates us

By Howie Carr:

When somebody from the Herald used to get a job at the Globe, we’d always say he was going to the velvet coffin.

Now, I guess it would be more accurate to just describe the money-losing rag as the coffin.

The New York Times bought the bible of political correctness 15 years ago for $1.1 billion. And now, according to The Wall Street Journal, the Globe has fallen into the red and it can’t get up. And the pompous, pampered poodles in the newsroom can’t blame their financial meltdown solely on Craigslist, Google, or even George W. Bush.

It’s finally caught up with them, all those years of fake stories, penned by gullible limousine liberals who go weak in the knees just thinking about their daily paeans to illegal aliens, drive-by shooters and plucky NAMBLA types who are trying to rebound from a rest-stop collar.

In the pages of the Globe, everyone must be coddled, except of course Roman Catholic heterosexuals without trust funds who were born and raised here, most of whom are assumed to be guilty of some sort of heinous hate crime (unless they’ve endorsed Deval Patrick).

Fortunately for the Globe’s bow-tied bumkissers, they do have one ace in the hole. All those dodgy liberal pols they’re in the tank for (“Sen. Kennedy Turning Life Around”) have come to the defense of the common nightwalkers of Morrissey Boulevard.

In a lachrymose missive to New York Times publisher Pinch Sulzberger, more than 20 local hacks, led by the aforementioned hero of Chappaquiddick, described the ongoing collapse of the Globe as a terrible shame.

Ted Kennedy, a spoiled rich kid, writes the spoiled rich kid who owns the Globe, begging him not to fire any more of the spoiled rich kids who write the fake-news stories for the Globe’s dwindling readership of spoiled rich-kid moonbats.

Apparently, Sen. Kennedy considers some newspapers more worthy of salvation than others. Remember what he tried to do to this tabloid and the New York Post back in 1987, just because a certain scribe was describing him as Fat Boy.

Teddy had one of his crapulous Senate pals sneak a late-night rider into a Senate budget bill to force Rupert Murdoch - whom Ted kept calling Rudolph Murdoch - to sell both papers if he wanted to retain his more-profitable TV stations in Boston and New York.

With his bill of attainder, Teddy was willing to put maybe 1,500 people - mostly blue-collar, almost all union - out of work just to choke off different voices. So much for celebrating diversity.

But now Ted and his gaggle of PC sycophants harrumph that it is their duty to help preserve quality journalism in Boston.

What Teddy really wants to preserve is a sheet that does his bidding, and always has, going back to 1962. That was the year one of the Globe’s Irish tokens was sent to the White House to negotiate with President Kennedy over how the story of Teddy’s expulsion from Harvard for cheating would be played on the front page before his Senate campaign began. JFK held out for a two-column headline, below the fold. He got his way, and so has his brother, ever since.

The newspaper industry is on the ropes, and the Herald is certainly not immune to the financial carnage wrought by technology. But we’ve always known we had one foot on the banana peel, and have acted accordingly. The smug Ivy League legacies at the Globe never heeded the words of Jackson Browne: Nobody owes you nothing. And now on the Boulevard they take it hard.

There’s a German word that’s always posted on conservative Web sites whenever another corrupt liberal newspaper goes into its death throes. The word is schaudenfreude, which essentially means taking pleasure in the downfall of someone else, especially a bunch of sanctimonious carpetbaggers who’ve got it coming to them, big-time, in spades.

So the Globe is hemorrhaging money and a lot more Beautiful People are going to be laid off and Ted Kennedy’s heart is breaking.

Let me be the first to say it: I’m feeling schaudenfreude.

