LAT editors agree with Wallsten

On the editorial page today, the LAT makes the same arguments that Wallsten does on the front page, which might explain how Wallsten made the front page. 

Palin has as much experience as Obama and her's is executive experience. Their foreign policy experience is equal. Neither has any. But she will be running for second chair, he for first. As for Biden adding foreign policy experience, he has experience in being wrong, as when he maintained that Iraq had to be partitioned and when he opposed the surge.

Wallsten disses McCain's VP pick

LAT reporter (perhaps columnist would more accurate) Peter Wallsten expresses his shock at McCain picking Sarah Palin for VP. Wallsten calls her obscure and largely unknown and suggests that her selection calls into question McCain's judgment and motives. McCain picked Palin solely to get more female votes, Wallsten says, and he failed to put the country's needs before his own. Wallsten adds that Democrats on Friday -- he doesn't identify the Democrats which could mean he's talking about himself and his significant other -- argued that McCain passed up more qualified candidates such as Olympia Snow, as if the Republican Party wouldn't rebel if he put a left-wing RINO on the ticket. Wallsten also quotes one Matthew Dowd as saying: "Americans don't necessarily want somebody in a time of crisis to be overly emotional." Whether Dowd was talking about McCain or Palin, that's a stupid thing to say. 

What does an LAT reporter know about VP picks? And why does he think Palin is obscure and largeley unknown? Wallsten may know nothing about Palin but Bill Kristol and Larry Kudlow have been pushing her selection for months and Maria Bartiromo interviewed her for a September television special only days before her selection. Wallsten apparently lives a sheltered life.

LAT headlines II

It turns out that the old fool was wrong. Today's LAT headline about McCain's VP pick, Sarah Palin, is just about as big as yesterday's Obama headline -- though it probably isn't as big as Thursday's headline and, for sure, the front page today does not include a portrait of either McCain or Palin. Thursday's front page included a large color portrait of Obama. We'll see if McCain/Palin receive equal treatment next week.

The Economist chastises McCain

This week, The Economist chastises John McCain for opposing same-sex marriage and abortion, and for favoring estate tax relief and making Bush's tax cuts permanent, which only proves that The Economist is out of touch.

Obama's makeover

Democratic Party presidential candidates seem always to need a makeover. Al Gore, for example, transformed himself from an over-confident, arrogant, know-it-all to a Casper Milktoast, nice-as-pie subservient and then to a confused candidate unsure about who he really was. John Kerry transformed himself from a naval officer to a war protester to a reporting-for-duty presidential candidate who tried to pass himself off as a war hero. Unfortunately, the three Purple Hearts he was awarded as a ticket out of Vietnam were all for wounds he received during a short period of time, none of which required his hospitalization.

Barack Obama has transformed himself from a high-minded intellectual to an angry Bush-McCain-Republican hater who makes the same tired arguments Democrats have made since McGovern -- that what this country needs is bigger government, higher taxes, more regulation of businesses, more social spending, abortion on demand, racial preferences and so on. Obama has added same-sex marriage.

LAT headlines

The LAT's front page headline today once again stretches across the entire page with a typeface perhaps slightly smaller than yesterday's. Yesterday's headline was the kind newspapers usually reserve for declarations of war. Today's was the kind they usually reserve for the signing of surrender documents at the end of a war, the kind the LAT might have used on VE day. It will be interesting to compare the headlines next week with those of yesterday and today.

The LAT's sickening front page

The LAT's front page today is a sickening display of political and racial bias, containing a 54 point, six column headline anouncing Obama's nomination (which he will accept tonight in a football stadium) as well as a 32 column-inch color portrait of Obama. Add to that a piece by Thomas Curwen idolizing Obama and the whole thing gets disgusting. Inside, the LAT devotes one-half of pages A20 and A21 to photos of Obama -- as a baby, child, teen, groom, author, politician and devotee of Jeremiah Wright.

Last night's Dem party

Last night was the Dems' best night so far. Although an amoral demagogue, Bill Clinton gave a good performance, as he always does. Even John Kerry showed a little promise, though he spent too much time rehashing his 2004 loss, which Kerry continues to insist was everbody's fault but his. Joe Biden's speech was good in the beginning, when he told about the loss of his first wife and his daughter, about riding the train home from Washington, about his relationship with his sons and daughter and especially about his very attractive wife of 36 years, Jill. Following his speech, the appearance of his entire family on the stage was impressive. As a family man, Joe Biden is very impressive. Beau Biden, who introduced Joe, was impressive too.

The remainder of Joe's speech was repetitious political garbage, like most political speeches. It was as if Joe had to say what his minders expected him to say, so he did.

Obama's appearance at the end was disappointing. He wasn't needed. He didn't add anything to last night's show. It seemed as if he felt the need to horn in on Joe's party. The party was over when Obama showed.

Rutten solves abortion question.

LAT columnist Tim Rutten this morning tackled the question whether pro-abortion Catholic politicians (like John Kerry, Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi) should be allowed to receive Holy Communion. His answer: Hem, haw, dodge, deny, slip, slide, avoid and evade.

Hillary speaks!

