John McCain’s Double Talk Tango

Next Stop for the “Straight Talk Express”:
The Waffle House

“Let me give you some straight talk.”
–John McCain

John McCain promises “Straight Talk” at every campaign stop.

After months of campaigning, careful readers are still waiting for him to deliver on that promise.

Perhaps, no politician has bent the truth and been on both sides of more issues more times than John McCain. The only one that even comes close is former President Bill “The Meaning of ‘is’” Clinton.

A recent look at Mr. Straight Talk, John McCain, through the eyes of Ann Coulter.

Of course, I might lie constantly too, if I were seeking the Republican presidential nomination after enthusiastically promoting amnesty for illegal aliens, Social Security credit for illegal aliens, criminal trials for terrorists, stem-cell research on human embryos, crackpot global warming legislation and free speech-crushing campaign-finance laws.

I might lie too, if I had opposed the Bush tax cuts, a marriage amendment to the Constitution, waterboarding terrorists and drilling in Alaska.

And I might lie if I had called the ads of the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth “dishonest and dishonorable.”

McCain is the favorite Republican of the liberal Mainstream Media because McCain agrees with so many MSM positions.

Global warming? Illegal immigrants? Tax cuts? Free Speech?

John McCain comes down–and comes down hard–on the side of liberals on every one of the above issues.

With a GOP nominee like McCain, who needs Democrats?

In fact, on almost every issue, John McCain and Hillary Clinton are virtually in perfect, harmonious agreement.

One of the few differences is people who disagree with them: where Clinton thinks that those who disagree with her are part of a “vast right-wing conspiracy”, McCain thinks they are “racists”, “dishonorable”, or “dishonest”.

Robert Novak and others think that John McCain is unstoppable because of some recent victories in a couple primaries–primaries which allowed Democrats and Independents to vote for the Republican nominee.

Let’s look at a breakdown of how McCain fared among Republicans in Michigan, for instance.

What kind of Michigan voters preferred McCain? Voters in the GOP primary who don’t like President Bush, who oppose the war in Iraq and who report that they have no religion at all. Oh, and those who say they are not, in fact, Republicans.

“Let me give you some straight talk.”
–John McCain

This just in: Ann Coulter replays a “Mr. Straight Talk” moment.

But like the Democrats, McCain thinks if he simply says something over and over again, he can make people believe it’s true. Thus again at the South Carolina debate on Jan. 10, McCain was proclaiming that he was “the only one on this stage” who supported the surge.

Since he would deny it about two minutes later, here is exactly what Mr. Straight Talk said about the surge: “I supported that; I argued for it. I’m the only one on this stage that did. And I condemneded the Rumsfeld strategy before that.”

The next question went to Giuliani and — amid great flattery — Giuliani noted that he also supported Bush’s surge “the night of the president’s speech.”

Mr. Straight Talk contradicted Giuliani, saying: “Not at the time.”

Again, Giuliani said: “The night of the president’s speech, I was on television. I supported the surge. I’ve supported it throughout.”

To which McCain finally said he didn’t mean that he was “the only one on this stage” who supported the surge. So by “the only one on this stage,” McCain really meant, “one of several people on this stage.” OK, great. Now tell us your definition of the word “is,” Senator.

On the issue of the Law of the Sea treaty–which is both a direct slam at U.S. sovereignty and provides a way for the United Nations to tax U.S. companies–McCain is his typical, straight talking self.

Here’s a listing of McCain’s various statements on the treaty:

* McCain joins liberal Republican Senators Susan Collins and John Chafee in a 1998 letter to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee urging immediate consideration and approval of the Law of the Sea.

* McCain declares to Senator Richard Lugar in 2003 that he wants to testify in support of ratification but a scheduling conflict prevented his appearance before the Foreign Relations Committee for this purpose.

* McCain submits written testimony in 2003 in support of the treaty to the Foreign Relations Committee.

* McCain tells conservative bloggers on October 25, 2007, that he would “probably” vote against it because it negatively affects U.S. sovereignty.

* McCain sends a letter to a constituent on November 14, 2007, declaring that the treaty is beneficial to the U.S. but that he will keep in mind the objections to it.

On his website, there is a 2006 McCain speech to the conservative Federalist Society, in which he says that “We are a nation that limits government so that government cannot limit us. I believe this notion of limited government will stand as our lasting contribution to the world. We are proof that people can frame a government to serve as an instrument of the people, not the other way around.”

“Let me give you some straight talk.”
–John McCain

McCain has perhaps been toughest on free speech–or as he phrases it, “campaign finance reform”–McCain-Feingold.

Others would label it “unconstitutional” or “incumbent re-election insurance”.

Whatever you think of a law limiting what free people can or cannot say on the public airwaves with their own money at certain times of the year, McCain arrived at such a hard stance via a 1980’s scandal that occurred during his first Senate term: The Keating Five Scandal.

The Keating Five Scandal featured several familiar McCain trademarks: backroom deals, arrogant handling of anyone calling him on it and a chummy relationship with a fat cat donor who steered plenty of campaign cash into the Senator’s coffers.

The Arizona Senator was just learning the ropes then.

The Keating Five (or Keating Five Scandal) refers to a Congressional scandal related to the collapse of most of the Savings and Loan institutions in the United States in the late 1980s.

This allegation set off a series of investigations by the California government, the United States Department of Justice, and the Senate Ethics Committee. The ethics committee’s investigation focused on five senators: Alan Cranston (D-CA); Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ); John Glenn (D-OH); John McCain (R-AZ); and Donald W. Riegle, Jr. (D-MI), who became known as the Keating Five.