Information Warfare: How the Lancet Cooked the Numbers

October 22, 2006: The recent survey, published in the British medical journal, "The Lancet," claiming over 650,000 civilian deaths due to the liberation of Iraq, was quickly labeled propaganda, not science. Is the survey accurate? The answer is, apparently not. The survey is widely out of sync with casualty counts by other organizations, and by a wide margin. A 2004 study by the same authors claimed 100,000 civilian casualties – a survey at odds with one done by the United Nations at the same time (which estimated 18,000 to 29,000 deaths). To compare this with other studies – the group Iraq Body Count only claims 49,000 civilian deaths, the Brookings Institution reports 62,000, and the Los Angeles Times has reported 50,000 civilian deaths since the liberation of Iraq.
[snip]
Another sign this number is off is the fact that it implies that, on average, hundreds of civilians per day have been killed since the liberation of Iraq. Not even the mainstream media has reported death tolls that high. One recently reported "surge in violence" involved a total of 110 people killed in a two-day span. That is an average of 55 people killed per day – which would imply a total of roughly 72,000 civilian deaths (somewhat higher the Brookings Institution estimate).



Something else that has been ignored is the fact that in the past, false claims of massacres and a high death toll have occurred. One such example was the alleged massacre in Jenin. Palestinians claimed that over 500 civilians were killed. Later investigations revealed that the death toll was 52 – 30 of whom were Palestinian terrorists from various groups (including Islamic Jihad, Hamas, and the al-Asqa Martyrs Brigade).



The small samples and the past history of exaggerated casualty counts have not stopped numerous opponents of the liberation of Iraq, like Greg Mitchell of " Editor and Publisher" (a publication geared towards the media), from citing the study – and attacking those who have questioned it. In this case, a highly questionable figure has been seized upon, and is now being bandied about – while the flaws have been ignored. Another favorite subject at " Editor and Publisher" is, "why don't people trust the media." Here is a case where the answer is closer than the editors of " Editor and Publisher" would like to admit.

The Sunday Virginian Pilot Editorial Page

A quick summary:

An article by Margaret Edds headlines: “Voters can’t stop gay pride, progress.” Translation: The people of Virginia should not be allowed to define the meaning of marriage. These are the sort of things that should be left to the wisdom of editorial writers and Liberal judges. Message to the people: SHUT UP!

An article by Mark Pinsky headlined: “Meet the new “kinder, gentler” evangelicals.” Pensky is the religion writer for the Orlando (FL) Sentinel and author of “A Jew Among the Evangelicals: A Guide for the Perplexed.” Enough said.

The main article is about the US hitting the 300 million mark in population. The headline: “Where did all the people come from?” The answer appears to be better medicine, immigration, and enough food to eat. WOW! Stop the presses! This article was NOT written by a junior high school student assigned a 500 word essay. It was penned by Rowland Nethaway who is senior editor of the Waco (TX) Tribune Herald. We question who held the gun to Dennis Hartig’s (Pilot Editorial Page editor) head to force him to carry this piece of drivel. OTOH, we suspect he did it of his own free will. It’s typical.

The letters to the editor were unusual. Instead of the typical 10 to 1 slant against Senator George Allen and Representative Thelma Drake, the letters were fairly even.

Bob Herbert took a day off from bashing Bush to writing about prostitution in Atlanta.

Martin Schmidt is upset that food is too cheap and wants drive-through restaurant food taxed heavily.

And David Brooks pens a plea for Barak Obama to run for President.

This saves you a whole lot of time and trouble that you could use much more productively elsewhere.

Don’t thank me, it was my duty.

Ann Coulter Turns Campus Speech into a Smackdown

Click on the link.

Some excerpts:

A Moslem woman stated she was proud of her headscarf, and asked, how could Ann so "viciously criticize the Islamic world for wearing burkahs?" Ann replied, "In America, you have a choice, under Sharia Law, you don’t have a choice, you would be beaten if you didn't wear a headscarf."

On Mark Foley: "I thought liberals stood up for gay rights, not run them out of town. A lot of Republican staffers are gay. Why wouldn't a gay want to be a Republican? Gays are well educated and highly paid, therefore, they get to keep more of what they earn. Gays are victims of crime, and so they support law and order. Gays know that terrorists want to kill them first."

