Politics Blog

Convicted murderer, gangbanger and Liberal celebrity Stanley Tookie Williams is scheduled to die in California. Not surprisingly, there are many people on his side, including a showcaseof successful rappers.

“He’s a special guy”, gushed Snoop Dogg. You got that right, Snoop. Williams not only murdered four people in 1979, he was a co-founder of that famous Youth Activities Association known as the “Crips”, whose long history includes murdering young men for the offense of wearing the wrong color or being in the wrong neighborhood, or even for just being in the way.

Governor Schwarzenegger has agreed to meet privately with Williams’ lawyers on December 8. That does not speak well for Justice, or promise solace for the families of Yen-I Yang, Ysai-Shai, Yee-Chen Lin, or Albert Owens.

I notice that no celebrity seems to believe they should speak up for a murdered convenience store clerk, or for a family who did everything he demanded, but whom he killed just to leave no witnesses. Let me be very, very clear: In my book, if you put a shotgun to the head of a little girl and end her life, just because she’s inconvenient, there is nothing, at all, that you can say or do that justifies letting you continue to draw air. These murders were especially brutal and unprovoked. And his career as an entrepreneur of violence and devastated lives only confirms it. Justice demands that Williams receive the fate he earned.

The call is simple, Mr. Governor, but it’s vital you tell California there is a line which cannot be crossed. When you meet with his lawyers, explain to Mr. Williams through them that he will receive as he has dealt, in full measure. No mercy – that was the creed of Williams’ life before he got caught, it should be no different now that he sees his fell resolution come to claim him.

— DJ Drummond

Check out Carol Platt Liebau’s excellent point about the misperception many Americans have about the economy.

— Lorie Byrd

Betsy Newmark posts the interesting take of Walter Jajko, a retired Air Force brigadier general and former assistant to the secretary of Defense for intelligence oversight, regarding paying for good media coverage in Iraq.

Congress wants to investigate the issue. I agree. I think there should be a very intense investigation into the propaganda that has been published and aired on the subject of the war in Iraq. I am not speaking of anything the Pentagon has paid for, though. I am not even talking about anything that has aired in Iraq. It is not necessary to go that far. There is plenty to investigate here in our own back yard. I would love to see those at the networks and the major national daily papers explain why they choose to ignore so many of the good news stories coming out of Iraq. I would also love to hear them explain why so much of their “news” coverage includes editorial characterizations of the war in Iraq as being a disaster, a failure, a losing effort, and a mess. I would love to see people like Eason Jordan and Linda Foley explain the basis for their statements that American troops were targeting journalists. Jordan lost hisjob at CNN over the allegation, but only after bloggers pushed the story. In 2003, CNN did not fire Jordan when he revealed that the CNN Baghdad bureau had been falsely reporting (lying about) the situation in Iraq prior to the U.S. led invasion. I would like to see them explain that.

Why was it okay for CNN to work as propagandists for Saddam Hussein? I don’t think that is too harsh a way to pose the question. Look at what they were doing there. They were knowingly covering up the atrocities of the Hussein regime. They were doing so at a time when the U.S. and others were debating various reasons to implement regime change in Iraq, including human rights abuses. They were intentionally misleading the American (and indeed the world) public about the situation in Iraq. They were representing their presence in Iraq as one of a free and independent news organization. If you believe Jordan, though, they were reporting what they did out of fear of bodily harm or even death to those associated with them in the Baghdad bureau. They could have pulled out of Iraq and reported the truth, but they thought it was more important to maintain a presence there, even though the reporting from there was fake, and not accurate. It still amazes me that the pre-war reporting out of the CNN Baghdad bureau never became a huge scandal. Heck, it didn’t even become a minor embarrassment for the network. Ask someone who is not a political junkie whether they have ever even heard the story. I would be shocked to find one that had.

I am not for Congress infringing on freedom of the press, and don’t have much confidence in their investigations into anything. When there is a widespread practice by the major U.S. media outlets of reporting only those stories from Iraq that are negative and potentially harmful to the war effort, and no one in the media is willing to look into that story, maybe some sort of an investigation is in order. It is clear that the media coverage of the war has a potential impact on the outcome. The most appropriate investigation would be one conducted as a piece of investigative journalism into why the war was reported as it was. No one in the MSM is going to do that though because they were all in on it. I am not saying they conspired, but pack mentality and agenda-driven journalism definitely kicked in when it came to Iraq coverage. Maybe an investigative blogger could do it. Any volunteers? And while they are at it maybe they could investigate the MSM coverage of the economy.

— Lorie Byrd

While angry leftists in the media have spent the better part of the last five years projecting their self-loathing at George W. Bush, and nervous conservatives in turn have kept them on the air by watching their flotsam & jetsam programs, Bush and the GOP Senate caucus have been busy, under the radars, stacking the federal appeals courts.

There have been well over three dozen conservative/Republican jurists confirmed to the appellate levels of the federal bench since Bush took office. The far leftists who control the current version of the Democrat Party only tried to Bork a few of them. The remainder of Bush’s appellate nominees sailed through the Senate without so much as a peep from the MediaCrats.

