I like Eric Scheie's take on the Larry Craig scandal better then my own. (But there are similarities.)

Writes Scheie:

I realize that there are things missing in this analysis, and of course the biggest problem is that it does not involve actual sex, but the perception of sex. In that respect, Craig's "sex" is like the nonexistent sex of Mark Foley, whose crime was not sex, but sending suggestive emails. (Or Vitter, whose name was found in an address book.) . . .

What is it with these guys that they can't even run a proper sex scandal?

Who ever heard of sex scandals without sex?

At least when the Democrats have a sex scandal, it involves real, honest to goodness sex. Yeah, I know, Bill Clinton said the sex wasn't sex. But let's face it, it was. Had Bill tapped Monica's foot, the most he'd have been accused of was playing footsie, and there'd have been little to no outcry, much less an impeachment. And as Matthew Sheffield makes clear, the double standard is appalling; Democrats keep their jobs after drowning women in cars or keeping male brothels, while Republicans are hounded out of office for sex scandals without even the component of sex.

If I were the American people, I'd be totally sick of sexless Republican sex scandals by now.

The GOP needs to shape up.

UPDATE: Now this guy knows how to throw a good sex scandal, with sex and everything.

(CNN) -- Embattled former district attorney Mike Nifong was held in criminal contempt of court and sentenced to one day in jail Friday for his actions in the flawed Duke lacrosse team rape case.

"Flawed" is putting it mildly. When you think about what he put those young men through, that's a pretty light sentence.

Morty brings a spoonful of vinegar to otherwise rosy economic news.

What really buys happiness? Not income redistribution, but social mobility and economic opportunity. Arthur C. Brooks explains.

Some people have a vested interest in not getting it.

Stolen from Opinion Journal's Political Diary who stole it from, well they did give him credit.

"Speaking at a forum organized by Lance Armstrong on cancer research, Hillary Clinton told Chris Matthews if she is elected president, she will declare war on cancer, and then she will support the war on cancer for two years, and then she will be against it for a year, and then she will back out of it all together" -- Jay Leno, host of NBC's "Tonight Show."

VENICE (Reuters) - A new film about the real-life rape and killing of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl by U.S. soldiers who also murdered her family stunned the Venice festival, with shocking images that left some viewers in tears.

"Redacted", by U.S. director Brian De Palma, is one of at least eight American films on the war in Iraq due for release in the next few months and the first of two movies on the conflict screening in Venice's main competition...

"The movie is an attempt to bring the reality of what is happening in Iraq to the American people," he told reporters after a press screening.

"The pictures are what will stop the war. One only hopes that these images will get the public incensed enough to motivate their Congressmen to vote against this war," he said.

UPDATE:

Additionally, in light of NFL QB Michael Vick's admissions of supporting the brutal sport of dogfighting, De Palma called for the immediate deportation of "every black person in America."

"The reality of what is happening in America's black community - dogfighting, drugs, violence, etc. should incense the American people. I hope they realize that the only thing that can save our country are interment camps and mass deportations."

Actually, De Palma's statements are so offensive they are beyond satirizing.

It appears that De Palma, who's career has been floundering since his 1990 butchering of Tom Wolfe's "Bonfire of the Vanities," is hoping to win his way back into the affections of the Hollywood community by slandering members of America's military by painting them as a bunch of blood-thirsty rapists.

If he thinks the "reality of what is happening Iraq" can be summed by the actions of a handful of renegade soldiers, he is as pathetically twisted and deranged as Osama bin Laden.

For, if that is the "reality" of our involvement in Iraq, the terrorists are right to want to see us all dead.

But, of course, it's not. No reasonable person, no reasonable critic of this war could believe what De Palma is trying to sell and they should say so, quickly and definitively.

In the meantime, our enemies have found another Useful Idiot, this one of epic proportions, in their propaganda war against America and the west.

UPDATE II:

And, by the way, just who does Mr. De Palma think brought the soldiers in question to justice?

It wasn't the Iraqi government or the U.N. or the World Court.

It was the American military, who investigated, tried and found five men guilty of murder and rape. The ringleader got sentenced to 110 years in prison. Though, I bet if it were put to a vote of the American people, he'd have gotten the death penalty.

In Saddam Hussein's Iraq, military personnel were actually encouraged and promoted for committing such crimes. Saddam's use of rape and murder to oppress the Iraqi people was common and well documented by human rights organizations around the world.

How's that for a little reality?

De Palma's comments just show how incredibly ignorant and stupid he is.

Instead of just letting his movie speak for itself, he announces to the world how he wishes it to be taken; as an indictment of a gratuitously cruel America with its evil war machine of dehumanized human robots.

Yeah, that's this guy (just scroll down a little.) That's what he's all about.

If De Palma actually believes his own tripe, how could he even think about returning to live in America. Maybe he doesn't. Here's hoping.

This little guy reminds me of somebody. Guess who?

Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, un-biased journalist, reveals she a bad case of Obamania and a pretty poor understanding of how the insurance industry works.

Steve Salerno takes her to the woodshed.

One thing is again made clear by the Sen. Larry Craig scandal:

When it comes to these sorts of things, Republicans have higher standards of personal behavior than Democrats. Individual Republicans may not always live up to them but when they don't and they're caught, they are punished.

Democrats, on the other hand, caught in similarly bad or ugly situations, are punished much less severely by their colleagues and their voters.

(Think Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton.)

Republicans call for resignations. Democrats call for understanding, then stand behind their sinners.

During the Clinton impeachment hearings, it was Republican Congressman Bob Livingston who having admitted to adulterous behavior himself, resigned. He wasn't guilty of the egregious conduct that Bill Clinton was. He hadn't lied to a federal judge, obstructed justice or committed perjury. But he resigned just the same.

Clinton, on the other hand, apologized but refused to resign. Later, he blamed those who had revealed his awful conduct and behavior more than he blamed himself for engaging in it.

Republicans have brought this double standard on themselves by adopting the mantle as the Party of Family Values. Having done so, they have to live up to that higher standard.

The military does the same thing with its code of conduct. It holds its personnel to much higher standards than the typical civilian organization.

Again, having the standards doesn't always mean they are lived up to by each and every person, only that the standards are there and they are high, relative to the low behavioral hurdles Democrats set for their own leaders.

