The Left Makes Me Laugh

I am a political junkie. The section of the paper I go to first is always the op-ed section. Nothing gets the mind stirring like the free exchange of ideas. It doesn't matter if the columnist is left wing or right wing, I enjoy reading it.

Admittedly I usually end up reading the liberal columnist because I find them entertaining. I mean if you can not laugh at Chicago Sun-Times columnist Lynn Sweet then you are devoid of any humor. Her schoolgirl crush with Barak Obama has started my day for the last 3 months. The is the columnist that wrote about wanting to go into the locker room with the Senator. If she ever looses her job with the Sun-Times I'm sure she could fill the pages of Penthouse Letters with her fantasies of the African-Indian-Irish-Muslim-Irish presidential candidate. For crying out loud, the main feature on her blog is Obama's public schedule. And here you thought Eleanor Cliff's infatuation with Bill Clinton was embarrassing, Lynn Sweet verges on being a stalker!

Not all liberal columnists are nut cases. One I have great respect for is Susan Estrich. The majority of the time I disagree with her, but her reasoning is downright challenging for a conservative like me. Sometimes I find myself actually agreeing with her. I am telling you if you don't have her web page bookmark you should. In fact her column this week defending Ken Burn's documentary from the censorship of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is extraordinary! Ms. Estrich gets it right when she states:

"Hispanic Americans have real issues to worry about in America today, starting with immigration reform, equal employment opportunity, education, health care, etc. Ken Burns is the least of their problems. And people who call themselves leaders, much less take an oath to uphold the Constitution in the process, should be expected to recognize that.

The whole incident leaves you feeling sorry for Hispanics — not because they've been left out of a PBS film about what happened 50 years ago, but because their leaders today leave so much to be desired."

How can you not respect someone that is willing to talk straight to one of the key voting blocks in the nation?

Lloyd's Joins Green Hysteria

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lloyd's of London, the world's oldest insurer, offered a gloomy forecast of floods, droughts and disastrous storms over the next 50 years in a recently published report on impending climate changes.

"These things are fact, not hypothesis," said Wendy Baker, the president of Lloyd's America in an interview on Monday. "You don't have to be a believer in global warming to recognize the climate is changing. The industry has to get ready for the changes that are coming."

In a report on catastrophe trends Lloyd's is disseminating to the insurance industry, a bevy of British climate experts, including Sir David King, chief scientist to the British government, warn of increased flooding in coastal areas and a rapid rise in sea level as ice caps melt in Greenland and Antarctica.

Northern European coastal levels could rise more than a meter (3 feet) in a few decades, particularly if the Gulf Stream currents change, the report says.

Floods, which now account for about half of all deaths from natural disasters, could multiply and become more destructive, with annual flood damages in England and Wales reaching 10 times today's level, according to some studies.

At the same time, drought patterns that are already forming in some parts of the world are going to get worse, particularly in southern Africa.

Even the lush Amazon may dry up, and with less vegetation, more carbon dioxide will leak into the atmosphere, making the global warming problem even worse, the Lloyd's study says.

My Thoughts:

The way the story is written it gives the impression that the Ms. Baker is saying that her predictions of the catastrophic future are facts that are indisputable. Is Wendy Baker just plain stupid or is this story intentionally misleading? I'll give Ms. Baker the benefit of the doubt for no other reason than a track record of a national media that continues to push an agenda without any regard of what facts are.

A fact, by definition, is something processing the qualities of being actual. I agree drought patterns could worsen, the ice caps could melt and coastal levels could rise, but none of this constitute a fact. Only when it happens will it be a fact. I actually think that stories like this is a disservice to the "green" political agenda because when the global warming debate is framed in such a disingenuous way it diminishes any creditability the argument and the people who frame the argument might have.

The only fact we have is that the planet in the last hundred years has gotten warmer. Do we have to do something about global warming? I'm not sure we can. However, it might be a good idea to conserve as a means to preserve. Lets not let the propaganda get hotter than the planet.

