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CHUCK MUTH'S NEWS & VIEWS
February 19-20, 2004
Still trying to get caught up from the technical difficulties experienced
earlier in the week, so here's a double issue for today and yesterday. We should
be back on our regular publishing schedule by this weekend. Thanks for bearing
with us.
To view the HTML version of today's News & Views, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm
To subscribe, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsletter/
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BLACKFACE SUSPECT NABBED
"Campus police caught a student wandering around a dorm in blackface, reports
the Daily Orange, the Syracuse University student newspaper. But the
university's director of public safety, Marlene Hall, tells the paper the
suspect offered an excuse: 'The student told officers that the face paint was
camouflage--not blackface--and that he was actually on his way to rob a house,
Hall said.' Only a burglar--what a relief!"
- James Taranto, Best of the Web, 2/18/04
WHERE HAVE WE HEARD THIS BEFORE
In response to a report that former President Bill Clinton was shopping the
notion of Wesley Clark as John Kerry's running mate, Clinton replied, "I have
not taken sides with regard to any of the candidates for president." Yeah,
right. And he "did not have sex with that woman" either.
KINDA LIKE COCKROACHES
"We are not going away."
- Howard Dean announcing his withdrawal from the Democrat presidential campaign,
2/19/04
THE BLACK WIDOW
"Any Presidential candidate considering Hillary for Veep should remember just
two words: Vince Foster."
- News & Views reader Joe Kenney of Lander, WY
FAT HEADS
"You see who is campaigning with John Kerry? Ted Kennedy. Imagine those two
giant heads coming down the street together. They must look like the Macy's Day
Parade."
- Tonight Show host Jay Leno
WILL KERRY PULL A DOLE
By the way, has anyone heard if John Kerry has been asked if he intends to give
up his senate seat if he becomes the Democrat presidential nominee the way Bob
Dole did after getting the GOP nod in 1996?
NONE DARE CALL IT LEADERSHIP
"(I)f you listen to John Kerry, you come away not knowing what to think. He
seems like a man betwixt and between, unable to issue a clear statement about
America's role in the world, and hence floating toward whatever is expedient at
the moment."
- New York Times columnist David Brooks
BOTTOM LINE FOR 2004
"Consider the following hypothetical situation. In September 2005, the president
is informed by his CIA director that they have concluded that there is a one in
two chance that North Korea will transfer five nuclear bombs to Osama bin Laden
within the next month, and that, after the transfer, despite our best efforts,
the CIA judges that it is more likely than not that bin Laden will succeed in
detonating at least one of them in a major American city, resulting in 1 million
to 3 million deaths. Should the president consider taking pre-emptive military
action? And let's assume that the president is named John Kerry."
- Columnist Tony Blankley
THE CLELAND FILE
John Kerry has been using triple-amputee and former Georgia Sen. Max Cleland to
beat up on President Bush over his National Guard service. Democrats are
"clearly implying -- without stating -- that Cleland lost his limbs in combat,"
writes columnist Ann Coulter. However, "It is simply a fact that Max Cleland was
not injured by enemy fire in Vietnam. He was not in combat, he was not -- as
(Wall Street Journal columnist) Al Hunt claimed -- on a reconnaissance mission,
and he was not in the battle of Khe Sanh, as many others have implied. He picked
up an American grenade on a routine noncombat mission and the grenade exploded."
Coulter has really stirred up a hornet's nest (some surprise there, huh?) with
this one. Get all the details, including the true story behind Max Cleland's
Vietnam War injuries, HERE: http://www.anncoulter.org/columns/2004/021804e.htm
WHITE MEAT, RED INK
"Politicians like to brag that they are beefing up the economy. Obviously, they
don't know beef from pork!"
- Zig Zigler
BREAK OUT THE VETO PEN
".(President) Bush is rapidly growing the size and reach of the federal
government. . . . Granted, the Democratic Party wants to spend even more. . . .
Yet being slightly less reckless with the taxpayer's money isn't a responsible
strategy for the GOP. . . . A veto of whatever inflated compromise highway bill
comes out of Congress would begin a serious debate about government spending."
- Former Delaware Gov. Pete du Pont, Wall Street Journal, 2/19/04
STOP THE DAMNED WHINING
"My sermon yesterday on the great jobs debate really rubbed some folks the wrong
way ... especially those who have lost jobs to overseas competition. The last
thing they wanted to hear was that these jobs were not theirs ... that they
belonged to the employer and that the employer could damn well do what he wanted
with them. Yesterday's email offerings called me everything ... monster, idiot,
f***ing moron, nazi, fascist .. you name it.
