The Second Opinion

Wishful liberal thinking about liberal talk radio

Ever since Rush Limbaugh and his radio show became a force in American politics, prompting the rise of a legion of conservative talk radio hosts, liberals have been desperate to come up with their own talk radio show to rival the mighty El Rushbo.  Rush himself often chuckles about this.  Despite the media blitz in support of Air America, that network hasn't taken off except in very fringe markets (though it may be that Franken will soon be broadcasting on prison radio).

None of this has made a dent in the liberals' (desperate) hope that the 'conservative grip' on talk radio is slipping.  Witness this piece from Knight Ridder's Steven Thomma:

A decade after Republicans credited Limbaugh with helping them win control of Congress - they called him the Majority Maker - they still look to his conservative-dominated medium for a lopsided communications edge over Democrats. Today, they count on talk radio to rally support for President Bush, attack those who criticize or question him, and stir passions leading into the 2006 midterm congressional elections.

There are signs that the Republicans could be losing some of their overwhelming edge, however. Ratings for Limbaugh and Hannity slipped this spring in some markets. Liberals such as Ed Schultz, Stephanie Miller and Al Franken are carving out their own radio niche. And Democrats argue that they have an edge on the Internet, where explosive growth could dwarf the political impact of radio.

Riiighhhttt.

Libs hover over the talk radio ratings, looking for any sign that the mighty Rush is slipping.  When they see it, they go crazy with joy and start predicting that talk radio is dead, that the American people are getting tired of it, and that Rush will soon be reduced to a single low-power AM station in Buzzard's Breath, ND.  So far, they've never been right.  And they've certainly never been right when they've predicted that liberal talk radio is poised to take over the airwaves from conservatives.

But they keep hoping.

Cindy Sheehan and occupied New Orleans

I guess it's just a slip of the tongue.  Maybe.  Hopefully?

Drudge reports:

Celebrity anti-war protester, fresh off inking a lucrative deal with Speaker's Bureau, has demanded at the HUFFINGTON POST and MICHAEL MOORE'S website that the United States military must immediately leave 'occupied' New Orleans.

"I don't care if a human being is black, brown, white, yellow or pink. I donÕt care if a human being is Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or pagan. I don't care what flag a person salutes: if a human being is hungry, then it is up to another human being to feed him/her. George Bush needs to stop talking, admit the mistakes of his all around failed administration, pull our troops out of occupied New Orleans and Iraq, and excuse his self from power. The only way America will become more secure is if we have a new administration that cares about Americans even if they donÕt fall into the top two percent of the wealthiest."

Sheehan is in the middle of a bus trip across America in support of her cause.

Flight 93 Memorial

(hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

A design for a memorial for the passengers and crew of Flight 93 that crashed in a Pennsylvania field on 9-11 has been finalized.

It actually appears to be a memorial for the terrorists.  And aerial view of the memorial clearly shows that its central feature is a red crescent, symbol of Islam.  Its designer, Paul Murdoch, calls it the "Crescent of Embrace".  The design also features a minaret such as those found atop mosques (this map has been overlayed with the crescent from the Tunisian flag; hat tip Zombie). 

Even better: it appears that the crescent is oriented toward Mecca (hat tip: Etaoin Shrdlu).

According to Paula Reed Ward of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

But the architects who created the winning design say their design has nothing to do with Islam.

"A crescent is part of architectural vocabulary. It's a generic form used in design," said Paul Murdoch, one of the winning architects. "We don't see any one group having ownership of it."

How stupid does he think we are?

I can see no other explanation for this design other than a deliberate and malicious insult to the memory of the brave passengers and crew on the aircraft.  They fought back against the terrorists and unquestionably prevented a fourth crash, possibly into the White House or the Capitol building.  They are going to be memorialized with an Islamic crescent???

Can you imagine the outcry if the memorial had been in the shape of a Cross or a Star of David?

Unbelieveable.

NYgirl also has some good commentary on this issue.

Meantime, here are a few memorials that suggest a more appropriate design:

The Memorial at the Soldier's Cemetary, Gettysburg

The Pennsylvania State Memorial, Gettysburg

The Memorial Amphitheatre, Arlington

Spanish-American War Memorial, Arlington

The USS Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor

Monumento a los Heroes Ninos, Mexico City

The Cenotaph, London

Al Franken and Air America

Michelle Malkin and Brian Maloney have tirelessly been following the Air America scandal.

