In my never-ending search for Truth, Justice and the American Way I have stumbled - like Jeff Wood doing a sobriety test - on an odious web site called "Screw Liberals."
This disgraceful wart on the web (Screw Liberals) perfectly illustrates a point now being made by great thinkers of the Left, such as Jimmy Carter, Corey Liebmann (formerly of One Wisconsin Now), Mike Tate of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, Rachel Maddow of MSNBC, Franch Rich of the NY Times, and our own John Nichols of Pravda.
Their point is that if one criticizes the current occupant of the White House in the manner of Screw Liberals, if one suggests that not every one of his policy initiatives is the work of a latter-day Lincoln, you are a filthy racist pig. Bull Connor and Lester Maddox without the good breeding.
It is in spirit of public service that I expose to the curative sunlight of public scrutiny "Screw Liberals."
Screw Liberals dares print so-called "humorous" (note the snotty quotation marks) photographs demeaning the Current President such as the one above in a transparent attempt to link this august figure to the tax-evading child prostitution ring known as "Acorn."
Screw Liberals dares publish stories like "Janeane Garofalo Gets Peed On By Her Own Dog," thereby intentionally exposing this artistic supporter of the Current Incumbent to the hardy har-hars of insensitive conservatives.
I have doubt that Screw Liberals will have a chilling effect on your funny bone. Loyal Blaska Blog-baggers, you decide! Carefully read "Screw Liberals" over an extended period of time to determine for yourself.
Methinks thou dost...
MSNBC's Rachel Maddow calls out "the right wing media" for deliberately and systematically invokes naziism and political assassination when talking about the Current Incumbent. What a double standard, she reports, considering that the Current Incumbent's predecessor, George W. Bush, was honored and revered by young and old throughout the nation.
Now the Ombudsman for the New York Times, Clark Hoyt, criticizes his paper for sitting on the Acorn story for an entire week.
When the Senate voted to cut off all federal funds to Acorn, there was not a word in the newspaper or on its Web site. When the New York City Council froze all its funding for Acorn and the Brooklyn district attorney opened a criminal investigation, there was still nothing.
When the paper of record finally did bestir itself, it was to slant the Acorn scandals as the work of Republican tricksters hoping "to weaken the Obama administration by attacking its allies and appointees."
Jill Abramson, the managing editor for news, agreed with me that the paper was "slow off the mark," and blamed "insufficient tuned-in-ness to the issues that are dominating Fox News and talk radio." [New York Times: Tuning in too late]
No kidding, Sherlock.
The Teachers union takes what it wants
I see Madison Teachers Inc. got a 4 percent raise in each of the next two years. That is on top of the step increases teachers get for surviving another year in a job with guaranteed tenure. A pay increase! Compare that to the 5 percent decrease demanded of Dane County government employees. Compare that to the 5 percent cut state government employees are experiencing. Compare that to no pay whatsoever (outside of unemployment insurance) for the 9 percent who are out of work statewide - double the rate of a year ago. Or the 1 percent expected decline in personal income this year (Madison teachers excepted, of course).
Remember when the school board asked property taxpayers to pony up in yet another referendum last fall to permanently bust the state-imposed revenue limits by $13 million a year? I asked would the teachers share the pain? We now have our answer. Share the pain? They inflict the pain through their handmaidens on the school board.
Serving at the pleasure of whom?
Does anyone understand what is going on here? There is only one state agency that the governor does not completely control: that is the Veterans Affairs secretary. Gov. Jim E. Doyle has now appointed a majority of board members to the Veterans Affairs Department Board. They are after John Scocos, the department secretary who was appointed while Doyle was governor but by Tommy G. Thompson board appointees. Now, suddenly, they take issue with Scocos' stewardship - even as Scocos serves his country in the Middle East, where he was called up for duty as an active reservist.
And we want the DNR secretary to go through the same charades? Governor Doyle, you want to deep six Scocos? Just say so. We, the voters, can judge accordingly. [Wis State Journal: Former Vets Secretary Criticizes Board]
Justice is served
Remember the David Souter decision in Kelo that condemned private property for private gain? That property now sits empty.
New London officials decided they needed Kelo's land and the surrounding 90 acres for a multimillion-dollar private development that included residential, hotel conference, research and development space and a new state park that would complement a new $350 million Pfizer pharmaceutical research facility.
Kelo and six other homeowners fought for years, all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. In 2005, justices voted 5-4 against them, giving cities across the country the right to use eminent domain to take property for private development.
The decision was sharply criticized and created grass-roots backlash. Forty states quickly passed new, protective rules and regulations, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Some protesters even tried to turn the tables on now-retired Justice David Souter, trying unsuccessfully in 2006 to take his New Hampshire home by eminent domain to build an inn.
In New London the city's prized economic development plan has fallen apart as the economy crumbled. [The Daily Reporter: Seized Connecticut land sits vacant]
Today's chuckle:
A pilot overheard this conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai on Feb. 17 of this year:
Iranian Air Defense Radar: "Unknown aircraft, you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself."
U.S. Aircraft: "This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace."
Iranian Air Defense Radar: "You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!"
U.S. Aircraft: "This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter.Send 'em up. I'll wait!'"
Iranian Air Defense Radar: (no response ... total silence)
