March 22, 2007
Mar 22 02:55 Gore Makes Most of Day In Sun Mar 22 12:03 Spin, LA Times Style Mar 22 13:22 The Spin Stops Here Mar 22 13:51 Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Returns Mar 22 16:00 U of M Coaching Transformation Continues
Prior Years: 2006
Gore Makes Most of Day In Sun
At least that's what you'd think if you read this Washington Post article:
Environmental activist (and former vice president) Al Gore descended on Capitol Hill yesterday, telling two congressional panels that global climate change represents the most dangerous crisis in American history and that the measures needed to fix the problem, such as an immediate freeze on new emissions from cars and power plants, are far more drastic than anything currently on the table.That sounds like an introduction for a former vice president who has attained rock star status for his work in saving the planet from ourselves. What's most appalling about his performance is that he almost believes that global warming is a greater threat to the planet than is the global jihadist movement.
Gore, whose documentary "An Inconvenient Truth" won an Academy Award last month, testified before both House and Senate committees in an appearance that drew international media attention and lines of would-be spectators trailing through congressional hallways.
It gets thicker here:
"You have acted for us," said Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA), the Senate committee chairman. "You have acted more than anyone else."Actually, Sen. Boxer is onto something there. Gore is acting. Check out this dose of hyperbole:
"This is not a normal time. We are facing a planetary emergency," Gore said in the afternoon Senate hearing. "I'm fully aware that that phrase sounds shrill to many people's ears. But it is accurate."Actually, this is semi-timid for a hyperbolist like Mr. Gore. Mr. Gore asserts that "this is not a normal time" and that his predictions are accurate. We can't take his word on that when this is one of the proposed questions for Gore:
You have said several times that we have 10 years to act to stave off global warming. Was that 10 years from the first time you said that or 10 years from now? We just wanted to get a firm date from you that we can hold you to.Here's another proposed question for 'His Highness':
How can you continue to claim that global warming on Earth is primarily caused by mankind when other planets (Mars, Jupiter and Pluto) with no confirmed life forms and certainly no man-made industrial greenhouse gas emissions also show signs of global warming?The only thing more extreme than Gore's rhetoric are his 'remedies' for this fictional crisis, as stated here:
Former Vice President Al Gore yesterday called on Congress to create a polluter tax and immediately freeze carbon emissions during a much-hyped appearance before House and Senate panels tasked with finding ways to halt climate change.One expects such radical ideas from such a radical, though ill-informed, public figure. The truly inconvenient truth about global warming is that the diagnosis of its cause is fictional. And that's being kind.
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Other elements of the Gore plan included banning incandescent light bulbs, creating an "Electranet" to allow people and small businesses that create solar and wind power to sell that back into the power grid, and requiring companies to disclose their carbon emissions to investors. Mr. Gore also proposed the creation of a mortgage association in the spirit of Fannie Mae to help promote energy-efficient home sales.
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 2:56 AM
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Spin, LA Times Style
The LA Times' Noam Levey has written a spin piece charitably called an article. After accurately depicting what's happening in the House, Levey then says this:
But with public opinion squarely behind them, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and her lieutenants are charging ahead further and faster than even some of the war's staunchest critics believed possible.There's so much there to refute that I'll start at the beginning. Public opinion isn't "squarely behind them." If it were, every Democrat would be voting for it, with the likelihood of having a sizable number of RINO's joining them.
Another factually-challenged statement is that Pelosi "and her lieutenants are charging ahead further and faster" than war critics believed possible. If the anti-war left thought that, why would they have had the public dust up with David Obey? In fact, the anti-war left members of the House are threatening to withhold their votes because they're demanding a clean bill that shuts off funding.
In other words, Levey's statement is totally false.
Another big mistake that Levey made is accepting this statement as fact:
"This is huge," said Tom Matzzie, Washington director of the influential liberal advocacy group MoveOn.org. "We're going to have a bill that will have a deadline that the president is going to have to sign or veto."Matzzie is lying through his teeth when he says that the President will have to veto or sign a bill that establishes a deadline for removing troops. There isn't support for setting deadlines amongst Senate Democrats, which kills the deadline issue by itself. That isn't even factoring in Mitch McConnell's Republicans picking off Joe Lieberman and nervous Democrats who face re-election in '08.
The Senate Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, today will take up the Senate version of the bill, which calls for a withdrawal to begin within 120 days of the bill's enactment. Not long ago, such legislation was almost inconceivable.TRANSLATION: Not long ago, legislation that mandated losing was considered political suicide. Now that the Democrats' Netroots masters put their foot down, going along with the President's plan isn't any more risky than opposing him. In other words, the Netroots gang have turned this into a lose-lose situation for Democrats.
As the vote looms, an increasing number of centrist Democrats - who were once leery of mandating a troop withdrawal, are lining up behind the plan and scoffing at Republican charges of being soft. "It's a button that President Bush has been pushing ever since 9/11," said Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., who co-chairs the 61-member House New Democrat Coalition. "But that argument certainly has a lot less resilience than it did in 2003 or 2004."Rep. Smith is spinning this like a top. As I said earlier, if President Bush's arguments don't have the same resilience as they once did, why are politicians so afraid of voting for cutting off funding?
