Sibby Online

Friedman finally sees it Rush’s way

From Rush Limbaugh:

RUSH: Yeah, we've got this here. In fact, grab audio sound bite number 2, because this is a huge, huge See, I Told You So. We've had I don't know how many people that are starting to emulate me now. Let's not forget, folks, according to the left, I am just a black-and-white simpleton. I see things too simply. I do not see the nuance. Now all of a sudden they're quoting me. They don't know they're quoting me or else if they do they're plagiarizing me, but here is what Thomas Friedman said on Meet the Press with Tim Russert yesterday.

FRIEDMAN: I believe that Democrats should be not only participating in this with their enthusiasm but with their ideas and embracing it and trying to shape it. This is the biggest democratization project in the world going, and one that is fundamental to our national interests. The idea that the Democrats would just sulk on the side and basically put them in a situation where they only succeed if the country fails, that to me is as dumb as the day as long.

RUSH: There you go, folks. I don't need to read the New York Times anymore.

CALLER: No. That was so huge, I jumped out of my chair and said I have got to call in and congratulate him, but congratulations from all of us.

RUSH: I appreciate that, Ed. Thank you. Thank you so much. I wondered, "How long is it going to be before somebody on that side of the aisle starts to figure out where they're screwing up?" And Tom Friedman just nailed them on it. They're not going to change, folks, because they can't. Too much is invested in opposing Bush and all of the other stuff.

This is, even Tom Friedman said it, this is the biggest democratization project in the world, and we are leading it. The United States and its force for goodness and justice around the world is reshaping the world. And how are we doing it? We are not imposing ourselves on anyone. We are not demanding anything. We are simply setting up circumstances where average people who are living in shackles and under tyranny and dictatorship are allowed to shape their own destiny by freeing them from those tyrannies and those dictatorships. And for Thomas Friedman to come along and echo me, your host, and say it's dumb for the Democrats to sit there and position themselves so they only benefit when the country is harmed, when there's bad news for America, is stunning! Because, let's face it, Thomas Friedman was part of the cabal that said this was never possible, and it was only a few short months ago that he was in that camp. "It couldn't work. It wasn't possible. This is too big. Who do we think we are? Freedom for Arabs? What do they know about freedom? Democracy for Arabs, what do they know about it?"

The far-left AARP

From Social Security Choice:

Following up on yesterday’s post about the AARP, I found this short article on the blog, Ankle-Biting Pundits. Here is an excerpt (the headline of which should tempt you to read more. Dogs. Fleas. That’s clever.)

AARP Laying With Dogs - Fleas To Follow

The AARP likes to make the public think that they are as American as Mom, baseball, hot dogs and apple pie. After all, who would dare question the integrity or bias of an organization that is doing but looking out for Grandma and Grandpa. Why don’t you know if not for the AARP your elderly relatives would be eating dog food? But what you might not realize is that the AARP is laying down with some of the most disturbing far-left wingers in the country, and in some cases promoting their messages.

Read it all.

The Bologna awards

In case you missed them, WND has the winners of the Bologna Awards"

"Quickest move to the right in a political drama and/or comedy"

Hillary Rodham Clinton takes the top prize for "Red State Blues: Anti-gay marriage, pro-life, and the selling of the socialist soul in preparation for 2008."

"Most convincing portrayal of a Native American who loathes both the United States and shampoo"

Ward Churchill wins for "Big Trouble in Little Eichmann." Also a winner of the Michael Moore ribbon at the "Con Film Festival," Churchill immerses himself in the role of a leftist professor who claimed to be a Native American to get his job, but faces being fired after it is revealed that the only way he could possibly be an Indian is if he plays baseball for Cleveland.

"Best negotiation in a deep sea adventure"

The Navy's newest submarine, the "USS Jimmy Carter" wins in the "Irony" category for its role in "Ready, aim, mediate!"

"Best dramatic performance by a male escort posing as a newsman"

Jeff Gannon-James Guckert is victorious as a credentialed reporter at White House press briefings in "Fake Reporter, Phony News Service: This time we're not talking about Helen Thomas or CBS."

