TUESDAY 9/30/03

IS THIS MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING --- OR VERY LITTLE?

By now you've heard all of the venting over this supposed Bush Administration leak of the name of a CIA spy to the media.  The name of the supposed "spy" is Valerie Plame.  She is the wife of a Clinton era Ambassador named Joseph Wilson.  Wilson has made no bones in the past of his idolatry of Bill Clinton and his dislike for George Bush.  Just bear that in mind.

Ambassador Wilson is the man who went to Niger to check out those rumors that Saddam was trying to buy more uranium.  He reportedly told the Bush administration that he couldn't find anything to substantiate the charge.  When Bush's infamous 16-words became such a big issue the Wilson name naturally became a part of the news.

While investigating this story columnist Robert Novak learned that Ambassador Wilson was married to a CIA employee named Valerie Plame.  Novak talked to the CIA about Plame, and was asked not to use her name, but never told him  that she was a CIA agent or was working undercover.

Here is what Novak wrote about Ambassador Wilson: 

"... his wife, Valerie Plame, is an agency operative on weapons of mass destruction.  Two senior administration officials told me Wilson's wife suggested sending him to Niger..."

The story now is that Plame was an undercover CIA agent, not merely an analyst, and that the Bush administration knowingly broke the law by revealing the name of a CIA agent to a civilian.

Democrats are obviously thrilled with this controversy.  Perhaps their greatest White House enemy, other than the president, is Karl Rove.  So ... they're trying to pin this whole thing on poor old Karl. 

This whole controversy has been around since July, when the Novak column appeared.  The Justice Department has been investigating the matter since that time.  So ... why the sudden explosion of news over this incident?  Has there been a late-breaking development?  Is there really anything new to report?  No, and no.

The reason you saw this thing explode in the media yesterday is because Democrats suddenly decided that this issue could be pushed for political advantage.  A decision was made at some level in the Democratic hierarchy to launch a fusillade against Bush on this "naming a CIA agent" issue, and the eager media, aware of this story for months, eagerly jumped right in.  It's almost as if some leftist media types contacted their buddies in the party and said "hey, this story has been around for months and we haven't been able to do a damned thing with it.  If you folks would just start raising some hell we might be able to create a bit of a stir here."

Now ... how is this thing going to play out.  We're eventually going to find out that Valerie Plame wasn't a CIA spy at all.  She was a mere analyst who sat in an office going over paperwork and intelligence briefings.  No harm, no foul ... but see if that ever gets reported in the mainstream media.

By the way ... Novak is saying that nobody in the Bush Administration called him to leak this  information to him.  Too late, the jackals are feeding.

BUSH IN FREE FALL

Like father, like son?  I'm really beginning to think that the voters of this country are actually crazy enough to go to the party of appeasement for their next president.  Just where is that George Bush who was standing with those New York City emergency workers on the rubble of The World Trade Center two years ago?

We have an Islamic nation with the world's largest proven oil reserves working hard to build a nuclear power plant.  What are they going to do with this plant, generate electricity?  Can any rational person doubt that Iran is working as fast as it can to develop nuclear weapons?  Is this something the United States can allow to happen?

Democrats are more concerned about returning to power in Washington than they are protecting this country from terrorism.  They will eagerly sabotage our current war on terror if it means power for them.

Bush certainly has many failings on the domestic front.  Spending is out of control, and he has never vetoed a spending bill.  The farm bill and the steel tariffs were a disaster.  He allowed Teddy Kennedy to cajole him into obscene spending increases on education.  In three years he hasn't managed to propose the elimination of one single government spending program.  In ordinary times I would say he had failed ... but not these times.  The terrorists are on the run.  There hasn't been a terrorist attack on American soil since September 11th.  Bush's number one job is to fight these terrorists.  His number two job is to tell the American people how important his number one job is to them.  He's doing job one well and failing at job two.

THAT DAMNED RIGHT-WING TELEVISION NEWS NETWORK.

Last night Fox News Channel carried a report showing how life was returning to normal in a prime commercial area of Baghdad.  Fox showed what it looked like on this street last June, and now, three months later.  The street was full of traffic and Iraqi traffic policemen.  The stores were full of merchandise and shoppers.  The Iraqis were obviously pleased with the way things were, some bragging about the availability of consumer goods, especially clothes, and the fact that the stores were staying open for extended hours.

This is why the left hates Fox News Channel.  Somehow the Fox producers didn't get the memo detailing just how horrible things were in Iraq.  They didn't show all of those Iraqis that we just know hate Americans.  They didn't show Iraqis suffering without electricity or planting bombs on the side of the highway.  Instead, Fox showed progress, accomplishment, a burgeoning economy and, horror of horrors, happyIraqis!

That, my friends, is what makes Fox News Channel such a hideous den of right wing neo-cons.

And so it goes.

DO YOU WANT TO FIGHT EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE?

Now that 60 Minutes has run a feature on eminent domain abuse I'm getting more and more e-mail and letters asking me just what an average citizen can do to fight these dangerous intrusions on private property rights.

I'll answer those inquiries by referring you to two separate websites.  The first site is that of a Libertarian public interest legal organization named The Institute for Justice.  Their website describes the Institute for Justice as follows:

"The Institute for Justice is the nation's premier libertarian public interest law firm. We are in courts across the country preserving freedom of opportunity and challenging government's control over individuals' lives. We sue governments when they stand in the way of entrepreneurs who seek to earn an honest living free from arbitrary and oppressive government interference. We litigate on behalf of individuals whose private property rights are threatened by government excesses. We represent parents who seek to choose the education that best meets their children's needs. We defend individuals' rights to publish and access information regardless of the communications medium involved.