What scandal, you ask?  Oh, if you've been getting your news from the BM, I guess you haven't heard about it.  Seems that Air America, the wonderful liberal radio network that was going to drive fascists rightwing talk shows like Rush and Hannity from the air, somehow got a "loan" for nearly $1 million from a charity in NYC.  There's talk of fraud and embezzlement.

Al Franken, author of Lying Liars and the Lies They Tell: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right and host of Air America's flagship show "The O'Franken Factor" (yeah, he seems to have a thing for Fox News) has been regalling anybody who'll listen with tales of his own innocence, how he was as much a victim as anybody, and how he didn't know a thing about the loan.

Well, court documents don't jibe with these claims.  As Malkin and Maloney write:

Far from being an innocent party with no knowledge of Air America's money woes, Franken was a signatory to the agreement. The document, published here for the first time, exposes how Franken misled his listeners and the press about his knowledge of the charity loan.

Michelle has PDFs of the documents at her site and a lot more.  Brian is also covering this at his site, Radio Equalizer.

Kanye West: Please shut up

(hat tip: Nykola.com)

In moments of stress or tension, we are all liable to say things we don't mean, express ourselves with less than usual tact, or flat put a foot in our mouths.  Rapper Kanye West did so on a celeb aid program on NBC last night:

"George Bush doesn't care about black people," West said. "They're saying black families are looting and white families are just looking for food...they're giving the (Army) permission to shoot us."

(audio here; the network pulled the plug before all of West's statement got on the air)

Michelle Malkin has also covered this story.

Sigh... What to say?  I suppose that one might say "I told you so" to NBC; did they really think that at least one of the celebs wouldn't take the opportunity to do a little Bush-bashing?  The Red Cross and NBC have both issued apologies (the ARC didn't call West by name; he was 'a celebrity'), but I can't help but feel that there will be those on the left who will now whine that his free speech rights were infringed, and that NBC had no right to cut him off, and that he was only 'speaking truth to power'.

While I don't think that anybody with a lick of sense will NOT contribute to the Red Cross or other aid organizations because of this idiot, he certainly left a very bad taste in a lot of people's mouths.  Hopefully, other celebs will take note and try to keep their opinions to themselves when they appear on future benefit programs.

But I doubt it.

Well, at least he isn't blaming Bush...

(hat tip: Drudge)

RFK Jr. at the Huffington Post is blaming Haley Barbour for Hurricane Katrina.  You just can't make this kind of thing up...

As Hurricane Katrina dismantles Mississippi’s Gulf Coast, it’s worth recalling the central role that Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour played in derailing the Kyoto Protocol and kiboshing President Bush’s iron-clad campaign promise to regulate CO2.

In March of 2001, just two days after EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman’s strong statement affirming Bush’s CO2 promise former RNC Chief Barbour responded with an urgent memo to the White House.

Barbour, who had served as RNC Chair and Bush campaign strategist, was now representing the president’s major donors from the fossil fuel industry who had enlisted him to map a Bush energy policy that would be friendly to their interests. His credentials ensured the new administration’s attention.

...

Well, the science is clear. This month, a study published in the journal Nature by a renowned MIT climatologist linked the increasing prevalence of destructive hurricanes to human-induced global warming.

Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children.

In 1998, Republican icon Pat Robertson warned that hurricanes were likely to hit communities that offended God. Perhaps it was Barbour’s memo that caused Katrina, at the last moment, to spare New Orleans and save its worst flailings for the Mississippi coast.

I've already written about the referenced study that predicts stronger hurricanes, and it's no surprise to me that some loopy lefty would link it to Katrina as 'proof' that the eeeviiillll Bush administration is to blame for the storm.  I must say, however, that blaming Haley Barbour represents an unexpected twist.  Lefties are nothing if not creative in their conspiracy theories!

This rant by RFK Jr. is disturbing / insulting on several levels:

First, like most lefties, he asserts that global warming exists and that it is directly responsible for 'climactic chaos'.  This is unproven.

