Angela Payne and Bob Ryan

Bob Ryan, Angela Payne (Photo/WLUK)

A week ago, Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan had good reason to be embarrassed.

This clip on YouTube revealed his bad behavior to his constituents and to anyone with access to the Internet. He quickly became a national joke.

Dealing with last week was nothing compared to the bombshell that was dropped yesterday. This letter is not a laughing matter.

From 620 WTMJ:

[T]he lawyer for former Human Resources director Angela Payne has released the letter Payne sent to the city, alleging she was fired for turning down Mayor Bob Ryan's sexual advances.

The letter is detailed on www.sheboyganpress.com. In it, Payne claims Mayor Ryan tried to kiss her while the two were out at a bar in July. Payne also alleges Ryan later apologized for his behavior. Payne was later terminated.

The allegations in the letter also include Ryan making inappropriate comments about other female city employees and Ryan bragging that he gets more sexual acts performed on him now than ever before.

I think it will be difficult for Ryan to survive this.

Two Sheboygan alderpersons are calling for the forcible removal of Mayor Bob Ryan in the wake of a pair of salacious scandals.

Alds. Marilyn Montemayor and Eric Rindfleisch will introduce a resolution to remove him from office at a Common Council next month.

Those out to get Ryan have played this perfectly.

The YouTube clip raised concerns about Ryan's behavior. More importantly, it raised questions about his character. The release of this letter detailing Payne's explosive claims exploits those doubts about Ryan.

It's a one-two punch that could knock Ryan out of office.

Should it?

If Payne's allegations are true -- Yes.

She made some rather odd choices, like agreeing to go to The End Zone with Ryan after she claims he had sexually harassed her, and even offering to let Ryan sleep on the couch or floor at her apartment because he was too drunk to make it home.

Why didn't Payne call a cab for Ryan and leave immediately if she felt so threatened and degraded?

Payne's questionable choices don't really matter. They don't excuse Ryan's behavior, though they may have an impact on the outcome of her lawsuit.

In any case, Ryan has got a lot to lose. He's definitely on defense.

IF it is determined that Payne is giving a fair account of what happened, I think calls for Ryan's resignation are legitimate and a reasonable response to the situation.

Video, from WLUK:


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The Sheboygan Press has a special online section, with full coverage of Ryan's scandals.

FREE POLANSKI Petition

Roman Polanski, sexual predator, has a lot of supporters.

Here's the "Petition for Roman Polanski":

We have learned the astonishing news of Roman Polanski’s arrest by the Swiss police on September 26th, upon arrival in Zurich (Switzerland) while on his way to a film festival where he was due to receive an award for his career in filmmaking.

His arrest follows an American arrest warrant dating from 1978 against the filmmaker, in a case of morals.

Filmmakers in France, in Europe, in the United States and around the world are dismayed by this decision. It seems inadmissible to them that an international cultural event, paying homage to one of the greatest contemporary filmmakers, is used by the police to apprehend him.

By their extraterritorial nature, film festivals the world over have always permitted works to be shown and for filmmakers to present them freely and safely, even when certain States opposed this.

The arrest of Roman Polanski in a neutral country, where he assumed he could travel without hindrance, undermines this tradition: it opens the way for actions of which no-one can know the effects.

Roman Polanski is a French citizen, a renown and international artist now facing extradition. This extradition, if it takes place, will be heavy in consequences and will take away his freedom.

Filmmakers, actors, producers and technicians – everyone involved in international filmmaking – want him to know that he has their support and friendship.

On September 16th, 2009, Mr. Charles Rivkin, the US Ambassador to France, received French artists and intellectuals at the embassy. He presented to them the new Minister Counselor for Public Affairs at the embassy, Ms Judith Baroody. In perfect French she lauded the Franco-American friendship and recommended the development of cultural relations between our two countries.

If only in the name of this friendship between our two countries, we demand the immediate release of Roman Polanski.

Who has signed this petition?

Big Hollywood is naming names:

Woody Allen
Wes Anderson
Darren Aronofsky
Jonatham Demme
Stephen Frears
David Lynch
Martin Scorsese

Full list: (it might have been quicker to name who didn’t sign the petition)

Fatih Akin, Stephane Allagnon, Woody Allen, Pedro Almodovar, Wes Anderson, Jean-Jacques Annaud, Alexandre Arcady, Fanny Ardant, Asia Argento, Darren Aronofsky, Olivier Assayas, Alexander Astruc, Gabriel Auer, Luc Barnier , Christophe Barratier, Xavier Beauvois , Liria Begeja , Gilles Behat, Jean-Jacques Beineix, Marco Bellochio, Monica Bellucci, Djamel Bennecib, Giuseppe Bertolucci , Patrick Bouchitey, Paul Boujenah, Jacques Bral, Patrick Braoudé, André Buytaers, Christian Carion, Henning Carlsen, Jean-michel Carre, Mathieu Celary, Patrice Chéreau, Elie Chouraqui, Souleymane Cissé, Alain Corneau, Jérôme Cornuau, Miguel Courtois, Dominique Crevecoeur, Alfonso Cuaron, Luc et Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Jonathan Demme, Alexandre Desplat, Rosalinde et Michel Deville, Georges Dybman, Jacques Fansten, Joël Farges, Gianluca Farinelli (Cinémathèque de de Bologne), Etienne Faure, Michel Ferry, Scott Foundas, Stephen Frears, Thierry Frémaux, Sam Gabarski, René Gainville, Tony Gatlif, Costa Gavras, Jean-Marc Ghanassia, Terry Gilliam, Christian Gion, Marc Guidoni, Buck Henry, David Heyman, Laurent Heynemann, Robert Hossein, Jean-Loup Hubert, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Gilles Jacob, Just Jaeckin, Alain Jessua, Pierre Jolivet, Kent Jones (World Cinema Foundation), Roger Kahane, Nelly Kaplan, Wong Kar Waï, Ladislas Kijno, Harmony Korinne, Jan Kounen, Diane Kurys, Emir Kusturica, John Landis, Claude Lanzmann, André Larquié, Vinciane Lecocq, Patrice Leconte, Claude Lelouch, Gérard Lenne, David Lynch, Michael Mann, François Margolin, Jean-PierreMarois, Tonie Marshall, Mario Martone, Nicolas Mauvernay, Radu Mihaileanu, Claude Miller, Mario Monicelli, Jeanne Moreau, Sandra Nicolier, Michel Ocelot, Alexander Payne, Richard Pena (Directeur Festival de NY), Michele Placido, Philippe Radault, Jean-Paul Rappeneau, Raphael Rebibo, Yasmina Reza, Jacques Richard, Laurence Roulet, Walter Salles, Jean-Paul Salomé, Marc Sandberg, Jerry Schatzberg, Julian Schnabel, Barbet Schroeder, Ettore Scola, Martin Scorsese, Charlotte Silvera, Abderrahmane Sissako, Paolo Sorrentino, Guillaume Stirn, Tilda Swinton, Jean-Charles Tacchella, Radovan Tadic, Danis Tanovic, Bertrand Tavernier, Cécile Telerman, Alain Terzian, Pascal Thomas, Giuseppe Tornatore, Serge Toubiana, Nadine Trintignant, Tom Tykwer, Alexandre Tylski, Betrand Van Effenterre, Wim Wenders.

EDIT: new names

Isabelle Adjani
Antoine Aronin
Paul Auster
Morgane Beauverger
Candice Belaisch-Goldchmit
Yamina Benguigui
Pascal Bruckner
Jessika Cohen
Philippe Corbé
Jean-Paul Dayan
Katarina De Meulder
Arielle Dombasle
Nathalie Faucheux
Corinne Figuet
Pierre Forciniti
Louis Garrel
Albert Gauvin
Johanna Gozlan
Davide Homitsu Riboli
Taylor Hackford
Isabelle Huppert
Neil Jordan
Thierry Kamami
Milan Kundera
Gaelle Lancien
Claude Lanzmann
Bernard-Henri Lévy
Sam Mendes
Camille Meyer
Patrick Mimouni
Yann Moix
Mike Nichols
Sandra Nicolier
Marie Nieves Perez Neël
Salman Rushdie
Carine Sarna
Ysabelle Saura Del Pan
William Shawcross
Olivier Soares Barbosa
Steven Soderbergh
Nil Symchowicz
Danièle Thompson
Eugenia Varela Navarro
Diane von Furstenberg
Scott Foundas
Margaret Walker
Elsa Zylberstein

Obama and ACORN

Daniel Acker Pleads No Contest

UPDATE, February 5, 2010: Ex-swim coach sentenced to 20 years on sex abuse charge
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Conan O'Brien: Accident Video

Sand Hill Elementary School Kids Praise Obama

Here's another video of school kids praising Obama, this one from Sand Hill Elementary School in Asheville, North Carolina:



Lyrics:

Change has come
Change has come
Hope
Uniting blacks and whites
Hope
Being both, Obama cannot take sides
Hope
'Don't worry,' said Hope, 'I will be your bridge'
In time, Hope would be the bridge for others
Hope will last enough for you to make a difference
Change has come
Change has come
[...], fly free
Study, watch, learn
Keep your eyes open
Education is the key
Education is the secret
Education is the way
Education is the path
Can I make America better?
Can I make America better?
Can we make America better?
Yes! Yes we can!
Yes! Yes we can!

