ABC Puts the Agenda Before the Facts

It bothered me then, and it still bothers me now, that in the Columbine shootings B.J. Clinton was pronouncing blame while the bodies were still warm.  Lest you forget, B.J. blamed the shooting on talk radio, and by impication Rush Limbaugh.  No evidence ever emerged to support Clinton’s  impromptu theory and no apology from the cigar master either.

In the spirit of preaching over still warm bodies, Brian Ross and Dana Hughes, ABC News, jumped the shark, “Lapse of Federal Law Allows Sale of Large Ammo Clips“.   I can’t imagine how the magazine capacity could affected anything.   The gunman  had all the time he needed.  It wasn’t like anybody was  shooting back while he changed magazines.  Ross and Hughes don’t explain their supposed connection either.

With the bitter taste of B.J.’s hasty and ill considerd remarks, I made it point not to jump to premature conclusions.   In the spirit of sanity I offer the wisdom of Orin Kerr, Volokh Conspiracy:

Policy and Reactions to Tragedy: Eugene asks below about how we respond to tragedies, and in particular whether it is appropriate to focus on policy so soon after hearing about tragedies. Obviously people can do what they like; people are complicated, and will react to tragic events in different ways. But in my view, the problem with responding to news of tragedy with policy ideas right away is that we tend not to realize in such situations how often our “proposals” are really expressions of psychological need. It’s human nature to respond to tragedy by fitting it into our preexisting worldviews; we instinctively restore order by construing the tragic event as a confirmation of our sense of the world rather than a threat to it.

Our campuses are still extremely safe.  Campus shooting remain rare.   There is no driving need for urgent action.   Let us indentify the problem before we attempt to impose a solution.

The Music: Random.

Yes, it means what it says. Tonight, I was in a somewhat less than foul mood, but not overjoyed, either. I’ll get to why in a minute. So, I let my player, play what IT wanted.
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I should make a note, about the “music magic” plug in for WinAmp. This thing goes through your entire music collection, (At least, what you have in Winamp’s database) and figures out some rather interesting musical mixes, based on a number of factors. sometimes, the mixes, one song to another, are a little awkward, other times it works like crazy. I haven’t quite figured out how it figures out what to play and what not to play. That being said on examining portions of my musical collection that I haven’t touched in years, save for dumping it down to MP3. If you’ve got Winamp… and you should… you should also look into this plugin.

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* As for my mood, I suppose a lot of that was due to the Virginia Tech business, which I’ve already comment on at length, and will doubtless do so again. Some of it was due to a longer than usual day at work, and the continued cold we’ve been dealing with around here. (Global warming my butt)

Some of it, though, was due to what I saw over at the Nassau coliseum tonight. Apparently, all the chuckle heads in the world are in New York City and environs. First, we hear some yutz make an obscene comment to the girl who just sung the national anthem, doing a pretty fair job of it, and doubtless singing her heart out. I won’t bother repeating the comment here. Next, we see a bunch of the same types, throwing beer bottles cups, and towels on to the ice in response to a call against their team.

The TV crews tried to minimize the effect, but you could still see stuff landing on the ice, as both teams left for the locker room after the game. I look at that kind of situation and wonder what has happened to our society. And, given the trend, what is going to happen to our society. The really scary part of it is, these idiots get to both drive, and vote. Did I mention that New York state, and in particular New York City, have voted overwhelmingly Democratic in the last several elections? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. That the Sabres beat New York raised my mood to one of grim satisfaction, if only briefly. Idiots.

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* It’s been a crazy two weeks, for BitsBlog. We’ve been getting absolutely crazy numbers, for the last couple of weeks, and sometimes I wonder if it’s going to last. But, as it stands right now, we are pretty much, daily hit rate wise, where we were prior to the move off of BlogSpot…. around 325hpd. I predicted that the time we made the move it would take around six months, to get to this point. That we beat that estimate by a couple of months, pleases me no end. All hail DavidL and Fersboo for doing a great job.

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* The weather looks to be grey around here for a few more days. It’s no big deal, as winters go, but this isn’t suppsoed to be winter. Then again, it really didn’t start until January around here either, so I guess I don’t mind the trade-off.

