Any Other News?

I'm glad Osama is dead, but is there any other news going on out there?  Fox News is still opening every scene change with the Alert "Breaking News" Gong and this news is over 24 hours old.

What's happening where you are?

Not exactly where I am, but four hours south of here at LSU campus, someone walked onto the campus and cut down the American flag from the flagpole, burned it, and stole the university flag.  This happened shortly after the news of Osama's fate.  Is it related?

WAFB has the whole story, including the inspiring effort to replace the flag immediately and an outpouring of concern from students.

The burned flag was replaced Monday night with a brand new one. Several students stopped by the war memorial site to witness the reposting of the American colors. It was a two-hour ordeal that involved a huge hydraulic man lift, along with lots of rope and manpower. The military marched in a ceremony to officially replace the flag just before 8 p.m.  The operation was just a temporary fix, but those who watched down below said it was imperative the symbol of freedom and sacrifice be replaced immediately.

One would have to assume the "protest" is related to the bin Laden story, but who knows.  The cowards left no message.  I hope they are found and expelled.

The flag pictures above is the new, temporary one, courtesy of WAFB.  

So, what else is happening where you are?

Don't Jump to Conclusions on the Allee Bautsch Story

I saw the story on The Dead Pelican yesterday, or the day before - I can't remember now, about the Jindal campaign staffer who was attacked along with her boyfriend in the French Quarter this weekend.  I wondered at the time if the attack was politically motivated considering the SRLC was going on and protests were reported.  But honestly, shootings, robberies, muggings, and other various and sundry attacks in and around the French Quarter are more common than one might expect so I just didn't pay a lot of attention to the story.  I assumed that the fact that the girl is a Jindal staffer was just coincidental.

So I didn't write about it.

As it stands now, the story seems to be going viral and everyone is jumping to conclusions all over the place.  I don't have to tell you that in this day of 24/7 news, Twitter and blogs, things get reported that aren't actually true and before you know it, it's everywhere and assumed to be fact.

In truth, all we know right now for sure is that Allee Bautsch and her boyfriend, Joe Brown, were savagely beaten after they left a fundraising event at Brennan's restaurant.  Rumors that it all started because Bautsch was wearing a Palin pin are unfounded.

The Hayride is an excellent Louisiana blog and has been on the story.  I point you there for the actual facts.  V Via WWL News, Kyle Plotkin, Jindal's spokesman, confirms that Miss Bautsch had surgery over the weekend and is looking at a lengthy recovery time:

The governor's office said Monday that Allee Bautsch suffered a broken leg and her boyfriend, Joe Brown, (both pictured above from Bautsch's Facebook page) suffered a concussion and fractured nose and jaw in the alleged incident, which happened after a fundraising event at Brennan's Restaurant on behalf of the Louisiana Republican Party.

Jindal was at the event, but was not present when the incident occurred.

Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin says Bautsch had surgery over the weekend and is facing a recovery time of two to three months. He says New Orleans police are investigating the incident and the governor's office would have no further comment.

Both Hot Air and Michelle Malkin are now on the story, and both are quoting The Hayride as a source.


At this point I'd suggest it's best to wait for the facts to emerge.  It seems to me that the injuries described are more severe than the average mugging or beating.  It's an active investigation so the actual facts are difficult to discern at the moment.  Keep an eye on The Hayride, The Dead Pelican or here and as things develop, we'll update things.  But for now, I think the best thing is to not jump to conclusions.


(More at Memeorandum)

Team Obama Declares Fox "Not News"

The continuing White House battle against Fox News is just silly and resembles nothing so much as childhood kindergarten politics.

Here is David Axelrod with George Stephanopoulous this moring:



I don't argue so much that Fox has a point-of-view; they do. Their slogan is "fair and balanced" and some broadcasters honor that more than others, but you can't bash Fox as "not being a news station" and let MSNBC slide by without comment either. If anyone has a point-of-view, they do. Chris Matthews and his tingling leg? C'mon!

Which is just silly. The whole thing is silly.

Most Americans can see clearly that the issue is simply that Fox doesn't like Obama's policies so Obama doesn't like Fox and is trying to punish them with this silliness. Obama doesn't handle criticism well. We've seen that over and over. It makes him testy.