"Outstanding choreography in a protest"

The synchronized dissent of the Turn Your Back On Bush group takes home the "Bologna" for "Band of Bothers." The TYBOB troupe, all 15 of them, offered brilliant performances as politically disgruntled Americans who line the route of the inaugural parade and simultaneously turn and face the other way as the president's car drives by, showing him their disapproval of his policies, not to mention, in some cases, Pearl Jam's 1999 World Tour schedule.

"Best attempt by a corporation to appease PETA"

Mercedes-Benz is a winner for their role in the gripping story, "The Udder Madness of the Auto Industry," about a car company that agrees to use synthetic materials for some interiors instead of leather. In an unforgettably depressing final scene, Mercedes-Benz agrees to let the cows go, PETA exits happy ... then the cows are slaughtered for beef and the skin is thrown in the garbage.

"Most ill-advised career move since Dukakis said, 'Are you sure I look OK in this helmet?'"

Doug Wead, who released secretly recorded conversations with George W. Bush to help sell a book, takes home a "Bologna" for his leading role in "Wead Killer: Imagine what he'd be capable of if he weren't a Christian."

"Best rollover on former friends to sell books in a non-Wead related genre"

Jose Canseco proves to be "Bologna-worthy" for a flawless performance as a former steroid abuser, with severe financial problems, who writes a tell-all expose naming other players who took a drug that offers arms of steel, lots of home runs, and Raisinette genitalia. "A Season on the Fink" is a must see.

"Best actor in an 'avoiding the courtroom' drama"

Michael Jackson goes home with a pint-sized "Bologna" for his role in "One Flu Over The Cuckoo's Nest."

"Best performance by actors in a non-acting role"

The mantles of Hollywood left and liberal musicians overflow with "Bologna" for their role in the geopolitical disaster epic, "So Scared We Can't Move." It's the day after the 2004 election, and many celebrities have threatened to leave the country if George W. Bush won a second term. The action follows Alec Baldwin, Cher, Robert Redford and many others as they watch in horror as Bush wins a second term. The film reaches a suspenseful crescendo when ... they don't leave.

"Snobbiest mob scene"

Peeved French citizens are winners for their staging of massive demonstrations to protest that nation's proposed, and subsequent repeal, of the "35-hour-workweek" law. The subtitled film documentary, "Sacre bleu! Bastille Day, Part Deux," does its part to eliminate stereotypes after proving that, yes, there are some things the French won't easily surrender.

"Most time spent going by a last name that, as a strong feminist, you hate, but keep for attempted political gain"

Teresa Heinz, who recently dropped the "Kerry" surname, takes a "Bologna" home for her role in the Kerry-Edwards campaign biopic, "Perms of Endearment" (award presented by "Lifetime Achievement" winner in this category, Hillary Rodham Clinton).

Tune in next year for the second annual Bologna Awards.

AARP in bed with Daily Kos

From Social Security Choice:

The writers over at Little Green Footballs notice that the AARP’s Social Security blogroll lists the Dean of the Angry Left — Daily Kos. This is in spite of the fact that the AARP lists themselves as a non-partisan organization. Maybe harmless, but in fact, their entire blogroll is a Who’s Who of the Angry Left:

Daily Kos
Donkey Rising
Dude, Where’s my retirement?
Eschaton
Talking Points Memo
The Left Coaster
There Is No Crisis

Also, I wonder if the writers for the AARP blog are old enough to be members? It would be nice to know, but their posts are anonymous.

Thanks to SSC reader, Sally Myers, for the pointer.

Gannon, Kranz, Abourezk, Daschle, Epp

There have been those on the left using Jeff Gannon and John Thune on titles for their posts. So I decided to cover those parties listed in the above title.