Scalia rips judges on abortion, suicide

Deeply controversial issues like abortion and suicide rights have nothing to do with the Constitution, and unelected judges too often choose to find new rights at the expense of the democratic process, Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia said Saturday.

Why 112 cars are burning every day

Why France has a problem.

PROVO, UTAH: 9/11 attack doubter resigns from university

The book contract may have set him up for life.

Conclusion First, Debate Afterwards

It is never a good idea to uncover your back to James Baker or any of the other Washington veterans of political wars. It is people like him that engendered the phrase: "If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog."

Michael Rubin gives us an idea of the makeup of the Baker-Hamilton Commission and a depressing prediction of the type of "political realism" that always manages to kill millions of people as "peace" descends like a curtain and we avert our eyes while congratulating ourselves on our pragmatism.

POLICYMAKERS ARE ABUZZ with the explosive recommendations for U.S. policy toward Iraq soon to be released by the Baker-Hamilton Commission: Abandon democracy, seek political compromise with the Sunni insurgents, and engage Tehran and Damascus as partners to secure stability in their neighbor.

Read the whole thing.

Who is After Jane Harman?

The 1930s will be remembered by Russia watchers as the era of the Stalin Show Trials. Many of those tried and executed were the former leaders of the Communist party; the rivals to Stalin for power.

In the American Democratic Party, the chosen method of liquidation is not the midnight knocks at the door or the forced confession in a show trial. The preferred method is the anonymous source to David Corn of The Nation or to anyone at the NY Times.

Which brings us to Jane Harman. The ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, she had the reputation of rationality, a reputation that has of late become rather tattered. It has been puzzling me until the linked article on The American Thinker provided a reasonable explanation.

Michael Barone notices, as have I, that in the past few months the normally sensible and moderate Harman has been behaving out of character. He offers this explanation:

Jane Harman, the ranking Democrat on the committee, has protested strongly against the staffer’s suspension. Harman for several years has been a responsible member on the committee. But during the course of this calendar year, she has been making more shrill partisan statements and fewer thoughtful critiques. The most likely reason: pressure from the Democratic left.

Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi is said to be determined to replace her with Alcee Hastings, the former federal judge who was impeached by the House for bribery and convicted and removed from office by the Senate…

[snip]
But if this isn’t strange enough, Time online has a most peculiar story —one so nonsensical it could only have been planted by people in her own party who, having realized marginalizing defense hawks in the party through the ballot box (ala Lieberman) is a losing strategy, have now resorted to under-the-radar smearing of them.

Did a Democratic member of Congress improperly enlist the support of a major pro-Israel lobbying group to try to win a top committee assignment? That’s the question at the heart of an ongoing investigation by the FBI and Justice Department prosecutors, who are examining whether Rep. Jane Harman of California and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) may have violated the law in a scheme to get Harman reappointed as the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, according to knowledgeable sources in and out of the U.S. government.

The sources tell TIME that the investigation by Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has simmered out of sight since about the middle of last year, is examining whether Harman and AIPAC arranged for wealthy supporters to lobby House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi on Harman’s behalf. Harman said Thursday in a voicemail message that any investigation of “or allegation of improper conduct by” her would be “irresponsible, laughable and scurrilous.” On Friday, Washington GOP super lawyer Ted Olson left voicemail messages underscoring that Harman has no knowledge of any investigation. “Congresswoman Harman has asked me to follow up on calls you’ve had,” Olson said. “She is not aware of any such investigation, does not believe that it is occurring, and wanted to make sure that you and your editors knew that as far as she knows, that’s not true… . No one from the Justice Department has contacted her.” It is not, however, a given that Harman would know that she is under investigation. In a follow-up phone call from California, Olson said Harman hired him this morning because she takes seriously the possibility of a media report about an investigation of her, even though she does not believe it herself.

The article is sourced to the Nation, megaphone of the lying left.

