Condi-Matrix?

Forget Neo, Agent Smith. Here comes Condi-Matrix and she's going to kick some serious Euro-politico butt. Secretary of State Rice gives new meaning to the phrase "woman in a position of power." If Condi wants to run for president in 2008, this is her money shot. It will appeal to every male who is above room temperature and there is no way Hillary could pull this off. (Nor would we wouldn't want her to try.)


CondiMatrix
Originally uploaded by Sola-Man.

(Photo Credit: Michael Probst -- AP)

(HT to Drudge and the Washington Post)

A Jury Of His Peers?

The jury for Michael Moles . . . I mean, Michael Jackson has been picked. It's interesting to me that, in a country where all men (gender neutral) are created equal, the media are obsessed with the fact that there are "no African Americans" on the jury. They are, by implication or in some cases quite literally, questioning whether it is a jury of his peers. Ironically, Mr. Jackson has been spending years and thousands of dollars trying to make himself not look "African American". (Perhaps there is some room for debate on that point -- not much room, but some.)

Let's examine the concept of a peer. Here is a dictionary link for the word peer. Go check it out. I'll wait.

*hums* *checks watch* *taps foot* *checks watch again*

Ok, that's enough time. You may have noticed that a peer is someone of "equal standing with another or others, as in rank, class, or age". You also may have notice the word RACE is not there. That's because only a racist could argue that race constitutes a significant basis for distinguising between persons.

So, if race isn't valid for identifying one's peers, what is? Well, there is rank or class. If Mr. Jackson's jury is a typical jury, they will be middle-class, working Americans who live very normal lives. Okay, that doesn't help us in determining if Mr. Jackson's jury is a jury of his peers. That is, unless one is to believe that the jurors are millionaires who have amusement parks in their backyards and a jar in their respective pantries containing the bones of a deformed circus freak.

Well, I know one thing they have in common with Mr. Jackson. Unlike his alleged victims, they are all over 18 years old.

Back to Reality

The real world imposes itself on the so called Reality TV industry:

A contestant in "The Contender" a new NBC reality series about boxing scheduled to start next month, committed suicide yesterday in Philadelphia, network executives said last night.

The New York Times article continues:

Mr. [Najai] Turpin's suicide recalled an incident that almost derailed "Survivor," [executive producer Mark] Burnett's first hit reality show and the one that ignited the reality trend in American television. A contestant in the first version of the show, which was made for Swedish television and was not produced by Mr. Burnett, committed suicide after he was the first person voted off the island.

The incident stirred concerns about the risks of reality television, and led Mr. Burnett to conduct extensive psychological tests on his contestants.

Hmmm. Extensive psychological tests. Well, even baseball players are successful if they get a hit in 3 out of 10 times at bat. We can take comfort that NBC has assured us that Mr. Turpin's suicide had nothing to do with the stress and anxiety of being on a nationally broadcast television show. You can read the entire article here (free registration required).

Honoring Abraham

There was a time in this country when we honored our two greatest presidents in the month of February. Now, we barely recognize them in our history books. After all, they're just a couple of dead white guys. What have they done recently?

Well, the Impudent Finger will not take this lying down. Since today is Abraham Lincoln's birthday, I will point you do an article by Dinesh D'Souza in American History magazine. The article titled Abraham Lincoln as Statesman. President Lincoln has been under attack by detractors on both sides of the political spectrum.

D'Souza writes:

If the right-wingers disdain Lincoln for being too aggressively antislavery, the left-wingers scorn him for not being antislavery enough. Both groups, however, agree that Lincoln was a self-promoting hypocrite who said one thing while doing another.

Both sides suffer from idealistic absolutism. Lincoln didn't immediately seek a ban on all slavery, therefore he is anathema to the left. The right attacks Lincoln for, among other things, suspending habeas corpus. D'Souza shows why the "...the Lilliputian arrows hurled at him bounce harmlessly to the ground."

Dayton Does What He Does Best

I can't say that I was surprised when the Brave Sir Robin (aka Mark Dayton, D-MN) announced that he would not run for another term in the US Senate. I didn't predict it, but I wasn't surprised. With an abyssmal track record, an extremely anemic thumb-war chest, and a plumeting approval rating, the block-lettered handwriting was on the wall. If Dayton was going to get re-elected, he would need to quickly acquire a quality he has never been able to muster: courage.

I realize that may seem a bit harsh, but let's examine his record. Dayton was elected in 2000 not because he was a great candidate. In fact, he was barely visible. He won because the Minnesota Left-stream Media made sure that the campaign was about Rod Grams' family instead of real issues. Dayton got elected because he wasn't the guy who had an adult son in trouble with the law. Though every orifice of Rod Grams' personal life was examined, Dayton's was magically spared from any scrutiny.

What is Dayton's claim to fame after 4+ years in the US Senate? He was the only Senator to over-react to a Terrorism Report by closing his office and sending his staff home. Wait. I take that back. He was the only one of the three branches of government who took his ball and ran home. He's also famous for his rude treatment of Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary of State nominee Condi Rice. I suppose one could call that courage. The same kind of courage a wimpy 5th grader finds when he's standing with his buddies on the playground while they are picking on one of the other kids during recess. I doubt he would have the same courage if he met with Secretary Rice mano a mano, so to speak.

So what should we expect from Mark Dayton when things get tough? To borrow a line from Monty Python and the Holy Grail, "Run away! Run away!"

Story? What Story?

Captain Ed of Captain's Quarters has been doing yeoman's work (sorry for the demotion, Captain Ed) in covering and uncovering the scandal surrounding the erstwhile CNN chief news executive Eason Jordan. In his recent post, Big Three Network Coverage Of Eason Jordan's Resignation (Cue Crickets) the good Cap'n discusses the noticable dirth of coverage on this story even after the resignation of a major figure in the national news media. Clearly, the Left-stream Media does not want to give the Blogosphere its due, even if they must ignore an obvious front page story. They just don't get it. They aren't the only game in town anymore.

The Last Full Measure of Devotion

The first Medal of Honor of the Iraq War will be posthumously awarded to Sgt. 1st Class Paul R. Smith this spring. I recommend the St. Petersburg Times' interactive report if you want to know what "the last full measure of devotion" means.