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June 9, 2006 - Rush Limbaugh Program
36:26
June 9, 2006, Friday, Hour #3
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Time Text
Look, folks, there's been something straight.
I have never said that I am the smartest guy in media.
You've just assumed that.
It's Open Line Friday.
Let's go.
Live from the Southern Command in sunny South Florida.
It's Open Line Friday.
One big, exciting hour remaining here at 800-282-2882.
And if you want to go email, it's rush at EIBnet.com.
We go to the phones.
The program is all yours.
And we've had some good Open Line Friday calls today.
It don't have to be on the big issue of the day.
That's the whole point of doing Open Line Friday.
I would hope.
I would think you people would be creative and take us in areas that go beyond.
Well, Rush, you're the host.
Why don't you do that?
I do that Monday through Thursday.
I'm leaving it up to you on Friday.
Give you a chance to be boss, producer, whatever.
Again, the phone number, 800-282-2882.
And now, kill a music.
We now will go back to Kayla in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
She is 13 years old, and I really appreciate your holding on.
Kayla, would you reset the table?
Would you tell everybody again?
I have some people maybe just joining us, welfare recipients, so forth, just now getting up.
Could you tell us why you called?
Okay, I did a project in my social studies class.
What grade are you in?
I'm in going to 9th next year.
Ninth grade next year.
Yep.
Okay.
So we could pick, we had to do a project on some amendment on the Bill of Rights in the Constitution.
Yes.
And apparently there's something that was created by the left called the separation of church and state.
Thomas Jefferson actually created a phrase, but I'll get to that in just a second.
Well, yeah.
So.
You knew that?
Well, it says in the notes on the side of the book, if you read the book of the...
No, I'm impressed.
You knew that Thomas Jefferson created the phrase separation church and state?
Yeah, it's in a quote in our social studies book.
Okay, excellent.
I'm stunned.
I am stunned.
There are people three times your age who don't know this stuff, Kayla, which is why I'm flabbergasted.
Yeah, like when you're like when you have on the other shows, like when people, they pick up random people off the street and ask them questions like, who's the president of the United States?
Oh, yeah, Jay Leno, Jayo, but that's his audience.
I mean, I'd be ashamed to admit it.
Anyway, go ahead.
Finish the story.
Okay.
So I did a project on that, and I didn't read anything in the Constitution about separating the two.
That's not there.
That's right.
That's exactly right.
Yeah, because it said there would be, they couldn't make a law imposing on your rights of religion.
And we're not allowed to openly practice religion at our school.
Right.
And so you were calling here for what reason?
I wanted to really understand.
I didn't get it why we couldn't.
All right.
Well, I'm going to do my best here.
Let's read the First Amendment because there are two references to religion in the First Amendment, two religion clauses.
There's what's called the Establishment Clause, and then there's the Free Exercise Clause.
Here is the First Amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion.
That's the Establishment Clause.
Or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
That's the free exercise clause.
Or abridging the freedom of speech or of the press or the right of the people to peaceably assemble and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
So you've got two, you've got two religion clauses in the First Amendment, the Establishment Clause and the Free Exercise Clause.
Liberals and liberal judges have expanded the interpretation of the Establishment Clause beyond its intended meaning, that the government shall not establish a national religion or national church.
They've expanded it beyond that in ways such as, let's say, your school takes federal money.
Well, your school's nailed because your school thus is attached to the federal government.
And if you are allowed as a student to go in there and practice, say, Christianity or whatever your religion is, then that is, they say that's the same as the state allowing you to come in and do what the Constitution says you're practicing Christianity in an extension of the state and thereby with the sanction of the state.
And they say the First Amendment doesn't permit that.
They've expanded it way beyond what the original meaning was.
This is why, Kayla, so many of us are interested in the original intentions of the founding fathers as they wrote the Constitution when it comes to selecting judges who will not write their own law.
The way this has manifested itself now is that the courts have applied the establishment clause to the states through the 14th Amendment.
You should read that one too.
