HAL'S OUT

I liked Hal Holbrook as "Deep Throat." Now that the truth has come out, Hal's history. I know we all wanted it to be someone other than a bureaucrat. But that's life and sometimes real life isn't very sexy.

McClure over at Polipundit has it right, "looks like it's time for some good old fashioned Nixon bashing in the MSM." I'm sure the MSM types are basking in the glory of days revisited; the days when they brought down the great, the mighty, Tricky Dick. The birthplace of the "anonymous source," The Washington Post, will be forever looked upon as their Mecca. Maureen Dowd will no doubt be writing about this in her next column, but I'm curious how she'll bring Bush into the mix. Trust me, she will.

About the only thing that confuses me is why Mr. Felt came out in this way? I thought it was supposed to be kept secret until his passing, according to Woodward and Bernstein. It gets me to thinking the family is wanting their turn at the media cash register, like so many before them. This could be Mr. Felt's idea, but I'm thinking it wasn't since he's 91 and probably has no selfish interest in media attention at this stage. The family, well, they might be interested in any future sales that might be had off dear, old Grandad's story. Then again, Mr. Felt might be using this as a way to leave his family a tidy sum. Who knows? I guess you can't blame them for trying to make a buck.

Next week: "I was the one on the Grassy Knoll." Stay tuned.

SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE

George Patton believed that to know anything of world affairs, one must have an understanding of its history. Sound advice, I think. Patton's type isn't allowed to exist today; he was barely allowed to exist in his time. He understood politics as well as anyone but he was his own worst enemy when it came to the subject. However, if something needed to be accomplished, no matter how difficult, Patton was the "go-to" guy.

During the Memorial weekend, I did more reading of Patton's writings and found a site with hundreds and hundreds of his thoughts on every subject under the sun. They are short, diary type entries, so if you find one section particularly boring, scroll down to a new subject and read on. I discovered that no matter the time in history, some things never change. Here's a couple examples:

"Politicians are the lowest form of life on the earth. Liberal Democrats are the lowest form of politician."

"Fires are not put out by disbanding the fire department and wars are not prevented by destroying a country's armed forces."

Liberals and the MSM haven't learned a thing.
Read the entire text here.

ALWAYS REMEMBER

Paul at SHADOW OF DIOGENES has posted a poem to the fallen.

BACK IN ACTION

Howdy and Hurl's blogs are back up again after being shut down. I notice there are no more achives or email links available. At any rate, they are up again and I hope to see a new post soon.

A WOMAN'S WORK IS NEVER DONE

Go Danica!!!

NORMANDY TO HOOTERVILLE

Eddie Albert 1906-2005. Great actor and a Navy Veteran of WWII.

When you read the obits of the old Hollywood stars, you'll notice most of them served their country during wartime. A few even joined the reserves and stayed until retirement age. I wonder how many of today's pampered Hollywood elites will have an obit that mentions their service to country? Go ahead, try to find one, I dare you.

Good job, Mr. Douglas.

RUNAWAY BRIDE'S POLICE REPORT

Smoking Gun posted the police report of the Runaway Bride, and it includes the story she gave police about her abduction. No wonder her local DA decided to press charges. I hope the "give her a break, she's suffered enough" crowd will now finally shut up. This chick will be spending the summer doing major couch time at $250 an hour. And you thought gas prices were bad.

OPERATION: NEW MARKET

To be honest with you, I hate the name Operation New Market. It reminds me of Operation Market Garden, and you know how that turned out for Monty and his troops. I love the Brits, but I'd rather not be reminded of a failed mission when I read the news about our troops. I'm sure the Brits wouldn't mind forgetting that one, either.

I got to thinking, who the hell names these operations, anyway? What happened to the days of great operational names like "Overlord" and "Linebacker" and "Rolling Thunder?" Solid names with some punch.

We can do better with operational names, I'm sure. For example, try these on for size:

OPERATION: YOU SCREWED THE POOCH.
OPERATION: GIT 'ER DONE.
OPERATION: YOU'RE A DEAD MAN.
OPERATION: WHERE YA SLEEPIN' TONIGHT?
OPERATION: RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

You get the idea. Now send me your best OPERATIONAL NAMES and I'll post some of them here.

