Obama as Ubiquitous Leader

Appears on "60 Minutes" just over a week ago, then hits five -- count 'em, five -- Sunday morning talk shows yesterday, to be followed by a schmooze with Letterman on tonight's show. Anyone else think this guy is eminently overexposed? What next, a cameo on upcoming Brady Bunch reunion in Hawaii flick?

ABC's Gibson lands first Palin interview

... as reported here by the Associated Press.

Forecasters also expect a busy season for hurricane predictions

The same story that appears about this time every year, as published in today's Boston Globe -- "Forecasters expect busy hurricane season on the East Coast."

There they go again

A dutiful heads-up about Democrats in Congress by way of the observant editorial page editors of the Wall Street Journal, from an editorial in the May 19-20 weekend edition of the paper --

"With all the other news this week, the media barely noticed that Congressional Democrats passed a budget outline that envisions more than $200 billion in tax increases over five years. Seems worth reporting to us." (emphasis added)

This at a time when the cumulative effect of the Bush tax cuts have federal revenues climbing so rapidly "that this year they may reach 19 percent of GPD -- above the 40-year average of 18.3 percent. Apparently, Democrats think this tax windfall isn't enough."

Of politicians and perfection

From last night's "60 Minutes" segment on Mitt Romney, as reported by Mike Wallace --

Wallace: "The rap on you, of course, is that you are too smooth, too handsome, too polished. Are you really known as 'Matinee Mitt' ...?"
Romney: "That's the rap on you, Mike ..."
Wallace: "No, no, no ..."
Romney: "... Too smooth, too polished ..."

Then, as to be expected, the rapid-fire edit away from the conversation before the inevitable smile from Romney to show he was having a little fun at Wallace's expense. When I first saw the exchange in the previews that open the show, I thought Romney was criticizing the media, as epitomized by Wallace. It wasn't until I watched the actual segment that I realized Romney was being irreverent, just as he'd done when Jay Leno posed a similar question on "The Tonight Show."

The "too smooth, too polished, too handsome" rap could also be leveled at another presidential contender from Massachusetts, albeit one from decades ago -- John F. Kennedy. Difference being, Kennedy was a Democrat, though I doubt he'd be one today.

Smooth, polished and handsome isn't acceptable in actual politicians running for president, only for a long-dead icon who provided the template.

Romney on a roll

Cover of Time magazine and an interview with Mike Wallace on tomorrow night's "60 Minutes," both on the heels of Mitt Romney's solid performance in last week's Republican debate.

What we are seeing is belated recognition by the mainstream media that Romney is a candidate to be reckoned with. Eventual recognition to follow that he's the most formidable presidential contender since Clinton in 1992.

Still waiting for mainstream media references to "far left"

From a Reuters story out of Paris yesterday on demonstrations and arrests following the victory of conservative presidential candidate Nicolas Sarkozy --

"Some 300 to 400 demonstrators gathered on the Boulevard St-Michel in the Latin Quarter of Paris," writes Reuters' Gerard Bon, "ostensibly to protest against a march by far-right supporters."For the uninitiated, allow this former left-winger to translate -- "far-right" is code for "Nazi," invariably tossed about in abundant ignorance that the Nazis were national socialists. The demonstrators, Bon writes, shouted slogans like "Sarko fascist! The people will have your hide" and "Police everywhere, justice nowhere."

The French have hardly stopped counting the votes in Sarkozy's impressive victory and his more unhinged critics are already dragging out that smoldy standby of the intellectually barren, "fascist," as if Sarkozy's proposal to lengthen the work week for a stagnant French economy is akin to tossing Jews in ovens.

Meet Emmett Till -- sexist pig, former civil rights icon

Still hard to believe this one ... as reported in the Los Angeles Times last month and wending its way through the blogosphere --

"Administrators at a Los Angeles charter school forbade students from reciting a poem about civil rights icon Emmett Till during a Black History Month program recently, saying his story was unsuitable for an assembly of young children."
"Teachers and students said the administration suggested that the Till case -- in which a teenager was beaten to death in Mississippi after allegedly whistling at a white woman -- was not fitting for a program intended to be celebratory ..." (Up from Slavery!) "... and that Till's actions could be viewed as sexual harassment."

... and the actions of these overwrought educators could be viewed as a classic example of politically correct lunacy.

Yes, let's deprive school children of learning about one of the pivotal episodes in the civil rights movement because Till was clearly a Neanderthal in desperate need of re-education. True, what Till's killers did was egregious, but at least they hadn't whistled at a woman. See how it works?

Tip of the hat to Keith Gottschalk at rabble news for this one.

Seeing how she wasn't a covert agent and all

"No one has been charged with leaking (Valerie) Plame Wilson's name to the press" -- last sentence in next to last paragraph of story in today's Boston Globe about the verdict in the Libby trial.

Go figure

"Libby did not speak to reporters" -- from an AP story last night about verdict in Libby trial.

Must be that limited DC jury pool

The AP story about the Libby verdict mentioned in the preceding post also contained this eye-opener -- one of the jurors, Denis Collins, is a "former Washington Post reporter." Huh ...?

Allow me to offer an alternative scenario to put this in perspective -- say that James Carville, in his capacity as chief of staff to future Vice President Barack Obama, was on trial for the same charges as Scooter, and one of the jurors was a "former reporter" for Fox News -- think that might raise an eyebrow at Moveon.org?

Verdict in Libby trial

... and with it the first story I've seen coming out of the trial, posted online this afternoon by the AP, to explicitly state that Scooter Libby "was not the source for the original column outing (Valerie) Plame." Yet another story, however, that manages to avoid mentioning the name of said source, former State Department official Richard Armitage.