Our cases demonstrate that individual initiative, freedom of enterprise, freedom of speech, private property rights, and the legal protection of these liberties are vital to the future of all Americans, but especially those at the bottom of the economic ladder. The Institute for Justice's clients and cases illustrate the tangible benefits of liberty and the need for greater protection of basic American freedoms."

You might also want to read this Institute for Justice article on local governments filing bogus "blight" designations to make their eminent land grabs easier.  The article begins with this question: 

"Can a private developer urge a city government to do a "blight" study of an attractive, middle-class neighborhood pay for that study, and then receive the land once the City approves the study and uses it to force out property owners who do not wish to sell to the developer?"

The answer, apparently is "yes," at least in Norwood, Ohio.

Another website of interest is that of The Castle Coalition. Here is a statement from their website:

"Despite the requirement of the United States Constitution and the constitutions of all fifty states, governments across the country routinely condemn property for the use of other private parties. Courts often decide to stand passively by and allow these travesties to occur.

The Castle Coalition is an effort by activists to take matters into their own hands. It was inspired by watching several communities defeat seemingly unstoppable projects to take homes and businesses to give to other private parties. This website seeks to give you ideas and tools to wage this battle yourself, in your own community. It is also our hope that the Castle Coalition will be a way for activists to network with each other and give support, ideas, and advice."

The Castle Coalition also has a document entitled "The Top 10 Abuses of Eminent Domain" that makes for some infuriating reading for those who have an appreciation for private property rights.

So, if you're wondering what you can do to fight eminent domain abuse, and in so doing work to protect the basic principal of property rights and economic liberty ... visit these sites. Maybe you will learn how you can help them out.  Every little bit helps.

ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY ...

... the U.S. Congress ran.  It was in 1777 and British forces were advancing on the seat of our fledgling national government.  The U.S. Congress ran to York, Pennsylvania.  When I saw this little historical note this morning I thought about how nice it would be if congress was on the run again ... this time running from outraged citizen-voters who've had enough of big government and confiscatory taxation.  You do realize that the level of taxation in this country is higher than it ever was when we were ruled by the British, don't you?

Ahhh ... but then I remember why this just won't be so.  The very same congress that is laying claim to one-third of the life of America's most productive citizens has managed to exempt almost 50% of Americans from any responsibility for sharing in the cost of our government! Not only do these people not pay taxes, but they actually get government checks in the form of "refundable tax credits" funded by those who do pay taxes!  Too bad the British didn't figure this out.  If they had levied their taxes on only about 30% of the colonists, and if they had been smart enough to hand a good bit of that money over to the other 70% of the colonists the American Revolution would never have happened.  A recent Wall Street Journal Poll says that 56% of Americans are all for the idea of nailing that hated wealthiest 1 percent of Americans for even more!   It looks like our congress is safe for now .. and for a long time to come.

Oh .. by the way.  It was on this day in 1938 that the leaders of Britain, France and Italy decided that it would be better to appease Hitler than to fight him.  They allowed a Nazi annexation of part of Czechoslovakia.  Europe still has politicians like this today, and so do we.  They're called Democrats.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

I've been bragging about Richard Miniter's book "Losing bin Laden: How Bill Clinton's Failures Unleashed Global Terror."  The book details how Bill Clinton barely raised an eyebrow when Islamic terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in 1993.  This excerpt from Miniter's book tells that tale.  Read this and then tell me what a great job Bill Clinton did in the White House.

Congress is getting ready to vote on Bush's $87 billion program for Iraq.  The Wall Street Journal says that Iraq would be a better place to invest this $87 than the farm bill.  Yeah .. but remember; farmer's vote, Iraqis don't.

News today on that wonderful "religion of peace."  A Muslim father thought that his daughter was becoming too "westernized."  So ... he slits her throat.  That was after he broke down the door to the bathroom she had barricaded herself in, and after stabbing her 11 times.  This didn't happen in Iraq, Saudi Arabia or Iran.  It happened in England.

Here comes another evil, dastardly right-wing journalist to actually suggest that things are going better than reported in Iraq. 

While we're at it, here's your latest terror war reality check.

Jack Kelly says that Wesley Clark has some history to overcome if he really wants to make the White House his home.

Do you remember "Visa Express?"  This was a system whereby foreign travel agencies could grant visas to people to visit America with a minimum of State Department involvement.  Three of the 9/11 hijackers arrived in this country on visas issued under this program.  Now we find out that one of these Visa Express agencies was owned by someone suspected of financing terrorists.

Jack Kemp calls the 10 Democratic presidential candidates the "tax and spend 10."

Here is just one of Thomas Sowell's "random thoughts" from today's column:  "Our children and grandchildren may yet curse the day we began hyping race and ethnicity. There are countries where that has led to slaughters in the streets but you cannot name a country where it has led to greater harmony."

Two Atlanta Thrasher's stars, Dany Heatley and Dan Snyder, are injured in a single car accident in Atlanta.  Heatley's Ferrari was cut in two when it hit a wall on a narrow winding street.  Police say he was doing 80 miles per hour. 

NEALZ LINKS FOR NUZE

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
World Net Daily
NewsMax
Wall Street Journal opinions
Washington Times
Washington Post
Real Clear Politics
Media Research Center
The Drudge Report
The Associated Press
SF Gate