What Bias in the News Media?

Hello Thinkers!

This is a quick one, since I don't need to add much. Next time someone errantly points out the "conservative bias in the media", ask them what they think of Helen Thomas. In case you don't know who this bridge troll is, Helen is the 'one hundred and thirty something' liberal member of the White House press corps. Frequently she sits front and center in the briefing room. Recently she was reported as saying:

"The day I say Dick Cheney is going to run for president, I'll kill myself. I think he'd like to run, but it would be a sad day for the country if he does." Thomas told The Hill newspaper, "All we need is one more liar."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,164011,00.html

Now remember - she is not a political analyst, not an opinion writer (well in reality that's all she is, but she'd never admit it) - she is a REPORTER.

Yep! No bias in the media there. Other memorable quotes from Her Heinous include:

"This is the worst President ever. He (Bush) is the worst President in all of American history."

- Published in an article by John Bogert in the Torrance, California Daily Breeze January 19 2003. According to Thomas this was supposed to be off the record. The reporter (assumedly Bogert) asked for her autograph after she spoke at the event. As she signed his copy of her book, he said to her, "You look sad?" She responded by saying "Well I am. I'm covering the worst president..."

"At the earlier briefing, Ari, you said that the President deplored the taking of innocent lives. Does that apply to all innocent lives in the world? And I have a follow-up... My follow-up is, why does he want to drop bombs on innocent Iraqis? ..."

- White House briefing, January 6, 2003.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Helen_Thomas

More of Helen's unbiased prose may be coming out in a memoir, rumored to be titled "For Whose Face the Clock Stops."

Thank You for Donating to Air America!

Hello Thinkers!

I wish I could take credit for the following gem of wisdom, but I cannot - and I honestly cannot remember where I heard it from, but here it is. As a general rule, when you spend your money on yourself, you watch how much you spend and how effectively you spend it (a.k.a. getting your money's worth). When you spend someone else's money on yourself, you care less about how much you spend, but you want to be sure it is spent effectively. When you spend your money on somebody else, you care more about how much you spend and less about how effectively it is spent (just hang on to the receipt in case they don't like it). But when you spend someone else's money on somebody other than you, you care neither about how much you spend, nor how effectively it is spent.

Why the prologue? It helps explain in plain English why I cannot stand tax-and-spend liberals and their socialist agenda. The latest spectacle of hypocrisy comes courtesy of the liberal talk radio network Air America and the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. I love stories like this. This one was highlighted on Michelle Malkin's blog.

http://michellemalkin.com/archives/003117.htm

You remember Air America, right? They are the collection of liberal fools that were supposed to crush the plethora of conservative talk radio voices that no doubt transmitted subliminal messages tricking the otherwise sane residents of Ohio and Florida to vote for Bush. It never ceases to escape me how anyone can believe advertisers will flock to a radio talk show that tells their listeners that pay too little in taxes, need to be softer on criminals, and if they are white males - are lower than whale crap. Well it seems that Air America may have found a way out of their recent money issues. The problem is their solution, described later, is illegal.

So you know about Air America, what is the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club?

Since 1977, Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club has been helping youth from tough Bronx neighborhoods stay out of trouble, stay in school and succeed in life. Serving nearly 15,000 young people each year at 32 locations (elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, public housing facilities and community centers) in the Bronx.

We Provide

- A safe place to learn and grow...
- Ongoing relationships with caring, adult professionals...
- Life-enhancing programs and character development experiences...
- Hope and opportunity.

http://www.gloriawise.org/bgcabout.html

Sounds like a dreamy utopian oasis in the gray, dreary, slave labor camps of Halliburton, Inc. huh? The Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club even runs "Camp Air America" in Harriman State Park, 40 miles from New York City. However, the connections between Gloria Wise and Air America appear to be more than just coincidental. Interestingly, NY Daily News reports the loss of funds for the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club with vigor:

A Bronx congressman yesterday praised the smooth takeover of dozens of programs serving thousands of youngsters and seniors across the borough after the city yanked funding from two sponsoring agencies that have come under a cloud.

The nonprofit Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club and its affiliate Pathways for Youth found their city contracts, running into the millions of dollars, abruptly ended last month by the city Department of Investigation.