Democrat Patrick Moynihan coined the phrase "defining deviancy down." Certainly, that has been the effect of the liberal agenda for the past 40 years. We have defined deviancy way down.

Killers and perverts are not bad or evil, they are sick and in need of therapy.

That's one of the attractive things about being a Democrat, you can get away with more and get punished less.

Barney Frank may have had a gay brothel being run out of his home but at least he wasn't a hypocrite. He never claimed to be straight or a stickler for anti-solicitation laws.

Ted Kennedy may have been a drunk and killed a girl but he never ran for office as a tough-on-crime, teetotaler.

President Bill Clinton may have been lecherous exploiter of vulnerable women (Kathleen Willey and Juanita Brodderick, to name just two) but at least he supported abortion on demand and Americans, thanks to Gennifer Flowers, knew what they were getting when they voted for him.

Americans are not yet comfortable with political leaders who are drawn to having anonymous sex in public toilets.

But give those who would define deviancy down even further a little time. It could happen sooner than you think.

That what Tigerhawk calls it.

Having just yesterday confused the Declaration of Independence with the U.S. Constitution, the NYT editorial page bristles that a French Prme minister would speak to harshly to Iran concerning it's goal of getting a nuclear bomb.

Read the whole thing.

Chester Housing Authority honcho Bob Rosenberg called me Wednesday to say I had a "factual error" in my column about his plan to tear down the Chester Towers.

Specifically, that it was incorrect to suggest that the HUD/CHA plan would not pay taxes to the city. (I didn't say that but its fair to say I didn't suggest it would pay taxes.)

Rosenberg said under the "mixed finance project," the private developer would be paying "significant" taxes to the county and city because it would be privately owned by the developer.

Surprised, that the developer would take actual ownership of the property, I asked him more about it. Rosenberg corrected himself.

He said he believed the development company would lease the property, maybe for 100 years, but that would still mean taxes would be paid.

I thanked him and told him I'd check it out.

My understanding now is, yes, some taxes would be paid but not nearly as much, over the long term, as by a private developer taking ownership of the property, fixing it out and renting it out at market rates.

I took the opportunity to ask Rosenberg about his claim that the property at 10th and Chestnut streets (offered in a land swap deal) was "contaminated." That he didn't back off of.

Although, he admitted to have done no environmental tests, he said he'd sent an engineer to the site to evaluate it and he concurred. He didn't name the engineer and I didn't ask. Buy given all the asbestos that has to be dealt with in the tearing down of the towers and the cost of doing it, preparing the 10th and Chestnut site for development would probably still be a lot cheaper than the $4 to $5 million it will cost to bring the towers down.

But there was another reason Rosenberg would never seriously consider the land swap: He didn't like the location.

It would have required the moving of the proposed "arts and cultural center" away from Chester's main drag making it less accessible and visible to visitors.

Chester Developer Peter Barrow who is for saving the towers for private development is skeptical about the long-term success of Rosenberg's project, especially the community arts center.

He wants to know who is going to pay the money to keep it up and running. And where all the people they are expecting to come to performances there will park.

To him it sounds more like a sop to community art groups to gain their support of the housing development plan.

(To me too.)

Respected developer and real estate appraiser Ed Paul maintains that Rosenberg's project does not meet the standard of highest and "best use" for the property. It may have once, when it was first proposed more than a decade ago. But not anymore.

More on this later.

(Find today's silly print column on Chester's Twin Towers at Delcotimes.com and the one before it here for a little more background.)

Bless me father, for I have a Hummer

This is outrageous I bet the questions were culturally biased.

You thought the Phils were done after the Mets' 5-run 8th inning. I know I did.
Wow!

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit catches the boys and girls on the NYT Editorial Board misquoting the U.S. Constitution.

"THE NEW YORK TIMES' EDITORS think that the phrase "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" is in the Constitution. But then, they believe many things that are demonstrably untrue."

Here's a link" to the NYT edit.

Thank God and the Founders for the First Amendment. If we had to have a license to "report the news," the Times would have lost theirs a long time ago.

Hey, maybe they meant the Japanese Constitution. It's in there.

If only we had elected John Kerry, things would be much much better.

Harpy Susan Estrich has a few angry questions for "Senator Wide Stance."

"An airport men's room? Couldn't you do better than that, Senator? After consistently voting against efforts to protect gay and lesbian Americans from hate crimes and to preserve their civil rights, you go into the men's room at the airport and try to pick up the guy in the next stall?"

Question: If he'd voted FOR hate-crimes legislation would it have protected him from Susan's HATE?

"RICHMOND, Va., Aug. 29 — A state panel has sharply criticized decisions made by Virginia Tech before and after last April’s shooting massacre, saying university officials could have saved lives by notifying students and faculty members earlier about the killings on campus."

And what, you ask, might a few students or faculty members exercising their Second Amendment rights have done to save lives? Don't be silly. The campus was a "No Gun Zone" where only mad men are permitted to have firearms.

Democrats only eat their own.

Is Marlon Anderson still being paid by the Phillies?

More on the failure of Affirmative Action policies from Professor Bainbridge and the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
When are progressives going to get it. They hurt more than they help.

The Global Warmers get bad news

Libertarian Nick Gillespie writes in the LA Times on the Sen. Larry Craig scandal that we should keep "Government out of the Bathroom."

He might want to rethink that.

What right do individuals have to engage in sexual activity in public? The answer is none! And to the extent that laws against lewd and lascivious conduct are not enforced we will see a lot more of it.

Gillespie may have an argument about whether stationing police officers in public johns is the best use of tax dollars.

But if people want to have sex in a bathroom and not risk arrest, let them have it in their own.

Of course, for some people the risk of getting caught, is part of the thrill. I say we keep the thrill in bathroom sex. Arrest the idiots.

Bad news out of Delaware Park.

My father called me yesterday to tell me that Once is Enough, the two-year-old filly of whom he is part-owner, came up lame after Sunday's race.

My brother, some friends and our wives, went down to see her run her first race Sunday.

My folks were up at Saratoga where they go every summer so they couldn't make it.
We were supposed to represent the family in the Winner's Circle, if by chance she won.

She almost did.

