Archive » 2005 » September

This is bone-chilling (hat tip: California Conservative via SoCalLaw blog):
NORTHRIDGE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Sept. 28, 2005–As unbelievable as it seems, O.J. Simpson and his good friend and former teammate Al (A.C.) Cowlings will both make a public appearance in Los Angeles this weekend at the NecroComicon in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge, Calif.
Simpson will sign autographs [...]

I’ve noticed a recent spate of unfathomable stories like this one. Apparently, the “choking game” is now a youth fad. See also here and here. (I’m sure there will be readers writing in to tell me it’s been around for ages and I have nothing to worry about–been there, done that.) What I want [...]

Patrick Ruffini will be closing his September straw poll soon. Head on over and cast your real and “fantasy” ballots if you haven’t already.

***1130am EDT update: Results! The moonbat has quit…details below***
Just when you think things are getting better in New York City, politically correct insanity rears its monstrous head again. Tom Bevan at Real Clear Politics flags today’s Newsday story about the new Islamist-sympathizing, nutball Muslim chaplain hired by none other than the New York Fire Department:
An [...]

So, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has a new blog called “Give ‘Em Hell, Harry.” You can leave comments here. I’d suggest asking Sen. Reid about this story in one of his hometown newspapers, the Las Vegas Review Journal:
The money that led to the indictment this week of two Las Vegas pastors and [...]

John Fund demonstrates why I rarely tune in to network prime-time TV anymore: The libs are using the airwaves to “soften up the country for Hillary.”

Via Editor and Publisher:
Judith Miller, The New York Times reporter who has been jailed since July 6 for refusing to identify a source, has been released, The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on its Web site tonight.
It said that an unnamed jail official had revealed that “Miller left an Alexandria, Va. jail late this afternoon….She was released [...]

You know those New Orleans cops caught looting in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina?
Well, according to a New Orleans police spokesman, they weren’t looting. They were, well, let’s let him explain:
Police spokesman Marlon Defillo said police are looking into the possibility that up to 12 officers were involved in misconduct.
The Police Department has 1,750 officers.
He [...]

***updated***
Brian Maloney and I have been hearing rumblings about various Air America departures. Another one is now official. (VP of finance Sinohe Terrero resigned earlier this month.) Via the Air America blog this morning:
It is with great regret that we write to let you know that Katherine
Lanpher will be leaving “The Al Franken Show.” Katherine [...]

Via The Brussels Journal: First Trio “Married” in The Netherlands

***315pm EDT updated below***
John Roberts has been confirmed. The vote (via Confirm Them):
Final vote was 78-22.
55 Republicans and 23 Dems voted yes. 22 Dems voted no.
How the Dems voted below the fold.
Democrats voting Yes:
Max Baucus of Montana
Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico
Robert Byrd of West Virginia
Kent Conrad of North Dakota
Russ Feingold of Wisconsin
Tim Johnson of South [...]

Q: What do you get when you wrap the anti-Bush race card in tinfoil?
A: Democrat Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee blaming the botched Hurricane Katrina response on “minority votes being suppressed.”
Seriously.
Marc Morano has details.

…for Kathleen Blanco. Why? Because she asked them.

The Anchoress is fuming. So is Laura Lee Donoho.
Ditto that.
***
More: The Therapist is not laughing.

***scroll for updates***
After a valiant, hard-fought battle, 9/11 family member Debra Burlingame and countless other Americans who joined her have won the battle to protect Ground Zero from the Blame America crowd. For now. Kudos to everyone who wrote, called, and blogged their outrage since Burlingame blew the whistle in June and refused to relent. [...]

***scroll down for updates…statement from Earle’s office…press conference details…Dreier recommended as replacement…Smear attack on Dreier…NRCC statement…legal analysis and background on Earle…235pmEDT blogging the Earle press conference…Ileana Ros-Lehtinen: “This is a ham sandwich without the ham…” It’s Blunt, not Dreier…820pmEDT update: DeLay must travel to Austin to be fingerprinted/photographed…more Texas reax…***
Via the Austin American Statesman:

A Travis [...]

This morning, Washington will be engaged in more finger-pointing sessions between the feds and La. Gov. Kathleen Blanco.
But keep your eye on New Orleans and the unfolding debacle over the meltdown of the local police. As noted yesterday, superintendent Eddie Compass abruptly resigned. If he and mayor Ray Nagin think that will end scrutiny of [...]