IDOL THINKING PLUS

The final episode of Idol last night was the only one I watched this season. Pretty good show. I was pleased to see the judges all had COCA-COLAS strategically placed in front of them. However, Paula seems to have difficulty with product placement--label forward, Paula. I know the "Bo Ho" in North Dakota wasn't pleased with the outcome, but even I knew "country western" was going to come out on top against "rock."

***Eleanor Clift gives me a burning sensation in my throat everytime I see her on TV; reading one of her articles is worse because there's no one around to shut her up. Who are these "God obsessed Christians" she mentions? Might they be people attending church services on a regular basis? Jesus, Eleanor, run and hide before they get ya! Wingnut.

***Michael Savage is one rude SOB. But, he's right about liberalism being a mental disorder. You can't explain it any other way. SAAAAAAVAGE.

***If you want to know what other nations are thinking and saying, you have to read their papers. I went to an Aljazeera site to see what they had to say. I expected as much but had to read it for myself.

***Stopped in to see what the Chi-Coms were saying about the U.S. and was reminded why I'm so pissed off at our Congress. We really have to get a handle on this, otherwise we're in for some big problems. Big.

***I've decided, after much thought, that I'm not "chillin" over this "deal" made by the republicans. They should've dropped the hammer on the dems when they had the chance. Hugh Hewitt says it best.

***Zarqawi may be wounded, he may even be dead, but one thing is certain: He is hot and it's becoming more and more difficult for him to move around as he previously has. Don't rule out him pulling a "Swordfish." Misdirection.

CBS GETTING SLAPPED AROUND...AGAIN

Imagine this: A CBS assistant producer not doing his job. During an interview about his upcoming movie, "The Longest Yard," Burt Reynolds found out the producer hadn't bothered to see the movie or the its original. So, Burt gave the man a little slap on the cheek. Good for you, Burt. Maybe this is all it takes to get these guys to do their jobs.

Now, if we could get Michael Moore to stop by Clint's house with his camera. Action!!

Hat tip: Drudge. See the video.

QUICKLY....

As Memorial Weekend approaches, Minh-Duc at STATE OF FLUX wants you to consider this.

Many strange things can be attributed to the SF Bay area, but, to me, this one isn't surprising.

Have you stopped to make an effort, a difference? These two have.

Travelling life's highway, I see another milestone has passed.

Good deal, bad deal, who knows? This will give you an idea, though.

It took long enough, but in the end, they had no choice.

BLACKFIVE has had it with the MSM...awaiting "operational orders." Get on board!

It took courage, but this lady had to come clean about it.

INDRA NOOYI---PEPSICO'S CFO

Over the weekend I studied Indra Nooyi's speech, took it apart, re-read it, and then decided to turn away from her words and think about her reason for giving such a speech. If you consider motivation alone, it will reveal more than the words are able to. The fact that Nooyi devoted the bulk of her speech to the "finger/hand" analogy, and not business, jumped out at me.

Ask yourself this: If you were invited to speak to a graduating class, what would you talk about and why?

Well, I figure you'd talk about something you're familiar with, a topic you believe in, and above all, something you're passionate about. This is exactly what Nooyi did when she spoke to the graduating class at Columbia. Her words were not "unintentional," they were not "misconstrued," and certainly they were not the product of a "thoughtless gesture or comment." Nooyi didn't pull a "Jimmy the Greek," she clearly put much effort and thought into her speech. She said what she felt.

Nooyi's choice of using the "finger" analogy is equally obvious in its intent; she may not have invented this analogy, however, its message and meaning are universal. A meaning so clear, a child of five could see it from across a playground. I doubt Pepsico has any five-year-olds on the payroll.

The story of how the "middle finger" anchors every function the hand performs isn't correct, anyway. If you take the time to examine your hand and its digits, you'll soon realize the only digit you can't function without is the thumb. Lose a thumb and you're handicapped.

