Monday -- July 11, 2005
SPARSE NOTES TODAY Well ... let's see. Hurricane, torrential rains,
high winds, loss of Internet and loss of power. Put these all together and
there's not that much time to develop some notes. So ... we'll do the best
we can.  HURRICANE NOTES
- How many of you made remarks about those CNN, Fox and
Weather Channel reporters
standing out there on the beach? There they
were getting beat to death by rain and high winds, and there you are sitting
at home thinking about how stupid it is for them to be doing what they're
doing. But ... you're watching, aren't you? If Fox had
people standing out in the storm, and CNN didn't ... Fox would take the
ratings.
- Many reporters asked residents why they didn't
evacuate. There's one unspoken reason many of them didn't voice.
If they left government bureaucrats would make it all but impossible for
them to return. Today there will be thousands of people who want to
get back to their homes, check for damage and start the recovery process.
The government won't let them. Next time they'll just stay.
- Politicians will be boasting today of the wonderful
job they've done in passing anti-price gouging laws. Price gouging
laws exist for one reason ... to give these politicians bragging rights.
While the politicians boast the price gouging laws work to endure a shortage
of essential goods and services in the stricken areas. Some people
think that the laws of supply and demand should only be allowed to work
for items that people don't actually need.
- Last year FEMA paid tens of millions of dollars in
hurricane damage payments to people who suffered no damage in a hurricane.
Some of the people who received FEMA (taxpayer) money lived more than a
hundred miles away from any hurricane track. Two questions: (1)
FEMA is now asking for some of that money back. Do you think they will
get it? (2) Do you think that FEMA will be careful not to throw
taxpayer's money at people who were not damaged by Hurricane Dennis?
Answers: (1) No. (2) Are you serious?
POWER IS SLIPPING AWAY
 It's an interesting time
for the left in this country. Their latest tour of duty in the Oval Office
ended with Bill Clinton's reign and it's been 10 years since they ran the
House. They've also lost quite a few legislatures and governorships around the
country. The Senate is also (barely) run by the GOP these days. But they've
always been able to count on two things.
The liberal bias of the
mainstream media and the United States Supreme Court. But now there's a
problem. The liberal dominance of the media is being checked, thanks to talk
radio, Fox News and so on. They're also not getting away with broadcasting
outright lies, as the now-fired Dan Rather and Newsweek can attest. But there's
always the Supreme Court. Appeal to the Supreme Court, and the liberal majority
will rubber-stamp any law, any agenda, whatever the left wants, for the most
part.
Except now that's a
problem too. With George Bush poised to make at least two, maybe three
nominations to the court, he's going to reshape the court for the next 20 years
or so. And with that in mind, the left is not going to go quietly. The more
they lose, the more power slips away, the louder they get.
Take Moveon.org. This is
an organization of leftists that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars
throughout their existence, including the last election cycle. Despite all of
the attention they have gotten, where are the successes? Nowhere to be found.
They might be getting the message. According to Drudge, talking points were
handed out at a recent anti-Bush Supreme Court party, where the media was in
attendance. Among the instructions:
"We don't want to come
across as leftist, liberal activists. We want to come across as we are - regular
folks who are finally saying enough is enough to the extremists; that we're not
falling for their extremist rhetoric anymore and we're finally going to expend
the effort necessary to get our country back."
Which proves the point:
the only way extreme leftists gain favor with the public is when they convince
people they aren't extreme leftists. Another talking point from the same
Moveon.org gathering: "Oh, because a photographer will be here, might I suggest
we put away our 'Bush is a Liar' t-shirts. Let's look like they do."
Good plan. It doesn't
seem to be working. ABERCROMBIE & FITCH SLEAZE
Other than stores that sell porn videos, there is not a
sleazier retailer in the United States than Abercrombie & Fitch. In fact,
now that I think about it, Abercrombie purports to sell clothing. What
Abercrombie really sells is sex ... teen sex. Here, take a look at
Abercrombie's website. What you see here is a picture of some young male.
You can't see one stitch of clothing. This image is there to get the teen
female juices flowing and to send them off to the mall to hang around
Abercrombie to troll for studs. So ... why pick on Abercrombie today? Last night I
was returning to my home from dinner in downtown Atlanta. I spotted a
billboard on Peachtree ... an Abercrombie billboard. The billboard
was essentially a crotch shot ... just the lap area of a young man wearing jeans
with no shirt. The young guy was excited. Aroused, shall we say.
The old love commando was ready for action ... but, alas, he was wearing those
jeans. So .. ole Waldo the One Eyed Wonder Worm was straining to escape.
Poor Waldo ... all dressed up and nowhere to go ... except, of course, to the
mall! This is the way this sleazy retailer sells itself to your
daughter. "Hey, let's head to the mall! Maybe we'll run into some
hot guys with erections at Abercrombie!" Now, parents: If your daughter is walking around
with clothes that say "Abercrombie & Fitch," what does this say about her?
What does it say about you? 
Take a closer look at the billboard at tell us what you think is going on here. SHRILLARY'S LACK OF CLASS
 Speaking of hysterical
liberals, we heard from Democratic Presidential nominee for 2008, New York
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton. Speaking to a bunch of rich leftists at an
Aspen, Colorado gathering called the 'Aspen Ideas Festival' on Sunday, she
proceeded to
advance a bunch of bad ideas.
One of the first was the
tired, old class warfare Democratic playbook. She accused George Bush of
damaging the economy by overspending while giving tax cuts to the rich.
Somebody might want to tell her that the economy is doing pretty good right
now. Bush is a big spender, but you don't see The Hildabeast staying away from
the trough in Washington too much, do you?
