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February 28, 2006
A Rare Win For Free Speech
Liberals who believe that "free speech is for me but not for thee" will be mourning today's Supreme Court ruling that permits protests outside abortion clinics. The decision reaffirmed that Congress has no authority to regulate political speech against abortion. It found that provisions of the Hobbs Act were being abused to prosecute and persecute those who exercised their First Amendment rights of assembly and free speech.
The New York Times called it a "setback" for abortion clinics so the baby killers over at the National Organization for Women who were plaintiffs in the case and NARAL must be seething.
Makes my day.
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:58 AM
February 27, 2006
Get Ready For Bike-Gate!
Editor & Publisher is breathlessly reporting on the release of a politice report about President Bush's bicycle accident in Gleneagles, Scotland last year. Not only is this story not even newsworthy, but some of the quotes imply Bush should be criminally charged for the mishap.
If "Bike-Gate" follows the same pattern as every other media manufactured scandal, look for David Gregory to ask Scott McClellan if President Bush will apologize, Rep. John Conyers will hold a hearing in a basement room of the Capitol and add a charge to the articles of impeachment he is compiling and Maureen Dowd will write a snarky column saying how the accident is symbolic of Bush's reckless leadership.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of a report about the incident in 2002 when Hillary Clinton's entourage ran down a police officer as the New York senator raced to a fundraiser? I didn't think so.
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:32 AM
February 26, 2006
I Predicted This! - 2X in one week
Washington journalists will become the focus of the defense team representing Scooter Libby. As I have been saying for many months, the accuracy and integrity of the Beltway scribes will be scrutinized in the Valerie Plame affair.
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:18 AM
February 23, 2006
No Beef in Libby Indictment
Clarice Feldman at the American Thinker describes how Patrick Fitzgerald's case against Scooter Libby will eventually fall apart. Hopefully, it won't be before two dozen Washington reporters are called to the witness stand to answer the question:
"What did you know about Valerie Plame and when did you know it?"
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:48 AM
February 22, 2006
The Anatomy of a Leak
Ever wonder how leaks happen? The Hill provides some insight with a story a recent incident where a Bloomberg reporter was caught with confidential information obtained from a Congressional office. The U. S. Attorney has decided not to prosecute the reporter, but the investigation sheds light onto how sensitive and many times classified documents make it onto the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post.
What is interesting about the case is that the ranking member of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, Rep. George Miller, a DEMOCRAT, called for public release of the information contained in the documents allegedly "stolen" by the reporter.
Staffer to reporter: "I'm going to leave this confidential/classified document on my desk while I get a cup of coffee. Please don't read it, copy it or remove it or publish its contents. Will ten minutes be enough time?"
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:53 AM
February 21, 2006
I Predicted This!
I am not given to crowing, but this one is too delicious for me to pass up. In a previous post about the announcement of a "redeployment" of the diplomatic corps by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, I predicted the story that came out in today's Washington Post, "Administration Critics Chafe at State Dept. Shuffle.".
My January 19 post read in part:
"Look for a Washington Post article from Walter Pincus about how many long-time employees are deciding to leave the State Department. This will be a good thing - they can all join Ann Wright and Cindy Sheehan in the ditch in Crawford, Texas."
Ah, the Old Media - so predictable. Is it any wonder Karl Rove beats 'em every time?
Posted by jeffgannon at 04:12 PM
February 20, 2006
Matalin Stomps Gregory, Dowd
"Meet the Press" was the best of the Sunday's "screaming head" shows. Mary Matalin, long-time advisor to Vice President Dick Cheney participated in a roundtable discussion about the hunting accident along with Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal, NBC White House correspondent David Gregory and New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd. TRANSCRIPT
The half hour discussion opened up with Matalin carpet-bombing Gregory and Dowd over the press coverage of the incident. She talked about the "parallel universe" that the Washington press corps lives in and reminded the pair that the Cheney story was not all about them.
Gregory was contrite; in fact he apologized for calling Scott McClellan a jerk on Tuesday. A network source tells me that because of the shouting match, it was decided that Kelly O'Donnell would take his place at Wednesday's briefing. Tim Russert, the host of MTP and the Managing Editor for NBC News choreographed Gregory's on-air mea culpa as the result of some "encouragement" from the White House.
Matalin was taking no prisoners on Sunday, freezing Dowd with a withering look that said, "Don't try any of the snarky crap with me 'cause I'll cut ya!" MoDo purred and retracted her claws, realizing that she was no match for the woman who tamed James Carville.
Herb Meyer at the American Thinker has a great piece about the press coverage of the Cheney accident.
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:07 AM
February 19, 2006
Should We Take This Man Seriously?
Dana Milbank, Washington Post White House correspondent
Even his own newspaper doesn't. STORY
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:01 AM
February 18, 2006
Rumsfeld Say Al Qaeda Winning Media Battle
Rummy's spot on in his assessment that al Qaeda is winning the media battle. Of course, it has ample assistance from the Old Media.