This is really strange:

Uniting blacks and whites
Hope
Being both, Obama cannot take sides

Oh, yes he can!

Bill Maher and Jay Leno - September 28 (Video)

Bill Maher made his first appearance on The Jay Leno Show.



Maher was frequently Leno's guest on The Tonight Show, so I expected the same old, same old. Maher was true to form, as offensive as ever; but Leno was different.

Leno no longer pretends to be politically neutral. He is out as a Leftist.

Video here.

Before Maher got into the vitriol, Maher did a few "New Rules," a segment he does on his HBO show, Real Time with Bill Maher.

I thought this one was actually kind of funny.

BILL MAHER: New Rule: Critics must stop saying that Jay Leno's new show is too much like his old one. What did they think the new show was gonna be? Jay and Kevin Eubanks move to a small fishing village and solve mysteries?

After that, they went right into health care.

I'm still not used to the interview set, two chairs without the desk. Leno looks so uncomfortable. He fidgets. It's distracting.

Anyway, on health care, Leno left no doubt where he stands.

Transcript

JAY LENO: Well, you know, it's like I keep hearing this talk about death panels. People use the word "death panel." But, you know, we've had death panels...

BILL MAHER: That's Sarah Palin. Wait a second...

LENO: Yes. True.

MAHER: Sarah Palin is the one who brought up death panel... And you know what, Sarah Palin? I got news for you, honey. If we were gonna get rid of useless people, you would be the first to know.

(Cheers, applause)

Can Maher ever speak without saying something derogatory about Sarah Palin?

LENO: But let me ask you something... We have had death panels for years. They're called insurance companies.

MAHER: Right. Exactly.

LENO: But everybody knows, everybody knows someone who was told your grandmother's not getting this kidney because it was too expensive, or you're not in this plan.

MAHER: Right.

LENO: So, I know the death panels is a phony... it, it, it's just wordplay. But people act like this hasn't existed. Insurance companies have been turning down people for years and years.

MAHER: I'm glad to hear you say that, Jay...

LENO: Yeah.

MAHER: ...the exemplar of Middle America, because I think, you know, a lot of people don't... a lot people are fighting health care who need health care. If you voted for a guy who wouldn't give you health care as opposed to one who would, you should have your head examined, except you can't afford to have your head examined because you don't have health care.

LENO: See, this is where... See, to me, President Obama...

MAHER: Who?

LENO: President Obama... I mean, a great communicator, a man who's able to communicate his ideas good enough to get elected, I don't understand why they can't explain what this is. I heard a guy, legitimately, on the news saying, 'I don't want the government touching my Medicare.' Well, what do you think Medicare is?

(Laughter)

But I don't think most Americans even understand this, and I don't know whether the president's not explaining it properly, like the one payer option... What is, what is the phrase?

MAHER: Single payer.

LENO: Single payer.

MAHER: Right. Horrible, horrible. Because people when they hear single payer they think that's me. I'm the single... It's the government.

LENO: Right.

MAHER: You know, what they should have said is 'Medicare for all.'

LENO: Right.

It was really strange for Leno to do so much of the talking. Usually, Maher is basically doing a monologue and Leno just laughs and nods and feeds him questions.

It seemed like Leno was bent on "educating" his audience.

I think Leno's suggestion that the American people don't understand what Obama's health care overhaul is about is an insult.

When seniors express concern about the Obama government messing with their Medicare, that doesn't mean they don't understand it's a government program.

Leno is the confused one.

I really don't care for the lib version of Leno.

MAHER: But the Democrats are horrible at that. That's to this day, they're not good. I mean, you mentioned death panel, they changed the phrase 'estate tax,' which is a great tax. I mean, you have to tax something. This is a tax on rich, dead people. These are the perfect people to tax.

(Laughter)

One, they don't have any need for money on account of that whole being dead thing.

(Laughter)

LENO: Right. But they're working on a plan to take it with you. I don't know if you know this stuff.

MAHER: Right. You know, what? There's going to be no incentive to croak? It's ridiculous. But, but you know, 'estate tax,' it effects like literally .2 percent of the people, people literally with estates, otherwise known as 'not you.' But the Republicans changed 'estate tax' to 'death tax.'

LENO: Right, so it sounds like...

MAHER: And people were like, 'Oh, death. That could happen to me.'

That's old material. I've heard Maher do his 'death tax' shtick before.

That class warfare stuff is crap.

Moreover, Dems are the masters at wordplay, not Republicans. Killing a baby is a 'choice.' People in the country ILLEGALLY are 'undocumented workers.' The list goes on and on.

LENO: Well, has President Obama been on TV too much lately? I mean, I...

MAHER: Well...

LENO: I saw him on Man vs. Wild just the other day. So, I think that's one too many.

MAHER: Yes, I mean, but he has to sell what he's selling. I mean, you know, this is the kind of country where you have to plug your stuff. I'm gonna plug some stuff here, right?

LENO: Right.

MAHER: I think, but yes, I think he's too concerned with being popular. That's, you know, I think presidents go through this in the first year of office. They want everybody to love them, and they have to learn the hard way not everybody can be into you. The Republicans are just not into you, dude.

LENO: It's like your dad. Your dad is not your friend. He's your dad.

MAHER: Exactly. And I see him do things that I know are not who Barack Obama really is. I don't think he's a guy who really eats that many hamburgers, but he's always trying to like show you he's a regular guy. He goes out to lunch with Joe Biden.

I must say this about George Bush: He had horrible ideas that hurt this country, like deregulation, and giving all the money to rich people, and preemptive war, but at least he didn't try to be popular. And that worked out pretty well.

(Laughter, applause)

LENO: Yeah, yeah.

MAHER: But he never felt the need to be seen having a hamburger. If he wanted a hamburger, he'd call up, he'd say, 'I'm the president. Get me a hamburger.' And the guy on the other end of the line would say, 'Sir, this is NORAD. Stop ordering burgers. It's the red phone." And he would hang up.

Again, old material.

George Bush is gone. That era is over. It's so boring when Maher and Leno keep yapping about Bush, so terribly unoriginal.

After the first part of the interview, Leno and Maher did the "Earn Your Plug" segment.

They read the actual e-mails of Mark Foley and Mark Sanford.

Maher said about Sanford's messages, "Those e-mails that he wrote, they gave women a boner."

Is that really appropriate on prime time TV?

Maher also stressed that the e-mails were from "Republicans, of course."

Video of "Earn your Plug."



Leno is not the exemplar of Middle America.

If he ever was, the prime time incarnation of Leno certainly is not.

Kevin Jennings, Safe Schools Czar - Advice to Teen (Audio)

Kevin Jennings, Obama's Safe Schools Czar, doesn't seem like he's the right person for the post.

In terms of keeping kids safe, he has an extremely troubling record.

From the Washington Times:

A teacher was told by a 15-year-old high school sophomore that he was having homosexual sex with an "older man." At the very least, statutory rape occurred. Fox News reported that the teacher violated a state law requiring that he report the abuse. That former teacher, Kevin Jennings, is President Obama's "safe school czar." It's getting hard to keep track of all of this president's problematic appointments. Clearly, the process for vetting White House employees has broken down.

In this one case in which Mr. Jennings had a real chance to protect a young boy from a sexual predator, he not only failed to do what the law required but actually encouraged the relationship.

