|
|
From: Chris Field [Chris.Field@HumanEventsOnline.com]
Sent: Friday, July 23, 2004 2:50 PM
To: resa@inventky.com
Subject: HUMAN EVENTS Weekly Wrap-Up for July 23, 2004
HUMAN EVENTS Weekly Wrap-Up
July 23, 2004
------------------
In Today's Wrap-Up:
- 1. Two Cents: If They're Not Biased, How Did the Times Miss This?
- 2. FROM THE JULY 26TH COVER: Will Justice Indict Berger?
- 3. Headlines and Highlights from HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE
- 4. Capital Briefs: Tax Fight Ahead
- 5. Jihad Watch: Theological Equivalence
- 6. Bombs Explode on the Eve of a National Election
- 7. Political Roundup from Bob Novak and John Gizzi
- 8. From PAGE 3: Did Senators Actually Read the Pre-War Iraq Intelligence
Report?
**************ADVERTISEMENT**************
SPECIAL OFFER: Who Would Osama Vote For?
Learn why Islamic terrorists are praying for a Democratic victory -- and why a
Kerry presidency would put our nation in mortal peril.
Preview a FREE chapter from "Reckless Disregard," the new blockbuster from
bestselling author, Lt. Col. "Buzz" Patterson.
Just click here: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/offers/offer.php?id=RD001
*****************************************
1. Two Cents: If They're Not Biased, How Did the Times Miss This?
(First of all, let me say that, yes, I remember that I promised y'all some "hate
mail" from my piece titled "Washington Post vs. Reality on the Federal Marriage
Amendment" so that you might share with me the intolerance of the "tolerant." I
will bring that to you next week; however, this week I couldn't help but bring
you something on the whole Sandy Berger fiasco and how the New York Times
handled it.)
For years, conservatives have been decrying the liberal bias of the "mainstream"
media, with the New York Times often cited has the most offensive perpetrator.
Of course, denials of such bias fly out of the Times' newsroom, but are their
cries anything more than complete and utter nonsense? No.
What the Times doesn't understand about their reputation as a liberal rag is
that reputations are, quite often, earned -- whether they are positive or
negative. And in their case, the Times has not only earned the proper reputation
but also is actively living up to it.
This time, the so-called "Newspaper of Record" buried what was arguably the
biggest story on Tuesday.
If you paid attention to the news at all Tuesday morning, you heard or read that
Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security advisor and an "informal
advisor" for John Kerry, is the subject of a federal criminal investigation for
removing highly classified documents from the National Archives.
But if your only source of news was from reading the pages of the New York
Times, you could very easily have missed this (not-overly-surprising) story that
a Clinton official did something seemingly underhanded. In this case it was the
taking of documents which the AP said "were highly classified and included
critical assessments about the Clinton adminstration's handling of the
millennium terror threats as well as identification of America's terror
vulnerabilities at airports and seaports."
The AP also reported that "some drafts of a sensitive after-action report on the
Clinton administration's handling of al Qaeda terror threats during the December
1999 millennium celebration are still missing."
What was Berger's response to questions about documents that are still missing?
Said the former Clinton advisor: "When I was informed by the Archives that there
were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few
documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded."
So, how did the New York Times treat this major story? They buried a small,
six-paragraph, 220-word story in a box at the bottom of Page A16 -- without a
picture -- with the title "Clinton Aide Took Classified Material." Notice the
Times didn't mention Berger's name or position in the title; instead, they
simply called him an "aide" -- as though he worked for the Clinton White House
as a secretary or a staff researcher. The Times article goes on to omit the fact
that Berger "accidentally discarded" some highly classified documents --
documents critical of the Clinton Administration.
Exactly what news is considered "fit to print" by New York Times?
#####
2. FROM THE JULY 26TH COVER: Will Justice Indict Berger?
If a bank teller walked out of the vault with a few hundred dollars stuffed in
his pants, took the money home, and kept it until the authorities came looking
for it, would you believe him if he said it was an accident? Of course not.
Would you be surprised if the authorities discovered the teller no longer had
all the money he took--and that he claimed he "accidentally discarded" some of
it? Of course not. That is the sort of far-fetched story you would expect from a
thief.
