Melder's Musings

Since we won't see anything of substance discussed in the media until the incorrectly labeled "Ground Zero Mosque" issue is resolved, I have a solution.

Angry, racist Republicans, put your money and your free market principles where your mouths are. The group building the project paid a little under $5 million for the building. So, all you rich Republicans should bundle together $6 million and buy them out.

Problem solved. Of course, Republicans would rather have a non-issue to scream about than actually work to solve a problem, so I won't look for this to happen.

Labels: Conservatives, Hypocrisy

Radio hatemonger Laura Schlessinger has announced that she's giving up her radio show at the end of this year (conveniently enough, when her current contract expires) to regain the First Amendment rights that she says she's lost.

Apparently needing to feed on controversy, Sarah Palin has tweeted her support of Schlessinger. In the span of 140 characters, Palin also manages to accuse activists of taking away Schlessinger's First Amendment rights.

Ladies, please take your heads out of your asses. No one is taking away anyone else's First Amendment rights in this situation. Both of you have every right to spout all the bullshit you want. People like me have just as much right to call you on it. We also have the right to call your sponsors and radio affiliates (in Schlessinger's case) to make our distaste known to them. They have every right to respond by pulling their advertisements or cancelling your show in order to protect their business interests.

The only way in which anyone's First Amendment rights would be violated in this situation is if the government somehow intervened to stop Schlessinger, Palin, activists, sponsors, or affiliates. That hasn't happened here. It won't happen here. There is no First Amendment breach.

Now, I should probably take some time to explain that broadcasting is not entirely subject to First Amendment protections because the airwaves are a public resource. That's why George Carlin was able to tell his "seven deadly words" joke. It's why CBS paid a lot of money for showing Janet Jackson's breast. Read the Federal Communications Act of 1934 (which was significantly amended in 1996) and you'll understand why. Then we can have that discussion.

Once Schlessinger leaves her show, she'll still have just as much freedom as she does today to say the stupid things she does. Palin will have just as much freedom to support Schlessinger. Activists will still have just as much freedom to call them stupid. Everyone's First Amendment rights will remain intact. The only thing that will be lost is Schlessinger's current opportunity to say stupid things to millions of people at the same time. It's her own choice to lose it. The First Amendment does not guarantee her (or anyone else, for that matter) the right to a radio show.

For a pair of women who make daily use of their First Amendment rights to say outrageous things, it's a sad indicator of their lack of integrity when they accuse people who use their own First Amendment rights to make their outrage known of somehow violating the First Amendment.

Labels: Double Standards, Hypocrisy, Laura Schlessinger, Sarah Palin

Republican State Representative Joe Driver admitted to billing taxpayers for expenses he also billed to his campaign. (Photo Credit: Texas House of Representatives)

Joe Driver is a thief.

The Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives from Garland has admitted to billing Texas taxpayers for expenses that he also billed to his campaign.

Driver made his admission when he was confronted with the findings of an investigation by the Associated Press (AP). According to the AP's report, that money went straight into Driver's pocket.

Here's the most damning information from the AP story:

"The veteran Republican legislator, faced with findings from an investigation by The Associated Press, acknowledged in an interview that for years he has been submitting the same receipts — for luxury hotels, airline tickets, meals, fees and incidentals — to both his campaign and to the Texas House. He has also been collecting thousands of dollars in state mileage reimbursements for travel in vehicles for which his campaign has shelled out more than $100,000 since 2000.

The AP’s review of hundreds of pages of state and campaign travel records found that Driver double-billed for at least $17,431.55 in travel expenses, much of it at fancy out-of-state hotels, since 2005. The number could go higher, but House travel records before mid-2005 have already been destroyed. Driver has been in office for 18 years. The double-billing figure does not include the vehicle expenses.”

Let me repeat one part of that. Records only exist to prove Driver's thievery since 2005. We will never know how much of a thief he truly is and he will likely never have to make restitution for any money he stole between 1993 and 2005.

Not surprisingly, Driver is one of those Republicans who spends a lot of time railing about taxation and government spending. I guess as long as that taxation is for spending that lines his pocket, it's no problem.

Almost as infuriating as his actions is Driver's defense of those actions. He says he didn't know that what he was doing was wrong. Driver goes on to claim that someone, but he can't remember who, told him that double-billing is an acceptable practice.

"Driver, former chairman of the House Law Enforcement committee, said that state ethics authorities approved the arrangement years ago, but he couldn't remember who told him that or when it was. He said he was told to just keep the state money and not reimburse his campaign for the expenditure.

The Ethics Commission says it doesn't provide such advice because campaign money can't be legally converted to personal use."

The Texas Democratic Party has called for a full investigation. Hopefully, we'll all get one.

Labels: Conservatives, Hypocrisy, Illegal Activity, Joe Driver

The Fox News Channel's parent corporation gave $1 million to the Republican Governor's Association.

That news comes to us from Politico who originally got it from Bloomberg.

So, the next time you see or hear some Fox News promo calling themselves "fair and balanced," join me in a good, long, loud laugh.

One wonders how much of that money will be funneled to Rick Perry's campaign to get around those pesky Texas laws that prohibit contributions from corporations and require the source of all contributions to be disclosed. Perry's campaign recently settled to avoid a lawsuit that could have proven similarly illegal conduct the last time he was on the ballot.

Labels: campaigns, Hypocrisy, Illegal Activity, Rick Perry

Imagine a scenario in which a angry young man drives up to a government building, uses his truck as an improvised explosive device (often called an IED for short), and fires at least 100 rounds at government employees.

If something like that happened in Baghdad, Kabul, or Tehran, the national media would trip over themselves to call it an act of terrorism. Instead, it happened in McKinney, Texas, today, and I haven't heard that word "terrorism" said once.

If it had been done by a brown-skinned man with an Arabic-sounding name, the national media would trip over themselves to call it an act of terrorism. Instead, it was done (according to the police who were the apparent target of the attack), by a white-skinned man with a name that couldn't be more American-sounding. I haven't heard that word "terrorism" said once.

To be fair, the police have said that his motive remains unclear. Even so, I know what news anchors would be calling it if the incident played out the same way but it happened somewhere else.

Labels: Double Standards, Media, Terrorism

With today's news that a growing number of Republican senators want to repeal the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the core values of Conservatism have finally become crystal clear to me.

1. Conservatives love the Bible (except for those parts they ignore).
2. Conservatives love America (except for those states they want to secede).
3. Conservatives love the Constitution (except for those parts they want to scrap).

A fourth core value would be that Conservatives love private property rights (except when people use those rights to build a mosque), but I think the list of three really drives the point home.

Labels: Conservatives, Hypocrisy