Something's Wrong Here

2007 Tampa Bay Devil Rays Team Payroll $24,124,200

05/06/07: Yankees Sign Roger Clemens for $25,900,000

Hero of the Week - Judge Michael Sauer

Judge Michael Sauer deserves a pat on the back. This man is responsible for locking up Paris Hilton for 45 days and he did it without a single camera on him. Unlike the Anna Nicole fiasco in Florida where the courts allow their judges to ham it up in front of lights of the national press corps, Judge Sauer took a low key approach and acted judiciously.

Judge Sauer stayed so far from the limelight that the only image I could find of the man was a court drawing with him in the background as Paris Hilton was embarrassing herself on the witness stand. I thought to myself, Paris Hilton doesn't deserve to be in the same frame as this honorable man and quite frankly, I am sick of seeing her. So on this website Paris Hilton has been photo-shopped!

Some may say Judge Sauer's decision was too harsh. Most of these people obviously don't know Hilton's driving record, which included a DUI, violations for driving without her lights on, driving a vehicle without license plates, failure to enroll in a court order alcohol-education program and several stops by the police reminding Paris that she was driving on a suspended license. Hilton has demonstrated time and time again that rules apply to everyone else but her.

Ms. Hilton stated (lied) on the witness stand that when she was pulled over on January 22 she was unaware that her license was suspended. Despite the fact she was pulled over by California Highway Patrolmen on January 15 and was forced to sign a statement that acknowledged that she was informed that her license was suspended. Note here that Ms. Hilton was not cited on January 15th as she should have been.

Nonetheless, Paris' mother, Kathy Hilton declared, "This is pathetic and disgusting, a waste of taxpayer money with all this nonsense. This is a joke." You are wrong Mrs. Hilton. What's a joke is that because of your poor parenting skills, disciplining your children is now a burden on the hard-working taxpayer.

Hilton's attorney Howard Weitzman went even further to express his displeasure with the sentence stating, ".....It was clear that she's been selectively targeted in my opinion to be prosecuted because of who she is." Funny, He doesn't mention all the publicity, special perks and privileges Paris Hilton has been awarded in her life has also been based on solely who she is.

The only mistake Judge Sauer made was that he didn't allow Century Regional Detention Facility to charge Paris Hilton the same nightly rate that the Beverly Hills Hilton charges their patrons.

Muppet Humor

Walmart Husband!

A friend sent me this. I liked so I thought I would post for all to read.

Mr. and Mrs. Fenton are retired. Mrs. Fenton insists that he go with her to Walmart. He gets bored with all the shopping. He prefers to get in and get out, but Mrs. Fenton loves to browse. Here's a letter sent to her from the store.

Dear Mrs. Fenton,

Over the past six months, your husband has been causing quite a commotion in our store. We cannot tolerate this behavior and may ban both of you from our stores. We have documented all incidents on our video surveillance equipment.

All complaints against Mr. Fenton are listed below.

Things Mr. Bill Fenton has done while his spouse was shopping in Walmart:

1. June 15: Took 24 boxes of condoms and randomly put them in people's carts when they weren't looking.

2. July 2: Set all the alarm clocks in Housewares to go off at 5-minute intervals.

3. July 7: Made a trail of tomato juice on the floor leading to the restrooms.

4. July 19: Walked up to an employee and told her in an official tone, 'Code 3' in housewares..and watched what happened.

5. Aug 4: Went to the Service Desk and asked to put a bag of M&M's on layaway.

6. Sept 14: Moved a 'CAUTION - WET FLOOR' sign to a carpeted area.

7. Sept 15: Set up a tent in the camping department and told other shoppers he'd invite them in if they'll bring pillows from the bedding department.

8. Sept 23: When a clerk asks if they can help him him, he begins to cry and asks, 'Why can't you people just leave me alone?'

9. Oct 4: Looked right into the security camera; used it as a mirror, and picked his nose.

10. Nov 10: While handling guns in the hunting department, asked the clerk if he knows where to find the antidepressants.

11. Dec 3: Darted around the store suspiciously loudly humming the "Mission Impossible" theme .

12. Dec 6: In the auto department, practiced his "Madonna look" using different size funnels.

13. Dec 18: Hid in a clothing rack and when people browse through, yelled "PICK ME!" "PICK ME!"

14. Dec 21: When an announcement came over the loud speaker, he assumes the fetal position and screams "NO! NO! It's those voices again!!!!"