If Nooyi assigned the "thumb" to America, she could've used the "thumbs-up" analogy, but its meaning wouldn't have projected her true feelings about America's behavior around the globe. If Nooyi didn't harbor these feelings about America, she would've spoke to the class about the state of business, globalization, Pepsico, and what the graduates can expect in the future, now that they're about to embark on new careers.

Pepsico is a global corporation. A corporation that seems to have pulled up its roots from America's soil. Nothing, I predict, will happen to Indra Nooyi over the blow-back from her speech. She hails from India, a nation with about a billion consumers, and Pepsico will do nothing to upset that applecart. Pepsico wouldn't relish having the kind of troubles Coca-Cola is currently having there.

So, "one thumb down" for Indra Nooyi, and "two thumbs down" for Pepsico. And, just so they're not misconstrued, "thumbs down" is meant in the negative sense.

I wonder what his opinion would be?

IT'S A WRAP

The week started the same as the last one with the Senate fighting over the judge issue. Then Newsweak stepped up and ran a Dan Rather hit piece that blew up in their face. Sweet justice.

Then Pepsi's CFO graduation speech starts showing up all over the internet. Lots of people upset over that one, but as of Friday, Pepsi doesn't seem think you're "really" that mad. We'll see.

Then the New York times runs a hit piece on our military from 3 years ago. Some say the NYT was just trying to circle the wagons with Newsweak. I think the NYT simply hates our military and would've ran something negative anyway.

Then I get up this morning (pre-coffee stages) and have to look at Saddam in his Jockey shorts. From a jail cell, he's still torturing people.

And, finally, MSNBC reports this evening that The Insider and Entertainment Tonight both paid for the rights to Mary Kay Latorneau's wedding, which is being held tonight in Washington State. There's your media for ya. Teacher rapes her 6th grade student, goes to prison, later to marry him, and the media thinks this is a good thing to put on TV.

Speaking of teacher/rapists: I find it curious that many of these teachers are strikingly good looking, and the media seem to follow them around like they've accomplished something worthy of their coverage. I found this teacher/rapist, she committed the same crime, but nary a camera is rolling, except for the mugshot. I wonder....

Have a great weekend everyone.

THIRDWAVEDAVE CALLING....AGAIN

First, thanks to everyone for the comments and the many, many emails. And thanks for the links at Hugh Hewitt, Polipundit, and Michelle Malkin.

All the emails were emotionally charged, and some quite lengthy. The ones that stood out to me were the ones I received from troops in Iraq; these boys and girls are not pleased with the CFO's comments at the graduation, or with her so-called apology. Mark Bowler sent me one that listed every Pepsico product made in the world; he calls this his "no-go list" and it's now on his fridge. All emails were in this vein, but Mark made it a research project of sorts. Pepsico must know that consumers like Mark are not alone.

I called Pepsico this morning and asked if the current batch of comments posted at their website was all they planned to do. Her reply was that the current comments posted by the CFO had been shared with the media. When I pressed her about any plans the CEO had regarding a TV appearance, she took my number, website address, and had Mike Milipano call me at my home, which was 10 minutes later.

When Mr. Milipano called, he stated that any plans for an appearance on TV has not been shared with his consumer relations department yet. But, he added, it's not out of the realm of possibility. Everyone I talked to today was very professional, but the tone had changed from yesterday's. Today, after each question, they would pause to make sure they gave the correct response. Very cautious and you could tell they're in a wait and see mode.

Hugh Hewitt hit the nail on the head yesterday, when he said the CEO should be doing everything in his power to get in front of a TV crew, in an attempt to protect his brand name, and at the same time say something positive about our nation. He should've been on TV by now.

Before the end of business today, I hope to see Mr. Reinemund on TV using the same comments Trump has made famous.

Let's see if "We've got the right one, baby!"

NOTE: Listen to what Hugh Hewitt has to say on his radio show today at 3:00 PST. And, Michelle Malkin is filling in for Bill O'Reilly tonight. Don't miss either of them!!! I'm sure Pepsi will be discussed.

SHE'S HIRED!!!

In my mind, Kendra was the obvious choice to be Trump's newest Apprentice. However, in an earlier post, I said this is TV and anything is possible. Kendra sealed the deal in the first 5 minutes of the show, and the remaining time, for me, was just time Trump had to fill.