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* I’m toying with the idea of replacing BitsBox for something a bit more powerful… a Diesel Pickup Most likely, a Dodge 2500 crew cab, with the Cummins. I may or may not do that soon, but I will eventually. Sad, really; I love that little van, It’s been idea, configuration-wise for us, and fairly well bullit-proof. I have an awful lot of sweat into it, too. I’ve listed my reasons for wanting the Diesel in the past..and they’ve not changed, though the reasons are mitigated somewhat by the fact that the van is nearly paid off… and I can pour a LOT of fuel and parts for what another monthly payment would cost. On the other hand, the van is 10 years old, with 130k on it. Still very serviceable, (200k isn’t unusual at all for the Astro frame, after all) …but for how long? Still, I hate… and I mean HATE the idea of selling BitsBox.

Well, we’ll see.

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* I gather they’ve made some changes at SNAP, who are the folks who put up those preview windows I installed a few months back, here at BitsBlog. Closed circuit to my co-writers; I’ll be passing along instructions for how to use the new features, soon. Watch your mail.

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* There’s a light at the end of this tunnel… something to look forward to. My wife and I are taking Monday off to have an “us” day. It’s kind of to make up for the last time we tried to arrange such a day. It turned out to be a snow day, and we had the kids here all day, climbing the walls. It’s supposed to be a nice day too, though I’d better not say more, for fear of throwing the whole thing off.

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* I’ll close with a thought to those lost in Virginia today, and their families. I’ve made my comments about the causes for both the violence and it’s severity, earlier.

I spoke in anger, then, much as I stand by my words.

I’ll tell you plainly; I regret neither my words, nor my timing. Such an event is time for the truth, and not for trying to dodge it; I’m sure I’ll be speaking even stronger on the points I made as this thing moves forward. My disgust for the non-thought that left so many so defenseless runs high. I hold such people responsible for the deaths not being limited to a few… or preferably, to one… the perp himself.

But, I’d be remiss if I didn’t also, as a part of my more personal daily comments express sympathy for those lost, and their loved ones.Such words are not easy to come by, even under less strenuous circumstances than these. Perhaps, though, it is enough for the purpose, to simply recognize the victims and their families. The act of simple recognition , is likely enough to communicate their position in our hearts. What needs to be expressed to them is beyond words, anyway. And they know this, better than do we.

Bruce asks a question that will continue to be asked for the next few days:

How was this person allowed to move to another location and continue killing?

He then answers his own question:

And, of course, this worked out real well, didn’t it?

Gun bill got shot down by panel in January last year;campus was kept a gun-free zone.

One reader there says:

Like sheep lined up for slaughter. Expect the Leftist spin machine to turn this into a cause of creating more sheep

Roger Kimball:

Of the many things that can be said about the horrible shooting at Virginia Tech today, one thing that we have already heard too often is that the shooting is offers a compelling argument against citizens owning guns. Right on cue, Jim Sollo, representing Virginians Against Handgun Violence, told reporters that “We live in a society where guns are pretty well accepted. There are 200 million guns in this society and obviously some in the wrong hands.” Well, yes. And that means? That we should concentrate all instruments of violence in the hands of an increasingly bureaucratic and meddlesome state, thus rendering ordinary citizens even more defenseless? I don’t think so, but that is what well meaning people like Mr. Sollo, appropriately horrified by such slaughter as we have seen today, conclude. My own feeling is that if a few responsible students and faculty had been in possession of the requisite firearms they might have made the death toll a lot lower, or even–had been especially alert–eliminated it altogether, or at least reduced it to the gratifying number of one, that of the perpetrator.

BBCT to Billy for that one…
Boortz:

As the initial shock wears off you can bet that the anti-Second Amendment people wall be coming out of the woodwork.  By the time the evening network newscasts hit we will have no shortage of spokesmen for various anti-gun groups stepping forth to issue their tired call for an end to the private ownership of handguns.