And last, but not least...

15. Dec 23: Went into a fitting room, shut the door waited awhile, then yelled very loudly, "There is no toilet paper in here!"

Iraqis: Life is getting better

This report from the Sunday Times Web Page

Marie Colvin

MOST Iraqis believe life is better for them now than it was under Saddam Hussein, according to a British opinion poll published today.

The survey of more than 5,000 Iraqis found the majority optimistic despite their suffering in sectarian violence since the American-led invasion four years ago this week.

One in four Iraqis has had a family member murdered, says the poll by Opinion Research Business. In Baghdad, the capital, one in four has had a relative kidnapped and one in three said members of their family had fled abroad. But when asked whether they preferred life under Saddam, the dictator who was executed last December, or under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime minister, most replied that things were better for them today.

Only 27% think there is a civil war in Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last month.

By a majority of two to one, Iraqis believe military operations now under way will disarm all militias. More than half say security will improve after a withdrawal of multinational forces.

Margaret Beckett, the foreign secretary, said the findings pointed to progress. “There is no widespread violence in the four southern provinces and the fact that the picture is more complex than the stereotype usually portrayed is reflected in today’s poll,” she said.

A Poem of No Rhyme or Reason

This past Saturday, Cincinnati, Ohio opened its new Fountain Square with a grand ceremony. But that turned sour when the former Cincinnatian poet/activist Nikki Giovanni recited her poem that turned the event from a display of civic pride to one better fitted for a political rally for the Democratic candidate Ted Strickland.

Giovanni's poem (if you want to call it that) created a fire-storm when she spoke the following lines:

I have watched policemen
Shoot young black men in the back
And have watched my community respond, a people who once saved this city
. . .
I am the Cincinnati Western and Southern Tennis Championships, though I am played in Mason
. . .
I am not a son of a bitch like Kenny Blackwell
...
I will not use the color of my skin to cover the hatred in my heart
I am not a political whore jumping from bed to bed to see who will stroke my need

Officials from Cincinnati City Center Development Corp. (3CDC) said in a statement Monday that Giovanni's remarks, which drew gasps and some applause from the audience, were "completely inappropriate" for the event.

The organizers of the event insist that the poem that Giovanni provided before the event did not contain the controversial remarks. Though the poet claims that it was made clear that what was being submitted was a "work in progress" (I can only guess that it is completed now) and added that she would never submit a poem for prior approval.

In an interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer Giovanni claims, "All I have is my voice, I don't want it silenced. We were on (Fountain Square) where the Klan gathered to speak. I'm not sure as many people called to complain about what the Klan had to say as what I said."

First off, I was in Cincinnati during the time of the Klan rally. Jerry Springer was Mayor and refused to sign the permit allowing the Klan to use Fountain Square for their sick, hate filled message. The case went all the way to the US Supreme Court who ruled that the Klan had a Constitutional right to assemble. This made national headlines, so stop playing the victim Ms. Giovanni.

Second, Giovanni failed to mention the black on black crimes that are tearing her community apart. Despite what she may think, members of the police force put their lives on the line to protect and serve the law abiding public. Isn't ironic only two days after her rant on the Square, Christopher Smith, a 21 year old black man, plead guilty to attempted murder after he admitted that he shot at Cincinnati Policemen. Where is Giovanni's outrage over this?

And lastly, the sole intent of Giovanni's poem was to silence those that disagree with her opinions. Furthermore, I can not help but believe she was targeting members of the African American community who support a conservative agenda. Giovanni was questioning the "blackness" of anyone that doesn't walk in step with her left wing agenda. With this form of public intimidation she is attempting to stifle the free speech and thoughts of others. Shame on her.