According to Mr. Jennings' own description in a new audiotape discovered by Fox News, the 15-year-old boy met the "older man" in a "bus station bathroom" and was taken to the older man's home that night. When some details about the case became public, Mr. Jennings threatened to sue another teacher who called his failure to report the statutory rape "unethical." Mr. Jennings' defenders asserted that there was no evidence that he was aware the student had sex with the older man.

However, the new audiotape contradicts this claim. In 2000, Mr. Jennings gave a talk to the Iowa chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, an advocacy group that promotes homosexuality in schools. On the tape, Mr. Jennings recollected that he told the student to make sure "to use a condom" when he was with the older man. That he actively encouraged the relationship is reinforced by Mr. Jennings' own description in his 1994 book, "One Teacher in 10." In that account, the teacher boasts how he allayed the student's concerns about the relationship to such a degree that the 15-year-old "left my office with a smile on his face that I would see every time I saw him on the campus for the next two years, until he graduated."

Listen to the audio, from Breitbart.



Good grief.

These czars need to be more thoroughly vetted by the White House.

More from the Washington Times:

Mr. Jennings' denials about these events reveal a lack of remorse. He has not admitted that he made mistakes in this case, and he now refuses to answer any questions about the scandal. Don't forget, this is a presidential appointee we're talking about. Mr. Obama should make clear what his standards are for public servants serving at the pleasure of the president. Encouraging and covering up man-boy sexual activity are serious offenses. The White House should force Mr. Jennings to come clean.

Mr. Jennings has made extremely radical statements promoting homosexuality in schools and about his utter contempt for religion that render him unsuitable for a prestigious White House appointment. His job in the Obama administration is to ensure student safety, and this scandal directly calls into question his ability to perform that job. Mr. Jennings and Obama administration officials refuse to answer any questions about this newly discovered evidence. A lot of Americans want answers about this guy and how he was approved for a job in the White House.

Where's the transparency Obama promised?

At the very least, Jennings should have to address this issue.

Chicagoans for Rio

Not all Chicago citizens want the 2016 Summer Olympic Games to be held in Chicago.

Some are concerned about the astronomical cost.

A website draws attention to the downside of Chicago hosting the Games, Chicagoans for Rio.



FOX station WFLD-TV reported on the group.

Drudge reports:

The Chicago Olympic Committee told FOX Chicago that its broadcast "would harm Chicago's chances" to be awarded the games.

The station's news director ordered staff to hold fire after the report aired once last Thursday morning, claims a source.

Watch the story here.

I can't believe that this little story would have any impact at all on the IOC's decision on which city will be chosen to host the 2016 Olympics.

Free speech?

I don't think the Chicago Olympic Committee should be meddling in the newsroom at FOX 32. It's acting like an oppressive regime.

If Chicago does host the games in 2016, I wonder if all the homeless people will be picked up off the streets, Beijing-style 2008.
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Flashback: Obama Calls for Bush to Boycott Olympics Opening Ceremony

Obama, Olympics, Copenhagen

Obama is Copenhagen-bound.

He wants the 2016 Olympics to be in Chicago.

Apparently, Obama takes the Olympics very seriously. Of course, it's another story when it comes to the Special Olympics.

Very, VERY AWKWARD.

From The Swamp, Chicago Tribune:

Let the games begin:

President Barack Obama, who initially planned to let First Lady Michelle Obama represent the United States in Copenhagen this week, when the International Olympic Committee chooses a site for the 2016 summer games, plans to travel there too. The first couple will appear together at a game-choosing summit.

The White House, which earlier had announced that an advance team was headed to Copenhagen to prepare for a possible presidential trip to Copenhagen, confirmed this morning that Obama will travel Thursday night. The IOC meets Friday.

A senior administration official told the Tribune Washington Bureau this morning that Obama will travel to Copenhagen Thursday night, and return following the Friday meeting. The first lady plans to travel Tuesday, and meet with individual members of the IOC on Wednesday and Thursday to make Chicago's case for the games. The president will join her at the full committee meeting on Friday.

"President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will both make presentations to the IOC during Friday's session,'' the White House press secretary said later this morning, in formally announcing the trip. "They will discuss why Chicago is best to host the 2016 Summer Games, and how the United States is eager to bring the world together to celebrate the ideals of the Olympic movement.''

I would prefer that Obama speak with Gen. McChrystal than make a presentation to the IOC. Talking just once in 70 days to McChrystal seems woefully inadequate.

Speaking of being woefully inadequate, when Obama is going to make good on his promise to host Special Olympics athletes at the White House? WHEN? He made that promise nearly seven months ago.

Seventy days. Seven months.

Obama makes his priorities very clear.

McChrystal and Obama: Talked ONCE in 70 Days

I think this is stunning. Obama isn't exactly hands-on when it comes to his war in Afghanistan.

On 60 Minutes, General Stanley McChrystal revealed that he has talked to Obama only once in 70 days. ONCE.

From the Washington Times:

The military general credited for capturing Saddam Hussein and killing the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq says he has only spoken to President Obama once since taking command of Afghanistan.

“I’ve talked to the president, since I’ve been here, once on a VTC [video teleconferece],” General Stanley McChrystal told CBS reporter David Martin in a television interview that aired Sunday.

“You’ve talked to him once in 70 days?” Mr. Martin followed up.

“That is correct,” the general replied.

This revelation comes amid the explosive publication of an classified report written by the general that said the war in Afghanistan “will likely result in failure” of more troops are not added next year. Yet, the debate over health care reform continues to dominate Washington’s political discussions.

Former U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations John Bolton said this was indicative of President Obama’s misplaced priorities.

Video.



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Judd Gregg calls McChrystal revelation "startling" -- Video

Give Roman Polanski a Break!

The Los Angeles Times takes the stand that sexual predator Roman Polanski has been punished enough for drugging and having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Although he fled the country rather than be held accountable for his crimes, the LA Times takes the position that it's water under the bridge.

With the state Legislature forced to make dramatic cuts in the prison budget and a three-judge federal panel having recently ordered California lawmakers to release as many as 40,000 inmates in response to the scandalous overcrowding of the California state prison system, it seems like an especially inauspicious time for the L.A. County district attorney's office to be spending some of our few remaining tax dollars seeing if it can finally, after all these years, put Roman Polanski behind bars.

...Polanski has been living in France for the past three decades, directing films and raising a family with actress Emanuelle Seigner. He has been a fugitive from justice in the U.S. since 1978, when he fled the country rather than stand charges of having unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. The case has been a cause celebre for years, with charges and counter-charges rocketing back and forth, many involving the controversial efforts of the original presiding judge to put Polanski safely away behind bars. It added another dramatic chapter to a life of tragedy for the filmmaker, who fled the Krakow ghetto during the Nazi occupation not long after his mother was sent to the gas chambers. In 1969, his wife, Sharon Tate, then pregnant with Polanski's child, was murdered by the Charles Manson family at a hillside home in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, long ago announced that she had forgiven the filmmaker for his transgressions and supported various efforts to have the case against him dismissed. I don't think that you'd find many people who would approve of Polanski's behavior, which was disgusting -- he drugged his victim with champagne and Quaaludes before raping her during a 1977 photo session at Jack Nicholson's house.

But at a time when California is shredding the safety net that protects the poor and the unemployed, not to mention the budget of the public school system, you'd hope that L.A. County prosecutors had better things to do than cause an international furor by hounding a film director for a 32-year-old sex crime, especially one that Polanski's victim wants to put behind her.

...In the coming weeks, the Polanski affair will no doubt become a tabloid sensation, with op-ed moralists, excitable bloggers and the Glenn Becks of the world noisily weighing in on the propriety of his possible prosecution. Some will say Polanski is a predator whose punishment is long overdue. Others will argue that it's the height of folly to be stalking a 76-year-old man who has admitted his guilt and was long ago forgiven by his victim.

We live in an age that is so thoroughly post-modern that you can find an obvious literary antecedent for nearly every seamy media storyline. The same goes for the Polanski case, which is full of echoes of "Les Miserables," the classic Victor Hugo novel about Jean Valjean, an ex-con trying to turn his life around who is being obsessively tracked and hunted down by the Parisian police inspector Javert.