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 12:05 PM
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The Spin Stops Here
It's refreshing to find an article that's at least minimally invested in the truth, especially after reading the LA Times article. The scary part is that this AP article looks almost responsible compared with the LA Times article. Here's the article's opening:
Believing they have been given a clear mandate from voters, Democrats are trying to challenge President Bush on the Iraq war while struggling to find enough votes to do it. Party leaders are facing a caucus deeply divided on the issue and hold only a narrow majority in Congress. With their hands tied if just a few members stray, Democratic leaders are finding it tough to pass legislation that would require Bush to start bringing troops home.That's actually an honest description of what Pelosi & Co. face. The truth is that this is the moment of truth for Pelosi. Eric Cantor, (R-VA), has it exactly right, too:
"If they fail to provide our troops with what they need it's on their backs," said Republican Rep. Eric Cantor of Virginia.That's why Rush has stopped saying that Democrats are invested in defeat and has started saying that they "own defeat."
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 1:23 PM
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Elizabeth Edwards' Cancer Returns
The Edwards' news conference this afternoon broke the news that Elizabeth Edwards' cancer has returned and that it isn't curable. Despite the negative news, the good news is that John and Elizabeth Edwards confirmed that the cancer is treatable. Here's what we found out from the news conference:
John Edwards said a biopsy of her rib had showed that the cancer had returned. The bone is one of the most common places where breast cancer spreads, and once it does so it is not considered curable.I watched the opening of their news conference. One of the things that caught my attention was Elizabeth Edwards saying that breaking a rib was a blessing because x-rays showed that her cancer had now moved into her bones, which means it isn't curable. Edwards also said that the condition isn't unlike being diagnosed with diabetes in the limited sense that there isn't a cure for diabetes but that proper treatment and medical care help patients live healthy, productive lives.
But how long women survive depends on how widespread the cancer is in the bone, and many can survive for years. The longer it takes for cancer to spread after the initial tumor, the better the prognosis. She was diagnosed in 2004.
Others are talking about how the media got the story wrong and how this news' might impact Edwards' presidential campaign. That isn't something that I'll talk about now. For the time being, I'll simply say that I strongly encourage my readers to keep the Edwards family in your prayers.
Posted Thursday, March 22, 2007 1:52 PM
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U of M Coaching Transformation Continues
According to this KSTP article, Tubby Smith will be the next head basketball coach for the U of M. I officially pronounce this as a dramatic step forward for the Gophers' basketball program. Smith has a great track record, which includes a national championship while coaching the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Here's what KSTP is reporting thus far:
Tubby Smith will be named the new head coach of the University of Minnesota basketball team, a source close to the Gopher basketball program tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS. The University of Minnesota has not yet commented on the naming.That's a big salary for a coach but Smith will fill up the Barn in a hurry. He'll be a great recruiter, too. In other words, the increased revenues brought in by a great program will more than offset his salary. In other words, Smith will put the Gold back in the Golden Gophers.
Smith has been at the University of Kentucky for the last ten years and won a National Championship there. He is considered one of the elite coaches in college basketball.
Early reports are that Smith will be paid $1.8 million per year.
Earlier this year, Joel Maturi replaced longtime head football coach Glen Mason with Denver Broncos assistant coach Tim Brewster. At the time that he fired Mason, I said that Maturi had to go. Based on the moves he's made, I fully retract that statement and I congratulate Mr. Maturi on his bringing in two coaches that will raise the profile of sports on the U of M campus.
As I've written before, former Gopher Trent Tucker has hinted that he'd like to have an active role in the next coaching staff. In my opinion, he's perfect for the jobs of recruiting director & assistant coach. Double T knows the game inside & out. He's worked with several Minnesota high school kids on their game. He's a close friend of Michael Jordan's from their time on Chicago's last NBA Championship team.
Translation: That's the resume of someone who'd have instant credibility with kids on the recruiting trail.
That will all work itself out in the days ahead, though. The good news for Gopher hoops fans is that our long traverse through the desert is over, thanks to Mr. Maturi's hiring of Tubby Smith.
UPDATE: I just watched Sportscenter and I'm more excited now than I was earlier tonight. Dick Vitale said that "The winner in all of this is Minnesota. They hit a grand slam baby. They got a Harmon Killebrew special." I'm normally not a big Vitale fan but I totally agree with him.
Former Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps said that this was a good move by Smith, that the Gophers will be getting a great coach.
Here's a picture of Tubby Smith arriving at Williams Arena:
FSN North announced after tonight's Wild game that they will carry the press conference live from Williams Arena at noon Friday. Expect every sports reporter in the Twin Cities to be there for the announcement. Getting a guy of the caliber of Tubby Smith is major news in Minnesota.
Originally posted Thursday, March 22, 2007, revised 23-Mar 1:24 AM
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