She took the lead early and for most of the race, but failed to hold it down the homestretch.

After the race, her jockey, Mario Pino, told her trainer Larry Jones, she was running so well and so easily he thought she had the race won.

"I guess she just doesn't have the class we thought she did," Pino told Jones.
Minutes later she was limping in the paddock. An x-ray showed she had a broken bone in her knee.

Her racing career is probably over.

The good news, Jones told me when I called him yesterday, is that she is resting comfortably, without being shot full of painkillers, and she can put weight on her bad knee. This is to say, she is not in any immediate danger of having to be put down.
"Maybe we should have named her Once is Not Enough," Jones told me Monday, trying to lighten the mood.

Injuries have shortened and even ended a lot athletes' careers. Thoroughbred race horses are especially vulnerable to not just career-ending injuries, but life-threatening ones.

But as to her "class" well, we may never know how good she could have been.
We do know one thing: she had heart.

They can't tell when the injury occurred, but a good bet is that it happened down the homestretch while she was still in lead of her first race ever.

My 82-year-old father and my step-mom watched the race on simulcast in Saratoga.
My old man knows about two things: newspapers and racehorses.

At the end of our conversation Monday, during which he notified me that her racing career was over, he said this:

"She was so game."

He would know.

We like comments. We want comments. But some are getting a little too long. I won't mention any names (David) but shorten 'em up, people. We want comments, not dissertations.

The Management

Hmmmm, this looks fishy

UPDATE: The Los Angeles Times reports in Wednesday's print editions that a major Democratic Party fundraiser named Norman Hsu is wanted by authorities for skipping out on an agreement to serve up to three years in prison after pleading no contest to grand theft swindling charges.

Hsu's lawyer confirmed today that his client was the one involved in the California case but said he did not remember pleading to a criminal case nor facing jail time.

Sounds a little like the old Steve Martin defense

From today's Daily Times:

"Charged with first-degree murder and related offenses, William Ernest, of the 3400 block of Commerce Circle, was accompanied by his daughter, his son-in-law and his defense attorney when he surrendered at police headquarters Tuesday morning.

“Mr. Ernest is absolutely guilty of loving his wife of 59 years,” defense attorney Richard Daubenberger said Tuesday night. “He did not commit these heinous allegations and we look forward to defending the allegations in court.”

No, Ernest is accused of commiting an heinous acts. The DA's office is committing the allegations, and it will be defending the allegations in court. Mr. Daubenberger will be defending Mr. Ernest by challenging the allegations.

Kevin Berger interviews Danish environmentalist and author Bjorn Lomborg over at Salon.com on global warming.

The interview has the quality of a teacher patiently explaining things to a 15-year-old who keeps going "Yeah, but... what about..."

See if you don't agree.

The always reasonable Robert Samuelson weighes on the Blame Game over the slump in the housing market. It's always nice to hear from an adult when it comes to economic matters, as opposed to people like this guy who always reminded me of this guy Carmen Ghia from the original The Producers.

E.J. Dionne predicts The Beginning of Accountability with the resignation of AG Gonzales.

Robert Bork predicts the continuation of a lot of Democratic mischief

Read them both. I know who I think's right.

John Edwards says there are two Americas. He's right. If by that, he means the Haves and the Have Mores.

According to Robert Rector at the Heritage Foundation:

"Overall, the typical American defined as poor by the government has a car, air conditioning, a refrig erator, a stove, a clothes washer and dryer, and a microwave. He has two color televisions, cable or satellite TV reception, a VCR or DVD player, and a stereo. He is able to obtain medical care. His home is in good repair and is not overcrowded. By his own report, his family is not hungry and he had sufficient funds in the past year to meet his family's essential needs. While this individual's life is not opulent, it is equally far from the popular images of dire poverty conveyed by the press, liberal activists, and politicians."

This is not to say they're aren't people in this country who have it really tough. But it is to say that when you define someone as poor who has all the stuff mentioned above, you're living in a pretty extraordinary country.

Warning: A really bad and offensive word was used in the making of this video. So clear the room of children under the age of 22. Other than that, enjoy.

Hat tip: To Francis G.

Long but fascinating report on two domestic surveillence cases argued in the notoriously liberal 9th Circuit. Note how the media covered it. And note the terrorism history of one of the plaintiff's.

Republican Sen. Larry Craig, pleads guilty to disorderly bathroom conduct.

According to the story, Craig, 62, is married and in his third term in the Senate. Craig hasn't said if he plans to run for a fourth term in 2008.

I'd say the chances are pretty good... NOT!

As Bret Stephens makes clear Global Warming is both real and real exaggerated.

One of the problems is how some global warming scientists have made mistakes but have been slow to admit them for fear of discrediting the whole enterprise.

And then there is the alarmist community headed by Al Gore.

As Stephens points out (and I have pointed out in the past) the man to listen to on the subject is Danish scientist Bjorn Lomborg, author of The Skeptical Environmentalist and now, Cool It. Lomborg says GW is real and a real problem but one of many facing the human race that needs to be prioritized.

Let's keep our heads people.

He says he needs to "grow up" claims he has found Jesus and will redeem himself. We wish him God speed.

First, though, an indefinite suspension and a well-deserved trip to the slammer.

These nutty French men. All they want to do is kill, kill, kill. What do they think they are, Texans?

Can't they leave this this poor man alone?

Swarthmore's Geoff Semenuk writes the Daily Times to correct perceived errors in a recent editorial on global warming.

Semenuk points out that Steve McIntyre, the man who discovered that NASA's measurements of the hottest U.S. years on record were off, is not a climatologist. He's a former mining exec who has taken an interest in global warming science. Semenuk is correct.

Past that, it is Semenuk who is "wrong" when it comes to some of his own assertions.

While giving McIntyre credit for discovering NASA's error, which caused NASA to quietly, and embarrassingly, recalculate its figures, Semenuk dismisses the significance of "tiny correction."

For years Al Gore has been saying the hottest year on record was 1998. It wasn't. According to NASA's recalculated figures it was 1934.
In his movie, An Inconvenient Truth Gore asserted that nine of the ten hottest years in U.S. history occurred since 1995.

No matter, says Semenuk, scientists still agree that 10 of the hottest years on record world-wide have occurred between 1989 and 2006.

