H -°, L 7° | Tomorrow: 
H 17°, L 4°In Brief: With every passing news cycle, a handful of controversial events surface that cry out for editorial discussion but either lack the maturity or depth necessary for lengthy commentary. Accordingly, what follows is a series of brief capsules commenting on events currently loitering on the news wires.
On Election Day, 20 GOP vehicles in Milwaukee had their tires slashed before they could ever have the opportunity to help turn out the conservative vote. In a state with so many close elections — including a presidential ticket decided by fewer than 10,000 votes — this sort of mischievous vandalism is simply inexcusable.
It has now been revealed that among the six persons initially arrested as the suspected culprits of this sabotage is Ajumoke Omokunde, the son of Gwen Moore, who was elected to the House of Representatives as a Democrat from Milwaukee’s congressional district.
Given that any capable politician should at least be able to keep tabs on where their children are on Election Day — when the entire family is placed in the spotlight — questions must naturally be asked about what Ms. Moore knew and when she knew it.
The freshly elected Democrat is either the dirtiest of all politicians — on par with Richard Nixon’s henchmen — or a mother thoroughly negligent of her children. Either way, the people of Milwaukee — and federal authorities — ought to commence asking questions about the ability of Ms. Moore to hold an elected office so ill-obtained.
Jim Taricani, a television reporter in Rhode Island, is now facing up to half a year of jail time for refusing to divulge the source of an FBI sting tape. The reporter did nothing to interfere with the justice system — he merely aired a tape of a prominent city official accepting a bribe, something he thought the public ought to know about.
This past summer we learned just how dangerous the potential jailing of journalists can be, as Robert Novak and other prominent media figures came under fire for leaking the identity of Ambassador Joseph Wilson’s wife as a CIA agent. At the time, Wilson’s backers happily cried for Mr. Novak and company to be confined to the penal system. But we have now learned that Mr. Wilson was a selfish, manipulative liar, and Mr. Novak was little more than a journalist trying to share some important news with his readers.
Mr. Taricani seems hardly more malicious than Mr. Novak, and the news story in question is surely of the public interest. So hopefully a Rhode Island judge will think twice before sending a First Amendment-pedaling public servant to prison.
Following an election outright tragic for Democrats nationwide, the party has taken to electing a new Senate Minority Leader: Harry Reid. And insofar as the liberal side of the congress surely does need a new face (not to mention a new political strategy), Mr. Reid seems to be a peculiar selection.
But polling data indicates that President Bush won the national popular vote largely on moral values. Americans proved that churches still have influence on the direction of the state, and the Democratic Party simply couldn’t compete when it came to religious values.
And yet Mr. Reid comes to national prominence as the senator from Nevada, the only state in the union that considers both gambling and prostitution to be major industries. How it is that party leaders think this will help the Democratic cause is simply a wonder.
Moreover, Mr. Reid is actually a pro-life senator who opposes gun control.
Change for the Democratic Party is surely a good thing (if not an absolute necessity), but it just doesn’t seem that this is the sort of direction voters were hoping the liberal wing of America would take.
Finally, kudos to President Bill Clinton — a man whose politics oftentimes nauseate this writer — for giving such a diplomatic and classy speech at the dedication of his presidential library yesterday. He has ably navigated his way from the embattled realms of an impeached president to the dignified position of a member of the world’s most exclusive club — that of living, former U.S. presidents.
But, still, it must be noted that it did manage to rain on his “day in the sun.”
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“The freshly elected Democrat is either the dirtiest of all politicians — on par with Richard Nixon's henchmen — or a mother thoroughly negligent of her children.”
That’s unfair. What about President Bush’s children, who are known to have abused their Secret Service protection privileges to have friends bailed out of trouble and jail, who are known to have committed any number of alcohol-related offenses when they were underaged, and who have reputations as reckless partiers in the same class as the Hilton sisters?
“This past summer we learned just how dangerous the potential jailing of journalists can be, as Robert Novak and other prominent media figures came under fire for leaking the identity of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife as a CIA agent. At the time, Wilson's backers happily cried for Mr. Novak and company to be confined to the penal system. But we have now learned that Mr. Wilson was a selfish, manipulative liar, and Mr. Novak was little more than a journalist trying to share some important news with his readers.”
This is pure bullshit, Mac. Robert Novak was tipped off as to the identity of a covert agent of the US government by someone inside the Bush administration — by any definition, that is a criminal act. That it was done at a time of war makes it treason. And Wilson did not lie, Bush did. Saddam Hussein never tried to acquire uranium from Nigeria. As such, Novak acted as a puppet for some corrupt member of the administration. That the Bush administration is willing to allow the FBI to press for charges against the Rhode Island journalist but is unwilling to demand that the law be enforced in a case that potentially endangered one of our own covert agents is disgusting. And it suggests that the “selfish, manipulative liar” in this case is one of the people who works for your beloved leader.
“But polling data indicates that President Bush won the national popular vote largely on moral values.”
Not true. Ask any survey methodologist, and they’ll tell you that “moral values” had no place on the exit polls. It’s a loaded value. If you asked voters what their most important issue was without giving them a list of options, very few actually selected anything resembling “moral values.” If you don’t believe me, read this: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/05/opinion/meyer/main653931.shtml
Even the people who conducted the poll recognize that “moral values” did not push Bush over the top, as Mac argues.
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Mac! I loved your little introduction. Way to pass off not being able to compose a complete column as a fresh perspective. Why is it a given that any capable politician should at least be able to keep tabs on where their children are? It certainly was not a given for President Bush when his daughters were drinking underage, so why should it be a given for Representative-Elect, whose son is a grown man of 25?
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Who needs courts, right Mac? You have already found those arrested guilty. Amazingly you continually find ways to insult our Constitution, not to mention anyone who doesn’t fit your ideology. Good work!!
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You sure are selective in your condemnation of apparent acts of voter suppression, aren’t you, Mac VerStandig? A few slashed tires on some buses in Milwaukee are certainly enough to get you irate, even though the GOP swept into power November 2 by utilizing undisputably questionable, and probably illegal tactics all over the country.
There are so many reasons to doubt the supposed Bush victory. Consider the intimidation at the polls of mainly African-American voters. Consider Walden Odell’s promise from last year. The Diebold CEO declared: “I am committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the President.” Does that little conflict of interest bother you at all, Mac? This year in Ohio, a significant number of voter registrations were rejected by Republican Secretary of State and Bush supporter Rick Blackwell because the weight of the paper they were printed on was “incorrect.” And how about that precinct in suburban Columbus, where there were only 800 registered voters, but Bush received nearly 4000 votes?
Yet you label Gwendolyn Moore the “dirtiest of all politicians?” This after Bush stole the 2000 “election” in Florida, and almost certainly committed fraud on a massive scale this year? You’re pretty one-sided in your disapproval of electoral malfeasance, to put it mildly! I eagerly encourage you to become a bit more fair-minded, and explore the possibility that your beloved GOP’s “values” are of dubious value, as evidenced by the shenanigans they pulled off earlier this month.
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“The freshly elected Democrat (Gwen Moore) is either the dirtiest of all politicians — on par with Richard Nixon's henchmen — or a mother thoroughly negligent of her children.”
At least she isn’t a whore for Bush’s extremist, racist, right-wing agenda.
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Just one question Mr Goldstein…What intimidation of Black voters and where? I bet you think making accusations like that will automatically be believed because maybe 200 years ago the Blacks got the shit end of the stick. Give them a little more credit now that it’s….let’s see…. 140 years after the civil war. Do you honestly think that they would put up with voter intimidation without a major battle. Come on dude wake up, those tired old accusations don’t work any more