Katie Awards To Return

I'm glad to see this. Last year it looked like the Katie Awards, given for outstanding journalism in this area, might be finished. The sponsor of the awards, the Dallas Press Club, suspended the awards in 2007 when it realized that some cheating had occurred.

It was learned that the former head of the organization, Elizabeth Albanese, had cut some corners. Instead of obtaining independent and unbiased judges to evaluate the work of those nominated, she just gave the awards to whoever she wanted -- including naming herself as the winner of several of the Katies.

Winning a Katie was once considered a prestigious honor, and the Dallas Press Club is hoping to restore that prestige. They have promised that independent judges would be chosen to judge all entries. The judges comments will be included with each entry, and the name of the judge(s) will be on the back of each award given.

They have also announced that the University of Missouri Journalism Department and the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in Florida, have agreed to participate in the judging. This is a good move, and should restore some credibility to the awards.

The awards used to cover a six state area, but that has now been narrowed to center on Texas. Those nominated must be a Texas news organization, or be a Texas-based journalist from an outside source. The AP, the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram have all announced they will participate in the revived awards.

The deadline for nominations is August 29th, and the new Katies will be given out at a banquet on November 15th. I hope everything goes well. I'd like to see the awards regain their prestigious status. They were once, and hopefully will again be a real boon for Texas journalism.

Her Passport Says 16

Cartoon is by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post.

The Only Issue That Matters In 2008

The mainstream media have chattered incessantly in this presidential race about what issues are the most important. Some would have you believe that experience is the issue that will decide who becomes president. Others say the war on terror and homeland security will be the deciding factor. Still others believe the economy will trump all other issues.

In another year, these would indeed be very important issues. But are they really the most important this year? I submit that they are not. Experience is really not as important as the media would have you think. America has shown many times in the past that they will vote for lesser experience if they like a candidate.

The argument can easily be made that Kennedy was not nearly as experienced as Nixon, but he won. The truth is that no one is truly prepared to be president, but those elected usually rise to the occasion. No one expected Truman to be a strong and capable president, but that was what he turned out to be. It is more important to be liked than experienced.

So how about the Iraq war and the overall "war on terror". I submit that this issue has already been decided by the public. The huge majority of the American people believe the Iraq war was a mistake, and the war on terror is being mishandled.

It took them a while, but most people now know it was a mistake to pull most of our troops out of Afghanistan before the job was finished, and invade Iraq (who posed no danger to us). They want to know why we attacked Saddam, when our real enemy was al-Queda. If this was really the most important issue, the Democrat would win with about 65% of the vote.

The same could be said for the economy. No matter how many times Bush says our economy is healthy, Americans know better. They also know the Bush presidency has been disastrous for everyone but the rich, and they know that all McCain has to offer is more of the failed Bush policies. Nearly 80% of Americans say America is on the wrong track economically. If the economy was really the most important issue, Democrats would win big.

And that's just what's happening in the House and Senate races. For months, huge majorities of the American people have preferred Democrats over Republicans (even though Congress itself gets low ratings). Democrats are poised to make huge gains in both houses of Congress.

The reason they are poised to do that is because the American people have already made up their minds about the economy and the war. They have already decided that the country cannot afford another four years of Republican policies.

So why is the presidential race so close? Since it is obvious that most Americans don't want the Republicans running things anymore, why are so many of them considering a vote for McCain? It is because there is one issue this year that far outweighs all the others in the presidential race.

That issue is RACISM. I know that some think we have gone beyond our racist past by nominating an Afro-American for president. But frankly, nothing has been proven yet. Obama was nominated by a coalition of blacks, liberals and young people -- the least racist elements in our society. It remains to be seen how the general population will vote.

Whether we want to admit it or not, there is still a LOT of racism in this country. Passing a few equal rights laws did not change the hearts of the populace. That is a harder and slower task. The question is has America changed enough yet? Or is the majority still racist enough to vote knowingly against their own interests, rather than vote for an Afro-American?

I can't help but think if a white male were heading the Democratic ticket, he'd probably be leading in the polls by 20%. (And don't bring Hillary into this argument. She lost, and there's no reason to think she'd do any better than Obama.) The only reason the race is currently so close is America's lingering racism.

If Obama loses, it will be because Americans are not yet mature enough to get past the race issue. I know most people won't admit it -- they'll come up with a variety of weak excuses to cover for it. But the truth is that with the overwhelming Democratic feeling in the country, the only thing that can defeat Obama is racism.

Don't get me wrong. I am an Obama supporter. I believe he is the best candidate by far, and I've waited most of my life to see a credible Afro-American candidate. I am very proud of the Democrats for nominating him, and I will vote for him proudly.

I just have this nagging feeling in the back of my brain that America has not progressed as far as we Democrats had hoped. I hope I'm wrong. November will be a test for America. Are we making progress, or is America still a very racist country? The coming election will clearly answer that question.

Republican Leadership

Both Cartoons are by Lee Judge in The Kansas City Star.