So that virtually any endorsement of religion by a state agency, such as a school that accepts federal money, is thus deemed a violation of the establishment clause.
So if you go in and you pray out loud and the school lets you do it, then the ACLU will come along and say, nope, can't do it because you're doing it in a school that gets federal money.
And if the school doesn't stop you, then the state is endorsing your prayer and you can't do that.
Even voluntary, I'm sure you know this too, voluntary student activities within a state-supported entity like a school have been deemed an endorsement or establishment of religion by the state, like invoking Christ at a commencement or invoking God at a commencement.
But in the process of expanding the establishment clause so much, what's happened here is that the courts have virtually rendered meaningless the free exercise clause.
Yes, it's violating your Constitution.
Exactly.
Exactly right.
You are brilliant.
You are a 13-year-old genius.
You get all this.
I am stunned.
I'm impressed.
I'm encouraged.
I'm enthused.
That's exactly right because they've emasculated the free exercise clause, meaning you have no free exercise of religion if you do it in a school that takes federal money because they have bastardized the free exercise clause and expanded the establishment clause beyond what it was ever intended to mean.
It's just stupid.
No, it's not stupid.
It's purposeful.
It is based on an abject fear of Christianity on the part of the American left and activist judges, Caleb.
Thomas Jefferson coined the term a separation of church and state in a letter to the Danbury Baptists.
But there are two things about this.
His letter has been taken out of context, and he was not even a framer of the Constitution.
Jefferson was in France drinking wine at the time that the Constitution was drafted.
Now, the secular libs, I'm sorry to ask you this.
I don't want to offend you, but I just want to make sure.
Do you know what secular means?
Well, it's outside of just the normal cue, whatever.
And they're irreligious.
Yeah.
They do not practice.
Well, I don't know what to do, but they're not religious people.
I'm not saying they're atheists, but they don't want religion in any aspect of any public life whatsoever.
So those people, those libs, are so paranoid about Christianity that they have distorted the separation of church and state and excuse to ban clearly voluntary activities because they might offend non-Christians.
So if you go into your school and pray and it offends them, well, we can't have that.
Well, you're not allowed to offend somebody with your religion in a school because the state is endorsing.
You can't have that.
This is all rooted in their fear and paranoia.
And one of the reasons is that Christianity has in it the Ten Commandments.
A lot of religions do.
Thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt not, thou shalt.
The liberals don't like the word not after thou shalt.
They don't like any proscription on their behavior whatsoever.
They want to be free to do anything, anytime, anywhere with nobody judging them.
And they look at Christians, a bunch of hayseed hicks who are constantly sitting in judgment of them and condemning them to hell and this sort of stuff.
But you're right.
Brilliantly so.
There is no right in the Constitution not to be offended.
Yet the courts and the liberals are so paranoid about Christianity.
They've been willing to suppress one of our most important freedoms.
And you have brilliantly, at age 13, deduced this on your own.
And that is the free exercise of your religion.
And they're doing this to protect a non-existent right, and that is the right not to be offended.
So I don't know what you needed my help for.
You instinctively get all this.
Well, I just wanted your opinion on it.
Well, let me tell you this: just one more thing.
I think that our good friends out there, the Libs, have also selectively applied the Establishment Clause and separation principle, too.
I mean, they will scream bloody murder.
They will cry foul at the slightest nod to Christianity in schools, but they have no problem with schools outright endorsing secular values, like Heather has two mommies, gay rights, or those of other religions, like we can teach Islam.
We want to teach Islam, especially.
We must understand these people, and they must understand us.
In certain California public schools, you can teach Islam.
You can't look at the arguments over, we have to call it creationism, creation science, and they don't even like that.
They don't even want that.
You can teach global warming.
You can teach all these hoaxes.
But you can't teach anything that has to do with religion.
And it's just because they're scared of it, Kayla.
All right.
Have you written your paper?
Yes, I handed it in and I got an A on it.
Well, I'm not surprised.
Well, I'm.
Our social studies teacher is also a loyal listener, so a loyal listener.
Oh, cool.
Yep.