This isn't "changing the script"?

Semenuk went on to write:

"Printing an editorial like this, that implies that global warming is myth rather than fact, is extremely irresponsible."

But the editorial said or implied nothing of the kind.

Having pointed NASA's error, we stated flatly, this "does not mean that global warming isn't happening or that it is not a serious and important issue."

How is that implying global warming is a "myth?"

Semenuk is no climatologist either. He's the associate director of Alumni relations at Swarthmore College and a member of Swarthmore's borough council. That makes him no more professionally qualified to weigh in on this subject than anybody else.

We are all entitled to our own opinions when it comes to the seriousness of the problem of global warming and what we should do about it.

But we are not entitled to misstate and misrepresent what other people are saying about it.

Not without being called on it.

The perfect Christmas gift for Michael Nifong and the Group of 88

Brett Myers is a big, fat loser with an anger management problem. Over the weekend he called a reporter a "retard," a "f-ing idiot" and assorted other unprintable names. He also threatened to beat him up all because he didn't the way he asked a certain question.

Myers' angry rant can be heard here (Careful, kids. He's says a lot of really baaaad words.)

If you're interested, I have good reason to believe there is going to be an excellent editorial concerning Myers' classless behavior in tomorrow's Daily Times. Check it out.

(The following is an exchange of e-mails that occurred between Sunday night and Monday afternoon between myself and David Diano. Note: Remarks in my first e-mailed response back to Diano are recreated from memory due to an editing malfunction. Everything else is verbatim.)

Gil -

I enjoy fun and games with blogging/writing you. However, I just saw your print edition announcement (sic) about the Spencer blog, and you crossed the line.
You wrote:

"I hate Spencer, but I love Spencerblog," coos Havertown’s David Diano. I like to post comments really late at night after doing shrooms with my friends."

I never made any such quote.

Despite the satirical nature (using murderess for another commenter), the use of quotes associated with my name crosses a line. Someone that read only up to that point might think I really said such a thing.

Whenever I put words in your mouth in my postings, I am always careful to indicate it's a fantasy or what I imagine you think, etc. Harsh as I am with you, I do try to play by some rules.

If you want to imply that my opinions sound drug induced or I'm a liberal nutcase, that is one thing, but to make it appear that I'm claiming to be a drug
user is something else entirely. It borders on, if not crosses into, being libelous. I think I might ask a lawyer friend for a opinion.

You and the editors might want to check with your legal staff and consider a retraction/clarification because the use of quotes and the use of my name in an endorsement. If you want to use quotes in the future, it damn well better be from something I actually said or wrote. Even if you don't understand this fundamental point, your editors should know better and clearly need to keep a closer watch on what you right.

This letter is NOT for publication.

Sincerely,
David Diano

David,

In response to your e-mail, I have written the follow blog entry that I have yet to post, here is what it says...

Attention Spencerblog readers:

I have just received an e-mail from David Diano who wants it made clear that the obviously made-up, silly quote I attributed to him in Sunday's print column raving about this blog, was not actually said by him.

While recognizing the "satirical nature" of the column, he is worried that somebody might actually think he "said such a thing."

Well, he didn't. And let me say that anyone who thinks he did, is both wrong and, may I say, stupid.

Diano writes that whenever he has put words in my mouth in his own writings he makes it clear that it is a "fantasy" or "what I imagine you think."

I'll take his word for it in good faith.

Diano has asked for a clarification/correction. I am happy to provide it.

Once again, David Diano never said, "I hate Spencer, but I love Spencerblog. I like
to post comments really late at night after doing shrooms with my friends."

That was satire. Diano knows it was satire. Anyone in their right mind would know it is satire. Diano writes to say that he might talk to a "lawyer friend" to get their opinion.

By all means.

Suddenly, David Diano is Jerry Falwell and I am Larry Flynt.

"If you want to use quotes in the future," writes Diano, "it damn well better be
from something I actually said or wrote. Even if you don't understand this fundamental point, your editors should know better and clearly need to keep a closer watch on what you right (sic)."

That quote I did not make up. When it comes to his "righting," Maybe Diano could use a "closer watch" himself.

There. That said, David, I think you are being something of a baby. Man-up and admit there is nothing libelous about you in that column.

Until you do, your comments will not be welcome on my blog. Any you do post will be removed.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Also sincerely,

Gil Spencer

(The following morning, Monday, Diano posted a comment on Spenceblog. It was removed and followed by this e-mail.)


David,

I trust you are in receipt of my e-mail from last night responding to your threat of legal action.

I thought I made it clear that I don't want you posting comments on my blog until we clear this matter up. Any that you do post will be removed.

Your privileges will be restored if and when you e-mail Phil Heron admitting that you were wrong to threaten a libel suit for something that was clearly satirical.

You may recall that Larry Flynt prevailed over Jerry Falwell in the Supreme Court after writing that Falwell was a drunk and had sex with his mother in an outhouse. The vote was 9-0.

My right to write satirical material is protected by The First Amendement. Be grateful that it protects your's as well.

I look forward to your response and to your doing the right thing.

Gil Spencer


Gil -

1) I made my posting BEFORE I read your email.
2) You should be MAN enough to realize that you were not clear enough
in drawing the line of satire vs use of quotes.
3) I was not so much making a threat of legal action as to warning you
that your posting seemed to cross the line and alert your editors to keep
a closer eye on you.
4) Try a similar print article quoting Andy Reilly as a child molester
and see how satirical he finds it.
5) For the record (and restoration of my blogging privileges) I'm not
going to pursue legal action for libel. First Amendment aside, I doubt I
could overcome a defense of "diminished mental capacity". :-)

David

(And finally...)

David -

1. In your original e-mail, you didn't write that I "seemed" to cross the line. You wrote that I crossed it. I didn't.

2. I admit no such thing.

3. My editors don't need your advice.

4. Just the other day in another satirical piece I put words in Andy Reilly's mouth and didn't hear boo about it. He's a guy's guy and can take a little ribbing.

5. Your veiled admission that you have no case for a libel suit is noted.

6. Your suggestion that I suffer from "diminished capacity" hurt my feelings. I called my attorney. He told me to call my mommy.

