Loads of Fatuous Nonsense on CNN and MSNBC

George Zimmerman should be arrested, charged, and tried in a court of law for the February 26 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. We may, unfortunately, have to wait until after the Florida grand jury meets on April 10 to see that happen.

In the meantime, we are seeing loads and loads of fatuous nonsense, particularly on CNN and MSNBC. A couple of days ago racial tensions boiled over between CNN's resident ponce Piers Morgan and MSNBC's resident hip-hopper Touré.



Piers Morgan's crime was interviewing the brother of an accused killer without benefit of sufficient cultural context on what is really going on and at stake for America. This sort of brow-beating has become de rigueur on MSNBC where a lynch mob mentality is developing. CNN has not been immune from the hysterias, employing questionable audio enhancement to turn an under-the-breath muttering into a clear racial slur.

Over at the Time website, Touré had some advice for young black boys caught in Trayvon Martin's situation:

If you feel you are being profiled and followed or, worse, chased by someone with a vigilante streak — if you are hunted in the way it seems Trayvon was, by someone bigger than you who may be armed and hopped up on stereotypes about you — then you need to act. By calling the police. That is the exact time to snitch. I know there are times the cops will be your enemies, but sometimes calling 911 and letting the threatening person know that you’re doing so could save your life.

That's right, the hip-hoppers advice is to call 911 and "snitch" on your pursuer.

One of the things that has turned out to be incorrect in this case was the initial reports of the indifference of the Sanford police to this killing. In fact, George Zimmerman was brought to the police station in handcuffs and interrogated by a white lead investigator who recommended he be charged with an unjustified homicide.

Yes, We Have a Form for Dealing Marijuana Illegally

The nanny state has forms even for illegal activity. If you want to deal Marijuana illegally in Massachusetts, you'll need to complete Form CST-1, Marijuana and Controlled Substances, Stamp Order Form:

"Pursuant to Chapter 64K of the Massachusetts General Laws, a tax shall be imposed on a dealer of marijuana and controlled substances. A dealer is a person who, in violation of Massachusetts law, manufactures, produces, ships, transports, or imports into the Commonwealth or in any manner acquires or possesses more than forty grams of marijuana, or seven or more grams of a controlled substance which is not sold by weight."

The form has a place for your name and address, but you might want to read the not-so-fine print:

"For mailing purposes only. You are not required to identify yourself on this form. Completion of this section is optional."

And put your checkbook away:

"Pay by cash, certified check or money order only. Personal checks will not be accepted. Send cash at your own risk. Make certified checks or money orders payable to Commonwealth of Massachusetts."

Does that make the Commonwealth your coconspirator? Better hurry, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue is running out of stamps.

Hat tip: Universal Hub.

Mitt Romney Gets the Lavender Sock Mob Endorsement

"You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em" was the theme of former President George H.W. Bush as he endorsed Mitt Romney for President. President Bush also knew when to show 'em:

You got to admire the confidence of a man who can proudly wear multi-colored socks.

Say what you want about his "no new taxes" pledge, President Bush ushered in the propserity of the 1990s. And we should not fault him for stopping short of Baghdad knowing what we know now.

Al Gore Kicks Out the Worst Person in the World to Get in Bed with Client 9

This falls into the "if a tree falls in the forest" category. Worst Person in the World Keith Olbermann is out at the Al Gore network Current TV. Al Gore and his partner Joel Hyatt explained their decision in moralistic terms:

"We created Current to give voice to those Americans who refuse to rely on corporate-controlled media and are seeking an authentic progressive outlet. We are more committed to those goals today than ever before.

Current was also founded on the values of respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty to our viewers. Unfortunately these values are no longer reflected in our relationship with Keith Olbermann and we have ended it."

Keith Olbermann had a rejoinder.

"It goes almost without saying that the claims against me implied in Current's statement are untrue and will be proved so in the legal actions I will be filing against them presently."

Keith did, in the same statement, prove the charges against him:

"Editorially, Countdown had never been better. But for more than a year I have been imploring Al Gore and Joel Hyatt to resolve our issues internally, while I've been not publicizing my complaints, and keeping the show alive for the sake of its loyal viewers and even more loyal staff."

Keith's show has only been on current TV since last June, about 9 months, so for Keith to be having disputes with Al Gore for "more than a year" means that they have never gotten along.

Nevertheless, Al Gore managed to seize the moral high ground and low ground at the same time. He replaced the Worst Person in the World with disgraced former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer. Yes, that's Client 9 from the March 2008 prostitution scandal. His three years of stardom are already up, as is his short-lived CNN show.

American Glob thinks this was all about ratings but that presupposes a fact that is not in evidence. Current TV is watched only by people with just enough juice in their remote to wander onto it by mistake but not enough to change the channel.

Update: American Glob says it is all about ratings which would make the pious "respect, openness, collegiality, and loyalty" talk a bunch of hooey.

Update: A special commentary over at The Other McCain: "Good on ya, Keith. We’ve always thought of Al Gore as a greedy, dishonest two-faced swindler, and look forward to you proving this in court."

Update: In releasing his statement on TwitLonger, Keith violated one or more of its terms of service:

Adult Content
Crude or indecent language, including adult stories
Sexual tips or advice
Sexual fetish content (e.g. foot fetish content)
Information on adult toys or products
Links to external sites containing adult content

Content which advocates against an individual, group, or organization

Content is not permitted that may be construed as biased against individuals, groups, or organisations based on criteria such as race, religion, disability, sex, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or political affiliation.