"OK, whiners. Let's go to the bottom line here. So, you don't have a job. Well,
guess what? MOST Americans DO have jobs. Most Americans are working, earning a
living, providing for their families, planning for the future, saving money,
putting their children through college, and just generally living large. But
YOU'RE not. MOST Americans have jobs. YOU don't ... and you can't see that the
problem here is YOU?
"Stop whining ... stop demanding the government save you from your own decisions
... and stop blaming your situation on someone else ... including the president.
Grow up, suck it up and get out there and fight. You own you, nobody else does.
If you own you then you are responsible for you. Accept the responsibility and
knock off the damned whining."
- Talk-show host Neal Boortz
OOPS
"President Bush signed a prescription-drug act two months ago that is actually
hurting his popularity instead of boosting support from the elderly as intended.
. . . Mr. Bush finds himself under fire from two directions on the health care
issue. Democrats say the Medicare plan doesn't do enough to defray prescription
expenses for retirees, and Republican critics call the drug benefit an
unprincipled bid to buy votes in November."
- Ralph Hallow, Washington Times, 2/18/04
ABOUT THOSE CHEAP CANADIAN DRUGS
Experts from the U.S. FDA and from Canada will outline the economic and policy
impact of imposing price controls on prescription drugs at a National Press Club
forum in Washington on February 24 from noon to 2 p.m. (lunch provided). They
will discuss why importing drugs from other countries puts patients at risk, and
elected officials will explain why price controls and importation create more
problems than they solve. For more information or to RSVP, call Sonia Hoffman at
(703) 912-5742.
DEPENDS ON YOUR DEFINITION OF "REFORM"
Postmaster General John Potter sat down for an extensive interview with DM News
to discuss the recommendations of the President's Postal Reform Commission last
year. "I think the postal service needs legislative reform," said Potter. "The
fact of the matter is we are competing with the Internet when it comes to bills
and payments and other traditional First-Class correspondence."
Sounds good so far. Just about all of us recognize that in this Internet age,
it's natural that some significant reform is called for by this
government-controlled monopoly. But it's the kind of "reform" that Potter is
advocating that ought to concern us.
One such reform includes raising "prices on products that don't have a big
margin today to get more margin out of them." Uh-oh. In addition, Potter doesn't
want to "change benefits" which might stir up the postal unions. So "reform" in
Potter's mind is raising prices without cutting labor costs. Sounds like a
typical government plan to us. (You can read the full interview on the "News"
page at www.postalreform.com)
CONSENSUS: USPS NEEDS MAJOR FIXIN'
"As the long-simmering issue of postal reform heats...corporations that rely on
the postal service...are watching warily and are also trooping to the Hill to
testify. 'There is now an unimpeachable consensus that, without reform, the
Postal Service and all the businesses that rely on it are going to be put in
great peril,' says Gene A. Del Polito, president of the Association for Postal
Commerce...
"Why the consensus? The Postal Service, which employs 729,000 and has annual
revenue of $69 billion, has had a rough go of it lately. A recent report from
the General Accounting Office noted that for fiscal 2003, total mail volume
declined for the third year in a row, while first-class mail volume dropped
3.2%. The latter, which covers two-thirds of the Postal Service's costs, is
projected to further decline in coming years."
- Forbes.com, 2/18/04
ILLEGAL CHUTZPAH
"I am totally illegal," declared unemployed 25-year-old illegal alien Zayd
Torres who lives in Montgomery County, Maryland, and who participated with about
100 others in a protest at the capital in Annapolis over a series of bills which
have been introduced to crack down on illegal aliens. Delegates Pat McDonough
and Rick Impallaria have introduced five bills focusing on the problems of
illegal aliens in the state, including a requirement that local police arrest
illegal aliens and turn them over to federal authorities.
According to the Washington Times, "Most of the protesters" who showed up
opposing the bills "spoke only in Spanish." Wow, there's a sure-fire way to win
over English-speaking citizens to their cause, huh?
STORMING THE SHINING CITY'S WALLS
"Yes, America is a nation of immigrants, but blurring the distinction between
those who came here legally and those who scoff at our laws is a serious error.
Millions of newcomers who have played by the rules have earned our support and
our respect; those who ignore or violate the rules deserve neither.