This is undoubtedly the worst school shooting, high school, college or otherwise, in the history of our country.  There are some facts, however, about some of these school shootings of which you probably are not aware.  Do you know, for instance, that at least three shootings in high schools were stopped by civilians with guns?  Civilians, not law enforcement.  In one case a civilian was traveling past a school when he saw children running from the building.  One told him that there was a student inside shooting people.  The civilian pulled his gun, ran in side, and confronted the student.  The student put down the gun and surrendered.  In another case a high school vice-principal heard that there was a student in the hallways with a gun.  He sprinted a half-mile to his car.  He had a gun in his car so he had to park off campus.  He then sprinted back with the gun to confront the student.  Lives saved.

The point here is that you are never ever going to get the guns out of the hands of those who want to use them for carnage.  Never.  Gun control programs will only succeed in getting the guns out of the hands of people who want them and need them for self-defense.  Never, in the history of America’s gun control movement, has anyone set forth a viable program to get the guns out of the hands of those who would use them to commit crimes.  Similarly, the gun control movement will never give any fair coverage at all to the people who use guns to save their own lives, or the lives of others.

Billy Beck:

If only there had been an honest and brave person with a personal weapon, where all the video shows us these slug-ass cops running to & fro with all their fine army-man wannabe costuming. If only.

A commenter at Volokh:

I don’t think there are more crazy people, rather I think people are less able to defend themselves. VPI is, after all, a gun free zone.

This is merely a sample of the commentary across the blogs today.

It is flat out amazing, how much death and carnage has resulted from the government’s attempt to protect us from ourselves.  There’s a lesson in the killings today, and one that I doubt the left is going to be willing to learn.  Sadly, that means more people will die.  However, it is time to speak the plain truth; those people died, today, because there wasn’t one person who had the means of self defense.  Not one.  That means was taken away by a government fixated on law solving the problem. The ability of law to solve the problem was demonstrated very clearly, today.
It is, as Boortz said, today:

…you are never ever going to get the guns out of the hands of those who want to use them for carnage. Never. Gun control programs will only succeed in getting the guns out of the hands of people who want them and need them for self-defense. Never, in the history of America’s gun control movement, has anyone set forth a viable program to get the guns out of the hands of those who would use them to commit crimes.

The founders, in their wisdom, however, set forward a proposition that all men should have the ability to defend themselves against such individuals.  That’s why the second amendment was created.

It is time that we return to that profound wisdom.

While we are speaking the plain truth, let’s lay the blame for the 31 deaths today, squarely where it rightfully belongs: at the feet of gun control proponents, without whom, the group of sheeple, ripe for the slaughter, would not have been possible.

In the webwide search to pat the blog on its back, I offer this tidbit.  Phyllis M. Meek,Gainesvile, meekly lauds Bitsblog, kind of, sort of: 

Another example of on-going sexism is the news coverage of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Why is she typically referred to as “Hillary” rather than Senator Clinton? Referring to a woman in a powerful position by her first name definitely is sexist.

I do not refer to Senator Clinton as Hillary.   I refer to her as Mrs. Clinton.   Using her married name of Mrs Clinton fully connects her to her reprobate husband Mr. B.J. Clinton.  Which is precisely why Mrs. Clinton is campaigning under the nom de plum of Hillary.   She too wishs to avoid the association.   Not that I blame her and not that I intend to ever let her slide.

But by all means, the drive-by media should take up Ms Meek’s suggestion and show Mrs. Clinton all the respect she deserves.
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I’ve not said anything on this because there’s really nothing to say, yet.

But, here it is.

BLACKSBURG, Va. —FOX- At least 21 are dead and another 21 are wounded after a shooting at Virginia Tech University Monday morning, police said.

Campus police said there was only one shooter and he is now dead. They are unsure if the shooter was a student and it was unclear if he was shot by police or took his own life.

Like I said, not much info to go on, yet.

 Update:

Commentary here.

TOKYO â€”AP-  Japan’s leading toilet maker Toto Ltd. is offering free repairs for 180,000 bidet toilets after wiring problems caused several to catch fire, the company said Monday.

The electric bidet accessory of Toto’s Z series caught fire in three separate incidents between March 2006 and March 2007, according to company spokeswoman Emi Tanaka. The bidet sent up smoke in 26 other incidents, the company said.

