Sooner Skeptic

Todays Washington Post carries a story that starts like this:

In ordinary times, it would be hard to imagine women whose husbands were killed in a terrorist attack getting smacked around by the pundits. These are not ordinary times. By speaking out against the Bush administration, several of these women -- dubbed the 9/11 Widows -- are being denounced on talk radio and some Web sites as partisan hacks...

Although some of that is happening, I think the biggest complaint is that relative of others lost in the attacks that SUPPORT the President aren't being given equal time.

That seems to be the biggest complaint...and I think it is right on.

First images on the network morning shows: ABC opened with the troop extension, CBS did the troop extension (followed by the Bush-Blair visit), NBC teased its interview with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.--snip--On whether it would be appealing to her to be President, Sen. Clinton said: "I haven't thought about it. I never thought I would be the Senator from New York..."

Hillary! C'mon. Do you think we are that stupid? A better comeback would have been "I have already been President!"

ALBION -- The ex-wife of a rodeo cowboy who died of throat cancer has sued a chewing tobacco company, claiming that it caused his death by getting him hooked on its product. Susan Smith contends U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Co. targets the sport of rodeo, enticing aspiring cowboys to take up the habit the way her ex-husband did when he was 13. Kent Cooper... used Copenhagen chewing tobacco for nearly 30 years.

Ok. Enough already. He did it because he wanted to, and even when folks said it was bad for him...well, he didn't give it up.

Lot's of folks have. It's sad, but it's his fault.

"The Cheyenne and Arapaho tribes of Oklahoma filed a claim Wednesday for 27 million acres given to the tribes in a 19th century treaty but said they would settle for 500 acres to build a casino in a symbolic return to Colorado. The petition, filed with the Department of Interior, covers northeastern Colorado and about 40 percent of the state." And just like many Eastern tribes or would-be tribes, they've got an investor: "Steve Hillard, a Longmont venture capitalist who pulled together investors for the plan, dubbed the 'Homecoming Project,' said the unresolved settlement claims could tie up land and water sales in northeastern Colorado until an agreement is reached. Hillard said similar claims in Hawaii, New York, South Carolina and Texas have slowed real estate sales."

Maybe Mexico will file a claim for Texas, and we can let them have IT back?

Oh and would someone please tell Oliver Stone to just shutup?

Thanks.

Sen. John F. Kerry will begin using new images to introduce himself to voters with an intensified ad blitz in the next two weeks just as President Bush scales back his media offensive, in part to avoid competing with violent images from Iraq, campaign advisers said yesterday. Kerry (D-Mass.) sees the coming weeks as the unofficial beginning to his general election campaign...

*Yawn*

An Italian hostage killed in Iraq was hailed Thursday as a hero who in his last moments told his kidnappers defiantly: "I'm going to show you how an Italian dies."

Fabrizio Quattrocchi, one of four Italian security guards abducted earlier this week, was shot to death Wednesday after Italy refused to bow to the kidnappers' demands that it withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said a video recording of the killing showed that Quattrocchi was hooded when his kidnappers put a gun to his head.

"When the murderers were pointing a pistol at him, this man tried to take off his hood and shouted: 'Now I'm going to show you how an Italian dies'. And they killed him," Frattini said.

"He died a hero," he added.

Kudos to the Italians for taking a stand, and for not acting like the French.

I tried to write about something I felt strongly about today and finally decided I didn't have any strong feelings today about much of anything.

Maybe it is the allergy medicine?

George Bush should apologize to somebody....for something.

At least according to some press pundits. Of course, I'm sure that an apology wouldn't end up in a John Kerry sound bite.

Right.

http://www.reason.com/hitandrun/

The folks at hit and run are critical of Ashcroft for not making changes to "the wall" pre 9-11. There are lots of reasons to be critical of Ashcroft, but that doesn't seem to me to be one of them. For an Attorney General to change what had been 6 years of bureaucratic standard procedure would have required miracle work.

Perhaps the folks at hit and run need to visit with someone in civil service to see how easy it is to change things.

After watching Dubya last night, I came to a couple of conclusions. The first is that public speaking is just not his strong point, but he did come across as determined and committed. The second is that the Washington press corps has NO clue about fly-over America.

Most folks I have talked to were offended that the press kept asking for Dubya to apologize for 9/11. I can imagine the press asking FDR to apologize for Pearl Harbor...or even then asking Clinton to apologize for the USS Cole attack.

Even funnier would be asking Truman to apologize for firing McArthur.

http://www.tnr.com/easterbrook.mhtml?pid=1554

This article is spot on about Kerry and his misery index. Perhaps someone should come up with an index to measure how miserable we will all be until this election is over.

So, Dubya is pre-empting American Idol?

There goes the metrosexual vote.

Ashcroft is on a roll....his testimony is the most damaging so far about the state of the intelligence community pre 9/11. And Gorelick is at the center of a the firestorm. Rightfully so.

Sounds like the Walt Disney company is going to take a bath on "The Alamo." The movie is not garnering much support, except from Oklahoma residents who love to watch Texas lose at anything.

Ok. The constant comparisons of Iraq to Vietnam are finally beginning to irritate me. I know that politics is involved here, but for the love of LBJ try to recognize some historical perspective. The ONLY way that Iraq could be compared to Vietnam would be the possibility that the American public may decide that the war isn't winnable, but that could be said about many wars in American history. The number of casualities, the length of the conflict, the geographical location, the lack of a superpower backing the opposition are just a few of the differences...not to mention the political climate in Iraq which is not even in the same universe as the political climate during Vietnam.

Pundits could make the claim that the Bush administration was not prepared for what would happen, and they wouldn't get much of an argument from me. Frankly, I just wish that they would deal with the facts of Iraq as it is, without the introduction of "Vietnam" just for shock value.

Read earlier today where the recording industy thinks that 99 cents a download per song is too cheap and wants to charge around $1.99

Is there ANY organization as clueless as the RIAA? Ok, the United Nations doesn't count.

'NICK AND JESSICA' CONQUER PRIMETIME! DUO'S ABC VARIETY SPECIAL WINS TIMESLOT, NIGHT WITH 7.8 RATING/12 SHARE, ACCORDING TO NIELSEN... NETWORK TO ORDER ADDITIONAL SPECIALS, PLOTS REGULAR SERIES: SOURCES... DEVELOPING...

This accord to a post on Drudge. While channel surfing last night I came across this crap and thought "who in their right mind would watch this?" I then made my way on to the History Channel and "Band of Brothers." It seems that other folks stayed on to watch Nick and Jessica. Maybe it was like watching a car wreck?

To blog or not to blog? I have really wrestled with having my own blog. 2 things held me back. The first was the fear that I might not have enough time to actually post, and the second was that no one would read it.

So, I decided to take the plunge. Who knows if I'll have time...and who knows if anyone will read it.

Guess I'll see.

"Hey farmer farmer, put away the DDT now..."

Looks like that 60's environmental cry was a mistake eh?

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/11/magazine/11DDT.html?ex=1397016000&en=4ebf5b1fab869680&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND