Michele Bachmann Approves This Message for Iowa

Five bio points:

• Descendant of generations of Iowans
• Born and raised in Waterloo
• Mom of five, foster parent
• Former tax lawyer
• Small business job creator

Three policy points:

• We can't keep spending money we don't have
• Against the wasteful bailout, against the stimulus
• Will not vote to increase the debt ceiling

News of the World Says Thank You and Goodbye

The British Newspaper News of the World, a flagship in the News Corp. empire that in the U.S. includes Fox News and the Wall Street Journal, has closed its doors after 168 years.

The official cause of death is a scandal involving investigators for the paper hacking into phone calls and phone records. That sort of thing was considered funny when it caught Britain's Prince Charles telling his then-mistress now-wife Camilla that he wanted to be her "tampon." It became considerably less funny when it was divulged that phone hacking had extended to ordinary subjects of British news stories:

We praised high standards, we demanded high standards but, as we are now only too painfully aware, for a period of a few years up to 2006 some who worked for us, or in our name, fell shamefully short of those standards.

Quite simply, we lost our way.

Phones were hacked, and for that this newspaper is truly sorry.

There is no justification for this appalling wrong-doing.

No justification for the pain caused to victims, nor for the deep stain it has left on a great history.

Yet when this outrage has been atoned, we hope history will eventually judge us on all our years.

It the realm of screw-ups it is pretty bad enough to get yourself fired. To screw up so bad that you get all of your colleagues fired is spectacular. One is used to that from accounting firms (Arthur Anderson) and financial firms (Lehman Brothers). This is new for a media outlet.

Yet there is something that doesn't quite ring true here. The behavior giving rise the paper's demise happened over 5 years ago. While new details have emerged, the outline of the scandal was previously known. In this age of declining newspaper profits, one has to wonder.

News Corp., the parent company of News of the World, is trying to buy British pay-TV broadcaster BSkyB. Approval of that deal has been delayed due to the public outrage directed at News Corp. from the News of the World scandal. Is News Corp. sacrificing a money draining newspaper to gain a more lucrative broadcast property?

Update 7/13/2011: News Corp. has for now withdrawn its bid for BSkyB. News of the World remains closed.

Ann Coulter Has a Great Idea That Will Never Pay

Ann Coulter has a great idea:

From repeat domestic violence calls to Los Angeles car chases, hit-and-run drivers and the balloon-boy hoax, worthless louts consume vastly more law enforcement resources than the rest of us. Cops in any town will tell you all the domestic violence calls come from the exact same homes, over and over again.

As long as we're looking for new revenue streams, how about billing these white trash low-lifes for their massive consumption of police resources? The dregs of society need to be assessed a fee for their abuse of government services and thrown in debtors prison in the unlikely event that they can't pay.

Unfortunately, it won't pay. The dregs of society are also deadbeats and "the unlikely event that they can't pay" is actually the likely event. And those family memebers who have been calling the cops on them aren't likely to pay either. Debtors prisons are a money loser with little likelihood of collecting any significant revenue.

I will say that if Ann Coulter had a plan to throw people likely to have some money or have people who care about them with some money, debtors prisons would work just great. Based on the experience of a cousin of mine in a foreign country that still has the equivalent of debtors prison, there are no long incarcerations to pay for in that situation.

Could DSK Just Be Guilty of Incredibly Bad Manners?

At the time of his arrest on rape charges in May, the case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn looked strong.

Now there are problems with the victim's credibility. She allegedly lied about being gang raped when she lived in Guinea on her asylum application. Money has been deposited in her bank account she can't fully explain. But the real problem for prosecutors may be that the timeline of her story has changed.

The new timeline is that after the alleged rape but before she reported the crime, she went back to DSK's room. Yes, she was a hotel maid and that was her job, but it's still odd. DSK's story has flip-flopped too, but lately he has been saying the sex was consensual.

The new timeline suggests the possibility that she made up the charges out of remorse, only after she went back to the room and saw that DSK had checked out, possibly crushing her expectations she would see him again.

DSK faces possible charges in France from writer Tristane Banon over a February 2003 incident. However, the victim in that case did not report the alleged crime to the police at the time. She did make it the subject of her 2006 book, in fictionalized form in her 2006 novel Trapéziste (Trapeze Artist). That raises the possibility she wants to sell more books.

DSK's story there is that he had several conversations with her mother after the alleged event. In one of those conversations he is said to have admitted he behaved boorishly.

In any event, the Banon book is the second writer to come to light featuring DSK's overactive sex drive. The first was Spanish poet Carmen Llera.

Has Dominique Strauss-Kahn just been guilty of applying the old socialist principle "to each according to his needs" a little too liberally? Even if NYC prosecutors drop the criminal charges, he may still face a civil lawsuit. That may give opportunity for application of the other old socialist principle, "from each according to his ability."

Happy Fourth of July from Bedford, Iowa

Glenn Beck Gives Fox News the Big Kiss Off

Did he jump or was he pushed? Glenn Beck says he jumped. Some highlights:

"This show has become a movement. It doesn't belong on television. It belongs in your homes, in your neighborhoods - not on TV."

"You will pray for the time I was only on the air for one hour every day."

"I'm overcome with the feeling, 'If you don't leave now, you will never leave with your soul.'"

"From New York, goodnight America."

A goodnight is not a goodbye. There is definitely an audience for Glenn Beck. That audience may not be the wine-drinking Hitchcock crowd in Bryant Park (someone tell Ann Coulter that one woman with a wine glass does not constitute a mob).

Mark Halperin Was Kind of a Dick Yesterday

MSNBC analyst Mark Halperin let it slip out on Morning Joe yesterday:



Here are the obligatory statements:

Statement from MSNBC:
Mark Halperin's comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable.　 We apologize to the President, The White House and all of our viewers. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.

Statement from Mark Halperin:
I completely agree with everything in MSNBC’s statement about my remark. I believe that the step they are taking in response is totally appropriate.

Again, I want to offer a heartfelt and profound apology to the President, to my MSNBC colleagues, and to the viewers. My remark was unacceptable, and I deeply regret it.

A few things to note:

(1) Mark Halperin's "indefinite" suspension begins the day before the Thursday before the long Fourth of July Weekend. I'll bet its over by Labor Day. Which means it's just a long summer vacation.

(2) Mark Halperin "completely" agrees his supension is "totally" appropriate. Sounds like a confession at one of Stalin's show trials.

(3) Mark Halperin is suspended from "his role as an analyst" which means what? He can still perform another role behind the scenes? And what is this "role" business? Does MSNBC just call central casting for another analyst?

(4) Mark Halperin apologizes to his MSNBC colleagues, MSNBC apologizes to The White House. Both apologize to the President and to viewers. Why does "The White House" get an apology?