Trump told Kendra that he didn't like crying and when she cried in the boardroom last week, it showed weakness. Kendra replied:

"Not at all, Mr. Trump. I've seen 300lb linebackers cry while lifting the Superbowl trophy."

The crowd went wild, shutting Trump down on his own show, and from then on, Tana knew it would take a miracle to win.

A company like PEPSICO should go looking for someone as smart, hardworking, and dedicated as Kendra. I understand they might have an opening soon.

You go, Kendra!!!!

THINGS MIGHT BE GOING BETTER WITH....

NEWSWEAK is one thing, PEPSICO is another. I have direct influence over this company, and its anti-american, speech-making CFO. I'm out everyday spending money on their products, some I didn't even realize PEPSICO owned, so now, assuming they don't fire the CFO, I will exercise better spending judgement.

Here's what I did today:

I called the Board of Directors. The voicemail box was full. I called a couple more numbers, and I got the same result. So, just as I'm about to give up and just email them, I thought, what the hell, I'll call the CEO, Steven Reinemund, and see what's shakin'. To my surprise, his secretary answered the phone! I asked for the CEO, but he was on the road. I bet he is. Probably out looking for a new CFO if he's got half-a-brain in his head. I asked her if the CFO is planning to give another reply to her speech, because the so-called apology she gave was not sufficent. She put me on hold and someone handling these concerns took over.

The lady that came on the line, very nice, said they had no plans to do so. My reply was: You're kidding, right? Then she assured me that as of now, it's a work in progress. I said thank you, and she added: Please stay with us. Her response seemed on the edge of panic, almost pleading with me.

Here's their info:

EMAIL: boardofdirectors@pepsi.com

PEPSICO EXEC. OFFICES: CEO 1-914-253-2000

WEBSITE: Click here. A listing of all their products will be found there.

DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS: Click here.

Give 'em a jingle, if you're so inclined.

MILBLOGS OUT OF SERVICE

I follow Howdy and Hurl and Major K for events in Iraq, but for over a day now, Howdy and Hurl's blogs have been down. Don't know why. Just keep checking back.

TAKING THE BATON....

from Dennis the Peasant, who took it from Neo-Neocon, who took it from someone else.

THE TEN THINGS I'VE NEVER DONE:

1. VOTE FOR A DEMOCRAT.
2. CHEAT AT GOLF.
3. CHEAT AT POKER.
4. UNDERSTAND A COMPUTER.
5. BUY A NEW CAR.
6. TRAVEL OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES.
7. FLY FIRST CLASS.
8. BASE JUMP. (thirdwavedave.com)
9. GET A SPEEDING TICKET.
10. WIN AT POKER OR GOLF.

Following suit, I pass this to-do list off to Dakota Pundit, Byrd Droppings, and Shadow of Diogenes. All are on my Blogroll.

5 LITTLE ANGELS

Pissed off at the Newsweak story? Get over it. There's going to be more of that kind of story in the future, trust me. So, put that anger aside for a moment, read Hurl's latest blog entry, and have a tissue or two handy. Our soldiers are some kind of wonderful.

AROUND THE HORN

**Dropped in at CNN to watch their version of the Top 25 Most Fascinating People, and was stunned at the list they came up with. The list, here, doesn't show the #1 position, but I'll let you in on it: It's Ronald Reagan. Bush came in at #4, Newt at #17. Fascinating.

**It appears Hillary is dodging another bullet. The DA in the fundraising case has stated she was out of the loop. I was hoping for more.

**I find it hard to believe our government is still wringing its hands over what to do, if anything, to the pilot, an instructor no less, that shut down the government of the most powerful nation in the world, by flying into the most protected airspace known to man. After 9-11, you'd think there would be a clearly stated punishment for doing this with few exceptions to the rule. Something along the lines of: Fly here and lose your license, go directly to jail, do not collect $200. Give this instructor an orange jumpsuit/flightsuit already!

**Ebay loses to Lelands.com online auction house. A section of fencing from the Grassy Knoll will be on the block at Lelands through June 16th. Read here to see who's behind the fence.

