Headlines

Trump wants a kinder, gentler shutdown

NYT, AP, Bloomberg, legacy media blame Dems for gov't shutdown

CNN: Shutdown risks undetected asteroid strike ...

Another Cartel killing field discovered in Mexican border state

White House: No immigration deal until shutdown ends

Revealed: Google's secret confidentiality agreements with its speech police

Texas shatters record for winter electricity use ...

... Shutdown forces suspension of E-verify program ...

Turkey invades Syria ... tanks, soldiers cross border ...

Because of the shutdown Trump might not go to Davos, after all

Update: Quake swarm in Reno has lasted 7 days straight ...

85 percent of LA Times employees vote to unionize

Out Foxed

Here is a piece of news that cannot go unnoticed -- the Fox News network led all television networks in the ratings war for yesterday's election night coverage. And this is not just limited to the cable channels ... it also includes all the major network channels too! See: LA Times Story.

This is a very, very big deal ...

Afterward: Many years ago I heard (I think) the then-anchor,Tony Snow, who has since died, predict that Fox News would be number one in news broadcasting. This election night win is a big step in that direction. RIP Tony.

High-Wire Marco

In an effort to nip the 2016 Presidential candidacy of Marco Rubio in the bud, a “gotcha journalist” from GQ magazine recently asked him “How old is the Earth?” (see: LA Times Story). Here is Marco Rubio’s full reply:

I'm not a scientist, man. I can tell you what recorded history says, I can tell you what the Bible says, but I think that's a dispute amongst theologians and I think it has nothing to do with the gross domestic product or economic growth of the United States. I think the age of the universe has zero to do with how our economy is going to grow. I'm not a scientist. I don't think I'm qualified to answer a question like that. At the end of the day, I think there are multiple theories out there on how the universe was created and I think this is a country where people should have the opportunity to teach them all. I think parents should be able to teach their kids what their faith says, what science says. Whether the Earth was created in 7 days, or 7 actual eras, I'm not sure we'll ever be able to answer that. It's one of the great mysteries.

I say “gotcha journalist” because I have yet to see the same question asked of a leading Democrat even though, according to the referenced LA Times article, 41% of Democrats are creationists and believe that the Earth was created by God within the last 10,000 years. I thought Rubio’s answer was quite reasonable, albeit political, considering that he doesn’t want to offend those voters who might not believe the scientists who say that our orb has been around for about 4.5 billion years (which I believe). He was walking a high wire between these two diametrically opposed views and, I think, did a fine job of avoiding this “journalist’s” gotcha trap.

And of course, the echo chamber of the national media has jumped on Rubio for his response ... as to be expected.  The Democrats and the left-leaning press do a fine job of respecting diversity except when it comes to Republicans and fundamentalist Christians.  Now I have a suggestion … let this same "journalist" travel to Iran and ask Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (or even Barack Obama for that matter) if he believes in that the 12th Imam will someday re-appear and herald in the Apocalypse. Or maybe he could just ask Joe Lieberman if one should eat meat cooked in its mother’s milk. 

What passes for journalism today is shameful.

The Constitution

The U.S. House of Representatives will commence its 112th session tomorrow by reading the U.S. Constitution. This act has been called a “dog-and-pony show” (Alan Colmes on his blog), “meaningless political theater” (the National Examiner), a “gimmick” (Ezra Klein, on MSNBC ), a “stunt … arrogant” (the Fort Lauderdale SunSentinel), an “empty, pompous, self-righteous act … racist” (the New York Times), “ritualistic … total nonsense … propaganda” (Jerry Nadler, congressman from New York City), a “tea-party fetish” (Rachael Maddow on her blog), a “symbolic sop to the tea party” (LA Times), “a total waste of time” (Time Magazine), an “air-kiss to the tea party” (Barney Frank), and “a bit of pageantry” (The Daily Kos). And I found these numerous brick bats in only about 20 minutes of searching on Google.

Does the majority of the Democrat party hate the Constitution? I certainly hope not. But, if in fact many of them do, may I suggest that they refuse to take their oaths of office when they are sworn into federal office. After all they then do swear (right hand raised and left hand on the Bible) “to preserve, defend and uphold the Constitution of the United States.” And, if they do refuse this oath, then they should not be allowed to take their elected offices. So there! … simple enough?

Addendum: Speaker Boehner did a brilliant thing yesterday. He made all the members of the House reswear their oath of office. See: HERE. I wonder how many Democrats actually followed his direction ... or had their fingers crossed?