7. I am not a stickler for apologies. Your blogging privileges are herewith restored.

Advice to Democrats: Look away.

Mark Steyn reminds those who would prefer to forget what happened in Southeast Asia when the anti-war party convinced the country to call it quits and skaddaddle.

Money quote:

"As the New York Times put it, "In urging Americans to stay the course in Iraq, Mr. Bush is challenging the historical memory that the pullout from Vietnam had few negative repercussions for the United States and its allies."

Well, it had a "few negative repercussions" for America's allies in South Vietnam, who were promptly overrun by the North. And it had a "negative repercussion" for former Cambodian Prime Minister Sirik Matak, to whom the U.S. ambassador sportingly offered asylum. "I cannot, alas, leave in such a cowardly fashion," Matak told him. "I never believed for a moment that you would have this sentiment of abandoning a people which has chosen liberty … . I have committed this mistake of believing in you, the Americans."

So Sirik Matak stayed in Phnom Penh and a month later was killed by the Khmer Rouge, along with about 2 million other people. If it's hard for individual names to linger in the New York Times' "historical memory," you'd think the general mound of corpses would resonate."

Sweet dreams.

Check out this amazing smackdown of PBS blowhard Bill Moyers.

Just got back from Delaware Park where my Dad and stepmom had a horse running, their one and only.

Her name is Once is Enough, she's a two-year-old filly and it was her first race. After leading most of the way, she came in third.

It's been more than 35 years since I've been to Delaware Park. I recall being taken there by my folks when I was kid. It looks exactly as I remember it, except for the balloon slide and the slot machines. It's as pretty as ever.

Because my folks are up in Saratoga where they go every year at this time, my brother and I were ordered to represent the family at the race. If Once happened to win were were supposed get our pictures taken in the Winners' Circle with her. She didn't win, but what a nice day.

We and our friends got to go inside the paddock and meet Once's trainer J. Larry Jones. He is one of the top trainers on the East Coast.

(I had no idea. My friend Kathy Kane who rides every year at Devon, had to fill us in. As in -- "LARRY JONES is your trainer?" And "She's being ridden by MARIO PINO? Don't you know WHO these people are?"

Jones had just come down from Saratoga himself where he won the King's Bishop yesterday with his 3-year-old colt Hard Spun. Pino, his regular rider, was on his back.

After the race, both Jones and Pino looked happy with Once's effort. Kathy, a good judge of horse flesh, was impressed too.

"Look, how sound she is," she remarked. I pretended to know what she meant.

I look forward to seeing Once run again.

I'm not much of a handicapper but I'll get back down to Delaware Park sooner rather than later.

Once every 35 years is not enough.

Also at the popular, liberal Huffington Post, Lawrence O'Donnell joins the NAACP, New York Knick Stephon Marbury and Michael Vick in innocently asking "What's Wrong with Killing Dogs?"

Could some progressively-minded person please explain it to him. He won't listen to us.

Here's a direct link to Martin Lewis' call at the Huffington Post for George Bush to be arrested and court-martialed.
I've seen this movie: It's called "Seven Days in May." It was good. But I thought Burt Lancaster was the villian. Silly me.

The Wall Street Journal has put the full Affirmative Action Backfires online. It's worth reading the whole thing.
In the meantime, a Spencerblog anonymous poster and law school admissions person explains to the thick of head:


"Affirmative action means just what it says: acting affirmatively to assure that minorities are represented in a pool of jobholders, students, etc.

What this generally entails is lowering, or, if you prefer, deemphasizing standard measures, like test scores, so that more minorities make the cut.

For example, in law school admissions, if the school requires students to have an LSAT score of "X" plus a GPA of "Y", if this formula doesn't yield enough black students, then Penn will say, we'll admit all black students with an LSAT of "X" minus 10, and a GPA of "Y" minus 10, and to make up for those 20 points, we'll give them credit for life experience or something like that.

Believe me, I know. I worked in law school admissions.

(I mention black students because enough Latinos always make the cut without affirmative action, or at least enough Cubans and South Americans do; Mexicans and Puerto Ricans don't. Don't call me a racist; this is just a fact. That's why we have affirmative action.)"

Won Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards this year. I didn't think it was possible for there to be a better film than "Pan's Labyrinth" and thought it was robbed.

It wasn't.

The Lives of Others just came out on DVD. I'm going to watch it again, now. It's worth seeing twice.

First, so-called Progressives call for impeachment of the President. Now they're calling for a military coup. Apparently, it's only "fascism" if conservatives do it.

Jonah Goldberg explains the evil of Michael Vick and the wonderfulness of dogs.

Money quote:

What we see most clearly in dogs are precisely the things we as human beings wish to see in ourselves: loyalty, joy, love, home, family, commitment, humor, and an utter disregard for the pieties and pretenses of fashionable life... My dog cares not that he is beautiful, that he is rich, that he is prized. All he cares about is that he is loved and that he has someone to love back. And if that someone happens to have a piece of ham behind his back, well, he’s no fool either.


Indeed, as many have noted, dogs look to us as we look to God. Even Ambrose Bierce, a great cynic, defined “reverence” as “the spiritual attitude of a man to a god and a dog to a man.”


This helps us understand why finding joy in cruelty to animals is horrific. Torturing a dog or a cat for sport is not disgusting because animals have rights, it is repugnant because human beings have obligations. If animals look to us as gods, and we in turn torture them for our amusement, have we not willingly made ourselves into devils?"

Read the whole thing.

One day after recommending that Michael Vick should be allowed to return to the NFL after serving time for his role in a dogfighting operation, Atlanta NAACP President R.L. White called for O.J. Simpson to be reinstated as a commentator for Monday Night Football.
"O.J. Simpson was never convicted of anything, yet society has ruthlessly excluded him from his chosen professions as a sports analyst and an actor," said White.
"Yesterday, I said that we should all aid Michael Vick in his rehabilitation and welcome him back into the community after he serves his time. Well, the same goes for Mr. Simpson."
White said Simpson was a victim of the same sort of "rush to judgement," that Vick recently faced.
"A jury found him not guilty in the regrettable stabbing deaths of his wife and that other guy and yet 12 years later Mr. Simpson is still vilified and prevented from making the sort of living to which he is entitled," White said.
At the same press conference, White also called for Ms. Crystal Gail Magnum, the accuser in the Duke lacrosse rape case, to be reinstated in her job at Jiggles Strip Club and for her corporate sponsors to immediately reactivate all her endorsement deals.