Well, this school is unique.
This school is really unique.
I'm sure I've got parents listening here who want to send their kids to your school, even if they have to move to Iowa.
Well, look, Kayla, thanks for the call.
This has been fabulous.
This is tremendous.
You're 13.
When are you going to turn 14?
June 14th.
June the 14th.
Well, I mean, that's just five days.
So happy birthday.
Thank you.
Kayla, do you?
This is probably a stupid question, too.
Instead of asking you, when did you get your first computer?
Well, Dad has a computer.
He is a computer consultant.
So we've been around computers since we were born, technically.
But when we've got one, I've had one for a while.
What kind of computer do you use?
Dell.
Dell?
Dell works with the Limbol.
You're your family subscribers to my website, Rushallimbaugh.com?
Well, I don't know if Dad is, but I'm not.
Well, you are now.
Because go on hold again, and we'll get all the vital information to make you a complimentary subscriber.
We'll throw in a subscription of the Limbaugh letter.
And as an added bonus, I'll let you pick a couple items from the EIB gift shop, the EIB store, particularly from the Club Gitmo collection.
Oh, I love Club Gitmo stuff.
That's awesome.
It's all yours now because you did a great job on this call.
This is terrific.
Have a great weekend, Kayla, and tell your loyal teacher we said hi and your parents too, okay?
You too.
All right.
Back after this, folks.
Stay with us.
Audio soundbite time.
You've got to hear some excerpts of Tom DeLay's farewell address on the floor of the House of Representatives yesterday.
I don't mean to offend Congressman DeLay here, but these are all limbaugh echoes syndrome remarks that he made.
Final speech on the House floor.
He's retiring from the House today.
Here's the first of four soundbites that we have.
In preparing for today, I found that it is customary in speeches such as these to reminisce about the good old days of political harmony and across-the-aisle camaraderie and to lament the bitter, divisive partisan rancor that supposedly now weakens our democracy.
Well, I can't do that because partisanship, Mr. Speaker, properly understood, is not a symptom of democracy's weakness, but of its health and its strength, especially from the perspective of a political conservative.
Damn a straight.
He is so right, he may not even know how right he is.
And partisanship has often been used as a criticism of the right by the left.
In a way, they want to say, we got to get rid of this partisanship.
If you get rid of your partisanship, it means you become a liberal.
You agree with Democrats.
You agree with the left.
And he's right.
Every time one of these bigwigs leaves the House, they lament the long lost days, camaraderie, and getting along across the aisle, celebrating and going to barbecues, a bar, and so forth after sessions.
Tip O'Neill, Ronald Reagan, they tipped a couple drinks after every day, you know, fighting like cats and dogs in the middle of the legislative process, blah, And all that is liberals lamenting the days when they ran the show.
Here's the second of our four bites.
Liberalism, after all, whatever you may think of its merits, is a political philosophy and a proud one, with a great tradition in this country, with a voracious appetite for growth.
In any place or any time on any issue, what does liberalism ever seek, Mr. Speaker?
More.
More government, more taxation, more control over people's lives and decisions and wallets.
If conservatives don't stand up to liberalism, no one will.
And for a long time around here, almost no one did.
Indeed, the common lament over the recent rise in political partisanship is often nothing more than a veiled complaint instead about the recent rise of political conservatism.
Amen, bro, number two.
He's nailed it.
This is exactly right.
When they talk about this partisanship, all they mean is that conservatives have too much power, that too many conservatives in this place, and too many people disagreeing with us, the libs say.
I should point out that it was at this point in DeLay's speech that some of the Democrats actually walked out of the House chamber.
They were so offended.
Conservatism is often unfairly accused of being insensitive and mean-spirited, sometimes, unfortunately, even by other conservatives.
As a result, conservatives often attempt to soften that stereotype by overfunding broken programs or glossing over ruinous policies.
But conservatism isn't about feeling people's pain.
It's about curing it.
And the results since the first great conservative victory in 1980 speak for themselves.
To all the critics of the supposedly mean-spirited conservative policies that brought about these results, I say only this.