After months of testimony revealed that all five senators acted improperly to differing degrees, the senators continually said they were following the status quo of campaign funding practices. In August 1991, the committee concluded that Cranston, DeConcini, and Riegle’s conduct constituted substantial interference with the FHLBB’s enforcement efforts and that they had done so at the behest of Charles Keating. The committee recommended censure for Cranston and criticized the other four for “questionable conduct.”

As a member of the infamous Keating Five, John McCain was investigated and found to have engaged in a lot less than “straight talk”. McCain is the only member of that renowned quintet to still be in the public spotlight.

While squashing ordinary citizens’ rights to express their displeasure with an incumbent Senator, for instance, McCain hasn’t changed his ways when it comes to lobbyists and the favors they can do for him.

Last month, reports surfaced that McCain and his campaign tried to spike a story at the New York Times which portrayed the Arizona senator dispensing special favors to a “female telecom lobbyist”.

The Mainstream press was quick to leap to McCain’s defense, calling the story “rumors” and “innuendo”.

McCain himself first vehemently denied the story, then later “clarified” himself into confirming, at least parts of, the story.

McCain responded to the story Thursday by denying all charges of granting special favors to lobbyists, but admitted that his staff had been in contact with the New York Times regarding the story (see AP). While McCain denied having any personal contact with the paper, Politico has confirmed that McCain himself had indeed spoken with executive editor Bill Keller on concerns regarding the story.

“Let me give you some straight talk.”
–John McCain

For those McCain supporters who are backing the “Straight Talk Express” and its senator engineer, because they like his tough stance on the War on Terror, it might be wise to consider McCain’s other tough stances on issues–before he faced any pressure.

For those voters who like their presidential nominees with a certain “moral flexibility”, John McCain is just the ticket.

As far as everyone else, they’re still waiting for someone who doesn’t deliver “Straight Talk” out of both sides of their mouth.

by Mondoreb
images: michael totten;freakingnews
Sources:
* GOP to Edwards: How Much for that Concession Speech?
* McCain: No More Mr. Straight Talk Express
* Straight Talk Express Takes Scenic Route to Truth
* U.N. Double Talk from Straight Talker John McCain
* The Dirt on John McCain and the Telecoms
* Keating Five



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

John Edwards Love Child: Mainstream Press were "Good Little Reporters"

“The job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

The famous quote is about a hundred years old and can be traced to the work of Finley Peter Dunne, one of the great journalists of the day, who wrote about politics and culture in the voice and persona of an Irishman named “Mr. Dooley.”

Most of today’s MSM reporters seem to have that quote backwards, however–at least where John Edwards and the story of his affair with Rielle Hunter, the cover-up and an approving MSM media.

It wasn’t that MSM reporters were ignorant of the story and chose not to pursue it–although that was the template that every single MSM outlet followed religiously–it was their antagonism toward any who did pursue it.

They became, in the words of one DBKP staffer, “good little reporters, looking for a Scooby snack”.

Some thought that that was being generous: diplomatic-speak for “lap dogs”.

MSM reporters perhaps kidded themselves into silence on the Love Child story by ‘not wanting to affect the election’.

John Edwards is now dropping his campaign for president, 2008 version. But one has to believe, based on past experiences, that the MSM press will find other excuses not to ask Edwards any tough questions.

Bob Schieffer’s famous “two deny rule”–two people in the Edwards campaign denied the story by the National Enquirer, so it’s not a valid story–would have damned any Watergate coverage in the 1970s.

But one wonders what the amount of coverage the story would have received had Edwards had an identifying “Rep” after his name.

The Dan Rather revelation on CBS Evening News of forged, fake documents concerning President Bush’s service in the Texas Air National Guard comes to mind.

The stonewalling of CBS in the face of indisputable evidence the documents were forged also comes to mind.

All that occurred on the eve of a national presidential election.

Thank goodness Edwards had the anointed “Dem” by his name: it usually proves to be the ‘mark of indulgence’ by the mainstream press. In effect, it’s a free pass for behavior, criminal and otherwise.

True to form, the MSM press didn’t deviate on the Edwards-Hunter story, either.

The reporters following Edwards on the campaign beat were good little reporters: never rocking the boat, not wishing to write a discouraging word. Eating and traveling with the candidate they became the press equivalent of bodyguards.

Meanwhile, the millions of people who might have been interested in watching a CBS, NBC, ABC or CNN news show reliably stayed away from those “news shows”, as they were as usual, devoid of news.

They were busying scouring the Internet for information on Rielle Hunter, the woman who worked with and for Edwards and then mysteriously was taken under the campaign’s wing when she became pregnant.

“Reille Hunter” continued to attract millions of searches a day by people seeking to twart the MSM media blackout on the story.

From Wonkette, last month:

Last month’s National Enquirer story on John Edwards and his alleged affair with campaign staffer Rielle Hunter may or may not be total bullshit. One insider said “there’s a lot of smoke… no smoking gun,” while another said the tab has plans to publish e-mails containing damning details of the reported affair.

Enquirer editor David Perel wouldn’t comment on the recent speculation, telling Rush & Malloy “I never like to talk about what’s not published, but we are still doing the story. The original story was 100% accurate.” Meanwhile, Edwards says “the story disappeared because it’s made up.”

To which Wonkette replied, “Umm, yeah…”

The only instance of the Mainstream Media “looking into the John Edwards scandal” was an ABC 20/20 story which claimed this was shaping up as possibly the dirtiest campaign in history.

The 20/20 “report” was, in actuality, a good example of the press playing bodyguard for John Edwards and wasn’t interested in determining the truth of the allegations: most easily checked, if any reporter had the desire to rock the boat.

