I'M WORN OUT

I expected a bit more closure from last night's 24.  Now we have Jack Bauer on that ___________ headed for ____________ after he was ___________ by a bunch of very angry ____________.  Holy ____!  What is ________ gonna do now?

There .. .hope I didn't ruin it for anyone who had to TIVO the durned thing.

MADONNA ... WHAT'S THE POINT?

Do I get in trouble with deeply religious listeners every once in a while? You bet I do.  More often than every once in a while, I would say.  I just can't resist striking out at people who want to pass laws to force me to adhere to their religious beliefs and practices, even if I happen to agree with their beliefs!  When I speak out against these "do it the way I say that God says you have to do it" people  I am generally accused of "Christian bashing."  I would probably be better served just to stay away from conversations of this type, but when some Catholic Cardinal talks about trying to shut down The DaVinci Code movie with lawsuits, or some preacher tells me I shouldn't be allowed to buy a get well card for a child in a hospital if it's Sunday, or have a glass of wine with my Sunday brunch, I just have a hard time leaving it alone.

Now ... having said this, I can't recall one time when I've intentionally set out on this show to intentionally mock or insult Christians, Catholics or Jews over their religion of ideology.  That brings us to Madonna.  For the opening act of her new tour Madonna has chosen to sing a song while fastened to a mirrored cross as if she were being crucified.  She is being roundly criticized for this, and I would have to say the criticism is completely justified.  Should she be free to stage this bit in her show?  Absolutely.  Should other's be free to cite their disgust!  No question.  I think the Church of England said it best:  "Why would someone with so much talent seem to feel the need to promote herself by offending so many people?"

TODAY'S TEEN SECTION Awesome!  Tonight and like tomorrow night will be like be the most important like nights on the tube like ever!  It's like the finals of like American Idol!  Just too cool!  You can like forget all the like other boring stuff that's like going down ... it don't mean nuthin, know what I'm sayin?  But these finals, they're like ... well, like you just can't miss them!  They're like awesome!

BRIBED DEMOCRAT CRIES FOUL

The stuck pig is howling!  Howling loud!

What would you do if you were caught on tape in an FBI sting where you were a Congressman accepting a $100,000 cash bribe?  Furthermore, what would you do if a search of your premises turned up a hundred large in your freezer all neatly wrapped up in tinfoil and stored away! 

Well, if you're Louisiana Democrat William Jefferson, you play the victim route. You stand up there with a straight face and promise to fight the good fight...stay in Congress and try and defeat the charges.  At least Randy Cunningham had the decency to resign.  Not so with Jefferson.  He even plans on running for re-election. Then again, stranger things have happened...D.C. Mayor Marion Barry was caught on tape smoking crack...and since then he's managed to worm his sleazy way back into government.

The FBI searched his office over the weekend.  Big deal.  They had a search warrant to do so.  It also sounds like they had a need to, given the scope of the corruption involved. But there's Jefferson...crying about how "there are two sides to every story."  Oh really? Is it the side where you took the $100,000 in hundred dollar bills and the other side where you hid them in your freezer?  We already got both sides of that story.  Oh...I get it.  He was just holding the money for a friend.  Or maybe if you store your money in a freezer it won't be so affected by inflation. Maybe it earns interest in there!  Yeah .. .any explanation might work.  But ... small problem-o.  It seems that the informant that handed over the cash was wearing a wire. wouldn't you love to hear that recording?

The most amazing part of the story is how Republicans are circling the wagons around Jefferson.  They're actually complaining that the evil FBI searched a Congressional office.  Evidently this is the first time in 219 years this has taken place.  The Speaker of the House got particularly huffy, saying "Insofar as I am aware, since the founding of our republic 219 years ago, the Justice Department has never found it necessary to do what it did Saturday night, crossing this separation of powers line in order to successfully prosecute corruption by members of Congress."   

Here we have the true outrage.  Somehow Speaker Hastert and several members of the congress from both sides of the aisle seem to feel that they are above the law. Bribery and corruption may be wrong, but as long as the evidence of that bribery and corruption is in a congressman's office it can't be touched.  How many of US can claim that our offices are beyond the reach of a qualified law enforcement agent with a valid search warrant?  Not even churches can claim that special status, yet our elected officials in Washington can.

I seem to remember that back around 1994 the Republicans made some sort of a promise that they would reform the Congress to the point where those who are elected to high public office will be bound by the same laws as the rest of us.  I guess that pledge has been forgotten, along with the pledge to decrease the size of government and lower spending.

What's even more pathetic is that Jefferson might have a shot at being re-elected.  You see, his district includes quite a bit of New Orleans...the same city that just re-elected Ray 'Chocolate City' Nagin.  The voters there don't exactly fit into the class of the nation's intellectual elite.

Will the media let Jefferson slide on this one?  Probably not.  When you have wiretaps, probably video, and frozen money it's just too juicy for the mainstream press to pass up .... even if the culprit is a Democrat.

Question:  How long before Jefferson, or some race warlord speaking on his behalf, says that this a racist investigation designed to attack blacks in power.  My guess is that Cynthia McKinney might be first in line with such a comment.