Then she did the
intelligent, mature thing: she called President George Bush Alfred E. Newman.
That's the Mad magazine character. Nice touch of class there, Mrs. Clinton.
It's the same old, same
old...if you can't support your position with facts, then just demonize your
opponent. At least she didn't call him a Nazi (although I'm sure that's next.)
PROBING KARL ROVE
Karl Rove's back in the
soup again. It's come out now for sure that
he told a Time reporter that Joseph
Wilson's trip to Niger was authorized by his wife, who worked at the CIA. It's
a crime to disclose the identity of a CIA agent. So Rove's done, right? Slap
on the cuffs? Off to jail? Well, not really. Despite giddy Democrats absolute
joy at the thought of Rove being charged, it's not going to happen. Let's look
at the facts, shall we?
1.) According to
Newsweek, none of the reporter's notes indicate Rove gave Valerie Plame's name.
Without a name, Rove's off the hook.
2.) If he did give the
name, that violates something called the Intelligence Identities Protection
Act. That act makes it a crime to disclose the identity of a "covert agent."
What does that mean?
3.) No one has publicly
established whether or not Valerie Plame (Wilson's wife) was even a covert
agent. A covert agent is defined by the law as an agent who has served outside
the United States in the last five years. If she was an analyst riding the WMD
desk at the CIA, that's not a covert agent.
So if Rove didn't give
her name, he's clear. If he did give the name and she doesn't meet the
definition of a covert agent, he's clear. The media won't let this one go,
though. This is going to be Karl Rove week in the press.
Also, expect more
Democrats to want to start an impeachment inquiry. It's all they've got these
days. REDNECK SCRAP BOOK Hey, if you start collecting now, you could have a
Christmas tree this
fabulous. View the entire Redneck Scrap
Book. READING ASSIGNMENTS Another case of
out-of-control judicial activism:
a judge in Maryland is threatening to put county planners in jail
if they don't approve a townhouse project, despite the fact that the area is
congested and the residents don't want it.
They're called "Madrassahs."
They are Islamic schools that exist in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere around the
world. What do they teach?
They teach hatred of America and terrorism.
What's at stake for liberals in the battle against Bush's Supreme Court nominee?
Nothing less than the left's effectiveness as an organizing and advocacy force.
Bill Kristol says Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will be nominated
to be chief justice when Rehnquist retires, and somebody else will be nominated
for O'Connor's spot by the end of the month. I guess people are
paying too much attention to such things as homeland security, earning a living,
educating their children and such.
It's time for race warlord Julian Bond to wave the race flag a bit .... see
if he can get some attention. There is one movement
in America that is crossing racial and party lines ...
the movement against
eminent domain abuse.
Senator Pat Roberts of Kansas, just back from Gitmo,
describes a paradise for the savage Islamic terrorists. Among the amenities: a
tropical climate, a 113-dish menu, soccer, ping-pong and volleyball. When do we
leave?
US troops were combing an
area in Afghanistan looking for a missing Navy Seal.
According to a Taliban spokesman:
"We killed him at 11 o'clock today; we killed him using a knife and chopped off
his head." Gotta love that Middle Eastern Islamic hospitality. At any rate,
the Taliban guy was lying.
They found him today..head intact, but unfortunately, still dead.
More misinformation from the Associated Press and Trilby Lundberg.
The headline says $2.33 a gallon is a record price, but then toward the end of
the story, they admit it isn't a record at all. Adjusted for inflation, gas was
$3.03 a gallon in March of 1981. They all must've gone to government schools.
The media is reporting a
U.K. memo says
the Coalition in Iraq wants to cut their force in half by 2007, with
British troops out by the end of the year. Even once the troops are all out,
the media will still lie and proclaim it all a failure.
The push continues to
seize leftist Supreme Court Justice David Souter's home
in order to build a hotel. It will be interesting to see if he practices what
he preaches.
Ed Klein has made the New
York Times' best-seller list again with his book about The Hildabeast.
The pro-Hillary times isn't too happy about it.
Now that Islamic
terrorists have struck in London,
Mark Steyn says it's time for the Brits to come out swinging.
The Supreme Court of the United States has been a legislative body
for 2 centuries, and
Michael Barone compares it to the House of Lords
in Britain. Only worse. Heather's reading assignments:
First she gives birth in a welcome station.
Next she throws the baby out. Who would have thought she would be caught when
she went to the hospital with complications from childbirth? All that comes to
mind when I heard that they treated her at the hospital was ... what the hell for?
Only "substantial?" Geez what a
cheapskate! And they strike down another good deed because certainly he could
afford more, right? (Link correction) If you drink enough beer to
re-plaster your house with the recyclables ... you might have a problem. But
that's just my thoughts;
some call it art. What are we supposed to do
with all of those AOL CD's that come to our mailboxes?
Mail them to California, of
course! Glen Frankel reports that
3 terrorist suspects were taken into custody
at London's Heathrow Airport and can be held only up to 14 days without formal
charges being filed,
but they were released later that day.
Mad Cow disease shows up negative
.
Check your cow yourself or read
how it's diagnosed. I have been following this far too long for Dennis to blow it!
And here is NASA's coverage of
Dennis. Michael Liedtke says if you
can't spell G-O-O-G-L-E then watch out for the cybersqutters typosquatting on
you.
It ain't a purty site.
Stick-o-butter sized panda born in Washington D.C.
reported by Doina Chiacu. Rising gas prices make
Wal-Mart a better trailer pick than
the near by camp ground. | 
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