Compassionate is as compassionate does.
Amen.
Number three, bro.
We conservatives actually define compassion by counting a number of people who no longer need government help or government assistance.
Boy, he's just right out of money.
Remember, last time he was on this program, I asked him, what are your plans?
Well, maybe I want to do some things in the media.
I want to talk to you about that, he said.
Sounds like he's setting up here.
All right, final, final portion.
Here on this floor, I have caught and thrown spears of every sort.
Over the course of 22 years, I've probably worked with and against almost everyone in this chamber, at least once.
I have scraped and clawed for every vote, every amendment, for every word of every bill that I believed in my heart would protect human freedom and defend human dignity.
I have done so at all times, honorably and honestly, Mr. Speaker, as God is my witness and history is my judge.
And if given the chance to do it all again, there's only one thing I would change.
I would fight even harder.
There was a robust applause that we cut that from the bite.
That's Tom DeLay.
Farewell address on the floor of the House yesterday back to Pittsburgh in the phones.
Ken in steeler country.
Nice to have you on the program, sir.
Hey, Rosh, great to be here.
Really a privilege to talk with you.
Thank you, sir.
Rosh, on the subject of Ben Bernanke raising interest rates to fight inflation, there are some of us out here, and I'm one of them, who really thinks he's doing a much better job of fighting growth than he is fighting inflation.
I think that is a brilliant way to put it, Ken.
For some reason, they've got it in their heads that growth is too rapid now.
How does this figure, by the way, with the Democrats out there wailing and moaning about how the economy is leaving all these people behind, not growing at all?
The Fed chiefs are, wait, we're steaming up so much out there.
We got to slow this baby down.
They're going to raise interest rates out there.
We've got to slow the growth.
You're exactly right.
That's exactly.
The whole point of raising these interest rates is precisely to slow the growth of the U.S. economy.
Because the theory is that too rapid growth will lead to inflation, which makes everybody's holdings, assets, and so forth less worth.
I'm sorry, worth less.
But I agree with you.
I think they're way premature on this.
Just starting to percolate out there.
It upsets me.
It bothers me greatly.
And it is Open Line Friday.
And no, I have not forgotten about Haditha.
Is it a hoax?
It's coming right up.
But there have been people patiently waiting here on the phones.
And I want to get to these people who've been waiting the longest amount of time.
Richard in Salinas, California, you're next, sir.
Welcome to the program.
Hi, Rush.
Hi.
Ditto Camera Dittos from the Central Coast.
So you're watching even now, sir.
I am, but I haven't muted.
You can still see me.
You'll see it in about 45 seconds.
I'm waving at you now, Richard.
Okay.
I want to tell you something, Rush.
My heart's beating so fast that I'm having Angina.
It's a brokeback moment.
Yeah, if I stop talking suddenly, you know what to do.
Call 911.
We'll do.
Okay, thank you.
I was wondering, my question is, why haven't you considered making the next anti-Michael Moore movie?
You know, it's not that I haven't considered it.
I've had some, over the years, I think, quasi-serious offers.
Most of the offers I get, though, are from people who want me to fund their movie.
I'm not going to do that.
We all have to realize who we are, where we are, what we do in life.
And one thing, I'm not an actor, and I don't want to do movies.
You could produce a movie, though.
Yeah, well, perhaps.
But then again, it depends on who comes to me and wants me to do that.
If they want me to produce it with my money, then that's not the way to entice me.
But I really, I haven't given it a whole lot of thought even when it's been brought up.
It just seems like one of those things that I've never had any interest in it.
And one thing I've learned in life is just endeavor to start making efforts to do things you're not interested in.
It isn't going to turn out well.
You have to follow passions.
And I just have not, I mean, I have never been passionate about movies, period.
I don't go to them.
I buy them when they come out on DVD and I watch them when I have time.
But I get some requests about this.
If it ever became something that I had a really passionate interest in, I'd probably follow it up.
Can I petch an idea?
Sure.
Let's hear it.