One of the stories cited by the news network―the National Enquirer account of Democratic candidate John Edwards allegedly fathering a “love child” out of wedlock―was denied but not disproven. Despite its reputation as a supermarket tabloid, the National Enquirer is the paper that broke the story, which was confirmed, of Jesse Jackson having an illegitimate child. Hence, the paper’s exclusives cannot be dismissed out of hand.

Until this ABC report, the mainstream media had not touched the Edwards story. However, the British newspaper The Daily Mail media ran a story citing Edwards’ denial of the affair.

ABC sniffed at the reporting of the Enquirer, which has spent time, money and resources on the John Edwards affair, without devoting one minute reporting or checking to determine the truth of any of the allegations.

John Edwards never had to answer any questions concerning the affair, the cover-up or the possible use of campaign funds for Rielle Hunter’s upkeep.

Not one.

No questions about whether he had been in telephone contact with Ms. Hunter since she learned she was pregnant.

Not one.

No inconvenient questions about the campaign videos, paid for by the Edwards campaign and produced by Hunter, which disappeared for awhile–until the National Enquirer broke the Love Child scandal.

Not one.

This non-reporting has been a trademark of network “journalism” is recent years and is one of the reasons that the Network News shows continue their death spiral into oblivion.

NOT ONE reporter of a major news organization has put the question to Edwards: “Do you deny that you have been in telephone contact with Rielle Hunter since she found out she was pregnant?”

Not one.

Whether you thought the story was true or false, it has to be admitted that the breadth and width of the “good little reporter” syndrome was breathtaking.

“If a story happens in the woods and the MSM doesn’t report it, is it still news?“

Of course, the answer is increasingly: “Who cares?”

The destiny of ABC, NBC, CBS and CNN seems to be to join MS-NBC as sort of a carnival freak sideshow of news–trusted by few, watched by less.

The MSM nightly newscasts and shows are watched by a very small, isolated, cult-like band of loyal viewers: derided by their erstwhile viewers in the same way that the Mainstream press deride the National Enquirer.

Reports that Hunter is being tended to by an Edwards campaign operative, living in the house of an Edwards campaign donor and driving a vehicle owned by former Edwards campaign finance director excited no interest in the MSM.

MSM reporters–timid at best, scared of losing access to Edwards at worst–were the worst kind of reporters: supplying a steady stream of puff pieces in lieu of asking hard questions; supplying real news.

It is true that the worst journalism comforts the comfortable and afflicts the afflicted. That is a breach of duty.

We need journalists to get at the truth and to keep watch against abuses of power. They have a hard enough time getting that right.

In the John Edwards affair and it’s subsequent cover-up, the Mainstream press has been most effective in its new role of “comforting the comfortable.”

And for a few lucky reporters covering the Edwards campaign, it’s sure to pay off: they most likely will get a seat on the Edwards campaign plane during his next run for the presidency in 2012.

They’ll still be writing puff pieces and refusing to follow up good work done by outcasts like the National Enquirer–and increasingly, the blogs they never tire of disparaging.

Four predictions–one needn’t be a Nostradamus–concerning the MSM press.

1 They will continue to be good little campaign reporters and eagerly await their ‘grades’ (read: access) bestowed by the campaign.

2 People will continue to ignore them and their manufactured news: puff pieces for the favored; ’scandals’ and hard questions for those who disagree with them.

3 People will continue to mistrust the MSM, with good reason. That includes every arrogant pronouncement on those doing stories the MSM press sniffs at.

4 Would-be viewers will continue to gravitate toward those working at journalism, whether it’s practiced by blogs or the National Enquirer.

By 2012, people will sign onto the Internet for their news and the only ones getting their information from TV news shows will be that small group of viewers the MSM press despises: those with little education and critical reasoning skills.

In other words, the Jerry Springer faithful.

John Edwards-Rielle Hunter LOVE CHILD LIBRARY Over 28 DBKP stories and videos since the story first broke on November 19, 2007 by the National Enquirer.

by Mondoreb
image: dnc, national enquirer
Sources:
* Emails may Reveal John Edwards Had Affair
* DBKP John Edwards Love Child Scandal Library
* Who’s Guilty of Campaign Dirty Tricks
* Comfort the Afflicted…



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: January 31, 2008

WAR!, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, BIRDS, WITCHES, TAPE, HAH!, REVOLT, MONKEYS, FINANCE, MUSIC, EXECUTIONS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, SMOKING, JEWS, PROGRESS, NANNY STATE, INVENTIONS, DEPRESSION, SUICIDE, SCIENCE, POLITICS, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH

1958 the United States entered the Space Age with its first successful launch of a satellite into orbit, Explorer I.

WAR!

1861 State of Louisiana takes over US Mint at New Orleans.

1863 1st black Civil War regiment, SC Volunteers, mustered into US army

1865 Gen. Robert E. Lee was named General-in-Chief of all the Confederate armies.

1917 during World War I, Germany served notice it was beginning a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare.

1944 during World War II, U.S. forces began a successful invasion of Kwajalein Atoll and other parts of the Japanese-held Marshall Islands.

2003 President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair met at the White House; Bush said he would welcome a second U.N. resolution on Iraq but only if it led to the prompt disarming of Saddam Hussein. Pushing for a new resolution, Blair called confronting Iraq “a test of the international community.”

TERRORISM

2007 Nine blinking electronic devices planted around Boston threw a scare into the city in what turned out to be a marketing campaign for a late-night cable cartoon.

DISASTERS

1906 Strongest instrumentally recorded earthquake, Colombia, 8.6 Richter.

1953 “Princess Victoria” capsized off Stanraer Scotland; 133 die.