Illegal Immigrants Tell Tales of Police Brutality in Mexico

Newsweek reported the following in June:

As tough as the United States can be for workers who slip in from south of the border, Mexico is in a poor position to criticize. The problem goes far beyond the predatory gantlet of thugs and crooked cops facing defenseless transients like Moisés. There's ample precedent in Mexico for just about everything the United States is—or isn't—doing. Calling out the military? Mexicans may hate the new U.S. plan to deploy 6,000 National Guard troops on the border, but five years ago they cheered President Vicente Fox for sending thousands of Mexican soldiers to crack down on their southern frontier. Tougher laws? Hispanic-rights groups are enraged over U.S. efforts to criminalize undocumented aliens—yet since 1974, sneaking into Mexico has been punishable by up to two years in prison. Foot-dragging on amnesty? Fox has spent the past five years urging the United States to upgrade the status of millions of illegals from Mexico. Meanwhile, his own government has given legal status to only 15,000 foreigners without papers.

Some of the worst abuses take place on the coffee plantations of Chiapas state, where some 40,000 Guatemalan field hands endure backbreaking jobs and squalid living conditions to earn roughly $3.50 a day. Some growers even deduct the cost of room and board from that amount. "If you ask them, 'Why are you bringing in Guatemalans to work?' they say, 'You can't depend on Mexicans. They don't work hard; they're irresponsible'," says George Grayson, a political scientist specializing in Mexico at the College of William & Mary. "The truth is, you can pay [the guest workers] a pittance. And if they cause the slightest disturbance, you can send them back to Guatemala."

Help Wanted: How to Avoid Hiring Illegal Immigrants in the UK

Recuriter Magazine pubished a self help guide for UK employers in October's issue:

It is a criminal offence for an employer to employ an individual who does not have the right to live and work in the UK.

Not only could the business itself be liable, but senior management could also be personally liable. Such liability can be avoided if the business checks and copies certain original documents belonging to the employee.

The Home Office and police have wide-ranging powers of enforcement under UK immigration law. They may enter premises and seize documents, and employers will be familiar with the concept of the 'dawn raid' even if they have not experienced one themselves.

The onus is on the employer, so the agency may still be liable in respect of temporary employees on its books.

These temps may well be seen in employment law terms to be employees of the agency rather than of the client, so ultimately you could still be liable and responsible in respect of compliance with immigration law. Even if the agency is providing permanent staff, it is still good practice to ensure that the individual has the right to work in the UK. By doing this you can be sure that, if the individual is later found to be an employee of the agency, the relevant checks have already been carried out.

The Great Fence of China

This from today's AP wire:

In a sign of Beijing's wariness about refugees, construction of a massive concrete and barbed wire fence along parts of its 880-mile border with the North has picked up in recent days. Scores of soldiers have arrived in communities along the banks of the Yalu River, up from Dandong, over the past week to erect the barrier, farmers and visitors to the area said.

"The move is mainly aimed at North Korean defectors," said Professor Kim Woo-jun at the Institute of East and West Studies in Seoul, South Korea. "As the U.N. sanctions are enforced ... the number of defectors are likely to increase as the regime can't take care of its people."

For Sale: The State of Illinois

The latest craze in Illinois politics seems to be leasing municipality’s assets to private corporations. This all started in 2004 when the City of Chicago announced the 99 year lease of the Chicago Skyway to Spanish corporation Cintra-Macquaire for a 1.8 billion dollars upfront payment. Since then Mayor Daley and Gov. Blagojevich has proposed to lease everything from Midway Airport to State Tollway system to the State Lottery. Yesterday, Mayor Daley added the city run parking garages to the list.

The City of Chicago will be paid $550 million dollars for a 26 year lease of the parking garages under Grant and Millennium Parks. Mayor Daley plans to use half of that to payoff the remaining debt occurred in construction of the Park. The other half will be used to fund "nieghborhood projects" and improve the city's infrustructure. Mayor Daley explains, "Government isn't in the business of parking garages."

I couldn't agree with the Mayor more, government should govern and businessmen should run businesses. The problem I have is the way our government is governed! It was Daley's mismanagement of the building of Millennium Park that caused 4 years of delays and a $300 million dollar cost overrun. Now the city is hard pressed to be able to payoff the bondholder debt that remains. Leasing the garage will save Daley from that headache, but it will also give him another $250 million to fund other pet projects.

