Best Mardi Gras t-shirt

CBS poll oversamples Democrats…again

I had just mentioned in the prior post how no one takes CBS seriously anymore. Stunts like this further illustrate why. From Newsbusters:

In its classic “fair and balanced” tradition, CBS slanted in favor of Democrats its poll that found Bush has a 34 percent approval rating and a 59 percent disapproval rating, an all-time high for a CBS poll.

On the bottom of the PDF version of the poll (page 18) it says how many Democrats versus Republicans were contacted.

“Total Republicans” contacted: 272 unweighted and 289 weighted.

“Total Democrats” contacted: 409 unweighted and 381 weighted.

“Total Independents” contacted: 337 unweighted and 348 weighted.

Brent Baker also noted how CBS failed to highlight a key portion of its poll on the Feb. 27 “CBS Evening News.” 66 percent of respondents thought the media devoted “too much time” to Cheney’s hunting accident.

I did go to FSU, where we’re more known for our football than our math, but if my Basketweaving 101 course served me properly, that represents a sample of 40% Democrats, 27% Republicans, and 33% independents. This represents an “objective” and “accurate” poll to CBS? It’s about as accurate as Rather’s and Mapes’ memos, I suppose.

Nope…no liberal media bias!

BushCo laughs at Rather’s & MSM’s decline

Bill Sammon, author of the former NY Times Bestseller book “At Any Cost: How Al Gore Tried to Steal the Election” (one of the best books I’ve ever read), has a new book out entitled “Strategery.” If any of you have ever heard Rush use the term “strategery” in lieu of “strategy”, the term comes from a skit on Saturday Night Live during the election of 2000. Bush, played by comedian Will Ferrell, and Gore, played by comedian Darrell Hammond, were asked to sum up their campaigns in one word: Gore used “lockbox”, and Bush used “strategery”. It was damned funny…I guess you had to be there. Anywho…

Some insight found within the book:

President Bush, for the first time, is hailing the rise of the alternative media and the decline of the mainstream media, which he now says “conspired” to harm him with forged documents.

“I find it interesting that the old way of gathering the news is slowly but surely losing market share,” Bush said in an exclusive interview for the new book STRATEGERY. “It’s interesting to watch these media conglomerates try to deal with the realities of a new kind of world.”

For example, journalist Dan Rather left the anchor chair at CBS News after Internet reporters revealed he had used forged documents to criticize Bush’s military record in September 2004. The forgeries, which Bush now calls a conspiracy, ended up helping his reelection campaign, he acknowledged in the Oval Office interview.

“It looks like somebody conspired to float false documents,” the president tells author Bill Sammon. “And I was amazed about it. I just couldn’t believe that would be happening [and] then it would become the basis of a fairly substantial series of news stories.”
…
“It also, frankly, gave us an opportunity, frequently, when things came out in the media that we didn’t believe or didn’t like, to say, ‘It’s another CBS story,’” said Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman, who was the president’s campaign manager. “I mean, it gave us a serious response to bad news.”

Although Memogate was initially expected to harm the president, it ended up backfiring spectacularly on the press.

“The guy that it hurt most was Dan Rather and the executives at CBS,” White House strategist Karl Rove said in an interview for STRATEGERY. “It further disgraced a network which is third in ratings and, if you look at the demographics of their consumers, it’s like 70 percent Democrat.”

Rove said Rather’s eagerness to broadcast obviously forged documents proves he is “no serious reporter.” As for Rather’s insistence, to this day, that the documents are real, Rove said: “That’s really bias.”

Memogate has helped accelerate the decline of the mainstream media, generally defined as CBS, NBC, ABC, The New York Times and other establishment news outlets.

Rather and CBS insist that the Memogate scandal played absolutely no part in Rather’s dismissal “retirement” from CBS News. Similarly, Ted Kennedy insists that water played no part in Mary Jo Kopechne’s drowning in his car at the bottom of the Chappaquiddick River. Continuing:

Rove considers Memogate a watershed in the rise of the alternative media.

“The whole incident in the fall of 2004 showed really the power of the ‘blogosphere’,” he said in his West Wing office.

“Because in essence you had now, an army of self-appointed experts looking over the shoulder of the mainstream media and bringing to bear enormously sophisticated skills,” he added.
…
Rove said Rather and his producer, Mary Mapes, were gunning for the president and trying to help his challenger, Sen. John Kerry, by broadcasting the forged documents in the heat of the presidential campaign.

“From her body language and his body language, their enthusiasm for this story was in large measure fed by the belief that they were playing a constructive and perhaps determinative role in the presidential campaign,” Rove said of Mapes and Rather.

“They made a decision in this instance – I think quite prematurely and quite unfairly – to pursue a story that attacked the president,” he added. “And I thought it was, to me, one of the most incredible examples of how fundamentally unfair it was.”

Rove expressed astonishment that CBS ignored the warnings of document experts hired by the network to authenticate the National Guard memos.

“It goes back to the failure of the mainstream media, in this instance, to honor their own experts,” he said.

What about Election Night 2004?

Rove is not the only senior Bush adviser who considers the mainstream media biased against the conservative president. White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card was outraged that the TV networks refused to declare Bush the winner on Election Night, even after all the votes were counted in the pivotal state Ohio and it became obvious Kerry could not win.

“Some of the talking heads,” Card said, “were rooting for a crisis in Ohio. It wasn’t just that they were afraid to admit we had won.” (According to the moonbats, including a recently banned one here, there was a crisis in Ohio and Bush didn’t really win it. Then again, these same people likely believe Elvis is still alive (apologies to those who may have found the latter piece of news surprising!), don’t they? – Ed.)

Card became particularly incensed when Bush’s Ohio lead reached 120,000 votes, which was mathematically insurmountable.

“Nobody wanted to call it so that we had won,” he said. “It was like, c’mon, are they just afraid to say it?”

Yes, Andy, they were afraid to say it. After all, they had just spent four years bitching about Election 2000 and Bush’s legitimacy (or in their minds, lack thereof), so they had too much emotional capital invested in Bush’s 2004 defeat that they couldn’t bring themselves to face the obvious: Bush had won. Again.

Anyway, it’s cool to see the President giving props to those of us who do the work that the declining MSM fails to do every day. I may be a small fish in a big pond, but I’m delighted to be a part of the information age’s new ecosystem.

Clinton seeking interns

Bubba wants them with “hands-on experience.” Rumor has it that the kneepads are optional.

Seriously, this one is waaaaaaaaaaay too easy. There’s not much else I can add that the blogosphere hasn’t already said, is there? 🙂

Priorities, priorities

From Drudge:

Skipping last fall’s vote on the Hurricane Katrina relief bill in order to get plastic surgery was worth it, says Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.), who loves her new look, ROLL CALL reports.

“For the last couple of years whenever I was on TV all I could do was look at my neck,” Berkley said in a recent online audio interview. “It was driving me crazy because my neck was starting to hang … and it was making me very self conscious.”

Now, she joked in an interview with hosts of the Vegas-centric podcast show “The Strip,” “I have the neck of a 20-year-old and a 50-year-old body.” Until the Feb. 16 program, Berkley hadn’t said much about missing the September vote on the Katrina relief bill due to her nip-and-tuck job.

Berkley, 55, told the show’s co-hosts, Steve Friess and Miles Smith, “I decided that it was going to be very hard to hide and I’m a very public person.” And let’s face it, she said, that brilliant plastic surgeon “turned back the clock 10 years.”

Friess cracked Berkley up when he asked whether she thinks she’ll get more votes with her youthful, thinner neck. She laughed and said, “The 20-somethings! Maybe this will get them out to vote.”

Hey, maybe they will! As long as they blow off their employment obligations like you did in order to vote for you, it’s all good, right?

UPDATE (2/27/06 @ 8:00 p.m. EST): A commenter on this post says that Drudge is wrong about the timing of Berkley’s neck lift. Drudge has seemingly removed the story from his front page. If the commenter is correct, then I must in good conscience put in the disclaimer. After all, I’m no CBS! LOL!

Tom & Jerry cartoon was pro-Jewish?

I swear, I couldn’t make this tripe up if I tried. You thought only American colleges had nutjob professors? Think again. From WND:

Tom and Jerry, the lovable cat and mouse locked in cartoon combat, is a Jewish conspiracy, according to an Iranian official.

Prof. Hasan Bolkhari, a cultural advisor to the Iranian Education Ministry, delivered the news last week on Iran’s Channel 4 during a broadcast of film seminar where he was lecturing. An excerpt of the video was translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute.

“The Jewish Walt Disney Company gained international fame with this cartoon,” said Bolkhari. “It is still shown throughout the world. This cartoon maintains its status because of the cute antics of the cat and mouse – especially the mouse.
…
“Watch ‘Schindler’s List.’ Every Jew was forced to wear yellow star on his clothing. The Jews were degraded and termed ‘dirty mice.’ ‘Tom and Jerry’ was made in order to change the Europeans’ perception of mice. One of terms used was ‘dirty mice.’

“It should be noted that mice are very cunning … and dirty.”

American campuses may be overstocked with barking moonbat professors, but it’s nice to know that we’re not the only country that perverts young moldable minds with pseudo-intellctual claptrap.

And some people think it’s a grand idea for these nutbars to get their hands on nukes?

Chickens can be tough!

OK, it’s a bird flu article, but the headline is amusing: “Indian officials struggle to kill domestic chickens“

I mean, I’ve never personally tried to kill a chicken, but it doesn’t seem like it would be that tough. I’m a big guy…I think I can take him! Or are the domestic chickens somehow more formidable an opponent than the foreign chickens? Is this a xenophobic thing, a la the UAE ports deals? (That was rhetorical!)

No chicken’s gonna kick my ass, I’m tellin’ ya! I’ll choke the chicken, if I have to!

C’mon, you knew my juvenile mind would come up with that last sentence, didn’t you?!? 😉

Leffingwell pulling a Kerry?

If anyone makes any comparison between Kerry and me other than this one, I shall sacrifice a small furry creature in the name of the Swahili god of the underworld in order to put a curse upon you: “May the fleas of 1,000 camels ridden by patchouli-smelling jihadist apologists infest your hairy nether regions!”

I am beginning to reconsider my position on whether this port deal is that bad after all. No, not because of anything Bush has said or done. He hasn’t moved me one iota. However, the more I see people like Gen. Franks talk positively about it, and the more I hear details from seemingly disinterested parties, the more I soften my opposition. I’m still uncomfortable with it, especially given the UAE’s refusal to recognize Israel and their vow to remove them from the region, and especially since a Bushie (David Sanborn, Maritime Administrator of our DOT) used to be an executive for the same firm to whom we’re thinking about giving the port deal. But I’m willing to hear more perspectives.

So…I guess it’s fair to say “I actually did oppose the port deal…before I didn’t!” LOL! However, I’m not saying I’m sold on the idea…only that I am not as reflexively opposed as I once was. I would still like to hear my concerns addressed relating to the UAE anti-Semitic culture, past ties to Osama bin Laden, possible Bush cronyism with that Sanborn guy, etc.

I will, though, continue to stand by my assertion that the quote about how Americans “don’t need to worry about security” was a stupid thing to say. I also retain my ire that of all of the things for Bush to make his first veto on, the ports deal would trump the runaway spending, campaign finance, subsidized drugs, etc. It seems that Bush just does an incredibly sh#tty job of getting his message out, and I am far from the only one who thinks so.

Moonbats: "Bush didn’t win FL in 2004!"

A “nonpartisan, nonprofit” group called BlackBoxVoting.org is questioning the election results on 2004, but not like the other moonbats out there. See, they’re not questioning Ohio’s votes, but Florida’s votes. It seems that a 381,000 vote margin is a bit too razor thin for their liking. From the AP:

An examination of Palm Beach County’s electronic voting machine records from the 2004 election found possible tampering and tens of thousands of malfunctions and errors, a watchdog group said Thursday.

Bev Harris, founder of BlackBoxVoting.org, said the findings call into question the outcome of the presidential race. But county officials and the maker of the electronic voting machines strongly disputed that and took issue with the findings.

It’s to be expected that the manufacturers would dispute the findings. However, it should be telling that the hyperpartisan liberals who run the Palm Beach County elections board disagree with the assessment. Continuing:

Voting problems would have had to have been widespread across the state to make a difference. President Bush won Florida — and its 27 electoral votes — by 381,000 votes in 2004. Overall, he defeated John Kerry by 286 to 252 electoral votes, with 270 needed for victory.

BlackBoxVoting.org, which describes itself as a nonpartisan, nonprofit citizens group, said it found 70,000 instances in Palm Beach County of cards getting stuck in the paperless ATM-like machines and that the computers logged about 100,000 errors, including memory failures.

Also, the hard drives crashed on some of the machines made by Oakland, Calif.-based Sequoia Voting Systems, some machines apparently had to be rebooted over and over, and 1,475 re-calibrations were performed on Election Day on more than 4,300 units, Harris said. Re-calibrations are done when a machine is malfunctioning, she said.

OK, my math is a little suspect, but I wuz edyookated reelie goode while I growed up: even in the unlikely event that Kerry won every damned one of those votes, that’s only 100,000 (or, if you count the 70,000 “stuck cards” as separate from the 100k logged errors, a total of 170,000) votes. So 381,000 – 100,000 is 281,000 votes, Bush still ahead. Seeing this math, the “nonpartisan nonprofit” (and minority-owned, a factoid conspicuously (but I’m sure coincidentally) omitted from the AP article) group comes to the only logical conclusion that anyone else could possibly come to:

“I actually think there’s enough votes in play in Florida that it’s anybody’s guess who actually won the presidential race,” Harris added. “But with that said, there’s no way to tell who the votes should have gone to.”

Uh…right. No way of telling who the 51% of Americans and 3+ million more Bush voters really meant to vote for, huh? I’ve got a wacky and crazy conspiracy theory, too. Follow me for a second, people:

Maybe, just maybe, Bush got more people to actually vote for him than Kerry did! You know, in a state with a popular two-term Republican governor who is his brother, GOP controlled state House and Senate and entire cabinet, GOP controlled U.S. Congressional delegation, a Republican U.S. Senator (with the Democrat, Bill Nelson, very vulnerable this year), and a plethora (for those of you on the left, that means a whole bunch) of military bases chock full of predominantly Republican voters! I know, I know…that’s just crazy talk!

So how do Palm Beach officials view the “nonpartisan, nonprofit” group’s findings?

Palm Beach County election officials said the BlackBoxVoting.com findings are flawed, and they blamed most of the errors on voters not following proper procedures.

Gasp! How dare they blame these poor voters in Palm Beach County for getting it wrong! Sure, the blue-haired condo commandos can operate 57 bingo cards at the same time, but that kind of eye-hand coordination doesn’t translate into intuitive operation of voting machines! What were they supposed to do if they had problems or questions, ask a poll worker or something?!? Oh…they were supposed to ask? Uh…yeah, well, I’m sure Halliburton had the machines rigged with oil money buying the election!

Damn…Florida was stolen! Two elections in a row! Why, it’s an outrage that Babs Boxer burned her substantial Thann Franthithco political clout on Ohio instead of Florida! Recount, recount! Gore got more…oh, dammit, now I’m getting my stolen elections mixed up again!

For those of you on the left, the prior two paragraphs (and a decent chunk of the other aforementioned commentary) was sarcasm.

Quote of the day

Not to beat this UAE port deal thingee into the ground, but the following AP article’s quote caught my eye:

President Bush on Thursday sought to calm an uproar over an Arab company taking over operations at six major American ports, saying “people don’t need to worry about security.”

Well, thank God we Americans don’t need to worry about security! That’s one huge load off of my conscience! I can sleep better knowing that I no longer need to worry about security! Maybe now this country can get back to more pressing issues, such as Dick Cheney’s hunting accident!

For those of you on the left, the prior paragraph was sarcasm.

Stupidity

Hat tip to my bud Van Helsing at Moonbattery:

Not content with Wal-Mart, MD libs go after small businesses

Recall the recent post about how Maryland carried out the union thugocracy’s dirty work by attacking Wal-Mart with anti-worker legislation? The MD libs told us that they were targeting big businesses and not small ones. It’s not like liberals lie, right?

Yeah…right. From the premier Washington, D.C., newspaper, the Washington Times:

A Democratic lawmaker is aiming to force Maryland’s small businesses to pay a minimum level of employee health benefits, expanding the so-called “Wal-Mart tax” to nearly every business in the state.

The bill by Delegate James W. Hubbard, Prince George’s Democrat, would require businesses with fewer than 10,000 employees to spend 4.5 percent of payroll on employee health care or pay an equivalent amount to the state’s Medicaid program. Nonprofit businesses with fewer than 10,000 employees would have to spend 3 percent or give the money to Medicaid.

The proposal closely resembles the bill Democrats passed this year over the veto of Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr., a Republican. It requires businesses with more than 10,000 employees to pay 8 percent of payroll on employee health benefits or pay it to Medicaid. Wal-Mart is the only business in the state that doesn’t comply.

However, the governor warned that the Wal-Mart bill was the first step toward a government-run, taxpayer-funded health system.

An Ehrlich spokesman said the prediction was rapidly coming true.

“The Maryland General Assembly has put virtually every small business in the cross hairs for a new tax,” spokesman Henry P. Fawell said. “Politicians are picking the winners and losers in the marketplace. … It is government-run health care.”

Notice that whenever a Democrat runs for president, we hear how he is a big-time proponent of small business and only wants to stick it to the big evil corporations? Those of us not consuming the left’s Kool-Aid have always known this to be a lie. Their voting record has run contrary to their “pro-small business” rhetoric.

Maryland is living proof that when it comes to business of any size, liberals just can’t help themselves: they’re anti-capitalistic to the core! When businesses leave the state, who will Maryland’s liberals blame? Probably George W. Bush!

Bush to veto any attempts blocking UAE port deal?

Bush has not issued the first damned veto since he took office over five years ago. Pork-laden spending bills? Budget-busting federal spending? Campaign finance reform bill? Prescription drug bill? Nope, no way, negative, and NOT!

However, it’s reassuring to see that our leader can finally find something worth wielding his veto pen over, and that issue is…the UAE port deal. From the AP:

Brushing aside objections from Republicans and Democrats alike, President Bush endorsed the takeover of shipping operations at six major U.S. seaports by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates. He pledged to veto any bill Congress might approve to block the agreement.

I would be surprised if Congress doesn’t have the votes to override his veto. Is Bush willing to issue his first veto just to watch it get overridden? Does the UAE have some kind of incriminating photos of the twins that they’re holding over his head? Doesn’t Congress have the constitutional right and obligation to regulate how much IF ANY money will be spent on port operations, and to whom this money can be paid?

And just what kind of a headache is this port deal causing?

Bush’s veto threat didn’t stop local efforts to block the deal. New Jersey’s governor, Jon S. Corzine, said Tuesday the state will file lawsuits in federal and state courts opposing the agreement. Corzine, a Democrat, cited a “deep, deep feeling that this is the wrong direction for our nation to take.”

A company at the Port of Miami, a subsidiary of Eller & Company Inc., sued last week to block the deal in a Florida state court. It said that under the sale, it will become an “involuntary partner” with Dubai’s government and it may seek more than $10 million in damages.

Also, I’ve heard some folks (like A.G. Alberto Gonzales) say that this isn’t about port security, but about port operations. Admittedly, I don’t know (or pretend to know) much about port operations, but it seems to me that port operations and port security are very much intertwined. If operations are poorly executed or supervised, then aren’t port security threats a possibility?

S.F.: "Who needs a military?"

San Francisco is well known as a bastion of kooks, a microcosm of reality-detachment, and a debauchery-driven ville removed from the inconveniences of the real world in which the rest of us live. One needs to look no further than one of their own city council members, named Gerardo Sandoval. Transcript from Hannity and Colmes:

HANNITY: I rarely agree with Dianne Feinstein. And she even says this is not the San Francisco that I know. This is — and I guess this is the mentality. Do you think America should unilaterally disarm? Should we give up our weaponry and our war — our tools of war?

SANDOVAL: You know, that’s a very complicated question. But I would say yes, we should. We should invest our money in our kids.

ALAN COLMES, CO-HOST: This is Alan in New York. Should we not have military?

SANDOVAL: I don’t think we should have a military. Absolutely.

COLMES: We shouldn’t have a military? Wait a minute. Hold on. The United States should not have a military?

SANDOVAL: What good has it done for us in the last five years? That’s right. What good has it done us…

What good has the military done us? Well, considering that San Francisco hasn’t been nuked, I’d say that the “useless” military hasn’t performed too badly. Continuing:

SANDOVAL: We think about the billions that we’re spending in Iraq right now, if we spend it on schools. We should not…

COLMES: The United States should not have a military?

SANDOVAL: That’s correct.

COLMES: Are you kidding me?

SANDOVAL: The United States should not have a military. All in all, we would be in much, much, much better shape.
…
COLMES: But to say that we shouldn’t have a military is absolutely absurd. It’s incredible. That’s a ridiculous fringe point of view.

HANNITY: That’s exactly what I was thinking, Alan. Welcome to San Francisco.

SANDOVAL: If you’re saying that we don’t have a right to defend ourselves that’s different from we shouldn’t have a military.

COLMES: What do you want to defend ourselves — what do you want to defend ourselves with?

SANDOVAL: Well, you got cops. It’s called the Coast Guard. There’s lots of things different.

COLMES: You want to send cops to defend our shores if we’re attacked? You want to send cops overseas if we’re attacked? Cops?

Maybe we could send firefighters to fight the bad guys with fire hoses? Oh, wait! That would look too much like the Jim Crow days in the South, and it may hurt terrorists’ (or the ACLU’s, or UW’s student government’s) feelings! No, scratch that idea. Continuing:

COLMES: I don’t. Actually, Gerardo, you don’t know anything about what I stand for if you can say that. I’ve been one of the most outspoken people against this administration and the war in Iraq.

But that doesn’t mean we as Democrats hate the military or don’t want to defend this country. And I’m amaze you could get on national television and say we shouldn’t have a military in America?

SANDOVAL: Well, that’s the way I think a lot of people feel here in San Francisco.

Sandoval is right, and Alan Colmes is wrong. A lot of people (probably most of them) in San Francisco feel the same way as this Sandoval nitwit, and contrary to what Colmes says, it’s proof that Democrats do indeed loathe the military and have little interest in defending this country. Colmes is probably dismayed that such a rare honest look into the left’s mentality was on public display, for all the world to see.

Like Hannity said: “Welcome to San Francisco” indeed. And the left wants us to trust them with national security? I’d trust Ted Kennedy to be my chauffeur before I’d trust the left to manage defense and security issues!

"Mystery blob eating downtown L.A."

The crack investigative journalist team here at the Crush Liberalism Objective World News Service (CLOWNS) have unearthed the culprit in the shocking “blob eating L.A.” story. It took some serious leg work, but our gumshoes did it. They obtained an impossible-to-get rare look at the cretin that is terrorizing the poor citizens of Los Angeles:

CLOWNS…doing the job that the MSM should be doing, but won’t!

Why I really oppose the UAE port deal

The single biggest reason that anyone should oppose the UAE port management deal: Jimmy Carter thinks it’s a great idea. More:

President Bush is taking a battering from fellow Republicans, even the governors of New York and Maryland, over the administration’s support for a decision that gives an Arab company control of some commercial operations at six major seaports — including Miami-Dade’s.

But he got a boost Monday from an unlikely source, frequent critic and former president Jimmy Carter, who downplayed fears that the deal poses a risk.

“The overall threat to the United States and security, I don’t think it exists,” Carter said on CNN’s The Situation Room. “I’m sure the president’s done a good job with his subordinates to make sure this is not a threat.”

If the biggest moral relativist and terrorist-sympathizer of our time thinks it’s a good idea, then it’s a safe assumption that it is most certainly not a good idea!

Props to some dead white guys

It probably angers those “brilliant” minds at the University of Washington’s student government that today is a federal holiday: Presidents Day. Basically, it’s the legal observation of George Washington’s and Abe Lincoln’s birthdays. A couple of white dudes, both instrumental in the founding and perpetuation of this great country of ours, get a collective observation today.

Enjoy your Presidents Day, whatever you happen to be doing today. Any day that is this politically incorrect is surely destined to be a good day! 🙂

Osama…or Durbin the Turban?

Don’t get mad at me, folks…I didn’t start this war of words! From MSN:

Osama bin Laden promised never to be captured alive and declared the U.S. had resorted to the same “repressive” tactics used by Saddam Hussein, according to an audiotape purportedly by the al-Qaida leader that was posted Monday on a militant Web site.
…
In drawing the comparison to American military behavior in Iraq to that of Saddam, the speaker said:

“The jihad is continuing with strength, for Allah be all the credit, despite all the barbarity, the repressive steps taken by the American Army and its agents, to the extent that there is no longer any mentionable difference between this criminality and the criminality of Saddam.”