1953 Hurricane-like winds flood Netherlands drowning nearly 2,000.

1988 Barge sinks near Anacortes WA, spills 70,000 gallons of oil.

2000 an Alaska Airlines jet plummeted into the Pacific Ocean, killing all 88 people aboard.

BIRDS

1871 Millions of birds fly over western San Francisco, darken the sky.

WITCHES

1675 Cornelia/Dina Olfaarts found not guilty of witchcraft.

TAPE

1928 Scotch tape 1st marketed by 3-M Company.

HAH!

1933 Hitler promises parliamentary democracy.

REVOLT

1696 Revolt of undertakers after funeral reforms (Amsterdam).

MONKEYS

1961 Ham is 1st primate in space (158 miles) aboard Mercury/Redstone 2.

FINANCE

1994 Dow Jones hits a record 3,978.36.

MUSIC

1955 RCA demonstrates 1st music synthesizer.

1976 “Love Rollercoaster” by Ohio Players hits #1.

EXECUTIONS

1606 Guy Fawkes, convicted of treason for his part in the “Gunpowder Plot” against the English Parliament and King James I, was executed.

1945 Private Eddie Slovik, 24, became the first U.S. soldier since the Civil War to be executed for desertion as he was shot by an American firing squad in France.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1958 “Jackpot Bowling” premieres on NBC with Leo Durocher as host.

SMOKING

1964 US report “Smoking & Health” connects smoking to lung cancer.

JEWS

1961 David Ben-Gurion resigns as premier of Israel.

1978 Israel turns 3 military outposts in West Bank into civilian settlements.

PROGRESS

1905 1st auto to exceed 100 mph (161 kph), A G MacDonald, Daytona Beach.

1948 Magnetic tape recorder developed by Wireway.

NANNY STATE

1970 Grateful Dead members busted on LSD charges.

2007 President Bush, visiting Wall Street, delivered his “State of the Economy” speech in which he took aim at lavish salaries and bonuses for corporate executives.

INVENTIONS

1851 Gail Borden announces invention of evaporated milk.

DEPRESSION

1934 President Franklin Roosevelt devalued the dollar in relation to gold.

SUICIDE

1954 Edwin H Armstrong US radio inventor (FM), commits suicide at 63.

SCIENCE

1958 James van Allen discovers radiation belt.

1971 astronauts Alan Shepard Jr., Edgar Mitchell and Stuart Roosa blasted off aboard Apollo 14 on a mission to the moon.

1998 Astronaut David Wolf returned to Earth aboard space shuttle Endeavour after four months on the Russian space station Mir.

POLITICS

2007 Delaware Sen. Joe Biden formally launched his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

BORN

1734 Robert Morris merchant (signed Declaration of Independence).

1797 composer Franz Schubert was born in Vienna, Austria.

1872 Zane Grey American West novelist (Riders of the Purple Sage, Spirit of the Border).

1903 Tallulah Bankhead Huntsville AL, actress (Lifeboat, Die Die Darling).

BIRTHDAYS

Actress Carol Channing is 87. Actress Jean Simmons is 79. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Ernie Banks is 77. Composer Philip Glass is 71. Actor Stuart Margolin is 68. Former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., is 67. Blues singer-musician Charlie Musselwhite is 64. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Nolan Ryan is 61. Singer-musician KC (KC and the Sunshine Band) is 57. Rock singer Johnny Rotten is 52. Actress Kelly Lynch is 49. Actor Anthony LaPaglia is 49. Singer-musician Lloyd Cole is 47. Actor John Dye is 45. Rock musician Jeff Hanneman (Slayer) is 44. Rock musician Al Jaworski (Jesus Jones) is 42. Actress Minnie Driver is 38. Actress Portia de Rossi is 35. Actress Kerry Washington is 31. Singer Justin Timberlake is 27.

DEATH

1974 Samuel Goldwyn Polish/English/US film magnate (MGM), dies at 91.

2006 Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., died in Rosarito Beach, Mexico, at age 78.

2007 Best-selling author and columnist Molly Ivins died in Austin, Texas, at age 62.

January 31, the 31st day of 2008. There are 335 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
image:
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Google Map: Which Way is Hell?

“The Dark Side of Google Map”
–Some guy

Two minutes of chilling Google Map suspense and terror. A Classic of the Google Map genre.

by Mondoreb



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Romanian Priest, Four Nuns, Murder Woman During Exorcism

A former Romanian Priest and four nuns were sentenced to prison for murder after an attempted “exorcism” went awry.

According to the AP,

The Orthodox priest and four nuns were convicted by the Romanian courts of murdering a young woman in June 2005 who suffered from schizophrenia by way of an non-Church sponsored exorcism. The victim was bound and chained to a cross and then left with no food or water for days. The woman died from dehydration and suffocation.

Due to a shortage in priests, the convicted priest, Daniel Corogeanu, who had never finished his priesthood training, was allowed to serve in a secluded convent in northeast Romania.

The Orthodox Church excommunicated Corogeanu and the nuns. They also defrocked Corogeanu and claimed the methods used by the “Exorcists R Us” group were not sanctioned by the church.

Corogeanu was sentenced to a seven year prison term while his Exorcist Squad of four nuns were sentenced to five and six year terms.

It seems that in matters of “evil” that perhaps the ex-priest and the four nuns could have benefited from an exorcism themselves, before they tortured and murdered a hapless young woman in the name of God.

We suppose, in the end, they could have claimed the “devil made them do it.”

By LBG
Image - The Exorcist



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Riley Sawyers Petition: Help Name Island in her Honor

The little girl, whose unidentified body was found in a plastic storage tote resting on the banks of a sandbar in the Gulf of Mexico, has finally gone home.

