Looks like John Edwards hired one heckuva blogger to write the Edwards ‘08 blog. 

I haven’t been putting the Deal of the Day stories on the blog, but I’m going to start trying.  Today’s Deal of the Day comes from Decatur, IL.

Seventeen-year-old Terrell A. Adams was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison on his guilty plea last month to one count of armed robbery for the Jan. 30 holdup of the Hard Hat Inn, 1464 E. William St.

Adams was 16, a freshman at Eisenhower High School and on juvenile probation when he held up the tavern three times between Oct. 31, 2005, and Jan. 30, 2006.

Macon County State’s Attorney Jack Ahola asked Associate Judge James Coryell to sentence Adams to 20 years in prison, noting, “I’m not sure he can ever be rehabilitated.”

Defense attorney Chris Bradley asked for the minimum sentence of six years for the Class X felony, noting that Adams had been a big help at home to his grandmother and, with the exception of the robberies, had followed the rules of his juvenile probation.

I love that last line.  Besides the armed robberies, he didn’t violate his parole, Your Honor!

And the ten year sentence isn’t a ten year sentence.  From the story:

Ahola said Adams can receive day-for-day good time in prison. With the 360 days he already has served in the county jail, Adams could be out on parole in less than four years.

Prosecution asks for 20 years, he’ll be out in four.  Oh goody.

Okay, so I’m officially pulling for both underdogs in today’s conference championship games.  I’ve had a soft spot in my heart for the Saints ever since I did sports-talk radio many years ago and my producer Ken lived and died for the Saints.  For you, Kenny, I will be cheering on Drew Brees, Reggie Bush, and the rest of the Saints as they take on the Bears.  May Rex Grossman look like… well, Rex Grossman.

I’m a little nervous about the Pats/Colts game, but I still think my beloved Patriots can pull it out.  Just don’t let it come down to a last second field goal for Vinatieri.

The Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2007 has passed the Senate, but not before Senator Bennett’s amendment passed as well. 

Good news for bloggers.

The search for a missing child ends successfully when police find him AND another child who’s been missing since 2002. 

The story is here. 

May the mutant who did this rot in hell, and may the media show SOME restraint in letting these families reunite in relative peace before they swoop down like vultures.

Via Uncle, comes word that a writer for the Argus-Leader of South Dakota is trying to justify printing the names of all concealed carry applicants in the state.

Honestly, after reading the piece by Jeff Martin, I still don’t understand the justification.

We print the names of people in the news because that’s our business. Our pact with readers is that we’ll tell them what is going on in Ames and Story County. That means we’ll tell them not only what’s happening at the city council and at Iowa State University, but also who is arrested, who is having babies, who is selling his house (and for how much), who has died (and of what cause). People expect that from us.

If we leave out just one name, just one fact, we have failed in our mission and damaged our credibility.

That’s why we printed those gun permits in Iowa.

It’s the kind of journalism that goes to the heart of the First Amendment.

It was then, and it is now.

Speaking academically, that reason excuse is what we call Bovine Excrement.  Martin says they print the names of people in the news.  You betcha.  Concealed carry permit holders aren’t in the news, unless of course you’re talking about an armed citizen story. 

Martin says they print the name of “who is arrested, who is having babies, who is selling his house, who has died.”  All of those are newsworthy things, to one degree or another.  Is Martin actually trying to argue that someone applying for a concealed carry license in South Dakota is newsworthy?  And keep in mind, the legislature passed a law last session blocking media access to these names.  What Martin is actually stating is that someone who applied for a concealed carry license six months ago is a newsworthy figure.

That’s just crazy.  You might as well publish the names of everyone in the state who went to church last Sunday!

Or maybe you should publish the story about the bank teller who’s having an affair with the underwriter.  Or lets name the people who show up at the gay bar in Grand Rapids on Saturday night! 

There are various reasons why newspapers don’t do these things, of course.  The bottom line is this:  responsible journalists don’t set out to create problems.  They highlight problems.  But no one is suggesting that concealed carry is a problem in South Dakota.  There haven’t been any attempts to repeal it.  Even the bill blocking media access to the names of concealed carry applicants only had four dissenting votes in the state House.  No one thinks this is a problem… except for the Argus-Leader.

So, because Mr. Martin and the Argus-Leader want to show the Legislature that they can play tough, they’re willing to jeopardize the safety of every resident in the state.  See, this doesn’t just affect concealed carry holders.  In fact, I’d say this affects those who don’t carry concealed even more.  Now the bad guys know who’s a target, at least when they’re out on the street. 