**Ever see a SCION while out driving? Mrs Media Matters has and she's got some comments and questions for those that drive this BOXcar.

FROM THE FRONT LINES

Tired of reading what the MSM is reporting from the warzone? I know I am. Here's two Cobra pilots that blog straight from where the action is. They both have blogs and update them frequently with their daily activities, life in Iraq, and their take on the fighting. If you're interested in events in Iraq, these two blogs are a must. Godspeed to both of them.

Hurl's blog and Howdy's blog.

Hat tip: Hugh Hewitt

SMACKDOWN AT TRUMP PLAZA

I'm an Apprentice freak. There, I said it, and if you can't stand Trump, no need to continue reading. As far as reality shows go, this is the best by far. It's real life stuff and reality doesn't get any better than real life.

Two weeks ago the show was down to three wannabe Trump employees, so they put the three through the interview process with a bunch of corporate big-wigs, in an effort to eliminate the weak link and get the show down to the final two. Craig got the boot, and anyone who watched the episode could see that one coming from a mile away. Poor interviewer.

And then there was Tana and Kendra to face off in the final task.

The final tasks are always huge events, bigger than either of them have ever faced in their working lives, and to make matters worse, Trump assigns them three assistants each from the previous batch of firings, and, of course, all six of them were the least manageable of the group. This is done just to make sure the task is as hard as it can possibly be on the finalists, and, it was.

Usually the final episode is two hours long, but this year they're splitting that into two one hour shows, with the last show being the boardroom showdown next week. Of the two tasks this week, Kendra was clearly the winner. Tana, as I said in a previous post, is a zero and she lived up to that sum total this week.

Since this is TV, anything can happen. There's only one way Kendra could possibly lose: If Trump asks her a question and she starts drooling on herself. Other than that, I don't see Tana having a snowball's chance, period. But, as I said, this is TV.

And, I think it's great that a woman is going to win this year, though only one of them truly deserves it.

You go, Kendra!

STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Since the Sacramento Union shut its presses down, we've had to live with only one paper, the Sacramento Bee, here in River City. Had the Union survived, it would certainly be flourishing in this day and age. The Union has made a comeback with its on-line edition, but we're all hoping it finds its way back to newstands soon.

The news today out of the Bee is that veteran Sac Bee columnist, Diana Griego Erwin, has been allowed to resign, for personal reasons, after a few of her columns included people that may not exist. Would someone explain that one to me? I think she left this fishwrapper because she was fired. Now, in my mind, that's a good personal reason.

Erwin has been with the Bee for 12 years and has many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize she shares with another journalist. No doubt the publisher at the Bee will be digging around to authenticate much of her past columns. After this, all their other writers will be looking over their shoulders as they go to press.

The stench of the New York Times has now arrived in Sacramento. It couldn't have happened to a nicer paper, either. Now maybe the Union will gain some momemtum and get back into the print biz.

I just love the smell of stench in the air.

MILLER CANCELLED

Last night I read the news that Dennis Miller's show has been cancelled. His last show is this Friday. It's a loss because he had a good show, but clearly CNBC was not the place for it. When Drudge posted the ratings for cable, you could see it was just a matter of time. Some say he should move the show to Comedy Central, however, I don't see it fitting in with that group. There's a place for his brand of comedy and discussion of current events and I hope the "experts" find that place in short order. We need a guy like Miller to offset the lunacy of a baffer like Bill Maher.

Now, let's go to the Varsity Panel!!

SETTING THE EXAMPLE

This is yet another Great American Patriot setting the good example of service to one's country. His name is Andrew Speth. He held the position of Chief of Staff to Rep. Paul Ryan. Mr. Speth was working in Washington D.C. on 9-11 and soon decided that he'd be enlisting in the Air Force. He deployed in April and left behind a wife, four children and one on the way.

For his willingness to serve our Nation, I salute him.

You can send your good wishes to Mr. Speth at Rep. Ryan's office.


(hat tip): Ed R., his proud brother-in-law.

THE FIRST 100 DAYS, ECT, ECT.