Wasn’t it Senator Dick Turban Durbin who said the same things about American soliders?

No, that’s not true! Durbin compared our soldiers to Nazis, Pol Pat, Stalin…but never Saddam! It’s wrong for me to put those extra words in Durbin’s mouth, so in fairness, I guess the comparison between Osama’s statement and Durbin the Turban’s statement isn’t fair!

al Qaeda’s bennies?

An in-depth look at the rather generous benefits package offered by our adversaries in the Global War on Terror. For those of you on the left, the adversaries are al Qaeda and NOT the United States. Sorry for any confusion.

Hey, al Qaeda might be a group of bloodthirsty Third World Dark Age barbarians, but they care about their employees! That’s more than we can say about Wal-Mart, right?!?!? From Austin Bay:

Al Qaeda’s by-laws are fascinating. From the By-Laws document summary:

Al-Qa’ida must be prepared to wage jihad anywhere in the world, and not to be distracted by relief and aid operations. Al-Qa’ida must have no relation to the world of idols and secular and nationalist movements. Relations with non-jihadi Islamic groups should be respectful, but dedicated to pointing out their shortcomings and try to gain their support for jihad.

Lengthy job description is posted for the position of emir, his deputy, and other positions on the council. Of special interest is the position of the Executive Council Chairman who serves as a chief financial officer. His duties include control over bank accounts, expenditures, and budgeting. Salaries are paid according to a fixed schedule.

Policies are described for additional salary based on family size (married man receives 6,500 rupees with 700 rupees for each additional wife.) Provision is made for cost of living adjustments.

The document outlines medical, loan, furniture , vacation, disability, and severance benefits.

Sweet! If Cindy Sheehan ever runs afoul of her peeps at Code Pink and MoveOn, she can always enjoy a lucrative career at al Qaeda, Inc., considering that she considers them “freedom fighters.” Her words, not mine. But hey…she’s just a grieving mother, albeit it’s an odd form of grieving to show solidarity to the savages that killed your child. But I digress.

Hey, wait a minute! An al Qaeda man gets another 700 rupees per additional wife? That oughta piss off the Mormons! (That’s a joke, for any Mormons reading this).

Also, what “severance benefits”? Severing limbs, heads, etc.? Do they get to bequeath those severed items in the event of their untimely death?

Continuing:

On page 16 we discover Al Qaeda is for socialized medicine:

3- Medical Benefits
A- All (Al-Qa’eda) members can visit the medical staff and obtain medicine free
of charge.

Hey, check it out! Al Qaeda is for socialized medicine, much of the left is for socialized medicine…yet another thing they have in common! Finally:

The letters are snapshots of fanatics hellbent on evil. Here’s the WMD threat:

If the American people are ready to die as we are ready to die, then our combat groups along with our military, nuclear, and biological equipment will kill hundreds of thousands of people we don’t wish to fight.

And Kofi Annan wants Gitmo turned over to “the international community.”

What? You mean that al Qaeda really does want to use WMD’s against America? Why, that can’t be…because that’s the same thing that Bush said al Qaeda wanted to do! (For those of you on the left, this paragraph is sarcasm).

Again…little wonder that normal America doesn’t trust the left with national defense?

How dumb is letting the UAE take charge of our ports?

I mentioned before, apparently unbeknown to recent visitors, that the ignoramus decision to put a company based in the United Arab Emirates in charge of a number of our ports was one of the more boneheaded decisions I’ve seen in quite some time.

Well, you get an idea just how dumb it truly is, when there is a growing public outcry and bipartisan opposition to said boneheaded decision. From Michelle:

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., is questioning administration approval of the sale authorized this week by shareholders in a London-based company.

Lawmakers are circulating letters on Capitol Hill voicing concerns about the sale’s implications for maritime security, and one, Rep. Vito Fossella, R-N.Y., has called for hearings…Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., said, “If our ports are the most vulnerable targets for terrorism and if we are at war, as the president says, we should be overly critical of handing over management of our ports to any foreign countries, post 9/11.”

A spokesman for DP World did not return telephone messages or e-mails from the AP on Wednesday.

Critics have complained that control over port operations by DP World could endanger U.S. security. They cite the UAE’s history as an operational and financial base for the hijackers who carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks against New York and Washington…

Like I mentioned before, as much as it pains me to do it, I have to agree with Chuck the Schmuck Schumer on this one. This just doesn’t, on the surface, make a lick of sense.

In the interest of fairness, here is the White House’s defensive response. I’ve read it, and I just don’t feel any better or more relieved.

Shrillary featured at famous wax museum

From the AP:

Aaron Fuksa, right, and Scottie McLaughlin, both employees of Madame Tussauds’ wax museum and Hillary Clinton supporters, chant during the unveiling of the Hillary Clinton wax figure, left, beside a figure of her husband, former President Clinton, at the museum, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2006 in New York. The Democratic senator, who has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate in 2008, was the pantheon of luminaries immortalized in the museum. A life-sized figure of the former first lady-turned-politician was unveiled Thursday, complete with a campaign-style balloon drop, flags and a full-throated rendering of ‘Hail to the Chief.’

Someone asked me if Her Highness were actually standing next to her wax figure likeness, would I be able to tell them apart? Of course I could! One is a stiff, cold, motionless, unemotional, and unthinking figure. The other is made out of wax!

Also, Bill Clinton’s waxed likeness is featured beside Shrillary. OK, that’s almost too easy to ridicule, so I’m moving on…

"Free speech", defined

I’ve seen quite a bit lately over the University of Washington student government’s slandering of a former USMC. As I mentioned, the Seattle fishwrap paints a sympathetic picture for these poor misunderstood miscreants who run the UW student government, asserting that “UW students face barbs of free speech”.

I don’t think I’ve really discussed this before, but it’s high time I did. So here goes:

Leftists don’t seem to understand what “free speech” means. It’s quite simple, really.

“Free speech” means you can’t go to jail simply by uttering words. Sure, there are a small number of exceptions like screaming “Fire!” in a crowded movie theater. But by and large, you don’t get arrested for saying stupid things.