Hugo's story is a tragedy, as is the life story of Polanski, who was a fugitive as a boy and is now a fugitive as an old man. Whether the L.A. County district attorney office has its way or not, it is not a story that can have a happy ending. I think Polanski has already paid a horrible, soul-wrenching price for the infamy surrounding his actions. The real tragedy is that he will always, till his death, be snubbed and stalked and confronted by people who think the price he has already paid isn't enough.

Polanski is not a victim. He's a criminal.

But apparently, those at the LA Times believe that Polanski has suffered enough. You know, it's not easy being a fugitive, even though this fugitive still managed to make movies and win an Oscar while evading the law.

I think it's weird that it took so incredibly long to arrest Polanski, but that doesn't change the fact his crimes are worthy of arrest.

Of course, his victim says she wants to drop the case. She already sued him and reached a settlement. I'm sure that was part of the deal.

What Samantha Geimer, Polanski's victim, says is irrelevant.

She's satisfied with her settlement. Fine. But what about the law and upholding societal values?

Having sex with a 13-year-old is not OK. Fleeing the country rather than stand charges is not OK.

I don't recall. Did the LA Times come out in favor of dismissing the crimes of priests accused of having sex with minors?

Are there different standards for Hollywood directors?

Sex with a 13-year-old is sex with a 13-year-old, unless you're Roman Polanski.

Support for ObamaCare Falls - Again

I guess Obama's media blitz was a massive waste of time. That appearance on Letterman wasn't the magic bullet.

I guess the strategy of calling people racists was just an exercise in ugly divisive politics of personal destruction.

The push for government-run health care isn't working.

Rasmussen reports that support for ObamaCare continues to plummet.

Just 41% of voters nationwide now favor the health care reform proposed by President Obama and congressional Democrats. That’s down two points from a week ago and the lowest level of support yet measured.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 56% are opposed to the plan.

Senior citizens are less supportive of the plan than younger voters. In the latest survey, just 33% of seniors favor the plan while 59% are opposed. The intensity gap among seniors is significant. Only 16% of the over-65 crowd Strongly Favors the legislation while 46% are Strongly Opposed.

For the first time ever, a slight plurality of voters now express doubt that the legislation will become law this year. Forty-six percent (46%) say passage is likely while 47% say it is not. Those figures include 18% who say passage is Very Likely and 15% who say it is Not at All Likely. Sixty percent (60%) are less certain.

...As Scott Rasmussen, president of Rasmussen Reports, wrote recently in the Wall Street Journal: “The most important fundamental is that 68% of American voters have health insurance coverage they rate good or excellent … Most of these voters approach the health care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.” A Rasmussen video report shows that 53% of those with insurance believe it’s likely they would have to change coverage if the congressional plan becomes law.

This sums it up:

“The most important fundamental is that 68% of American voters have health insurance coverage they rate good or excellent … Most of these voters approach the health care reform debate fearing that they have more to lose than to gain.”

Obama: More School

More hours in the school day? More school days?

Obama wants America's children spending more time in school.

Of course, he does.

WASHINGTON -- Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

The president, who has a sixth-grader and a third-grader, wants schools to add time to classes, to stay open late and to let kids in on weekends so they have a safe place to go.

"Our school calendar is based upon the agrarian economy and not too many of our kids are working the fields today," Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a recent interview with The Associated Press.

...Obama and Duncan say kids in the United States need more school because kids in other nations have more school.

"Young people in other countries are going to school 25, 30 percent longer than our students here," Duncan told the AP. "I want to just level the playing field."

While it is true that kids in many other countries have more school days, it's not true they all spend more time in school.

Kids in the U.S. spend more hours in school (1,146 instructional hours per year) than do kids in the Asian countries that persistently outscore the U.S. on math and science tests — Singapore (903), Taiwan (1,050), Japan (1,005) and Hong Kong (1,013). That is despite the fact that Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong have longer school years (190 to 201 days) than does the U.S. (180 days).

"Level the playing field"?

American kids already spend significantly more hours per year in school than high-performing kids in Asian countries.

If Obama and Duncan want to level to playing the field, they should look at how the hours in U.S. schools are being spent.

How much time is devoted to math and science, reading and writing?

How much time is devoted to exercises that don't produce results?

It seems that American students aren't falling behind because of the amount of time they're in the classroom. It's how that time is being spent.

It appears that what American kids are not getting is quality time.

Regardless, there is a strong case for adding time to the school day.

Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time. Scores rose significantly, especially in countries that added minutes to the day, rather than days to the year.

"Ten minutes sounds trivial to a school day, but don't forget, these math periods in the U.S. average 45 minutes," Loveless said. "Percentage-wise, that's a pretty healthy increase."

It's not necessary to add time to the school day.

The time needs to be used more efficiently.

Hours could be added to the school day. More days could be added to the school year.

That's a waste if what's being taught is a waste and the methods being used to teach are ineffective.

What good will legislating more school hours accomplish when many kids aren't showing up in the first place?

Furthermore, additional time in school doesn't address the matter of lack of parental involvement and the important role that plays in kids' academic success.

American schools are producing millions of high-achievers right now. Lots of kids and parents are getting it right.

Just being in the school building has nothing to do with students' success. Studying and being disciplined and having teachers committed to upholding standards of excellence are what matters. The current trends of dumbing down the curriculum and lowering expectations are obstacles to achievement.

There is no point in subjecting to kids to more of what's not working.

...Aside from improving academic performance, Education Secretary Duncan has a vision of schools as the heart of the community. Duncan, who was Chicago's schools chief, grew up studying alongside poor kids on the city's South Side as part of the tutoring program his mother still runs.

"Those hours from 3 o'clock to 7 o'clock are times of high anxiety for parents," Duncan said. "They want their children safe. Families are working one and two and three jobs now to make ends meet and to keep food on the table."

Duncan wants the schools to be the heart of the community. (Weren't churches the heart of the community at one time?)

It sounds like he wants schools to serve as surrogate parents, especially between the hours of 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM.

In effect, we're talking about childcare, not more time spent on learning math and science.

This sounds like a governmental intervention. Since the determination has been made that parents aren't willing to pull their weight in raising their children or they are unable to devote the time necessary, the solution is to give the government more control over young minds.

That's a scary thought.

Bottom line: It's not how much time is spent in school. It's how that time is spent.

Parents need to emphasize the importance of education, set expectations for their children, and provide the support and supervision needed to achieve educational goals. Passing off that responsibility to the government is not the answer.

Another thing--

With a lengthened school day, what would that do to participation in extracurricular activities? The demands required of student athletes and those involved in music and drama activities are already extreme.

I think Obama needs to acknowledge the real problem: a lack of personal responsibility on the part of students and parents; and an inadequate curriculum.

Maybe Obama and Duncan should study the fundamental lessons and teaching methods employed by Vince Lombardi.

Favre's Touchdown (Video)

Of course, I didn't want the Vikings to beat the 49ers.

The Vikings are in our division. I want them to lose. When they lose, it's good for the Packers.

Unfortunately, Brett Favre threw a great pass and Greg Lewis made an absolutely incredible catch. So, the Vikings won.

Too bad.

Video.


________________

Check out this screen grab. (Click for larger image.)

"Farve Tosses Touchdown With 2 Seconds Left to Keep Vikings Perfect"

"Farve did it!"

John Salley, Obama, and White America

I'm so sick of hearing that opposition to Obama's policies is indicative of an underlying racism.

NewsBusters reports that John Salley, former NBA star and current host of ESPN's The Best Damn Sports Show, thinks that the majority of WHITE Americans hate Obama.

Salley made his remarks when he was on The Adam Carolla Podcast, September 23.

JOHN SALLEY: I have a question.

ADAM CAROLLA: Sure.

SALLEY: I have a real question, because I sat around and I thought about this the whole time. Do you hate Obama?

CAROLLA: No.

SALLEY: Why are so many people who now hate him after just 266 days ago they loved him?

CAROLLA: Who hates him?

SALLEY: All of white America.

CAROLLA: All of white America?

SALLEY: Not all of 'em but the majority.

That's quite a statement.

Salley didn't stop there. He complained about some people referring to Obama as Hitler.

SALLEY: The fact that you can say the word Hitler and put it to our president is some scary thought.

Was Salley troubled when President Bush was called Hitler? It happened on a regular basis for years. Did he find that to be a scary thought.

I don't think so.

Salley also had words of praise for Jimmy Carter.

