9-14-2004

'Nam, Texas '72 & Typeface?

When his powerful and well-connected friends asked for a massive tax cut, he said 'sure' and he's paid for it by gutting the COPS program, slashing gang prevention and cutting enforcement programs that keep drugs like meth off the streets.

So, tomorrow for the first time in 10 years when a killer walks into a gun shop, when a terrorist goes to a gun show somewhere in America, when they want to purchase an AK-47 or some other military assault weapon, they're going to hear one word: 'sure."-- Senator John F. Nuance

Uh-huh. Bush's fault again. I've got a word for the Flip-Flopapalooza master of ceremonies: "Bull!" What Kerry failed to mention was that every elected official in D.C. facing reelection wouldn't touch the continuation of that gun ban with a ten foot pole either. They know all about The National Rifle Association and those more bucolic states where gun ownership is more important to the little people than getting skirting for their mobile homes.

And isn't this getting absurd already; these non-stop attempts to connect everything Bush ever did or tried to do to "tax cuts for the rich?" Is this the best Kerry can do? Repeat the same tired lies over and over again?

Terrorists at gun shows? Why in hell would a terrorist risk exposing himself at a gun show? All they have to do is grab a few AK-47s and follow the Mexicans right across the Rio Grande. And how 'bout this? If you were a terrorist of, say, Pakistani descent, would you walk into a gun show in some southern podunk where most folks are darn proud to be called rednecks? Please. Such a person would be put through the wood chipper right quick.

The COPS program? That was an election year ploy on the part of the Democrats. They promised to put 100,000 new cops on our streets, but the federal funding ran nearly dry after just two years.

Sh*t! It has to totally suck to be such a disingenuous snob. And yet, come election day in November, 40% of you folks out there will vote for the out-of-touch Botox sophisticate. Supporting Kerry is akin to being a Tampa Bay Devil Rays fan. You can hoot and holler all you want, but the basement will be the end result. It's inevitable.

Dearest Nancy Kman...

...how do you manage that clean, close shave of yours? I'm cruising down the road early yesterday morning and a caller to WILK starts taking Nancy & Kev to task for their usual morning Bush-bash. Whatever. They deserved as much.

At some point, Nancy tried to defend their putting Bush under a microscope day-in, day-out, and the caller blurted out: "Nancy, you're nothing but a clean-shaven Kevin."

I managed to suppress the Turkey Hill orange tea that had designs on rushing out of my nose, choked quite a bit, and then bursted out laughing after bitch-slapping the dash board. I glanced to my left to find a slew of little kids staring down at me from a school bus. They were probably trying to figure out which mental institution I had recently escaped from. Luckily, the light had gone green and I zoomed from their view.

Anywho, I don't necessarily agree with the caller's depiction of Nancy, but he did crack my ass up in a major way. Although, I'd be sorely pissed if anyone said I had anything in common with Kevin Lynn other than breathing.

And that friggin' Sue Henry! Why, she's nothing but a clean-shaven Rush Limbaugh.

Somebody torched the..

...Hazleton headquarters of the Socialist Workers Party???

Oh no!!! What are the 17 loyal members of that party gonna do now? There's something gnawing at me though. Why would a bunch of socialists form their own party when the Democratic party already supports every known aspect of socialism as it is?

What's the conservative estimate of the cost of John Kerry's socialized medicine plan? $10 trillion dollars over a ten year span. What socialist in their right mind (assuming there are any, of course) wouldn't support an income redistribution plan as mammoth in scope and cost as that one?

And you know having a bunch of bureaucrats in D.C. running our new socialist health care plan could only result in even steeper costs. What are these people thinking? They're not socialists, they're Democrats.

What's up with the two...

...sex kittens from WBRE prancing around in glorified undies for a group of gay guys? Yeah, I realize it was for a worthy cause, but I'm wondering how any guy could be gay after getting an eye full of that candy. Hubba hubba!

I'll never be able to watch the WBRE news broadcasts again. Even if I do, I'll never hear a word either of them says. My imagination will be busily wandering elsewhere and it's not my fault. I'm very, very old-fashioned. I like girls.

Check this e-mail...

...before I slice and dice the sender.

*******Mark,

Come off it. Typical republican whining. YOu surprise me. Media bias. That's all you republicans know. The media is always out to get you. Give it up and face life head on. You can do better Mark.

XXXX in WB*******

Oh, really?

Is Newspaper Coverage of Economic Events Politically Biased?

  JOHN R. LOTT Jr.

American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

KEVIN A. HASSETT

American Enterprise Institute (AEI)

   Abstract:     

Accusations of political bias in the media are often made by members of both political parties, yet there have been few systematic studies of such bias to date. This paper develops an econometric technique to test for political bias in news reports that controls for the underlying character of the news reported. Our results suggest that American newspapers tend to give more positive news coverage to the same economic news when Democrats are in the Presidency than for Republicans. When all types of news are pooled into a single analysis, our results are highly significant. However, the results vary greatly depending upon which economic numbers are being reported. When GDP growth is reported, Republicans received between 16 and 24 percentage point fewer positive stories for the same economic numbers than Democrats. For durable goods for all newspapers, Republicans received between 15 and 25 percentage points fewer positive news stories than Democrats. For unemployment, the difference was between zero and 21 percentage points. Retail sales showed no difference. Among the Associated Press and the top 10 papers, the Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, and New York Times tend to be the least likely to report positive news during Republican administrations, while the Houston Chronicle slightly favors Republicans. Only one newspaper treated one Republican administration significantly more positively than the Clinton administration: the Los Angeles Times' headlines were most favorable to the Reagan administration, but it still favored Clinton over either Bush administration. We also find that the media coverage affects people's perceptions of the economy. Contrary to the typical impression that bad news sells, we find that good economic news generates more news coverage and that it is usually covered more prominently. We also present some evidence that media treats parties differently when they control both the presidency and the congress.