The Founders of this country understood that citizens should be able to speak their minds about their government and its officials without fear of persecution, specifically jail or death. China, among several other places, do not seem to agree.

“Free speech” does NOT, however, mean that the person who utters said speech is exempt from the consequences that arise from uttering said speech. For example, if I walk into a room with NAACP members and scream the “N-word” out loud, does that act of supreme ignorance shield me from being yelled at, physically acosted, shown on the news, etc.? Uh…no.

The Dixie Twits…er, Chicks…said some things about Bush back in 2003 while they were in England. Did they go to jail for exercising their right to free speech? Nope. Did they get angry e-mails, letters, faxes, and phone calls? Yep. Did their record sales suffer? Yep. That, my friends, is free speech.

It’s simple. Say what you want, since this country won’t cut out your tongue like the Taliban would have. But don’t bellyache about the fallout from your words. Actions and words have consequences, and if you fear the consequences (real or potential) too much, then you’re equally free to keep your speech to yourself.

Free to speak, free to shut up…is this country awesome or what? 🙂

Kyoto’s biggest violators implore US to do what they refuse to do themselves

AP Headline: “A year on, Kyoto climate backers urge US action.” However, read into the article itself:

Backers of the U.N.’s Kyoto Protocol renewed their pleas to the United States on Thursday to do more to fight global warming, even though their own records are patchy in the year since the pact went into force.

Good enough for thee, but not for me, eh? Continuing:

President George W. Bush pulled out of Kyoto in 2001, saying it would cost U.S. jobs and wrongly excluded developing nations from an overall goal of cutting industrialized nations’ emissions by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-12.

Bush pulled out of Kyoto? The U.S. never ratified the damned treaty to begin with, since the Senate rejected the economic suicide pact in 1997 by a vote of 95-0. For those of you on the left, (a) the Senate is needed to ratify treaties, and (b) 95-0 means that the Kyoto rejection was bipartisan AND unanimous.

So Bush got the Senate to nullify a treaty while he was governor of Texas? Wow…and you liberals thought he was an idiot! THAT is brilliance! Continuing:

U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, released mainly by burning fossil fuels, were about 16 percent above 1990 levels in 2004. But Kyoto signatories Spain, Portugal, Greece, Ireland and Canada are all doing even worse.

If Kyoto is so damned great, let the loudest yappers lead by example. I know, poetic rhetoric should suffice in lieu of action for non-Western countries, but work with me here, people! Finally:

Some experts say Bush’s plan lacks a spur to force industry to cut down and say that markets for trading carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, are the best way to encourage cuts.

In the European Union, carbon dioxide in a market for industrial pollution allowances traded at 26.9 euros ($31.96) per tonne, reflecting growing belief in the scheme, and up from about 7 euros a year ago.

Markets? Instead of governments? Why, that’s just crazy talk!

Teetering leftist "credibility" hinges on discrediting Saddam tapes

What shreds of credibility the left has remaining, and rest assured that such credibility is scant little, it is dependent in large part on discrediting the Saddam tapes. After all, you have an Intelligence Summit studying these tapes that reportedly have Saddam speculating on a WMD attack on America. Granted, the MSM is quieter than Monica Lewinsky with a mouthful, since they’re too preoccupied with Cheney blasting a lawyer by mistake. Page one stuff, my friends. Nice to see where the MSM’s sense of priorities are.

Translation from the tapes, as seen on Nightline:

TRANSLATOR: Terrorism is coming. That in the future there will be terrorism with weapons of mass destruction. I told them in the future what would prevent a booby-trapped car causing a nuclear explosion in Washington, or a germ or a chemical one. This is coming. This story is coming, but not from Iraq.

TARIQ AZIZ (translated): It’s so simple that any biologist can make a bottle of germs and drop it into a water tower and kill 100,000. This is not done by a state. No need to accuse a state. An individual can do it, even an American in a house close to the White House.

HUSSEIN KAMEL (Saddam’s son-in-law, translated): We did not reveal all that he have, not the type of weapons, not the volume of materials we imported, not the volume of the production we told them about, not the volume of use, none of this was correct. As for the nuclear threat, we say we have disclosed everything, but no. We have undeclared programs in nuclear as well.

Admitting that they sandbagged the UN inspectors, presumably the same ones Martin Sheen wanted to give another crack at in terms of doing their “job.” How does Brian Ross and Dianne Sawyer of Good Morning America interpret this news?

ROSS: But you were saying that — that you could see on them that Saddam surprisingly is the calm one in the room? Not the raving lunatic of public image, but very calm, and Tariq Aziz was always thought to be so calm, he’s ranting and raving on these things. It’s a very interesting insight into what was going on behind the scenes there.

SAWYER: Yeah, the foreign minister and all the questions about Saddam’s coherence. He seems absolutely coherent.

ROSS: Absolutely in control and quite intelligent.

Wow. We must have been wrong about Saddam then. He seems like such a reasonable guy, not raving or anything! Bush must have lied about Hussein’s character, too!

Amazing how two different mindsets can hear the same thing and come to completely different conclusions. It’s not that surprising, though. The left has hitched its wagon to “Bush lied! No WMD’s! Unjust war! No security threat!” To believe these words on these tapes (which I again emphasize may not be 100% authentic YET, but may be so determined after this post), one must reject all of the left’s aforementioned claptrap, and they’d rather be dipped in camel dung and dragged by their thumbs through the Sahara than admit they were full of fecal matter on defense and security. Again. As usual.

However, until the Bush administration gives a damn about finding the WMD’s (which would include infiltrating Syria, among other places) that intelligence pointed to, the truth just isn’t going to matter much, is it?

Today’s "Quote of the Day"

I should have put down my diet cream soda before I read this, because now I need to wipe my monitor down. This is freakin’ hilarious! From Prof. Mike Adams:

In my thirteen years as a college professor, I’ve never seen joy and celebration that rivals the response to Dick Cheney’s hunting accident. Of course, that’s really saying something. Bringing American professors to laughter is nearly as tough as bringing American feminists to orgasm. It’s a theoretical possibility that is seldom achieved without a workshop.

The column is funny yet poignant, too.

