Davidson people

... are some of the best people on earth. The Wildcat basketball team clinched the Southern Conference championship Monday evening. At a lot of schools, the team would have made a big deal of cutting down the nets in celebration at the end of the game. At Davidson, the team didn't cut the nets (that would be reserved for a tourney championship and invitation to the NCAA tournament). Instead, they immediately went up in the stands to say thank you to a special fan in a wheelchair.

Here is a picture.

Fitzgerald is a massive violation of legal ethics

Clarice Feldman has an interesting post on the ugly nature of the Fitgerald witch hunt and how it began. Worth reading it all, but I want to focus on something from his closing argument that is just outrageous:

the investigation disclosed no violations of law whatsoever. Nevertheless, in his closing statement Fitzgerald made repeated references to the possibility that a covert officer's identity had been disclosed maliciously and that people might die as a result

Fitzgerald asked the jury to send a message that it won't tolerate this kind of malicious disclosure. Yet the trial was for perjury and the jury was deliberately not told that the law on disclosure had not been broken. This is as outrageous as it gets.

Tax Spenders get rich off Taxpayers

Government Workers make more in pay, more in benefits, and make more in retirement than the private sector workers whose taxes pay for it all. When you realize that government workers generally also get more vacation and work fewer hours at easier jobs, it makes you wonder what would happen if the MSM actually made a big issue out of this. Give USAToday a little credit for running the story.

John Edwards is not a serious person

Of course, I don't think anyone really thinks he is. Baseball Crank contrasts what the Senate's biggest fool (and isn't that saying something!!) had to say about Israel and Iran then (2004) and now. In a nutshell, when the focus was fighting Iraq, he wanted the US to focus on the danger than is Iran. Now that the focus may be including our fight with Iran, Iran is no longer a danger worth worrying about. Did you know Iran has become less threatening in the last 2 years? Me neither.

It looks like he has come upon the perfect choice of country to fret over -- Israel. Since the Israelis will never do anything to hurt the USA, they are just the ticket for demonization. Focusing on our little ally as the source of all that ails the world means never having to actually use the US military.

What if the MSM had journalists?

I've always wondered how much different this country would be if the MSM actually practiced journalism. Here is a good example of why we aren't likely to find out any time soon.

Pay day lenders

CNBC has been running an ad from a payday lender on behalf of their industry association which implores borrowers to use payday lenders responsibly and only for unexpected short term problems. Comes off much like cigarette ads telling kids not to smoke.

Question -- do they really think that the people who use such lenders are watching the financial/business channels? Or is this really just an effort to put a prettier face on payday lenders?

More reasons why the 9/11 Commission is wrong

Edward Jay Epstein gives us some disturbing information that calls into question everything the 9/11 Commission concluded. Even more importantly, it reveals the commission to be a bunch of fools.

Bush's greatest legacy?

An interesting article on the enormous impact of Bush's push for an ownership society and the passage last year of a law which will have immediate benefits here.

The Pension Protection Act made several key changes to defined contribution and defined benefit plans which has forced Morgan Stanley to increase their forecast for net equity defined contribution flows from $11 billion in 2008 to $30 billion. If you are keeping score this is a 172 percent increase in annual net flows. Very positive for growth, wealth creation, and retirement savings.

From 11B to 30 B. That's big, really big.

"Pseud" is short for "liberal"

Andrew Ferguson explains. Well worth the read.

Because he's the only Republican

At NRO, Stephen Spruiell says:

Just off the top of my head, and in no particular order:

Former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer testified that he told John Dickerson (then with TIME magazine) about Valerie Plame. Dickerson denies this.


Fleischer also testified that he told NBC’s David Gregory about Valerie Plame. NBC Washington bureau chief Tim Russert later denied that Gregory ever received the leak.


Washington Post reporter Walter Pincus testified that Fleischer told him about Valerie Plame. Fleischer denies this.


Bob Woodward testified that he had discussions with Pincus about Valerie Plame. Pincus denies this.


Russert first told the FBI that he couldn’t rule out the possibility that he discussed Valerie Plame with Scooter Libby. He later testified that he could.


NBC’s Andrea Mitchell has yet to testify, but she first said publicly that everyone knew about Valerie Plame prior to Robert Novak’s column. She now denies that she herself knew (and successfully resisted a subpoena).
And now, today, this:

On Tuesday, Jill Abramson, now The New York Times' managing editor, was called first by the defense [...]

Abramson was asked about former Times' reporter Judith Miller's testimony (she had claimed this for a long time) that she had asked Abramson in 2003, when the latter was Washington bureau chief, if she could write a story related to WMD and her recent talks with Libby.

Abramson, as she has done in the past, denied it.

Remind me: Why is Libby the only one on trial for perjury?

Lies, Slander and Distortion

The arguments that liberals make about economics are just like the ones they make on other subjects -- once you strip away the lies, the slander and the distortions, there's nothing left. This was at opinion journal the other day to explain why so much of the garbage you hear from the left on wages, etc. is just that - garbage.

Dems -- embracing the enemy

Michelle points out that the Democrats chose an enemy of the country to give their prayer.

This stuff doesn't even shock anymore.

Democrats are scum.

Thoughts of John Edwards' mouthpiece

Democratic nominee for vice-president in 2004 and candidate for the presidency in 2008, John Edwards, hired Amanda Marcotte to work for him. Here are some of her views. It appears she is filled with all the hatred and venom so typical of activist Democrats. If you have the stomach for it, hit the link and read.

The assholes will never quit

Tom Dahlberg is an asshole. A despicable, lying sack of dog crap. Even when Peyton Manning plays an extraordinary game in a driving rainstorm to win the Super Bowl and the MVP award, the asshole has to continue the slanders and lies which the Peyton-haters have used to assault Manning for over a decade. What a prick!

I hate to even have to link to the SOB.

A perfect sample of Peyton-hating

Some people are just so consumed with hatred that it permeates their writing. For reasons that have baffled sane, normal people, Peyton Manning has been the target of some of the most intense negativity from sportswriters that one can imagine and for over 10 years. You can always spot a Peyton-hater. They use standards that are patently unfair. They make comparisons that have never been made for other athletes. They cherry pick statistics. They make Peyton the scapegoat for the failures of his coaches or teammates. And they denigrate him at every turn.

NBCSports has a good example of Peyton-hating here.