Monday, April 28, 2014

Ozymandias



So, did Jeff Zucker ever really mean to “save” CNN?  Or was the plan always to squeeze the last bits of creditability out of it before it died and to use it to push a progressive agenda?

There is apparently a scandal over CHICAGOLAND an eight part CNN “Documentary” which, via emails found by the Chicago Tribune, was apparently revealed as a tightly scripted work of near fiction designed solely to make Rahm Emanuel look good on a national level. 

Now this isn’t exactly the first time that some network or another claiming to be reporting the news was revealed as a Progressive mouthpiece. Does anyone remember last summer when both CNN and NBC canceled Hillary programing designed to do exactly the same thing? CNN was going to do another “Documentary” and NBC was planning a Miniseries based around the former First Lady, who “may or may not” run for President in 2016.  Apparently they saw nothing wrong with it until the RNC threatened to boycott any debates CNN and NBC sponsored in the upcoming elections, or to allow them to broadcast any debate they participated in.  Both shows were cancelled.

That’s not the remarkable part. What is kind of amazing is how Jeff Zucker keeps throwing himself and CNN on their respective swords KNOWING they are going to get caught. Maybe he was going for “noble” and “tragic,” but from here, it looks more like “pathetic” and “somebody put these guys out of their misery.”

CNN could probably survive if they went back to hard news (I loved the 30 minute cycle) or put in some conservative commentators to balance out the bias, but Zucker obviously has no intention of doing so. This is sad.  It used to be if something big happened, CNN was the place to go. During the Gulf War even Saddam Hussein watched it because his forces stopped communicating with him (they were mostly too busy surrendering) but that’s been 23 years or so ago. 

I don’t really know when CNN decided that Pimping for the Progressives was more important than reporting the news, but it obviously happened and frankly it’s killing the network.  The sad part is that CNN has to know this, and keep doing it anyway. 


"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away. -- Shelly

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

STILL nothing between the lines.

Re-posted from (before this particular blog site existed)  4/29/2013 
And It's still relevant! 

NOTHING BETWEEN THE LINES.
I love it when people volunteer to interpret the U.S. Constitution for me.  It causeth me much ranting.
On one side you’ve got Liberals who try to peddle the Constitution as a “Living Document” which means it says something other than what it says. Apparently the Constitution lives and breathes and changes itself (without changing the actual words on the document) to mean whatever a Liberal wants it to mean at any given moment. This is so convenient that I myself briefly considered becoming a liberal just to take advantage of the highest law in the land saying that that cute redhead has to go out with me Saturday because it’s the law…. Eh, maybe when I get my nerve up.


Not to be outdone, Conservatives try to interpret the document using the “Intent of the Founders.”  Well, which Founder?  Leaving aside the fact that they are kind of hard to talk to at this point, the Founders were rarely if ever of one mind about anything.  They spent the majority of their time screaming at each other. The Constitution was the best compromise these stubborn men could make. And it was painful all around.


My pedestrian opinion about these things is that if it is not in the document, it’s not covered.
I call myself a “Constitutional Literalist;” maybe the term will catch on.
I think the biggest problem has to be that lawyers tend to think that if an argument is clever it is automatically a good one, even the lawyers on the Supreme Court. This means that the document gets twisted into positions it simply does not cover.  For example:

Abortion – not covered
Healthcare - not covered
 Education – not covered
Food Stamps – not covered
Marriage – not covered


Also, pending a Constitutional Amendment, we are stuck with the Post Office.  It’s in there.
There are many laws regarding these issues that may or may not be allowed by the Constitution, but they are not “Constitutional Rights.”   If you want them to be added to the Constitution, by all means, try to amend the Constitution.  That is difficult and it is supposed to be.  Instructions for that are in Article V, and if you are reading this, you can look it up at will.

Thus endeth the rant.

Monday, April 14, 2014

World Peace



People love the idea of world peace. No more strife, no more stress, forever. Cute fuzzy bunnies, flower decked girls who are really understanding, your favorite food as often as you want it (and you gain no weight ever), no bullies, whatever weather when you want and NO TAXES! Sounds kind of like Heaven. Nice.  Really nice, except I’d screw it up just by being there.  So would you.

Of course this is NOT Heaven. We are mostly not angels. If you are, it’s your personal problem. By which I mean, not mine.  Just to establish our relationship.

I think I told this story once before but… It’s a good story, and it’s MINE.

Once upon a time I was 22 or something, I got caught up in one of those coffee shop debates with a kid (high school, I think.) who said that nobody really OWNS anything, And that we (by which he meant ME) should all become pacifists so the world could be perfect. “
Take an imaginary rock,” he says. “Who the hell owns a rock?!?”

Of course I found this greatly offensive, BECAUSE IT IS. So “My rock” and I took his lighter (Yes, you could smoke in coffee shops back then) and put it in my pocket.   The conversation went like that (Did I ever tell you I actually own the Rocky Mountains and an ocean somewhere?) until we got to “My Girlfriend” at which point he FINALY threatened me which was the plan.

”So you WILL fight? Then you are no pacifist,” I say.  He did flex his muscles and scowl at me until I left, but maybe he learned something. Also, education is great fun, unless you’re the student.

Moral: It’s only easy to be a pacifist if you don’t love anything or anyone.

Pacifism is just like that. It means you must accept EVERYTHING, and protect nothing. EVER.  Can’t do it, or it’s not Pacifism.   Bullies LOVE Pacifism. They really actually do. it makes bullying much easier, and who wants to work at it? 

World Peace works EXACTLY like that, but on a bigger scale. I don’t speak Russian but, I swear I keep hearing “MY UKRAINE….”

Now in the cold war, we would have been having joint training exercises in Ukraine well before Putin could mass his army (by which I mean get organized and in the right place to invade.) We’d be dug in and waiting.

Ronald Reagan was cool like that. Now of course we don’t have the troops, the will, or the leadership for that sort of thing.  You see, Putin is teaching Obama “my rock…” out of his abundant good will.

But, hey, at least we know why Obama quit smoking.