Posted by jeffgannon at 06:39 PM
February 17, 2006
The "Sensitive" New York Times
Last week, I attended a presentation of the Kalb Report at the National Press Club and heard Byron Calame, Public Editor of the New York Times defend the newspaper’s decision not to publish the cartoons of Muhammad that have stirred up radical Islamists. Calame said that describing the cartoons was sufficient in reporting the story. While some might think that decision shows sensitivity, I see cowardice and hypocrisy.
The New York Times wouldn’t print this picture unless was submerged in urine, covered with dung or featured a Bush-bashing hip-hop artist comparing himself to Christ.
The New York Times wouldn’t print a picture like this unless it was a heinous act committed by an American soldier against an Iraqi detainee.
The New York Times wouldn’t print a picture like this unless it was promoting a new gay-themed movie.
Calame also made a weak argument that publishing the Muhammad cartoons might endanger NYT’s reporters in Muslim countries. However, it is a reminder that it isn’t Christians who are cutting people’s heads off.
Posted by jeffgannon at 09:23 AM
February 16, 2006
Old Media Angry Cheney Went To Fox
Democrats and Old Media elites were clamoring for Vice President Dick Cheney to have a press conference to explain what happened in Texas last weekend. When Cheney sat down for a one-on-one with Fox News' Brit Hume, they went ballistic. CNN's Jack Cefferty suggested the Vice President was looking for a softball interview at the "F-word network." READ Now they are experiencing first hand how many Americans feel about the Old Media's protective bubble around Hillary Clinton.
Hell hath no fury like a liberal media ignored.
Posted by jeffgannon at 09:24 AM
February 15, 2006
Lefties Bloggers Offending Best Friend
After the liberal media turns on the angry bloggers, what is left for them to do? STORY
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:33 PM
February 11, 2006
Feds Go After NYT For Leaks
It's about time. There is no shield law to protect traitors. STORY
Posted by jeffgannon at 05:28 PM
Dangerous Abortion Drug To Be Studied
Feminists will be up in arms that RU-486 is going to be scrutinized. This is the drug they want young girls to be able to buy over the counter.
Any other drug this dangerous would have been pulled off the market and an army of lawyers would be filing class action suits.
Posted by jeffgannon at 12:56 PM
February 10, 2006
Corruption in Maryland
Even the Washington Post gets it. STORY
Posted by jeffgannon at 09:02 AM
Washington Post Downplays Importance of Plot
A intelligence community leaker to the Washington Post is donwplaying the stunning revelation that a "second wave" of 9/11 attacks against the West Coast was foiled in 2002. The unnamed source says the announcement is more about politics than security.
These people really are shameless. What would the headline be if the attack had taken place: "Bush Ignored Warnings of Second Wave"?
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:47 AM
Another CIA Leaker Comes Forward
Paul R. Pillar, a former CIA officer has come forward with a blistering criticism of the Bush administration's use of pre-war intelligence. Not surprisingly, he chose to tell his story to the Washington Post's Walter Pincus. Read through the article to discover the Pillar had been an administration opponent that released a damaging report prior to the 2004 election. Sources now becoming subjects of news articles - imagine that!
Now Pillar has left the agency. I'd say Porter Goss is cleaning up the mess at Langley, and not a moment too soon.
Posted by jeffgannon at 08:35 AM
February 07, 2006
Goss Cleaning House
You can tell that CIA Director is doing exactly what he was sent to Langley to do. Listen to the babies whine to their friends and leak recipients at the Washington Post.
Posted by jeffgannon at 05:59 PM
Democratic Operative Nailed For Biased NSA Report
Finally, a Republican on Capitol Hill is challenging the inherent bias within the institution. House Intel Committee Chair Peter Hoekstra is challenging a report on the NSA surveillance program produced by the "non-partisan" Congressional Research Service, that was prepared by a partisan Democrat on the staff.
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:40 AM
CIA Leaks Memo About Leak Investigation
CIA Director Porter Goss is trying to clean up the mess at Langley, but he's not going to get any help from the insiders who have put America's secrets on the front pages of the New York Times and the Washington Post. ABC calls it a "witch hunt"; I call it long overdue.
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:24 AM
Taxpayer-Funded Liberal Indoctrination Program Faces Cuts
Once again, taxpayer support for Public Broadcasting is being reduced in the budget just released by the White House. Unfortunately, the cuts will never make it through Congress. Commercially-unviable liberal programming will continue to be paid for by people who don't watch it and don't agree with it. STORY
Posted by jeffgannon at 10:16 AM
February 03, 2006
Fitzgeral Withholding Evidence From Libby
My complaint from the outset about the investigation of the Valerie Plame case has been that it was a one-side affair. The CIA has never revealed whether Plame was a covert agent at the time her name appeared in a Robert Novak column. It turns out they were so concerned about the exposure of a national security asset that the agency didn't even produce a damage assessment.