The Nabob of the Northeast has yet to find the time to sign SF 180 and release his records as promised to Tim Russert 100 days ago. In my opinion, Russert is now in a position to lose credibility if he doesn't put pressure on Kerry to make good on his promise.

What's up with all the "child killings" in the media? It seems that there's a new case featured on the tube each week. A reality show I'd rather not watch. Are cases of this sort on the rise, or does it just seem like it with all the attention from tv? One good thing about this is attention is being focused on judges and sentencing guidelines.

A post at Instapundit deals with news stories that aren't getting enough play. I agree with the GM story. When it came out I thought it was huge, and then nothing. I found that odd.

Dakota Pundit is back in town. She and her husband may have flown the only airline in aviation history to rush its passengers into "the silver tube of death," as she describes it, so the flight could leave EARLY. Yes, I said EARLY.

Paul at Shadow of Diogenes has developed a new word. It's a good and useful word that will no doubt end up in the dictionary some day. We need more word-crafters.

FEELING DOWN?

It's Monday and we all need a reason to smile. Here's your reason.

(hat tip: Betsy's Page)

THE POPE ADVISES

Even the Pope is joining the discussion about media and how it conducts its news reporting. USA TODAY has an article that opens with this paragraph:

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that the media can spread peace but also foment violence, and called for journalists to exercise responsibility to ensure objective reports that respect human dignity and the common good.

Come Monday morning, I'm sure the "powers that be" at the NY Times will be holding executive meetings in an effort to better understand the "objective reporting" and "common good" aspects of the Pope's suggestion, but I wouldn't hold your breath on it.

STEPPING UP TO THE PLATE

This, my friends, is a picture of a Great American Patriot. His name is Mike Coffman. Currently he holds the office of Colorado State Treasurer, but not for long. No, he's not going into the private sector to pursue a more lucrative career; he's rejoining the U.S. Marines and shipping out to Iraq next month. His joining the military is no more important than anyone else joining, but I think when public figures make the decision to drop everything to serve their Nation in a time of crisis, it highlights the importance of serving one's country.

"My fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you: Ask what you can do for your country." Watch JFK's inaugural speech again.

I salute this man for his willingness and courage to step up to the plate in service of this Great Nation. Email Mike Coffman and give him your support and good wishes:

mike.coffman@state.co.us

(hat tip: Irish Pennants)

NO LOSER HERE, HARRY

In the future, Harry, just call Karl Rove before you open your stupid mouth.

"HELLO" ANYONE HOME?

It only took a couple months, but the techs at "HELLO" finally got around to finding the problem with my account. According to them, verification was stuck in a spam filter. The photo posting service is free, so I guess I shouldn't complain.

A ONE-STAR-FIVE-FINGER DISCOUNT

I used to think General Karpinski was being singled out to take the fall for the Panty Fest at A.G. Prison. But now I read that many others in the officer ranks are being held responsible for this unmanaged prison frat house.

I'm not upset over the pictures; I'm upset that these idiot officers allowed cameras inside at all. What "brain pilot" thought this was a good policy? Apparently none of these officers were told about this thing called the INTERNET. It was in all the papers.

The article also mentions that the Great General Karpinski was arrested for shoplifting (cosmetics) in Florida and this played a role in her demotion. Hello! If this isn't SNL material, nothing is. A One Star General shoplifting? WTF!!

No doubt, Patton is spinning in his grave.

Read it and weep.

IT'S ABOUT TIME

You won't see this, again, for a long, long time.

When the clock hits 5:05 pm/am and 5 seconds, it will look like this:

05:05:05.....05/05/05

This happens once every 1000 years. And when it occurs on a Thursday, the 5th day of the week, it's once in 7000 years.

(hat tip: Drudge)

R.I.P. "HACK"

If you ever found yourself going into battle, Col. Hackworth is the guy you'd want leading you. A soldier's soldier.

Obit

COMEDY'S WORST OF THE WORST

I can't begin to tell you how much I dislike Bill Maher and his crazy views on everything. Maher had the opportunity to be a huge hit in the comedy world until he started injecting his "personal views" into his routines. Now, I don't find him funny; I find him objectionable.