"We agree wholeheartedly with...support for policies designed to speed the
assimilation of new arrivals. Ours is not a nation built on ethnic or religious
homogeneity, but on shared ideals and a common language. We agree fully with
President Reagan's famous metaphor of the 'shining city on a hill.' It is a
magnificent vision that reaffirms deep American values. Yet
(people) should read Ronald Reagan's words more carefully. He said that 'the
doors' of this city must remain open. He did not say that people are welcome to
bypass the doors and climb the walls."
- Statement by Rep. Tom Tancredo, Michael Reagan, Bay Buchanan, Victor Davis
Hanson, David Keene, Michelle Malkin, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, Phyllis Schlafly
and Paul Weyrich, Wall Street Journal, 2/17/04
BABY BRO' WEIGHS IN, TURNS OFF
"Here is your concrete proof that this threat (that conservatives might stay
home in November) is real. I am currently not planning to vote for a Democrat
(duh!), but I am not going to vote for Bush either. I choose to abstain. The
Republican revolution died in Congress years ago, but Bush has shoveled the last
bit of dirt on top of it. He proposes more spending than even Clinton could have
wanted, he won't hold the GOP Senators accountable for not passing his judicial
nominations even when we have the majority and he is willing to overlook the
rule of law regarding illegal immigrants to pander to Hispanics. This isn't a
Republican of principles.
"A non-vote means a vote for Kerry? So be it. The GOP will still control
Congress and I'd prefer any sort of gridlock with Congress compared to this
ridiculous state of affairs when we control both Houses of Congress and the
White House."
- Greg Muth, the editor's younger brother
ALL WE WANT IS YOUR MONEY; IF WE WANT YOUR OPINION WE'LL ASK FOR IT
"Dear Chuck: I received another fund raising call from the RNC asking for my
support. I told them that I would not give them another red cent as long as Bush
supported amnesty for illegals and continues to expand socialistic programs like
Medicare. I got part the way through my 'speech' and THEY HUNG UP ON ME!!!!!!
The nerve....they called me, and didn't even want to hear what I had to
say........go figure. I bet they're getting a lot of angry responses to their
fundraising calls."
- Betty Male, Export, PA __________________________________________
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_______________________________________
GAY MARRIAGE ALERT
The issue that just won't go away; however, I know many of you just don't want
to hear about it. If so, stop reading now. The remainder of this edition of News
& Views covers recent developments on the gay marriage issue...
LET THE PEOPLE DECIDE?
At a press conference on Wednesday, President Bush said, "Marriage ought to be
defined by the people not by the courts." Fine. Now.
What if the PEOPLE of a given state, through their elected legislature or ballot
referendum rather than a court, decide that they DO want to recognize gay
marriages? Would the president respect and support that decision by the PEOPLE
of that particular state? If so, then how can he support a federal marriage
amendment which would take that decision AWAY from the people of a given state?
Hmmmm.
WHAT'S THE RUSH?
"Last year, President Bush indicated he would support a constitutional amendment
banning same-sex marriage only 'if necessary.' It's not necessary, but Mr. Bush
is now set to support one. It's dismal, divisive politics. . . . The
Massachusetts decision does not force Mr. Bush's hand. A long legal process will
unfold once homosexual from around the country begin marrying in the Bay State
and seek to have their unions validated at home. There will be state court
contests, state Supreme Court rulings and, eventually, a test of whether the
federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) trumps or is trumped by the Full Faith
and Credit Clause of the Constitution. . . . A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court
would be years away - probably after Mr. Bush has completed a second term - if
he wins one."
- Columnist Morton Kondrake
YOUNG CONSERVATIVES: GAY MARRIAGE INEVITABLE
"A curious thing happens when talking to younger conservatives about gay
marriage. While many of them think same-sex marriage is in some ways an
incoherent notion, I haven't come across any who think that gay marriage will
not at some point be permitted. What's more, many of them are not particularly
distraught at the prospect."
- Columnist Nick Schultz, TechCentralStation, 2/20/04
POLITICAL HYPOCRISY? WE'RE SHOCKED!
"The simplest solution to the controversy over gay marriage, and the one most
respectful to this country's tradition of separating church and state, would be
to institute civil unions for everyone, in place of marriage. Marriage is, as
its traditionalist defenders say, a 'sacred' institution. But for that reason it
should be protected by churches, synagogues and mosques, and not by the state.