First I would like to do a comparison on Jeff Gannon and David Kranz. They were both reporters during the 2004 election cycle. Both are partisans, with Gannon being a pro-Republican conservative, and Kranz the pro-Democrat. Today Randell Beck, executive editor of the Argus Leader, announced Kranz will be allowed to write two more columns per week. Instead Gannon has lost his position. Andrew Sullivan best explained this:

I haven't written about it because I agree completely with Glenn. The substantive case against Gannon is trivial; the irrelevant case against him (the one that's fueled this story) is that he's gay, has allegedly been (or still may be) a prostitute, and may not agree with everything the gay left believes (although I agree with David Corn that the evidence that Gannon has written anything even remotely "anti-gay" is laughable). The real scandal is the blatant use of homophobic rhetoric by the self-appointed Savonarolas of homo-left-wingery. It's an Animal Farm moment: the difference between a fanatic on the gay left and a fanatic on the religious right is harder and harder to discern. Just ask yourself: if a Catholic conservative blogger had found out that a liberal-leaning pseudo-pundit/reporter was a gay sex worker, had outed the guy as gay and a "hooker," published pictures of the guy naked, and demanded a response from a Democratic administration, do you think gay rights groups would be silent? They'd rightly be outraged. But the left can get away with anything, can't they? Especially homophobia.

The left try to get away with their biased reporters by not admitting the truth and denying any allegations of their bias. This has been the case with Kranz. We have Todd Epp pushing for the South Dakota media to investigate and report on an alleged connection between Gannon and John Thune. Todd Epp has been urging John Thune to speak out about the alleged connection. To be fair, Todd Epp should also be asking James Abourezk, Epp’s law partner, if he knew about the connection between Craig Steensland, Abourzk staffer in 1976, and David Kranz, who was managing editor of the Mitchell Daily Republic in 1976. Here is what Jason Van Beek disclosed on April 14, 2004:

Now, it might be asked, where would one possibly get the notion that Kranz is collaborating with the Daschle campaign? It has long been suspected by this writer that David Kranz has collaborated with Democratic politicians in South Dakota, past and present, to influence the news in a way that tends to cast Democratic politicians in a positive light, and Republican politicians in a negative light. Today it can be revealed that this writer's worst fears have been corroborated. This writer has discovered an internal Senate office memo in the Abourezk papers, an archive held in the I.D. Weeks Library at the University of South Dakota, that details Kranz' collaboration with Senator Jim Abourezk's staff while Kranz was the managing editor for the Mitchell Daily Republic in 1976. The memo, dated 10/15/1976, and found in Box 1022 of the archive, is a "Weekly Report" from an Abourezk staffer based in Mitchell at the time to his bosses in Washington, DC. The relevant text from the memo follows:

The Mitchell Daily Republic has given Jim [Abourezk] good coverage the last few weeks, usually run the releases on front page in "News Briefs". (Roberta will confirm that statement) Managing Editor is Dave Kranz, 30, formally of Austin Minn, and Watertown S.D. Went to SDSU (Mu U. with Tom D. and Tom Klinkel) Very much a strong Demo. and have been attending county demo. functions together. If Ron or Al can provide him with good info. on whats happening in D.C. it would be a good venture. He received one call from Ron this week. Thanks Ron...

(Emphasis added.) Deeper into the same memo, the following text can be found:

NWPS-Dave Kranz of paper is checking out some of the local biggees in Mitchell to see how much support we have to do something.

In handwriting, scrawled at the bottom of the document, the memo states the following:

Mitchell paper is going to expose [Republican Senator Jim] Abdnor on rating by National Alliance of S. Citizens next week, Info I called Grace's office on.

You can access a pdf copy of the original document HERE. "Tom D." of course, is Tom Daschle, who was Senator Abourezk's staffer at that time. Tom Klinkel was Tom Daschle's brother-in-law at the time (Daschle has since divorced and re-married).

I followed up with this post on April 16:

The SDP post on the 10/15/76 Bombshell memo mentioned "an Abourezk staffer in Mitchell". At the bottom of that memo is a hand written "CRAIG". Here is an excerpt from a 10/9/1976 David Kranz column from the Mitchell Daily Republic:

Sen. James Abourezk now has a field representative located in Mitchell. Craig Steensland, one of Abourezk’s top South Dakota aides is now working out of the McGovern – Abourezk office. Steensland comes here from Sioux Falls where he worked in a similar capacity. A native of Canton, S.D., he received his education at Augustana Academy and the University of South Dakota.

