Not Your Day..

Good Lord...

Aside from a cop driving around drunk, which is bad enough, they posted that picture with the headline.  Does he need any further punishment?         

I-40 Gridlock, no National Media

Cars and trucks on a major east-west interstate in America, stranded for hours and gridlocked for dozens of miles in severe winter conditions, with the National Guard called out-and hardly a mention from our national media?

It's day two of a traffic nightmare along two major interstates in eastern Arkansas. Drivers are stuck on I-55 from West Memphis to the Missouri state line and on I-40 from West Memphis to Forrest City.

It's gotten so bad; the Arkansas National Guard has been called in to help state police but stranded drivers are not being evacuated by the guard.

Here's a photo gallery. There are many horror stories and frayed nerves and blame flying around.  But someone in another city would never know. 

Let's face it, the storm that hit eastern Arkansas was brutal, but it hit eastern Arkansas, estimated population 159.  The same conditions were forecast to hit the Memphis metro area (and it's nearly one million inhabitants) and somehow it missed them--again (third time this winter).  Had the "warm air" moved a little further east (warm, as in over two inches of rain fell with air temperatures between 33-34 degrees) the gridlock would have been well underway in the big city right now, no doubt garnering some national interest.

How bad was it?   Go here for 3 maps from the National Weather Service showing the ice/sleet/snow accumulations from the Sunday-Monday storm.  The obvious focus was rural Arkansas and Tennessee.  They got hammered.  And it's not just an Arkansas thang, any place in America hit with half inch of ice, followed by several inches of sleet then snow would have trouble. 
 
Not saying this is the biggest story in the nation.  All networks are rightfully focusing on Ukraine.  But they aren't even including this in their secondary stories despite this lasting over 36 hours now. The ice and snow is really less a story than what caused the massive gridlock on these major transportation arteries and whether it could have been prevented and when it's going to clear.  Some people had to spend a night in their car last night in the wilderness.  

But instead of asking the questions, CNN is talking about a child being suspended for a finger gun.  ABC is discussing sex with Sean Lowe, NBC is talking about ice on highway 150--in North Carolina (not a major east-west interstate), Fox on a kid suing his parents and CBS is reporting on a Michigan ban about being 'willfully annoying" or something.  And the Big Boy, Drudge, has a bunch of links up on the weather, except this one.  It's not the AP--they are covering the story on the wires.  It's not political bias.  The biggies simply don't think a huge weather-related quagmire on a major interstate is important, evidently because it's in westbumfark. 

Although rumor has it that MSNBC inquired as to where Christie was when the delays began.      

Weather or Not

Drudge is going crazy with the weather stories today, taking a cue from the mainstreamers, who are all talking about "Hercules".   By the way, who started naming winter storms and what's the criteria for getting a name anyway?

It's winter and it's cold outside today in Memphis.  No newsflash.  But the local news is highlighting an even colder "Arctic Blast" heading in over the weekend, which could be trouble.  Presuming this name thing works alphabetically as with hurricanes, what will they name this one?  How about "Imhotep".  Or would that be offensive to the Egyptians?  

Whatever the case it could be a doozy, not so much for snow but temperatures; Memphis is expected to remain in the teens on Monday according to the NWS..

We barely drop down into the teens during a normal winter, much less have a high in the teens.  The south isn't built for such temperatures; pipes and people tend to freeze.  So it's prudent for residents to take it seriously. 

Actually, it's been a cold year here overall-- 2013 was probably below average.   None of which signals an end to global warming, or climate change, or Tea Party induced planetary death, or whatever the official liberal name is now.   But it sure would be funny if Al Gore were coming to town next week for a global warming conference, assuming he wasn't on that expedition ship trapped in the summer Antarctic ice.

Aviation Update

On this, the 16th anniversary of the TWA 800 crash in 1996, we still know very little about the definitive cause of that tragedy.  Jack Cashill has thoughts.

Meanwhile, the probable causes of several other somewhat mysterious crashes remain themselves mysterious, as in scant details released by the Paris offices of the BEA.   One crash investigation that has received considerable attention is the one for Air France 447, almost certainly pilot error (multiple pilots) as well as a system error (flying into bad weather).  But the others, including two involving crashes into the ocean, have yet to trigger any perceptible media curiosity.  

