Category: Politics

Washington Post Op-Ed on Huckabee

David S. Broder at the Washington Post has a good op-ed on Huckabee’s plans to unseat Mitt Romney with inspiration from Pat Buchanan and Bill Clinton.

Buoyed by his surprise second-place finish in the Iowa Republican straw poll, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee is plotting an even bigger coup against Mitt Romney in the first presidential primary, in New Hampshire.
His inspiration for the audacious plot comes from two unlikely people: Pat Buchanan and Bill Clinton.
Clinton, the original man from Hope, Ark., Huckabee’s home town, was no better known to New Hampshire voters in the autumn of 1991 than Huckabee is today, while Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, leads the Granite State field. But, despite the Gennifer Flowers and draft-dodging scandals that plagued his campaign there, Clinton won enough friends to finish second in New Hampshire to 1992’s neighboring candidate, former Massachusetts senator Paul Tsongas.

At the end of the day Huckabee still needs to worry about the other GOP candidates but several of the other top candidates haven’t been as active in their campaigning as Huckabee and Romney and Huckabee’s money is starting to come in with 16 fundraisers coming up in the near future.

The power of Wikipedia

To quote Eric Lidji (speaking of – that guy needs to start blogging again) again, “Ah the blogosphere, the place of no accountability.”
Some might suggest we could apply that same quote to Wikipedia – although I’ve found that there are a NUMBER of folks out there who are Wikipedia sticklers for content, sources and edits (which while I may disagree with them at times – is a good thing).
But Virgil Griffith wanted to find out just how reliable the online encyclopedia that anyone can edit really was.
He created software that examined Wikipedia entries and the source of their edits, and found some interesting things.
For example:

  • Microsoft tried to cover up the XBOX 360 failure rate

  • In the 9/11 Wikipedia article, the NRA added that “Iraq was involved in 9/11”

  • Exxon Mobil edits spillages and eco-system destruction from oil spillages article

  • Scientology removes criticism and negatives article from Scientology page

  • Dog breeding association deletes whole paragraphs about fatal attacks by dogs on humans

  • Fox News removes all controversial topics against the network from the Fox News page

  • Walmart removes criticism of outsourcing work. The retailer also changes negative paragraphs of underpaid workforce

  • Someone at Reuters calls Bush “a mass murderer”

  • Coca Cola removes negative content about its effects

  • US University adds the “prestigious” adjective to its page

It just goes to remind us that we’ve always got to examine and consider the source of the information we get online, on TV, in print or anywhere else. Then take it for what it’s worth.

Thanks to Wisebread for the heads-up

McCain 840, Thompson 167

Christianconservative (that’s christianconservative.wordpress.com not blogspot.com) reports on legislation written by former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson during his term in the Senate.
Looks like Thompson wasn’t too busy when it comes to headlining a bill or writing amendments and the like – or maybe his ideas just weren’t that popular.

A scouring of he legislative website of the Library of Congress, from 1995 to 2002, when Mr. Thompson was in the Senate, yields a total of five bills that became law for which he was the head sponsor. A sixth passed the Senate and was replaced by an identical House bill that was eventually signed by the president.
The bills include the naming of a post office and courthouse in Cookeville, Tenn., a private bill that granted permanent residency status to a young Bolivian girl getting treatment for cancer and her family and several other minor pieces of legislation. A quick comparison with Senator John McCain, his rival for the Republican presidential nomination, for the same period turns up 17 bills that became law for which Mr. McCain was the lead sponsor.

If you look at all the bills, amendments or resolutions each sponsored the score is McCain 840, Thompson 167.

Your Bible is safe!

Nate brings up an interesting question…

I can’t for the life of me figure out why we needed HB 167 this past session and which goes into effect Sept. 1. If you don’t know what I mean, then read this description of the law:

Relating to exempting a religious bible from attachment, execution, or other seizure for the satisfaction of debts.

Has there been a spate of bible seizing from people who owe money? If you think about the time it took for someone to write down the bill language, then have staffers go over it to check for errors, then have committees and the whole Legislature to vote on it, just so you can keep your holy book when the repo men come to collect on a debt… I’m just confounded.

With school funding, kids without health insurance, the Trans Texas Corridor debate, was it really necessary to waste the time and paper writing this bill? Don’t worry though – your Koran or Torah or any other sacred writings are included as well. But don’t expect your Popular Science or Hardy Boys books to be covered – if the bill collector comes knocking you better be prepared to give those up.