Does The White House think that this name calling, which is all it is, will hurt Fox's feelings? Drop their viewership? Marginalize them? What's the goal here?

Allahpundit points out that even the NYT is over it and points to this quote:

On the official White House Web site, a blog called Reality Check provides a running tally of transgressions by Fox News. It ends with this: “For even more Fox lies, check out the latest ‘Truth-O-Meter’ feature from Politifact that debunks a false claim about a White House staffer that continues to be repeated by Glenn Beck and others on the network.”

People who work in political communications have pointed out that it is a principle of power dynamics to “punch up “ — that is, to take on bigger foes, not smaller ones. A blog on the White House Web site that uses a “truth-o-meter” against a particular cable news network would not seem to qualify. As it is, Reality Check sounds a bit like the blog of some unemployed guy living in his parents’ basement, not an official communiqué from Pennsylvania Avenue.

The American presidency was conceived as a corrective to the royals, but trading punches with cable shouters seems a bit too common. Perhaps it’s time to restore a little imperiousness to the relationship.

Indeed. The entire brouhaha is simply a distraction from the more relevant and important issues in front of us all today. To make the important issue about Fox is just childish. Get over yourselves.


More at Memeorandum

What Kind of Energy Czar Doesn't Read the Bill?

My blogging has been light today; I've been doing life-things like cleaning my carpets, grocery shopping, laundry, you know. Stuff. Went to the bookstore and bought some biographies for my mom. Went to Target and bought a new purse. Important stuff.

Anyway, so I didn't see Fox 'n Friends this morning when Doocy got Carol Browner to admit she hasn't read the Cap ' n Tax bill. Great. Via Hot Air, here's the clip:



As I was driving around (burning FUEL purchased from FOREIGN SOURCES) I was listening to talk radio. Some woman called in to Rush Limbaugh lamenting that the average citizen doesn't even know what is in this bill and what Washington is doing to them. How many people actually WATCHED John Boehner read the amendment on CSPAN on a Friday evening? I'm betting not many.

How many people are going to be shocked when they go to sell their house and can't until the government comes in and does an energy inspection; if your house is leaking energy or doesn't have storm windows, etc. etc., you can't sell it until you fix that. This was in the amendment John Boehner read to Congress. I'm betting they didn't know about it until he told them.

At the very least you'd expect the energy czar, Carol Browner, to have read it.

At what point does this just become treason? Is it too much to ask that your representatives read the legislation that they vote on?

Apparently, it is.

Wiley Hilburn's Fox News Phobia

Last month a local columnist published an opinion piece in which he complained about the prevalence of Fox News on televisions everywhere he went.

Wiley Hilburn has been publishing in The Shreveport Times for years and I've often enjoyed his columns while at the same time overlooking his obvious liberal political views. Not all of his columns are about politics; he often writes lovely, nostalgic pieces about daily life. He is also the head of the Journalism department at Louisiana Tech University.

In his column of May 4, Hilburn wrote,

"Yet, in an era when conservative Republicans have manifestly combined politics and religion, I find myself broadsided by political opinion — in the form of Fox News — wherever I turn for customer services. My service station man, dentist and restaurant owner — for example — would argue they do not try to impose their political views on me.

"But they don't hesitate to hit me with Fox News on their locked-in TV sets, which is one long diet of red-meat, right-wing Republican opinion. It's true. I can't elude the arbitrary, angry views of Fox News even while filling up with gas, enduring tooth repair or dining out."

Unless he's limiting his experience to just Ruston (where the university is), Hilburn and I obviously hang out in different places. While it's true that I do see Fox News on the occasional public television, more often than not it is sports on the television.

He goes on to say (emphasis mine),

"Making customers swallow a Fox entree while they try to digest their Cajun catfish is the same as imposing the restaurant owner's personal political views on the customer, a captive audience. Imagine, for another example, enduring a root canal while being tortured by Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly or Shepard Smith on Fox.That would be the equivalent of being waterboarded by former Vice President Dick Cheney, the Fox enforcer."