My latest column on the Democratic dumpster diving campaign by two of Sen. Chuck Schumer’s former opposition research staffers, who abused Maryland GOP Lt. Gov. Michael Steele’s Social Security number to obtain his private credit report, is up. (Thanks to Hugh Hewitt for coining the scandal name.) Excerpt:
Law enforcement officials are taking this criminal intrusion [...]

I’m scheduled to appear on Fox News Channel’s O’Reilly Factor tonight with my investigative blog partner Brian Maloney to talk about our reporting on Air America. It’ll be old hat for readers of our blogs, but we’re glad for the opportunity to bring the story into the mainstream.
Update: Video at The Political Teen.
***
Previous:

Air America: Groveling [...]

Couple of items:
1) The New Orleans superintendent of police is resigning in advance of planned tribunals to investigate the alleged mass desertion of hundreds of cops in Katrina’s wake. It’s about time we saw some local heads roll. Nagin should be next.
2) Michael Brown’s testimony before Congress is receiving some rave reviews. Some e-mailers are [...]

Here’s a fun lunchtime diversion, if you’re into this kind of thing: Patrick Ruffini has a new September straw poll up and running–with nifty added features to see how each referring blog’s readers are trending.
Take the poll here.
Here are last month’s results.
Okay, don’t disappoint me.
***
Click here to see how this blog’s readers are voting.

Some sufferers of Bush Derangement Syndrome have grown tired of Fourth Reich analogies. They’ve Moved On to embracing NY Rep. Charlie Rangel’s comparison of President Bush to Bull Connor. (Audio at The Political Teen in case you missed it last week.)
Fellow Democrats have done nothing to distance themselves from Rangel’s insane remarks. In today’s New [...]

Never take the words they print at face value. Ever.
You’ve probably already been doing that for a long time. But now you have the Times’ own editors affirming that even they don’t take their writers’ words as factual assertions–but instead read them as “figurative references.” Check out the Editor’s Note today explaning away a slanderous [...]

There’s lots of buzz about last night’s CBS News report on former/not-so-former FEMA director Michael Brown’s status:
Former FEMA director Michael Brown is continuing to work at the Federal Emergency Management Agency at full pay, with his Sept. 12 resignation not taking effect for two more weeks, said Homeland Security Department spokesman Russ Knocke.
CBS News correspondent [...]

There’s one photo I took at Saturday’s anti-war rally that I wanted to highlight separately. Take a look:

This Working Assets-sponsored billboard truck, emblazoned with a quote attributed to GOP strategist Grover Norquist, was parked off of Constitution Ave. As raving moonbats passed by, they gasped and booed at the horrific budget-slashing sentiments of the anti-government [...]

***updated with Sheehan arrest, Pentagon arrests…plus Sheehan arrest video, AP rewrites…***
230pm EDT. Grieving anti-war mom Cindy Sheehan carted away from the White House. Via Reuters/Yahoo:

Video at Bare Knuckle Politics.
***
I’ve posted the second round of my photos from Saturday’s Sheehanapalooza in Washington at my Flickr site. (Round one is here.)
What a lot of folks don’t [...]

Remember all those rapes and murders that supposedly took place in New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina? By and large, according to a new report, they didn’t happen. (Original report at NOLA. com)
According to Orleans Parish District Attorney Eddie Jordan, “authorities have only confirmed four murders in the entire city in the aftermath [...]

Here’s the latest. This report is less sanguine: Rita leaves a $6 billion mess. Recap here. Houston’s returning to normal. Gas prices are going down, according to one survey. New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin is pushing for reopening the city again.
From local bloggers:
Jim at Smoke on The Water, who lives on a boat in the [...]

John Fund reports on the swamp of corruption in Louisiana. An excerpt:
Last year, Lou Riegel, the agent in charge of the FBI’s New Orleans office, described Louisiana’s public corruption as “epidemic, endemic, and entrenched. No branch of government is exempt.”
Louisiana ranks third in the nation in the number of elected officials per capita convicted of [...]

Just read it. (Hat tip: Tony in Boulder.)

You’ve no doubt heard or read of the scurrilous tabloid allegations being made by anonymous attackers about President Bush. Unhinged Bush haters are gleefully embracing the National Enquirer story and trashing the president. That is to be expected. It comes with the territory.
But what Bill Maher did to exploit the smear story on Friday night [...]