Purpose of the position is to allow people of Mitchell and the surrounding area to discuss problems they have and find answers to some of the questions they have about particular legislation. It is an effective line of communication to our elected officials.

In a previous post, I disclosed Kranz’s 9/4/1976 announcement of the arrival of Tom Daschle:

More familiar faces are returning from other parts of the country to South Dakota. Tom and Laurie Daschle, aides to Sen. James Abourezk in Washington have been reassigned to Abourezk’s Sioux Falls office.

Now we have Kranz working closely with the Abourezk organization and Tom Daschle is also a member of the Abourezk organization. Here is more from the 9/4/1976 Kranz column:

More familiar faces are returning from other parts of the country to South Dakota. Tom and Laurie Daschle, aides to Sen. James Abourezk in Washington have been reassigned to Abourezk’s Sioux Falls office.

Daschle is formerly of Aberdeen and his wife is the daughter of PUC commissioner Mrs. Norma Klinkel. We went to college with Daschle at South Dakota State University and worked together on a mock political convention.

Daschle masterminded one of the most successful participation events by students of an unrequired nature when he headed the political science department’s convention project. Well over 650 students got involved in the event which was patterned after the Democratic convention that year because of the general interest.

I remember our tireless search to find a renowned public speaker to address the convention such as McGovern, McCarthy, Humphrey or some other prominent Democrat. With no takers, we finally found a popular young state senator from Salem to address the group. His name was Richard Kneip.

So we now know Kranz’s relationship with Tom Daschle goes back to his college days. Kranz/Daschle/Abourezk...so here comes Epp’s part. As mentioned earlier, Todd Epp works with Abourezk. But more interestingly he represented Abourezk in a case reported on by Ryne McClaren:

I've spent a lot of time over the course of last night and today thinking about this Oliver Willis post, where he's alleging some sort of insidious "connection" between Jeff Gannon and SDP's Jon Lauck (and, by default apparently, the John Thune campaign). Despite the fact that his post only contains a few dozen words or so, it's frighteningly stupid in an endless number of ways. Who would have thought that so few words could present such a cracked worldview?

In his post on the matter, Willis took an obvious fancy to Jon doing legal work for ProBush.com, a website being sued by former South Dakota congressman Jim Abourezk. In fact, he was so giddy that he initially grossly misrepresented Jon's role, stating that Jon was working on behalf of The Free Speech Foundation, an organization that Jeff Gannon was the "executive director" of. How this obvious detail escaped Oliver's attention is completely beyond my comprehension, considering that ProBush.com is currently hosting a large number of the suit's legal filings, and that Jon Lauck is plainly identified as an attorney for the defendants on page 26 of the brief in support of a motion to dismiss. You can see this link for the entire brief (co-authored by Lauck) in PDF format. Oliver would have known this if he had taken just, oh, 30 seconds or so to do any research on the suit. Why he didn't do this is beyond me, but I suspect that it was simply because a.) someone happened to forward this "scoop" to him, and made it sound as if it contained trustworthy information and b.) he's lazy.

In a minute here I'm going to tell you why Abourezk v. ProBush.com, Inc. should be pertinent to Oliver and his own website, but a little background on the case is in order first.

In May of 2003, James Abourezk filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court of South Dakota asking for punitive damages against a website named ProBush.com and its operator, Michael Marino of Pennsylvania. The PDF of the complaint can be found here, on the ProBush.com website. In the prayer for relief contained in the complaint, Abourezk is asking for actual damages in the amount of $2 million dollars, punitive damages in the amount of $3 million dollars, attorney's fees and costs, removal of any reference to the Plaintiff from the website, and "any other just and equitable relief."

Abourezk is taking issue with the site because, according to an item on the site called the "Traitor List," Jim Abourezk is a "traitor." Abourezk appears both in name and by photograph. The list features many other names and photographs of movie actors, rock stars, politicians, and many others who have spoken out against George Bush and his policies.