I guess I don't need to assume what Hilburn's feelings are on Gitmo? I differ with Hilburn on much of this but especially on the "captive audience" point. He's free to go other places where he is not so offended by their television habits if he so chooses. He can probably eat Cajun catfish lots of places around this part of Louisiana if what is on television is so offensive to him. But at some point don't you make a choice? "Hmmm, the catfish here is just so damn good, but I can't stand the taste any longer because Fox News is on their TV."

I don't care much for Spanish television (mostly becuase I don't speak Spanish) but I'm not about to abandon Nicky's Mexican Restaurant because they have a Spanish soap opera on the TV.

Hilburn goes on to back up his argument with * gasp * pseudo-stats: "Around here, Fox is Radio Rush Limbaugh for a majority constituency which believes that George Bush is still president and that Obama is a Quran-spouting interloper.

"Indeed, I would imagine that in these parts eight out of every 10 people are Fox-watchers, anyway, so why wouldn't business cater to that unsilent majority, you ask. The answer to that question is that business owners, like my father, should aspire to please 10 out of 10 customers, not eight out of 10. Profits before ideology."

Readers responded to Hilburn's column; that week the "Letters" space on the editorial page was filled with responses to Hilburn. The letters I happened to see were wildly against him, one even going so far as to vow to cut off their yearly donations to Louisiana Tech. Hilburn posted a follow-up column saying he received mail both in support and against as well as some neutral responses. He said about 50% was in favor of Fox.

Since the column I've been more aware of what's on the TV where I go. I just don't see the Fox phenomena that Hilburn describes. There's no television in my car repair place but if there was, I'm not hanging out there long enough to be offended by it. My dentist has piped in music, but no TV. The last restaurant I was in (The Blind Tiger) has sports on their TV. I don't darken the door of a health club, and they may have news. Steve tells me sometimes that Fox is on at the gym where he goes. But that's on a military base, does that count?

And what of the issue of Hilburn being Journalism professor at Louisiana Tech? Is there anything to be made of the issue of politics in the classroom? We know that liberal professors indoctrinate our students (and presumably, conservative ones do too, to be fair). What are the boundarys there? Does he tell his students to avoid Fox News? I can just imagine the political discussions in Hilburn's class.

I think he needs one of these toys which will turn off any television you might find offensive (H/T: The Corner). Imagine the havoc Hilburn could create with such a toy!

The bottom line, to me, is that the entire column was just silly. If the TV offends you, then leave. If you can't stand to eat catfish in a place that watches Fox News then just go somewhere else. Your priorities are screwed up. You pick your battles in life and this one is small potatoes.

Equally unhinged is the guy who is withholding his donations to the college because of this column. No reason the entire college should suffer because of the rantings of one liberal professor; it's not like he's Ward Churchill. THEN you might have a case.

Uighurs Compare U.S. to "Hetler"?

Fox New toured Gitmo Monday afternoon and saw the Uighurs. The Uighurs, using their art pads (paid for by the U.S. government) wrote messages to the reporters:

"America is Double Hetler (sic Hitler) in unjustice (sic injustice)"

Follow the link. There's more.

Sounds like they can't wait to come live here.

RNC Fireworks

I totally adore Shepard Smith; he cracks me up. Last week during the Democratic Convention he was streaming live on the "internets" and observing the speeches Mystery Science Theater Style with his guests. They had a nice set up in a bar with big screens and such. I stayed up long past my normal bedtime watching his antics and having a great time.

So tonight for the RNC Shep and friends were to do the same thing. Now, I have to sympathize with Shep. He has been in NOLA covering Gustav, he's been in Mississippi, he's been on-the-go for days. GOT to be exhausted. It was apparent tonight during RNC Mystery Science Theater style.

Shep was cranky as I've ever seen him (exhausted-cranky). He did not like the set, he did not like the styrofoam plates and cups; he did not like the microphones, there were no antennae; he did not have a Diet Coke, and he did not like various aspects of the engineering such as the audio set-up. He also did not like the opinions, or more specifically, the word-choice of one of his guests. Shep had a pro-life woman who was also providing commentary. All seemed pretty much okay until she expressed disfavor with Lieberman. Shep pressed her to explain why and she finally said because Lieberman is "pro-abortion." Wrong answer. Shep got angry with her and insisted that NOBODY is pro-abortion. He declared the abortion issue a "wedge issue" - divisive, hate-filled, and having no place in politics. When the woman refused to take back what she said, Shep put his laptop in his chair and walked off set.