There is an interesting moral end ethical question that one asks oneself: how much is your honor worth. The price for a lot of people is surprisingly low.

Democrats' agenda found!

An interesting article and it's all true.

Sample of the Dem's agenda following the election:

The Justice for the Unprotected against Sexually Transmitted Infections among the Confined and Exposed Act, or JUSTICE Act, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. This bill would make sure the "guests" housed in federal prisons have government-issued condoms aplenty for their use. Subsidized homosexual activity by convicts – yep, that's the kind of America I want to live in.

The Crack-Cocaine Equitable Sentencing Act, sponsored by Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. The bill would eliminate the mandatory minimum sentence for crack-cocaine convictions. Finally – a bill to start reversing the silly tough-on-crime mindset that has kept far too many crack-cocaine dealers behind bars.

A bill "to provide for coverage under the Medicare and Medicaid Programs of incontinence undergarments," sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., would make adult diapers a covered item under Medicare and Medicaid. Now here's a piece of legislation our Founding Fathers would be proud of. After all, we all know their intent was for government to provide for the "common Depends." A diaper in every drawer! (or drawers).

Fake Pollgasms linked to Rats' electile dysfunction -- study

Wow! We just passed 300 million! At exactly 7:46 a.m. EDT Tuesday, the clock rolled over to the big figure -- 300 million times the press has told us Democrats will win back Congress! What an amazing milestone. Press "reports" that Democrats were 'poised to win back Congress' began approximately 8 or 9 seconds after the GOP won back Congress. Twelve years ago. In the fall of '96, Democrats were still 'poised to win back Congress.' In the fall of '98, Democrats were still 'poised to win back Congress,' as they were in the fall of 2000, 2002, and again in 2004. Democrats are now poised to rack up their 6th term of not having won back Congress.

But! The press says Democrats are really fired up this time, like never before -- I guess that's why Air America just filed for bankruptcy. First it was North Korea's nuke, then it was Air America -- that's two bombs from the Left in a week.

Voter turnout for Democrats during this year's primaries amounted to 16%. Armed with this knowledge, the New York Times says "enthusiasm among Democrats is particularly high this year, significantly higher . . . than the intensity of Republicans." They must be basing this on those sterling exit polls.

If you look at it historically, Franklin Roosevelt got his clock cleaned by Republicans in the 1938 midterm. It was the sixth year of his presidency. Popular Dwight Eisenhower got a shellacking from Democrats in the 1958 midterm. It was the sixth year of his presidency. Immensely popular President Reagan lost the Senate in the 1986 midterm. It was the sixth year of his presidency. Yeah, it's a mystery why Bush will lose seats in his sixth year.

Democrats need a net gain of 15 seats in the House in order to usher in world peace, surrender in Iraq, surrender to the Taliban, shut down Gitmo, repeal tax cuts, repeal the Patriot Act, block funding for border control, fund stem cell research, end faith-based programs, draw up articles of impeachment, end climate change, stop Wal-Mart, impeach Bush.

Democrats need a net gain of 6 seats in the Senate to imprint with a rubber stamp whatever junk the House passes and put Bushigula on trial for "spying" on innocent al-Qaeda-Americans, tracking terrorist financing, killing ABM, killing Kyoto, killing the global criminal court, snookering John Kerry with yellow-cake, booting out Saddam and other serious abominations.

With the Nancy Pelosi set in charge in the House, no more suggestive IMs to underage adult ex-pages. It'll be back to business as usual -- raping teenage pages and running gay call-boy prostitution rings from their Washington pads. When Democrats ran the show, then Congressman Gerry Studds (DEMOCRAT-Mass.), who died over the weekend, did a teen page. Democrats praised him for not crossing the line into sending the page "overly friendly" notes. He got a wrist slap. Studds, who wrote a new page in history as the first openly pederast Congressman, turned his back on the House when his "censure" motion was being read. All across America, gay child molesters -- those not castrated -- gave Studds a standing ovation.