Second, does he seriously think that Kyoto would have prevented Katrina?  I hope that he IS aware that there were hurricanes long before 'global warming', and some of them were rather more powerful than Katrina.

Third, Kyoto was a dead letter before Bush was elected.  President Clinton didn't even bother to submit the treaty to the Senate because he knew that it would NEVER be ratified.

Fourth, referring to America's dependence on oil as a 'destructive addiction' represents the worst and most stupid kind of Luddite thinking: oil is one of the pillars of our technological society which has given us everything from cheap and plentiful food to miracles of medicine.

Fifth, for whom is the war in Iraq 'catastrophic'?  I don't mean to belittle the suffering and loss of those who have been grievously injured there, or who have lost their loved ones, but 1800 American deaths in two and a half years is hardly 'catastrophic'.

Finally, I rather resent his obvious joy that Katrina devastated Mississippi.  Whether one agrees with or likes Haley Barbour, the poor people of the Gulf Coast states deserve sympathy, not schadenfreude.

Garbage piling up at Walter Reed

(hat tip: Drudge)

Code Pink Women for Peace have organized anti-war protests outside the Army Walter Reed Medical Center where wounded GIs from Iraq are undergoing treatment.  Now, we all KNOW that they support the troops; they just oppose the war, right?

According to CNS News' Marc Morano:

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., the current home of hundreds of wounded veterans from the war in Iraq, has been the target of weekly anti-war demonstrations since March. The protesters hold signs that read "Maimed for Lies" and "Enlist here and die for Halliburton."

The anti-war demonstrators, who obtain their protest permits from the Washington, D.C., police department, position themselves directly in front of the main entrance to the Army Medical Center, which is located in northwest D.C., about five miles from the White House.

Among the props used by the protesters are mock caskets, lined up on the sidewalk to represent the death toll in Iraq.

See how much they love and support the troops?

Hannity interviewed Morano and some (omitted) from Code Pink on his radio program today.  Frankly, I didn't listen: my car is almost paid off, and I didn't want to risk ripping the steering wheel off, especially while in traffic.  I did hear the (omitted) claim that Code Pink isn't holding a protest, but rather a 'vigil'.  See, they support the troops.  They have nothing but love in their hearts for them.  This is why they time their 'vigils' for Friday evenings, the most popular time for visitors to the wounded soldiers:

On Aug. 19, as the anti-war protesters chanted slogans such as "George Bush kills American soldiers," Cybercast News Service observed several wounded war veterans entering and departing the gates of Walter Reed, some with prosthetic limbs. Most of the demonstrations have been held on Friday evenings, a popular time for the family members of wounded soldiers to visit the hospital.

But the anti-war activists were unapologetic when asked whether they considered such signs as "Maimed for Lies" offensive to wounded war veterans and their families.

See how much they support the troops?  Well, apparently, some GIs aren't feeling the love:

Kevin Pannell, who was recently treated at Walter Reed and had both legs amputated after an ambush grenade attack near Baghdad in 2004, considers the presence of the anti-war protesters in front of the hospital "distasteful."

When he was a patient at the hospital, Pannell said he initially tried to ignore the anti-war activists camped out in front of Walter Reed, until witnessing something that enraged him.

"We went by there one day and I drove by and [the anti-war protesters] had a bunch of flag-draped coffins laid out on the sidewalk. That, I thought, was probably the most distasteful thing I had ever seen. Ever," Pannell, a member of the Army's First Cavalry Division, told Cybercast News Service.

"You know that 95 percent of the guys in the hospital bed lost guys whenever they got hurt and survivors' guilt is the worst thing you can deal with," Pannell said, adding that other veterans recovering from wounds at Walter Reed share his resentment for the anti-war protesters.

"We don't like them and we don't like the fact that they can hang their signs and stuff on the fence at Walter Reed," he said. "[The wounded veterans] are there to recuperate. Once they get out in the real world, then they can start seeing that stuff (anti-war protests). I mean Walter Reed is a sheltered environment and it needs to stay that way."

I'm trying very hard to stay calm.  Very hard.  Otherwise, I'd write that somebody ought to remove the trash with a flamethrower.

Give 'em time and they'll be throwing dog s*** on our troops.

But they support 'em.  Never forget: these people SUPPORT THE TROOPS.

