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REALITY TV
"A video posted yesterday on an al Qaeda-linked Web site showed the beheading of
an American civilian in Iraq in what was said to be revenge for abuse of Iraqi
prisoners. The video showed five men in head scarves and black ski masks
standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit similar to a prisoner's uniform.
The man identified himself as Nick Berg, a U.S. civilian whose body was found
Saturday near a highway overpass in Baghdad.
"'My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is
Suzanne,' the man said on the video. 'I have a brother and sister, David and
Sarah. I live in ... Philadelphia.' After reading a statement, the men were
seen pulling the bound man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A
scream sounded as the men cut off his head, shouting 'Allahu akbar, or 'God is
great.' They held the head up to the camera."
- Associated Press, 5/12/04
FIGHTING WORDS
"So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and
others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything
from us but coffins after coffins...slaughtered in this way. . . . As for you
Bush...expect severe days. You and your soldiers will regret the day you stepped
into the land of Iraq."
- Statement by those who killed Nick Berg
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH
Let's see. On one hand we have a handful of stupid American kids insulting,
ridiculing and humiliating a some naked Iraqi prisoners. On the other hand, an
American is filmed being beheaded in a scene more gruesome than anything even
Hollywood could dream up.
Enough already. The time for self-flagellation and gnashing of teeth over Abu
Ghraib is over. Get off Rumsfeld's back. Level Fallujah. Give al-Sadr 24
hours to turn himself in to the AMERICANS or hunt him down and wipe him and his
"soldiers" out. Ditto al-Zarqawi.
Let's be honest here, folks. Somehow we HAVE gotten off track in Iraq. We
stopped killing bad guys and started making nice with the "international
community." With regard to Nick Berg's beheading, White House spokesman Scott
McClellan referred to the perpetrators as "enemies of freedom." BS. They're
murderers and animals; scum of the earth. McClellan said we want to "bring them
to justice." No we don't; we want to send them to hell. Why can't we call a
spade a spade?
It's WAY past time to stop talking softly and wearing kid gloves. Frankly,
we've reverted to handling this war on terrorists the way it was handled under
the previous administration. Let's hope Nick Berg's murder shocks the White
House and the nation back into reality. Cut the Marines loose and finish
draining the swamp. Enough pussy-footing around. Time to get serious again.
Finish the job. Kill or be killed. Do it to them before they do it to
us...again.
MILLION MOM DUD
"Here's more evidence that a million ain't what it used to be. On Sunday the
Million Mom March ended up attracting between 2,000 and 3,000 women to the West
Lawn of the Capitol. . . . It tells you something about where this issue is
heading politically that now-Senator Clinton didn't bother showing up this
year."
- "Review & Outlook," Wall Street Journal, 5/11/04
SUPER SIZED FLOP
According to Movies.com, "Van Helsing" cleaned up at the box office over the
weekend, leading the pack and pulling in $51.7 million buckaroos. "Scooby-Doo
2," which was released way back in March, came in 12th place this weekend,
racking up a little over a million Scooby-snacks. Meanwhile, Morgan Spurlock's
"Super Size Me" pig-out came in 20th place and only racked up a comparatively
pathetic five hundred thousand dollars from suckers who either (a) hate
McDonald's or (b) like seeing a goofball blow chunks on screen.
Remember folks, this anti-business propaganda flick was an "award winner" at
this year's annual Sundance (Liberal) Film Festival. But in the real-life box
office...it was a super-sized flop. So there IS some justice in the world.
POSTAL LAPDOG?
If you think former Clintonite Jamie Gorelick has an irreconcilable conflict of
interest serving on the September 11 Commission, wait'll you get a load of this.
The post office has a government-enforced monopoly on delivery of the mail. No
one in the private sector is allowed to compete with it. For this reason (and
others), the Postal Rate Commission was established to make sure the post office
doesn't abuse its monopoly and start charging citizens an arm and leg for
delivery services which they are prohibited from getting elsewhere. Government
monopolies are not the same as private enterprise and, therefore, shouldn't be
granted the same license to raise rates as a market-driven businesses.
With that in mind, that a man named Dawn Tisdale is being considered to fill a
vacancy on the PRC is extremely troubling. Mr. Tisdale is a former letter
carrier, a former postmaster and a longtime postal union leader. To think that
this guy will be an independent and unbiased regulator rather than a "rubber
stamp" for the USPS is to stretch credibility.
The postal unions regularly testify on rate cases brought before the
commission. How likely is it that Mr. Tisdale will tell his former colleagues
"no" when they ask for a rate increase to boost the number of employees, pay or
benefits of postal workers? How likely will he be to support cut-backs and
private sourcing rather than hiking the cost of stamps? How likely will he be
to support closing down under-utilized facilities which might adversely impact
some of his friends and union allies?
Mr. Tisdale's nomination hearing on April 29th did nothing to alleviate such
concerns. In fact, such questions were never even raised by anyone on the
Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs chaired by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.
We think it's time someone DID ask these questions before Mr. Tisdale's
nomination comes to the floor of the Senate for a vote. If you agree, add you
name, questions and/or comments on our electronic Discussion Board. We'll
compile/edit them and forward along with a cover letter from Citizen Outreach to
senators this weekend.
To put your two cents in, go to:
http://blog.chuckmuth.com/blog/
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Chuck Muth's News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan,
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