Russians Sending A Clear Message

It looks like Russia is still playing games with the rest of Europe and the United States. For days, the Russians said they agreed to a truce, but continued to bomb and advance their ground troops. Now that they've actually signed the truce, they keep saying they are beginning to withdraw. But the evidence suggests something else.

United States defense and military officials say they see no evidence that Russia is withdrawing their troops. In fact, several units of the Russian army actually moved toward the Georgian capital. Four armored vehicles, each carrying about 15 soldiers, moved from Gori to Igoeti -- about 55 miles from Tbilisi.

It's looking like Russia is intentionally dragging their feet to send a couple of messages. The first message is aimed at Europe and the United States. They're making it clear that they do not take orders or respond to threats from the West. They will withdraw when they want to, regardless of what Bush and European leaders want or say.

The second message is to the former members of the old Soviet state. These states border Russia, and Russia is making it clear to them that they have the power to squash any state that angers Russia. They are also making it clear that these states cannot count on the West for help when Russia decides to strike. There is only one real power in the area, and that power is Russia.

I expect Russia will probably withdraw from Georgia soon, except for the breakaway areas. They have made their point very clear.

Republican Tax Lies

There's a new Republican e-mail going around. It contains the usual Republican lies about how McCain is going to cut your taxes, while Obama will raise everyone's taxes. It says Obama will put new taxes on all homes over 2400 square feet (A LIE) and Obama wants new and higher gas taxes (A LIE). In fact, about the only thing this e-mail has right is that it spelled both candidates names correctly.

But perhaps the biggest tax lie the Republicans are spreading is that Obama wants to raise your income taxes. Actually, this is true -- if you make over $603,000 a year. And frankly, if you make that much you should be paying more taxes. But if you're just a middle-class or working-class American making less than that, then Obama's tax plan will help you more than anything McCain has proposed.

McCain is basically following the Bush/Cheney tax policy. Give huge savings to the rich and next to nothing to everyone else. Here is the Tax Policy Center's estimate of savings in income taxes under the proposals put forward by both candidates:

INCOME.........McCain Plan.....Obama Plan

under $19K.....-$19..............-$567

$19K-38K.......-$113.............-$892

$38K-66K.......-$319.............-$1042

$66K-112K......-$1009............-$1290

$112K-161K.....-$2614............-$2204

$161K-227K.....-$4380............-$2789

$227K-603K.....-$7871............+$14

$603K-2.9M.....-$45361..........+$115974

over $2.9M.....-$269364.........+$701885

As you can see, McCain gives far bigger tax breaks to the rich. However, Obama gives the tax breaks to the people who need it, while making those who can afford it pay their fair share. Which plan seems the fairest to you?

After the huge deficits run up by the Republicans, I think Obama's plan is the only one that makes sense.

Labour Troubles

Political Cartoon is by Brian Adcock (Scotland) in The Scotland on Sunday and The Prague Post.

Republican Reps Not Chosen As Delegates

A few years ago, the Democratic Party created the position of "superdelegate". This allowed the Democratic senators and representatives to be delegates to the national convention, but left the normal delegate slots for grassroots party workers. But the Republicans have not done this, and many years a good portion of the delegate slots have been given to these elected officials.

But that doesn't seem to have happened this year. Although Both Republican senators have been given delegate slots, the representatives were not automatically given delegate slots.

According to the Texas party's national nominations committee chairman, Butch Davis, the party gave the delegate slots to grassroots party members this year. This has upset some of the representatives who were not chosen, like Joe Barton (pictured above).

Barton is angry, and as my grandmother would have said, he "throwing a hissy fit". Barton thinks the new policy is "pretty shortsighted", and said of it, "I’d say it was stupid."

Now the Republicans aren't saying that Barton can't go to the convention. In fact, they are offering him, and the other representatives, floor privileges. But that's not good enough for Barton. He seems to think he has a right to a delegate slot, and since he wasn't given one, he's not going to the convention.

I doubt if they'll miss him much.

Harrold To Let Teachers Carry Guns

This strikes kind of close to home for me. I grew up in Wilbarger County and attended a small country school there for many years. One of our district rivals was the Harrold School District, located a few miles east of Vernon on Highway 287. This coming school year, the 110-student school will become the first school in the nation to allow its teachers and staff to carry concealed guns.

The school says they are doing it because they are about 30 minutes from the Wilbarger County Sheriff's office. They are also located only a couple of blocks from U.S. 287 which runs from Fort Worth to Amarillo. The district seems to think this puts them at risk, even though there have not been any incidents in the past which would require a weapon-related response.

The school already has several safety features -- access through only one entrance, surveillance cameras and electric locks on the doors. But the superintendent felt they needed even more. He said, "Our philosophy here is to be prepared."

Frankly, I'm not sure this is a good idea. I'm not against responsible gun ownership, but I don't like the idea of minimally-trained people carrying guns in a school -- no matter how well-intentioned. This action may well put young people's lives more in danger rather than less.

School security expert Ken Trump voices some of my concerns when he says, "What are the rules for use of force? Or how about weapons-retention training? Because they could go in to break up a fight in the cafeteria and lose their gun."