IT'S OFFICIAL: NO GAS PRICE GOUGING

Bad news this morning for those that peddle their oil company conspiracies.  The Federal Trade Commission has concluded its investigation into gas price gouging after Hurricanes Rita and Katrina.  Their finding: no gas price gouging took place.  None.  Zip.  How can this be?

Now it wasn't because they didn't try.  The government looked at 15 separate cases where price gouging was alleged.  In each and every case, they found no evidence of anything other than normal market fluctuations based on supply and demand.  Furthermore, they also found that no widespread collusion took place to run up the price of gas.

In other words, the price you paid was the legitimate price set by the market.  I would submit that price gouging cannot exist without government interference in the marketplace.  Where there is competition there can be no gouging. The consumers will always vote with their dollars, and the merchants and suppliers of goods and services will always seek those votes with superior product and service at a competitive price. 

Sure .. there are anti price-gouging laws in many states.  These laws do nothing but disrupt the marketplace and put regulatory roadblocks in the way of supply and demand.  The enforcement of anti-price-gouging laws has been shown to do nothing more than restrict or choke off the supplies of needed commodities.  For instance, after those four hurricanes hit Florida in 2004 you couldn't find water or generators to buy.  Why?  Anti-price gouging laws.  Merchants and entrepreneurs just wouldn't go through the trouble it would take to bring these items into the hurricane ravaged areas because to do so, and to charge enough to make a profit doing so, would have invited an arrest.

Supply and demand ... it can be painful sometimes, but it works.

VETERANS' PERSONAL DATA STOLEN

This is not good if you're a veteran of the U.S. Military with  your information in the Veteran's Administration computer system.  It would seem some burglars broke into the home of a VA employee and took his computer...and the names, Social Security numbers and birth dates of 26 million veterans with it.  Not good.  Can you say 'identity theft on a massive scale?'

Using the information gleaned from that computer, thieves could easily screw up the lives of any of those 26 million people...and that's a problem with no quick fix. Thankfully, the missing information doesn't included health records or financial information.  But the very idea that the government could poorly manage information security should make us all concerned.

Think about how much information the IRS has about you.  Your name, address, phone number, Social Security number, birth date, income, spending habits, charitable giving, health spending, assets...everything.  Every American who has filed a tax return has provided the government with so much personal information, it would be completely devastating if that information was ever stolen.  Do you think the IRS is any better at handling your data than the VA is?

All the better reason to promote the FairTax.  Under the FairTax plan, there are no tax returns to file...no intrusive private information to provide.  You buy something,  you pay the tax ... and that's that.  Never forget just how much the IRS knows about you...and what they or someone who stole that information could do with it. .  But abolishing the IRS and replacing it with the FairTax would make your private information once again private.

And...if you're a vet...well, good luck.  Time to start pulling your credit reports.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Who says rednecks aren't artistic?  More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

With Hillary Clinton looking more and more like the frontrunner for the 2008 Democratic nomination, some Democrats are evidently worried that the Clintons' marriage may be a sham.  Gee...do you think so?  If this is a recent revelation, then these Democrats are about 13 years too late.

You may be under the impression that Google News is computer-generated with no editorial input.  However, that is not the case...as the operator of one news website found out when he was banned from Google News.  Seems there is a problem with criticizing Islam, that wonderful religion of peace.

Interesting offer on the table from the U.N. Ambassador John Bolton.  He says if Iran denounces their nuclear weapons and turns them over, then they can get the same deal Libya did.  I guess nobody can't say we didn't try to negotiate.

The 9/11 Commission seemed to indicate that there was nothing to this 'Able Danger' program that warned about at least one of the 9/11 hijackers.  But in response to a Freedom of Information Act request, the government is producing 9,500 pages of documents on Able Danger.  Hmmm...that's a whole lot of nothing!

Air Force General Michael Hayden ran the NSA during the time of the controversial wiretaps.  You would think the Democrats and the mainstream media would run him out of town.  But it seems he's cruising toward confirmation to run the CIA without a hitch.  So much for that.

Who can stop Hillary Clinton in 2008?  Nobody really...except Al Gore   Well, at least that's what Dick Morris says.  He also says John McCain and Rudy Giuliani can't win the Republican nomination.

If you live in Maryland or are planning on traveling there this summer, be forewarned.  You don't have to be a resident there to get a driver's license.  Translation: illegal aliens are welcome behind the wheel in the old line state.

Thomas Sowell says the discussion about illegal immigration in this country has yet to take place.  Politicians and the mainstream media are throwing out talking points that insult our intelligence.

Bill Cosby has been a one-man wrecking crew against the victimization of the black community and has criticized traditional black activists.  Clarence Page takes a look at Cosby's crusade.

Fox news is frequently attacked as being a conservative Republican network.  Now someone is accusing it of promoting racism, something Democrat and Fox News employee Susan Estrich disagrees with.

Woody sent us this link to a fun movie mash-up Vader of the Opera. (video)

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