Can we trust Daley with a $250 million coffer? I think not. Already the revenue reserves that were made from the selling of the Skyway went to pay the City of Chicago's 2005 budget shortfall of $220 million dollars. At this rate, in less than 3 years, Daley would have spent what should have been 99 years of revenue. When Daley is gone what is the city going to do when it faces a revenue crisis? With all the city assets gone and all the money spent, the only recourse the future mayor will have is to raise taxes. Is it any wonder why people don’t want to run for elective office?

The same can be said about Gov. Blagojevich. After he has raided the state's employee and teacher's pension fund to make up his budget shortfalls, the only option he has in an election year is to propose the selling of the state's assets or (heaven forbid) cut spending growth. With these two running the show I can't see spending cuts happening. Luckily, Blago has to answer to the 50% of the state who live outside Cook County and the only reason why the Tollway hasn't been sold off already.

The Blame Bush Crowd Gets It Wrong Again!

On Sen. Harry Reids web page I found the following quote:

North Korea Has Dramatically Increased Its Weapons Material Stockpile under the Bush Administration. When President Bush took office in 2000, Pyongyang had enough fissile material to manufacture 1-2 nuclear weapons. Today, experts believe that North Korea possesses material sufficient to build between 4 and 13 nuclear weapons and, unless an agreement is reached to stop the country’s program, it is estimated that Pyongyang will have enough material to manufacture between 8 and 17 nuclear weapons by 2008.

You have got to be kidding me, Harry Reid blames President Bush for this? Who does he think gave North Korea the technology to build nuclear power plants (the source of the enriched uranium used to build the Korean nuclear warhead)? I'll give him a hint. It wasn't our current President.

Who, after visiting North Korea, flew directly to Japan and South Korea and convinced them to give to give humanitarian aid that went directly to the North Korean Army instead of the people it was supposed to help? Once again, it wasn't our current President!

The Special Counsel's Act of Treason

Earlier in the year this blog praised the appointment of Patrick Fitzgerald as US Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. Fitzgerald targeted government corruption and demonstrated his ability to be independent of political bias. His office prosecuted former Republican Governor George Ryan, sent top advisors in Mayor Daley's administration to jail and is leading the charge to get to the bottom of the "pay for hire" scandal tied to the current Governor. With every headline in Chicago's newspapers Fitzgerald brought back respect the US Attorney's Office has lacked. Which is why I can't help but being disappointed in his handling of the investigation into the alleged unauthorized disclosure of a CIA's employee's identity (Valerie Plame, in the event you have been living under a rock for the past 3 years).

In December 2003, Patrick Fitzgerald was named Special Counsel; everything that he did from that point on can only be labeled a political witch-hunt. When Fitzgerald took this position, the Justice Department already knew the leak came from the State Department. Instead of focusing there, Fitzgerald took direct aim at Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove. Fitzgerald could have shut down the investigation within one month, he knew Richard Armitage was the leak, but the Special Counsel kept this secret so he could trap Cheney, Rove and Scooter Libby with a game of perjury and obstruction of justice. Washington insiders knew the truth, Clinton's hatchet man Sydney Blumenthal said in an unapologetic interview, "I had known that Armitage was that source for a long time, many months, and it has been fairly well known among some people in Washington."

Fitzgerald's prosecutorial abuse was merely a vain attempt to discredit the White House. For 18 months this sham of an investigation was allowed to continue (it continues to this day) with the sole beneficiary being the Democratic Party, adding firepower to arm their endless attacks on the Bush Administration. Is it any wonder why people think that the Democratic Party is unpatriotic? Couldn't someone in that party think that the time the White House spent defending themselves against false charges could have been better spent fighting the War against Terror? Maybe unpatriotic is the wrong word....how about treasonous!

Chicago's Most Famous Cop!

Happy 75th Birthday Dick Tracy!
Here's to the man that gave us the two-way wrist radio!

Foley Follies

As the Foley Follies continues I would like to clear up some misinformation reported in the mainstream media.

