Shameless

It seems I am not the only one getting sick of the several "9/11 wives" who have in effect become liberal pundits. Kristen Breitweiser and Patty Casazza, two of the most transparent partisan hacks of this leftists clan, are the worst offenders. Aided by a media more than willing to give a voice to victims of 9/11 so long as they are rabid anti-Bush partisans, these two have been making rounds for their Democratic handlers to damn those members of Congress who have asked for more debate on the intelligence bill. The Media Research Center has this great wrap-up of their appearance on Good Morning America:

With "OUTRAGED 9/11 WIVES" as the on-screen heading, Monday's Good Morning America featured Kristen Breitweiser and Patty Casazza, to denounce those opposed to the intelligence reform bill, without bothering to mention how both endorsed John Kerry. (In a Kerry ad, Breitweiser declared that since "I want to look in my daughter's eyes and know that she is safe...I am voting for John Kerry." Casazza had pined that "on 9/11, my life was in a long, dark tunnel. Now I can see some light. John Kerry has the answers" and after Bush won she worried the public was in more danger.) On GMA, Breitweiser launched into left-wing paranoia about how "Defense contractors need to recognize the fact that with $40 billion of a budget being spent on things that are not making us safer, we need a director of national intelligence to reallocate those funds to human intelligence on the ground." Casazza demanded: "What do we say to our children at this point in time? My son is 14. In three years he could be drafted to go to the war if that is brought back -- you can go to war, but we will not protect you here at home. That's unconscionable."

If you ever catch any of these women on TV, listen to what they say carefully. Its obvious to even the most a-political viewer that these women have been given talking points. They all say the same stuff - verbatum at times. Its no surprise a similar political action group hasnt been put together by 9/11 widows who support Bush (yes, they exist and they are numerous). Only Democrats are shameless enough to take advantage of this national tragedy and its destraught widows to meet their political ends.

Nationalizing major league baseball

The John McCain answer to every problem: more governmnet control over its citizens. This from Fox News:

Sen. John McCain on Saturday demanded immediate action by representatives of major league baseball's players and owners to tighten the sport's drug-testing policy "to restore the integrity of baseball" or face possible congressional action.

Is their nothing government can't solve, Mr. McCain?

Frodo failed...

I just finished watching Lord of the Rings this afternoon. A curious Google search thereafter came up with this stunning result.

It answers so many questions.

Good news from Ukraine

The Supreme court of Ukraine has declared the much disputed runoff election in that country invalid, and has ordered a new runoff election. The December 26 replay of the runoff will favor the opposition and is seen as a blow to the current government who's candidate will find it nearly impossible to win after the corruption his campaign has been involved with.

(image from Swedish paper Aftonbladet)

This latest development is also a blow to KGB snake Vlad Putin who had wanted an entirely new election that did not involve either of the current candidate. I suppose Vlady thought he could rig another full election if he had the time and a "clean" candidate to market with more Russian money. MSNBC reports:

The ruling, made after five days of hearings by the court’s 21 justices, was a major victory for opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko, who had rejected the government’s demands that an entirely new election be held.

And it was a stinging blow to outgoing President Leonid Kuchma and his powerful ally, Russian President Vladimir Putin, who wants to preserve Moscow’s centuries-old influence in Ukraine in the face of Yushchenko’s followers’ desire to move closer to the West. Only a day earlier, Putin had sharply derided the idea of holding a new run-off.

Putin had the most to lose in the election, which is really a battle between East and West. Putin would like to see Russia go back to its glory days of Soviet rule, and bringing Ukraine back under its sphere of influence was crucial to that end. The eastern half of Ukraine's population is ethnic Russian, so this fight isnt over by a long shot. Russia will continue to have a great deal of influence over Ukraine, and I imagine they will not give up as easily as the West would suppose.

Dollar troubles?

Be warned: This post is much less a conclusive essay, and more a "who the hell knows for sure" rambling. But its not in a "truth is relative" sort of way. Its more along the lines of "dumb asses who don't know what they're talking about should keep their mouths shut".

While attending business school in Europe in 2002 the dollar had just begun its slide and their was a certain cockiness among my European (cough cough FRENCH cough) friends who saw this as evidence of a weakening U.S. economy. A good friend of mine was convinced that this was the beginning of the end of the dollar's dominance, and a passing of the torth to the Euro. Whether this was a matter of national pride (there is no real EU nationalism perse, but the French consider themselves the master of Europe and take full credit for any of its accomplishments) or economic reasoning, there was still a strong feeling that a weakening dollar was bad news for the US and good news for the EU.

To be honest I am still not sure what to think. But I do feel more comfortable than not about the dollar's current position. A "cheaper" dollar means that demand for US exports increases; something that should alleviate the concerns of those worried about a growing US trade deficit. Also, along with rallying the housing market, the lower interest rates encourage capital investment because of discounted borrowing.

At the same time the demand for European goods is down because imports from the EU seem more expensive. I would imagine this is having adverse effects on an economy that depends so greatly on US consumers to buy their products. So, should Europeans be all that happy about a "strong" Euro?

Back to US concerns over the dollar. I've read several articles over the last few months about the decline of the dollar and what it could mean for the economy and consumers. Some analysts make the argument that a weakening dollar will eventually lead to high inflation. But with inflation holding steady at 2%, and the Fed making its intentions clear that interest rates will be increased, should we be concerned about inflation? Can the Fed reign in the dollar before inflation becomes an issue?

Hmm... seems I've asked more questions than anything else. But maybe thats my point. Who knows what will happen? I'm sure those who have a real grasp on the issue only share their thoughts with people/firms/governments willing to pay a great deal of money for their expertise.

I can, however, make one solid conclusion: the idiots in the press have no idea what theyre talking about and should stop hyping the "collpasing dollar" storyline to meet their own sensationalist ends. Until Lou Dobbs, or even Neil Cavuto for that matter, can explain (with supportive data) how this administration's monetary policy has adversely effected the U.S. economy (using Maynard Keyne's IS/LM economic model), they should stick to bitching about Kenneth Lay and the price of crude.

More lies from AP and MSNBC

MSNBC (also the news site for NBC News) has an AP story up titled "U.S. uses evidence gained by torture". Reading this headline one would suppose that the United States is actively using evidence that is knowingly gathered through the use of torture. Not so. I defy anyone to read this story and find where the use of torture is sited, much less any evidence used against these people that was gained through such torture.

But this headline is really not meant to give an accurate depiction of what the story is about. This headline is meant to get all the idiots in TV and radio talking about how the U.S. is using torture against detainees. Do you think morons like Don Imus, Katie Couric, or Chris Mathews actually read these stories before spouting their anti-American filth on the airwaves? No. Some intern hands them a stack of stories, they browse the headlines, and then make up the rest. By the end of the day the story will be "public concern over torture dogs president Bush''.

At what point will the president come out and damn the press for their rabid anti-Americanism? Yes, anti-Americanism. When the press goes out of its way to "report" news they know is false with the intent of damaging the credibility of our military during a war in which image plays a vital role, they are on the side of our enemy. The 2nd Amendment does not protect the speech of those who would defend, support, and champion an enemy of the state that would like to see the Constitution itself dissolved.