I had an idea you could do an animation using Paul Shanklin and his voices.
Yeah.
And you could call the movie How the Left Was Spun.
All right.
See, since you've done this, if we were to ever do anything like this, you know, you'd be the first guy we heard from wanting royalty or creative.
I just want to work on it.
There we go.
Stick with it long enough and you always get to the root.
I'll tell you one thing.
I will tell you this.
I guess the closest I ever got to anything like this, back when I had my television show, Roger Ailes, who was the executive producer and I one night were having dinner, and the show was kicking.
It was doing extremely well.
And he said, you know what we ought to do next?
We've got to do a cartoon show for kids on American history.
Ted Turner's got this Captain Planet claptrap out there, and the left is poisoning the minds of kids on Saturday morning with its cartoon fair.
We need to get an animated show on the truth of American history and a number of other things.
And we just, everything was so volatile back then.
I had my radio show and I was writing books.
And I think I've got a title for my next book when I do it, and that's Don't Doubt Me.
Don't Doubt Me.
But we never got around to doing it.
But that's probably the closest that I've ever come because Ailes back at that time was, as he is now, connected with Hollywood Studios in the Fox.
Well, he didn't have connections with Fox back then, but he knew some people there.
But not a bad idea.
You got an idea for a movie and how the left was spun and so forth.
I'll take it under advisement, like I take numerous offers and suggestions like this.
I appreciate it.
Donna in Ventura, California, you're next.
Hello.
Rush, it's an honor, and I'm really nervous.
So if I'm not my normal articulate self, I know you'll take over.
I was calling about the CBS report this week, how we have to outsource for teachers because there's a shortage of teachers here in the U.S. I'm not familiar with that report.
Yes, that's what I was told because you guys don't listen to CBS.
Well, which news was it?
Was it in the morning?
Was it at noon?
No, it was in the evening.
Probably five or six our time out here.
It would have to be the CBS evening with Bob Schieffer, right?
I think it was just the regular, I don't know who the...
Well, now, wait a minute.
You're our inventor.
Was it local or was it network?
Maybe it was.
No, it had to be network.
But I'm not sure who the host was.
I'm sorry.
All right.
Well, you have to tell me about it because I didn't see it.
Okay.
They prefaced, actually they showed two school districts.
One was Baltimore and one was Clark County, which is where Las Vegas is in Nevada.
Yes.
And they said there's a shortage of teachers, so we have to outsource, and they were showing mainly the Philippines.
Wait, were there shortages in both Baltimore and Clark County?
Yes.
Okay.
Now, what they're not telling you, of course, is this.
A, there's teachers like myself who can't get interviews because we have several years' experience in a master's and therefore we're more expensive.
So it's cheaper to hire someone first year.
That sounds like the semiconductor business.
Yes.
And secondly, Clark County, Nevada, of course, has grown from 10 high schools to 38 high schools in 10 years.
That's a 280% increase.
And they're not just recruiting in Canada as they sit on CBS.
They're recruiting all over the United States.
And when you have growth such as that, you're not going to find enough local teachers to fill.
Okay, now why are it because they're not teaching, they're not willing to pay really qualified teachers?
Are they outsourcing for teachers that will work cheaper than you will?
Is that why they're doing it?
Is there really a shortage of teachers, or is there a shortage of teachers that they're willing to pay?
Bingo, last one.
Yeah.
And also, there's a shortage of teachers that will work in the inner city.
Well, where the hell is the union on this?
Where's the NEA?
Where are they standing up for your rights on this?
Well, you know, the NEA is liberal.
Yes, I know.
They should be defending you, the poor, the downtrodden.
I know they should.
And don't you think that children would get a better education from an NCLB highly qualified teacher?
Well, you know, I'm going to get in trouble here.
I'm not so sure that's the agenda of the NEA.
Oh, I know it's not the agenda rush.
I mean, you say best education, best liberal education, best liberal indoctrination, or best real education.
I'm not sure what it is.
No, it's indoctrination.
All right.
Okay.