• The E-mail that Foley sent to the page were not sexually explicit, but a little weird that a 50+ yo man would be interested in a 16 yo boy. Click here to view copies of the emails.
• E-mails have digital signatures that can be traced back to the sender. AIM chat transcripts are text files that can be altered. The only way that you could validate these IM chat transcripts is to check the timestamp when the file has been created. This is not a 100% accurate, if the file has been saved to another directory, renamed or moved another computer this time stamp will change.
• Hassert heard about the Emails in late 2005 but did not see the Chat Transmissions until last Friday. There is a clear distinction between the content of the emails and the Chat Logs that ABC news is publishing.
• ABC News refuses to release how they are verifying the newly obtained chat transcripts. I called Brian Ross' office and spoke to a woman who would only identify herself as his producer; she said that they verified that the chat transmissions were sent to ABC News by people who could be confirmed as a Congressional Page. She refused to comment if any other steps were taken to confirm that these AIM chat transcripts were authentic.
• I called AOL to see if they had logs of chat activities. I was told by an AOL representative that they do not. I am sure that AOL has logs that will show when a user account was logged in. Some of these chat transcripts have signed out timestamps. I am sure AOL would never release this information to a news agency, it would have to be a court ordered thing.

It's hard for me to find fault with Speaker Hassert for his lack of action. Hassert explains his side of the story:

Hastert told FOX News on Monday that he wish he had done more with the limited information he had, but he would not resign. Hastert said Foley had been confronted in the fall of 2005 about his communications with one male page, and was told to "immediately cease any communication" with him and any other pages.

Hastert said his aides and Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-La., heeded the wishes of the parents of the former House page, who wanted such questionable e-mails to stop but didn't want the matter pursued. The e-mail had not been shown to Hastert's staff or Shimkus, the speaker said.

Speaking to Sean Hannity on his radio show late Tuesday, Hastert said that no one knew how graphic the IM exchanges were with the boy, and would not have put up with it if it were known.

"If I would have known ... Foley would have been out of Congress" and an investigation would have begun immediately, Hastert said. But Hastert said the e-mails which he had read did not suggest anything more than his being overly friendly.

Anybody who held onto the information "even for one day put kids in peril," Hastert added, a veiled reference to members of the media who may have had the IM exchanges, but didn't report them sooner.

In my opinion the only thing that proved that Foley did anything inappropriate is that he resigned and checked himself into a rehab clinic. Most times when you act like you are hiding something you usually are.

Knee Deep in the Middle of the Rio Grande

One issue that I have avoided discussing on this blog is that of illegal immigration. Quite frankly I just don't know what to think about this issue. Everything is turned upside down. I look at every side of this issue and have come to the conclusion that the entire debate disgusts me. Everything is right and everything is wrong. I usually hate those that stand in the "whishy-washy" middle but that's exactly where I find myself today. The radical extremes, which are driving this issue, are so far apart and so wacky, that there is no other place to be for any rational thinking person.

It makes me sick to hear Patrick Buchanan's claim that there is some great Mexican plan to take back the American southwest. That's just plain stupid. Somehow he expects us to believe that the Mexican government, who isn't competent enough to pick up the garbage off the streets in their capital, has come up with a grand scheme to win back Texas.

Every bit as ridiculous is Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who seems to be advocating that illegal immigrants have unfettered access to our legal and social welfare state without regard to our economy and national security. At the height of Gutierrez's idiocy was his fight for clemency for the imprisoned members FALN, the Puerto Rican terrorist group who staged over 130 bombings in the hopes to gain Puerto Rican independence.

With extremists in the mold of Gutierrez and Buchanan leading the debate for and against illegal immigration I have no hope that the problem will be resolved anytime soon. What we need is someone sensible enough and with a large enough following to frame the debate in the following manner:

• Keeping an open boarder that allows people to cross unchecked is a national security issue that must end.
• Since it is a national security issue to allow illegal immigrants to come into this country, it seems obvious that we have to find out who is already here. So we need to find some way to account for those people.
• The illegal immigrants are not creating the jobs they are filling, the employers are. If they weren't being hired no one would be coming over. It is imperative that the laws we have on the books against hiring illegals are enforced.
• There is a demand and a need for unskilled laborers in our workplace. As more baby boomers retire and as the average size of the American family gets smaller we simply do not have the workforce to fill all our jobs.

These are the talking points that need to be accepted before we can expect a satisfactory resolution to our national dilemma. Building a fence along the boarder and using the race card as a reason not to enforce our laws serves no one except those that are playing on the extremes of the political spectrum.

Stretching the Truth.....