Hillary Clinton asks al Qaeda to help her beat the GOP, hold off on terror until after her election.
Osama, watch out for her "army of lawyers." Heh.

Tom McGrath has an interesting piece in Philly Mag -- "The Worst Parents Ever." It contains this nugget:

"A study released earlier this year found that the current generation of college students is the most narcissistic ever. In the study, psychologists asked students to respond to statements like, “If I ruled the world, it would be a better place,” “I think I am a special person” and “I can live my life any way I want to.” Two-thirds of the kids showed elevated levels of narcissism — 30 percent more than when the study was first done in 1982.
How did this happen?"

I say it might have something to do with the well-meaning, but idiotic, Self-Esteem movement that took off in public schools around then. And I've been saying it for years.
You can find McGrath's more complicated answer here. You decide.

Based on what I read they should have called it "The Worst, Most Screwed Up Kids Ever." I'm not buying it.

What is it about this video that reminds me of Wednesday night's school board meeting.

What these dogs need is a Dog Park.

Interestingly enough, you can blame Affirmative Action.

To all posters: Your comments will no longer be moderated by me before they are posted. That frees me up and allows you to see your wonderful snippets posted immediately. However, patently offensive posts will be deleted by me, Spencerblog Master.
Cheers.

Just when local Democrats were showing signs of having a chance in the upcoming county council races, the GOP machine roared into action to stop the insurgents in their tracks.
The Republican brain trust put their heads together and came up with the most devilish plot ever to woo voters and leave Democratic candidates sputtering about the unfairness of it all: A dog park.
Even though we all know Republicans secretly hate dogs (cats too), they have fiendishly reached out to a large constituency to make it look like they care about them and their owners.
Coming off severe criticism that he accused Democratic council candidate David Landau of being an ACLU-type attorney, GOP leader and County Council president Andy Reilly recently wondered out loud if Landau didn't once work in a lab where shaved bunnies were used to test the toxicity of eye-liner and other cosmetics.
Stepping into the GOP trap, county Democrats rushed to condemn the dog park as a terrible idea and waste of money.
"We don't have a county health department," said Dem county chairman Cliff Wilson, "and these guys blow 300 grand on a dog park?"
Republicans were quick to respond.
"Just because Cliff Wilson hates dogs and never picks up after his own, doesn't mean a dog park is a bad idea," said retired Springfield GOP chairman Charles P. Sexton. Sexton has pretended to love dogs for 60 years.
"In truth, I prefer ferrets. I have 30 of them in my basement. But that's off the record and if you report it, I'll deny it."

Hillary Clinton announced the other day that if there was another terrorist attack against this country, it would boost Republican chances to do well in the 2008 elections. Finally, a principled reason for Democrats to fight radical jihadism and prevent a future attack against this country.
After 9/11, Michael "Sicko" Moore complained Osama bin Laden's attack was misplaced because NYC was not a Republican town.
Stupid terrorists. Don't they know who their real enemies are?

Seven veterans of the surge in Iraq recently penned a piece critical of the war that appeared in the New York Times. Here is a response from seven of their fellow veterans (with a link to their original piece).

Money quote:

We understand the frustration our fellow soldiers feel. All of us were in Iraq before the "surge" and lament never seeing a coherent, security-based counterinsurgency strategy. In truth, we were only clearing--not holding.
But we also know what's possible when even small portions of counterinsurgency strategy are applied. Insurgents are exposed, leaders stand up, and stability occurs. General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker understand the principles of counterinsurgency and are applying them up and down the chain of command. It's unfortunate that soldiers in the 82nd Airborne have not yet benefited from the new strategy, but it will ensure that their actions, and those of their fallen brethren, will not have been in vain.

Meanwhile, we applaud our brothers in the 82nd Airborne for their courage under fire, thank them for their commitment to our nation, and pray for the recovery of their injured co-author.

I took no pleasure in reading the story about murderers Frank and Diane Metzger's son, ripping off his elderly grandparents for $75,000, their life savings. They took him in when he was 3 months old and raised him as their own.
It can't be easy growing up knowing your parents are a couple of low-life murderers but still... Leaving destitute the people who raised you is pretty low thing to do. He deserves whatever punishment he gets.
At the time of their crimes, much was made about Frank and Diane's membership in Mensa, the genius society.
Doesn't look like their son inherited their brains, even if he did inherit their morals.

Congressman Rahm Emanuel defends earmarks.
(Hey, I've got to give the guy a plug, my nephew is interning for him this summer doing opposition research against Republicans.)

As Democratic Presidential Candidate John Edwards says, Americans face an important choice.

"The choice we must make is as important as it is clear.
It is a choice between looking back and looking forward.
A choice between the way we've always done it and the way we could do it if we dared.
A choice between corporate power and the power of democracy."

A choice between people with well-groomed, naturally beautiful hair and people like Fred Thompson, who have hardly any hair at all.

I think Frank J. and the boys would love to lick the sweat off Fred Thompson's forehead.