UW student government slanders WWII hero and alum

A fine display of products of our nation’s government indoctrination centers run the University of Washington’s student government. Details:

In North Idaho, Col. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington is honored as a war hero.

But at the University of Washington in Seattle, the man who shot down enemy planes in World War II isn’t the kind of person to represent the college, some students decided Tuesday.

Several of the UW’s senate-students voted against a monument to honor the marine, who is credited with destroying 28 enemy aircraft.

Student Jill Edwards “questioned whether it was appropriate to honor a person who killed other people. She said she didn’t believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce,” according to minutes of the meeting.

Local veterans disagree and consider Boyington to be an icon in the fighter-pilot industry.

Don Glovick, commandant of the Marine Corps League Pappy Boyington Detachment 966 in Coeur d’Alene, said he isn’t surprised that a “student organization of an institution of higher learning would resort to something like this considering the quality of professorship in the faculties.”
…
In further discussion, Andrew Everett told senate members he had drawn up funding proposals for the construction of the memorial, but was then asked why he was interested in honoring Boyington, a 1934 University of Washington graduate.

Everett said Boyington’s achievements warranted recognition and that he had many of the qualities the university “hoped to produce in its students.”

Student Karl Smith said the resolution calling for the monument “should commend Colonel’s Boyington’s service, not his killing of others,” according to minutes of the meeting.

Student Ashley Miller commented that “many monuments at UW already commemorate rich white men.”

Never mind that Boyington was from a working-class low-to-middle income family. Details, details. Continuing:

In 1958, Boyington wrote Baa Baa Black Sheep, which later became a television hit starring Robert Conrad.

Boyington died of cancer in 1988.

Back at the student-senate meeting, Edwards gained a little support from fellow student Mikhail Smirnoff, who said he was in favor of the resolution because it didn’t support the monument, just the concept of it.

He added that he thought those who fought in World War II were heroes and that it was a much different war than the controversial war in Iraq.

The debate on the resolution was then closed and a tie was announced.

Senate chair Alex Kim broke the tie and voted no.

Since the resolution for a monument died, students who spoke out against it have received hate mail and threatening voicemails, according to the university’s newspaper.

“We now have a preponderance of the 1960s and ’70s anti-war crowd wearing pigtails and beards instructing student bodies in their beliefs, rather than the facts of past and present wars and its heroes, and what they mean to our present and future freedoms,” Glovick said.

The liberal latté-drinking city’s fishwrap, the Seattle Post-Unintelligent, spun the story in a way to try and evoke sympathy for the “snot nose, hemp-wearing, pot smoking, drum beating, dreadlock wearing, ‘gee when is the financial aid check going to arrive,’ brat kids”. From the P-U:

UW students got a lesson in democracy, free speech and the burdens of both in the last week.

The student government of the University of Washington has come under attack from talk radio and the Internet after recently deciding not to support the creation of a campus memorial to alumnus and World War II veteran Col. Gregory “Pappy” Boyington.

Some students say they have received scores of angry e-mails and phone calls — some from as far away as Texas, Georgia and New York. What drew the wrath were such comments from students questioning why the university should honor a person who killed others or honor a Marine. One student leader questioned why another rich white man should be honored on campus

I guess talk radio and the blogosphere are responsible for her idiocy? Or only the sun shining on said idiocy? Damn those right-wingers, using the poor child’s own words against her! Since when did we become accountable for our own words? Continuing:

UW sophomore Jill Edwards, who in the minutes questioned if a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the type of person the UW would want to produce, said she did not mean to offend anyone with her comments, but instead was trying to start a discussion among students who might be afraid to question a World War II vet.
…
UW senior Ashley Miller has also been derided for her comment, according to the minutes, that the university already has monuments that commemorate rich white men. She said her comments were made as part of a general discussion about memorials on campus, not about Boyington specifically.

If she didn’t mean Boyington specifically, then why did she bring up “rich white men” when the topic was on him? And just what kind of “genius” in this Jill Edwards wench? According to Boortz, “It seems that Jill Edwards is catching a little heat from the great unwashed. Now that’s a shame, isn’t it! Don’t you think that a young adult should be allowed to deliver an insult like this to everyone who ever wore the dress blues of a United States Marine without any negative feedback at all? Jill, it seems, holds a place on the University of Washington student senate due to her membership in something called the “Honors Croquet League.” Now isn’t that special. Jill Edwards is an honors croquet player. We’re all impressed.” What, is there a non-honors Croquet League, not to be confused with the esteemed Honors Croquet League?

Fortunately, there are a large number of UW students who are incensed and demanding action. Boortz reports that the following resolution is being introduced by a fellow student senator:

Associated Students of the University of Washington
Student Senate
Session 12

Edwards Apology

WHEREAS Student Senator Jill Edwards offended all members of the United States Marine Corps, past or present, dead or alive; especially those who were, are, or will be students at the University of Washington with her comment that she “didn’t believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce.” This commented brought shame and dishonor to not only the UW Student Senate, but also the University as a whole, all its members who have served in the Marine Corps and all Marines past and present.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE ASSOCIATED STUDENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON:

THAT

Student Senator Jill Edwards will submit, in writing, a signed apology letter seeking forgiveness to all students, staff, and alumni who are now or ever have served in the United States Marine Corps. In said letter it will contain a formal apology and a recognition that her very rights and freedoms are guaranteed by such members of the armed services, to include the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard, past or present, living or dead. Additionally, said letter will be printed in all its form and substance in that day’s edition of the UW Daily newspaper as well as being recited on the UW Radio station. To realize her mistake, she must acquaint herself with the history of the person she is so keen to dismiss, by reading Col. Boyington’s book, Baa, Baa, Black Sheep. All of these requirements are mandatory, under pain of losing her seat on the Student Senate.

History of Legislation

02/15/2006: Submitted for consideration

Here’s hoping that the fallout will shake the foundation of the pervasive political correctness claptrap that infects this and other universities nationwide.

Welcome to the information age, children! If you want to fancy yourselves as “thoughtful” and “grown-up”, you will need to learn lesson #1 in life: Actions have consequences. It’s a lesson that the left is trying to shield you from, kiddies, but I’ll be damned if the rest of normal America will let them get away with it!

Investigate Reid!

It’s a coverup, I’m telling ya! Flashback: August 19, 2005. Recall this?

