[1]Welcome one and all to the most intense Nightly Read on the sphere… The BitsBlog Nightly Ramble
This is the BitsBallcap edition.
Yes, indeed, this object to the right is the genuine article, the Bits Ballcap, the subject of a multitude of tippage, as I salute or thank one being or another. Always nice to have a picture of what I’m talking about. When I say BBCT, from now on, you know what I’m talking about… it’s a Bits Ballcap Tip.
- How much he Madoff with? It was mildly interesting, and more than a litle bizzare, to watch Fox and Freinds doing live coverage of Bernie Madoff’s trip to the court in southern Manhattan, to plead in his case.Bizzare, because first, I very seldom get a street level view of the place anymore. No, seriously. I know that’s not the subject at hand, but don’t you ever get to looking at real-lfe shots of cities in movies to get a feel of what it must be/have been like??Secondly, there appeared to be some confusion on what Madoff was riding in. Apparently, the word got out he was driving a silver wagon crossover affair… so they first focused on a silver VW, then on a silver Kia. Forgive me, but I have some instinctive problems with envisioning Madoff driving either of those… particularly the Kia. You can’t help but wonder if it wasn’t a calculated thing; Driving to the court in a stretch wouldn’t have made many freinds, I suppose.
[2]Thirdly, and obviously most important, comes the idea of some kind of justice for all the people who lost so much. There’s a lot riding on this, and frankly I have my doubts most of the money will ever be recovered. Madoff, it strikes me, if he’s smart enough to have carried on this charade for so long, is also likely smart enough to have planned all of this out; he’s got a chuck of it squrreled away somewhere for his close associates, since it seems clear he’ll never be spending it himself. And plans or no, most of the stuff is likely already spent, in any event.Then there’s the aspect of him ever getting a fair trial. No, I’m not being sympathetic, here, but hear me out, please. The left points at the court cases of the poor and suggests the reason the conviction rates are so high for less well off is that their representation isn’t up to the drill. They also claim juries are intrnically biased against the poor. Argue those points if you will, I bring them up only in comparison. Given the massive coverage of this thing, and how very many rich folks… and formerly rich folks, are lined up against this guy, I wonder if they can find a jury that hasn’t made up it’s mind before word one is spoken in trial. I made mention of this over at OTB the other day,and of course the populists were aghast at this. I got the usual nonsense, that I was a typical rightie, defending the rich… despite specifically saying “I’m not defending him”. (Sorry, I don’t have the link to hand, just now; this is being composed on the Palm Treo.) But this shows us a couple things; First, that emotions are running high… a deadly situation for anyone seeking a fair trial, as the left usually loves to remind us… and secondly, the cries of ‘equal justice under the law’ from the left tend to get drowned out in the populist notions that are always involved in a case like this.
I’ll doubtless have more to say on all of this as the case moves forward. I predict this thing will have a small mountain of teachable moments as regards our attitudes toward class warfare, and crime, and I plan to latch onto those, as I find them. -
Poor little Rich Girl:Since we’re on the subject of class warfare, it does seem fitting we should brush up against the subject of Nancy Pelosi using the United States Military as her own airlnine. Check this report from Judicial watch. [3] It strikes me that she’s getting a pass on the class warfare bit, with this, to say nothing of the misuse of the military, and their funding. The big problem of course is that her district’s voters see nothing wrong with this.
- I will never join the dark side: Heh. [4]
- A hoax? No…. but… You’d be amazed at how much traffic I got last night from apparently liberal sources trying to find evidence that the Bill Sammon story I ran yesterday [5]was a hoax. I tellyou true; I was. Search strings like “Carville 9/11 fail hoax” kept my servers hopping from the moment the Sammon story broke. It’s not a hoax, of course. The Democrats ahve been caught red handed on this one, and they’re not going to wiggle out of it. The parade of leftists I saw gracing my screen this morning on the morning news shows trying to say what Carville said wasn’t the same as what Limbaugh said, tells me they’re embarrassed, and unable to convincingly… even to themselves… defend this nonsense. The story has backfired on them bigtime.. and my hitcount listings tell me they’re desperate to deflect this one. They will fail.
- Interesting note from The Hill [6]:
Some Democrats have started to worry that voters don’t and won’t understand the link between economic revival and Obama’s huge agenda, which includes saving the banking industry, ending home foreclosures, reforming healthcare and developing a national energy policy, among much else.
While lawmakers debate controversial proposals contained in the new president’s debut budget — cutting farm subsidies, raising taxes on charitable contributions, etc. — there is a growing sense that time is running out faster than expected.
Well, no. See, the problem, Democrats, is the people DO in fact understand. They know there IS no link. The whole thing is a ruse to get the far left’s agenda in place. And you’re right. Time has, in fact run out faster than you expected. The voters are angry, and know they’ve been lied to.
- More tea, Vicar? Speaking of angry voters, Chuck Simmins [7]and his team are to be commended. They ran a successful Tea Party in nearby Rochester NY. He’s got Photos, too [8]. And ch13 did some coverage [9], as well. I couldn’t attend, alas. There as some aspects of my job I can’t put off, and I ran into one of them yesterday. That’s why you don’t often see Conservatives protesting anything; Unlike the left, they actually have jobs. Jobs that unlike Union employees, won’t pay them to carry protest signs for leftie casues. So as I’ve said before… that the TeaParty thing has gone as far as it has is remarkable. BBCT, Chuck…
- But, for how long? The New York Times picks up Ross Douthat [10]. This would be to fill William Kristol’s shoes… which I grant isn’t all that much of a challange. A fair enough choice , though, particularly given the recent history of the paper. I have my doubts, however, if the paper itself won’t end up being a corrupting influence. The Times of late seems to be suffering from the syndrome of King Midas in reverse’ when it comes to anything not of the left.
- Big Bang theory with Bagels: BBCT and best wishes to Matt Margolis [11]who got rear-ended by another car in the Buffalo Southtowns this morning. Missed Bagel day at work, too, the poor sod. As you might guess by my tone, nothing major… he’s apprently OK… though the hospital people took up most of the morning running tests. Xrays, EKG, the works.