(Democrats refer to Studds as a "martyr" -- which means they probably think he's in paradise meeting his 72 virgin teens.)

Democrats couldn't bring themselves even to 'censure' Rep. Barney Frank -- whose boyfriend was running a prostitution ring from Frank's pad. A motion to "censure" Frank failed, even after Harry Reid "amended" the charges from 'sick, sick, sick behavior' to 'mildly ill behavior.'

If you look at the big picture, every prediction that 'Democrats are poised to win back Congress' is based on polls. Nothing new there. Based on polls, Colorado GOP Senator Wayne Allard was declared 'dead' in 2002. He won decisively.

Polls showed Saxby Chambliss could never beat Vietnam war hero Sen. Max Cleland. Chambliss beat him.

Georgia Gov. Ray Barnes was 'coasting' to reelection in the polls. He lost. Georgia got its first GOP governor since 1872 -- despite very "reliable" polls. Republican Mitt Romney was "too conservative" for one of the most liberal bastions in America. No chance of winning there, according to polls. He won.

DNC honcho Terry McAuliffe said "Jeb Bush is gone!" Payback for 2000. Polls. Jeb Bush won, 56% to 43%. Texas Democrat Senate candidate Ron Kirk won handily in the polls. He lost to John Cornyn at the ballot box. Polls showed Katherine Harris couldn't win in Florida's District 13. Payback for 2000. She won. Polls showed Walter Mondale was a shoo-in for the Senate in Minnesota. Former presidential candidate. Can't lose. He lost. Republican Linda Lingle couldn't win the race for governor of Hawaii, polls showed. She did.

Elizabeth Dole? Polls showed her opponent Erskine Bowles couldn't lose. Former Clinton chief of staff. Businessman. He lost. In Maryland, Democrat candidate for governor Kathleen Kennedy . . . WAIT -- STOP RIGHT THERE. A Kennedy -- lose? Against Robert what's-his-face? She lost.

Shockingly, polls weren't much better at predicting anything in 2004. Howard Dean's "unstoppable" -- polls. "Electable" Kerry -- polls. Unpopular war. David Kay's "We were all wrong" Senate testimony. Abu-Ghraib. Fallujah. Bush sinking -- polls. Bombings, kidnappings and ambushes in Iraq. Bush sinks further -- polls. TANG documents. Richard Clarke. Report by 9/11 Commission. Al-Qaqaa "missing" explosives. Bush totally sunk -- polls. Bush "loses" 3 debates -- polls. Kerry calls Mary Cheney a "lesbian." Christians vow to stay home, according to polls. Bush and the lesbian's father go on to win the election. Most polls were only wildly off.

Pollsters couldn't even do exit polls of ACTUAL VOTERS right. John Zogby had horseface trouncing Bush in his last projection -- late in the afternoon, Election Day. So, yeah, we can really trust these guys.

Now polls are showing Democrats are revved up and ready to go vote. But even if true, it wouldn't matter since Democrats are still too stupid to know where to vote.

"There is a huge potential for some sort of October surprise," Zogby tells Reuters. There's a huge potential for some sort of November "surprise," too. It's called Republicans winning the elections. The good money is still on the GOP.

Anyway, that's...
My Two Cents...
"JohnHuang2"

Ann Coulter Quotes

I thought it would be fun to link to a summary of Ann Coulter quotes.

Sample:

"If George W. Bush announced that a cure for cancer had been discovered, Democrats would complain about unemployed laboratory rats."

The Dutch and Multiculuralism

The Timesonline gives a view of multiculuralism in the Netherlands and its effects that is father advanced than in the US. The Dutch Establsihment is ludicrously "politically correct."

In a country that can still seem a parody of itself — a magistrate ruled recently that an armed robber was entitled to a tax rebate on the cost of his gun as a tool of his trade —

And where, by the way, mind altering drugs are legal as is prostitution, the Dutch are finally finding that their social contract is not a suicide pact.