First known as “Baby Grace,” the tiny toddler’s body was discovered by a fisherman on a late fall afternoon. Authorities were entrusted with the task of identifying the remains, wrapped in plastic, wearing a matching pink shirt and skirt, little sneakers from Target that had flashing lights in the heels.

The Galveston County Sheriff’s Department, in conjunction with the FBI, released a sketch of Baby Grace to the public.

Riley Sawyers

People wondered, whose little girl was she? Why hadn’t someone reported her missing, such as her mother, at least in that area?

The authorities shifted through dozens of missing little girl cases, non-custodial parents who had taken their children. Could Baby Grace be one of these “little lost girls?”

A grandmother from Ohio, Sheryl Sawyers, was shocked to see the sketch and missing poster of Baby Grace.

Riley was the daughter of Sheryl’s son Robert and his high school sweetheart, Kimberly Trenor.
Sixteen-year-old Kimberly had moved in with Sheryl’s family when she became pregnant with RIley. Sheryl was there when Riley was born and watched her grow into a little blond sprite of a toddler. Then Kimberly and Robert broke up, Kimberly packed up her belongings along with little Riley and moved to Spring, Texas in June. Kimberly was in love with 24-year-old Royce Ziegler, a man she’d met online.

Sheryl tried to keep in contact with Kimberly and the whereabouts of Riley but by July Kimberly had effectively shut Sheryl out of Riley’s life. When Sheryl saw the sketch of a little long haired blond girl named “Baby Grace” it had been months since she had had any news or contact from Kimberly.

It was Kimberly who turned herself into the Galveston County Sheriff’s Department with her attorney. In her statement, which was used to indict both Kimberly and Royce of capital murder charges, Kimberly told a story full of horror for little Riley. Of being beaten for hours, her head held under water, being thrown across a room, being suffocated, and in the end, dead, by the hands of both Royce and Kimberly.

Kimberly told how she and Royce drove to the local Walmart and walked through the fluorescent lit aisles searching for something to put little Riley’s body in. It was July 25th in Spring, Texas, where the humidity was as thick as molasses and the little children who lived in Riley’s neighborhood could run through the thick green grass in search of lightning bugs in the cool of the evening.

Kimberly and Royce wrapped Riley in plastic, placed her in the blue storage tote, then put her in a shed in the backyard. One can imagine Kimberly standing at the kitchen window, washing dishes, the shed where Riley’s body lay, in her line of sight.

Eventually Royce and Kimberly decided to dispose of Riley’s body 75 miles to the southeast of Spring, at the Galveston Causeway.

It was on the late afternoon of October 31st that a fisherman saw the tote resting on the banks of an unnamed sandbar near the island city of Galveston, Texas.

An effort is underway to have the sandbar or island that Riley was found, named in her honor:

The purpose of this petition is to provide a statement of intent to follow the protocol required in getting the island where Riley Ann Sawyers was found officially referenced geographically as “Riley’s Island .”

On July 24, 2007, Riley Ann Sawyers was brutally murdered in Spring, Texas. Her mother and stepfather stand accused of her murder. On October 29, 2007, having been maliciously stored in a plastic storage container for months and then inhumanely tossed over the Galveston Causeway, the container that held her precious remains was found washed ashore on a small uninhabited island in Galveston Bay. She remained unidentified for several weeks and was known only as “Baby Grace.” The Galveston County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI worked tirelessly to identify this child in order to serve justice for the barbarous crime and events encompassing her untimely death.

In honor of Riley Ann, the dedicated investigators who continue the diligent work on her case, and those that have been deeply touched by her story, we are asking Galveston County and the City of Hitchcock to memorialize her life by officially naming the island where Riley Ann Sawyers was found “Riley’s Island .” As supporters of this appellation, we intend not only to commemorate Riley but to address the commitment of Galveston County as well as citizens of the state of Texas, the nation in alliance with the global community to banish child abuse. Please consider granting this heartfelt request to make the island a permanent memorial to an innocent child who was taken far too soon from this world.

In memory of Riley Ann Sawyers – March 11, 2005 to July 24, 2007.

We think this is a wonderful idea and hope our readers will take the time to sign the petition.

Here is the link:

Riley’s Island Petition

Riley has finally gone home, in the arms of our Lord, buried in Mentor, Ohio, by those who loved her and will always mourn her.

Kimberly and Royce are incarcerated at the Galveston County Jail, neither able to post the $350,000 bond. Both claim they are “innocent” of the “charges.”

A trial date has yet to be set. Kimberly is now pregnant.

By LBG
Source – DBKP – Riley Sawyers Mom, Stepfather Proclaim Their Innocence
Image – The Cape Escape



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Hillary Clinton Announces Edwards’ Exit, Was "It" for the Right Price?

The day after the Republican primary in Florida produced John McCain as its winner, a new surprise was reported by the AP:

DENVER – Democrat John Edwards is exiting the presidential race Wednesday, ending a scrappy underdog bid in which he steered his rivals toward progressive ideals while grappling with family hardship that roused voters’ sympathies, The Associated Press has learned.

All sappiness regarding Edwards aside the more interesting story tagged on to the side was Hillary Clinton’s “announcement” during an interview this morning with King5 News in Seattle.

Despite the fact that Edwards had not made a formal or informal announcement that he was dropping out of the presidential race, Hillary told the King5 News Team that Edwards had called her on the phone to tell her that he was dropping out.

Hillary gave a glowing referral to Edward’s campaign while giving her own stump speech as to why Edward’s supporters should support her.

We wondered what was behind the scenes with Hillary and Edwards little telephone talk
and whether Edwards knew Hillary would be announcing his departure from the race.

We also wondered if any deals had been made, if Edwards was given any promises of future positions within the Hillary cabinet, perhaps even the V-P slot.