Last night on the Late, Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Maher was a guest, but not for long, thanks to Craig Ferguson. Maher came on and started giving his "personal view" of the Michael Jackson situation. After making a couple points, Ferguson cut Maher off, went to commercial and sent him packing. Kudos to Craig Ferguson!

The transcript is a must read.

Read it here.

(hat tip: Hugh Hewitt)

"SADDAM, I WAS IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD..."

NEWSMAX has a report saying Rumsfeld, while in Iraq recently, stopped by to visit Saddam and offered him a deal in exchange for his help in stopping the insurgency. If true, it's a very interesting proposal and one I'd think a coward like Saddam would jump at.

CAUTION: YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

While FOX NEWS was on in the background, I heard a reporter doing a piece on the freeway shootings in L.A. Apparently, CAL-TRANS, in an effort to assuage drivers' anxiety over the shootings, said that drivers had a better chance of being killed by a drunk driver.

I, for one, feel much better.

MSM'S BEST MAN

I have to confess something here and now: I've been tuning into the CBS Evening News. Long ago, I quit watching the MSM's evening newscasts, for obvious reasons. One time I tuned in just to wave goodbye to Rather, but that was it.

Why, you ask? Two words: Bob Schieffer. He's been on TV longer than I've been alive and I can't ever remember thinking he presented his reports in a biased manner. Bias is easy to pick up on if you're looking for it. Like all of us, he's biased, we all are, but he's professional enough to keep his opinions out of the process. Journalists are now lagging a couple notches below lawyers with regard to respect, but Schieffer is above his peers by a country mile. Schieffer's from Texas, so he's aware how far a country mile is.

Bias, or lack of it, isn't why I mention Schieffer; his ability to tell a good story is, however. Since he was a moderator of one of the Presidential Debates last year, Schieffer has been on all sorts of TV shows, and whenever I run across one of them, I have to stop and watch the whole thing, mainly because he's telling another one of his great stories.

When Schieffer's recalling a story from back-in-the-day, no one's more enthusiastic about the story than Schieffer. A friend of mine, when beginning a story, a joke usually, will say, "If you've heard this before, don't stop me, I wanna hear it again." I'm positive Bob thinks the same way. He enjoys telling these stories and no one's better at it.

Schieffer's recollections from that dreadful day in Dallas are the best. Back then, he says, reporters were told to always answer the phone, because the next big story could be on the other end. On that day, Bob answered the phone and, sure enough, the biggest story of his life just happened to be on the other end: Oswald's mother. She needed a ride to Dallas to be with her son, Lee. Bob shot down to the "agency," today they're called dealerships, to pick up a car to fetch Mrs Oswald. The news organization in Dallas had a deal with the local dealer, agency, to provide transportation for reporters in exchange for a write-up on the quality of the car, which were almost always glowing.

When Schieffer goes on with this story about Oswald's mother, you get the sense she's simply an awful woman. While telling the story, he's able bring you with him to Dallas when he gets to the Police Department, and convinces everyone there that he's supposed to be there. When, in fact, the last person they want inside is a reporter. But Schieffer blends in and gets away with this for a few hours, until one FBI guy finally looks his way and asks Bob the question he didn't want to hear: "Who are you?"

Not long after the question was asked, Schieffer found himself outside on the pavement. His life would never be the same again, either. Nor would ours, since our President was dead. I was 7 years old. Schieffer gets ribbed for the Oswald story because he's told it a million times, but if I found myself at a cocktail party and had his ear, I would ask him if he minded telling the story again.

This evening I bumped into Schieffer on "The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch," and they were showing clips of Bob reading from a bootlegged copy of the Star Report. A scoop at the time. It was very funny because he was reading straight from the text and editing between his brain and his mouth, since a lot of the report was describing Clinton and Monica in rather racy terms. So, Bob continued to edit on the fly and was clearly uncomfortable, red-faced, as he trotted around certain descriptive terms. At one point, he came upon the term "oral sex," but thinking he shouldn't use that exact term, it came out "sex-in-kind." How precious is that?

