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Mom of fallen airman calls cross memorials insulting The mother of a Lompoc Air Force officer killed in Iraq is demanding that crosses bearing her son's name be removed from Santa Barbara's Arlington West memorial and from an impromptu display outside President Bush's Texas ranch, where the mother of another fallen soldier sits in vigil. Debbie Argel Bastian, who last week watched as Capt. Derek Argel's remains were buried along with four of his comrades at Arlington National Cemetery, says the other memorials are an insult to her son's memory. "They have erected crosses out there, and Derek is out...

The story of Cindy Sheehan is a sad story all the way round. It is sad she lost her son in the Iraq War. It is sad that she is being exploited by far left. It is also sad that she is being exploited by the media and that she seems to enjoy it. The latest example of this crass exploitation is the August 13 page-one story in the Washington Post about how the anti-war mother has gained “visibility.” The Post and other media have given her this “visibility.” They are feeding off one another to promote an anti-war agenda....

This week's vicious attack on Judge John Roberts by the abortion lobby was not really a desperate effort to defeat him against overwhelming odds. Rather, it is part of an intricate game that not only determines the occupant of one seat on the Supreme Court but can set its ideological course for the next generation. The current hard count for Roberts is 60 senators. That would be more than enough to confirm him and barely enough to end a filibuster. But it is not enough to further the grand strategy for a conservative court. At least 70 votes for confirmation...

AL Franken says 20,000 poor kids and old people weren't the only victims of an exec who allegedly arranged a Bronx charity's mega-buck "loan" to Air America. "About three weeks into the life of Air America, I became an involuntary investor — I stopped being paid," Franken told listeners yesterday on WLIB (1190 AM). It was the first time the all-liberal network's biggest star addressed at length a controversial $875,000 loan from the disgraced — and now de-funded — Gloria Wise Boys & Girls Club. Since The Post first reported the story on July 30, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced...

Cindy Sheehan (snip) said yesterday on CNN that a private meeting with President Bush last year was offensive, insisting, "He acted like it was a party ... he came in very jovial, like we should be happy that ... our son died for [the President's] misguided policies."But just after that 2004 meeting, she gave a very different account, (snip) "I now know [the president is] sincere about wanting freedom for the Iraqis. I know he's sorry and feels some pain for our loss. And I know he's a man of faith." (snip)

NEW YORK-It was bound to happen sooner or later, and in what newspapers in Kentucky are calling a first, one American has killed another in a dispute over the Iraq war.It happened at Floyd County flea market on Thursday, when two friends, who were firearms vendors there, drew guns after quarreling about the war. Douglas Moore, 65, of Martin, who supports the war, shot and killed Harold Wayne Smith, 56, of Manchester, who opposed it, according to investigators.Moore was released without being charged after he convinced police he had acted in self-defense.

The Air Out There Hugh Hewitt Fri Aug 5,12:06 PM ET Washington (The Daily Standard) - WHAT DID AL FRANKEN KNOW, and when did he know it? When Air America launched last year, it was the beneficiary of more free publicity than any radio show or network launch had ever received. So desperate was the mainstream media to find some left-leaning response to the Limbaugh-led revolution in talk radio that the many and obvious flaws in the network's offerings went largely unreported. Those of us who have been around radio studios for a few years know, though, that launch hype...

Big Fat Yawn Media: Rush Limbaugh's prescription drug troubles were splashed all over the media. Yet a financial scandal rocking a leftist radio network rates no coverage. The mainstream media, fixated on bringing down Karl Rove, have so far deemed apparent funding irregularities at Air America unworthy of note. But that doesn't make them any less of story. Here's the gist, according to The New York Sun -- which is giving the scandal the coverage it deserves -- and a few others, mostly bloggers and columnists, who are providing a public service: New York City's Department of Investigation is looking...

The American Center For Voting Rights Legislative Fund (“ACVR Legislative Fund”) today released the most comprehensive and authoritative review of the facts surrounding allegations of vote fraud, intimidation and suppression made during the 2004 presidential election. The ACVR Legislative Fund report, “Vote Fraud, Intimidation & Suppression In The 2004 Presidential Election,” finds that while Democrats routinely accuse Republicans of voter intimidation and suppression, neither party has a clean record on the issue. The report finds that paid Democrat operatives were far more involved in voter intimidation and suppression activities than were their Republican counterparts during the 2004 presidential election. Examples...

As more comes to light about Diane Griego Erwin, the former Sacramento Bee columnist, the more revealing and instructive the story becomes. It is a story we mentioned in a recent Media Monitor, but much more has come to light. In one sense, it is another validation for the New Media, specifically the blogs; and for another, it shines a light on problems related to diversity in the newsrooms, when diversity strictly refers to skin color. It also spells potential big trouble for the Sacramento Bee editor, Rick Rodriguez, the new president of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE)....