Don't let the NYT editors pull jury duty!

(hat tip: The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler)

Judith Miller has been in the pokey for forty-one days, longer than any other NYT journalist has ever served time (now THAT's something for her resume!).   According to the editorial board at the NYT, this means that the government SHOULD LET HER GO.

If she is not willing to testify after 41 days, then she is not willing to testify. It's time for the judge and the prosecutor to let Ms. Miller go.

Seriously, I'm not making this up.  It's the equivalent of a naughty child trying to get his way by holding his breath, swearing never to come down out of the tree house, or throwing an endless tantrum.

It may have escaped the keen mental faculties of the editors, but Ms. Miller has committed a CRIME: obstruction of justice.  By refusing to talk, she is CONTINUING to commit the crime.  Why on earth should the judge release her???

Unbelievable.

Here's one for the NYT: if I refuse to pay my taxes long enough, should the IRS just throw up their hands and let me go my merry way?

Should Eric Rudolph have been allowed to go free just because he wouldn't turn himself in?

UN-BE-F***ING-LIEVABLE.

Bush is physically fit; dems complain

(hat tip: Michelle Malkin)

Lyflines has a press release from the dems regarding President Bush's annual physical.  One would think that they'd really have nothing to say about this.  I mean, whether or not the president is fit seems to be a pretty non-political issue, right?

Wrong.

DNC: Bush Should Stop Playing Games with Physical Fitness

The White House this weekend announced that President Bush received good news during his annual physical. Doctors pronounced the President to be in "superior" physical condition, which media reports attributed to his rigorous, six day a week exercise routine. While President Bush has made physical fitness a personal priority, his cuts to education funding have forced schools to roll back physical education classes and his Administration's efforts to undermine Title IX sports programs have threatened thousands of women's college sports programs.

"President Bush's has dropped the ball when it comes to fully funding physical education in public schools and women's athletic programs at the college level," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Josh Earnest. "His personal habits indicate that physical fitness is not just fun and games for him. Don't our kids deserve the same opportunities to be physically fit? President Bush should stop running from his responsibility and make sure that all American children have access to physical fitness programs."

Oh, there's much more in this press release, but I don't want to subject myself to the stress caused from reading any more idiocy than I can help.  However, I have to say that my mind boggled at the idea that it's the government's responsibility to give kids an 'opportunity' to be physically fit.

Good grief.

Jane Fonda is back. Just like a case of the runs.

WARNING: Bad language follows

I was a toddler when the Vietnam War ended, so I have no direct memories of Hanoi Jane Fonda.  I have, however, seen contemporary footage of her accusing US prisoners in the Hanoi Hilton of "lying" when they claimed that they were tortured, and a photo of her sitting on an NVA anti-aircraft gun, wearing an NVA helmet and having a high ol' time.

THE BITCH.  THE FUCKING BITCH!

Well, she's back.  C-BS's Lesley Stahl did a fawning interview:

Fonda, the workout queen, is 67, the grandmother of two, and still glamorous and beautiful. She lives in Atlanta, and spends much of her time on a program in the schools that she began, with her own money, to persuade teenage girls not to get pregnant, and to teach girls who are pregnant how to be better mothers.

Hmmm... Here's one I'd like to see her do: demonstrate how to commit better suicide.

Don't be fooled by stories that Hanoi Jane is sorry for what she did during the war:

... She earned the epithet “Hanoi Jane” and the eternal hatred of many veterans when she visited an anti-aircraft gun site used to shoot down American pilots.

It's something that Fonda now says she regrets. "I will go to my grave regretting that. The image of Jane Fonda, Barbarella, Henry Fonda's daughter, just a woman sitting on a enemy aircraft gun, was a betrayal," says Fonda.

"It was like I was thumbing my nose at the military. And at the country that gave me privilege. It was the largest lapse of judgment that I can even imagine. I don't thumb my nose at this country. I care deeply about American soldiers."

But many of those soldiers say if there’s one thing they will never forgive her for, it’s that she met with a group of seven POWs when she was in North Vietnam, giving the appearance of a staged event at their expense.

"Was that a lapse of judgment?" asks Stahl.

"No. There are hundreds of American delegations that had met with POWs. It was not uncommon at all," says Fonda.