We were surprised to hear of Edwards’ impending departure as Edwards had said he was going to stick to his campaign all the way, even if he failed to score in next week’s Super Tuesday, that he intended to ride his campaign bus to the doors of the Democrat’s convention held in Denver in late August.

We saw a different side to Edwards than the AP reporter, Nedra Pickler, did.

Yes, Edwards did have “high” ideals, on poverty, on the working class guys, on “corporations” that screwed the “little guy.”

Edwards talked a good talk but never walked the walk. The former Senator from North Carolina had spent more time campaigning for President than the time he served as Senator. Edwards first run in the 2004 Democrat presidential campaign landed him a spot as John Kerry’s VP running mate.

The Kerry-Edwards coupling failed to win despite a close race. Some say Edwards began to plan his “campaign” to win the 2008 Presidential campaign soon after the 2004 defeat.

Despite his “new” message of “working” for the underdog, the underclass, and all things “under,” Edwards message failed to garner the votes he needed in the primaries, coming in third behind the battling polbots, Hillary and Obama.

As a solid third place finisher, Edwards does have a voter base, which both Obama and Hillary would benefit from.

Hillary’s “announcement” that Edwards was quitting the race told us that the Edwards base will be hand delivered to her via Edwards during his “so long” speech, but for a “price.”

Could it be a VP slot or the Hillary cabinet, such as Attorney General. All we know it won’t be for chump change. Politicians never, ever do anything “for free.”

Time will tell what the Hillary-Edwards deal entails, whether the “price was right”. Unless this morning’s revelation from Hillary wasn’t pre-approved by Edwards.

Then, perhaps, it will be Obama’s turn to “spin the wheel.”

By LBG
Image – The Price is Right



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

DBKP Today in Weird History: January 30, 2008

WAR, TERRORISM, DISASTERS, SPIT, HOT TIME, INVENTIONS, PATENTS, JAZZ, CENSUS, SHOOT OUT, POLITICS, BEHEADING, DICTATORS, CIVIL RIGHTS, NAZIs, SPORTS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, ASSASSINATION, MUSIC, WITHDRAWN, DAREDEVILS, CLASH, PUB FIGHT, JEWS, TRIAL, BORN, BIRTHDAYS, DEATH

WAR!

1968 The Tet Offensive began during the Vietnam War as Communist forces launched surprise attacks against South Vietnamese provincial capitals; although the Communists were beaten back, the offensive was seen as a major setback for the U.S. and its allies.

1941 Australian troops conquer Derna Libya.

1942 Japanese troops land on Ambon.

1943 6 British Mosquito’s daylight bomb Berlin.

1943 German assault on French in Tunisia.

1943 German under officers shot down in Haarlem Netherlands.

1943 Hitler promotes Friedrich von Paul to General – field marshal.

1943 USS Chicago sinks in Pacific Ocean.

1944 US invades Majuro, Marshall Islands.

1945 German ship “Wilhelm Gustloff” torpedoed off Danzig by Soviet sub-c 7,700 die.

2003 President Bush put allies on notice that diplomacy would give way to a decision on war with Iraq in “weeks, not months.” Wary world leaders and congressional critics urged patience and demanded proof of Iraq’s transgressions.

TERRORISM

1956 Martin Luther King Jr’s home bombed.

1995 Car bomb explodes in Algiers, 42 killed/296 injured.

2003 Richard Reid, the British citizen and al-Qaida follower who had tried to blow up a trans-Atlantic jetliner with explosives hidden in his shoes, was sentenced to life in prison by a federal judge in Boston.

DISASTERS

1877 Storm flood ravages Dutch coastal provinces.

1939 Heavy after shocks destroy some of Chile.

2007 A propane tank explosion leveled the Little General Store in Ghent, W.Va., killing four people.

SPIT

1798 Representative Matthew Lyon (Vermont) spits in face of Representative Roger Griswold (Connecticut) in US House of Representatives, after an argument.

HOT TIME

1393 Aimery Poitiers French nobleman, and Yvain son of Earl of Foix burned to death at royal ball.

INVENTIONS

1487 Bell chimes invented.

PROGRESS

1958 1st 2-way moving sidewalk in service, Dallas TX.

JAZZ

1917 1st jazz record recorded (Dark Town Strutters Ball).

CENSUS

1800 US population 5,308,483; Black population 1,002,037 (18.9%).

SHOOT-OUTS

2007 Two gunmen shot and killed the wife of the Jackson County, Fla., sheriff and a deputy sent to check on her; other deputies opened fire and killed the assailants.

POLITICS

1781 Articles of Confederation ratified by 13th state, Maryland.

1854 1st election in Washington Territory; 1,682 votes cast.

DICTATORS

1935 Ezra Pound meets Mussolini, reads from a draft of “Cantos”.

BEHEADING

1649 England’s King Charles I was beheaded.

CIVIL RIGHTS

1797 Congress refuses to accept 1st petitions from American blacks.

PATENTS

1883 James Ritty and John Birch received a U.S. patent for the first cash register.

1894 Pneumatic hammer patented by Charles King of Detroit.

NAZIS

1933 Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany.

SPORTS

1936 Fans asked to pick a new name for Boston Braves; they choose “The Bees” it doesn’t catch on & is scrapped by 1940 season.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1933 The first episode of the “Lone Ranger” radio program was broadcast on station WXYZ in Detroit.

1961 Bobby Darin is youngest performer to headline a TV special on NBC.

1978 Mutual Broadcasting Network begins airing Larry King Show on radio.

ASSASSINATION

1835 Richard Lawrence misfires at President Andrew Jackson in Washington DC.

1948 Indian political and spiritual leader Mohandas K. Gandhi was shot and killed by a Hindu extremist.

MUSIC

1965 “The Name Game” by Shirley Ellis hits #3.