But only buried at the end of the story is a weak connection made with Air America to the scandal:

According to published reports, the allegations involve Charles Rosen, the founder of Gloria Wise who has stepped down as executive director, investing city contract funds in Air America Radio, the liberal talk radio network. Evan Cohen, Air America's former chairman, had served as Gloria Wise's director of development.

Funny how this story isn't getting on the AP or Reuters news wire. Somehow I have to believe that if you replaced "Air America" with "Rush Limbaugh" or "Sean Hannity," the press would be all over this story like Semtex on a Palestinian. You have to go to a local paper, The Bronx News for the real juicy story:

The Bronx News has learned, through informed sources, that the diversion of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club in Co-op City to the liberal Air America Radio is at the center of the city's probe of corruption at the local club. The money, which was reportedly paid to Air America as a loan, was supposed to be paid back with interest, two unidentified informed sources told the News. One source added that Air America officials, led by an official of the Gloria Wise Club, agreed to help the local club by publicizing its activities.

It gets better:

At the center of the investigation, in addition to Charles Rosen, the charismatic leader of the local club for the last 15 years, is Evan Cohen, who resigned, under fire, as chairman of Air America Radio shortly after its start as an alternative to conservative talk radio. Cohen, at the time the alleged transfers of funds from the Gloria Wise Club to Air America took place, was also the director of Development for the local boys and girls Club, the News has learned. One source told the News that $480,000 in funds from the Gloria Wise Club is involved in the city's investigation of illegal transfer of funds from the local club.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/community/12/news/1733

So basically, screw the kids and old people with Alzheimer's, so long as Al 'Hear the Pin Drop' Franken and Janeane 'The Pig' Garafolo get their chauffeur driven limousine. But hey, their hearts are in the right place - so what if your tax money isn't? Very often I am chided because I believe that virtually all government funding for social programs like Gloria Wise, and other "entitlement" programs should be scrapped (with the exception of programs for veterans, police, firemen, the incapacitated, etc.) and be restructured to what they were originally - charity. I firmly believe that for every dollar these programs lose by returning revenue to the taxpayers, a dollar (or more) in savings can be realized by the removal of bloated government overhead run by people who cannot be fired. If you recall in the Dicken's classic, "A Christmas Carol," Scrooge stunned the two men who came to him on Christmas Eve asking for donations by denying them alms. In years past, charitable donations of 10% of your income were commonplace. Today, the ability to select where the majority of your donations go, or even withholding them during times of your own financial crisis is gone. Now the lion's share of most of our "donations" go into the black box of taxation to be distributed as the government sees fit. And that is fine as long as you enjoy going to an art museum to view "Piss Christ" or listen to NPR rant on about global warming.

Apparently now we can add Air America to our list of compulsory charitable "donations."

One Sixth of a Retraction...

Hello Thinkers,

Well I must be doing something right. Why? Because I have received several hatemails from my last post on the shooting of what now appears to be an innocent man in London's Stockwell tube station. In addition to pushing these rantings to my list of like-minded Thinkers, and posting most of the same commentary on http://tuffbeingright.blogspot.com, I also guest-post once in a while to http://www.barking-moonbat.com. This was the case yesterday morning when "Shoot to Kill" was posted there. Later in the day, I sparked up my PC to check emails and the top My-Yahoo news headline read 'British Police Admit Shooting Wrong Man.'

Hmmm. And yes, I had emails. Lets look at a few of them, shall we?

You don't f***ing "stitch" SUSPECTS. Your as heartless and the bastards that implemented 911. Taking joy in the death of others. Nice....

Here's another satisfied customer:

It's f***ers like you, on all sides, that are the real problem.

This next rocket scientist probably thinks I wrote my last post AFTER I found out the guy was a Brazilian electrician:

They guy wasn't a terrorist. Your saying that the more innocent folks we eliminate the better, and that the killing of an innocent man will some how send them a message? You are proposing we gun people down for LOOKING like a terrorist? The guy was an electrician. How did he know they were police?

The fact he asked that last question says quite a bit, eh?