"Does that make it right?" asks Stahl.

"It doesn't make it wrong," says Fonda.

"But the Vietnamese used it as propaganda, to say, 'Look how humane we are,'” says Stahl.

"Well, both sides were using propaganda, were using the POWs for propaganda," says Fonda. "I don't think there was anything wrong with it. It's not something that I will apologize for."

Nor does she apologize for making broadcasts on Radio Hanoi. "Our government was lying to us, and men were dying because of it," she says. "And I felt that I had to do anything that I could to expose the lies, and help end the war. That was my goal."

She asked the Vietnamese if she could make the broadcasts, tapes which 60 Minutes found at the National Archives in Washington.

Fonda went on Radio Hanoi at least 10 times, speaking directly to U.S. pilots, after she had toured the bombed-out countryside and visited hospitals full of injured civilians.

Was she trying to get soldiers to stop the bombing, and disobey their orders? "No. I know that you cannot ask a soldier to disobey orders," says Fonda. "You're not the one that pays the consequences."

She once said: "I beg you to consider what you are doing. The hospitals are filled with babies, and women and old people. Can you justify what you are doing?"

"Doesn't that sound like you're asking them to stop what they're doing?" asks Stahl.

"I'm asking them to consider it. I'm asking them to think about it," says Fonda.

"But the soldiers who call you 'Hanoi Jane' and are still furious at you, say it’s one thing to protest here in the country, and another thing to go over there, where our soldiers were, you know, in harm’s way, and go into the enemy camp," says Stahl. "I mean, it wasn’t like you were saying, 'Richard Nixon, stop this.' You were saying [it] to the pilots."

"Listen, we'd been saying to Richard Nixon, 'Stop this' for eight years. Millions of people had protested. You know, students had been shot at Kent State and still it went on," says Fonda. "It needed what looks now to be unbelievably controversial things. That’s what I felt was needed."

"When you hear of this intense fury at you … 30 year later, does it hurt you?" asks Stahl.

"It makes me sad. It makes me sad, because I think that it's ill-placed anger," says Fonda. "I understand that I'm a lightning rod, and I know why the anger is there."

YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!  Our guys were being tortured and beaten in the Hanoi Hilton while you were asking them to 'consider' how they'd gotten there.  And don't try to pass the buck to Nixon, sweetheart: Kennedy and Johnson got us into the war, and people like you helped make damned sure we'd LOSE.

Now, having stabbed the US in the back thirty years ago, Fonda's back at it again.  This time, she's going to get a bus (powered by vegetable oil!) and drive cross-country to speak out against the war in Iraq.  According to USA Today, it seems that she feels guilty for not having spoken up before (!):

Hundreds of people in the audience cheered loudly when Fonda announced her intentions to join the anti-Iraq war movement.

"I have not taken a stand on any war since Vietnam," she said. "I carry a lot of baggage from that."

Then go see a therapist.  Go back to Vietnam.  Go to Mars.  I don't care where you go, just GO THE FUCK AWAY!

If you can stomach reading more about Hanoi Jane's "Fuck America '72 Tour", try:

http://www.1stcavmedic.com/jane_fonda.htm

You'll see lots of pictures of her posing on the NVA gun, and be able to read transcripts of her broadcasts, including little gems like this:

But now, despite the bombs, despite the crimes being created- being committed against them by Richard Nixon, these people own their own land, build their own schools- the children learning, literacy- illiteracy is being wiped out, there is no more prostitution as there was during the time when this was a French colony. In other words, the people have taken power into their own hands, and they are controlling their own lives.

Well, the people minus the million or so murdered by the lovely communist regime, that is.

But if you don't want to read about Hanoi Jane, perhaps you'd prefer to read about one of the men who she was trying to persuade to 'consider', Captain Lance Sijan, USAF.  You'll have to read about him, because he didn't come home.  He was shot down by an NVA gun like the one Fonda posed on.  When his F-4 was hit, he ejected, suffering a fractured skull, compound fracture of his leg, and three broken fingers.  Despite his injuries, he persisted in his attempts to escape.  In one case, he knocked a guard unconscious (!) and crawled into the jungle, dragging himself with his injured hands.

He died in captivity.

Captain Sijan was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor by President Ford.