Reagan Republicans wept today.
The ambitious plan to build a Ronald Reagan University came to an abrupt end when Nancy Reagan announced that the former president would not support creation of the proposed school.
“I appreciate the good intentions of public officials and citizens of Colorado to establish Ronald Reagan University in the Denver metropolitan area,” Nancy Reagan said in a statement late Thursday. She added, however, that the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., has “an important educational component” of its own. Accordingly, the statement concluded, “We do not support the creation of a separate university.”
Oh well.
…how bad the traffic must have been.
Truckers parked their rigs on a busy freeway outside Los Angeles on Friday morning, snarling rush-hour traffic for miles in a wildcat protest over high diesel fuel prices. About 700 protested at separate rallies.
Three tractor-trailers stopped in the northbound lanes of the Golden State Freeway in Commerce, 17 miles southeast of downtown, according to the California Highway Patrol.
“They just sort of slowed traffic down, parked their trucks and got out,” CHP Officer Ricardo Quintero said. “They just took off in a car.”
Who exactly are the protesting against? Is it the goverment or the oil companies? One thing’s for sure, they’re not the only one’s feeling it at the pump lately. It costs me $22 to fill up my tank. Yikes.
I haven’t weighed in on the controversy surrounding the photos of US soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. It’s just sickening. Today, the White House speaks out.
The White House denounced abuse by U.S. troops of Iraqi prisoners as “despicable” and called for disciplinary action against those responsible on Friday after photographs depicting the acts were published and broadcast around the world.
The photos showed U.S. troops smiling, posing, laughing or giving the thumbs-up sign as naked, male Iraqi prisoners were stacked in a pyramid or positioned to simulate sex acts with one another.
“We cannot tolerate it and the military is taking strong action against the individuals responsible for these despicable acts,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
It cannot be tolerated. The worst part of the fallout over the pictures is the Arabic television stations airing the pictures. Our image over there couldn’t be worse right now. Jon over at QandO says it best.
The soldiers involved are compromising our mission in Iraq, endangering the lives of US troops, and creating more reasons for those in the Middle East to hate us. They should be punished as severely as possible, dishonorably discharged, and publicly humiliated. I would suggest worse, but we are a more civilized society than the actions of those soldiers might lead one to believe.
Regardless of our feelings on the mission in Iraq, this type of crap has no place in the military. I, for one, would like to see swift punishment.
Josh points us to an exchange between Scott and the press corps.
QUESTION: The Justice Department keeps releasing documents, they released another — they declassified 30 pages yesterday, that reinforced the idea that…
MCCLELLAN: I think the president…
QUESTION: … Commissioner Gorelick has more than she could…
(CROSSTALK)
MCCLELLAN: No, I understand. That’s what the Justice Department did; we were not involved in it. I think the president was disappointed about that.
QUESTION: The president was disappointed in the Justice Department releasing those documents?
MCCLELLAN: Putting that on their Web site, yes.
…
QUESTION: So why was he disappointed…
MCCLELLAN: Well, like I said, it’s what I said at the beginning. The president does not believe we ought to be pointing fingers during this time period. We ought to be working together to help the commission complete its work. This is very important work that they are doing that will help us in our efforts to carry out the president’s most solemn responsibility, which is to protect the American people.
…
QUESTION: What’s the concern? I mean, obviously the president had a concern if he mentioned it to the commission. What is the concern?
MCCLELLAN: I’m sorry? What is the concern? Like I said, he very much appreciates the work that the 9/11 commission is doing. He appreciates the work that all the members on the commission are doing. Their work is very important. He believes that we should all be working together to help the commission complete its work and not pointing fingers at one another.
Yes Scott, we know, the president appreciates the work that all the members on the commission are doing. You’ve only repeated that about a thousand times. But Josh does ask a good question. An apology from the president? Interesting thing, maybe this selective memo release thing will backfire on them.
For everyone who agrees with Sinclair over their decision to not broadcast Nightline tonight, pay attention to this…
In an interview ABC’s “Good Morning America” Friday, Koppel said he expected the show to be controversial – “but not this controversial.”
He denied complaints that the show is “anti-war.”