Multiculturalism is damned. A recent poll found 80% in favour of stronger measures to get immigrants to integrate — and 40% said they "hoped" Muslims "no longer feel at home here".

How did this happen? The first open shift came in 2001, with 9/11. Frits Bolkestein, the leader of the VVD Conservative Liberals, had struck a chord in the 1990s with his insistence that immigrants conform to western culture, but immigration issues were largely the preserve of "racists" and "crypto-Nazis" on the political margins. Then came reports that the atrocities in New York and Washington had been greeted with cheers in parts of Rotterdam. Forum, the Dutch institute for multicultural development, commissioned an opinion poll of Dutch Muslims. It showed that 48% had "complete understanding" and 27% "some understanding" of the attacks. Overall, only 62% disapproved. Wim Kok, the then prime minister, expressed his shock.

It's a long article that covers events not only in the Netherlands but throughout Europe. A question is asked by a European prelate that may seen parochial and religious, but that is at the heart of the struggle we are in:

"Political leaders ask whether the Muslims will accept our values," he said. "I ask, 'What values are those? Gay marriage? Euthanasia?'" The cardinal said that the time when Christians "would fight and die for their faith" were long past, but he hoped "tragic acts" like the van Gogh murder "will force us to recover our identity".

Indeed, what values are we fighting for? This country is divided roughly evenly between those who wish to support traditional Western values and those who believe that those values are the cause of the world's problems.
...

Is Europe giving way to blackmail? The question was raised in Germany last month by an article in Die Welt, the country's most heavyweight paper, by Mathias Dúpfner, head of the big Axel Springer publishing group. He titled it Europe — Thy Name Is Cowardice. He said that a crusade is under way "by fanatic Muslims, focused on civilians, directed against our free, open western societies" that is set upon the "utter destruction" of western civilisation. This enemy, he said, was spurred on by "tolerance" and "accommodation", which were taken as signs of weakness. Europe's supine response, he said, was on a par with the appeasement of Hitler.

It's a good question. The answer is not in the back of the book.

Bill Clinton Endorses Torture - Dead Silence from the Drive By Media

Via Captain's Quarters we get a transcript of the NPR interview that quotes Clinton on exactly how he would draft legislation that would allow him to torture prisoners.

The post links to an article by Alan Dershowitz, writing in the New York Sun, who complains of a double standard applied by the media to him, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

Are you amazed that this drew no response from the MSM?

Me neither.

In a recent interview on National Public Radio, Mr. Clinton was asked, as someone "who's been there," whether the president needs "the option of authorizing torture in an extreme case."
This is what he said in response: "Look, if the president needed an option, there's all sorts of things they can do.Let's take the best case, OK.You picked up someone you know is the No. 2 aide to Osama bin Laden. And you know they have an operation planned for the United States or some European capital in the next three days. And you know this guy knows it. Right, that's the clearest example. And you think you can only get it out of this guy by shooting him full of some drugs or water-boarding him or otherwise working him over. If they really believed that that scenario is likely to occur, let them come forward with an alternate proposal.

"We have a system of laws here where nobody should be above the law, and you don't need blanket advance approval for blanket torture.They can draw a statute much more narrowly, which would permit the president to make a finding in a case like I just outlined, and then that finding could be submitted even if after the fact to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court." ...

Where is Russ Feingold? Where is John McCain? Where are the Democrats who are screaming long and loud about the bill just passed by Congress and signed by the President which specifically forbids torture?

If there is no denunciation of these remarks from the perpetually outraged civil libertarians and ACLU types, there is only one conclusion to be drawn: they are lying about their position.

They have no objection to torture. Their outrage is fake. They lie and lie shamelessly.