We’ve already taken a look at the doings of Judges Owen, Rogers Brown, Sykes, Rogers, Sutton, and McConnell.

Another judge to which attention should be paid is Steven Colloton of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Judge Colloton clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist. He then worked for Bush 41’s Justice Department. Then he worked {gulp} in Ken Starr’s Independent Council’s Office.

Uh, yeah, *that* Ken Starr.

Prez Bush eventually made him a United States Attorney. Then appointed him to the federal appeals court.

Judge Colloton was confirmed in Sept. 2003. Only one Senator – Fritz Hollings – voted “no.”

Yeah, me too. I’ve not been able to figure that out. You would think a guy who worked for Ken Starr would have been spat upon by the MediaCrats.

On theother hand, and as alluded to above, keep in mind the Democrats’ rich and angry puppet masters often are playing checkers while those of us here on Planet Reality are playing chess. Just ask Senate Majority Leader Tom . . . Tom D . . . Tom Dash . . ., oh, whatever.

Moving on:

In this case, Judge Colloton threw out a “civil rights” and “excessive force” lawsuit that was filed against two cops after the plaintiffs were arrested in connection with a traffic stop and the ensuing discovery of dope in their possession.

The money quote from Colloton:

Police officers are not expected to parse code language as though they were participating in a law school seminar . . . .

Amen.

Here Judge Colloton threw out a request to overturn an administrative order of deportation. Meaning the claimant was ordered removed from the country.

In this case, Judge Colloton threw out a petition by a labor union to set aside an administrative ruling denying the union’s claims for unfair labor practices.

In this case, Judge Colloton threw out a disability claim against various state vocational rehabilitation agencies.

Here Judge Colloton threw out a jury’s verdict against a railroad company in connection with massive injuries suffered by a person struck by a train.

This judge ain’t a bleeding heart “librule,” that’s for sure.

He’s 42 years old.

IOW, Judge Colloton will be tossing out personal injury verdicts, ordering people deported from the country, throwing out lawsuits against cops, dismissing public-money disability claims, and smacking around labor unions for decades, Chief.

Decades.

– Jayson

Is it just me, or does it seem that everytime John Kerry opens his mouth to say something about Iraq that he decreases his presidential chances? I don’t have a clue what his position on Iraq is. It changes with the wind, and he just drones on and on when he addresses the subject. I get the feeling when I hear Kerry talking about Iraq that he goes on for as long as he can hoping to stake out every conceivable competing position. Didn’t he learn anything in 2004?

Update: I had not seen this Kerry quote before I read it in the Hotline’s Blogometer today:

John Kerry is getting hit by conservatives for criticizing Bush for using military backdrops, and saying: “Every troop I’ve met in Iraq comes up to me and says, ‘Thanks for speaking out on this.’” While the line has not been published in any MSM outlets, it apparently came from his post-Bush speech rebuttal, and seems to have been 1st posted at The Corner by John Podhoretz, who scoffs: “Every single one? Gee, I really don’t believe him.”

I was inclined to agree with Podhoretz, but then wondered how many of the troops would actually choose to speak to him. Jonah Goldberg had the same thought.

Update II: David Limbaugh has a good column on the Democrats’ problems answering the President on the Iraq War. I especially like his description of John Kerry’s positions on the war as “ever-tortured.”

— Lorie Byrd

Townhall.com is sponsoring a great project called Thank a Soldier Week. The “week” begins December 19th, but you can go to the Thank a Soldier site and send your email thank you now.

Drew Bond was recently at the Country Music Awards collecting thank you’s from country music artists. My favorite of the video clips was from George Strait telling the troops “Merry Christmas.” You can view the clips at the Thank a Soldier site.

Although the name is “Thank a Soldier,” the thank you extends to all members of the armed forces. It is a great idea. Please add your thank you today.

Recently I pointed readers to USO’s Operation Phone Home which is working on getting calling cards for servicemen and women overseas. A reader sent me the link to Subscriptions for Soldiers , which matches soldiers to those interested in donating gift subscriptions of participating magazines for them. You can send an AAFES gift certificate to those in the service at this site.

America Supports You links to “over 150 non-profit organizations dedicated to helping our troops and their families.” It is an amazing resource.

As you can see from the sampling above, there are many really good programs out there matching those in the armed forces with those who want to do something to show them how much they are appreciated. Americans are good and generous people and the outpouring of support for those defending our freedom is truly inspiring.

Please list your favorite way to support the troops in the comments section.

— Lorie Byrd

Here are some random musings derived from the political wires:

Border Control

in Maryland:

“Bethesda Lawyer and Washington, D.C. Law Firm Plead Guilty to Immigration Fraud.”

Read the whole thing.

The World’s Smallest Violin

is playing for this rancid piece of garbage.

The World’s Smallest Violin - Part II

is playing for this crime-bot.