The sheer arrogance of Mr. Martin really pisses me off.  I’ll admit it.  I’ve always had an idealist streak in me.  I believe in journalism that can help right wrongs, that stands up for the little guy, that wears the white hat.  When I was a kid, I wanted to be an archaeologist.  As soon as I realized that meant years and years and years of school, I decided I wanted to be a journalist.  I still do.  I love my job, but I hate people like Mr. Martin who cheapen my profession. 

There’s no reason at all for the Argus-Leader to publish these names.  It’s not newsworthy, it’s not timely, it’s just mean spirited and small minded. 

Mr. Martin, you should be ashamed.  If all you learned from your big-city boss is to be a bully, that’s a sad legacy for him to leave and he should be ashamed as well. 

So says the rumors.  I’d like to see him run, because I’m not that thrilled (understatement of the year) from what I’ve seen of McCain and Guiliani to date.

I also find it interesting, because I’ve long thought that Brad Henry would make an excellent vice-presidential candidate for the Democrats.  In fact, I think the veep candidate for the Dems will be a western Democrat governor.  Schweitzer in Montana might have a leg up on Henry, but if the Dems are smart they’ll take a look at Oklahoma’s governor.

Sorry for the lack of updates.  My wireless connection at home has been very spotty as of late, and it’s just been a frustration to get something posted.  I will persevere, however, especially because this story.

Needham High students no longer will get to see their names in the newspaper when they are placed on the Honor Roll for academic achievement.

High School principal Paul Richards has ended the practice of sending the list to the local media.

In an e-mail to students and parents, Richards said that Needham’s high achievement levels have a dark side, creating a competitive culture among students where grades are compared within groups and argued over with teachers.

It’s not just anti-gun folks that like to blame the inanimate object, is it? 

The local paper has a mealy-mouthed editorial on the issue.  Great headline, pretty sorry op/ed. 

I say this as a guy who made the honor roll a grand total of ONE time in high school.  There’s nothing wrong with kids feeling bad about not doing their best.  In fact, isn’t that the way it’s supposed to be?  We’re more concerned with self-esteem than self-reliance these days, and that’s a bad trend. 

Conversely, there’s nothing wrong with praising kids who get good grades.  There’s nothing wrong with rewarding excellence.  Instead, we seem to be satisfied with mediocrity or less these days.  It’s disappointing.

Over at On Tap we’re handing out our end of the year awards.  First category:  Destined for Political Stardom.

I got a settlement offer in the mail yesterday.  Apparently our insurance company’s been sued in a class action lawsuit, and they’re offering settlement terms to all injured parties, and I guess I apply.

The thing is though, I really like our insurance company.  Despite two total loss claims in the span of six months, our rates never got hiked.  I have only good things to say about our insurance company… so I’m saying no to the free money (which translates out to about $132 bucks) in favor of not punishing a company that’s treated me well. 

I guess it’s my way of rejecting the stupid lawsuits that are filed every day in this country.

First they were the Indians.  Then they were the Riverhawks.  Now they’re just called O.

That’s what one doctor says in this piece in the WaPo.

Justin’s football helmet is roughly one-fifth of his total height. His pants sag toward his feet. He believes in Santa.

He is part of what youth football organizers say is a growing phenomenon across the country: Parents are bringing children as young as 5 out to play tackle football, in part to prepare them for more serious competition a few years later….

“Ouch,” Joseph Zanga, a North Carolina physician and past president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, said when told of teams like the Ankle Biters. “In this pediatrician’s opinion . . . it’s not appropriate.”

I played football when I was 5, and I was without a doubt the smallest kid on the field.  In fact, I was always one of the smaller kids on the field, even in high school.  And because I was also one of the slowest I played offensive and defensive line.  I still have a picture of me from kindergarten in my football uniform.  I’ll have to dig it up and scan it so I can post it here.

By the way, Andrew (at age 6) doesn’t play football, although he is getting to the point where he wants to watch football with me on television.  I’d sign him up, but he’s already in Cub Scouts and I don’t want him to be one of those kids who’s got a different activity every stinkin’ day.  I suspect when spring rolls around he’ll be playing Little League in addition to scouting, and that’s probably enough.

The San Francisco 49′ers are in a dispute with the city over a new stadium, and the 49′ers have indicated they’ll move the team to Santa Clara in the near future.  Now Senator Dianne Feinstein says she’s exploring legislation to prevent the team from keeping its name.

“When a team takes the name and in this case the heritage of a city, it causes great consternation,'’ the former San Francisco mayor said at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.