Despite those dark moments flying remains a very safe form of transportation.  The US safety record is to be admired through the world, despite a few needles in the food.  The bigger worry here locally is whether the USPS will re-up their contract with Fed Ex to haul first class and priority mail when it comes up for renewal next year.  Losing that contract would be a huge blow to both Fed Ex and Memphis, especially with Delta having already cut flights in half since taking over Northwest several years ago.  One has to believe there will be some nuclear-level politics involved in that process during the upcoming months.     

Saturday on the River

Some random photos of the downtown air show last evening as the city wraps up "Memphis in May" with a performance by the Memphis Symphony and the Bar Kays.  It was warm, but the wind was blowing--and for once they got it done without any severe weather warnings...

 

There was a lot of police presence, even in the water.   But nobody was in a fighting mood.  People were just enjoying the freedom to come downtown, watch some airplanes and listen to some music and enjoy the beginning of summer, all courtesy of the sacrifices made by our fallen heroes. May those sacrifices never go in vain.

Farrakhan in Memphis

Drudge is trying to sensationalize Farrakhan's comments made at LeMoyne-Owen college in Memphis Saturday night by linking Breitbart's clip. Not to defend Calypso Louie but he was probably not talking about actionable intelligence. Then again, it's hard to say, we're talking about a guy who just called Jesus a Muslim.

The local paper doesn't provide much context, mentioning his visit and pointing out his past comments about the H1N1 virus conspiracy but nothing about leaders being imminently killed. They did quote an event organizer as follows:

Saturday, LeMoyne-Owen student government president SimmieRay Dinkins said Farrakhan's sometimes-provocative remarks were no deterrent in the school's pursuit of him as the conference's keynote speaker.

Great. Maybe they'll invite Herman Cain or Condi Rice in the near future if they haven't already. Meanwhile, as to the man Pastor Jeremiah Wright once bestowed with an award for greatness, it's just another normal speech.

Shakedown Comes to Memphis

Well, here's a gob-smacker..

Rev. Jesse Jackson said he will launch a campaign aimed at boosting minority jobs inside major companies in Memphis and the Mid-South. Jackson, a prominent civil rights activist from Chicago, revealed the campaign to civic leaders on Thursday during a meeting in Memphis City Hall.

Get that? He got face time with the mayor on this new plan to 'boost minority jobs.  How will he do it'?

The campaign centers on a new plan to spur diversity and look at hiring, spending and boardroom patterns of 50 public companies in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.

Rainbow will spend about $1,000 in total for shares of stock of companies based in Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee. Shareholders are usually provided with basic financial information about the company and entitled to attend annual shareholder meetings. Thirteen public companies are based in metropolitan Memphis.

Bold to highlight the pittance they will be 'investing' for access. Starting to get the picture now?  Jackson thinks if he becomes a stockholder he'll be privy to all the deep dark racist secrets, which he can then use to shakedown the companies to do whatever he tells them to do.

But how much access can he get for one share?  Someone holding one share cannot reasonably demand to see the inner-workings of a company.  But someone with the right organization and visibility could threaten board members with a rent-a-mob or an Occupy camp (filmed by the local TV) if their demands aren't met, while attending the stockholders meeting.  Since most companies are spineless this tactic may actually work.

OK agreed, nothing shocking here, it's Jesse Jackson.  Actually THIS is the most egregious part of the story:

Memphis leaders generally lauded the diversity effort for its potential to create jobs. About 40 percent of the households in metropolitan Memphis are considered poor or in poverty.

No wonder 40 percent are in poverty with that kind of clownish leadership.  It's tempting to say that only in Memphis would leaders think that harassing companies 'creates jobs'--at least net new jobs (maybe they mean someone else's existing job).  But when added to the national mosaic being painted by Democrats it makes perfect sense.  Just in the past few days we've been told that some people aren't paying their fair share for the privilege of being Americans.  So the Crackers gotta pay.

Briefly on the West Memphis Three

Rarely do I agree with much of anything the Firedoglakers say (even ex FDLer's), and I haven't followed this case very closely since the initial resolution, but their post, despite the hyperbole, contains a seemingly obvious point:

Let’s be honest, no prosecutor in his right mind walks these three men out the front door of the courthouse if he truly believes they are guilty and there is even the slightest chance in hell he can make the charges stand up in a retrial. And no prosecutor lets them do it through Alford pleas. I do not care what kind of happy pablum they spew to the television cameras and press, it is really just that simple.