John Edwards just can't get any respect

CRAWFORD, Texas (AP) – GOP strategist Karl Rove won't let up in his attacks on Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton, but the intriguing question is why. -- Aug 20, 2007.
Having pointed out her high negative ratings among the electorate, Rove brutally called Clinton a "fatally flawed candidate."
Rove isn't the only person to attempt to hurt Clinton by hurling devasting truths in her general direction.
Associated Press political reporter Ron Fournier, a veteran of many presidential elections, also went after the former First Lady with a viciousness rarely scene outside of Michael Vick's Bad Newz Kennels or Republican tupperware parties.
"A candidate's unfavorability scores almost always climb during campaigns," Fournier said as he repeatedly punched Mrs. Clinton in the stomach. "If the pattern holds, Clinton has a historically high hurdle to overcome."
Earlier this year, Markos Moulitsas, editor of the liberal political blog, the Daily Kos, widely read by Democratic party activists, hissed venom directly into Mrs. Clinton's face. He slimeily pointed out Democrats were increasingly concerned whether Hillary would hurt the party's other candidates in competitive congressional battleground races if she led the party's ticket.
"Hillary would be a drag on races lower on the ballot," Moulitsas said, as he ripped one of her ears off and casually tossed it into a nearby aquarium. "In fact, her potential nomination is already creating all sorts of headaches for Senate and House recruitment efforts in tough states and districts," he spewed. "This is a dynamic not at play with any of the other serious candidates," he crowed, as Mrs. Clinton ear was devoured by Mr. Kos' goldfish.
Writing in the National Journal late last month, reporter Marc Ambinder joined the Clinton hatefest.
"Some Democrats fret about state legislators in marginal districts" if Hillary is the nominee. "And several freshman members of Congress have told their political consultants they're not quite sure what impact Clinton will have," he wrote while throwing darts at a recent photo of the Democratic front-runner taped to his bathroom door.
"People are concerned about her unfavorables, but I think it is way too early to use that as an indicator of what is going to happen in November should she become the nominee," said Bud Jackson, a Democratic media campaign adviser, who admits to hating Clinton with a passion he's says makes Karl Rove look like a sweet, furry little bunny. "Right now these polls are based on what people have already lived through with Hillary Clinton as first lady. It's going to be different when she is standing up as the candidate as opposed to first lady," said Mr. Jackson. He paused for two seconds, then shouted the word, "NOT!"
Asked about all the hate being directed at Sen. Clinton world-wide, a spokesperson for her campaign who asked not to be identified, said "Hey, we know how they feel. There isn't one of us who doesn't loathe her to the core of our beings. And we're working our asses off to get her elected. Go figure."

I've been working all day on my print column for tomorrow. It's on the Penn Delco school solicitor situation.
Suffice to say, I think Mark Sereni is finished. After Wednesday night, there is no saving his job.
School board president Dave Seitz told me he hopes Sereni can read the writing on the wall and does the honorable thing. (I called Seitz today and left a message wondering if we were still talking after I blasted him for not standing up to Sereni at July's board meeting. He manned up and called me back. I told him I appreciated it.)
Of course, boardmembers John Green and Kim SanGiorgio support Sereni's ouster, along with Jim Haley and presumably Carol Cannon, who was away on vacation and was not there to vote.
Sereni still has the apparent support of Kim Robinson, Gina Orr, Tony Ruggieri and new boardmember Margaret DiVito, who surprised a lot of people by not only supporting Sereni but going after Kim SanGiorgio for even making the motion.
Whether DiVito voted "no" on the motion because she wanted to know more and collect more facts before replacing Sereni or there was some other reason, is hard to say.
I have been told by people I trust that before joining the board DiVito had privately expressed the view that Sereni had to go. Wonder what changed her mind?
In the meantime, a solicitor who doesn't have the public support of a majority of the board members isn't long for his job.

A 25-year-old friend of mine said I had to see the movie "Superbad." He said it's "awesome," by which, he meant very funny. It's rated R. I asked him if I could take my 14-year-old daughter to it.
"No way," he replied.
I asked Mallory if she wanted to see it.
"Absolutely," she said. And she wanted to bring her girlfriend, Sarah.
Of course, I took them. Because when it comes to parenting I don't take advice from 25-year-old single men.
I was wrong. He was right. The movie is funny. But no responsible parent should permit their teenage son or daughter to see it.
I asked my daughter if she was ruined. She said no, but we'll see.
I also asked Sarah, who replied, "I feel like my innocence has been stolen."
I'm not a bad parent. I'm a Superbad parent.

Come to think of it, maybe the trailer is enough.

I haven't written anything on the Michael Vick case because it all seemed so obvious. What he involved himself in is just so awful, disgusting and offensive that words don't begin to condemn it. What he did, and has admitted to, personally killing and torturing dogs for sport dismisses him from civilized society.
That said, it is interesting that the reaction to Vick's transgressions, seems much more angry and passionate than if he had actually sexually assaulted a human being.
I recently asked a young woman why she thought that was. Her answer was as short, as it was insightful.
"Dogs don't lie!" she said.

(*Bill Veeck owned the Chicago White Socks (and other teams) and was famous for putting a midget up to the plate to get a walk. It worked. He a wrote a book called Veeck as in Wreck. I went to college with his son.)

Good interview with a Marine captain in Fallujah. The surge, at this point, is working though there are still no guarantees of ultimate success. As the captain says, "we won't know for years..." Sounds right to me.

There appears to be another petition circulating in the Penn Delco school district, besides the one to to fire board solicitor Mark Sereni. It salutes the career of teacher Frank Dowman who passed away recently.
The testimonials from his colleagues and students are voluminous and touching. Petioners suggest naming a wing at the high school after him, something the school board might want to take under advisement. Hopefully, someone will bring it up at tonight's school board meeting.
Thanks to Terrie Eufrasio Suprum, Sun Valley High School Class of '72, for bringing it to my attention

I just finished writing a column for tomorrow's paper on beleaguered Penn-Delco solicitor Mark Sereni and his attempt to rally support for himself.
You want a taste?
Here:

Once again, Mark Sereni has been betrayed.
Once again his confidentiality has been breached by a treasonous client.
Into my possession has fallen another Sereni "Privileged and Confidential" communique. It is written to a "valued client" with a very special purpose in mind.

Read the rest in tomorrow's Daily Times.

Thomas Sowell thinks the Left is devoted to failure. I think he's right.

I've been getting a lot of e-mails the last few months from one Leah Johnson. She is with a group called Americans Against Escalation in Iraq.
Here's the latest.

"Petraeus Report" a Lie: September Estimate Will Be Written by White House, and Pennsylvanians call on Rep. Dent to Responsibly End This War.

"WASHINGTON - Last week President Bush added to his record of deceiving the American people when it was discovered that the "Petraeus Report" - the mid-September estimate of military and political "progress" in Iraq which was touted as being authored by Army General David Petraeus and Ambassador Ryan Crocker - will actually be authored by White House aides, not the general himself. Worse yet, the White House is already trying to spin this report to indicate success when in fact it is evident that Iraq is nothing more than an escalating quagmire.
Pennsylvanians, like 70 percent of the American people, are calling on their leaders to take steps to end this war. Over the summer the major newspapers around Pennsylvania have editorialized against the failed Bush Iraq policy, all calling for an end to President Bush's endless war."

