OPINION & EDITORIAL
In-Brief
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Also by Mac VerStandig:
- How the Pentagon won the war over Baghdad and the war over public opinion (April 25, 2003)
- Hypocrisy floats riverboats casinos (September 9, 2005)
- Hate crime debate needed on campus (January 20, 2006)
Related Stories:
- Osmundson breaks silence, defends Herald (May 3, 2006)
- Reflecting a changed world (September 17, 2001)
- Liberties and loitering (February 27, 2002)
- The revolution will not be televised (September 1, 2004)
- An indictment of cable news (January 22, 2004)
by Mac VerStandig
Friday, November 19, 2004
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.”