It really does have the smell of a CYA. From reading press reports it appears the state is saying they still believe they got the right culprits and therefore they see no need to look for the real killer(s), but they might lose a retrial on a technicality so the families and public will have to settle for 18 year sentences for one of the most gruesome murders in regional memory. In other words, they finally made it go away.

Then again, if the WM3 were really interested in clearing their names and knew the state was reluctant to go into a retrial for fear of losing, why not push them into a retrial before accepting a deal? Or just go ahead and insist the trial? That would have served to clear their names once and for all AND perhaps shone some light on the real killer(s) and the alleged corruption that took place back in 1993.

Hail to the Chief

Re the president's visit to Memphis and the way our local paper is covering it:

In explaining why Booker T. Washington High School won the Race To The Top challenge to earn its commencement speech Monday from President Barack Obama, the White House cited statistics of various school achievements.

But anyone who watched the videos submitted by finalists could see elements in BTW's entry that numbers cannot measure -- passion, motivation and, quite clearly, an enthusiasm for Obama.

Surely a little buttery praise always helps, but there's also an historic flood going on in the region.

"He is coming into a community that is proud of his achievements and appreciative of his hard work," Hutchinson said.

It's understandable why communities who supported him at a rate of 99-1 over McCain are supportive of his hard work and achievements, but is he saying they are the only ones?

"He's an iconic figure in American history and an iconic figure in the African-American community," said Cohen, who often refers to the Obama family as the "Kennedys" of the 21st century. "His popularity is unsurpassed."

The Obamas are the new Kennedys? Sounds like a slam considering the notorious party lifestyles of Jack and Teddy compared to the solid family life of the president.

"I do think it's important to say that if this had been a George Bush commencement address, they would have fought just as hard to get it and be just as proud," Hart said. "But it is hard to ignore the historical significance -- the first African-American president coming to the first black high school in this city."

A little honesty never hurts. Of course this is more important than a Bush or even a Kerry visit. Racial pride is OK. Despite all the criticisms there's no denying that Obama is certainly an inspiration to many people who are now proud of their country for the first time.

Whether that same misty inspiration would have been there had the first black president been someone like Condi Rice is unknowable, but we'd like to think they'd have been just as proud and that the local paper would have written their story the same way.

MORE 5/15/11

This, on the other hand, is a much better effort.

Crest

Just a few snapshots from the Memphis riverfront at crest..
Looking south over Tom Lee park, which is partially under water.


Looking north towards Mud Island..

This is along interstate 40 several miles west of Memphis..

The long thin line in the background is a railroad trestle. It's up to it's limit..

In West Memphis warning of workers ahead.. apparently frogmen.

The power of nature is truly awesome, as was the authorities' ability to predict the crest. Now the slow fall begins here and the concern moves downstream.

By the way, the mayor wants everyone to know that most of Memphis is open for business. The founders of this city weren't dummies, they built most of the city along a bluff that's well higher than river level. The only areas flooding are directly beside the river and along some of the tributaries, but the flooding doesn't extend very fall inland in this area. Of course that's no consolation for anyone who has lost their home. What's amazing is that in 1937, the last time the water was this high, 500 people died.

River Rise

Here's what the Mississippi at Memphis normally looks like in early summer, looking out towards the south end of Mud Island:

There is a long bank from Riverside Drive to the area where the paddle boats are boarded. Notice the flags on the end of Mud Island.

Here's what it looked like today:

The boats are at street level now.

Here's another shot from the end of Union Avenue as it intersects Riverside drive, which is closed going southward due to water on the road at the Beale Street light..



Water at 45 feet, heading to 48 feet by next week. Speaking of Beale Street, it's well above the flood (in case you have a trip planned soon)..

The good news is that local rivers feeding the Mississippi are down below flood now that the rain has stopped, which has cut in half the number of homes and businesses they expected to be susceptible to flooding. Here's hoping..

Snow Again

It's another Yankee winter down here in Goreland...we have more snow...


The roads were even more horrible than normal since temperatures remained in the 20s. It'll be a fun ride tomorrow too, after lows in the teens. But it's always comforting to see the Memphis snow-fighting equipment going by...

Boehner is Hitler!