Then he proceeds to quote a bunch of New Testament scripture to me, mostly from Matthew. Although I spent more than enough time in Catholic schools, I've never really been in a 'turn the other cheek' mode since 9/11. I am finding the vengeful God of the Old Testament much more to my liking these days.

There were others, but I think this one sums up the collective sentiment best.

You poor stupid f***wit. Get back to f***ing Yankyland and stop polluting Britain.

Glorious! So let's take a look at the main points I made in "Shoot to Kill":

1. The British cop who killed the man now identified as having no ties to the recent terrorist attacks is a hero.

I'll get back to this one later.

2. The man who was killed was "petrified" and I clearly took joy and satisfaction in his suffering and eventual demise.

Whoopsie. The deceased may have been very stupid getting on a London subway wearing a heavy coat in July, especially after two recent bomb attacks. And he may have been trying to commit 'suicide by cop' by refusing to halt when commanded to do so by police. His death does not cause me jubilation. Not now that he appears to have no connection with any terrorist groups. However, given the circumstances surrounding the last minutes of his life, when Darwin is at work, it is best not to disturb him. And yes, if this guy had any affiliation with the 7/7 or 7/21 terrorists, I would be gleefully toasting his messy ruination.

3. It is about time someone handled terrorists with the appropriate response.

Still correct. Terrorists continue to select "soft" targets. The response must be swift and brutal. Appeasement and focus groups are nothing more than a symbolic ankle grab.

4. Suspected terrorists should be killed quickly, not cornered or imprisoned because A. it's fun, B. wounded terrorists can still kill innocent bystanders with the flick of a switch, and C. terrorists need to know they are being hunted ruthlessly.

Still correct.

5. Islamic leaders, certainly those in the UK are sociopaths and schizophrenic.

If you doubt this, reread the quotes from Islamic leaders in "Shoot to Kill."

6. Stitching the suspect was the appropriate action.

Here's a report from the FT of London:

According to police sources, the man who was shot dead had been observed leaving a house in London that was being watched in connection with bomb incidents earlier in the day. He was followed by a police surveillance team backed by armed officers, none of whom are thought to have been carrying photographs identifying the suspect.

He was followed on to the Underground system where exactly what happened remained unclear last night. The police version is that when the man reached Stockwell station, he began to act suspiciously and broke into a run, at which point the armed unit challenged him to stop.

The man, who is understood not to have been carrying any package or container, is thought to have been shot after he boarded a train that had stopped at the station.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/453316bc-fb15-11d9-a0f6-00000e2511c8.html

So getting back to 1. and at the same time addressing 6. Was this a good shoot and is the shooter a hero? Absolutely! While the death of Brazilian electrician Jean Charles de Menezes is a tragedy, avoiding this circumstance was totally within his grasp. Conversely, the British police were left with one choice - to protect their country and save her citizens - even that pacifist fairy that called me a "stupid f***twit."

Shoot to Kill

Hello Thinkers!

It is a great day in Britain, indeed! Why? Because there is at least one Churchill left in the island nation. After two bomb attacks (shhh... by Muslims) on London subway and bus lines in as many weeks, Tony Blair reaches out to Islamic leaders and the BBC decides not to use the word "terrorist" to describe those that slaughter civilians because they are concerned their credibility is undermined by the "careless use of words which carry emotional or value judgments".

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/07/12/nbbc12.xml

Yet deep inside this land of politically correct BBC fairies, one nameless British hero has personified the stoic resolve of the Churchill's England. What did this paladin do to win such accolades? He was able to literally look inside the mind of radical Islam by blasting out the brains of a terrorism suspect at the Stockwell tube station. Statements from witnesses include:

"He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor,” Whitby said. "One of the police officers was holding a black automatic pistol in his left hand. They held it down to him and unloaded five shots into him. I saw it. He's dead, five shots, he's dead."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163313,00.html

Sweeeeet!! And it gets even better! The suspect suffered before his demise:

Witnesses said about 10 armed, plain-clothed police officers chased the suspect. He tripped, and, after telling bystanders to get down, police shot him dead.

"They pushed him onto the floor and unloaded five shots into him. He's dead," witness Mark Whitby told the British Broadcasting Corp. "He looked like a cornered fox. He looked petrified."

