What World Do They Live In, Anyway?

A co-worker forwarded me an email from MoveOn.org. If it wasn't so incredibly sad it would be funny. From the email...

Yesterday we reached the sad milestone of 2,000 killed in Iraq. But for the most part, the national media are ignoring this tragic milestone. The men and women who died deserve better. Together, we can help make sure the media report on this moment.

Huh? What media are they watching or reading? The media was tripping all over each other to pound the "grim milestone" story. Jerry Lewis and Ed McMahon don't roll the tote-board with as much enthusiasm.

Another way you can help, especially if you can't attend a vigil, is by making a contribution to put our new TV ad on the air. The new ad puts the story of those killed in Iraq on TV in a very dignified and solemn tone.
...
Our ad uses the images of a coffin in the desert with a solemn trumpet playing in the background. As a narrator reads the names of some of those killed in Iraq, the ad asks the question, "How many more?" The parents or widowed spouse of those killed gave us permission to use the name of their loved one in the ad.

Yeah, real dignified.

The letter continues...

At a time when reporters are getting tired of reporting on the death and destruction in Iraq, it’s up to us to help make sure that the human cost of this war is recognized.

I'm not surprised the reporters are getting tired of reporting on the death and destruction. I would get pretty tired of anything I did 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Maybe if they mixed in a story or two about the restoration of the wetlands, or all the immunizations we've given, or all the schools we've built or the burgeoning independent Iraqi media, or the growth of the Iraqi stock market, or the fact that they majority Kurdish households have a picture of George W. Bush hanging somewhere because he is viewed as a hero, they wouldn't get so tired of reporting on the death and destruction.

Bush Takes Mulligan on Meirs

Harriet Meirs withdrew her nomination this morning. Over the last 1 1/2 weeks this was looking more and more like the direction that the nomination process was going to take. In Meirs words she was, "concerned that the confirmation process presents a burden for the White House and our staff that is not in the best interests of the country." She is correct in thinking so and correct in withdrawing her nomination. Meirs did nothing to demonstrate the constitutional understanding, experience and concrete judicial philosophy that should be required of a SCOTUS justice.

There has been much hand-wringing over the whole process. True, it has been a black eye to President Bush. However, in the long run, if the President selects one of those judges on the short list of experienced constructionist leaning candidates (Janice Rogers Brown, Luttig, McConnell, Owens, Garza etc.), this fumble could end up being better for conservatives than had the President made such a choice on the first pass. To not do so and select, say Gonzales, would be doubly devastating at this point.

Why do I say choosing someone off the "short list" now may be even better than had it been done in the first place?

1. First, the base will feel even more empowered. They will feel they have been heard and that there are voices speaking for and working for them. I work with activists in the field on nearly a daily basis and believe this will be a huge boost for them.
2. This sent a little warning to those in the gang of 14 and others that lack courage -- a warning that conservatives do not want to back down from their principles on judicial philosophy.
3. The debate over Miers showed Americans that conservatives do not move in lock step, blindly supporting a leader's decision, right or wrong. We are more than just "Bushies".
4. The debate, coupled with the Roberts nomination process, also showed that many convervatives do not just care about how a judge may rule. That we also care about the why. We demand that a judge have experience and a solid understanding of the constitution as well as a clear judicial philosophy.

UPDATE: First, thanks Doug for linking me from your site. Great collection of opinions. Second, the left is predictably taking the position that Meirs' withdrawl is a result of pressure from the "extremists" on the right. Interesting take considering that James Dobson endorsed the Meirs nomination, but George Will did not. Never thought I'd see the day when the left considered Dobson a moderate voice. There is a small amount of truth in the claim, but in the end this wasn't about a litmus test for rulings. It was about a litmus test for proven excellence.

Count Me As "Nay"

There is a polling going on in the blogosphere regarding the nomination of Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court of the United States. Count me as "Nay". Put simply, my primary concern is not over WHAT she will decide on certain issues, but WHY. It's about constitutional understanding, experience and judicial philosophy. There are other reasons. I could elaborate, but Doug at Bogus Gold has done a better job of capturing the Meirs issue from the "Joe or Jane Every-Conservative" perspective than I ever could.

His post here links to several of his previous posts. Here is his latest. They are all worth reading. As soon as you get done reading my post below "Can't Give it Away" go read all of them.