SALLEY: I think Jimmy Carter was great about what he said. I think he saw it from his point of view, knowing where it came from, the roots of it, calling certain people racist. But I also feel it's a lack of respect for the position.

CAROLLA: Well, that!

SALLEY: I think the position of being president has been weakened since George W. Bush, well since Clinton.

It's ridiculous for people like Carter and Salley and so many others to complain about the lack of respect being given to Obama and conclude that race is a factor.

I think it's a cheap method being used to delegitimize the credibility of dissenting opinions.

It's a sleazy, offensive tactic.

Bill Clinton, Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy (Video)

Bill Clinton was yapping nonsense on Meet the Press this morning. According to him, there's a virulent vast right-wing conspiracy afoot in the country.

David Gregory really dropped the ball by not challenging Clinton about the virulence of the left-wing. The Democrats took incivility to new heights when President George W. Bush was in office.

Fair and balanced?

Not even close.

Transcript

MR. GREGORY: Your wife famously talked about the vast right wing conspiracy targeting you. As you look at this opposition on the right to President Obama, is it still there?

PRES. CLINTON: Oh, you bet. Sure it is. It's not as strong as it was, because America's changed demographically, but it's as virulent as it was. I mean, they're saying things about him--you know, it's like when they accused me of murder and all that stuff they did. He--but it's not really good for the Republicans and the country, what's going on now. I mean, they may be hurting President Obama. They can take his numbers down, they can run his opposition up. But fundamentally, he and his team have a positive agenda for America. Their agenda seems to be wanting him to fail, and that's not a prescription for a good America. We actually need a credible debate about what's the right balance between continuing to expand the economy through stimulus and beginning to move back to fiscal balance. We need a credible debate about what's the best way to get to universal coverage.

Now, the one Republican who's come up with a good idea is Senator Snowe. She deserves a lot of credit for saying when we did this Medicare prescription drug bill, instead of giving the government the power to negotiate for lower prices we gave the drug companies a chance to offer them, but we held the power in reserve. And if there was any state in America where there was no competition, you could do it. So let's do that for health care. That's a good idea. That's, that's the kind of debate the country needs, and I hope that the Republicans will come forward with it. These...

MR. GREGORY: But do you worry about a repeat of '94 politically?

PRES. CLINTON: It, it--there's no way they can make it that bad, for several reasons. Number one, the country is more diverse and more interested in positive action. Number two, they've seen this movie before, because they had eight years under President Bush when the Republicans finally had the whole government, and they know the results were bad. And number three, the Democrats haven't taken on the gun lobby like I did, and they took 15 out of our members out. So I don't think it'll be--whatever happens, it'll be manageable for the president.

Gregory's initial question assumes that there was, in fact, a vast right-wing conspiracy. He asks, "is it still there?"

Clinton doesn't make any sense, talking about demographic changes.

Does Clinton think it was good for the Democrats to charge Bush with murder and war crimes and call for his impeachment? Was that good for the country, especially during wartime?

Gregory lets all that stuff slide by.

I think that may be due to the fact that Gregory is afraid of a repeat of 1994.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Elizabeth Edwards, Rielle Hunter, and 'Cherubim'

I can understand why Elizabeth Edwards would be sniping at Rielle Hunter. I can understand why she'd be angry with Andrew Young.

From the New York Daily News:

Former presidential candidate John Edwards is said to be ready to admit that he fathered a love child. But Hades may have a skating rink before his wife, Elizabeth, signs off on such a confession.

As a grand jury in North Carolina considers whether Edwards misused campaign funds to cover up the scandal, Elizabeth still can't abide his former mistress, Rielle Hunter.

Word is Elizabeth vehemently opposed the plan, now in place, for Hunter and daughter Quinn to move from New Jersey to Wilmington, N.C., where the Edwardses have a beach house.

For months now, Elizabeth, who is said to be talking to a divorce lawyer, also has been sniping at Hunter - painting her as a blackmailing gold digger - in blog comments where she uses the pseudonym "Cherubim," according to a source who knows Elizabeth.

Though "Cherubim" has recently described herself as an African-American woman, the source insists, "It's Elizabeth. She's used 'cherubim' as a password. Look at the gravestone of their son Wade: It's an angel holding a boy."

"Cherubim" has also heaped scorn on estranged Edwards aide Andrew Young, who is working on a book in which he's due to reveal that Edwards and wealthy supporters paid him to claim that he fathered Quinn.

In a proposal for the book, Young contends that Elizabeth blamed him for helping her husband carry on the affair and forced Young to quit the campaign. He also alleges that Elizabeth left taunting messages on his family's answering machine - telling his wife, Cheri, that Rielle supposedly had slept with Young and that she was likely to again.

If the allegations are true, this "source who knows Elizabeth" isn't a very good friend to reveal that "Cherubim" is the pseudonym she's been using to post blog comments.

It's also not cool to reveal that Elizabeth uses "cherubim" as a password.

What a mess!

I'm in no way defending Elizabeth Edwards' alleged lashing out on the Internet or on the family answering machine of Andrew Young.

She'd be wise to stay away from the ugliness of the Internet and not waste her precious time.

So many people let her down. So many people in her life behaved selfishly -- most of all, her husband.

I don't know how John Edwards can live with himself, knowing the pain he's causing his wife as she struggles with her illness.

It's disgusting that Andrew Young is choosing to write a book now about the whole sorry saga. Doesn't he have any pangs of guilt for trying to profit at the expense of the Edwards family?

If Elizabeth did blame Young and if she did leave taunting messages on the answering machine at his home, can't he understand why she'd be acting a little nuts at the revelation of her husband's betrayal?

The players in this drama are so sleazy, John Edwards being the sleaziest.

Elizabeth Edwards may have flipped out inappropriately here and there but there's no question that she's the victim.

Divorce: Paul Bucher and Jessica McBride

UPDATE, November 19, 2009:

WAUKESHA - Former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher has filed again for divorce from his wife, Jessica McBride.

Bucher told The Freeman on Wednesday that he’d learned that Milwaukee Police Chief Ed Flynn had continued to contact his wife as recently as Sept. 14, and he believes Flynn should be held accountable for it. McBride and Flynn were reported to have engaged in an extramarital affair earlier this year.

McBride, 39, is an educator at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a blogger and a columnist for The Freeman. She declined to comment on the matter Wednesday.

Repeated messages left with the Milwaukee Police Department seeking comment from Flynn were not returned Wednesday.

________________

I find it disturbing that some are gleefully writing about Paul Bucher filing for divorce from Jessica McBride.

Dan Bice, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, doesn't exactly handle the news with much sensitivity either.

First, there was the headline-grabbing and unexpected affair. Now comes the not-so-surprising divorce filing.

Late Thursday, former Waukesha County District Attorney Paul Bucher filed for divorce from journalist and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee instructor Jessica McBride.

Bucher, an unsuccessful candidate for state attorney general in 2006, is asking for primary physical placement - but joint custody - of their 4-year-old daughter. Bucher - now a partner with the small Waukesha firm Gatzke, Ruppelt, and Bucher - is also requesting child support and maintenance from McBride.

...The filing comes a little more than three months after Police Chief Edward Flynn, 61, apologized publicly for having an extramarital affair. He didn't identify McBride, 39, but No Quarter obtained love letters and e-mails between the two.

...Since issuing his apology in June, Flynn has been seen frequently around the city with his wife, Susan, who didn't move from her Virginia residence when he took the Milwaukee job last year.

For Bucher, this is his second marriage; it is McBride's first. The divorce filing says the pair has a pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreement, but neither was included in the file.

Isn't there some way that Bice can get details about the pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements?

I'm sure he's trying to hunt down some more information. Maybe Bice will cover another angle. Maybe he'll go after Bucher and McBride's 4-year-old daughter. Perhaps he'll chronicle her side of the story, get her to talk about her experience.

In any event, Bice can't be finished yet. He seems to relish his role as a sleazy tabloid reporter.

I wonder if Bice has any more leads he's pursuing. I wonder if he's harassing other families. He certainly appears to have had fun in this case.

Bice has not handled this matter professionally. His columns and posts on it have been oddly personal, straying from the standards of providing a "just the facts" objectivity.

In his reporting, Bice frequently refers to the "glowing profile" McBride wrote about Flynn for Milwaukee Magazine.

Does Bice realize that through his coverage, he's actually been writing a profile of himself?