It is apparently the stated position of the Ms. Johnson and the AAEI that Gen. David Petraeus, unanimously approved by Congress to be the top commander of all U.S. troops in Iraq, will allow the White House to rewrite his true and honest assessment of the situation in Iraq. In so doing, even before the report has been made, Johnson is tacitly accusing Petraeus of being a dishonorable stooge, willing to see his own true assessment of the facts on the ground misrepresented and twisted. And will keep his mouth shut when it happens.
Ms. Johnson's low opinion of the Gen. Petraeus is only exceeded by her low opinion of the White House and the American public.
By many accounts, including in the New York Times and elsewhere, the surge and Gen. Petraeus' new aggressive strategy is working.
Even Democratic presidential candidates are starting to back off their demands for an immediate pullout, which by almost all accounts would be a disaster for both America and Iraq, not to mention the Middle East as a whole.
Still, there remain plenty of people like Ms. Johnson who are demanding an immediate pullout regardless of the consequences.
The fact is, they don't care what happens in Iraq as long as it is bad and they can blame someone else for it having occurred.
Such people bristle at being called "defeatists" but they don't hesitate to suggest men like Gen. Petraeus are political flunkys and liars.
More reasonable and fair-minded people will wait to hear what the general says when he reports back to congress in September before making up their minds whether he is a liar or not.

For Ikea corporate loot and recognition. I'm all for it.

My friend Ken Jacobsen recently wrote a long "letter to the editor" in the Daily Times blasting the merger of Independence Blue Cross and Hightower insurance companies.
In his letter, Ken joined Sen. Arlen Specter in criticizing the multi-million dollar salary of Hightower CEO Kenneth Melani. According to Ken, Melani made $3.2 million with a $2 million bonus.
Both he and Specter want to know "how such a high salary was consistent with the Blues’ tax-free status as a “non-profit” company."
My friend Ken will be happy to know that despite the non-profit status of his billion-dollar organization, Mr. Melani pays substantial personal income taxes on his pay. Probably close to $2 million.
Ken complains that there are no stockholders of Mr. Melani's firm to complain about his compensation, just a hand-picked board of directors.
What Ken doesn't mention is his own chosen line of work, which is that of a class- action attorney. He sues big companies on "behalf" of stockholders and makes a pretty good living (think millions) himself. God bless him.
Also Arlen Specter's son, Shanin, is one of the top medical malpractice lawyers in America. He makes his living suing doctors and non-profit hospitals. Does he make as much money as Mr. Melani? I don't know. He doesn't have to say. But his father benefits greatly from the support of trial lawyers like his son and Ken, even though he is a committed Democrat.
Ken's concern for "long suffering and beleagued doctors" rings a little hollow given his profession's long standing antipathy for med-mal reform. Lawsuits and the threat of them continue to chase doctors out of Pennsylvania. If the Blues deserve criticism (and they do) for their continued squeezing of doctors' reimbursals, fine. But Ken's bringing up the subject of Melani's pay (ala Arlen Specter) is just a case of a couple of pots calling a kettle black.

Bruce Bawer provides a history of The Peace Racket at City Journal Must reading for Swarthmore College students in the Peace and Conflict Studies program.

Finally, a reasonable and effective response to the serious problem of global warming

Why Study War? Victor Davis Hanson explains.

An inconvenient truth about greens

If you haven't seen it, you should.

Turns out it isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Money quote:

"The diversity ideologues deserve whatever ill tidings they get. They're the ones who weren't willing to persuade the public of diversity's merits, preferring to turn "diversity" into a political and legal hammer to compel compliance. The conversions were forced conversions. As always, with politics comes pushback. And it never stops."

Columnist and baseball fan George Will visits Philadelphia to watch a man at work

The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol, a neoconservative war hawk, appears on The Daily Show with anti-war liberal and funny man, Jon Stewart and holds his own in front of a one-sided crowd.

This is why I like watching Jon Stewart more than I like watching Bill O'Reilly. He's funny. And so, it turns out, is Kristol.

My 14-year-old-daughter just watched Snakes on a Plane. I watched it with her. I'm a bad parent.

Frank J. and his boys are just mean Funny but mean.
My favorite Fred Thompson fun fact:
"Four our of five dentists agree: You should avoid getting punched in the mouth by Fred Thompson. The fifth dentist hates you."

Another thoughtful liberal comes around

It may already be evident, but I'm just getting the hang of doing this.
Blogging with Spencer used to be edited by Daily Times editor Phil Heron. I didn't have the capability/know-how/interest/energy for blogging directly. Now I do (except for the energy. I'm manage.) Phil is scared to death that I am going to write something horribly offensive or libelous and BANG! it will just suddenly appear here and his world as he knows it will explode. It's a fair concern. To Phil, I say, "Be afraid. Be VERY afraid!"
To those of you who like to comment in posts: Welcome. Sorry it took me so long to get your first replies up. It turns out I have the power to "monitor" them, which is to say I have to see and approve them before they appear. Since this is the Daily Times web site, no bad words will be allowed. Don't make me stop this car and come back there! Also, I have a life, not like some of these blogging geeks who post every 15 minutes.
Being new to the blogging community, I'm not up to speed on all the etiquette and tricks to link to other cool stuff. I should get better at it as time goes on.
Also I hate the name of this blog. So I'll be coming up with a new one soon. Suggestions are welcome but remember, if I have to stop this car...
The rest, as Tess McGill would say, we'll make up as we go along.

Mormon presidential candidate Mitt Romney gets off a good one:
"I asked Ann, my wife, 'Did you ever in your wildest dreams believe I would be running for President?' She told me, 'You weren't in my wildest dreams.'"

heh

That's what the crowd who went to see Joe Sestak the other night demanded.
The lemming left is trying to lead Democratic party off a cliff. They don't know how lucky they are to have moderates like Sestak who know better. The Impeachment crowd remind me of teenagers shrieking at the immorality of their parents. When -- make that if -- they grow up, they may realize they were not as smart and moral as they thought they were.

The Rick Ankiel story here is a great one. Even better as told by Charles Krauthammer whose comback story from a car accident to a wheelchair to pundit renown is a pretty good one too.