A distinction making all the difference

Canadian author Irshad Manji, quoted by Bret Stephens' in his "Global View" op-ed column in today's Wall Street Journal, under the headline "Islam's Other Radicals" --

"Moderate Muslims denounce terror that's committed in the name of Islam but they deny that religion has anything to do with it. Reform-minded Muslims denounce terror that's acknowledged in the name of Islam and acknowledge that our religion is used to inspire it."

Reform-minded Muslims, in other words, are willing to acknowledge reality, unlike "moderate Muslims" and their Western apologists.

Go figure

"Libby did not speak to reporters" -- from AP story last night about verdict in Libby trial.

Wish I'd thought of that

A headline in today's Jerusalem Post - "NASA, Virgin to Collaborate on Space Flights" - and the tongue-in-cheek response - "A Novel Way to Avoid Love Triangles."

Or this headline from yesterday's Denver Post - "Lawsuit Attacks Booze, Frat Life" -- followed by the sly allusion to a John Belushi line in the movie "Animal House" -- "Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"

Where are they coming from? A great daily email sent out by the Wall Street Journal called "Best of the Web Today." If you look forward to Esquire magazine's Dubious Achievement Awards issue every January, this is right up your alley. Follow this link if you'd like to sign up (and no, I don't get a cut - yet).

You remember, the guy who outed Plame

Yet another story from the Associated Press (excuse me, The Associated Press) about the Scooter Libby trial that once again makes no mention of former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage -- the government official who disclosed Valerie Plame's identity and job description to columnist Robert Novak.

I'm beginning to wonder if AP reporters and editors are running some kind of betting pool on this.

Wall Street Journal columnist Daniel Henninger weighed in today with a column today on "prosecutions that wreak ruin on a lifetime." Read the full transcript of theis "mock trail," Henninger suggests, "and one will see that the real subject is not justice, but the humiliation of the defendant."

Libby's trial, in "the national capital of illogic," has been exemplary in this regard, Henninger writes. "In December 2003, the prosecutor purports a crime has been committed by revealing a 'covert' CIA agent's identity to the press -- despite knowing then what the outside world learned nearly three years later -- that the revealer of the agent was a State Department official, Richard Armitage."

Details, details.

ACLU members disconsolable

Amazing story in today's Boston Globe about yesterday's police shooting of an alleged carjacker outside Barnstable Superior Court, a setting I know well from my days as political reporter at the Cape Cod Times and as a stringer for the New York Post last fall covering the Christa Worthington murder trial --

Amazing for two reasons -- a well-written and detailed account of how a 22-year-old Cambridge man "bolted out of [a] jail van in front of the courthouse, pulled the driver out of a nearby car, and commandeered it, triggering a frenetic chase across Route 6A that ended with police shooting him as he tried to drive away," write Globe reporters Brian R. Ballou and Raja Mishra.

One of the numerous witnesses to the incidents, which started outside the district court in Barnstable village and ended about 100 yards away outside the superior court, was none other than Cape and Islands' District Attorney Michael O'Keefe.

Amazing for a second reason -- the eye-opening list of suspect Anthony Roberts' (no, not the actor) previous alleged offenses. Roberts was arrested on Friday after a hit-and-run accident, according to the Globe, which was why he was being brought to district court yesterday.

But Roberts was also "facing trial on four separate incidents totalling more than 10 alleged felonies, including drug dealing, assault on a police officer, identity fraud and burglary," the story states (emphasis added).

Before he tried to fly the coop, Roberts was to be arraigned yesterday on charges of receiving stolen property, driving with a revoked license, drug possession, leaving an accident scene after property damage and forgery "stemming from the Friday accident, according to the Globe.

But wait ... there's more! When police arrested Roberts on Friday, "they found a stolen wallet, stolen credit cards, and stolen checkbook," the Globe said. "In April, Roberts was arrested after making a ruckus in several hotel lobbies, according to court documents."

But according to Roberts' lawyer, Drew Segadelli, "there have been no convictions, just simple allegations." Hate to break it to you, counsellor, but your client's streak may have just ended. And what's with the curious use of "simple," by the way?

"Some judges would say that his slate is clean," Segadelli went on to say, as quoted in the Globe. Yeah, some lawyers too. And so long as slates like that are kept "clean," who knows how long ambulance-chasers can avoid working for a living.

Howie Carr nails it

"From Together We Can to Together We Con" -- one of several laugh-out loud lines about Deval Patrick in Carr's column in today's Boston Herald.

A photo you won't see in the MSM

... with a tip of the hat to monica's memo. (click on the photo to enlarge and better read the cutline)

This time the witches are real

A story out today from the New York Times News Service, under the headline "Brit police arrest Islamic militant" --

"LONDON -- British police have arrested an outspoken advocate of fiery Islamic views, a week after seizing nine people accused of conspiring to kill a British Muslim soldier.

"The arrests brought accusations of a witch hunt against Muslims, but high government officials rejected the idea.

"Arrested yesterday was Abu Izzadeen, 31, a former spokesman for the militant, and now outlawed, Ab Ghurabaa, group ..."

Izzadeen "seized headlines in September," according to the story, "when he confronted Home Secretary John Reid at a meeting in east London. After Reid had suggested that British Muslim parents should watch their children for signs of radicalism, Izzadeen accused him of being 'an enemy of Islam and Muslims.'

"Referring to Izzadeen's arrest, one of his allies, Anjem Choudhury, said, 'The Muslim community are subject to a witch hunt, and I see this as a continuation of that witch hunt by the regime."

This will surely come as a shock to radical Muslims and American liberals, their ideological brethren, but the right to free speech does not extend to yelling fire in a crowded mosque.

Another thing the two share in common -- both become apoplectic when anyone dare suggest they rein in the Lord of the Flies behavior of their spawn.