"...It is hard to avoid the impression that the politicians and activists who
make such a fuss about the 'threat' of same-sex marriage are in fact playing to
bigotry, hoping to make gains from a widespread irrational dislike of a small
population. It is especially hard to avoid this impression because, if people
are really worried about the decay of heterosexual marriage, there is a much
more serious threat they could be taking up: adultery, which also happens to be
condemned by our traditions and history at least as strongly as homosexuality
is.
"Politicians serious about protecting heterosexual marriage should seek to bring
back that prohibition and include it in the definition of marriage they want to
enshrine in their 'defense of marriage' legislation. They won't touch the
adultery issue, however, because a large number of their constituents, not to
mention a large number of them, have committed adultery and don't want to be
rebuked or penalized for it. But that simply shows how much the campaign against
same-sex marriage is based on irrational hatred, not on deeply held moral or
religious beliefs."
- Associate professor Sam Fleishacker, San Francisco Chronicle, 2/18/04
'TIL SOBRIETY DO US PART
"If (gay marriage amendments) were really about protecting marriage, they would
be proposing a resolution not to recognize weddings performed at Las Vegas
wedding chapels for people who've had just a bit too much to drink. Can we all
agree that Britney Spears did more to undermine the institution of marriage in
the 55 hours between when she said 'I do' and 'I don't,' than any gay or lesbian
couple?"
- Rev. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay Episcopal bishop
THIS JUST IN: THE WORLD HASN'T ENDED
"...The astonishing thing that opponents of gay marriage might keep in mind is
that during the 1,000 gay I-do's in San Francisco, the world has not ended. It
hasn't even changed much. It's the same dangerous place it was last Wednesday
morning and all the mornings before that. . . . The republic remains intact as
well. There have been no reports of battalions of high school kids storming out
of class demanding to sign up as gay men or lesbians, no reports of people being
dragged off the streets and being sold into homosexual slavery. The situation in
Iraq remains about the same as it was before last week. The Democratic
candidates for president continue to pound one another. There will be an
election in November. The sun will rise tomorrow."
- Columnist Jeffrey Page
WINDY CITY MIGHT BE NEXT FOR GAY MARRIAGES
"Mayor Daley said Wednesday he would have 'no problem' with County Clerk David
Orr issuing marriage licenses to gay couples -- and Orr said he's open to a San
Francisco-style protest if a consensus can be built. 'They're your doctors, your
lawyers, your journalists, your politicians,' the mayor said. 'They're someone's
son or daughter. They're someone's mother or father. . . . I've seen people of
the same sex adopt children, have families. [They're] great parents. Some people
have a difference of opinion -- that only a man and a woman can get married. But
in the long run, we have to understand what they're saying. They love each other
just as much as anyone else.''
"A devout Catholic, Daley scoffed at the suggestion that gay marriage would
somehow undermine the institution of marriage between a man and a woman.
'Marriage has been undermined by divorce, so don't tell me about marriage.
You're not going to lecture me about marriage. People should look at their own
life and look in their own mirror. Marriage has been undermined for a number of
years if you look at the facts and figures on it. Don't blame the gay and
lesbian, transgender and transsexual community. Please don't blame them for it,'
he said.
- Chicago Sun-Times, 2/19/04
A COMPROMISE EVERYONE CAN LIVE WITH
"The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) is certainly constitutional, and amending
the Constitution unnecessarily is a bad idea. But I grant that some federal
judge might disagree with me and set off a national panic before being clobbered
by the U.S. Supreme Court. So if the problem is the worry that federal judges
will impose Massachusetts's gay marriages on the entire country, the way to take
care of that would be to constitutionalize DOMA.
"The sample wording I give in my book is: 'Nothing in this Constitution requires
any state or the federal government to recognize anything other than the union
of one man and one woman as a marriage.'
"That's an ironclad guarantee that the states and federal government can all go
their own ways, without any national court mandate. This is consistent with
federalist principles. It's consistent with three centuries of marriage being in
the states' purview. It keeps overweening federal judges out of the picture.
(Activist state judges are the states' business, so long as no state can impose
its own decision on others.) It prevents the polarization and culture war that
nationalizing this debate will spark. It would be a cinch to enact, at least
compared with the Federal Marriage Amendment sponsored by Musgrave et al. And
it's in tune with what a majority of Americans are telling the pollsters --
namely, that this issue should be left to the states."
- Author/columnist Jonathan Rauch, TechCentralStation, 2/20/04
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