“Fortunately, nobody was using the toilets when the fire broke out and there were no injuries,” Tanaka said. “The fire would have been just under your buttocks.”

Doesn’t that just toast your buns?

 Of course, it’s not going to affect too many….

The popular Z series features a pulsating massage spray, a power dryer, built-in-the-bowl deodorizing filter, the “Tornado Wash” flush and a lid that opens and closes automatically. Prices range from $1,680 to $2,600.

Forgive me, but there are limits to what I will ask technology to do for me, OK? I mean, even if I am the kind of ghastly rich, required to pay $2600 for a toilet…

Some times somebody says something that is so right and so logical that its truth is self-evident.   Everybody is capable of bright thoughts, and the Light in the Sky award goes tom the normally dim witted and no friend of ours, Bill Maher.

Maher demolishes Media Matters for their attack on Michael Smerconish.  Ian, Hot Air has the video of Bill here.   At least Adolf Hitler was smart enough to come after one set of enemies at time.  In contrast, Mrs. Clintons wants to take out all her enemies, at once.

(H/T Image:  Catching the Sun)

Alex Knapp at OTB this morning, notes that China’s pollution situation isn’t good:

China’s massive Yangtze river, a lifeline for tens of millions of people, is seriously polluted and the damage is almost irreversible, a state-run newspaper said Monday.

More than 370 miles of the river are in critical condition and almost 30 percent of its major tributaries are seriously polluted, the China Daily said, citing a report by the Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The pollution, along with damming and heavy use of boats, has caused a sharp decline in aquatic life along the Yangtze.

The report said the annual harvest of aquatic products from the river has dropped from 427,000 tons in the 1950s to about 100,000 tons in the 1990s.

“The impact of human activities on the Yangtze water ecology is largely irreversible,” Yang Guishan, a researcher at the institute, was quoted as saying.

Alex notes, correctly:

You have to wonder that if this is the extent of the damage that the Party-controlled media is willing to report, how bad must the damage really be?

To this, I would add, that we saw similar problems in the old Soviet Union .  They, too, were quite reluctant about revealing the problems that they were having, environmentally speaking.  For all that the enviro-whackos in this country tend to lean socialist,  I have to wonder if they’re ready to acknowledge this evidence, or if they’ll play the Soviet, (and apparently, Chinese)  ploy of simply pretending these problems don’t exist.

(Edit:Bit, repaired link)

Just how sane are democrats?  Pamela Leavey, Democratic Daily, discusses John Kerry’s hints of running in Aught Eight.   First, this is where Leavey makes some sense:

The feel I get whenever I hear him talk about endorsing anyone for ’08, which is what led to this news story, is that Kerry doesn’t feel at this point that any of the Democratic candidates have a grasp on the issues that he would like to see. I agree,

The only field with less grasp on revelant issues are in a greased pig catching contest somewhere in Fort Worth.  As a rule democrats don’t have the clue and higher up the chain you go, the less of clue they have.

Of course, while John Kerry is right in suggesting that both Mrs. Clinton and Barack Obama lack clues to the real issues, Kerry remains as clueless as ever:

But, for now, Kerry is out there in the forefront pushing the issues that matter to him — the Iraq War and the environment, to name two of the many. He has built up a phenomenal platform, one I hear echoed here and there from the various candidates in the field, but so far none has quite the grasp on the issues that matter, like Kerry does.

Antropogenic global warming is not a threat to mankind.    Islamofascism is.   Kerry, as always, would chase the trivial  and ignore the significant.

Addendum:  Dissent is patriotic.   We have a patrioitc liberal, Brillant at Breafast, who says of Kerry, “Oh God, Please No.”

In a clear sign of its intent to reign in dissident American media personalities, and their growing influence in American culture, US War Leaders this past week launched an unprecedented attack upon one of their most politically ‘connected’, and legendary, radio hosts named Don Imus after his threats to release information relating to the September 11, 2001 attacks upon that country.

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Unable to attack such a powerful media figure as Don Imus, directly, the US War Leaders, and as we have seen many times before, resorted to a massive media attack against him using as the reason a racial slur against a US woman’s basketball team, but which has been pointed out by other media outlets was not by any means a rare occurrence for the legendary radio icon to make.