In yesterday's Chicago Sun-Times there was a story about a Dr. Sheldon Burman. At age 80, the state of Illinois revoked his license to practice because in the past ten years he had been named in 45 malpractice suits. What makes it worse is that Dr. Burman specialty is Penis Enlargement.

Ouch.

The article goes into detail how Dr. Burman's procedure worked, or in 45 cases how it didn't work. I'll spare you all that. What I thought was bizarre was that Dr. Burman was once a respected heart surgeon until a car accident in 1981 left him with limited mobility (read in "he got the shakes"). Now I respect the Doctor's decision to shutdown his cardiology practice, but wouldn't you think that he would have realized that one mistake down there could be just as life-altering?

Affirmative Actionless Oprah?

Oprah Winfrey, along with her gal-pal Gayle (who I love, if only Oprah was more like her. She's just fun), kicked off her $55 million network with a conversation, not so surprisingly, that centered on Oprah, and how successful she is (and she really is). This report from TMZ .com :

Oprah talked about her humble beginnings in Mississippi, and particularly about how her mother's highest aspiration for her was that she might end up cleaning white people's houses, because "they give away nice clothes." And then Oprah pointed out that now that she's Oprah, she has "all these white people" working for her, and that in fact there's only one black person on the staff.

What was that?

Oprah pointed out that now that she's Oprah, she has "all these white people" working for her, and that in fact there's only one black person on the staff.

Oh, OK.

I just want to point out to Oprah that the population of Chicago (home of Harpo Studios) is 30% African American. This community of a million strong has a 13% unemployment rate - nearly 3 times greater than the national average. Yet Oprah has a staff of all white people. Well if it makes Oprah feel better about herself I guess its ok with me.

Clinton's Conspiracy

Bill Clinton has been making a lot of headlines lately, from my perspective they have not been the most flattering. First Clinton threatens ABC in a vain attempt to stop the airing of their 9/11 drama and now he goes ballistic when Chris Wallace ask the former President if he done enough to capture Bin Laden. President Clinton, always a master protector of his image, has completely lost it with his finger-pointing response to Wallace:

“But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including the right-wingers attacking me now, they had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed.”

When Clinton pulls out the vast right wing conspiracy excuse it rings hollow because we remember the last time it was used and realize that Clinton lied when he said “I did not have sex with that woman.” Clinton uses the same tactics now as he did then. You have to ask what would make us think that he isn't lying now? So already there is a credibility problem with Clinton’s tirade.

The same can be said about Albright's and Clinton's protest of the Path to 9/11. The main beef wasn’t so much that what was portrayed by the controversial scenes didn’t reflect the Clinton’s foreign policy, but that the actual meeting never took place. So what we have is a parsing of words again. Ok, maybe conversations took place over the course of several meetings but not at one meeting like the movie made it out to be. Therefore the entire movie should be discounted. Sounds like “depends what you mean ‘is’ is” all over again.

We know that after the ’93 WTC bombing nothing was done to get Bin Laden. We know that when our troops were killed in Somalia, we did nothing. We know when our embassy in Kenya was bombed we did nothing. We know that when the USS Cole was bombed we did nothing. We know that Bin Laden was responsible for all of these attacks, we did nothing. We know when the Sudan offered to turn Bin Laden over us, we did nothing. We know that when the CIA had Bin Laden targeted we did nothing but inform Pakistan that the Tomahawk missiles were on the way, thus giving Bin Laden the warning needed to defy death. We know that Clinton was President when we did nothing.

Let’s make this clear, there was one man responsible for 9/11 and that man was Osama Bin Laden. Not Bill Clinton or George Bush. As Americans we need to keep that in mind. However, it does not serve anyone to make claims of a right wing conspiracy as a means to ignore the mistakes of history. You would think that someone of Clinton’s stature would know when to keep his mouth shut. By making comments on the ABC movie and screaming at Chris Wallace, Clinton has started a new debate of his role in 9-11, forcing people to do a retrospection of his 8 year presidency and proving what a partisan hack he has always been. It would have been nice to hear Clinton just say that I tried to get Bin Laden but failed, but this would have required a bit of humility, a virtue that Clinton has always lacked.