I wouldn't call what Bice has revealed about himself to be very glowing.

Some truly vile comments related to the divorce filing are posted on Bice's blog:

Examples:

Chuck Cunningham
Friday Sep 25, 2009 11:04 AM

who else is laughing?
________________

StevenR Report
Friday Sep 25, 2009 11:15 AM

Me. Defense of marriage? Make me PUKE.

Not even WOMEN in the GOP can keep it in their pants. Could the Republicans POSSIBLY be more HYPOCRITICAL? A loving pair of homosexuals defends marriage MUCH BETTER than this disgusting threesome.
________________

URKiddingMe
Friday Sep 25, 2009 11:47 AM

So Jess is back on the market......????

I mean, I'm not involved in law enforcement or the criminal justice system, but I did once make a citizen's arrest. That's gotta be good for a little ????? behind some Water Street bar, right?
________________

djlresearch
Friday Sep 25, 2009 2:44 PM

Ms McBride has now broken up both of Mr. Bucher's marriages. Imagine going on a date with her? Who will she go after next? David Clarke? Scot Walker?

Poor Paul, he's make some judgement mistakes. First he procsecutes a Packer. That's a no win move. Then he hops in the sack with Little Miss Flirty. Both big gambles that did not pay off.

I've got two divorces under my belt myself. Not throwing any stones.

The first Mrs. Bucher -- nice lady. Lots of class. She's probably grinning.
________________

Cnote
Saturday Sep 26, 2009 10:47 AM

I totally agree with this statement- Haha!!-Not even WOMEN in the GOP can keep it in their pants. Could the Republicans POSSIBLY be more HYPOCRITICAL? A loving pair of homosexuals defends marriage MUCH BETTER than this disgusting threesome.
HYPOCRITES!!!!!!!!!

This is really sick stuff.

I think it's inappropriate for the Journal Sentinel to have these degrading remarks on its website. Some policy changes may be in order.

Would the JS print these statements if they were sent to the newspaper as letters to the editor?

Maybe it would, but the cowards that spew this crap probably wouldn't be willing to have their real names attached to it.

I wonder if Bice is responsible for moderating the comments section on his blog. If so, he should show better judgment.

Roman Polanski Arrested

I didn't see this coming.

Roman Polanski was arrested in Switzerland on a sex charge from 31 years ago.

ZURICH (AP) -- Director Roman Polanski was taken into custody, Swiss police confirmed Sunday, on a 1978 U.S. arrest warrant for having sex with a 13-year-old girl.

Polanski was flying in to receive an honorary award at the Zurich Film Festival when he was detained late Saturday at the airport, organizers at the festival said in a statement.

Zurich police spokesman Stefan Oberlin confirmed Polanski's arrest, but refused to provide more details because he said it was a matter for the Swiss Justice Ministry.

Ministry spokesman Guido Balmer declined to comment. Rudolf Wyss, the Justice Ministry deputy director, also declined to comment on the case. But he told The AP that Switzerland and the U.S. have an extradition treaty dating back to the 1950s that is still in force.

The Polish-born director fled the United States in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl.

The 76-year-old director of such classic films as "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" has asked a U.S. appeals court in California to overturn a judges' refusal to throw out his case. He claims misconduct by the now-deceased judge who had arranged a plea bargain and then reneged on it.

Polanski has lived for the past three decades in France, where his career has continued to flourish. He received a directing Oscar in absentia for the 2002 movie "The Pianist."

...The Swiss Directors Association sharply criticized authorities for what it deemed "not only a grotesque farce of justice, but also an immense cultural scandal."

A native of France who was taken to Poland by his parents, Polanski escaped Krakow's Jewish ghetto as a child and lived off the charity of strangers. His mother died at the Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

...But his life was shattered again in 1969 when his wife, actress Sharon Tate, and four other people were gruesomely murdered by followers of Charles Manson. She was eight months pregnant.

...In 1977, he was accused of raping a teenager while photographing her during a modeling session. The girl said Polanski plied her with champagne and part of a Quaalude pill at Jack Nicholson's house while the actor was away. She said that, despite her protests, he performed oral sex, intercourse and sodomy on her.

...The now 45-year-old victim, Samantha Geimer, who long ago identified herself publicly, has joined in Polanski's bid for dismissal, saying she wants the case to be over. She sued Polanski and reached an undisclosed settlement.

I can't believe that this was the first opportunity to arrest Polanski after he fled the U.S.

He hasn't been in hiding. Why now?

That's what's so bizarre.

In March 2003, Hollywood bestowed an Oscar on Polanski for best directing. Obviously, Hollywood forgave Polanski or at least chose to overlook his crimes as a child predator.

Polanski's victim, Samantha Geimer, is now a middle-aged woman. She sued Polanski and was satisfied with the settlement. She's cool with the case being dropped.

Maybe Polanski will be extradited to the U.S. and Obama will pardon him.

To Err Is Human--

Polanski was human. He drugged and had sex with a child. So what? It happens, right?

To Forgive Divine--

Obama is divine.

Perhaps rather than finally forcing Polanski to pay for his crimes against society, this will turn out to be more of a welcome home party.
________________


Samantha Geimer (Photo/2008)

Samantha Geimer, Polanski's prey, has moved on.

From New York Magazine, May 8, 2008:

Big names like Dustin Hoffman and Sidney Lumet came out for Tuesday's premiere of the new HBO documentary Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired, which details the questionable judicial dealings that led to the director's now 30-year exile in France. But the surprise guest of the night was Samantha Geimer, the woman with whom Polanski had "unlawful sexual intercourse" at Jack Nicholson's house when she was 13. (He pleaded guilty and fled the country before his final sentencing.) Geimer had flown in from Hawaii, "a beautiful spot where no one is aware or even cares"; she's now happily married with three children and working as a "personal assistant, accountant, and bookkeeper" for a real-estate developer. Both her husband and her mother, who had taken her to the party where the incident took place, had gotten gussied up with her for the premiere. After all, Geimer's Polanski association usually means having to give uncomfortable interviews about her past — "Nothing as fabulous as this," she says. "We thought this would be really fun. We don't get many chances to come to New York, so I was really happy to come and see the city and do all this fabulous stuff. Got to be back to work on Friday or the boss will fire me."

Geimer, who bought a new dress and shoes at Saks just for the occasion, says that participating in the documentary was a strategic move. "Generally for me, it's just easier that if people want to talk to me, I talk to them," she says. "That way they don't sit out in front of my house and wait for me." Plus, she approves of the movie — "I didn't think somebody could make it that interesting" — and hopes it will quell some of the curiosity about what happened that night. "I'm glad [director Marina Zenovich] put the truth of the way it happened out there, because I don't want to have to tell people," she says. "It's nice that she went ahead and did it, so people can know the truth and I can just go, 'It's a great movie!'"

I don't know that I could be that detached seeing a documentary about a horrific childhood experience from my personal past.

I guess time heals all wounds.

And in some cases, so does money.

Obama: Nuclear Weapons-Free World

The Washington Times editorial, "Obama's Nuclear-Free Fantasy," highlights just how wrong Obama can be on an extremely critical national security matter.

When it comes to the nuclear-weapons issue, President Obama wants to be a global community organizer. However, what we really need are some tough beat cops with a mandate to clean up the neighborhood.

On Thursday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution drafted by the United States that calls upon, urges, encourages, but does not require U.N. member states to take various actions to curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Mr. Obama chaired the meeting and pressed the vision of a nuclear-weapons-free world that he had introduced in April. In the practical world of counterproliferation, the president is making little progress in dissuading Iran from building nuclear weapons, has rewarded serial proliferator North Korea with bilateral negotiations and is silent on Venezuela's announced intention to start a nuclear program.

The president's "no nukes" stance makes a nice bumper sticker, but achieving it will take more than feel-good rhetoric. French President Nicolas Sarkozy objected to the fact that the Security Council resolution did not mention Iran and North Korea, currently the two greatest problem states. "We live in a real world," Mr. Sarkozy said, "not a virtual world." But Mr. Obama said he did not want to single out any particular country. After all, we might offend them. It says something when France demonstrates a stronger international leadership role than the United States and well illustrates the style-over-substance approach of the Obama administration. Mr. Sarkozy wants results; Mr. Obama seeks applause.