It's the Homos, Stupid

From Iowahawk. A parody that will soon be overtaken by the real Howard Dean:

by Dr. Howard Dean
Chairman, Democratic National Committee

Dear Valued Potential Customer:

As the leader of one of America's premier political parties, I know firsthand the importance of building bridges to the various communities and constituencies we serve. Unfortunately, when serving as many diverse communities as we do at the DNC, sometimes an important relationship can inadvertently fall through the cracks. Frankly, I realize we have not always brought our "A Game" when it comes to the concerns of conservative-Americans. That's why we would like to take this opportunity to start a dialog with you, the conservative "values voter," by addressing an issue of vital importance to all of us -- the growing Republican homo menace.

Despite what you may have heard on Fox News, we Democrats know what issues are on the minds of heartland conservatives like you. We know that your number one concern of is the safety of your children -- whether they are plucking their banjos on the back porch, speaking tongues to snakes at Jesus Camp, or torching crosses at your local Nascar racing contest. We also know that the number one threat to your children's safety is the scourge of international homo-ism. That's why we at the DNC have created "The Contract With American Hillbillies," a new multipoint investigation program to identify and root out conservative stealth homoism before it threatens you or your precious little inbreeds.

Read the rest...

The Harry Reid Scandals

Investors Business Daily via Glenn Reynolds:

We never cease to be amazed at the double standard applied to the morals and ethics of Democrats and Republicans in Congress. We've already commented on how Republican Mark Foley was forced to resign for sending lewd e-mails to congressional pages, while Democrat Gerry Studds received mere censure and standing ovations after actually having sex with one, being allowed to serve until he decided to retire.

But the case of Senate Minority Leader Reid is a double standard on steroids. The latest episode is his request to file an "amended" ethics statement after the Associated Press revealed he made $1.1 million on a $400,000 investment on property he hadn't owned for three years; it was the subject of an earlier editorial on these pages. . . .

OK, fine. But why the double standard and the hypocrisy? Is anybody investigating Harry Reid?

We remember the feeding frenzy over former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's alleged violation of federal tax law in using tax-exempt funds to fund his allegedly political college course, "Renewing American Civilization."

After a 3 1/2-year ordeal, and a $300,000 fine paid to the House Ethics Committee, the IRS finally ruled that the sponsoring organization, the Progress and Freedom Foundation, "did not serve the private interests of Mr. Gingrich" and was both apolitical and completely legal.

Which is more than you can say about Reid's shenanigans. Gingrich wasn't offered a "do-over" or the opportunity to amend anything. In his case, it was sentence first, trial later. But then, unlike Reid, he was both innocent and a Republican.

The First -- and last -- Theocon President

The First -- and last -- Theocon President [Jonah Goldberg]

“There is a mighty task before us and it welds us together. It is to make the United States a mighty Christian Nation, and to Christianize the world.”

— Woodrow Wilson.

Stop the Theocrats!!!!!

Those Polls

From The Corner on NR:

From today's White House Bulletin... [Rich Lowry]

a point that has been noted in this space before:
* Recent Polls Outside The Historical Norm For Party ID. A spate of recent polls paints a very gloomy electoral outlook for GOP candidates in next month's elections. One reason for that, possibly, is a set of samples in recent polls that do not mirror the historical norm for party ID. A memo circulating among Republicans on the Hill, authored by GOP pollster David Winston, takes a look at the historical spread between Democrats and Republicans in House elections and polling over the last 14 years. According to Winston's analysis, there is a material discrepancy between the party identification listed by people in exit polls (people who actually voted) between 1992 and 2004, and those used over the last few weeks.

In most of the years between 1992 and 2004, Democrats held a slight advantage in party ID. Winston based his data on VNS/Media exit surveys, and concluded in 1992, Democrats held a 3 point advantage; in 1996, they held a 4 point advantage; in 1998, a 1 point advantage; and in 2000, a 3 point advantage. In two election years, 1994 and 2004, the percentages of people identifying themselves as Republicans and Democrats were identical, i.e., no advantage to either party. 2002 was the only year in which Republicans held an advantage over Democrats, with 40% identifying themselves to exit pollsters as Republicans and 38% identifying themselves as Democrats.

