Nutjobs Ranting About Politics.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Gattigap
That you didn't choose to use this opportunity to draw back the camera to a wide shot and intone something ominous about the entire country at least makes me comfortable in concluding that you're not NotMe's sock. Today.

I ain't here for your comfort. If my answers make your uncomfortable, perhaps you should stop asking questions.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
I ain't here for your comfort. If my answers make your uncomfortable, perhaps you should stop asking questions.

If you want friends, you should act friendly.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Gattigap
That you didn't choose to use this opportunity to draw back the camera to a wide shot and intone something ominous about the entire country at least makes me comfortable in concluding that you're not NotMe's sock. Today.

Hank's forefathers (or foremothers, or both) hailed from Italy, a country which -- as we all know -- has no history of anti-Semitism. Thus, while some might think there is a hint of contradiction between Hank's tireless campaign against whosoever might impugn those of his Italian descent and his efforts to hold France responsible for the misdeeds of anyone French, not so.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Italy, a country which -- as we all has no history of anti-Semitism.

Exactly. We didn't start feeding them to lions until they took up with Jesus. They were safe as Jews.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Exactly. We didn't start feeding them to lions until they took up with Jesus. They were safe as Jews.

Just how long ago did your forefathers leave the mother country? I think I saw something about this on the South Park episode about the Book of Moroni.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Just how long ago did your forefathers leave the mother country? I think I saw something about this on the South Park episode about the Book of Moroni.

"Joseph Smith was a Prophet, Dum! Dum! Dum! Dum! Dum!"

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Here's the text of the new advertisement from Swift Boat Veterinarians For Truth:

Today a group of Massachusetts animal-care professionals, Swift Boat Veterinarians for Truth, launched an advertising campaign to counter claims made by John Kerry's family concerning his heroism and the family dog's misconduct in the alleged near-death of a hamster. A script of the advertisement follows:

"Hamster" (0:60)

Alexandra Kerry (video from Democratic National Convention): We were standing on a dock waiting for a boat to take us on a summer trip. Vanessa, the scientist, had packed all her animals including her favorite hamster. Our overzealous golden retriever got tangled in his leash and knocked the hamster cage off the dock. We watched as Licorice, the unlucky hamster, bubbled down to a watery doom. … But my dad jumped in, grabbed an oar, fished the cage from the water, hunched over the soggy hamster and began to administer CPR.

Vet No. 1: I was on that boat coming to pick up John Kerry.

Vet No. 2: John Kerry has not been honest about what happened.

Vet No. 1: He's lying about the hamster.

Vet No. 3: I know John Kerry is lying about the hamster, because I treated the hamster for that injury. (On-screen: X-ray)

Vet No. 4: I took care of that retriever since he was a puppy. He would never hurt another living thing. John Kerry has besmirched the honor of every dog who ever served. (On-screen: guide dog leading veteran)

Vet No. 1: I don't even think he had a dog. Never heard one. Maybe a cat. Even that far away, my eyesight's pretty good.

Vet No. 5: He says it was a retriever. Well, retrievers go get things. That's what they do. The cage goes in the water, and the retriever doesn't go after it? Come on.

Vet No. 2: There was no leash. I looked up when I heard the dog. Went back to the house and got my binoculars just to make sure. I think he kicked the damn thing in the water himself. (On-screen: caged hamster sinking)

Vet No. 5: OK, tell me this. How do you hook that cage with an oar? You want to tell me how an oar fits through a hole a hamster can't get out of?

Vet No. 4: The CPR thing. That kills me. I shook hands with that bastard once. Ever seen his fingers? Jesus. He probably crushed it right there if it wasn't dead already. (On-screen: rodent carcass on pavement)

Vet No. 2: Yeah, I saw him do mouth-to-mouth once. Not on a hamster. Can we go off the record?

Vet No. 3: He lied to the girls. He lied to his country.

Vet No. 5: When the cage was in the water, you could not count on John Kerry. (On-screen: bubbles emerging to surface)

Vet No. 4: He blamed the dog. He blamed the girls. Everyone but himself. (On-screen: bubbles cease)

Announcer: Swift Boat Veterinarians for Truth is responsible for the content of this advertisement.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Reporters may know answers to whether the admin illegally released info on a CIA agent.

The reporters refuse to answer questions for a special prosecutor.

Judge threatens them each with contempt and jail.


Question:
Does the first amendment or anything else give reporters an unfettered right to protect sources?

Does the first amendment or anything else give reporters a fettered right to protect sources? If so, where do we draw the line? Personally, for anything involving well-defined state secrets, I'm in favor of locking reporters up indefinitely so that people understand there is no protection. There can be no protection for the act itself of talking to a reporter, so how can there be protection to encourage people to commit such acts?

All of that said, why the fuck don't they go right to the source and throw Novak in?

Anyway, kudos to the judge.

Hello

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
Here's the text of the new advertisement from Swift Boat Veterinarians For Truth:

isn't it pretty to think so?
---Henri Cocteau

[Hank Chinaski]

Partisan Cheers at Unity Upset Some Attendees

By E&P Staff

Published: August 09, 2004 12:21 PM EST

NEW YORK The historic Unity convention in Washington is over but what it is being remembered for, at least in some corners of the media, is not the huge turnout of more than 7,000, but controversy over the alleged partisanship shown by many of the attendees in responding to separate speeches by presidential candidates Bush and Kerry.