1969 Beatles perform their last gig together, a 42-minute free concert on the roof of Apple HQs.

1973 KISS plays their 1st show (Coventry Club in Queens NY).

WITHDRAWN

1972 Pakistan withdraws from the Commonwealth.

DAREDEVILS

1962 Two members of “The Flying Wallendas” high-wire act were killed when their seven-person pyramid collapsed during a performance in Detroit.

CLASH

1972 13 Roman Catholic civil rights marchers were shot to death by British soldiers in Northern Ireland on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.”

PUB FIGHT

2005 In Belfast, Northern Ireland, Robert McCartney, 33, was killed after intervening in a pub fight between Irish Republican Army members and a friend of his.

JEWS

1349 Jews of Freilsburg Germany are massacred.

1939 Hitler calls for the extermination of Jews.

TRIALS

1989 Joel Steinberg found guilty of 1st degree manslaughter of daughter.

1989 Olympian, Bruce Kimball, is sentenced to 17 years in prison for killing 2 teenagers in a drunk driving accident.

BORN

1882 the 32nd president of the United States, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was born in Hyde Park, N.Y.

1912 Barbara Tuchman US, historian/author (Pulitzer, Guns of August).

BIRTHDAYS

Comedian Dick Martin is 86. Actress Dorothy Malone is 83. Producer-director Harold Prince is 80. Actor Gene Hackman is 78. Actress Tammy Grimes is 74. Actress Vanessa Redgrave is 71. Country singer Jeanne Pruett is 71. Country singer Norma Jean is 70. Vice President Dick Cheney is 67. Rock singer Marty Balin is 66. Rhythm-and-blues musician William King (The Commodores) is 59. Singer Phil Collins is 57. Actor Charles S. Dutton is 57. Actress-comedian Brett Butler is 50. Singer Jody Watley is 49. Country singer Tammy Cochran is 36. Actor Christian Bale is 34. Pop-rock singer-songwriter Josh Kelley is 28. Actor Wilmer Valderrama is 28. Actor Jake Thomas is 18.

DEATH

1951 Ferdinand Porsche German car inventor (Porsche), dies at 75.

1969 Allan Welsh Dulles US diplomat/director (CIA 1953-61), dies at 75.

1982 Stanley Holloway comedian (My Fair Lady, Our Man Higgins), dies at 91.

2007 Hollywood writer-producer and novelist Sidney Sheldon died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 89.

January 30, the 30th day of 2008. There are 336 days left in the year.

compiled by Mondoreb
images: vietnamwar.com
Sources:
* Today in History
* Today in History



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Pet Girl Thrown Off Bus; Bus Company Apologizes For Treating Her Like a Pet

Or
If A Goth Chick says she’s a pet,
Acts like a pet And is on a leash,
Why get upset when she’s treated like a pet?

[hat tip: Anna]

We were over at Anna’s Clue Tank and saw this story about some Goth chick being led around on a leash.

Okay, nothing too far out of the ordinary there: Goth chicks just wanna have fun and all that.

But this Goth chick said that she was some guy’s “pet”.

Okay, different strokes for different folks, as they used to say in the Jimmy Carter, whacked-out ’70s. Whatever.

And then, the bus company kicked her off the bus she was riding on in London.

Okay, that’s easy to figure: most public transportation companies in the U.S. have rules about pets riding the buses, right?

But then, the Goth chick gets upset at being treated like the “pet” she wants to be. So the bus company does what any business operating in the modern world of the hair-trigger uber-offended would do: it apologizes for treating her like a pet.

What does the Goth chick say?

“I am a pet,” she told the Daily Mail. “I generally act animal-like and I lead a really easy life.

So what kind of apology would the bus company offer her?

“Sorry for treating you like you–like the pet you said you were?”

Anna had this to say, as a way of introducing said story.

At various anime conventions I have seen people leading other people around on leashes, even one girl leading a boy on a leash. Since I was at conventions and the people were in costume, I merely thought they were acting out some role and never thought too hard on it.

A British bus company has apologized to a girl who is led around on a leash by her boyfriend and describes herself as a human pet after one of its drivers threw her off a bus.

Tasha Maltby, 19, told British newspapers she was the “pet” of her 25-year-old fiance Dani Graves.

Pictures showed her dressed in black Gothic-style clothing with silver buckles on a silver chain — which the driver of a bus from the firm Arriva took exception to.

She told the Daily Mail newspaper Wednesday she was thrown off and told: “We don’t let freaks and dogs like you on.”

Arriva would not comment on specifics but said it apologized if the couple felt they had been discriminated against. It added, however, that the driver was worried about safety and the company told Maltby to take the leash off in the future.

“We have spoken to the driver who has talked about health and safety,” a spokesman said. “Should she be attached to a chain and something happens on the bus, that could be dangerous. All we are saying is that she is very welcome to use the buses but not when she is on her lead.”

Seems reasonable to us. What’s a Goth chick to do?

Maltby — who lives on state benefits and got engaged in November — said her choice of lifestyle might seem unusual but was harmless.

“I am a pet,” she told the Daily Mail. “I generally act animal-like and I lead a really easy life. I don’t cook or clean and I don’t go anywhere without Dani. It might seem strange but it makes us both happy. It’s my culture and my choice. It isn’t hurting anyone.”

The story didn’t specify what type of pet Ms. Maltby is supposed to be. Perhaps, a pet Goth chick.

We say, “live and let live”.

We also say, “make sure she’s housebroken”.

by Mondoreb
images:
* tehmugshots; * academyart
Sources:
* Pet Girl Kicked off bus
* Does she use a litter box?



