Where Have You Gone Dan Rather?

When Dan Rather took over the CBS Evening News from Walter Cronkite in 1981, he was considered a worthy successor to Cronkite. Despite his famed liberal bias, he was a hard charging reporter who searched for facts. We lost that Dan Rather by 2004, and the person who claims the name is not the reporter we knew.

Rather filed a lawsuit against CBS, Viacom, and others claiming to be a scapegoat for the disastrous story about George W. Bush's National Guard record based on unauthenticated documents. He is claiming to a victim, despite stating at the time he wasn't. Many assumed the story was the result of his bias, but now I'm not so sure. Based on his behavior of late, and a recent report he did on HDNet, I think the failing of the story was Rather's ego.

The lawsuit seems clearly aimed at recovering his faded prestige. However a recent report on HDNet about the Boeing Dreamliner calls into question Rather's ability to fact check. It's as though he's saying, "I'm Dan Rather, therefore I'm right."

The story he did questions the safety of the new Dreamliner jet because it is made from carbon fiber instead of aluminum. The core of the story are Rather's claims that the composite materials are brittle, more likely to shatter on impact, and prone to emit poisonous chemicals when ignited. The transcript of the story can be read here

Scientists and engineers have come out stating that this concept is flawed from the beginning. Composites can be every bit as strong as aluminum and are used in race cars, trains and other objects which have survived massive crashes. I don't think Rather has any bias against Boeing. I think he, once again, failed to check his facts.

So I now think it's possible that Rather's bias didn't create the Bush story, although I'm sure he relished the opportunity to report it. I think he has ceased to check his facts because his ego has gotten in the way. That ego lead to him being fired from CBS, and has now created his lawsuit as he tries to reclaim his previous stature.

Dan, if you want to regain your previous stature stop blaming others. Go forth on your new show and produce credible, bias-free news stories. Unless you do that, no lawsuit is going to help.

What Really Happened In Jena?

Jesse Jackson is comparing Jena, LA to Selma, AL. He says this is a pivotal moment for civil rights, while blasting presidential candidates for not paying more attention to it.

For anyone not aware of the situation, here it is in a nutshell. Three white students placed nooses in a tree at Jena High School. The nooses were quickly removed, before the school day even began, the boys responsible were found and suspended. This set off a period of racial tensions that culminated in six black students beating a white student unconscious. The students were initially charged with attempted murder, but the charges have since been reduced. The charge of racism hits because the white students were only suspended while the black students were arrested.

Time for a reality check. As despicable an action as hanging the nooses is, there is no law against it. Most people never saw the nooses and there was nothing indicating that they were aimed at any particular student. The mother of one of the "Jena Six" has stated that because of America's history of racism, the boys should have been punished more severely.

NO!!! This is America. You cannot punish someone for what happened historically. You can punish people for what they do. What these kids did was stupid and asinine, but it wasn't illegal. You can't arrest somebody for actions that aren't illegal. The school was absolutely right to suspend them, but local and federal authorities should never be brought in unless a law is broken. You don't like that no law was broken. Contact your local officials to change the law. That's how democracy works.

In the course of the trial of Mychal Bell, the first of the Jena Six to be tried, it was revealed that has a history of violence and was on probation when he was arrested for attacking a store clerk in the weeks prior to the school incident. It should also be pointed out that the victim in the attack was not one of the students that put the nooses up.

The students that put the nooses up were punished for their actions. Actions which didn't cause physical harm anyone. Now it's time for the Jena Six to be punished for their actions. That's not racist, it's called taking responsibility.

Is there racism in America? Of course there is. But tacking a racist label onto every event that involves a white person and a black person diminishes the term and keeps people from truly addressing the problem. Jena isn't a matter of racism. It's a matter of how loud can Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson can yell. If you really want to do something to stop racism, stop listening to those two.

The View From Ramadi

If you listen to most major media outlets, and certainly most Democrats, the words Iraq success story is a contradiction in terms. But anyone who wants to know what is really going on in Iraq, and how we can work with the Iraqi people, should read Michael J. Totten's dispatch from Ramadi.

The truth is amazing.

http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/001517.html

Greenspan Misses The Boat

Alan Greenspan has been in the spotlight with his new book. While I genuinely respect the man, I am greatly disappointed in some of his statements. One in particular is where he states that the Iraq War is about oil.

If the Iraq War were truly about oil, it would have been a lot easier on us. First of all, if we're there for the oil, then all we would have to worry about it would be protecting the oil fields. Except look at the troop deployments. The vast majority of them are nowhere near the oil. How are we supposed to be fighting for oil when we deploy troops elsewhere.

Another problem with this erroneous yet popular theory is that we were in Iraq before. Remember operation Desert Storm. If all we wanted was oil, we could have taken it then.

The war for oil theory is a big with people who don't understand what is going on because it is simple and straight forward. As the saying goes, every problem has a simple, easy-to-understand, wrong answer. War for oil is the simple, easy-to-understand, wrong answer to the question "Why are we in Iraq?" The real answer has to do with dictators, human rights, stopping terrorism, and taking responsibility for our actions, none of which is good for a sound bite.

Hillary: "Health Care Or Else"

Hillary Clinton has just come out with her grand health care plan. The woman who is best known for her completely useless health plan during her husband's presidency does seem to have learned from her past blunders. In her favor, her plan isn't all bad this time, just mostly bad. But the one part that is a deal breaker is her mandate. All Americans must have health care.

In the interest of fairness, she isn't the only one with this mandate. John Edwards has it in his plan and Mitt Romney had it in the plan he pushed in Massachusetts. This mandate that everyone must buy health care is to say the least astonishing and irresponsible. Clinton puts the cart before the horse in this plan, forcing people to buy health insurance before she does anything about lowering its cost. That's a great way to bankrupt the poor and lower middle classes.

Her solution is a tax rebate. Great, you get a cut in your taxes in April, but suffer to make your payments the rest of the year. I've lived under the poverty level. I've lived without health care. In the situation I was in, and the situation many Americans are still in, you look at your money and you say do I eat or do I pay another bill. Hillary has taken the choice out of your hands and eating lost.

On top of the cost, why does the government think its their decision what we spend our money on. You must have health care, you must not eat trans fats, you must eat what we tell you is healthy. We don't want a nanny state. Get out of my diet, get out of my kitchen, and get out of my health decisions. You want to make health care affordable? Here's how:

1) Tort reform: A major reason that health costs are high is because the legal system is out of control, which raises malpractice rates. Cap what the greedy bastards can ask for in damages. I was on jury duty for a case where a patient sued his doctor for malpractice. The doctor cured his prostate cancer, but he was left with an impotency problem. Guess what, the doctor did his job. He saved the guys life. Was the side effect unanticipated and uncomfortable> Yes, but that doesn't mean the guy is entitled to money. Stop these out of control claims and insurance rates will drop.

2) Prescription drug reform: The drug companies claim they have to charge exorbitant amounts to cover their R&D costs. They are right, to a point. I've worked with some of these companies, and many of them are the worst run companies I've ever seen. They squander their money because they're counting on being able to charge an arm and a leg to make up for it. Cap the prices. This will force the companies to be more efficient. The patient wins with lower prices and the shareholders win because a more efficient company will see greater returns by eliminating waste.

3) Companies over 1000 employees must provide health insurance for all employees, no matter how many hours they work. I'm calling this the Wal-Mart clause. If you can employ over 1000 people, you can afford to offer them health insurance. Besides, who is making it possible for these companies to succeed? The employees.

That's just the tip of the iceberg, but you get the point. The poor don't get poorer, the rich aren't penalized, and the three items I mentioned don't cost the government one cent.