Save the Raptors -- More Light Standards, Fewer Trees

I was listening to Dennis Prager a couple of days ago and he cited a WSJ article regarding the spotted owl (I would link it, but I don't subscribe). The theme of the article was that although logging had been halted in vast areas where spotted owls were "threatened" (sacrificing tens of thousands of jobs), the spotted owl population is still declining at a rate of up to 7% per year. The decline was attributed to the incursion of the larger, more aggresive barred owl into the spotted owls' territory. It seems that once again the biggest threat to nature is not man, but more nature.

This story got me thinking about birds of prey here in Minnesota. At least 2 or 3 times a week I see a red-tailed hawk on the way into work. One day I saw 3 between NE Minneapolis and the Edina/Bloomington area. Not one of those birds I sighted was in a tree. No, the hawks are ALWAYS on the light standards along the highway. The hawks seem to prefer the artificial aluminum branch to its natural alternative. The light standards are out in open space and quite often reach up above the trees, giving the hawks better view of potential prey.

A strong raptor population is good for Minnesota. Besides being beautiful animals, they help reduce the number of pests such as mice, rats and squirrels. To encourage a healthy hawk population, write your state representative and tell him or her that we need to start clearing more trees and putting up light poles. They don't need to be hooked to power. The hawks don't seem to care. Since the hawks like being along the roadside, recommend to your representative that we build more roads and highways, too. Please do your part to help the environment. The hawks are counting on you.

Pat Anderson / Sandy Burt Event

I'll be attending a fundraising event tonight featuring State Auditor Pat Anderson and State Senate candidate, Sandy Burt. Should be a great time. For anyone interested, the event will be at the Four Points Sheraton, Minneapolis. Click here for details.


UPDATE / RECAP:

The event was great. Turnout was a little lighter than expected (I think there is still a bit of activist burn-out), but those in attendance were very enthusiastic. For good reason. We were treated to insightful and heartfelt speeches and discussion from two very warm and very dedicated candidates.

The one thing that really struck me and stuck with me was though both Sandy Burt and Auditor Anderson are highly intelligent and capable, there was not one touch of that elitism that is so common from candidates on the other side. Both are strong women who are sincere, caring, honest and genuine "folk." As with Governor Pawlenty, their "realness" stands in stark contrast to the elitist arrogance of a Mike Hatch or Larry Pogemiller.

Sandy Burt has a very difficult fight ahead. I give her a lot of credit for having the courage and conviction to take on a career Democrat encumbant in the heart of Minnepolis.

Taking on Water and No Red Cup In Sight

The Vikings' ship is taking on water faster than a Sean Penn rescue boat...

Primarily I'm an am1280 or music listener now. I used to listen quite regularly to sports station KFAN quite regularly and still listen occasionally. So, last night it was a bizarre collision of worlds to see KFAN host Dan "The Common Man" Cole discussing the Vikings scandal on Bill O'Reilly. This story is still developing and it's already grown past ESPN to O'Reilly and other major national news programs, and it's going to get uglier. As Bob Sansevere said on KQRS this morning, "The s&#% isn't even anywher near the fan, yet.

One unusual moment from yesterday...

The locker room was mostly empty Wednesday during the time it was open to the media, and all the players who spoke refused to comment on the outing. Running back Mewelde Moore said he was on one of the boats, but saw none of the alleged behavior.

"That's crazy. Sex? Come on," said Moore, the team's leading rusher with 187 yards.

I don't know what's more embarrassing -- that these losers behaved in such a disgusting manner, that Moore insults reporters' intelligence by claiming he had no knowledge of the alleged events, or that the Vikings leading rusher has only 187 yards four weeks into the season.

Thank goodness the Gopher hockey season starts tomorrow -- that's the #1 ranked Minnesota Golden Gophers.

IAEA, ElBaradei Win Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO, Norway — Mohamed ElBaradei and the International Atomic Energy Agency won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for their drive to curb the spread of atomic weapons by using diplomacy to resolve standoffs with Iran and North Korea over their nuclear programs.

What resolution? The IAEA's strategy is to talk louder so the diplomats can be heard over the construction noises coming from Korea and Iran's expanding nuclear facilities. There is not a bigger farce than the Nobel Peace Prize.