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

MySpace Mayor Quiet as Others Ride to Her Rescue

MySpace Mayor Mum As Others Take up Her Cause

Who knew Posing in Bra, Panties Would Excite Such Debate?

MySpace: A Place for Friends–even Mayors

Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, the MySpace Mayor of Arlington, OR, has been laying low for the last ten days or so.

The mayor achieved her 15 minutes of fame by posing in her bra and panties on the town’s firetruck for her MySpace page pictures.

She then faced the town and some irate citizens at the town’s yearly meeting a few days later.

Finally, she showed up on ABC’s 20/20 to plead her case, which was in effect, “Girls just want to have fun.”

Since the 20/20 appearance, the MySpace Mayor is apparently a believer in the maxim, “No news is good news”. She’s disappeared from media sight.

The town’s still talking about it, but the bigger media outlets have moved back to global warming, the 2008 presidential campaign and the latest in the Britney Spears’ train wreck that is her life.

Voices are being raised in the predictable calls for “tolerance” and “not being judgmental”.

A look at the controversy that still percolates in Arlington OR, and what others in the Pacific Northwest neighborhoods of other Oregon towns are saying.

Most of them are of the Rodney King variety: “Can’t we just all get along?”

The mayor’s opponents say Kontur-Gronquist did not deliver on a promise to lower water rates, and that she is trying to close the city golf course. But there is no denying the embarrassment that put this tiny town on the map.

“Placing provocative photos on the Internet using an elected official title is unacceptable,” says a statement written by Arlington’s concerned citizens group. “Due to the seriousness of these concerns, we are asking for the mayor’s immediate resignation. If she is not willing to resign, we are prepared to proceed with a recall.”

Other residents urged the community to come together and solve the problem diplomatically.

“We can’t divide this town– I mean, we can, it’s up to you,” said Frank Burgese. “But I challenge all sides to sit down and pound out some sort of agreement with each other, so this doesn’t rise to the level of a recall, so this doesn’t rise to the level of national ridicule. It’s kinda sorta already there right now.”

Those who stand behind the mayor say say the only people who should be embarrassed are the people who exposed the mayor by sending her photos to the media and turning their quiet town into a media circus.

The expected outpouring of support from those who don’t want to be guilty of the modern world’s worst sin–being judgmental–materialized.

From the Oregonian, someone named Scott Beckwith chimed in with his support of the MySpace Mayor.

Like a defense attorney pleading with the jury in a death penalty case, Beckwith wants to know, “What was the MySpace Mayor really guilty of doing?”

Arlington’s mayor, Carmen Kontur-Gronquist, has taken a lot of heat since photos of her in her undies appeared on MySpace. Some say the entire episode brought disgrace upon the little Eastern Oregon city. I must say I agree. But what exactly was disgraceful? Was it the underwear? The fact that she posed on a fire truck? The fact that she has refused to resign? Hardly.

Mayors are often the butt of a lot of provincial jokes. You hear people chuckle at the insinuation of small-town corruption, of the mayor being on the take from businesses or developers, or being essentially a useless figurehead who panders to the locals for the sake of votes.

Beckwith then waxes nostalgic on the time he was elected mayor of a small town and a lady told him she liked how he looked in jeans.

Of course, he has harsh words–he calls them “fuddy-duddies”–for anyone not subscribing to his tolerant, values-free judgment. At the same time, he allows how he can appreciate all the hard work goes into the creation of an elected official hard-body.

Mayor Kontur-Gronquist is a credit to Arlington. The fuddy-duddies who have demanded her ouster have done far more damage to their city’s image than their mayor’s well-sculpted body ever could.

One Oregon newspaper theorized that the worst sin of all was–Puritanism. And it was taking place, not on MySpace, but in little Arlington, Oregon.

Apparently, a substantial number of people who read the Tri-City Herald didn’t know that they were reading such an arbiter of social mores.

Although the Herald didn’t mention it, some serious thought went into the editorial process about whether to include the phrase, “witch burning” in their editorial.

Another media voice crying out, “Come on! This is 2008! Everybody’s doing it!”

Apparently a substantial number of people in Arlington, Ore., have never been to the beach or the mall.

Some of the little town’s citizens said they were shocked when Arlington Mayor Carmen Kontur-Gronquist posted on her MySpace site a picture of herself in a black bra and panties, standing next to a fire truck.

“Resign!” cried some citizens. And, when she wouldn’t, “Recall!” was the threat.

Less easily outraged citizens may see this as 19th century values trying to claw their way into the 20th century while the rest of us are in the 21st.

Bikini-clad women at any beach and models pictured in the windows of Victoria’s Secret shops at any mall are far more revealing than the mayor’s photos.

Mayor Kontur-Gronquist obviously works out and it’s no surprise she wants her friends to see what she’s accomplished.

The offended citizens of Arlington have no more reason to complain, however. The mayor restricted access to her site to her friends.

Puritanism lives. Not on MySpace, but in Arlington.

Readers in the Tri-City area who have opinions about what is–and isn’t–acceptable behavior for a town employee on city property are guilty of Puritanism.

And they said it couldn’t happen here.
How is it that the worst sins some people think can be committed are “Puratanism” and being “judgmental”?

Isn’t it being “judgmental” to judge people guilty of those sins?

ORIGINAL DBKP story: MySpace Mayor Poses in Bra and Panties on Town Firetruck –pictures, story and video report of the original controversy and the town’s attempt to recall Carmen Kontur-Gronquist.

by Mondoreb
image: kimatv
Sources:
* Arlington Residents Confront Mayor Over MySpace Photos
* Another Paper’s View
* Arlington Mayor Deserves Support



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.