The Media Research Center is a great place to compare Media coverage of important issues, and to see how different networks cover the same story. In particular, note how CBS' coverage of the issue, as late as Thursday, lacks anything that indicates their original story could have been wrong. Of course, they originally wanted to air the report this Sunday, a mere two days before the election. Rathergate, indeed.

http://www.mediaresearch.org/cyberalerts/2004/cyb20041028.asp#1

In L. Brent Bozell's column, They're Not Referees, he says:

If anyone is still being sold the civics-book baloney that our national press corps is just the referee of our democracy, the disinterested moderator of our national debate, the media’s performance in this election year has just blown that concept to smithereens in their collective and transparent desire to deny George W. Bush another four years.

And they all wonder why they are losing their market share to FOX News.

Labels: politics

Well, not me, actually, though I agree with just about everything Britt said in his article, Why I Voted for George W. Bush.

Labels: politics

Teddy Roosevelt said the following regarding motherhood in a speech in 1905:

No ordinary work done by a man is either as hard or as responsible as the work of a woman who is bringing up a family of small children; for upon her time and strength demands are made not only every hour of the day but often every hour of the night. She may have to get up night after night to take care of a sick child, and yet must by day continue to do all her household duties as well; and if the family means are scant she must usually enjoy even her rare holidays taking her whole brood of children with her. The birth pangs make all men the debtors of all women. Above all our sympathy and regard are due to the struggling wives among those whom Abraham Lincoln called the plain people, and whom he so loved and trusted; for the lives of these women are often led on the lonely heights of quiet, self-sacrificing heroism.

Quite a different take than would-be first lady Teresa Heinz Kerry: (Fox News story)

In an interview published Wednesday in USA Today, the newspaper asked the wife of Democratic candidate John Kerry if she would be different from Laura Bush as a first lady.

"Well, you know, I don't know Laura Bush. But she seems to be calm, and she has a sparkle in her eye, which is good," Heinz Kerry said. "But I don't know that she's ever had a real job — I mean, since she's been grown-up. So her experience and her validation comes from important things, but different things."

Campaigning for her husband in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, Heinz Kerry said she forgot Mrs. Bush had a career.

"I had forgotten that Mrs. Bush had worked as a school teacher and librarian, and there couldn't be a more important job than teaching our children, I appreciate and honor Mrs. Bush's service to the country as First Lady, and am sincerely sorry I had not remembered her important work in the past," she said in a statement.

Important work? So I suppose that, to our "enlightened" would-be first lady, raising children isn't "important." Even in her "apology" she can't help but display her disdain for the stay-at-home mother.

Labels: politics

You have to hear this...

The Ultimate John Kerry Ad

Labels: politics

From the AJC Ad Watch on Tuesday:

ELECTION 2004: AD WATCH
An occasional look at the credibility of campaign ads
Anna Varela - Staff
Tuesday, October 19, 2004

'Johnny Isakson's Tax Plan: You Pay a 23% Sales Tax'
Denise Majette's campaign says the ad is running statewide.

Sponsor
Denise Majette for Senate.

The ad
The ad shows Majette standing in a kitchen, holding a copy of legislation sponsored by Republican opponent Johnny Isakson. The DeKalb County Democrat tells viewers: "He wants a new 23 percent sales tax on nearly everything you buy --- cars, groceries, even prescription drugs --- 23 percent. Does that sound fair to you? And corporations end up paying nothing."

Accuracy
Isakson was one of 54 co-sponsors of the House version of the Fair Tax Act of 2003. Majette's ad does not mention that the bill would repeal the federal income tax, estate and gift taxes, and that it would abolish the IRS. She is correct that it would enact a new national sales tax on goods and services, and that it would not tax corporations on goods and services that they buy for business purposes, according to Clint Stretch, director of tax policy for accounting firm Deloitte & Touche.

The bill also states that property purchased for investment purposes would not be taxed. Stretch said the measure's language would actually create a sales tax rate of 29.9 percent. Many current tax benefits, such as the income tax deduction on mortgages, would disappear. Used items, including used cars, would not be taxed, said Stretch, who has co-authored studies on tax reform.

The bill also would create a Family Consumption Allowance, which would provide people with monthly checks meant to offset the higher sales taxes. The allowance is intended to keep people below the poverty level from being harmed.

