News She Can Use

December 15th

Do you have your own Joe Biden bingo card? If not go here to print one out. Your politically savvy friends will get a kick out of it.

My favorite spots are “God lova ya”, “stand up chuck”, “it’s time to be patriotic” and pay more taxes, “FDR on television” and, of course, 711.

December 11th

By now you’ve probably heard about the Oklahoma woman who was forced to shoot and kill an intruder who had thrown a table through her glass door. If not, you can brush up on this story here.

The intruder’s name was Bill Riley and investigators believe that he was probably under the influence of opiates. In the 911 tapes you can hear Ms. Jackson’s calm, level-headed reaction to this thug as she discusses the situation with the dispatcher.

Although clearly anguished, she did exactly the right thing. She remained calm and protected herself and her property–rights afforded to her in our constitution.

…and as for Mr. Riley, his rap sheet won’t be getting any longer.

December 10th

Truman had 6, Eisenhower had 1, Reagan had 1….Obama has 32. Czars that is. We have a climate czar (really, isn’t God the ultimate climate Czar?), a domestic violence czar, a green jobs czar, a California water czar, a Sudan czar, a Great Lakes Czar…the list goes on.

Why quit while we’re ahead. Since he is creating czarships for pretty much any issue that rears it’s ahead, I propse the creation of a “Pirate Attacks Czar” and I have just the man–Charlie Daniels.

Read his plan here. Sounds a little too much like common sense.

December 8th

Republican strategist Mike Albrecht recently told Mike Glover of the assoicated Press that “No politician comes to Iowa by accident.”

That’s exactly where Palin was on Sunday, as a scheduled stop on the Going Rogue book tour, which leads many of us to believe that she could bevgearing up for a possible presidential run in 2012.

The success of her book tour and increased popularity (46%) combined with President Obama’s new numbers, a 47% approval rating–his lowest so far–suggest that the Democrats would have their hands full, should she choose to throw her hat in the race.

December 7th

I know I promised no more Tiger Woods musings from me, so here’s Bob Schieffer discussing Tiger’s troubles.

December 3rd

This will be my first and last musing about Tiger Woods because, honestly, there are more important things happening in the world–30,000 troops being deployed, a rising unemployment rate, climategate, etc. But I think there’s an important connection that needs to be made here.

Celebrities love all of the media coverage they get when it’s positive. When they donate a half of a percent of their income to charity, they bask in the glow of faux altruism. Press releases are sent out, interviews are conducted and Joe Celebrity comes off looking like Mother Theresa.

So when they do bad things, why shouldn’t they get bad press? If the media were to talk up all of the wonderful things that Tiger Woods does (which they have for years) and ignore cheating allegations that are now coming from several women, wouldn’t they be presenting us with a false characterization of who he really is?

Professional athletes, major musicians, and Hollywood actors make money, in large part, because of their image. Roger Federer, for example, is a great tennis player; but much of his popularity has to do with the fact that he’s a class act. This, undoubtedly, translates into endorsement deals struck and merchandise sold. Would a mom really want to buy her kid a Federer racket or hat if he was a horrible role model?

If celebrities want to continue reaping monetary rewards from the public for meeting baseline expectations of being a good person–some charity work, paying taxes, keeping kids alive, etc–then they can’t act like crybabies when the media uncovers evidence that points to a basic lack of character.

My heart doesn’t ache for Tiger Woods this morning (although I do feel sorry for his family). I sympathize with the hardworking fathers out there who have been out of work for months and just want a job paying minimum wage so they can give their kids some semblance of a Christmas. My heart aches for people who anguish over not being able to give a full ten percent to their church this month because of the bad economy.

These people don’t have a fraction of the financial security that Tiger Woods enjoys; but they have something that is far more important–integrity.

December 2nd:

Bill Cathcart, WTOC Savannah’s V.P. and General Manager, lays out in no uncertain terms how we’ve become a country of enablers–”driven by fear to eggshell sensitivity.” Amen.

December 1st:

This has truly been the week of passing the buck / lying / cover-ups. And it’s only Tuesday.

If there’s one thing we should have all learned from Watergate, the Monica Lewinsky scandal, or Mark Sanford’s -ahem- “Appalachian hiking expedition” it’s that lies lead to more lies.

I should know. In preschool I was a prolific liar.

For reasons unknown I had convinced my teacher that my dad was a firefighter. This lie was uncovered when my dad picked me up from school and the teacher said, “Don’t worry. I know how hard you firefighters have it.” When my dad told her that he wasn’t actually a firefighter she responded with, “and I guess you don’t have a new baby at home either.” Whoops.

My second whopper was revealed the next year when parent-teacher conference time rolled around. I begged my very white-collar looking dad to grow a beard in time for the meeting. As days passed and no beard appeared I grew frantic. Finally my parents were able to wrangle at least some version of the truth from my five-year old lips. “I told the teacher you were a truck driver and if you don’t have a beard, she’ll never believe me!”

The lesson about lying that I learned in preschool (and perhaps the rest of you learned earlier) seems lost on many of those in the public eye this week:

-The Salahi’s: They were on the Today show today discussing how all of this media attention for crashing the state dinner has ruined their lives. Really.

-Phil Jones: There’s a lot of money to be made in rigging a scientific concensus on global warming. Colloquialisms? I doubt it.

…and to a lesser extent

-Tiger Woods: He may now be trying to protect his wife; but most people think that even if a domestic dispute did occur, filling in the knowledge gaps with credible information would make the story go away faster.