Read the rest of Ryne’s post. He does an amazing job of covering this issue. In January I also covered the lawsuit against proBush.com. I did a little connect the dots myself:

I will now report on those who have a strong opinion on this point Epp made, "blindly following the President in an illegal and poorly thought out war in Iraq". Check out this web site. Note the reference to a Ramsey Clark web site. Here is more on Ramsey Clark. Here is reference to Ramsey Clark from Aljazeera. Here is a Ramsey Clark and James Abourezk connection with MECA [Middle East Children Alliance]. Here is another connection between Clark and Abourezk. I am not sure what this is. Now Abourezk and Jane Fonda have a connection.

So what’s my point. I have several:

1). We did not attack David Kranz personally, but the left picked on a gay escort.

2). If Epp thinks John Thune should have been aware of Gannon’s past personal life, then he should think Abourezk had to aware of his staff’s collaboration with David Kranz. The expectation with Abourezk should in fact be more, if Epp wants to be intellectually honest.

3). Why should the local press cover Epp’s conspiracy theories when they have not covered documents that prove David Kranz worked as a pro-Democrat journalist for years? I don’t think the Argus Leader wants to open this can of worms.

4). Should David Kranz’s personal sexual life be a subject of discussion like Gannon’s? I say absolutely no.

5). Should David Kranz be expected to step down from his current position at the Argus Leader as Gannon did at Talon? I say no.

6). Should David Kranz be as honest as Gannon about his political ideology? If he does, then the answer in step 4 would probably become a yes. That is the problem with the MSM. They cannot be honest.

7). If the Argus Leader really wanted to be fair, they would have hired a conservative to write a column, instead of having a pro-Democrat write two more.

8). Epp has lots of reasons not to like Gannon. One is Abourezk, the another is Daschle.

Oscars, The Social Security of entertainment

From Social Security Choice:

According to Millard Fillmore here, the left’s attitude that we common people are too stupid to distinguish between what things are good and bad applies to more than just Social Security.

Full size image

Hollywood’s pollution

In case you didn’t know, Hollywood’s movie ratings are their own and not legally required. Here is a report on how those ratings have changed:

In one, a man injects heroin frequently and cheats on his wife repeatedly.

In another, a man seriously considers killing somebody, and then does.

In the third, a mentally ill man locks himself in a room where he collects his own urine in jars.

If you're going to see any of these Academy Award-nominated films, why not bring along your favorite 13-year-old? The Motion Picture Association of America says it's OK.

Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, depending on how mature the teenager is. But the MPAA has given its PG-13 rating to "Ray," "Million Dollar Baby" and "The Aviator," the three films described -- sketchily -- above. All three are in the hunt for Oscar's Best Picture award Sunday night.

They are also cited by some Hollywood observers and critics as examples of what is called ratings creep, the belief that over the years more questionable, affecting and offensive material has made its way into movies available to kids just reaching their teens.

Black conservatives speak out

NewsMax has a report on a recent panel discussion:

It was not a good evening for Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the NAACP, and the Congressional Black Caucus at the Heritage Foundation Thursday as a panel concluded these reputed icons "have utterly failed to provide moral leadership in the Black community and have become the tools for extremist political agendas."

The panel of conservative Black Americans called for the reinstitution of principled black leadership in the tradition of Booker T. Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny (BOND) and The Heritage Foundation co-sponsored the historic conference – "Responding To The Call: The New Black Vanguard Conference" - to address what they see as a crisis in leadership and "the spiraling moral and physical decline taking place within America's inner cities."

Excerpts:

"It's time out for all those not called by God but by their mama," jeered Peterson, who noted that unlike Jackson he was "proud to be an American and not stuck in Africa somewhere." Rev. Peterson spent about an hour prodding the panel into observations about and possible cures for the breakdown of the family and the church in the modern Black communities.

One of Peterson's own observations was that so many great cities have a Black police chief, Black mayor, "but they're still blaming the white man."