“You can’t move to Santa Clara and call yourself the 49ers,'’ Feinstein said.

Oh really?  I’d say that the Los Angeles Dodgers and the L.A. Lakers prove that you can move a team and keep their geographically significant name, even if it doesn’t make any sense. 

Other teams that moved to California and kept their old names include the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland Athletics.  Then there’s the Oakland Raiders (formerly the Los Angeles Raiders, formerly the Oakland Raiders). 

You know, if Feinstein doesn’t think that a team has the right to keep its name if it moves, she’s not going to have much of a problem going after re-defining legally owned firearms to make them illegal. 

Every now and then a television station actually reports real news during the November sweeps.  Case in point:  Chicago2 and their report on fudging homicide numbers in the Windy City.

But some cops, who are afraid to speak publicly, say some homicides are being hidden by classifying them as death investigations to make the city seem safer.

Police officials deny it.

“I know that every murder is captured,” said Deputy Chief of Detectives Mike Chassen. “You cannot hide dead bodies.”

CBS 2 compared lists of homicide victims over the last five years from the Chicago police and the Cook County medical examiner. We eliminated cases that can’t be counted in crime statistics, such as accidental deaths.

We found more than 80 names missing from the police list — people who were beaten, burned, stabbed, and strangled in ways the medical examiner ruled to be homicides.

Not too long ago, the Village Voice raised similar questions about assault figures in New York City.  I’m assuming that the Voice never looked into homicide figures because, well, it does seem difficult if not impossible to fudge those numbers.  But the numbers appear to have been fudged in Chicago. 

It would make a great report if some enterprising blogger or journalist were to compare the NYPD’s list of homicide victims with the medical examiner’s list.  Maybe it all adds up.  And maybe it doesn’t.

(hat tip to John Lott)

I went to my first NHL game over the weekend.  The Capitals played the Rangers at MCI Center, I had free tickets, so Marshall (from OnTap) and I took in the game.

I’m pretty impressed with MCI Center.  Andrew would really like to go see a Wizards game, but the cheapest seats are $40, which is about twice what I would normally pay for nosebleed seats.  But after seeing the place in person, I think even in the upper levels you get a pretty good view.  So while I’m no fan of the NBA, I’ll probably plunk down the $80 and take him to a game soon.

As far as the game goes… well, it was a little bit better than those Blazers games I loved to attend.  I don’t follow the NHL at all, but living in the D.C. area you hear about Alex Ovechkin.  The kid lives up to his hype.  I was even more impressed with Olie Kolzig, the goalie for the Caps.  He was amazing, only allowing one goal (and that was during a Rangers power play when the Rangers had pulled their goalie.  6-4’s gonna give you a bit of an advantage). 

The final was 3-1, and then it was time to get home.  I had taken the Metro in because I’m too cheap to park, so I was expecting to have a crammed ride.  It was pretty tight for a couple of stops, but by the time we’d gotten to the Pentagon metro stop (about halfway home for me) I was able to find a place to sit. 

All in all, not a bad night.  A boring blog post, but a nice night.

A 12-year GOP veteran was voted out in favor of one of the wussiest rockers ever.  In fact, I shouldn’t even use the term “rocker”.  Orleans made James Taylor look like Alice Cooper. 

I’m guessing Hall wasn’t one of the “Fightin’ Dems”.  Probably ran on the “I’ll restore AM Gold to America” platform.

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If the Democrats don’t go nutty when they take power, they might be able to keep it.  So what are they talking about?

From Farrah comes Nancy Pelosi’s plan:

“We must share the benefits of our wealth” beyond the privileged few, she added.

Say hello to socialism?

And from Charlie” target=”_BLANK”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/nyregion/09delegation.html?_r=1&oref=slogin”target=”_Blank”>Charlie Rangel:

To that end, he sketched out an expansive federal agenda: Teaming up with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg on gun control, passing new tax incentives for urban job programs, and redirecting federal money to New York in return for the outsize tax collections that the federal government makes here.

Socialism and gun control.  Yeah, that’s exactly what America voted for on Tuesday. 

The Brady Campaign is saying that last night’s results mean Americans are in favor of gun control.  Wake Up Wal-Mart is saying that last night’s results mean Americans hate Wally World. 

Both of them are wrong (of course).  More Americans than ever own firearms.  More Americans than ever say a gun in the home makes it a safer place.  And Wal-Mart keeps selling, thanks to their “always low prices”.  I mean, seriously, did anybody go into the voting booth and say “I’m casting my vote against Wal-Mart!”? 