Leave it to our wacky 9th Congressional District Rep Steve Cohen to embarrass left Tennessee again:

“They say it's a government takeover of health care, a big lie just like Goebbels," Cohen said. "You say it enough, you repeat the lie, you repeat the lie, and eventually, people believe it. Like blood libel. That's the same kind of thing

Cohen has long history of saying outlandish things to further a meme. He's sort of like Alan Grayson without the girth and that s**teating grin. Just last week he announced locally that he was applying for conceal-carry permit due to the Tucson shooting (he already has a gun) and some crazy encounter in a local supermarket involving a constituent talking about Jesse Ventura. Both of these moves are almost surely an attempt to keep the hate narrative alive to take away from the GOP's legitimate debate about health care--the debate most of us never got. Good Lord, it's not like Memphis just suddenly became dangerous last week.

This is interesting:

Cohen made his comments late last night, but they have attracted no attention because his speech was made to a virtually empty House chamber with no reporters around to watch.

Well yeah, he didn't need any actual congressional members present because the point was to get ABC or the other mainstream alphabets to pick it up. And they did. So sorry to disagree Cap'n (giving kudos for coverage) but the theory here is quite likely similar to a lonely puppy tearing up the furniture for attention--any attention is better than none. Cohen must actually believe it'll work.

SHAMELESS HACK ATTACK 1/19/11

Cohen is just another actor in this Pelosi blitzkrieg offensive leveled against the new GOP sheriff in the House. Sheila Jackson Lee not only said repealing Obamacare was unconstitutional, she then appeared on Cavuto's show with a cheesy photo backdrop of a sick woman whom she said could die without Obamacare. Meanwhile smiley was on the Maddow show trying to explain that the reason the Dems got shellacked had nothing to do with health care.

Really, there's nothing new to see here. The Dems have long been the part of ends justify means and many have no problem going gutter if the situation calls for it. They know the media will help. So it will get worse. Boehner is starting off just fine though, taking a real low key attitude. He knows that responding in kind is just what they want. Paul Ryan knows how to respond in-kind, and has a few charts and props of his own.

Traditional Muslim Garb in Memphis

Irony strikes in Memphis:

A man in traditional Muslim clothing caused a “security scare” at Memphis International Airport Tuesday morning, officials said.

Seems the poor guy got sick and went into the lavatory, taking awhile, then bumped the seat cover on the way out. When the flight attendants went in and saw the place a bit rumpled they snatched the family off the plane for questioning. Just an innocent reaction ala Juan Williams, or should they be fired for profiling? Isn't that exactly what they did? Or does a suspicious person going into a bathroom signal anything unusual (part 5 of that video series is here, which includes a very prescient remark by the Filipino police chief)?

Meanwhile, Memphis is becoming a sort of airline security focal point. The pilot who refused to be nude-scanned on his way to a flight last week is now suing Big Sis over 4th Amendment violations. My question is who decides to pull people out of line for the digital strip search and what's the criteria? And does the scanner have a USB port...

Whose Fault Again?

Local story here about a Baptist Church reaching out to the Muslim community for some interfaith peace, love and understanding..

"The best way to express our support and extend a warm hand of fellowship to our Muslim neighbors here in Memphis was to get together and break bread," said Dr. Billy Bickers of the Prescott Baptist Church.

Maybe that's what Jesus would do. Or maybe He would reflect what another Baptist preacher in Dallas said recently, it's hard to know. We do know that Islam in America is not going anywhere soon, so we need to find a way to coexist. But coexisting isn't a one way street. Is it really helpful for Muslims to react this way:

The Islamic faith has been under attack in recent months...

..the Mid-South Islamic community says it is tired of the discrimination and hateful acts.

"I pay taxes, I vote, I've served in the military, I was born in this country and because I wear a head scarf I'm somehow different? If I take off my head scarf and walk down the street nobody is going to look at me twice,” said American Muslim Maureen Ameen.

Yes, well major Nidal Hasan served in the military and paid his taxes before opening fire and blasting 40 of his fellow soldiers while yelling Allahu Akbar. Just today four Muslims were found guilty in New York for conspiring to blow up a synagogue. The Times Square bomber was recently convicted and sentenced to life--he proclaimed pride in being a terrorist, just like Ramzi Yousef did in 1997. Meanwhile the underwear bomber and others remain on trial or await their day in court. They are all Muslims, killing in the name of Islam.