The Senate Democratic leader, Harry Reid (search) of Nevada, suffered a brief mini-stroke Tuesday, but doctors found no complications and he feels fine, aides said Friday.

One of the nation’s most powerful elected Democrats, the 65-year-old senator canceled several appearances in Nevada late this week. But his press secretary Tessa Hafen said, “There are no complications or any restrictions on his activities.”

A gold miner’s son, Reid has become a visible leader of his party since assuming leadership of the Senate minority last January.

“He has undergone evaluations this week, and his doctors have recommended that he take advantage of the summer congressional recess for some downtime,” Hafen added.

Her statement said Reid sought medical attention at the urging of his wife, Landra. He was told he had experienced a transient ischemic attack (search).

“It’s being described as a mini-stroke … but he is feeling just fine,” Hafen said.
…
Asked why announcement of the event was delayed for three days, Hafen said, “The reason was the tests and the evaluations that they were doing. We wanted to make sure we knew what we were announcing. You need conclusive information.”

In summary: it is perfectly acceptable to run tests for three days to conclusively determine whether or not you had a stroke, but it is unacceptable and damned near reaches the Constitution’s “high crimes” threshold if you get medical attention for a shooting victim and then notify a non-beltway MSM source first of the incident.

Somehow, I don’t recall David Gregory becoming confrontational with Reid’s people after they sat on Reid’s stroke for three days. That’s three times longer than the reporting of Cheney’s hunting accident, and nearly twice as long as Billary waited before releasing the Vince Foster “suicide” note (after much obstruction from Web Hubbell and Billary), and nearly three times longer than Ted Kennedy waited until going back to the bridge over the river where he let Mary Jo Kopechne drown.

Nope…no liberal media bias.

Saddam WMD tapes?

Drudge is reporting that ABC will air an Intelligence Summit’s alleged ‘Saddam’s WMD Tapes’ this evening. From CNS News:

Reportedly armed with 12 hours of Saddam Hussein’s audio recordings, the organizers of an upcoming “Intelligence Summit” are describing the tapes as the “smoking gun evidence” that the Iraqi dictator possessed weapons of mass destruction in the period leading up to the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

The U.S. House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, which according to the New York Sun has already authenticated the Saddam tapes, has reopened its investigation into the possible existence and location of the Iraqi weapons of mass destruction (WMD). But some long-time liberal skeptics are showing no inclination to change their minds.

And why should they change their minds? They’ve never let facts get in the way of their warped worldview and demented thinking, so why would they let proof get in the way, too? Continuing:

On Oct. 6, 2004, Charles Duelfer, advisor to the director of Central Intelligence on Iraqi weapons, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Saddam did not have WMD at the time of the invasion and that the weapons were likely destroyed following the first Persian Gulf War in 1991. On Jan. 12, 2005, the U.S. announced that is was stopping its search for the weapons in Iraq.

But a four-day Intelligence Summit, to be held Feb. 17-20 in Arlington, Va., is re-igniting the debate over the Iraqi WMD. The featured discussion, on Saturday, Feb. 18, is titled: “Saddam’s WMD Tapes: ‘The Smoking Gun’ Evidence.” The agenda for the event indicates that the person who will speak about the tapes is at this point “anonymous.”

The New York Sun on Feb. 7 reported that Rep. Peter Hoekstra’s (R-Mich.) committee had obtained the audio tapes from former federal prosecutor John Loftus. According to the report, Loftus received the tapes “from a former American military intelligence analyst.” Loftus is president of the Intelligence Summit, which is a yearly gathering of experts in the fields of counter-terrorism and intelligence gathering.

The Code Pinkos are unswayed. Drats. My day has been ruined.

For the record, I’m withholding judgment until I see more. I’ll say what I said earlier, though, about Iraq’s possible “Baghdad Bob” moment: if you’re a leftist, you had better pray to whatever tree druid or nymph that you worship that this WMD stuff isn’t legit. After all, you think you have a hard time now of convincing the American people that you’re serious about defense?

Bush’s global "warming" reaches beyond Earth’s borders

Damn that evil Bushrove McHitlerburton! His refusal to sign the economic suicide pact known as the Kyoto Treaty to stop global “warming” has now reached beyond the mere borders of the Earth! That’s right…the bastard is now imperiling Saturn! From the AP:

Researchers are tracking a gigantic storm on Saturn that is unleashing lightning bolts more than 1,000 times stronger than those found on Earth.

Using instruments aboard the international Cassini spacecraft, scientists from the University of Iowa first spotted the storm on Jan. 23.

But since the spacecraft was not in the right position to photograph the storm, scientists enlisted the help of amateur astronomers who confirmed a storm was raging in the ringed planet’s southern hemisphere.

“It is clear that this is the strongest lightning activity that we’ve seen yet with Cassini since it has arrived at Saturn,” Donald Gurnett of the University of Iowa said Tuesday.

Researchers recorded 35 consecutive episodes since the storm was first detected. Each episode lasted about 10 hours.

It’s unclear how such lightning storms originate, but scientists think it might be related to the planet’s warm interior.

Does his malevolence know no end? Not intent with destroying our own planet with his reckless environmental kamikaze tactics, the imperialist drone is now bent on a galaxy-wide meltdown! His madness must be stopped! If only Alito had been filibustered…

For those of you on the left, the above is sarcasm.

Shrillary: Cheney secrecy "troubling"

Only a buffoon or a liberal (pardon the redundancy) would miss the irony here. From the AP:

Asked at a press conference for her reaction about how the White House has handled the incident, US Senator Hillary Clinton called the Bush administration’s failure to be more forthcoming “troubling.”

“A tendency of this administration — from the top all the way to the bottom — is to withhold information … to refuse to be forthcoming about information that is of significance and relevance to the jobs that all of you do, and the interests of the American people,” Clinton said.

“Putting it all together, going back years now, there’s a pattern and it’s a pattern that should be troubling,” she said at a press conference calling for a more robust federal response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

Almost as troubling as the sudden disappearance and re-appearance (in presently searched areas) of Rose Law Firm billing records, and almost as troubling as a 30-hour delay in the release of Vince Foster’s “suicide” note. Almost, that is!

Her Highness complaining about cover-ups and less-than-forthcoming info from a White House administration is like Ted Kennedy complaining about binge drinking on college campuses. You know, pots and kettles and whatnot.