Isakson's political consultant, Heath Garrett, said the ad is unfair because it doesn't address the bill's elimination of the income tax. He called the ad "fundamentally false and intellectually dishonest. In Johnny's 30 years of public service, he has never voted for a tax increase."

Kudos to the AJC for printing this, now they just need to put it on the front page of a section and not bury it on page B4!

Labels: politics

I finally saw the ad today... it features Denise Majette (D) criticizing Johnny Isakson (R) regarding his support for FairTax.

Majette shows how she will stoop to lies and deception in order to get elected. "Twenty-three percent! Does that sound fair to you?" she asks, after she holds up a copy of H.R. 25 (the FairTax bill), which looks like a 3/4-inch thick booklet. Is she implying that it's complicated or something?

She neglects to mention in her 30-second commercial that the 23% tax replaces all other sources of Federal Revenue. That everyone receives a tax credit that would cover the taxes spent on the bare necessities of life. That all individuals are free from the burden of complying with a tax code that Majette wouldn't be able to hold up with both hands, let alone pick up with two fingers.

This will seriously backfire for Majette. Comments on Majette's blog are full of FairTax supporters. Anyone curious about FairTax can do a google search and get www.fairtax.org as the first hit. Anyone who looks on the opening page of that site will realize that Majette's ad is extremely deceptive.

Even if it doesn't backfire for her now, and she somehow gets elected to the Senate (not likely given recent poll numbers), her ads will be fodder for those who will use them to attack her no matter what political office she runs for in the future. I hope Isakson responds with a new ad within days, and attacks her with the truth, which is always more effective than deception.

For my part, this has prompted me to contribute to www.fairtax.org, put a banner for FairTax on this site, and I'm seriously considering contacting John Linder (R) to see what I can do to support him beyond my vote (he's our representative here in the 7th district, and he originally introduced the FairTax bill). Soon you'll see me sporting a FairTax bumper sticker and t-shirt. Not bad for $10.

I like Neal Boortz' comment on the subject, Denise Majette is a Knowing Liar.

Labels: politics

What has a 800x480 screen, 256MB RAM, a 20GB hard drive, includes WiFi, Bluetooth, USB, and Firewire, and runs Windows XP? And oh yeah, and it's 3.5" by 5" and weighs less than a pound?

It's the OQO Model 01 "ultra personal computer". It's about as expensive as a laptop (currently $1899), but melds the idea of a laptop with the idea of a Pocket PC.



Devices like this have been rumored for awhile, and while most reviews thus far haven't been very promising in terms of performance (it's only a 1ghz processor) and battery life, my bet is that this idea will catch on like crazy in the next couple of years. Pocket PC functionality is being increasingly added to mobile phones, and that trend will continue. But why can't I get a Pocket PC with a hard drive? Finally, this device offers something very similar.

Labels: tech

Tonight, after Amy finished feeding Jeremiah his cereal, she got him to start clapping! He was very pleased with himself, and kept doing it as she was getting him ready for bed!

Labels: life

The $10 million X-Prize will be awarded... ShaceShipOne took it's second flight in a week, this time to an altitude of 368,000 feet, breaking the record set in the 60's by the X-15. (News Story) ShaceShipOne was developed by Scaled Composites, and funded by Paul G. Allen, co-founder of Microsoft.

SpaceShipOne is the first non-governmental project into space, and not only did they do it once, they did it twice in less than a week with the same craft. The technology is already being licensed by Virgin Galactic to offer flights to paying customers in 2007, for about $190,000 a trip.

This has been compared to Lindbergh's flight over the Atlantic to win a $25,000 prize. But I think it's more like the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Sure, we've been to space before. But for a handful of engineers to put this together with gliders and a big rocket, is an incredibly impressive human feat, and has signaled the beginning of private space travel.

Labels: tech

Time sure does fly when you have an infant and a two-year-old. It's amazing to see how much these two have grown... and while I've been at it, I've set things up so that it'll be much simpler for me to update the picture albums. Hopefully that means it won't be four months until the next picture update.

In fact, just about all of the older albums got touched up a bit, including the addition of some pictures from Gina, so you might want to peruse the older albums to see if you spot any new ones. I've combined everything into one group, so rather than having individual albums for McKenna and Jeremiah, it's all combined into one now.

Labels: life