And that is also why Samuel R. "Sandy" Berger could soon face a day in court.
Berger, to be sure, is no bank teller. He was National Security Adviser to
President Clinton throughout Clinton's second term. In that position, he was
routinely entrusted with this nation's most highly classified national security
information, and was expected to use it to devise policies for keeping the
United States safe from foreign enemies. But, today, Berger is looking and
acting exactly like a desperate thief caught in a desperate act.
Read more on the "Berger the Burglar" story: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4579
#####
3. Headlines and Highlights from HUMAN EVENTS ONLINE:
"KERRY EMBRACES RADICAL ICONS"
The Kerry campaign has come up with a curious slogan: "Let America Be America
Again." Kerry borrowed the phrase from the title of a poem by the famous black
writer Langston Hughes when Hughes was wallowing in his Red period. Kerry
apparently is at ease teaming up with extremists (such as Jane Fonda in his VVAW
days), praising Bella Abzug and Ron Dellums, two of the most pro-Soviet
lawmakers ever to grace Congress and quoting Communists for inspiration. His
campaign theme song, "This Land Is Your Land," was written by the Communist folk
singer, Woody Guthrie.
The certain Democratic presidential nominee seems to have a fatal attraction for
both poets and political rulers who are still in love with Marxism and Red
revolutionaries.
More on Kerry's socialist tendencies: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4580
"CLINTON WAS WARNED: TERRORISTS IN U.S."
The massive report released July 22 by the 9/11 Commission reveals that Clinton
was warned in early 2000 that U.S. borders were open to terrorists and that
terrorist sleeper cells had already penetrated the U.S. The warning was in a
memo penned by Richard Clarke. Clarke made recommendations on how the U.S. could
combat the al Qaeda threat. His memo said U.S. efforts thus far had "not put too
much of a dent" in Osama bin Laden's network.
Much more here: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4582
"FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEEDS FISCAL STRAIGHTJACKET"
Republicans used to have an excuse for runaway budgets: they didn't control the
purse strings. Now bloated spending is happening on their watch. In their
decades of dominance, Democrats changed congressional processes to enhance their
policy goals. Republicans have so far failed to do the same. Unless their talk
about smaller government is so much eyewash, they should put in place budget
reforms that put taxpayers' interests first.
Keep reading: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4583
"ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL: CONVENTION SPEAKERS -- HILLARY FOR DEMS; LIBS FOR GOP?"
Although the Republican National Convention prime-time lineup is packed with
speakers who do not share President Bush's pro-life views -- New York Mayor
Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York Gov. George
Pataki -- every prime-time speaker at the Democratic convention is pro-abortion.
That includes Dennis Kucinich, who was a pro-life Democrat until he started
running for President last year.
Find additional campaign news here: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4581
"THE DANGEROUS GAME OF CATCH-AND-RELEASE"
America is still not serious about enforcing its immigration laws. Perhaps it is
time for the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement to simply drop
the word "Enforcement" from its title. Spare us the charade: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4563
"HOLES IN SANDY'S SOCKS"
Surely it was an innocent mistake, former Clinton National Security Adviser
Sandy Berger's stuffing documents into his pants, jacket and perhaps even his
socks before leaving the National Archives building last fall. After all, what
could he possibly have been trying to hide? http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4562
"NINE LIES OF 'FAHRENHEIT 9/11'"
Michael Moore's film, "Fahrenheit 9/11," is a nice fictional stroll down
Conspiracy Theory Lane that takes audience members to an abrupt dead-end at
Slick Lies Street. With speculation presented as fact, specious connections
depicted as reality, and outlandish claims offered without proof, Moore's movie
is a shameless sham. Read a brief description of a few of the lies this film
presents as truth: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4565
You can read these and many other columns at www.HumanEventsOnline.com
**************ADVERTISEMENT**************
"Miles Gone By" -- Conservatives Need This Book
At long last, the book conservatives have been waiting for: William F. Buckley's
autobiography -- woven from personal pieces composed over the course of a
celebrated writing life of more than fifty years.
In "Miles Gone By," Buckley finally delivers what everyone has been clamoring
for -- but, characteristically, with a surprising twist.