But, to the US War Leaders, Don Imus represented the most serious threat, to date, of the growing assault against them by America’s media personalities threatening to expose the truths behind the events of September 11, 2001 and the Iraq/Afghanistan Wars; and to such an extent that another American media personality, Rosie O’Donnell, has expressed concern that US Military Leaders could actually imprison Mr. Imus.

Now, normally, I would have considered this to be a joke, but it is actually coming from the Pravda site.  Interesting, how they mentioned Rosie O’Donnell in this one.  At least now we know where she’s getting her talking points from.

Nobody else has bothered to mention this, so I will.

Today in history, the Titanic sank.

Today in history, the Civil war started

Today in history, President Lincoln died.

Today is the birthday of Writer-producer Linda Bloodworth-Thomason

And today in History,  the city of San Francisco was incorporated.

There is something of a link up, there, someplace.

I raised the issue the other day that now that Imus is out of the way, what else do the purveyors of all that’s decent go after?

Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Bill O’Reilly, Glenn Beck, Neal Boortz, John Gibson and Michael Smerconish.

So says a WND report.

Remember, folks you read it here first.

Addendum:   (David L) While I still have World Net Daily bookmarked, I have long found hard to take Joseph Farah’s electronic fish wrapper seriously.    Eric, Classic Values, concurs with the hit job by Mrs. Clinton’s minions, but differs as to the target:

I think the Clinton left would rather take down guys like Imus or Smerconish than a nutjob like Michael Savage, and that’s because moderates and independents are a bigger threat. The far right is easily stereotyped, and in the long run, they can actually be seen as helping (not hurting) Hillary Clinton. If the goal is to get her elected, silencing the moderates (and, of course, libertarians like Neal Boortz) is a vital first step. If I were working for the Hillary campaign, I’d advise precisely such a campaign. Little wonder that another primary target of the Media Matters campaign is Democrat Chris Matthews. Like Imus, he’s a Democrat against Hillary. They hate Matthews so much it reminds me of the attacks on Lieberman. Seriously; if you check out the links, you begin to see a pattern. While its stated goal might be to go after the right wing, Media Matters is very much in the business of enforcing Democratic political conformity.

Even if Mrs. Clinton would like to silence all her critics, she can’t take them all out.  And she can’t take Rush Limbaugh down by the threat of a boycott.  I am with Eric on this one, but will hold to the idea of blood in the water.

(H/T: Nathan Nelson, Red State )

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Sad news from NR:

Patricia Aldyn Austin Taylor Buckley — Pat Buckley, as so many knew her, WFB’s beloved — died last night at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut.

She died of septic poisoning following a vascular operation on her left leg.

Pat had been married to WFB since July 1950 and is mother of the acclaimed writer Christopher Buckley.

BitsBlog sympathies go to Bill and Chris.

HONOLULU -AP- Legendary crooner Don Ho, who entertained tourists for decades wearing raspberry-tinted sunglasses and singing the catchy signature tune “Tiny Bubbles,” has died. He was 76.

He died Saturday morning of heart failure, publicist Donna Jung said.

From all accounts, a nice guy, and a fair enough entertainer. A treasure of Hawaii, I think.
I confess, my first thought upon hearing the news, was toward his take on Imus’ comments about ‘Ho’s’… and thinking he was enough of a jokester that he’d have laughed about the connection.

Next time, read the fine print.

Glenn Reynolds’, Instapundit, comment on this “heated exchange.”

More, Ed Morrissey, Captain’s Quarters.

Hillary Clinton has had a difficult conundrum facing her ever since the beginning of her presidential campaign. Her vote to authorize the use of force against Iraq and Saddam Hussein in October 2002 has the anti-war base revved up to defeat her in favor of a more capitulationist candidate like Barack Obama or John Edwards. She has tried to alternately defend the vote and claim that she was misled as a defense against the activists within her own party. Last night. however, she ran into someone who refused to buy what she’s been selling (via Instapundit):

Mrs. Cllinton gave a lame answer.   Lame may statisfy the Drive-by Media. Will it statisfy democrat primary voters?