The Thomas Chronicles

The quick, down and dirty answer is: it doesn’t. Not even for liberals.

Their latest debacle concerns a Senator McCain and his supposed romantic liaison with a lobbyist. I won’t go into the details of the story since I got disgusted with all the innuendos a third of the way through. You can read it here.

However, I will publish the response from the once respected NY Times:

NEW YORK In the wake of denials by Sen. John McCain of certain claims in The New York Times’ bombshell story on his links to a female lobbyist, the paper’s Executive Editor Bill Keller released this statement today received by E&P:

“On the substance, we think the story speaks for itself. On the timing, our policy is, we publish stories when they are ready.

“‘Ready’ means the facts have been nailed down to our satisfaction, the subjects have all been given a full and fair chance to respond, and the reporting has been written up with all the proper context and caveats.

“This story was no exception. It was a long time in the works. It reached my desk late Tuesday afternoon. After a final edit and a routine check by our lawyers, we published it.”

This kind of “journalism” is right up there with the “Elvis Returns” rack and the celebrity gossip columns but not as entertaining.

In light of all the scandals from the NY Times these past few years, scandals which can only be generously called “misrepresented”, their reference to “nailing down” “facts” is laughable since it is abundantly clear that they are inept at best and deliberately mendacious at worst.

It is no accident that they’ve laid off 100 members of their newsroom staff in addition to the 500 they laid off back in 2005.

I think it strange that a paper with credibility issues is defending its positions on presumed credibility. If they want to restore their credibility, the “trust me” line from them is probably not the way to go.

Ain’t it funny how music can sometimes express thoughts and emotions more clearly than words? Aside from the anti-war business, I’ve been feeling this way for the past month or so…

Okay, I said previously that attacking the spouse or child of a candidate is beyond the pale in politics. The families of candidates should be left completely out of the political bickering because, after all, they are not the ones running from office. However, if a spouse or the children of a candidate make themselves a factor in the election, they have opened themselves up for politicking. In other words, they are fair game.

I’m directing my comments toward Michelle Obama, who for whatever reason has entered the political fray. Even here, I shall be cautious about my criticism and limit it strictly to what she has said publicly. So, let’s take it from her own mouth:

In all that rubbish about “Hope” and “Change”, she said that for “the first time in my adult lifetime, I’m proud of my country“.

Now, really?

As I listened to her speak in this video, she sounded genuine and sincere in what she said. How a minority woman, a black woman, can stand there and say that she’s never been proud of her country until this moment and be worth millions of dollars is beyond me. How she can say that after we liberated hundreds of millions of people from the tyranny of communism is beyond me.

There are many things our country has done that we can be proud of, not least of which is the fact of Obama himself. A black man with a genuine shot at being President of the United States does not happen in a moment or in a vacuum or because of the charisma of a single individual. Michelle Obama is too smart a woman to not see this.

What her statement does betray, however, is frankly a contempt for all that disagrees with her. Look at what she said. The country was obviously moving in a direction contrary to her rathers prior to now, and now that the country is starting to move to her and her husband’s tune, she’s suddenly proud?

Forgive me if I’m not impressed.

I understand her campaigning for her husband, but since she has influenced his thinking and changed his mind on many subjects, as husband and wives tend to do, perhaps she should be more careful at the contempt and condescension she displays publicly toward the American people. It’s not befitting a potential First Lady nor a President.

As we continue to banter back and forth this election cycle, crucial news is barely being reported about the rising tension in Eastern Europe that could spell a great deal of trouble for us and the world.

It was reported by the BBC and other news organizations that Russia is irate over our support of Kosovo Independence.

Press TV reported:

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) and Russia’s FM Sergei Lavrov
Russia has warned the US that Kosovo’s unilateral declaration of independence from Serbia puts the pillars of international order at risk.

“We confirmed our principled position on the unacceptability of unilateral actions by Pristina declaring its independence,” said Russian foreign ministry in a statement after Foreign Minster Sergei Lavrov criticized the US on Tuesday in a phone conversation with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“We underlined the dangerous consequences of such a step, which threatens the destruction of world order and international stability which have developed over decades,” the statement added.

Meanwhile, Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov said he believes that the declaration of Kosovo’s independence is a precedent destroying the system of international law, Russia’s news agency Itar-Tass reported Tuesday.

Ivanov underscored that the declaration of independence by the Kosovo parliament is “opening Pandora’s box” that will bring about a chain reaction in unrecognized territories.

