Words

Lots of rain today, courtesy of Tropical Storm Erin. A grocery store in Clear Lake, south east of Houston, a suburban community, had a roof cave in a little while ago. Death and injury from that. It's not pretty out there.

The taser is now a weapon for both sexes. I just saw a story about them and now there is a woman's version available. In the colors of pink, silver, blue and black. Who knew? I do have a girlfriend that carries a taser. I'll have to tell her she needs to upgrade to the girl's version.

Remember how indignant the journalists get when someone dares to call the print journalists and msm people of the liberal persuasion? Today in the Wall Street Journal are two examples of the print variety. Just act like you are stupid, though, and insist the Congress Dems go forward with the Fairness Doctrine on Capitol Hill. It would only cover talk radio, and you know a lot of it is conservative, as the only available outlet to conservative views, so it must be stopped.

As reported in Editor & Publisher: Executive Editor Dave Boardman of the Seattle Times called "an awkward moment" at a news meeting the following: "When word came in of Karl Rove's resignation, several people i the meeting started cheering. That sort of expression is simply not appropriate for a newsroom...As we head into a major political year, now's a good time to remember: Please keep your personal politics to yourself."

Boardman sent a follow up e-mail: "I ask you all to leave your personal politics at the front door for one simple reason: A good newsroom is a sacred and magical place in which we can and should test every assumption, challenge each other's thinking, ask the fundamental questions those in power hope we will overlook.
"If we wore our politics on our sleeves here, I have no doubt that in this and in most other mainstream newsrooms in America, the majority of those sleeves would be of the same color:blue. Survey after survey over the years have demonstrated that most of the people who go into this business tend to vote Democratic, at least in national elections. That is not particularly surprising, given how people make career decisions and that social service and activism is a primary driver for many journalists."

Wow. Eye opening, isn't it? Ok, not really. It's just refreshing to have all the acknowledgement for a change. Of course they are generally biased. But the kicker is his arrogant, rose colored vision of a newsroom. Magical? Sacred? And the fact that he believes Democrats are more into social service and activism than Republicans. Social service as paid careers, yes, but certainly not volunteer social works. Republicans are certainly not outshone in that area. And the activism is going along quite nicely, thank you, especially after the recent years of history. Journalists, like liberals, simply think they are superior human beings. Not so eye opening.

How about they leave their personal politics out of reporting because it is the ethical thing to do? The professional thing to do.

And from Sports Illustrated, in an article about tall athletes by Frank Deford: "Our two greatest American leaders, Washington and Lincoln, were exceptionally tall, and right up until the end of the American century - the tall century - it was unusual for the shorter presidential candidate ever to win. Indeed, given what a mess of things the shorter choice -- George W. Bush -- has made of his presidency in the fat century, Hilary (sic) Clinton's main obstacle may not be that she's a woman, but that she's shorter than most men. We gotta stand tall again."

Again, no one is running against Bush. He is a lame duck president with about 16 months left and no support from the public. Every one's going to have to find someone else to hate with the void left from Rove and Bush. New ideas are going to have to surface to win elections, not just we-hate-Bush rhetoric. And, believe me, Hillary's height is the least of her problems.

Let's bring out the sweeping generalization that sports guys are dumb. Maybe that'll explain Deford's words better.