Find out more here: http://www.hebookservice.com/BookPage.asp?prod_cd=c6524
*****************************************
4. Capital Briefs: Tax Fight Ahead
At the end of this year, three major elements of President Bush's tax cuts
expire: the 10% bracket, the marriage penalty relief, and the $1,000 per child
tax credit. Last week, GOP congressional leaders were reportedly ready to make a
deal to vote to extend these three tax cuts for two years, so that they would
come up again for a vote right before the 2006 elections. President Bush,
however, wants to extend them for five years, more closely approaching his goal
of making them permanent, and also removing them from the table through his
second term. The White House, according to the Washington Post, hopes to force
the issue in September, making Democrats choose to vote for or against tax
relief for families and lower income brackets immediately before the election.
Read all our regular Capital Briefs: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/blog-cb.php
#####
5. Jihad Watch: Theological Equivalence
In the New York Times last Saturday, Nicholas Kristof discovers what he
considers to be a disturbing counterpoint to calls by Islamic radicals to wage
war against Christians and Jews: the "Left Behind" books. Quoting some lurid
passages from the latest in the series, "The Glorious Appearing," he sees a dark
implication of the fact that these books are bestsellers: "ordinary Americans
joined in the torture of prisoners at Abu Ghraib in part because of a lack of
empathy for the prisoners. It's harder to feel empathy for such people if we
regard them as infidels and expect Jesus to dissolve their tongues and eyes any
day now." He evidently missed what Christianity says about empathy.
I am not saying that Christians have never behaved in a beastly manner. I am
saying that they didn't do it because of their ideas of what was going to happen
at the end of the world -- or, for that matter, because of the teachings of
Jesus. Whatever you can say about the Crusades and the Inquisition, you will
never find a New Testament verse commanding that Christians go out and kill
people. But jihadists who kill today are doing so because of teachings of Islam.
Muslims who do not kill don't have different teachings; they just ignore these
ones.
This is, of course, the one thing that people like Nicholas Kristof can never
and will never admit, because it would explode the foggy multiculturalism and
relativism that passes for a world view in their minds. And just as moral
equivalence played into the bloody hands of the Communists, so theological
equivalence plays into the hands of the jihadists, attempting as it does to
blunt the force of the moral argument against them.
To read this week's entire Jihad Watch, go here: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4561
#####
6. Bombs Explode on the Eve of a National Election
A government falls... the new, left-leaning leadership promises to seek peace at
any price... terrorists vow to end the attacks as long as the new regime
"cooperates"...
Madrid, 2004? Nope. This time terrorists target U.S. cities in early November --
and panicked voters throw the election to John Kerry -- to the cheers of
gloating, bloodthirsty terrorists everywhere.
The record of the past 40 years is clear: We can no longer trust the Democratic
Party to defend America. As guardian of the "nuclear football" in the Clinton
White House, Lt. Col. Robert "Buzz" Patterson, author of the New York Times
Bestseller, "Dereliction of Duty," witnessed firsthand how liberals view the
world: America and her armed forces are always in the wrong.
His new, soon-to-be-released book, "Reckless Disregard," packed with
never-before-published revelations, is America's wake-up call to the frightening
truth -- that we dare not follow the "Carter-Clinton-Kerry Democrats" down the
shameful path of appeasement ever again.
Find out how to get a FREE COPY of this book: https://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/subscribe-direct.php?offer=105
#####
7. Political Roundup from Bob Novak and John Gizzi
EVANS & NOVAK: "The South is Republican and getting more so. As Christian
conservatives realize that the Republican Party is the party of traditional
values while the Democrats are progressives, they abandon their generations-old
allegiance to the Democrats. While John Edwards does not represent these views,
he at least comes across as a Southerner.... If Edwards is to make an impact, it
will be slight and in select locations.... For example, Florida is only truly
southern in the northern parts of the state. Otherwise, it resembles New York
more than North Carolina. Since only a small part of Florida is southern
culturally, and Edwards will only sway a few of those voters, his impact here is
minimal. Considering the closeness of Florida in 2000 and its 27 electoral
votes, however, that tiny difference could be everything. For those white
conservative Christians in the Panhandle who voted Democrat their whole life
until recently, Edwards could make it easier for them to come back home to their
ancestral party, without feeling as much like they are backing the Northeastern
elites' party.... Edwards' presence is already felt in the Republican backrooms,
as the tension manifests itself between the GOP's planned attack on Edwards'
trial lawyer baggage and the resume of trial lawyer (and former housing
Secretary) Mel Martinez, one of the top GOP candidates for Senate. Can the Bush
campaign go after Edwards as an ambulance chaser when Martinez, the White
House's favorite, was the head of his state's trial lawyer association?"
