Riehl World View

Iraq, ABC And Jolie

Did ABC turn on Jolie due to her support of the war effort?

And a round up from Jules - Five Years On.

I Blame Glenn Reynolds For This

If the Marine / Iraq puppy incident turns out to be the prank I think and hope it might, then ABC has really gone around the bend with this report. h/t Ace

But if the Marine did actually kill a puppy, I'd like to know the guys blog reading habits. Just sayin'. It's either Glenn, or George Bush.

The motivation for such an act, if it did indeed occur, may be as complex and deep as the U.S. war that has dragged on for more than four years, experts told ABCNEWS.com. Chief among them: Having to live with the constant fear of being injured or killed might have led this Marine to take his aggression out on a defenseless animal, several psychologists said.

Melanie Morgan Out At KSFO?

Well, I'm disappointed to see this:

Move America Forward’s Melanie Morgan is one of my favorite conservative activists. She’s led countless battles against anti-military goons in the San Francisco Bay Area, traveled to Iraq to bring thank you letters to our servicemen and servicewomen on the front lines, and crossed the country to lead rallies in Washington, D.C. countering the Soros mob.

Word came down today that she has been let go from her talk show gig at KSFO by Citadel Radio.

How Bad Is 60 Minutes Screw Up? ... Pretty Bad

I see Powerline weighs in on the latest 60 Minutes controversy here. Having done additional research to understand what Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit is asserting here, some facts may lend further clarification as to the bogus nature of a recent 60 Minutes piece attacking Karl Rove, while misleadingly defending an imprisoned Democrat, former Alabama Govenor, Don Siegelman. Original 60 Minutes report here.

To begin with, in the report, 60 Minutes uses a quick 2004 dismissal of previous charges as a major point in suggesting Siegelman was being railroaded. But they totally ignored repeated attempts, some successful, some not, to change judges in that case. A judge linked to the Republican Governor was removed; yet, later, a Democrat judge with ties to Siegelman was allowed to hear the case and ruled in what some might call an irresponsible manner - making it more difficult to prove corruption in the end. That entire 2004 history is archived here.

Prosecutors filed a motion Monday, claiming Clemon's daughter, while working for a Birmingham law firm, represented at least six state agencies while Siegelman was governor. Prosecutors also said the daughter, Addine Michelle Clemon, gave money to Siegelman's unsuccessful re-election campaign in 2002.

The motion also said the judge has expressed bias against the government stemming from being investigated in a criminal matter involving his sister, Arnese Clemon. She pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering in a case involving the Los Angeles school district and was sentenced to prison.

Judge Clemon was not charged in the case, but he was represented during the investigation by former Lt. Gov. Bill Baxley. The motion said Baxley now represents "an important unindicted co-conspirator" in the Siegelman case.

The second major item which significantly undermines the 60 Minutes piece is how, according to an independent journalist, they got major alleged facts so clearly wrong in the aired report:

“Mr. Bailey had indicated that there had been a meeting with Governor Siegelman and Mr. Scrushy, a private meeting in the Governor's office, just the two of them,” says Doug Jones, who was one of Siegelman’s lawyers.

“And then, as soon as Mr. Scrushy left, the governor walked out with a $250,000 check that he said Scrushy have given him for the lottery foundation.”

“Had the check in his hand right then and there?” Pelley asks.

“Had the check in his hand right then,” Jones says.

In this new investigation, prosecutors zeroed in on that vivid story told by Siegelman’s aide, Nick Bailey, who said he saw the governor with a check in his hand after meeting Richard Scrushy.

Trouble was, Bailey was wrong about the check, and Siegelman’s lawyer says prosecutors knew it.

“They got a copy of the check. And the check was cut days after that meeting. There was no way possible for Siegelman to have walked out of that meeting with a check in his hand,” Jones explains.

“That would seem like a problem with the prosecution's case,” Pelley remarks.
“It was a huge problem especially when you've got a guy who's credibility was going to be the lynch pin of that case. It was a huge problem,” Jones says.

A local journalist's Response -- Jones paraphrasing of Bailey’s testimony about his discussion with Siegelman following the meeting is not exact, not as strong as the actual testimony, but that’s not the problem. The problem is that there was no testimony that the first $250,000 check was given to Siegelman at this meeting (actually, as I assume you know, the check came from Maryland-based Integrated Health Services.) In fact, there was substantial testimony from a host of witnesses including former executives with Integrated Health, HealthSouth, and the New York-based investment banking firm that served HealthSouth and had a most interesting role in the $250,000 donation.

Jones was actually correct when telling your wide-eyed host Pelley that the check was dated after the meeting. However, it was given to Siegelman at a later meeting. Neither prosecutors nor witnesses at trial, Bailey included, said the check was given by Scrushy to Siegelman at the first meeting.

Doug Jones was flat wrong on this point which 60 Minutes thought so powerful that, out of what surely was a much longer interview, it used in the segment.