For those unversed in the long troubled history of that region, the 20th century’s first conflagration occurred on the steps of the Balkans, and it has long been feared that instability in the region could spark yet another world war, which was why the UN and NATO was so quick to squelch the genocide in the former Yugoslavia.

It also must be remembered that Russia regards all Slavic people as their own. In a very real sense, they regard the Slavs down in the Balkans similarly to how we regard the state of California.

In what seems to be a tit-for-tat escalation of rhetoric and hostility, our move to support the Independence of Kosovo seems to be in response to Russia’s earlier threat of re-targeting their warheads at our allies in Eastern Europe.

MOSCOW, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia “would have to take counter measures” against a U.S.-planned missile defense system in Ukraine.

“Russia would have to take counter measures … and target those which we think will pose threat to us,” Putin said at his annual and maybe the last press conference before he steps down after a March 2 presidential election.

The marathon conference in Kremlin is attended by nearly 1,400 domestic and foreign journalists and expected to last for three hours.

Washington has pledged to base missile interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic as part of a project to extend the missile defense system to Europe.

Moscow strongly opposes the plan, saying it poses a threat to its security while Washington says the system is aimed at states and groups in the Middle East which are seeking weapons of mass destruction, not against Russia.

“By fanning anti-Russian sentiments in Poland, it’s easier to pass a decision on fielding missiles in that country. What should Russia do? In that event, one will have to re-target parts of our missile systems at the facilities which, as we believe, will be a threat to us,” Putin said.

Russia knows full well that the missiles we will place in Eastern Europe will be of a defensive nature. They don’t have the offensive capability to strike Russia, and the nations on Russia’s border, like Poland, don'’t have neither the wherewithal nor the desire to attack Russia. So, how are we to interpret their constant threats and protestations?

I know many conservatives and many conscientious bloggers have gone after the Berkeleyites for their hostility toward the Marine recruitment center. It has been long known that radical, totalitarian Leftists reside in that little cubbyhole of the universe.

Their hostility toward our men and women in arms is well known; in fact, their claim to fame is their constant rallies and protests over every minutia of Leftist ideology. And, you know, I’m fine with that, as long as they conduct themselves in a democratic manner that reflects the conduct of our great Republic.

An ignoramus, if they are such a person, can believe any number of things, and it is their sovereign right as free-willed individuals to do so. What one believes is between them and Almighty God and no amount of legislations can be levied against them for their error in thought.

America’s business is not the business of thought-control and goose-stepping collective state ideology. It is to build damns, build roads, protect and defend the country against foreign incursions, etc. There is nothing extraordinary about what I’m saying. This is simply the basic function of government.

However, I do have issue with what happened at Berkeley this past week. Berkeley’s City Council was re-evaluating their decision to kick US Marine Recruiters out of the city, which was based on the presumption that the US military could go recruit elsewhere. America’s a big country and the military’s over funded anyway.

Well, during their deliberation in the council, two demonstrations occurred. One in support of the original decision to kick out the Marines; the other in support of the Marines themselves. I saw a news clip of these protests in the morning on Wednesday, I think, and what I saw was just shameful.

A middle-aged to elderly woman was telling the camera how a Berkeleyite assaulted her and torn her US flag from her. She thought she’d come out in support of the US Marine Recruiters; the anti-Marine Berkeleyites, however, had other ideas.

It is one thing to believe in Leftist ideology whose basic tenet is that the United States is a force of evil in the world. It is quite another thing to force others to believe in the same thing. From their actions and a litany of others throughout the latter half of the twentieth century to now, it is clear that Leftists (as opposed to the run of the mill liberal) do not believe in self governance, nor do they believe in the free exchange of ideas. Ironically, this is the very thing they proclaim to want: the freedom of ideas.

Please do note, that these people aren’t the pacifists they claim to be. They are not opposed to violences if it furthers their cause, and they employ brownshirt tactics if it gives them the edge. It seems that they are against the United States and they are using the US military, or the Marines in this instances, as proxies to vent their distaste.

I have not met a Leftist who wasn’t angry, and the majority of them that I’ve known are certainly not pacifists.

For all you lovers out there, for all the husbands and wives and significant others— Happy Valentine’s Day!

Bookworm has moved to a new address on the information highway. It’s a little diner on the side of the road where men and women (even children!) can stop by and converse about the topics on the day.

Unfortunately, the digital java isn’t as satisfying as the kind with real cream and sugar, but the conversations have always been the main course there and you don’t need cream and sugar for that.

Bookworm Room. Next exit. Turn right at the second electron.