Like I said, I totally adore Shepard Smith. I think mostly because he SAYS what he thinks (as he did tonight) and he does not back down. We all saw this during his Katrina coverage. I think, whether you agree with him in position or not, you have to respect that.

He never came back to the set during the rest of the stream; I'm curious to see if he comes back for tomorrow's streaming or if Fox even continues with The Strategy Room. The fireworks he gave us "internets" tonight was more exciting than the speeches on the auditorium floor! Get a good night's sleep Shep! We missed you tonight!

Preparations

Update - Sun. p.m.: It's the calm before the storm I guess. Local weather dudes are predicting 35 mph sustained winds from mid-day tomorrow through Tuesday. Also predicting 10 to 20 inches of rain, the problem being that they expect the thing to stall out or slow down over East Texas. With Shreveport being on the NE quadrant that means lots of rain. All my preparations are done and I've prepped my mom as best I can. Steve is super busy as one might imagine. It's just a waiting game for now.

They are paying attention in NOLA it seems. Most are following the warnings and getting out. There are, as always, a few die hards who are refusing to leave.

As for our local situation, KTBS is predicting heavy rains and winds of 30 to 50 mph on Tuesday and heavy rain at least through Wednesday of up to one foot. So I've been making my little humble preparations. I went to the grocery store today to stock up on the necessary junk food (honestly, I am within walking distance to TWO grocery stores should anything drastic happen...) and bottled water. I'm not sure why I bought water - we've never lost water here. We almost always lose power though, so I stocked up on batteries. I got lucky really because I'd been hearing stories of how scarce batteries are already getting around town. At Super 1 I went straight to the battery section and it was wiped out. But when I got to the checkout line, there were a few remaining packages of D and C batteries hanging by the candy and chapstick displays. Score!

I also went to BestBuy and got a car charger for my cell phone, which I needed anyway. So if I lose power and can't blog, I will still be able to tweet on Twitter which posts to my blog (see it, on the right!). I am off now to secure my yard furniture; plastic lawn chairs and deck umbrellas don't hold up too well in 35 mph winds. I also need to move my mother's car to my house as I am on much higher ground and her driveway always floods. This is all so minor compared to those poor folks down south all along the coast. I'm am doing some serious praying for them. Imagine the nightmares this all brings back.

The panic in the media as this storm approaches is clear; I remember so clearly Janice Dean on FOX as Katrina approached. I knew it was serious when I listened to her. I'm getting that same feeling from her again although she is still hoping for a blessing for NO and a shift from Gustav to the west. Since Gov. Jindal cancelled school for the next 3 days, I hope to get some much needed work done and some MUCH needed housecleaning done. (Actually, I will probably do nothing but sit in front of the weather forecasts for the next 4 days, but I'll seriously try to make an effort.)

(Photo credit: NOLA.com Damien Weaver)

Mystery Science DNC

I am such a nerd-with-no-life that I had a huge time last night watching the Democratic Convention streaming over Fox News on the internet. I am a long-time fan of Shepard Smith and when I heard he was going to be streaming (no script) live (no telling what he will say) on the internet (no rules) I had to tune in. When he plugged the stream during the Fox Report as "Mystery Science DNC" I knew I could not miss it. I always thought Mystery Science Theater was hilarious!

And sure enough, I was not disappointed. During the big speeches last night, Hillary's included of course, Shep and his panel turned their backs to the camera, donned aluminum foil antennae, and commented throughtout the speeches. At one point Shep even resorted to whistling "God Bless America" underneath part of Hillary's speech. And at no point were they hateful or disrespectul of any of the speakers. In fact, Shep would interject with e-mails from folks watching the broadcast and if they were hateful or rude he would chide them harshly. Fair and balanced!

I will tune in tonight for "Mystery Science DNC" as Bill Clinton gives his speech. Shepard Smith without a script and unrestricted is always good entertainment. Plus he's cute as all heck.