Well, the smarter the teacher, the more trouble they're going to have with their indoctrination agenda.
Exactly.
So, well, this is, I haven't heard it.
I didn't see this story, but this is.
I know.
That's why I want to get it on your show because I know that you can get it out there better than I can.
I mean, here I have credentials in both math and special ed, which are highly, highly needed in this country.
And I cannot get an interview.
Because you have a master's and that qualifies.
Exactly.
In other words, it's going to cost them about, depending on the district, give or take $20,000 more a year to hire me.
Who says that?
Well, we have a salary schedule, and it's only based upon the salary schedule is based upon years of service.
So you're not allowed to go.
Let's say you really wanted the job, and let's say you do it for only $10,000 more than what they're willing to pay.
Do you have the freedom to go in and bust the salary schedule?
No.
Because, yeah, that'd be screwing the union, you know?
Yeah, then other teachers would say, you know, why are you doing this?
So we have a salary schedule based upon years of service.
You have busted kneecaps.
Exactly.
And how much education we have.
And you, oh, see, I just lost my point now.
I'm so nervous.
It doesn't matter.
You know, here's the point.
The point is that the public education system in this country is an absolute mess.
Oh, I know.
And here's one reason.
I just told you one reason why.
We have people like me who really care, really love teaching, and yet I cannot get a job unless I go to the inner city, and then I have to worry about my life.
So, Rush, what can we do?
Get a talk show.
You may educate more people on a talk show than you would in a classroom.
Well, I mean, that's a flippant answer, but I know.
I know.
But see, as you know, education is run by the liberals.
And so is NEA and CTA, which, you know, NEA is the nation, and CTA is California.
I know.
And they want dumbed-down people at every level, from a teacher to the student.
Oh, Rush, you just don't know.
Well, I do know.
And another reason why they don't want you in there, try this, is that the one thing they don't want is teacher standards.
Yes.
They oppose any testing of teachers.
You go in there and show what a qualified teacher you are.
Your class will probably do better than anybody else's class in your school.
That would not sit well with the other teachers.
Can't have that.
So, see, this is, I'm telling you, the bottom line here is liberalism punishes achievement.
The bottom line, from whether it's small businesses that do well with high taxes or incessant regulations or your story, you love what you do.
You're very good at it.
That poses a threat.
Achievement poses a threat to the left, and it needs to be punished, and you're the victim at this stage.
Well, I didn't know this.
I'm happy to know it and give this a little amplification.
See what happens.
I'm glad you called.
I appreciate it very much, Donna.
We've got to run back with the possibility that Hadith is a hoax after this.
Clarice Feldman is one of the brilliant contributors at AmericanThinker.com, and she has a piece today called Haditha is McGurk, the new Mary Mapes.
Tim McGurk is the Time magazine reporter who first wrote about the incident at Haditha for the March 27th issue of Time magazine.
Now, Ms. Feldman commences her piece this way.
Evidence accumulates of a hoax in Haditha.
The weblog Sweetness and Light has done an estimable service gathering together the articles which cast substantial doubt on the charge of a massacre of civilians at Haditha.
Because the blog is too busy gathering and fisking the news, I offered, and the publisher accepted my offer to put what he has uncovered in a narrative form.
Having done so, I can tell you that the story has a whiff of yet another mediogenic scandal like the Tang memos or the plane outing.
While the Marines, quite correctly, will not comment on the case pending the outcome of their investigation.
I am not bound by those rules, and I'll sum up the story for you.
Here we go.
On November 20th, 2005, Al Reuters reported that on the previous day, an IED killed a U.S. Marine and 15 civilians in Haditha, a town known to be a center of the insurgency, a town as hostile to our forces as the better-known Fallujah was.
Reuters reported that immediately after the blast, gunmen opened fire on the convoy, and U.S. and Iraqi forces returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another.
The paper further reported that a cameraman working for Reuters in Haditha says bodies had been left lying in the street for hours after the attack.
Reuters never named this cameraman, but he was almost undoubtedly Ali al-Mashhadani.