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,163428,00.html

It is about time someone handled terrorists with the appropriate response. When I discussed this with Mrs. Tuff, she expressed concern, claiming that the guy was down, cornered and not going anywhere. Why turn him into a pin cushion? My response was threefold.

First, if it feels good, just do it.

Second, bombers are not like muggers. Even a breath away from death, a nutty Muslim can still press a switch in his pocket and take several innocent bystanders with him. You can't just wound them, even mortally. You must instantly neutralize the threat - this means turning the central nervous system of the bad guy into a Picasso. Do it "for the children."

Third, Muslims across the globe need to learn an important lesson. Don't screw with us. When was the last time you heard of terrorist cells attacking mainland China? I wonder why that is? Even if this guy was innocent of terrorist activity, wasting him was the right thing to do. Pretty harsh, huh? Islamic leaders in England have made it that way.

In a country with no Patriot Act, England has allowed radical Muslim leaders to fester inside their borders. These Islamic chieftains are sociopaths and schizophrenic. They "discredit" killing innocents, but then say - or at least imply, that these same killings are justified:

Shahid Butt said he believed the threat to Britain would reduce if it pulled its troops out of Iraq. He said: "At the end of the day, these things [violent incidents] are going to happen if current British foreign policy continues. There's a lot of rage, there's a lot of anger in the Muslim community.

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWA1320651122037874A00?source=PA%20Feed

OK, just do what they say and all will be well. But wait, there's more:

A new poll says about a quarter of British Muslims sympathise with the motives of the London bombers, if not their methods. And the survey in London's Daily Telegraph shows one-third of British Muslims believe Western society is immoral.

The poll asked Muslims if they felt the July the 7th suicide attacks in which 56 peopled died were justified, and six per cent said they were.

http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,16021697-23109,00.html

And just in case you thought terrorism would "go away" if we just got out of Iraq and Afghanistan, divested from Israel, or some other asinine 'demand de jour' from the Muslims, here's a glimpse into their real motivations:

Bakri said he would like Britain to become an Islamic state but feared he would be deported before his dream was realized. "I would like to see the Islamic flag fly, not only over number 10 Downing Street, but over the whole world," he said.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/22/AR2005072200709_pf.html

And the buffoons from the left calls the US "imperialist?" These nutty sheikhs claim that the west should grieve over the deaths of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan by US troops as well as the citizens of London. I wonder how they feel about the Muslims killed by the Taliban or Saddam Hussein or now in yesterday's attacks in Egypt.

So now in this climate, a man leaves a house suspected and watched by police. He heads to a London subway station in the middle of summer wearing a heavy coat. Police at the tube station order him to stop. He bolts, trips and police catch him. Was stitching the suspect an appropriate action by police? You betcha!

Buenos Días! Where Do I Vote?

Hello Thinkers!

London has just been attacked. Hmm... I wonder who did it? Catholics? Presbyterians? Jews? Baptists? At this time it is not known exactly how many explosions, injuries and deaths have occurred. It is no small irony that this attack came during the first G8 where global terrorism was not the primary topic. Instead the summit focus is on the feel-good fallacy of global warming. By the way, it is July 7th and the forecast high temperatures for the next three days in Boston are 63F, 65F and 67F... brrrr! I'm just waiting for someone from chicken-little intelligentsia to explain to us idiots that a primary indicator of catastrophic global warming is that the temperature really doesn't rise that much - if at all... but more funding for studies is needed. Hopefully Blair and friends will get back to real issues and the deaths of innocent Britons will not be in vain.

In other recent huge news, the recent retirement of Justice O'Connor is the harbinger of what should be the biggest political battle of Bush II's career. I say "should" because it is yet to be determined if W will actually nominate a justice who will rule on cases using the Constitution as it is written and originally intended - or will he roll over like a fat seal and pick a "moderate" to take O'Connors seat at the bench. This will be one to watch sports fans. Sen. Kennedy's drunken diatribes on the senate floor alone will be worth the price of admission. Since liberals cannot get their national interests to win at the ballot box (remember the spanking gay marriage took in the 2004 elections), their only recourse is to get liberal judicial activists to legislate from the bench. Pelosi, Schumer, Clinton, Feinstein, Dodd and the rest have brought their family prayers to the alter, drank their last saki and tied the Rising Sun bandana to their heads. There is no turning back for them. This is what the elections for the Senate and Oval Office are all about. The person who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave means nothing compared to who sits on the SCOTUS bench. I would gladly trade a lifetime appointment of Hillary Clinton as POTUS for nine 20-something Scalia clones ruling in the highest court of our land.