Read the rest of Bob Novak's analysis here: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4576
JOHN GIZZI'S POLITICS 2004: Even many young adults in Georgia and certainly most
middle-aged and elderly voters probably never thought they would see the day
when the Republican primary was tantamount to election in the Peach State. After
all, Georgia Republicans had never fielded a nominee for governor until 1966,
never elected a governor until two years ago, and first sent a Republican to the
Senate in 1980. But times change and now the Republican nomination fight to
succeed retiring Democratic Sen. Zell Miller is, in effect, the election to
succeed him. Moderate-to-conservative Rep. Johnny Isakson won the
three-candidate primary for the Senate outright, rolling up 53% of the vote to
26% for former National Restaurant Association President and stalwart
conservative Herman Cain and 21% for Rep. Mac Collins. Both Cain and Collins ran
to the right of Isakson, with Cain's TV spots linking the more moderate
congressman to Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry. Cain also contrasted
his uncompromising pro-life position with the stance of Isakson, who in his
losing 1996 Senate race vowed that he would not interfere with a woman's right
to choose. As the former chief executive officer of Godfather's Pizza and "a
conservative who happens to be black," Cain made many new friends and won high
marks for his speaking skill in his first-ever race for office.
Read more political news from Gizzi: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4578
#####
8. From PAGE 3:
Last week, a Kerry campaign release challenged the Bush Administration: "Did
anyone in the White House read the full National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq?"
A Reuters reporter challenged the campaign to reveal whether Kerry had read it.
The answer: No.
Did other senators fail to study the definitive intelligence report on
Iraq--created specifically for their benefit--before voting on war? We visited
the Senate to find out. Here's one of those run-ins:
HUMAN EVENTS: Do you believe members of Congress had a moral obligation to read
the NIE before voting to authorize war in Iraq?
SEN. BYRON DORGAN (D.-N.D): Well, I don't want to revisit what we could have or
should have or would have done. Obviously, if the intelligence would have been
accurate, things might have been different here. But whether some read the
reports or didn't read the reports, we were given briefings in the room
upstairs--Top Secret briefing after briefing after briefing. And it turns out
that a fair amount of that wasn't accurate.
HUMAN EVENTS: Did you read the report, Senator?
DORGAN: I did not. But we had a vast number of briefings, which were purported
to represent what the report said.
HUMAN EVENTS: Do you think more senators would have questioned what was in the
report if they had read it?
DORGAN: I don't think so.
Read all the PAGE 3 interviews: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4584
#####
And Finally. . .
The Democratic Party again has shown why they can't be trusted to be in charge.
This time their utter lack of leadership skills has been made painfully evident
in their response to the reports of Bill Clinton's national security advisor
Sandy Berger's pilfering of "highly classified" documents from the National
Archives.
One might expect a major political party that wants to run the country, and
thereby assume responsibility for national security, might show some concern
that a major figure within that party was taking classified material and
stuffing documents in his pants, jacket, socks, or any other items of clothing.
But not the Democrats. Check out these examples: http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/article.php?id=4572
Later,
Chris Field
(Send your comments, suggestions and ideas to me at Chris.Field@HumanEventsOnline.com.
I'll read them all, but I can't guarantee a personal response to each.)
If you're receiving this as a forward, visit http://www.HumanEventsOnline.com/
and sign up to receive insider reports, news updates, and special offers.
***NOTE: If you need to change your email address or have questions about a
subscription to HUMAN EVENTS, please write to CustomerService@HumanEventsOnline.com
To unsubscribe from our weekly e-mails, send an e-mail to Unsubscribe@HumanEventsOnline.com
Human Events
One Massachusetts Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001
---
[This E-mail scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]
|