Ali al-Mashhadani had been imprisoned for five months before his report because of his ties to insurgents.
He was subsequently placed under another 12 days in detention for being a security threat.
C. Tim McGurk of Time magazine wrote about the incident at Haditha for the March 27th issue of Time magazine.
He unsuccessfully lobbied his editors to use the term massacre in the story.
McGurk seems hardly a neutral reporter.
He spent the first Thanksgiving after 9-11 in Afghanistan dining with the Taliban and concluding of this meal: quote, our missing colleagues finally arrive, and I think, and I leave thinking that maybe this evening wasn't very different from the original Thanksgiving.
People from two warring cultures sharing a meal together and realizing briefly that we're not so different after all.
This is a Time reporter having dinner with the Taliban.
Right, Tim.
We all want to enslave women, bend to the world of Sharia law, behead non-believers, and otherwise carry on the honored traditions of the Taliban.
Now, a key source for McGurk's report that U.S. Marines in Haditha had deliberately attacked civilians was Thayer al-Hadithi, whom McGurk inexplicably described as a budding journalism student.
Well, Thayr al-Hadithi is a middle-aged man.
He was subsequently described by the AP as an Iraqi investigator.
McGurk also failed to note that al-Hadithi, or Hadithi, is a member and spokesman for the Hammurabi.
Now, the chairman of Hammurabi organization and Hadithi's partner in publicizing the massacre is Abdul Rahman al-Mashhadani.
It is unknown if he is related to Ali al-Mashhadani, but their names suggest a possible relationship.
And it beggars belief that, as Sweetness and Light notes, Abdel Rahman al-Mashhadani just happened to be given a video by an unnamed local and that he then turned it over to Ali al-Mashadani, who just happens to make videos for Reuters.
Hadithi's story is that he was staying near to one of the two houses.
He was staying near one of the two houses where the massacre occurred and saw it with his own eyes.
Now, we'll post this on the website or link to it on the website.
But here's the conclusion.
The sum and substance of this thumbnail sketch on Haditha claims that it follows so closely the template for the Tang and Plame stories.
Take a reporter with an anti-administration agenda, an interested group, think of the Mash Haddanis as the VIPs in the Plame case or Burkitt and Lucy Ramirez in the Tang case, and a story too good to be checked, and circumstances where the people attacked are limited in what they can quickly respond to, and you get a story which smells to me like it will soon be unraveled.
This time, I'm betting the consequences to the press, which rushed to judgment, will be more disastrous than it was to Dan Rather.
I surely hope so.
This is Clarice Feldman.
She's an attorney in Washington, a frequent contributor to the American Thinker.
The Sweetness and Light website is where she's found all this data and then put it together in narrative form.
She has also written extensively on Pat Fitzgerald's case against Scooter Libby and what trouble it's in.
I think she's also had some accurate predictions about what's going on in the Duke rape case.
That case is an absolute travesty now, with the second dancer has the first report she gave was that she called these rape allegations a crock.
This Nifon guy is going to be publicly embarrassed very soon.
His case is nothing.
And the evidence that he's even released that he has doesn't point to anything he could go to court with and win.
So that case is in trouble.
So we'll keep an eye on this.
The Haditha incident does fit the dive-by media template.
U.S. military bad, bunch of mauding, marauding, murdering, massacre killers and so forth.
Has the video from a Reuters cameraman just happening to show these murdered civilians and so forth.
The investigation is ongoing.
And again, Ms. Feldman thinks it might end up being a bigger media embarrassment than even Bill Burkett ended up being to Dan Blatter.
Back in just a second.
A final note here, the new Democrat Network starting a $2 million Spanish language campaign of radio and TV ads, urging Hispanics to get involved in the political process.
This five-month effort begins with ads during the World Cup soccer games that began today in Germany.
Democrats courting Hispanics during the World Cup.
Their outreach continues.
Have a great weekend, folks.
We will be back on Monday, revved up, full speed.
All the RPMs necessary to make it happen and do it all over again.
Been great being with you today.
Look forward to next time, as always.
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