“It is a way of saying…let me explain it this way, Charlie [Gibson]. I was born and grew up in England. I was a small child in London during the Second World War. We used to spend our nights during bombing raids in an air-raid shelter in the back. There was rationing. There were blackouts. There was an awareness of the war, which I think is somehow a little bit lacking in the United States at this time.
(emphasis mine)
To the right, what Nightline is going to do is tantamount to “undermining the war effort.” To the left it’s simply “honoring the dead.” I know that some of us on the left will be happy of what Nightline is doing because maybe it will influence people. But that’s not the point.
Let’s just look at the facts. The soldiers who have died did so while serving their country. What is wrong with honoring them by reading their names over the air? Has anyone asked the families of the dead what they think? You can’t escape it, death is part of this war. If you can’t deal with that, then don’t support the war in Iraq.
UPDATE: John McCain weighs in on Sinclair’s decision.
Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.’s plan to preempt tonight’s broadcast of ABC News’ “Nightline” show, on which Ted Koppel is to read the names of all U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, was criticized by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain as “unpatriotic.”
“Every American has a responsibility to understand fully the terrible costs of war and the extraordinary sacrifices it requires of those brave men and women who volunteer to defend the rest of us,” McCain, an Arizona Republican, said in a letter to Sinclair Chief Executive Officer David Smith.
(once again, emphasis mine)
I agree. That’s my point, and I’m stickin’ to it.
It’s official, FNC is the news channel of choice for the Bush administration.
Vice President Cheney endorsed the Fox News Channel during a conference call last night with tens of thousands of Republicans who were gathered across the country to celebrate a National Party for the President Day organized by the Bush-Cheney campaign.
Fox News styles its coverage as “fair and balanced,” but it has a heavy stable of conservative commentators that makes it a favorite around the White House. It is unusual for a president or vice president to single out a commercial enterprise for public praise.
…”It’s easy to complain about the press — I’ve been doing it for a good part of my career,” Cheney said. “It’s part of what goes with a free society. What I do is try to focus upon those elements of the press that I think do an effective job and try to be accurate in their portrayal of events. For example, I end up spending a lot of time watching Fox News, because they’re more accurate in my experience, in those events that I’m personally involved in, than many of the other outlets.”
Yeah, it’s easy to complain about the press that routinely covers the most banal stories about the Democratic challenger while calling them the “liberal media.” Most of what FNC passes off as “news” is just conservative commentary. So if you’re in the choir, and you like to be preached to, turn to the Fox News Channel.
So I took the rest of the afternoon and evening off. I thought I’d post a couple of funny things before I went to bed. Without furthur ado, here’s the second one…
Punk rock aerobics brings mosh pit moves to the workout
It’s three o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and the small crowd gathered in the dimly lit nightclub is pumped and sweaty.
But these clubgoers aren’t in a mosh pit at a rock concert — they’re working out, sweatin’ to oldies that don’t quite meet Richard Simmons’ standards.
In Punk Rock Aerobics, exercisers jump, head-bang, kick and punch to hits by The Ramones, Sex Pistols and other indie-rock favorites. There’s no gym, no mirrors, no dress code, and, “No more sucky classes full of brain-dead bimbos in spandex thongs,” according to the Web site.
“At first I was skeptical,” said Amy Monaghan of Boston. “But then you get moving and it’s really fun.”
Having fun while getting a workout is what Punk Rock Aerobics is all about, according to its creators.
“If you’re having a hard time, that’s OK, just keep moving. Who cares what you look like,” co-founder Maura Jasper said.
Exactly.
“Mr. Senator, could you please get your hand off my ass.”
“…and my answer was…peanut butter and jelly!”
From comments like this.
In his column, which ran Wednesday on the opinion page and was posted on the newspaper’s Web site, [Rene] Gonzalez called the former Arizona Cardinals safety a “G.I. Joe guy who got what was coming to him.”
“That was not heroism,” Gonzalez wrote. “It was prophetic idiocy.”
Hey, I’m all for freedom of speech. But this cleary goes over the line.
I’m sure he had to cancel a few appointments.
Speaking with reporters in the Rose Garden, Bush declined to say what topics the commission focused on during a meeting that lasted over three hours. But he did say the session was cordial. “I’m glad I did it. I’m glad I took the time…I enjoyed it.”
I’m glad you took the time, too…