Man, I’m all broken up inside about all these crime-zombies getting sentenced to death and executed and such. I’m so distraught I might even have to go to Starbucks, get a mocha, and then read the sports section of the Sac Bee for a while.

$$$$

Total incomes for Joe and Jane Casual Voter and others on Main Street increased above and beyond inflation in four of the last five months; the one down month being that which was affected by Hurricane Bush, er, Katrina.

Rising incomes.
GDP growth of 4.3% last quarter.
Four years of positive GDP growth.
Two-plus years of *strong* GDP growth.
Nearly 2 million W-2 jobs created this year.
Nearly 2.5 million total jobs created this year.
Nearly 4.5 million W-2 jobs created since June 2003.

Yep.

But I suspect 1/3 of those out there in TV Land nevertheless *believe* the country is mired in a recession – even as many of them are driving to Nordstrom in their new Land Rovers.

What liberal media?

What problem with public-sector edukaytion?

What problem with by-rote Democrats being divorced from reality?

Oppressive Gummint

in France.

{gulp}

Oppressive Gummint - Part Deux

Students at two city high schools face $103 fines if they curse while defying teachers or administrators. School police officers already have fined about two dozen students.

{gulp}

That’s in Georgia, right?

Nope.

Tennessee? Alabama? North Carolina? Mississippi?

Nope.

Connecticut.

— Jayson

Here are excerpts of a press release and news conference that will not receive headline treatment by the likes of CNN, MSNBC, NPR, the major networks, the big-city papers, the major blogs, or especially by NRO:

Since taking office, the President has directed an increase of border security funding of 60 percent, and has added resources to hire an additional 1,900 Border Patrol agents. And just a month or so ago, the President signed an appropriations bill that will provide an additional thousand agents, and 2,000 additional [detention] beds, which [ICE] can use to detain people that [it] apprehend[s].

* * *

[ICE is] in the process this year of . . . [moving] from ‘catch-and-release’ to ‘catch-and-remove,’ meaning that people who [ICE] catch[es] at the border are not going to be released on bail; they are going to be held until they are removed back to their home countries.

* * *

[ICE is] moving systematically – nationality by nationality – to apply expedited removal and catch-and-return across the border.

With respect to Hondurans and Brazilians and Nicaraguan [and Guatemalan] nationals apprehended across the entire Southwest border, they’re all now in expedited removal, and that’s allowed [ICE] to decrease the processing time [for removal] from an average of 90 days to approximately 32 days.

* * *

[S]ince [ICE] started the Secure Border Initiative, [the federal government] has removed more than 3,000 non-Mexican illegal aliens using expedited removal, including approximately 300 Honduran nationals every week . . . .

* * *

For the entire fiscal year [2005], the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended over 1.1 million total illegal incursions . . . . Within that group of 1.1 million . . . over 165,000 [were non-]Mexicans . . . . [A]bout 139,000 [of the 1.1 million] . . . were apprehended . . . illegally [returning] . . . [into] the country.

That’s not even the tip of the iceberg.

That press release goes on for scores of paragraphs. DHS Secretary Chertoff fielded numerous questions too.

Read the whole thing.

— Jayson

Job Creation - 2005 - Aggregate

Over the past eleven months, the economy has created 2,438,000 net jobs, of which 1,840,000 have been on the payrolls of established companies.

The following high-paying labor sectors have added substantial quantities of net W-2 jobs during that period:

262,500 - Health care services.
209,600 - Professional services.
132,400 - Finance & Insurance.
296,000 - Construction.
52,300 - Real estate.

Unemployment Rates

8.3 - Nov. 1975.
7.0 - Nov. 1985.
5.6 - Nov. 1995.
5.0 - Nov. 2005.

Wage Growth

For lower-tiered workers – non-managers in the services sectors and production-line workers in the factory sector – average hourly wages increased in November for the twenty-third consecutive month. Over the past year, average hourly and weekly wages for those workers both increased 3.2 percent.

Tax Cuts

President Bush’s major slate of tax cuts – across-the-board reductions in income tax rates, reduced taxes on dividends and capital gains, and massive tax breaks for small businesses – were enacted in May 2003.

The effect of those tax cuts on total non-farm payroll employment throughout the economy can be measured as follows:

Payroll Jobs

May 2000 - 131.9 million.
May 2001 - 132.2 million.
May 2002 - 130.3 million.
May 2003 - 129.8 million.
May 2004 - 131.4 million.
May2005 - 133.4 million.
Nov 2005 - 134.3 million.

That sharp increase in payroll employment following those tax cuts – and despite the effects of the dot.com bust, 9/11, oil prices, Iraq, etc. – nearly is as much of a *coincidence* as a trust-fund liberal malcontent sucking up to Daddy Money Bags after finding out the latter might be thinking about changing his estate plan.

* * *

Note: Raw data here, here and here.

— Jayson

A new Fox News Poll is showing a 9% swing in the President’s job approval. It now registers at 42%, with 48% disapproving.

This should be no surprise, however, because President Bush has always enjoyed a bounce in popularity in November and December.

— Alexander K. McClure