In related stories:

Mike Tice selected for excellence in coaching award
Kathleen Blanco given a certificate of acheivement for disaster preparedness
Council of Conservative Women award Paris Hilton as "female role model of the year"
American Center for Health and Fitness select Ted Kennedy for lifetime acheivement award
Harriet Meirs nominated to US Supreme Court (oops, that one happened)
More...

Pawlenty Drops Puck (and Nearly the F-Bomb) to Start Season Opener

Hockey is back. And as far as Minnesota is concerned the lock-out is a memory as distant as Norm Green. The Wild did not experience an attendance drop like the Twins felt after the baseball strike. In fact, they set a franchise record for attendance. To complete the perfect hockey night in Minnesota, they pulled off a 6-3 victory over division rival Calgary Flames in a very intense game.

The Wild have the best arena in hockey and one of the best pre-game ceromonies in sports. I nearly forgot how good. Last night, I got chills from the opening anthem "The State of Hockey", especially after a girl skates to center ice and defiently plants the State of Hockey flag. Then the blast of the horn really got my heart going.

The funniest point of the opening ceremony came from Governor Pawlenty. He and the first lady were invited to start the festivities with the official call of "Let's play hockey." As the governor led up to the call he stated that "the time has come to drop the fu (checked swing) puck.

Although for me the Wild take a back seat to Gopher Hockey and the Vikings, I'm glad that NHL hockey is back. It wasn't Minnesota without it.

Harriet Meirs - A Different Take

The American Thinker has a positive take on the nomination of Harriet Meirs. I still think it misses the point on near term the impact to the base, but it lays out the supporting argument very well pointing out the bases' "blood lust" may be misguided. One thing I do agree with is that President Bush has made a host of outstanding appointments to the Federal bench and in important cabinet positions (Rice, Bolton, etc). It would be inconsistent depart that radically with a nomination as important as this. The article is worth the read.

1918 Spanish Flu Virus Recreated

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- Scientists have made from scratch the Spanish flu virus that killed as many as 50 million people in 1918, the first time an infectious agent behind a historic pandemic has ever been reconstructed.

Why did they do it? Researchers say it may help them better understand -- and develop defenses against -- the threat of a future worldwide epidemic from bird flu.

...Tumpey also confirmed the 1918 virus's avian-like characteristics by injecting it in fertilized bird eggs. It killed the eggs, just like the Asian bird flu does. Other modern-day flu strains that are human-based don't kill fertilized bird eggs, he noted.

The process used was fascinating. Read the whole thing here.

Concern over a bird flu pandemic has been rising. Hopefully, this concern is merely healthy precaution rather than insightful prediction. The 1918 flu killed as many as 50 million people in a matter of several months. It was the single most devasting outbreak of illness in human history.

On Harriet Meirs For SCOTUS

I wanted to wait a couple of days to respond to President Bush's nomination of Harriet Meirs to the Supreme Court of the United States. A variation on the don't go to bed angry rule -- and believe me, I was upset. My initial reaction can be summed up here. I figured I would wait, get some background on Ms. Meirs, read some analysis from those more knowledgeable on the topic than I. Very few of these analysts and "experts" captured the real reason behind my intense acid reflux, and that of many other Bush supporters and activits. George Will grasps the soul of the issue quite well, and no one has been more spot on with their analysis than Doug Williams at Bogus Gold. To check out Doug's commentary go here, here, here and here. Read it all.

One can assume that the adminstration felt that they did not have the votes to break a fillibuster and felt that a defeated nominee would damage the administration. It would, but not nearly as much as conceding before the battle. There are plenty of candidates, one would get through eventually as the public tired of obstruction. Harriet Meirs may be the most conservative, originalist judge ever. For the '06 elections and possibly even the '08 elections, that won't matter. Not enought time will pass for the base to believe she is not another Souter. Also, as George Will pointed out, the debate over judicial philosophy was one that needed to be aired and is one that would have seen the public come down on the side of conservative philosophy. With this nomination, that debate never happens.

The only thing that George W. Bush could have done to inflict more damage to the standing of the Republican Party with its base would have been to preside over a mass gay wedding while performing a late-term abortion and paying for the whole event with a tax hike.