Didn’t think so.

The purge of the GOP has begun, with Rumsfeld leaving and Hastert saying he won’t seek a leadership position.  In addition to the Mike Pence quote from earlier, Tom Coburn is suggesting that the GOP’s problem is they abandoned the base.  From Instapundit:

“This election does not show that voters have abandoned their belief in limited government; it shows that the Republican Party has abandoned them. In fact, these results represent the total failure of big government Republicanism.

I’m not sure the race boiled down to people angry over pork projects either, as much as I respect Senator Coburn. 

The exit polls say that the number one issue for Americans this cycle was corruption.  Yes, I know you can point to William Jefferson, Menendez, Blagojovich, and Doyle as examples of Democratic politicians who’ve had some trouble with ethics this cycle, but the majority party is going to get the spotlight. 

I truly believe that in these districts that flipped, you saw Americans who’ve lost confidence in the Republicans to be the party of principle.  I’m not convinced the Democrats have earned that title, but they’ve got two years to persuade voters that they made the right choice last night.

In the meantime, as a guy who’s probably more socially libertarian than conservative now (as opposed to a few years ago), I’m ready for the GOP to be the party of less government intrusion.  We’ll see if the GOP is ready to take on the challenge. 

I’ve got twins crawling all over me, but I didn’t want to be accused of not wanting to talk about the elections.

The GOP got its butt kicked last night.  I’m not sure the same can be said of conservatives, considering the number of blue dog Democrats that got elected… but we’ll be able to judge that one in a couple of years. 

What happened?  Contrary to what the Brady Campaign would say, this wasn’t a vote for more gun control laws.  In many parts of the country, these freshmen Dems are guys like Heath Shuler, who openly ran as an NRA member.

I think Mike Pence had it right when he”>http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDdiYmE5ZWFmMGIxNzEwZjM0OTY4MGJlNDk2Y2FhMzQ=”target=”_Blank”>he said Republicans lost their way.  The question now is… how long does it take to find their way again?

More thoughts later when I don’t have the rugrats all over me.

And don’t forget to tune into the big Election Night show on NRAnews.com and Sirius Patriot 144 beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern til 1 a.m. Eastern. 

A couple of surprise picks for you… I think Steele wins in Maryland, and Burns ekes out a win in Montana.  I’m not sure the GOP keeps the House, but I think the Dems win less than 20 seats. 

Feel free to make your own predictions below. 

Sniff sniff.  Is that the smell of fear wafting off of me?  Actually no, it’s just the quesadilla I had for dinner. 

Sara left a very good comment in the post below, and it’s one that bears repeating.  I have no idea what’s going to happen on Election Day, but I do know that the polls are wonky this year.

I don’t believe that the Democrat, Duckworth is leading the Republican, Roskum 54-40 in IL-06 for instance.

Then again, I don’t believe the Republican, Corker is leading the Democrat, Ford 53-43 in the Tennessee Senate Race. 

I believe that Allen will win in Virginia, and I believe Cardin will win in Maryland (though I would love to see Michael Steele pull it out).  I believe the Republicans will keep control of the Senate, but I think it is likely that the Democrats win the House.  I’m not basing any of this on polling data, just my (considerable) gut. 

Regardless, I’m not scared.  In fact, I’m fairly optimistic.  Looking at the Democrats who have a chance at winning Republican seats, most of them are running as conservative Democrats (Amy Klobuchar and Claire McCaskill are probably the biggest exceptions to that).  The choice of moonbats everywhere, Ned Lamont, won’t win in Connecticut, and hopefully that means people will stop taking Kos’s word as gospel truth.  I’ve never been opposed to voting for a Democrat, as long as they’re the better candidate.  Heck, I even voted for a Democrat in 2002, and if I lived in Oklahoma, I’d be voting for at least one Democrat this year. 

So I’m optimistic that if these conservative Democrats get elected they’ll continue to act like conservative Democrats.  If the Pelosi/Schumer/Kennedy wing of the Democrat Party gets these newly elected Congresscritters to fall in line, then I think you’ll see a lot of disgust among the voters in 2008. 

Yes, the thought of Speaker Pelosi does make me shudder, but I wouldn’t say I’m afraid.  John Conyers running the house Judiciary Committee doesn’t fill me with warm fuzzies, but it doesn’t give me chills either.  Mostly thinking about the Democratic leadership in the majority in the House just makes me sad, because I think it’s a long and embarrassing two years if that happens.  Embarrassing for the country, not for one political party or another. 