I, for one, do not want to hear any more from Keith about Al Gore's sexual fetishes. If only he had stuck to reading Thurber.

It's the Economy, Not Entitlements, Stupid

A nationwide survey by Suffolk University asked the big question, "What do you think is the most important problem facing the country today?" The answer should not surprise you.

37%	Economy in general
22%	Political gridlock in Washington
13%	Unemployment
9%	Federal budget
6%	Healthcare
4%	Lack of money
2%	National security
7%	Don't know

The do-nothing buggers in Washington are sandwiched between the economy in general and unemployment in particular. That's not all that's on our minds:

Yes	No	Undecided	Survey Question
14%	83%	4%	Is the recession over in the United States?
36%	54%	10%	Do you feel the country is headed in the right direction (yes) or is on the wrong track (no)?
65%	28%	7%	Do you think that reducing the national debt will directly contribute to improving the economy?
30%	64%	5%	Do you agree (yes) or disagree (no) that making changes or cuts to entitlement programs like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are necessary to reduce the national debt?
78%	19%	4%	Should the United States explore options to increase its domestic oil production, even if that includes more offshore drilling?
60%	30%	10%	Should the federal government eliminate tax breaks and subsidies for oil companies?
68%	27%	6%	Can federal money spent helping to develop alternative energy technology significantly contribute to creating jobs and fixing the economy?

We all agree that the recession is not over and most think the country is on the wrong track. The national debt is a big concern but cutting entitlements is not the way to fix it. Drill, baby, drill, but stick it to the oil companies and keep the ethanol flowing and plug-in hybrids humming.

What about Obamacare, the signature healthcare program that may or may not be Constitutional? Ho hum sighs America:

Repealed	Modified	Left Alone	Undecided
34%	32%	23%	11%	Do you think that the near-universal health care bill passed in Washington in 2009 should be repealed, modified or left alone?
Better off	Worse off	No diff	Undecided
20%	33%	40%	7%	Do you think you are better or worse off as a result of the national healthcare reform law, enacted in March 2010?

Washington doesn't get it. Whether it's Obamacare for working people or Ryancare for seniors, all they want to talk about is healthcare, healthcare, healthcare. It's always been the economy, stupid. Now get started paying down that debt.

Stand Your Ground Puts Police in Fear of Lawsuits

The real problem with Florida's Stand Your Ground self-defense law may be that it gives killers the right to sue police departments.

776.032 Immunity from criminal prosecution and civil action for justifiable use of force.

(1) A person who uses force as permitted in s. 776.012, s. 776.013, or s. 776.031 is justified in using such force and is immune from criminal prosecution and civil action for the use of such force, unless the person against whom force was used is a law enforcement officer, as defined in s. 943.10(14), who was acting in the performance of his or her official duties and the officer identified himself or herself in accordance with any applicable law or the person using force knew or reasonably should have known that the person was a law enforcement officer. As used in this subsection, the term "criminal prosecution" includes arresting, detaining in custody, and charging or prosecuting the defendant.

(2) A law enforcement agency may use standard procedures for investigating the use of force as described in subsection (1), but the agency may not arrest the person for using force unless it determines that there is probable cause that the force that was used was unlawful.

(3) The court shall award reasonable attorney's fees, court costs, compensation for loss of income, and all expenses incurred by the defendant in defense of any civil action brought by a plaintiff if the court finds that the defendant is immune from prosecution as provided in subsection (1).

That section (3) is quite the trial lawyer's dream. If I'm standing over a dead body when police arrive and mutter the magic words "self-defense," the mere act of detaining me or taking me down to the police station could subject the police department to civil liability. The hassle and inconvenience of having to face trial and defend my actions could be my payday.

Let's say I'm the victim not the killer. If Florida thinks so little of my right to life that my killer can't even be detained or arrested, why would I ever want to go to Disney World?

Don't Bet on Obamacare Being Declared Constitutional or Unconstitutional

After listening to the oral arguments before the Supreme Court of the United States (Scotus), I think it's quite possible that Scotus could rule as follows:

(1) The individual mandate as a federal requirement to buy health insurance is possibly unconstitutional as a regulation of commerce but the penalty tax that enforces the mandate is possibly saved by the Congress's power of taxation.

(2) The issue of the Congress's power of taxation is blocked from consideration by the anti-injunction act and can't be litigated until after the penalty tax is assessed and paid.

In other words, Obamacare may be halfway unconstitutional. Scotus might say it is inclined to find the mandate is unconstitutional, but since their constitutional rulings should be as narrow as possible, they can't issue that ruling until the penalty tax can be properly considered.

And when would that be? The penalty tax does not take effect until January 1, 2014. Income tax returns for 2014 are not due until April 15, 2015. It has taken two years for the current case to make it to Scotus, so a refund case might not get to Scotus until April 2017. That would be after the next election in 2016 so we don't even know who will be President then. Republicans are promising to repeal the law long before then. That would make the constitutional challenge moot.

So how will they settle the bets on Intrade? Currently, Intrade is quoting a 55% chance on Scotus to rule individual mandate unconstitutional before midnight ET 31 Dec 2012 and a 61% chance on Scotus to rule individual mandate unconstitutional before midnight ET 31 Dec 2013.