The premise that a nuclear-weapons-free world would be safer is highly questionable. In the right hands, nuclear weapons play an important deterrence role. The problem is that they increasingly are being obtained by countries ruled by left-wing dictators and other unsavory types who either cannot be deterred or do not want to be. These bad actors understand that they can harness deterrence to their benefit. The United States is unlikely to risk concerted action against a country with a demonstrated nuclear-weapons capability and nothing to lose. Countries such as Iran and Venezuela see North Korea as a positive inspiration - an extremely poor country with about the same per capita gross domestic product as Chad but treated as a major player in world affairs primarily because of its atomic program. We shudder to imagine how much more powerful Tehran or Caracas would be with the same capabilities.

To use Sarkozy's phrase, Obama is living in a "virtual world" if he thinks it's possible to eliminate nuclear weapons. It's a fantasy.

"It says something when France demonstrates a stronger international leadership role than the United States and well illustrates the style-over-substance approach of the Obama administration. Mr. Sarkozy wants results; Mr. Obama seeks applause."

Well said: Obama is style over substance.

Obama's vision to make the world a nuclear weapons-free zone is bumper sticker politics.

It's unrealistic.

I once heard someone say in all seriousness that peaceful protests should have been employed to stop Hitler and the Holocaust, not violence.

That's nuts. That's denying reality.

The editorial concludes:

The United States is showing itself unwilling to take the hard steps necessary to stop nuclear proliferation. Countries that are willing to defy the international community know they can have the bomb if they make the investment and are patient. They might have to ride out some international sanctions, but once they have conducted a nuclear test and joined the club, they will have all the leverage they need.

Last week, Mr. Obama lectured the world that "international law is not an empty promise" - but laws that are not enforced become exactly that. If nuclear arms are outlawed, only outlaws will have nuclear arms.

Exactly.

Obama, Iran, and Victory

When it comes to Iran, Obama really doesn't seem to know what he's doing.

He wants to appear as if he has a spine but then he goes wobbly. He says he wants to send a clear message, but he's not clear at all.

Obama's exchange with Chip Reid provides an example.

CHIP REID: You just mentioned sanctions that have bite. What kinds of sanctions, and I know you can't get into details, but what kinds of sanctions at all would have bite with Iran? Do you really think any kind of sanction would have an effect on somebody like Ahmadinejad?

Secondly, some of your advisers today said that this announcement was a, quote, victory. Do you consider it a victory, and if so, why didn't you announce it earlier since you've known since you were president-elect?

OBAMA: Uh, this isn't a football game. So, I'm not interested in victory. I'm interested in resolving the problem. The problem is is that Iran repeatedly says that it's pursuing nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes and its actions contradict its words.

Obama saying "I'm not interested in victory" is really a bad sound bite.

Obama is contradicting himself. He says he wants to resolve the problem, but he's not interested in victory. What?

Certainly, resolving the problem would be victory.

Obama complains that Iran's actions contradict its words. He should do a little self-reflection. Obama has not exactly been consistent.

He's been dangerously naive in handling Iran. He's been dangerously naive in general.

He's known about this second nuke plant since BEFORE he took office.

Why did he wait SO long to confront Iran about it?
__________________

On a related note:

Iran said it successfully test fired two short-range missiles during drills Sunday by the elite Revolutionary Guard, a show of force days after the U.S. and its allies condemned Tehran over a newly revealed underground nuclear facility that was being constructed secretly.

English-language Press TV reported that the solid-fuel Fateh-110, Tondar-69 and Zelzal missiles were test fired, but did not give specifics on range or other details. Both are short-range, surface-to-surface missiles.

Gen. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard Air Force, told reporters Iran tested for the first time a multiple missile launcher. Press TV showed pictures of at least two missiles being fired simultaneously and said they were from the latest drill.

SNL: Jenny Slate Drops F-Bomb - Video

On the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, one of the new cast members, Jenny Slate, had a little mishap.

Toward the end of the show, 7th Floor West veteran Slate was in a skit, "Biker Chick Chat," with Kristen Wiig and host Megan Fox.



Slate played a biker chick named Dawn. She was hosting her own show, "Biker Chick Chat," with her mom's best friend, Beth, played by Wiig. Her guest was her best friend, Donna, played by Fox.

Again and again, they used "frickin'" to punctuate almost everything they said.

At one point, Wiig became angry with Slate.

Transcript

JENNY SLATE: You frickin' just threw an ashtray full of butts at my head. You know what? You stood up for yourself, and I f---ing love you for that.

After Slate inadvertently dropped the F-bomb, she puffed out her cheeks. Wiig didn't miss a beat and they kept going.

KRISTEN WIIG: You're in my heart, babe. You're in my heart.

That's a memorable SNL debut for Slate.

Video.



I'm surprised NBC hasn't pulled this clip. Usually, new SNL clips don't last on YouTube. I think Lorne Michaels must be enjoying the Internet chatter about it.

Jane Stone 'Bite Me, Jew Boy' Scandal

Here is an update on the scandal involving NBC's Jane Stone and an anti-Semitic e-mail received by Americans for Limited Government:

Saturday, 26 September 2009 13:15

Statement from Carter Clews to Steve Capus of NBC News:

The increasingly hysterical responses by NBC news boss Steve Capus and NBC News itself to the escalating Stonegate Scandal are disappointing at best and chilling at worst. Here is a man who runs what used to be a highly respected major news bureau who now finds himself conjuring up gremlins in cyberspace to defend what appears to be horrendously bigoted behavior within his own news room.

Having spoken directly with Mr. Capus for nearly 15 minutes Friday afternoon, I want to once again repeat my offer to him: if you really don’t believe that Ms. Stone sent the “Bite me, Jew boy” email to ALG staffer Alex Rosenwald, we will be happy to work with you to track down who sent it from her Blackberry using her email address.

This is precisely the same offer I made to Ms Stone at 11:00AM Friday morning, when she denied having sent any such email to Alex Rosenwald. Now, Mr. Capus has changed her story to say that, yes, she sent an email on Thursday, but it did not say “Bite me, Jew boy.”

Again, we are more than willing to help NBC resolve its internal problems, but Mr. Capus needs to work with those trying to ferret out the full story, not against, us. Tom Brokaw, one of Mr. Capus’s closest friends has said of the NBC news boss, “He does have a little bit of a hair trigger. He could blow. But I could always walk in and close the door and say, ‘Take a breath.’"

My message to Mr. Capus now is, “Take a breath, and let’s try to get to the bottom of what has now become of your once-respected news organization.”

Carter Clews is the Director of Communications for Americans for Limited Government.

Mike Calderone, Politico, continues to follow the story.

When NewsBusters Matthew Sheffield asked ALG today to send him the email's “headers," which would reveal detailed information about the message being sent and received, the group responded that the information was on an office computer that's not available this weekend, but could be sent out Monday.

I think that if ALG can send out press releases about the "Stonegate Scandal," the group should also have the capabilities to send out all its evidence.

Yesterday I mentioned that I knew Stone because she taught my class on “Press Ethics” at NYU, and that I was shocked by the allegations made by ALG. She has had a distinguished career in broadcasting, and I was reluctant to publish anything that could forever associate her online with such a slur.

But after ALG sent out a press release, and the story went viral, NBC desired to present their side on the record. When I spoke with NBC News president Steve Capus, he was emphatic that Stone only responded to be taken off ALG’s list, and that she didn’t write the alleged slur: “Bite me Jew Boy."

And yet, ALG has persisted with two additional email releases, which as The Times noted today, are blasted far and wide. (I never signed up for ALG's press list, but am on it, and receive numerous releases each day. And it seems a number of colleagues at POLITICO are as well, since several passed along the NBC-related releases).

NBC legal analyst Dan Abrams, commenting on his Mediaite site, admitted his bias, given network affiliation, while writing that “there is no way she would have written that and maybe more important, no way Capus would put himself and the entire news division’s reputation on the line unless he was 100% sure.”

Indeed, it's hard to believe that Capus would go on the record so adamantly unless the network's IT team checked everything completely, as he said they did. While ALG may not have the well-deserved reputation that NBC News has built over decades, I still felt it was worth looking into their claims.

Gawker’s Foster Kramer takes issue with my writing this up as a news story while covering the back and forth between NBC and ALG on Friday afternoon. Of course, Foster’s perspective comes 24 hours after the fact, as opposed to actually dealing with both sides by phone and email in real time.