Without a crime having been committed, anything that transpired in the course of the investigation seems far less serious. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald is refusing to provide materials to Scooter Libby's defense team that might establish that Plame was not covert and that the "crime" that got this whole thing started in the first place was a fraud.
Hardly seems fair, but then again, this is a political prosecution.
Posted by jeffgannon at 09:58 AM
February 02, 2006
Still "Divorced From Reality®"
A year after I asked "The Question", Democrats in Congress proved they were still "divorced from reality®" when they applauded the President's mention of their efforts to block Social Security reform. At some point they will pay a political price for kicking the can down the road. Unfortunately, American taxpayers will pay an even greater price as the cost of doing nothing grows larger each day.
Posted by jeffgannon at 09:41 AM
February 01, 2006
Bush Slaps Dems During SOTU
President Bush’s sixth State of the Union address was a good one as far as this kind of speech goes. He touched most of the bases for conservatives like myself, but I particularly enjoyed his jabs at Democrats.
To the Bush-haters that form the angry, radicalized Leftist base of the Democratic Party he said:
In a system of two parties, two chambers, and two elected branches, there will always be differences and debate. But even tough debates can be conducted in a civil tone, and our differences cannot be allowed to harden into anger. To confront the great issues before us, we must act in a spirit of good will and respect for one another – and I will do my part.
Good luck with that. You know they’ll just get worse. Just wait and see - if Democrats lose seats in the upcoming midterms – a real possibility – how insane they get.
Bush then called them out on their cowardice here:
In this decisive year, you and I will make choices that determine both the future and the character of our country. We will choose to act confidently in pursuing the enemies of freedom – or retreat from our duties in the hope of an easier life.
And here:
In a time of testing, we cannot find security by abandoning our commitments and retreating within our borders. If we were to leave these vicious attackers alone, they would not leave us alone. They would simply move the battlefield to our own shores. There is no peace in retreat. And there is no honor in retreat.
And here:
America rejects the false comfort of isolationism. We are the Nation that saved liberty in Europe, and liberated death camps, and helped raise up democracies, and faced down an evil empire. Once again, we accept the call of history to deliver the oppressed, and move this world toward peace.
He reminded them and the Old Media about the success we are having in Iraq:
In less than three years, that nation has gone from dictatorship, to liberation, to sovereignty, to a constitution, to national elections. At the same time, our coalition has been relentless in shutting off terrorist infiltration, clearing out insurgent strongholds, and turning over territory to Iraqi security forces. I am confident in our plan for victory … I am confident in the will of the Iraqi people … I am confident in the skill and spirit of our military. Fellow citizens, we are in this fight to win, and we are winning.
Bush slams their “cut and run” strategy:
The road of victory is the road that will take our troops home. As we make progress on the ground, and Iraqi forces increasingly take the lead, we should be able to further decrease our troop levels – but those decisions will be made by our military commanders, not by politicians in Washington, D.C.
He chastised them for their constant negativity:
Yet there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure. Hindsight alone is not wisdom. And second-guessing is not a strategy.
And tells them straight up that he’s got them over a barrel on the war in Iraq:
Members of Congress: however we feel about the decisions and debates of the past, our Nation has only one option: We must keep our word, defeat our enemies, and stand behind the American military in its vital mission.
But they won’t listen. Stay tuned for the midterms.
He also pointed out something that he believes in that Democrats don’t:
Yet liberty is the future of every nation in the Middle East, because liberty is the right and hope of all humanity.
The President came out swinging about the NSA surveillance program:
It is said that prior to the attacks of September 11th, our government failed to connect the dots of the conspiracy. We now know that two of the hijackers in the United States placed telephone calls to al-Qaida operatives overseas. But we did not know about their plans until it was too late. So to prevent another attack – based on authority given to me by the Constitution and by statute – I have authorized a terrorist surveillance program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected al-Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America. Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority I have – and Federal courts have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate Members of Congress have been kept informed. This terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America.
Here’s the money quote:
If there are people inside our country who are talking with al-Qaida, we want to know about it – because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again.
You’ll be hearing this all the way up to the 2006 election if the Democrats don’t drop it. It’s another loser for them, but history shows that they never learn.
Democrats cheered their own obstructionism when Bush said:
Congress did not act last year on my proposal to save Social Security…
Bush shook his finger at them and warned that there would be a price to pay for kicking the can down the road:
…yet the rising cost of entitlements is a problem that is not going away – and with every year we fail to act, the situation gets worse.
The Democrats responded with a lame speech from the governor of Virginia who has been in office 18 days. This is the best they can do? Why not have Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Hillary Clinton or Nancy Pelosi deliver the response? The answer to that question is precisely what is wrong with the Democratic Party.