Later in tonight's show, Donny showed a clip of Bob signing off for the last time on his weekend newscast. He was doing fine until he mentioned his wife having to wait for him to come home on the weekend after the newscast, it brought him to tears, not because he was leaving the newcast, but that he had to be away from his wife and she was always there waiting for him to come home. You could just sense that he's hitched his wagon to one terrific gal, and one, if he had a choice, he wouldn't be far from.

There are many who tell good stories, but few good storytellers. Bob is one hell of a good storyteller. He's both a reporter and a storyteller, and he has my respect.

If anyone can save CBS, it's Bob Schieffer. But I think they'll have to deliver his pay with a Brink's Truck....trust me, if I'm watching CBS again, he's worth it.

SEAN NEEDS HANNITIZING

Sean Hannity is a great American. Right now, though, he's a lost American. The views he expressed on yesterday's show regarding the runaway bride were way off base, but it's easy to understand how he came to feel this way. He continues the same theme today, and I might add that he's getting a lot of flak.

He got too close to the story.

He met with all the family members, interviewed them, put them on his TV show, and thinks they are wonderful people. They probably are, Sean, but that's beside the point. That's why judges are required to be impartial, they deal with the facts of the case exclusively. To do otherwise would make any decision suspect. Remember the blindfold?

He thinks the bride-to-be should be afforded the luxury of apologizing to the public for what she did and leave it at that. Sean asks this: "Does everything have to go through the court system?" Answer: No. Violations of the laws, however, must. When, with premeditation, you put in motion a chain of events like she did, and lie to the police about it twice, you can expect to find yourself standing in front of a judge. It's that simple and not outrageous.

We are a nation of laws; it's how we establish some form of order in our communities. Sean thinks her "stress" is simply a personal problem that should be handled at the family level. This is true, but when her personal problem became "our" problem, the justice system is forced to step in and protect the well-being of the community.

I don't think this gal should be in jail, put in shackles and forced to do the "perp walk," but I do think she should answer to the court for her violation and pay whatever price the system thinks reasonable. If the price is going to a doctor for help, I'm fine with that.

Sean, I fear, has become so close to the case, the family, that he will never be able to back away from his present views. He's stuck and he's wasting his show's powerful platform on this topic when he should be focusing it on "important" issues of the day. On the other hand, I guess it's his show.

Sean, you're a great American, anyway.

**UPDATE** Sean's on-line poll is running 70% for charging the bride-to-be.

MORE ENRON-BY-THE-SEA

Michelle Malkin has a good follow-up on the scandal brewing in San Diego. This is going to get ugly in a hurry.

Read it.

WEEKEND TV ROUNDUP

Cedric the Entertainer was the headliner at the WHCD, and he was funny. But Laura Bush owned the room when she took the podium. The material was fantastic and her delivery was flawless. At one point the camera panned the room and caught a shot of Al Franken, who didn't appear to be enjoying himself. I got the feeling he wanted to bolt for the mic and shout to the crowd, "Bush lied! Bush lied!" Al is so insignificant.

60 Minutes served up its latest Bush-bash piece featuring a former Gitmo linguist, Sgt. Saar. In the piece, Saar mentions an incident where a Saudi, who was taking flight training here in the US, was exposed to bizarre sexual torture. Unbuttoning of a top, touching of breasts....ect., doesn't strike me as torture, religious beliefs aside. Give me a break! You want torture? How about talking to your loved ones for the last time on your cell phone, and then having to decide whether to burn to death or jump to the pavement a thousand feet below?

I wasn't surprised to see the ACLU stick its ugly mug into the discussion, either. They always have something stupid to say. Their agenda does more harm than good when it comes to our nation. If they had their way, our nation would be destroyed but we would be comforted to know that we played by the rules. Some comfort, huh? I think the rules have changed.

Sgt. Saar was hired by the Army, given a Top Secret clearance, and sent to Gitmo for a few months. Now he's hawking a book. It's obvious the Army made a bad hire in the case of Sgt. Saar.

Rosie on Geraldo's show: Sickening. No futher comment.

NORTH DAKOTA WAY

While browsing last night, I stumbled upon a very entertaining site by the name of The Dakota Pundit. Check out this "dancing dog" video she posted. Hands down the most talented dog I've ever seen.

Enjoy!