And Here Now The Complete And Utterly Stupid News

This has to be just about as stupid and pathetic as it gets. My word! Can we please just start taking liberals out and shoot them now? I would say lynch. But under the circumstances, no doubt that would make me akin to Hitler in these idiot's eyes.

Because the right fit as a cast member on SNL to play Obama happened to be a white / Asian mix and not black, he shouldn't have done the part?

These fools really need to get a life. So much for a color blind society. There will be racism as long as there are liberals around to see everything through white / black / yellow / brown, or red glasses - and I don't mean red as in rose colored. Good grief, I can't believe anyone would make an issue of this. Leave it to the Washington Post. What an absolute crock.

Did 'SNL' Go Beyond the Pale With Fauxbama?
Lorne Michaels Defends Casting Of Non-Black Man in Sketch

But in 2008, Obama isn't just any politician or celebrity. Which is why Armisen's DNA became something of an issue when he became "Fauxbama" in "SNL's" first show back since the writers' strike ended this month.

Maureen Ryan of the Chicago Tribune put the question bluntly: "Call me crazy, but shouldn't 'Saturday Night Live's' fictional Sen. Barack Obama be played by an African-American?" Ryan went on to conclude: "I find 'SNL's' choice inexplicable. Obama's candidacy gives us solid proof of the progress that African-Americans have made in this country. I guess 'SNL' still has further to go on that front."

Spin Of The Union

The main stream media wouldn't stoop to spinning a simple tradition, like the State of the Union Address, would they? Well, yeah, of course they would. Republicans shouldn't rain on Obama's Day.

Is Fred Barnes An Idiot?

Was watching Fox News with Brit's group and Fred Barnes was laughing and dismissing the Kennedy endorsement of Obama as nothing. Without jumping on the whole group, many of these TV talking heads really are idiots, but what the hell is Fed Barnes smoking? He's supposed to know something about politics.

As several stories indicated, this comes with access to Kennedy's fund raising armada, not to mention that Kennedy's sponsorship of immigration reform and other works has made him one of the favorites among a key Democrat constituency, Hispanics. Hillary is counting on huge margins there to win the nomination. And Kennedy has said, and already planned, to campaign actively for Obama.

His condescending laughter and alleged insight is nothing short of sheer stupidity.

If you don't know the politics of the opposition, maybe you should shut-up when people are talking about it.

Uh Oh: Andrew Sullivan Is Hearing Voices Now

Update: link fixed - Okay, we knew Andrew was going around the bend. Looks like he's snapped. The problem is, the "voice" isn't there. Medication issue?

This thing won't quite go away. A reader writes:

Some people have enhanced the first "he raised taxes" whisper using audio technology and have discovered that there was actually more to it than just "he raised taxes".  They've disconvered that more can be heard: "He raised taxes, I'm not gonna...".  Listen to the full enhanced audio yourself.  Go out and get a tape and enhance it yourself if you think this is wrong.

Biased Headline In Miami Herald

What utter nonsense to anyone who has been watching the polls. I suppose they're staying away from a formal endorsement until the last minute, or can help out more looking neutral. Take a look at the RCP graph. It's pretty clear who is actually rising, at best, both McCain and Romney match the headline. But there's no way you give that prominent headline to McCain by himself if you want to portray the race accurately.

Miami Herald Poll: McCain rising, Giuliani fading

Asked whom they'll support in Tuesday's presidential primary, Democrats said Clinton. Republicans favored McCain and Romney.

Thursday night's televised debate from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton will mark the final Republican showdown before Tuesday's Florida primary, as a new Miami Herald poll shows John McCain and Mitt Romney jockeying for first place and eclipsing Rudy Giuliani in his must-win state.

It's Guess That Party Time

Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick is caught up in a scandal involving a whistle-blower and cheating on his wife with an aide, also married. Both appear to have committed perjury, as well. But neither the AP nor the Detroit Free Press seems to have been able to figure out his party affiliation. Could it be he's Independent, thrown in with NYC's Bloomberg, perhaps? Not a chance. He addressed the Democrat's convention in 2004.

DETROIT (AP) - Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick exchanged romantic text messages with a top aide, contradicting their denials in court that they had romantic ties, a newspaper reported.

The county prosecutor's office declined to comment on the legal implications of the report, posted Wednesday on the Detroit Free Press' Web site. A conviction of lying under oath can bring up to 15 years' imprisonment.

Kilpatrick and Christine Beatty testified last summer in a police whistle-blower lawsuit and denied any sexual or romantic ties in 2002 and 2003. But the Free Press said it examined about 14,000 text messages on Beatty's city-issued pager from those years and found many examples of such ties.

Kilpatrick is married, and Beatty was married at the time.

"I'm madly in love with you," Kilpatrick wrote on Oct. 3, 2002.