Interfaith dialogue is imperative but until Muslims start walking out when people like Imam Rauf claim America was partly to blame for 9/11 there will never be any true hope for peace, love and understanding here on our shores. It's only human nature for non-Muslims to wonder if guy walking down the street with the headscarf might explode or open fire out of the blue after almost two decades of attacks in the name of Islam. And the US media and shows like 'the View' need to stop pretending that Islam is the one 'under attack' while ignoring the steady stream of attacks in the name of Islam. Neither America nor American Islam can continue to prosper living outside this reality.

A Blurry View of TEA

Our local newspaper columnist Wendi C. Thomas was recently invited to a "LiberTEA" event in the Memphis area and unlike Keith Olbermann, she actually attended. And indeed, she found some good in the den of evil:

At a Bartlett bowling alley, I joined a few dozen Tea Party supporters (all of whom were white) at a fundraiser for the local Tea Party and for Eighth Congressional District candidate Donn Janes, who is running as an independent.

I was not taken into slavery when I arrived, and I found no indentured servants either.

What I did find is what I've always found when I engage in prolonged conversation with people whose politics are opposite of mine -- and that's civility and hospitality.

Hmm, as if she were expecting a lynching? Seriously, Ms. Thomas (who is black) came up with a decent zinger using the slavery analogy but as with most liberal zingers it's high on emotion and low on depth, insight and logic. Here's her capstone comment:

If you recall the three-fifths of a person part of the constitution, and how recently government restricted the rights of people of color and women, and can name a founding father who owned slaves, an invitation to return to 1776 isn't so, well, inviting.

So the casual reader would be left to believe that in her view, there's really nothing much to celebrate about 1776 because the slaves weren't freed.

Granted, it's not hard to imagine how descendants of people described as 3/5ths of a human being might not have the same warm fuzzy about the whole revolution thing, but what of history without it?

For instance, where would Ms. Thomas be now had those racist white guys not signed the Declaration, gone to war, and written a Constitution, even without solving the slavery issue? How long would it have taken the British Crown to abolish slavery here? After all, they seemed fine with it before the split.

The Constitution, if nothing else, provided a controlling document and thereby a formal guilt to spur future masses towards improvement (the phrase "all men are created equal" is fairly unambiguous). Most historians agree that had the founders brought the slavery issue into the Constitutional process it could have scuttled the whole thing due to the agri-dependent economies of the south (and some of the north) at the time. Here's a collection of writings from prominent founders on the slavery issue, including a parody letter written by Ben Franklin hoisting slavery apologists on their own petards by substituting a north African Islamic Mufti slave owner for them (oh, the irony).

It's obvious Ms. Thomas doesn't like the Tea movement--she's no different than most mainstream reporters/commentators. She chose the racial angle to make her point because it's her perspective. But is she really comfortable dismissing the very building blocks that led to the recent improvements she's so clearly proud of? Seems a little blurry.

Obama Disses Willie

Obama comes out for Steve Cohen in the 9th congressional race over four-time mayor Willie Herenton. Outrageous! But it's a win-win--he doesn't lose much endorsing a white liberal in a solid Dem district that would re-elect him without dead voters if the election were held next week. At the same time he gets to look non-racial after playing all the race politics of late. There's very little national damage.

Any local damage will be forgotten after the primary especially since Herenton is about half nuts (or acts like it) and Cohen has been available to his constituents while stoking the right fires. And how can Obama forget him when Cohen once compared him to Jesus?!

So in typical Memphis fashion the first black mayor is forced to attack the first black president to get elected. Guess we're becoming post-racial after all...

Calderon, Assault Weapons, and West Memphis

No sooner had the Mexican president stood in front of Congress and blamed his country's recent drug violence on America's lifting of the assault weapons ban (and received a standing-o from some Congressmen for bashing the Arizona immigration law) a terrible event unfolded here in the mid-south, blamed on assault weapons:

A short time later and about a mile away, in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart, two deputies searching for the suspects came across a white minivan and were shot and wounded as they approached the vehicle, Shelton said.

"The suspects were using an assault rifle," he said.

How utterly horrible. Assault rifle or not, the thoughts of two murdered police officers left lying in the middle of the interstate for doing their jobs is haunting, tragic, and maddening. I've been to that Wal-Mart a few times. It's right off I-40, a particular stretch long known as a hot spot for police searching for dope runners and speeders.

As to the suspects, lots of speculation because they haven't released names or motive yet, or as AP asks, "why they were pulled over". This grisly picture posted in the local Commercial Appeal doesn't shine much light on anything but the fact one of them is a young man, although in the back of the vehicle is what appears to be a blue plastic storage bin. Maybe that's why they pulled them over, or maybe the police now profile young white scruffy guys driving mini-vans. Or maybe they were just speeding.

