Give Peace a Chance

If you notice headings of posts that have nothing to do with the post in general, it's because I'm in Beatle-mode this week with the events taking place on Thursday.

I'm not sure if reader Scott P. knows this but it looks like Missouri Governor Matt Blunt, son of Congressman Roy Blunt, will have some company in the Republican primary.

Former Missouri Supreme Court Judge Edward "Chip" Robertson Jr. confirms that he is considering challenging fellow Republican Gov. Matt Blunt in 2008.

"I'm going to think about it," Robertson told The Kansas City Star for its Tuesday editions. "It's not something you want to reject out of hand, but it's not something that you say yes to quickly, either."

Robertson, 54, served on the state's highest court from 1985-1998 and was chief justice from 1991-1993. He was appointed by Republican Gov. John Ashcroft, for whom he had served as chief of staff. Robertson currently is an attorney in Jefferson City.

He declined to elaborate about why he would challenge a governor of his own party or why he was discussing his interest three years before the election.

"That's a great question, but I'm not ready to answer it," Robertson said.

A spokesman for Blunt said the governor's strong record would speak for itself come election time.

Jay Nixon, the state's Attorney General, is the only candidate for the Democratic Party right now.

Interested in the Jewish blogosphere? Check out the article I just linked to at Jewsweek.

Jewsweek also has an article dealing with a racist anti-Semite whose name isn't even worth mentioning! The schmuck "attacked 'Zionists occupying New York' and denounced Israel. 'The Zionists occupy most of the American media and now control much of American government.'"

Yet another reason to dislike Madonna or whatever name she goes by these days.

Isi Leibler writes an article on how American Jews are lobbying against Eretz Yisrael. It's a shame and a tragedy that there are Jews who don't care as much as I do for the Promised Land. I was against the disengagement from the start.

Until recently Diaspora leaders all agreed that on matters relating to security, Israel and the Diaspora are not equal partners. It is Israeli citizens who will face the consequences of decisions made by their elected government whereas Diaspora Jews will not be called to make sacrifices on these issues. Simple morality should therefore presuppose humility and restraint, especially at a time when Israelis face a resurgence of terror and when most of the world is critical of Israel for seeking to protect itself from neighbors who shamelessly orchestrate suicide bombings and rocket attacks.

I was therefore astonished to learn that when Mr. Seymour Reich, President of the left wing New Israel Fund, and his associates met with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they had actually urged her to pressure Israel to make concessions over the Gaza border crossing and other issues. They told her that by adopting a tough policy against Israel "she would gain the support of Jewish Americans on both sides of the aisle".

Reich shamelessly told the media that "I have no doubt that we bolstered the Secretary of State's instincts and strengthened her opinion that aggressive American involvement was needed to achieve practical results."

Of course Reich's group also added the mantra that the Palestinian Authority should be pressured to meet its commitment to fight terror. Mr. Reich must surely be aware that Mahmoud Abbas has already reiterated his determination not to disarm Hamas, stating instead that at a later stage he may even co-opt Hamas to the Palestinian security organization so that the terrorists would then also receive salaries from international funds set aside to promote the Palestinian economy.

If you recall from postings in the early part of 2005, I hosted a late night comedy show on the campus television station. The show was modeled after The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and many shows these days are. No, I don't have plans to restart it anytime soon but it was fun while doing so. Anyway, look at what happened over at Syracuse University and their HillTV network.

Cantor disbanded HillTV in October after some students expressed outrage over an entertainment show modeled after The Daily Show with Jon Stewart called Over the Hill. As reported in The Daily Orange, Syracuse's student newspaper, the show included segments about "smelly Indian kids," jokes about mentally retarded people and Cantor's desire for "thick black sausage."

The show, which had been airing for less than a year over the Internet and on the Orange Television Network, made light of eating disorders, date rape and lynching, among other issues. Students began reacting to the show after The Daily Orange wrote a story about it titled "Your Student Fee...:HillTV's 'Over the Hill' Prompts Re-evaluation of programming."

More than 60 professors and staff in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, for which Grimes teaches, wrote a letter to The Daily Orange condemning Cantor's move to shut down the station. The letter said Cantor's decision "damaged" free speech and free press values as well as diversity values.

And Grimes said the faculty panel's decision, depending on how it is enforced, could institutionalize a censorship board that oversees the station. This could have a negative impact on preparing broadcast journalists for professional careers because "in the real world, we don't have those kind of boards," Grimes said.

The panel's prerequisites include creating a "Committee on Cultural Competence" which will "assist the organization with matters of content, perspective and tone," according to the panel's decision.

I'm appalled that the president decided to shut their station down. It's embarrassing to prevent the freedom of speech.