Commentary on this issue continued over the weekend and into Monday.

John Temple, editor of the Rocky Mountain News in Denver, praised the meeting overall and said he was "inspired" by it -- but noted in a column that the partisanship (evidenced by "cheering and whistling" during Kerry's speech) was "something I had never experienced in a crowd of journalists."

Helen Ubinas, another attendee, wrote in The Hartford (Conn.) Courant that she was "in the minority, as it were" who acted like "a professional, not a partisan" in responding to Kerry. There was snickering during Bush's address and the crowd rose at the end, "but not for much longer than it took to head to the door." Ubinas' explanation: Kerry connects with the "advocacy side" of Unity journalists. But showing preference for one candidate, she added, "is the ultimate betrayal -- to everyone."

Akilah Johnson, a reporter at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel in Delray Beach, Fla., told USA Today, "It was a little awkward for me. I guess a lot of people were acting like citizens, not reporters." Unity President Ernest Sotomayer pointed out that many Unity members, including those who were covering the event or planned to report on it later, did not cheer. Those who did, he said, are "people who vote, and they have a right to express themselves" when they're not working.

But Seattle Times reporter Florangelea Davila told her paper, "It was so offensive and awful, and I hated it. It was clearly inappropriate. It was ridiculous." Houston Chronicle Suburban Editor Pete McConnell said he was "embarrassed" by the crowd reactions to Bush and Kerry: "As a group we should have kept ourselves in check."

Bob Steele, ethics expert at the Poynter Institute, called public outbursts favoring one candidate "unprofessional and unethical." Others pointed out that some of those cheering on Kerry were with his campaign or were attending the convention but were not journalists. And not all journalists at the Unity meeting work for the mainstream media. Some are employed by the alternative and advocacy press. Others are columnists who are paid to express their opinions.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/ea..._id=1000602993

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
Reporters may know answers to whether the admin illegally released info on a CIA agent.

The reporters refuse to answer questions for a special prosecutor.

Judge threatens them each with contempt and jail.


Question:
Does the first amendment or anything else give reporters an unfettered right to protect sources?

Does the first amendment or anything else give reporters a fettered right to protect sources? If so, where do we draw the line? Personally, for anything involving well-defined state secrets, I'm in favor of locking reporters up indefinitely so that people understand there is no protection. There can be no protection for the act itself of talking to a reporter, so how can there be protection to encourage people to commit such acts?

All of that said, why the fuck don't they go right to the source and throw Novak in?

Anyway, kudos to the judge.

Hello

Timely question:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A federal judge ordered a reporter held for civil contempt on Monday and ruled that journalists at NBC News and Time magazine must testify in the investigation into whether the Bush administration illegally leaked a covert CIA officer's name to the media.

U.S. District Chief Judge Thomas Hogan rejected requests to quash subpoenas to Tim Russert of NBC's "Meet the Press" and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine for violating their First Amendment rights.

The subpoenas, issued by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, require that Russert and Cooper appear before a federal grand jury to testify about conversations with an unidentified government official who was a confidential source.

In an order on Monday, Hogan said Cooper and Time at a hearing on Friday refused to comply with the subpoena despite his ruling and he held them in civil contempt of court. The ruling was dated July 20, but released on Monday.

The reporter was ordered "confined at a suitable place" and Time was fined $1,000 a day until they complied. The judge did not specify where Cooper would be confined.

Hogan stayed Time's fine and granted Cooper bail while they appeal the contempt finding to the U.S. appeals court. He said the appeals presented "substantial legal questions."

Citing a 1972 Supreme Court ruling, Hogan said a reporter called to testify before a grand jury about confidential information enjoyed no First Amendment protection.

"The information requested from Mr. Cooper and Mr. Russert is very limited, all available alternative means of obtaining the information have been exhausted, the testimony sought is necessary for the completion of the investigation and the testimony sought is expected to constitute direct evidence of innocence or guilt," Hogan wrote.

He ruled that Cooper and Russert have no reporters' privilege, qualified or otherwise, that would excuse them from testifying before the grand jury.

From Reuters.

eta this disturbing picture:

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
eta this disturbing picture:

Few pictures have called out more for Penske's mad photoshop skillz.

[Dave]

Originally posted by Atticus Grinch
I'm not a constitutional scholar. Can we ban Fox News for 30 days for inciting the war?

Maybe, if you permit the equal time law to knock Mikey Moore's flick out of theaters for the same amount of time.

Now that's what I would call progress!

[Dave]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Few pictures have called out more for Penske's mad photoshop skillz.

True that. And few pictures have also called out more for a caption contest.

Entry 1: "I'm Tim Russert, and I'm just about to shit a brick."

[Atticus Grinch]

Shouldn't we give this guy some kind of director's award? The billion dollar shite coming out of the Skywalker Ranch gets more and more unconvincing each movie, and meanwhile, this goofus with a camcorder had the entire world convinced he wuz dead.

Bravo, Mr. HandiCam. You succeeded where M. Night Shamalamadingdong failed.