In short, between 1992 and 2004, only once did one party enjoy an advantage as large as 4 points over the other in party ID. But in recent polling samples used by eight different polling organizations (USA Today/Gallup, CBS/NYTimes, ABC/Washington Post, CNN/Opinion Research, Newsweek, AP/Ipsos, Pew, and Time), the Democratic advantage in the sample surveyed was never less than 5 points. All these organizations conducted surveys in early October. According to Winston, the Democrats held the following party ID advantages in these early-October surveys:

* USAToday/Gallup: 9 points.
* CBS/NYT: 5 points
* ABC/WP: 8 points
* CNN: did not provide sample party ID details.
* Newsweek: 11 points.
* AP/Ipsos: 8 points.
* Pew: 7 points.
* Time: 8 points.

Party registrations shift over time, and many political operatives believe the country starts to gravitate away from a party that has been in power over an extended period of time. Republicans have controlled the House since 1995. Winston acknowledges that possibility in his memo, writing, "It is certainly not out of the realm of possibility that this year's election could fall outside of historical results, but any survey that does should acknowledge that the data presented are based on a foundation that reflects a structural shift in the way the electorate identifies itself with a party."

Here's more from Big Lizards:

How much to weight for party ID is a weighty question for a very weighty reason: if poll samples consistently come up with significantly more Democrats and Independents than voted in the last comparable election (and consequently fewer Republicans), does that mean that a bunch of registered Republicans now consider themselves more in the Independent or Democratic camps -- hence will vote that way -- or does it mean there is an unidentified but systemic bias in the sample selection that will disappear when voters actually go to the polls?

In other words, should polls be weighted to "correct" the typical "oversampling" in favor of the Left in the pool of Rs, or does that supposed oversampling actually reflect true voter intent -- hence should not be eliminated by weighting?

And there is a related question that even further complicates the situation: assume some number of Republicans are mad at the party, so when asked their party affilliation, they say "Independent" or even "Democrat," and when asked who they will vote for, they say "Casey." What percent of them will, in the end, come back to the fold and vote for Santorum, even if they must hold their noses while doing so? After all, if you believe that a person will "switch" his party affilliation one direction, then he could jolly well switch it back in the voting booth, too.

The reality is that the percent of overpolled Democrats and Independents who are in fact "false-flag" voters -- voters who say they're one party while actually being another -- is neither 0% or 100%; nor will all the false-flaggers actually vote for Democrats:

Religion, Rhetoric, and the Presidency: A Conversation with Michael Gerson

MICHAEL GERSON in President Bush's speechwriter. He gave a talk to reporters sponsored by the Pew Center. It's worth reading the whole thing, but the disconnect between the press and the people is nowhere more evident that in this section:

A fourth category are literary allusions to hymns and scripture. In our first inaugural, we had "when we see that wounded traveler on the road to Jericho, we will not pass to the other side;" or "there is power, wonder-working power in the goodness and idealism and faith of the American people" in the State of the Union.

I've actually had, in the past, reporters call me up on a variety of speeches and ask me where are the code words. I try to explain that they're not code words; they're literary references understood by millions of Americans. They're not code words; they're our culture. It's not a code word when I put a reference to T.S. Eliot's Choruses From the Rock in our Whitehall speech; it's a literary reference. And just because some don't get it doesn't mean it's a plot or a secret. (Laughter.)

I remember one incident in the last election when Frank Bruni - who is one of my favorite people; I really like and respect him - wrote on the front page of The New York Times that the president had said in an interview, actually - not a speech - that people should take the log out of their own eye before taking the speck out of their neighbor's eye. And Frank, writing on the front page of The New York Times, called this an odd version of the pot calling the kettle black. (Laughter.) Neither he nor his editors knew it was from one of the most famous sermons in history, and the part of the New Testament that's in red. (Laughter.) But actually, most Americans knew and the disconnect was not particularly - I don't think - the president's fault.