"On the surface, it may sound like a solution to a difficult problem of the sheriff being 30 minutes way, but they have taken on a huge responsibility," he continued. "If an accident or an incident occurs, they’re going to have some tough questions to answer."

The superintendent has not said how many or which of the teachers and staff members will be armed. He does not want anyone, including the students, to know that information.

Maybe I'm just getting too old, but it seems to me that we live in sad times when a country school feels like it must arm its teachers.

A New Superhero

Cartoon is by Pat Bagley in the Salt Lake Tribune.

The Antichrist Is --- John McCain ?

I'm not a religious person, but I found this story both interesting and amusing. Especially since the McCain campaign ad with the Left Behind images that seemed to infer that Obama was the Antichrist. It looks like some evangelical christians do believe a presidential candidate may be the Antichrist -- but they think it is John Sidney McCain!

The True Bible Society in Colorado Springs have come to the conclusion that John McCain may actually be the Antichrist. Their findings will be published next month in the End Times Journal.

“What started us looking at this issue is the fact that Senator McCain has declared his intention to maintain US forces in Iraq for a hundred years,” said David Jenkins, a leading Biblical scholar. “That means that McCain wants to control Babylon for at least a century....We believe that the End Times is near, based on the pattern of wars, earthquakes. and other strange phenomena we’ve been witnessing since the start of the New Millennium,” said Jenkins. “Given that it may be imminent, the person who controls Babylon must be the Antichrist.”

The TBS scholars said their belief was strengthened when they learned that McCain's great-grandfather was actually named John Mihai. Mihai is an ancient Romanian name, and many christians think the Antichrist will be Romanian.

“What clinched it for us was that the name Mihai means ‘who is like the Lord,’” said Jenkins. “As far as we’re concerned, that was enough. It means that McCain might easily pretend to be the Redeemer.”

The next time your evangelical neighbor wants to bring religion into this presidential race, throw this at them. But stand back -- their head may explode!

Arkansas City Trashes The Constitution

This is an unbelievable story. For the last week, the Arkansas city of Helena-West Helena has imposed a 24-hour curfew on a 10 square-block area of the city. They said they did it because the area is crime-ridden. The police carried military rifles and had the authority to stop anyone in the area at any time of the day. If the person acted nervous or didn't have a "good" reason for being there, the police would search them and their vehicle.

That was outrageous enough, but now the city council has gone even further. The curfew was supposed to end last Tuesday, but instead, the city council voted 9-0 to extend the 24-hour curfew to the entire city. That means no one has the right to be outside their home anywhere in the city unless they can justify it to the police.

The city government has tossed out the U.S. Constitution and created their own police state. The ACLU tried to tell them their actions were unconstitutional, but the council ignored them. The city's mayor says "some infringement on constitutional rights is OK".

He is wrong. It's not OK to violate the Constitution. Our forefathers created that wonderful document because they didn't want to live in a country that wasn't free, and they didn't want us to have to live in a police state either.

I expect the ACLU will take these idiots to court and win. I certainly hope so. It is important that behavior like this is quickly stamped out before it can spread. Our freedoms are too important.

Phelps-Mania

Cartoon is by Mike Keefe in The Denver Post.

Justice in Louisiana ?

Maybe there is some justice in Louisiana. A grand jury has indicted Scott Nugent for Manslaughter and also for Felony Criminal Malfeasance. Nugent was the police officer who arrested Baron "Scooter" Pikes (pictured above), placed him in handcuffs, and then Tased him nine times, resulting in his death.

Nugent's attorney has said that his client was following proper police procedure. But that seems very unlikely. A copy of the police department's Taser training manual says the device "shall only be deployed in circumstances where it is deemed reasonably necessary to control a dangerous or violent subject." That would seem to eliminate any situation where the suspect had already been handcuffed.

In an apparent effort to cover for Nugent's reprehensible actions, the police department said Pikes had told officers he had asthma and had taken crack cocaine and PCP. They want people to believe Pikes was out of control and died from his own medical problems. That might have worked, except the medical examiner exposed it as a lie.

According to the medical examiner:

* Pikes was already in handcuffs and lying on the ground before being Tased.

* He was shot with the Taser at least nine times, and may actually have already been dead when Tased the last two times.

* He had NO drugs in his system.

* There was no medical evidence of asthma.

The truth is there was absolutely no reason to use the Taser on Pikes. Nugent was just angry because Pikes had tried to run. The Taser was used as a torture device, and torture was it's only purpose in this incident. That torture caused the death of Baron Pikes.

Nugent could receive as much as 40 years if convicted (he has already been fired). But that is the hard part -- "if convicted". It's very hard to convict a police officer of anything, especially if the officer is white and the victim is black.

The Winn Parish District Attorney said, "It is our intention to show at trial that Mr. Nugent caused the death of Baron Pikes by Tasing him multiple times, unnecessarily and in violation of Louisiana law, and by failing to get him medical attention when it was apparent he needed it,"

I wish the D.A. luck in his endeavor, but I'll believe it when I actually hear a guilty verdict. I haven't forgotten the NYC case where an unarmed man was shot about 40 times and the jury refused to convict the police officers.