I don't take these allegations lightly because someone's reputation is at stake, and am always reluctant to publish potentially-damaging rumors.

But once ALG began airing this publicly, and the press release made its way around blogs and Twitter, and NBC wished to defend their staffer, I tried to present for readers what was going on, with all the evidence available at the time. Now it's important for both sides to just put everything out there.

This really shouldn't be that difficult to resolve.

I agree with Calderone that both sides should put out everything they have.

It certainly seems that Calderone's is in NBC's corner. He talks about Jane Stone's reputation being on the line, but he doesn't note that the individuals involved at ALG also have their reputations at stake. Calderone is almost apologizing for writing about the incident in the first place. Has he misplaced his spine?

FACT: Someone is responsible for sending a horribly derogatory message to Alex Rosenwald or for doctoring the message to disparage Jane Stone and NBC.

FACT: Someone did a bad, bad thing.

Both sides need to produce the evidence that will determine the truth.

Both sides should be jumping at the chance to clear their names.

SNL: Glenn Beck and David Paterson

On Saturday Night Live Weekend Update Thursday, Glenn Beck (played by Jason Sudeikis) and FOX News were targets in the opening segment.

Beck was at his chalkboard, spouting a crazy theory and then doing a Heil Hitler! salute while speaking of "Mother Russia." FOX News was determined not to be fair and balanced.

Next, at the Weekend Update desk, once again the vision problems of New York Gov. David Paterson (Fred Armisen) were mercilessly mocked.

SETH MEYERS: You said this week you never intended to be governor anyway, but you were actually aiming for Hillary Clinton's Senate seat.

GOV. PATERSON, Fred Armisen: Yes, you see, I had great dreams of living in Washington DC, walking zigzag up the Capitol's steps. You know, shaking hands with an even mix of humans and statues, trying to stick my ATM card into the Vietnam Memorial, then maybe showing up late to vote and flipping off the senators from New Jersey.

I don't think that's funny.

Conan O'Brien Injured

Were you wondering why The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien was a rerun on Friday?

It was supposed to be a new show.

TMZ has the story:

Conan O'Brien was injured while filming a skit for his show this afternoon and was unable to continue taping, this according to a rep from NBC.

Here's the statement from NBC, which includes a quote from Conan:

"Tonight, NBC will broadcast a repeat of 'The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien.' Conan hit his head doing a stunt and the show was not finished.

Conan O'Brien added, "Last thing I remember I was enjoying the play with Mrs. Lincoln, and the next thing I knew I was in bed being served cookies and juice."

Letterman: Top Ten Questions, Dinner with Sarah Palin

TOP TEN QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF BEFORE SPENDING $63,500 ON DINNER WITH SARAH PALIN

10. "Is the tip included?"

9. "Do my kids really need to go to college?"

8. "Is it 'All the Moose You Can Eat'?"

7. "Should I prepare by reading every magazine and newspaper?"

6. "Does it have to be at the Denny's where Todd works?"

5. "Should we have dinner in Alaska or Russia?"

4. "Will she hunt and shoot the main course?"

3. "63 Grand! That's nearly half of her weekly wardrobe budget!" Remember that reference?

2. "Is there valet parking for my snowmobile?"

1. "Will I be done in time to get to the 'Fire Dave' rally?"

Leno: Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan Joke

This is Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan's moment, his 15 minutes of fame.

He made the monologue on The Jay Leno Show.

JAY LENO: Oh, well, here -- here is another one of those stupid men behaving badly stories. The mayor of Sheboygan, Wisconsin, a man named Bob Ryan, has apologized after he was caught on a cell phone -- He was at a bar, and somebody had a cell phone camera, and he's talking to the guys about his sister-in-law, and saying that he heard she was good at one particular sex act.

Well, he gave a press conference, and his wife was standing next to him. The sister-in-law wasn't there... Well, she may have been under the podium, but she wasn't at, she wasn't at, you know, at the press conference.

(Laughter, applause)

But anyway, so far calls to his office are split down the middle -- half want him to resign, the other half want the sister-in-law's phone number. So, I don't know what's going on there.

NBC 'Bite Me, Jew Boy' E-mail and ALG

Did Jane Stone, a producer for NBC's Dateline, send this anti-Semitic e-mail to Alex Rosenwald, the Americans for Limited Government Director of Media Outreach?

ALG Statement in Response to NBC "Bite me, Jew Boy" Email

Bill Wilson, President, Americans for Limited Government

Americans for Limited Government is appalled that an employee of the NBC news network apparently felt it was appropriate to send an email to an ALG employee, in response to a standard news release, saying, "Bite me, Jew Boy."

According to ALG records, the email came from the Blackberry and email address of Jane Stone, a producer for NBC's Dateline. The email was sent to Alex Rosenwald, the ALG Director of Media Outreach. The news release to which Ms Stone apparently responded was one in which ALG called upon Congress to defund ACORN.

Americans for Limited Government does not contend that NBC or its parent company GE, are anti-Semitic. What is highly disturbing, however, is that there clearly is a culture at NBC that has allowed this person who clearly has issues to go unchecked.

Ms Stone claims she did not send the offensive email. If that is not the case, we at ALG call upon her to help ascertain who did send it using her Blackberry and her email address. If Ms Stone did, in fact, send it, we at ALG call upon Ms Stone to apologize to Mr. Rosenwald, and we call upon the NBC hierarchy above Ms Stone to join her in issuing that apology.

Jane Stone and NBC have some explaining to do.
____________________

UPDATE, from Politico:

NBC News president Steve Capus fired back at Americans for Limited Government Friday, after the conservative group published an email allegedly from NBC producer Jane Stone to its director of media outreach Alex Rosenwald, with one line: “Bite me Jew Boy.”

“I’m still in shock, and outraged that this reckless organization would go out with such a defamatory, irresponsible statement,” Capus told POLITICO. “We have done a complete email analysis, all of our IT, all of our records.”

Here's what both sides agree on: Stone responded yesterday to a mass email from ALG.

But Stone’s response email—provided to POLITICO—did not have any anti-Semitic comment. In fact, it had just one line: “Take me off this list!” (There are also subtle differences, including number of dashes, between the two emails).

“Somebody, on the other end, I’m assuming, took the return stamp from the email and then put in this hateful message,” Capus said. “I don’t know who did it. It’s outrageous to suspect that somebody from NBC News would do it.”

Capus said he contacted the group and asked them to rescind the press release that accompanied publication of the email. He said that ALG would not agree, and the instead responded with a “politically-fueled rant against NBC, and a completely irresponsible diatribe."

Stone is a 15-year employee at NBC, and also teaches at NYU. (In full disclosure: I took her class on “Press Ethics" in spring 2004, and was therefore shocked by the allegations made by ALG).

It shouldn't take too long to determine the truth here.

There's an e-trail. There's evidence. It's e-mail. There's proof in the technology that cannot be denied.

More than anyone, Jane Stone should want to find out who sent the anti-Semitic e-mail using her Blackberry, if, as she claims, she did not.

One thing is certain, the individual responsible for the message is reprehensible.

Jane Stone should make a statement immediately. I question why she is not personally stating that she did not send the anti-Semitic e-mail.

If my Blackberry and e-mail address were hijacked, I would be horrified and demanding to know what happened. I would fear that my personal information had been compromised. First and foremost, I would state unequivocally that the message was not sent by me.

Because of the e-trail, we'll learn what happened here.
____________________

ALG responds to NBC's response:

ALG Response to NBC Accusations on Politico:
"We did our due diligence."

Carter Clews, Director of Communications, Americans for Limited Government

We at Americans for Limited Government are saddened that instead of helping us to get to the bottom of the hateful email that was indeed sent from NBC's server, and this can be verified, and was not tampered with, which can also be verified, that NBC President Steve Capus has instead chosen to circle the wagons and protect what is indefensible with hysterical, frantic accusations.

This email has left a digital footprint that is undeniable. We did our due diligence. We have confirmed that it indeed came from NBC's server and Jane Stone's email address.

As before, we renew our offer that we made to both Ms. Stone and NBC President Capus over the phone today to get to the bottom of who sent this email from Ms. Stone's Blackberry email address. That offer remains open, and we would like it very much if both Ms. Stone and NBC would issue an apology to both Americans for Limited Government, and Mr. Alex Rosenwald, who was the target of this hateful email.