News?

Romantic proposal turns tragic
when tiny woman is suddenly
swept to sea and vanishes.

C’mon Britney, do something bad or stupid, or both, and please hurry, the MSM is in danger of running on empty. They are being forced to continue to deal with trivia, or just speculate wildly on what might or might not happen. Of course the car companies are good for sopping up a lot of time, even though no one knows at the moment whether they will get bailed out or not. As of this evening it looks like they might not.

Sarah Palin, you know her, our dear Sarah, she of the expensive wardrobe furnished to her by the RNC, along with clothes for her entire family. It turns out that she may have received an additional $30,000 worth and lots of people are really upset about it. On the other hand, there are lots of people upset about the people that are upset about it. Somewhere on the web today I stumbled upon one piece about this, followed by a great many comments. I didn’t realize this was such a big deal. I also didn’t realize how much hatred seems to be wrapped up in the comments about it. Those who like Sarah see nothing wrong with her receiving this largesse, and they tend to turn the discussion into their hatred of Obama (I find this very strange). People who like Obama tend to dismiss Palin as a rather garrulous idiot. Many Republicans seems to believe that she single-handedly won Georgia for Saxby Chambliss (he seems to think so as well) by some 15 points. She clearly is becoming a Republican super-star Many people (including myself) don’t care one way or the other if she got these clothes or not, or if she is giving them back or not, or what will happen to her husband’s silk underwear. But the MSM loves this. For them it’s NEWS.

When not using up space for Sarah’s wardrobe, the MSM seems preoccupied with speculation. On the one hand there are those who insist Obama is going to govern from center-right, but there are others who insist he is going to govern from center-left. To me these are pretty meaningless descriptions so I cannot take them seriously. I bet Obama will govern from the center (as most everyone always does). But, again, it gives the media something to write about. Frankly, I don’t care he he governs from outer space as long as he can help us get out of all the messes Bush/Cheney have left us. I suspect Obama’s Presidency will be over in the eyes of the media before he even gets inaugurated. The Supreme Court is to take up the question of Obama’s birth tomorrow as there are those who are still trying to make an issue of it. I guess they have abandoned their attempt to prove he was not born in the U.S. and have shifted to a somewhat more sophisticated argument: as his father was a Kenyan and his mother an American he supposedly has dual citizenship. They apparently believe this might disqualify him from the Presidency. Who arranged for this to be discussed at all? Why, Clarence Thomas, remember him? I rather doubt the Constitution speaks directly to this.

Then there is Governor Rendell’s statement that Janet Napolitano, being unmarried, can devote 9 or 12 hours a day to her new appointment as head of Homeland Security. This is being tossed around the news like it actually amounts to something other than a mere statement of fact. She is known to be a hard and dedicated worker, just as Rendell himself is. But many women think this was really insulting and terribly sexist. It is perfectly obvious that it was not intended to be a sexist remark but, hey, it takes up a lot of news time (this 24/7 business is tough).

Also, as I mentioned last night, the MSM took Bill Clinton’s statement that if Obama asked him to perform some task he would do it, and converted it into “Clinton eyes Obama’s White House.” They love to try to stir up as much trouble as possible. It’s news, you know.

It will be most interesting to see how much the MSM will aid Bush in rewriting history. Bush seems to be embarked upon a mission to create a legacy (apparently oblivious to the fact that he already has one). So far, as expected, Bush was not responsible for anything that happened in the past eight years. Interviewing Bush seems to me something like trying to interview an amnesiac about what he did during the past few years. If Bush actually remembers at all he tends to distort it, and if he doesn’t remember it’s because he had nothing to do with it. So far I can’t tell for certain if Bush even knows what went on during his Presidency, or if he’s just pretending not to know. I wonder if he will be surprised if anyone tries to bring charges against him, Cheney, Rumsfeld, or anyone. So far his Attorney General says there is no reason for Bush to pardon anyone because what they did was legal. I find this a fascinating argument. You hire lawyers to write laws the way you want them, thus allowing you to actually break the law (because you changed it to suit yourself) , and then you defend yourself by saying you were merely following the law. If they can get away with this I fully expect to see pigs fly and snowballs in hell.

LKBIQ:
I am an atheist, myself. A simple faith, but a great comfort to me, in these last days.
Lois McMaster Bujold

TILT:
Portuguese explorers believed they had located Prestor John in Ethiopia.