Anyway, those are my election thoughts five days out.  I could be thinking something entirely different by Tuesday. 

Well, this isn’t the rant I was going to post yesterday, but anytime John Kerry seems bound and determined to make an ass of himself, I’ll write about that. 

By now we’ve all seen the comment that got Kerry in trouble.

“You know, education, if you make the most of it, you study hard, you do your homework and you make an effort to be smart, you can do well. If you don’t, you get stuck in Iraq.”

We’ve seen conservatives raise hell (including John McCain).  We’ve also seen Democrats like Bob Casey cancel events with Kerry (though Casey has not, to my knowledge, called on Kerry to apologize like Harold Ford did today). 

Even if you believe (as LaShawn Barber does) that Kerry’s comments were a slam of President Bush, not the troops… what do you make of his statement refusing to apologize?

“Everybody knows I botched a joke,” Kerry continued. “This is a great volunteer army and the word volunteer army means they have to be smart to get in it. … This was directed at the people (the Bush administration) who didn’t do their homework … didn’t listen to history, didn’t listen to their own advice. They owe the American people an apology.”

The fact that candidates around the country are scrambling to get away from you, that people like Harold Ford say you should apologize, and soldiers are ticked off should clue you in that despite what you want… that isn’t the way it is.

What kind of impact will this have on Election Day?  I dunno.  I mean, we already knew John Kerry was an arrogant jackass, didn’t we?  Maybe this reminds us that despite people like Pelosi and Conyers being on their best behavior… we know how they really are.  Maybe it hurts some Democratic candidates if they don’t call on Kerry to apologize (though even as I’m writing this Instapundit points out more candidates backing away from Kerry). 

And of course the Kos Kids are eating up Kerry’s stance.  Of course. 

**Update**

And now the non-apology http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061101/pl_nm/usa_elections_kerry_dc_5“target=”_blank”>apology.

Jim also points out the “netroots” are turning on their own. 

**Update again**

Kerry’s issued a formal apology, although it’s still one of those “I’m sorry if anybody took this the wrong way” kind of apologies.  Still, it’ll be enough so that this isn’t as much of an issue as it could have been had he stuck with his original “this is a Republican smear” statement. 

I wonder though… does this remind independent voters of just how bad some Democrats are in a way that referring to “Speaker Pelosi” never can? 

Granted, this is picking the low-hanging fruit, but I can’t resist this story. 

Hundreds of police officers showed up to keep the peace at what was supposed to be an anti-war rally Saturday afternoon. Police are now calling it a waste of resources after the protesters did not show.

It’s a mix up that will cost tax payers tens of thousands of dollars. The anti-war demonstration at Washington Square was supposed to start at noon and the Chicago Police Department was ready. But the protesters were a no show, and police say it was a big waste of time and money.

“We prepared a response to ensure that they would have a safe, orderly march, behind that and unfortunately what happens was this group cancelled their march without informing the Chicago Police Department,” said Deputy Superintendent Charles Williams, Chicago Police Department.

But the anti-war protestors say it’s all the fault of The Man.

The organizer of the protest, John Beacham, says his group instead decided to pass out anti-war flyers throughout neighborhoods. He says the mix up is the city’s fault.

“We never got a permit from the city,” said John Beacham, Illinois Anti-War Coalition.

The police showed us what they say is the permit — approved months ago — with John Beacham’s name right at the top.

“I know nothing about that. We applied for a permit and there was never any confirmation of the permit from the city and a long time ago we decided not to have a demonstration,” said Beacham.

Beacham had one more theory as to why the police department should have known protesters weren’t showing up.

“The city is usually spying on us and watching us carefully, so we just figured they understood there wasn’t a demonstration today,” said Beecham.
Victim mentality and moonbat paranoia. 

And not to rain on your parade John, but I doubt the police are spying on you.  After all, you’re not even effective enough to hold an actual protest.  Methinks the cops have better things to do. 

Apparently Kathy Taylor really does approve of going after gun owners instead of criminals. 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
and Milwaukee Mayor Thomas Barrett had harsh words Wednesday for the Bush
administration and the gun lobby’s influence on Congress.

…

The mayors, including Tulsa, Okla., Mayor Kathy Taylor and Rockford, Ill.,
Mayor Lawrence Morrisey, spoke at Chicago police headquarters from behind a
table loaded with illegal firearms seized by police in recent months.

I’m really surprised the Tulsa media hasn’t gone after Taylor on this.  Well, maybe not surprised that the World hasn’t said anything, but I would think this would be a topic tailor-made for conservative radio hosts in Tulsa.