SAN FRANCISCO — Anti-war activists submitted a ballot measure Monday that would put the city on record as opposing the presence of military recruiters in public high schools and colleges. The nonbinding "College Not Combat" resolution acknowledges that a ban would put schools at risk of losing federal funding. If the measure qualifies for the November ballot and is approved by voters, it would encourage city officials and university administrators to exclude recruiters — even if it means forsaking government dollars — and to create scholarships and training to reduce the military's appeal to youth.

It's been been more than a month since human-interest-focused metro columnist Diana Griego Erwin left The Sacramento Bee amid an investigation into whether several people she wrote about actually exist, and still the Bee has been largely silent to its readers about the extent of her alleged fabrications and its investigation into them. SN&R, through interviews with several Bee staffers (most of whom spoke on the condition that their names not be printed here), learned how the investigation is progressing. Last week, Griego Erwin’s former supervisor, City Editor Stuart Drown, ceased working on the investigation after several Bee staffers complained...

In this 4 min. 48 sec. excerpt from Howard Dean's remarks Monday in San Francisco, Dean responds to a question from reporter Portia Li with the World Journal about a poll showing a slide in support for Republicans among Asian and women voters. ... Later in the roundtable interview, Chronicle reporter Carla Marinucci asks a follow-up question about Dean's recent aggressive tone toward the GOP. (Listen with QuickTime software for Windows or MacOS)

I was channel surfing when I happened to catch Prissy Matthews interviewing Tim Robbins actor/activist(sic)(scraggly beard and all). The discussion moved to Hollyweird generally, and Prissy asked Robbins about the monolithic liberalism of Hollyweird(the question from Prissy a bit of a shocker in itself). Paraphrased: Tim: I don't see Hollyweird as monolithic in its politics, and there is essentially a full spectrum of political beliefs there. Prissy: Then why is it that everyone we see and hear from Hollyweird appears to be liberal? Tim: Must be the media. What, I says to myself?!?! Here's this bleedin' heart from Hollyweird basically...

The former president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, is accusing his own country for the erosion of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). "The United States is the major culprit in this erosion of the NPT," wrote Carter in an article published in the American daily International Herald Tribune Monday. "While claiming to be protecting the world from proliferation threats in Iraq, Libya, Iran and North Korea, American leaders not only have abandoned existing treaty restraints but also have asserted plans to test and develop new weapons, including antiballistic missiles, the earth-penetrating "bunker buster" and perhaps some new "small" bombs.'' "They...

Dear Liberals, When you're on the bubble, beware of the pinheads. Such is the calamity of the Democratic Party under the leadership of Howie "The Scream" Dean. Typically pinheads need to be controlled by the top dog. When the head canine of your party is determined to cut off its tail and eat it, you've got a problem for now and in future elections. Even veggie headed right wingers know Deantalk is disastrous for Demos electable future. Worse than that, it's becoming boring and tedious to those of us that choose to comment on politics. Terry McAuliffe's legacy as the...

On Thursday APR 14th, the left at the UW Madison campus will hold a rally asking the administration to "Kick the military off campus". They may also attempt a sit-in at the recruiting office and ROTC office.

Is it any coincidence that Mohammed El Baradei is set to address the UN on Monday -- the day before the U.S. election? Probably not. For some time UN General Secretary Kofi Annan has been seething over the Bush administration's decision to go to war with Iraq -- despite the fact Saddam Hussein flouted UN resolutions for over a decade. On Monday, El Baradei, who heads the UN's nuclear weapons control agency, the IAEA, will be given the forum of the UN's General Assembly to present his annual report. No doubt he will reinforce claims that Iraq had no weapons...

Watching CNN Headline News this morning, I was treated to another dose of CNN's unmitigated bias and hypocrisy. In a five minute story (a lot for Headline News), they expounded how much the Republican National Convention was going cost New York City. One after another, we saw a couple of shopkeepers complain that with all the security, it would keep their regular customers away, costing them money. We saw man-on-the-street taxpayers complaining that all the extra overtime for the police force would cost the city millions. Basically, how inconsiderate of the GOP to so inconvenience the people of New York...

Google, the popular Internet search site, claims to uphold its corporate motto, "Don't be evil," and yet it allows advertising for what many would consider blatant evil -- pornographic videos of homosexual activity, according to a report by Ron Strom in WorldNetDaily. Google recently banned an ad from the Christian organization, Stand to Reason, because the group's website contains articles opposing homosexuality that were determined by Google to be "hate speech." In an e-mail addressed to Stand to Reason, Google managerment said, "Google AdWords policy never permits ads or keywords promoting hate, violence, or crimes toward any organization, person or...