Details will come but right now there are some discrepancies per usual, such as what guns they had (reports now say a long rifle and handgun, not AK-47s) and how the traffic stop occurred (first officer pulled them over, second arrived, first officer was knocked the ground and the shooting started versus they just opened fire). And who tipped police to their final destination.

What has been released is the van's registration was to a "House of God's Prayer" in New Vienna, Ohio, a defunct church that according to reports was linked to the Ayrian nation in the 90s. We'll see if that makes the story take off.

MORE 5/21/10

Details coming in. Suspect sounds fairly paranoid, talking about bankruptcy of the US in '33, the moneychangers and such. Comment from their webpage:

Let's face it. If there wasn't a "traffic stop" no one would be dead!

Yeah, that's logical. In a crazyass kind of way. The police dash cam likely won't be released out of respect and sensitivity to the officers' families but it probably tells the story.

Speaking of respect for the deceased, did the Commercial Appeal go too far in showing the picture of the 16 year old lying on the ground beside the vehicle? It was such a grisly attack they probably figured people wanted to see, but there are murders in this city all the time and they hardly ever show crime scene photos on the front page.

Hey Look! A Kristallnacht!

My own Congressman--calling me a Nazi Klansman! Oh, and anyone else who "goes out and exercises their first amendment rights". And Kristallnacht? Criminy, what a maroon. But this is Left Tennessee, so it's appropriate. Here's the explanation..

Cohen's challenger for his 9th district seat is former Memphis mayor W.W. Herenton, who has already dropped the race card by suggesting the 9th district seat belongs to a black person. So that explains Cohen. It's not the first time.

Classifying Carlos Bledsoe

Carlos who, you say? How about Abdulhakim Mohammed, the self-described jihadi who shot two Little Rock Army recruiters last summer. The local Commercial Appeal has a lengthy article today focused on his father, who appears to be grief-stricken about losing a son to radicalism. As he said, tomorrow it might be somebody's blond-haired, blue eyed son lost to this ideology--true enough. Maybe Jihad Jane and the woman from Colorado have already proved him correct.

Two things stand out from the article. One, the Little Rock prosecutor Larry Jegley will be trying Bledsoe for standard murder and will not explore any al Qaeda roots:

"All I care about is what he did and what I think I can prove that he did. Whether he claims to be a Martian who flew in here on a spaceship or whatever doesn't matter."

If the name Larry Jegley rings a bell it's because he was all over the place slamming Mike Huckabee after the Washington state police assassinations. Hopefully he'd use the same analogy if the crime allegedly involved Tea Party members.

The second thing is the senior Mr. Bledsoe, who wonders:

He wants to know why his son's case isn't in federal court, and how he was able to buy a gun at a Walmart in Little Rock despite being interviewed previously by the FBI.

Because thankfully American citizens are still allowed to purchase a long rifle in Walmart without passing a background test and Bledsoe had no record. But yes, the FBI questioned him in Nashville after his return from Yemen, which means they knew of him, which again points out the feasibility of a law-enforcement approach to jihadies.

Bledsoe's father isn't alone in questioning why this case is being treated as a garden variety street crime--here's slain soldier William Long's father:

"Being gunned down in uniform by a self-described Islamic warrior obviously does not rise to the level of a terrorist act as far as I can tell under this administration," the retired Marine officer

Oddly enough, it's hard to find any stories detailing whether Bledsoe was interrogated and if so, whether they got anything useful about his ties in Yemen. Odd, because we got all kinds of info about Abdulmuttalob's questioning and how awesomely effective it was, and yet he killed no one. Was the HIG notified? Oh right. Then again, if the government doesn't consider Bledsoe a terrorist it's a moot point anyway. Maybe 60 Minutes will do an investigation.

Let's end this post with some words of wisdom from Mr. Jegley back when he was discussing the Seattle shooting:

I think the clemency power was -- was overused by our former governor. And I think that this is a bitter harvest that we're reaping because of it.

Not sure how engaging in denial will help prevent bitter harvests on this front--maybe it denies the jihadies their publicity--but it also seems to help an administration who heavily demagogued Bush's handling of terror suspects avoid a publicized federal case and a sticky classification decision.