But this recent tragedy in London and the looming SCOTUS tempest are not the topics of today's rant. They will be coming to a diatribe near you soon though. My ongoing frustration with the sieve we call a southern border was rekindled by a news article I recently stumbled across. Apparently the good citizens of Arizona have had enough of the Mexican tsunami. The influx of illegal aliens is estimated to cost each Arizona household $700 annually in public benefits. Reacting to these costs and the crime associated with illegal immigration, the voters of Arizona have proposed Proposition 200, which includes the following:

• Requires new voters to document their U.S. citizenship when they register to vote.
  
• Requires voters to present a photo ID at the polling place.
  
• Prohibits public agencies from accepting insecure identification cards to show eligibility for public benefits, unless the issuing agency has verified the immigration status of the cardholder.
  
• Requires state and local government employees who discover a violation of federal immigration law to make a written report to federal immigration authorities.
  

The supporters of Prop 200 claim:

"Proposition 200 will not change the types of benefits that are denied to illegal aliens. Federal law already defines the types of state or local benefits for which lawful immigration status is required."

Clearly these measures will protect the integrity of the voter rolls against corruption and fraud. I won't go into all the details of Prop 200, but if you want more info, see:

http://syninfo.com/prop200/initiative.html

And of course, the lunatic left that opposes this proposition cannot win this discussion on facts. So what do they do? You guessed it, they play the race card. They "oppose all anti-immigrant bills because they jeopardize the well being of our communities and the reputation of our state." These liberal weanies claim these measures that protect ballot box integrity, "are a racist attack on our Latino communities."

http://www.defeat200.org/

Can't win on the topic? Attack the opponent.

Note that if you go to the defeat200.org site, and click on the "about us" link, they say:

"The Campaign to Defeat Prop 200 is a grassroots campaign run mostly by energetic volunteers, too countless to name here."

...too countless to name? Or too afraid of the INS?

So if you run into a non-thinker at your local Ben+Jerry's, who believes in 'voting rights' for illegal aliens, you may be thinking "What would Tuff say?" The answer my friends is simple. Just ask them, "so what do you think they do in Mexico on election day?"

"Arizona's contentious ballot proposal would require voters to show proof of their U.S. citizenship when registering to vote and proof of their legal residency when applying for government benefits. In Mexico, it has been that way for years."

http://www.azcentral.com/specials/special29/articles/1019Reverse19.html

Imagine a country where:

"to get a driver’s license or social security card, foreigners must present their visas. Illegal aliens need not apply. To vote, everyone must show proof of citizenship. In addition, more than 201,000 foreigners were deported last year, and another 9,000 were denied entry at airports and the border."

Sound like the Naziesque dreamland-USA promoted by jack-booted, pro-Bush, neocon thugs? Guess again amigo. It is daily life south of the Rio Grande.

http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16848

So why should the voting requirements for Mexicans be more restrictive in their own country than in the one they entered illegally? I would love to point the collective finger at Democrats, but too few Republicans are taking up the task of stemming the tide of these criminal aliens. In fact in many states all you need to register as a voter is a valid drivers license. This sounds swell except "there are currently 10 states that allow illegal aliens to attain valid state issued identification identical to that of any United States citizen."

http://www.nationalledger.com/commentary/article_1366.shtml

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who I once considered a viable presidential option (and who I now consider a PITA-RINO) opposes this measure. Why? Why in God's name would you not want proof that the person voting is in fact a citizen of this nation? The deafening silence from Republicans on this topic is sickening. If Hillary Clinton takes illegal immigration as her signature issue in her upcoming election (for president or senator) there will be many republicans floundering in her massive wake. And I will have no pity for them whatsoever.

To see more of the costs of illegal immigration, check out the Immigration Blog at:

http://michellemalkin.com/immigration/