…

Innis lamented the "liberals coming into Black churches" and "the 1500 black children aborted every day." He chided the myth that "slavery has done some irreparable harm."

"Our children are not reading Mark Twain [considered a racist for using the N-word] but are listening to violent rap."

"The liberal media advertises that these folks [Jackson, et. al.] speak for us," Innis said. "Yet the polls suggest that Black people oppose homosexual marriage and favor school vouchers."

…

Another panelist, Gloria Jackson, president of the Booker T. Washington Speakers Network and the great granddaughter of Booker T. Washington, lamented that "so much of his life and legacy was lost because his voice was silenced."

She noted that Washington's mantra was that "personal transformation starts from within. We need to be leaders within our own lives, our own schools, our own vibrant communities."

Jackson expressed hope that after "40 years of dependency," the cycle could be broken with Blacks once again taking charge of their own destinies. She recalled the Rev. Jesse Jackson coming to her church recently where he received "a lukewarm reception" – not the wild enthusiasm noted in past visits. "Things are changing," she said.

…

Niger Innis also warned that the "clear and present danger to the black community" was something he calls the "entertainment/industrial complex," a phenomenon that he suggests accounts for the unhappy perception in inner city communities that "cops are bad and criminals chic."

Krugman’s hypocrisy exposed

From Don Luskin (via Social Security Choice):

Paul Krugman has gotten his smears confused in his New York Times column today. He accuses advocates of Social Security reform of smearing AARP, a reform opponent. But Krugman himself smeared AARP in November 2003, when it supported President Bush's initiative to provide a Medicare prescription drug benefit (which, like all Bush initiatives, Krugman opposed). Then Krugman called AARP a member of "the coalition of the bought-off" -- and claimed it supported Bush's initiative in order to enrich itself through its insurance business:

Over the years AARP has become much more than an advocacy and service organization for older Americans. It receives more than $150 million each year in commissions on insurance, mutual funds and prescription drugs sold to its members.

...it may seem odd on the surface that William Novelli, AARP's chief executive, wrote a glowing preface to Newt Gingrich's book on health care reform. After all, Mr. Gingrich has long advocated turning the administration of Medicare over to private companies — an unpopular idea, and also an expensive one (forget the clichés about inefficient government: private companies have much higher overhead than Medicare). But what looks like wasted money to taxpayers and retirees looks like opportunity to private providers. Enough said.

Of course now AARP is a model of probity -- of "principle" as Krugman is fond of saying of those who agree with him.

In today's column Krugman also objects that "People like myself" are being smeared by "one scornful Bush aide" as "the 'reality-based community.'" Yet Krugman has used that term himself -- presumably not scornfully -- in a speech last November, when he was moping about how the election had turned out:

It's going to be a very grim period...In particular it's a huge blow to those of us who see ourselves as part of the reality-based community.

PAC Man

A Sibby Online reader sent me this link:

John Thune is proving himself a rare first-year senator in many regards. Along with the heightened level of attention he is receiving in GOP circles for defeating former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, Thune has started his own PAC, Heartland Values. Not wasting any time, Thune has already signaled at least one Republican senator up for re-election that he plans to help with his PAC’s funds, Jim Talent.

On the left, media darling Barack Obama has also started his own pack. This won’t come as any great shock to BB readers, but consider the gap in coverage between these two men in their respective victories. Obama understandably deserves coverage for his victory as an African-American into the Senate. But he did so beating Alan Keyes. Regardless of his ethnic biography, the media was more focused on the fact that he was essentially the only positive story for Democrats out of last year’s election and they weren’t going to let his success go uncovered – again, and again, and again.

On the other hand, Senator Thune captured a historic victory over Daschle. Regardless of one’s political views, it’s a great story. Nonetheless, he has not received the level of coverage he deserves. Imagine if his victory had played out under the exact same circumstances, but he had a (D) after his name. In the meantime, I’m sure Thune and his supporters can reconcile themselves with winning – both in their great 2004 victory and in helping good candidates like Jim Talent in the future.