Put that in your liberal peace pipe and smoke it. Or, toke on it.

How's about another...

....e-mail, this time from one of those bucolic corners of the county.

*******"One bright idea is to switch to a volunteer fire department. I'm sure we'd save tons of money, but if I wanted a volunteer fire department to arrive too late to save my burning home, I'd move to Kunkle with the rest of the people mowing their ravenous lawns in their underwear."

  Hey don't pick on us rednecks! LOL.

  Seriously, can't it be considered? Your post the other day said your current guys were to slow (was it 7 minutes only???!!!???) so really would it be any different?

  It's just a thought, may not be a good one - but wouldn't your current crew think of doing it for a while as a volenteer? I am pobably wrong since this is probably their livelyhood... but if it helps save your city some money for a few months...*******

Did I say that? Kunkle? Yeah, I guess I did. Hee! Hee! Sorry there, Opal. I didn't mean to git yer grandpappy hoppin' mad, er nuthin'.

This volunteer question has come up before. Despite the current staffing and lack of in-service apparatus, it just wouldn't work down here in the big city. On most days, there's just too much going on for this city to be served by volunteers. Plus, quick response times are critical with the great majority of our homes sitting but a couple of feet from each other. If a home burns out of control in your neighborhood, chances are the nearest home won't be affected at all. But down here, if the response is slow or worse, one burning home can quickly turn into two or three.

I'm afraid the only path available to us is the path that Tom Leighton has led us on. Pay close attention to the financial details, work to increase mercantile taxes and whatnot, and attract some good folks to live here as we slowly improve our city.

Hey, the Pine Ridge development is moving along with all speed. Come on down, build your new dream home and join us city slickers. We don't ALL bite.

This presidential election...

...has totally run off it's rails. When John Kerry ripped the scab open that 'Nam was for so many vets, he was attacked by the Swiftees. The Dems in turn, lashed out at Bush as if he had something to do with that 527 group in the first place.

These 527s have in effect hijacked the entire election. Instead of debating the issues, everyone seems to be sidetracked by the latest murky accusations from whatever murky source. I think the folks that tweak the election laws need to pass legislation that will put these 527s out of their misery before the next presidential election arrives.

Check this after-action report from 'Nam:

PCF 94 beached in center of ambush in front of small path when Viet Cong sprung up from bunker 10 feet from unit. Man ran with weapon towards hootch. Forward M-60 machine gunner wounded man in leg. Officer-in-charge, LTjg Kerry, jumped ashore and gave pursuit while other units saturated area with fire and beached placing assault parties ashore. Kerry chased VC inland behind hootch and shot him while he fled -- capturing one B-40 rocket launcher with round in chamber.

This is what we're reduced to arguing about these days. This report from the naval archives has been interpreted a couple of different ways.

1.) John Kerry shot a fleeing teenager in the back.

2.) John Kerry was brave as all hell to be running through the middle of this engagement.

And 3.) Why would a swift boat skipper, John Kerry, beach his boat directly in the middle of an on shore ambush?

Should you recieve a medal for shooting someone in the back? Possibly. If the kid was VC and got away; he'd surely return to snipe at our troops at a later date. Should a swift boat skipper ground his boat while being ambushed from the shoreline? Stupid and reckless comes to mind, especially when you consider that he was responsible for the lives of his men.

And now we've got a major media source attacking the Prez's credibility with forged documents pertaining to...you guessed it...'Nam again. Meanwhile, back at the cave, the loonies are tying to figure out how to get fissionable materials past our neutron flux sniffers, assemble a nuclear weapon in a basement somewhere, destroy an American city and bring our economy to a crashing halt.

I think John Kerry was brave as hell to do what he did, and stupid as all hell at the same time. And while he was racing through the middle of a firefight, I was bemoaning the sad fact that Lost in Space had been cancelled. The Beatles still ruled the music scene and pubic hair was still a ways off for most of us.

Sooner or later, this election has got to come back to the future. All the way back to 2004. Swift boats, the Mekong Delta and the Texas Air National Guard were all nifty distractions, but we've got some rather serious challenges staring us right in the face.

The Amerasian children now have children of their own. The 'Nam vets are grandfathers and great-grandfathers. National Guard units are no longer considered the cushy duty that they once were. And Lost in Space is long since gone.

It's probably time that we put Vietnam back in the history books were it belonged all along and start debating in earnest which future it is that we want to write for ourselves and our children. The immediate future, soon to be recent history beckons us, but it's being drowned out by the past. By Vietnam.

It's been fun and all hacking each other's cajones and such in the name of politics, but we may want to start looking forward rather than backward.

Feel free to chime in.

Later