Instapundit commented that Hill's speech was short. Agreed. It's the best aspect of her speech. Talking heads on Fox say Hill did as little as she could afford to do for Obama. Perhaps. On the whole, her speech wasn't bad but little of it was new. She said much the same repeatedly during the primary campaign.

Brooks is right.

NYT columnist David Brooks said on PBS's NewsHour tonight that the speeches at the Democratic Convention have so far, with only a couple of exceptions, been banal. Mark Warner's keynote speech was especially banal. Hillary is on now. So far, she's speaking to the audience as if speaking to two-year-olds. We'll see if it improves.

Gov and Skelton agree: raise taxes

LAT columnist George Skelton writes this morning that he has met with Governor Schwarzenegger and they have agreed on a one-cent sales tax increase for three years to solve California's budget crisis. Skelton also says he has met with a Democrat legislator who claims that budget negotiations will still be going on at Thanksgiving.

That's good if it means legislators will not be getting paid. A temporary tax increase is never temporary, as someone famous once said. Until someone can show that Californians are undertaxed, a tax increase should not be approved.

LAT joins Obama bandwagon

This morning in an editorial, the LAT praises Obama's selection of Joe Biden as his running mate. Worse, the LAT cites Biden's mistreatment of Robert Bork as justification for the selection. The LAT mentions Biden's campaign for partition of Iraq but doesn't suggest it tells us anything about Biden.

Biden has a long history. He is a regular guy and a Catholic. So far as is known, he has no moral issues. Intellectually, however, he's a lightweight. He's an average senator from a small state.

Reporting fact vs. opinion

On the LAT's front page today, reporter Richard B. Schmitt writes that "damage from the global mortgage meltdown has more than matched that of the savings-and-loan bailouts of the 1980s and early 1990s. By some estimates, it has made that costly debacle look like chump change." Since Schmitt isn't quoting an expert and doesn't identify a source it must be assumed that he's offering his own opinion. That opinion has no value because Schmitt has no expertise in the subject matter.

LAT to Catholic Church: Shut up

Last Thursday, in an editorial, the LAT argued that churches, especially Catholic ones, shouldn't offer advice to members about candidates or issues for whom or for which they should vote. The LAT based that argument on a quote from John F. Kennedy in which he said "the separation of church and state is absolute." That was Kennedy's opinion. It doesn't bind the rest of us. 

The Constitution doesn't say that the separation of church and state is absolute. It says "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." The Constitution puts a limit on Congress. It does not limit the Church.

California's Supreme Court

California's Supreme Court is making itself look ridiculous. First, it redefined marriage. Now it says that doctors can't choose their patients. Instead, they must artificially inseminate whomever asks for it. Patients have rights. Doctors don't.  

Biden! Ugh!

Joe Biden is no shinning star. He does not inspire. His mouth often runs ahead of his mind. His Senate career has been long but it is undistinguished. (For comparison, consider the career of Daniel Patrick Moynihan.) His foreign policy experience is limited to membership on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His "solution" for Iraq was to break it up into three parts, which proves his judgment is poor. His selection does not improve Obama's chances. If anything, it hurts them. 

The Economist on Obama

In this week's issue, The Economist offers lots of reasons not to vote for Barack Obama but still supports him. He's young and black and he talks good, The Economist seems to suggest. Go figure.

McCain's "blunder"

The LAT on Friday in a front page headline called McCain's response to the question about how many houses he and Cindy own a "blunder." It wasn't a serious subject. The answer wasn't wrong. How can it be a "blunder?" In the article, "blunder" was changed to "gaffe," which seems more appropriate.

The number of houses McCain owns isn't a political issue worth discussing. Besides, the ownership of the seven houses that the LAT says that the McCains own sounds complicated. First, they aren't all houses. Some are condominiums. Was the questioner asking about houses or homes or residences? Does form of ownership matter? Are houses owned by trusts to be included? Which trusts? Revocable trusts only or irrevocable trusts too? Are trusts in which either John or Cindy is merely a beneficiary to be included? Are houses owned by LLCs, partnerships, corporations or other entities to be included? Must those entities be controlled by either John or Cindy to be included? Perhaps John McCain was smart not to get into this thicket. 

LAT: California budget deficit is Republicans' problem

According to the LAT this morning, Republicans are to blame for the budget stalemate in Sacramento. The $15 billion budgetary shortfall for fiscal year 2008-2009 would no longer be a problem if Republicans legislators had only agreed to Democrats' proposals to raise taxes. Republicans are just being bull-headed, the LAT says, though not in those exact words. Where are the old kind of Republicans, the reasonable ones, the kind who would agree to raise taxes, the LAT asks

The LAT doesn't consider cutting back on expenditures a viable alternative to raising taxes. The cuts would need to be too deep, apparently.

There are only two ways of solving this problem for future years, the LAT says. One way is to elect more Democrats to the legislature. The other is to amend the California constitution so that tax increases would no longer need to be approved by two-thirds of each house of the legislature.

But Californians are already over taxed. It's unreasonable to expect them to pay more. At some point, a cap must be placed on the state's spending. Increases in line with population growth and inflation should be allowed but bigger increases should not. Republicans shouldn't agree to any tax increases until Democrats agree to a spending cap.

Meanwhile, Republicans kill Dem tax hike

While fiddling with loony bills that have little significance, California's loony Democrat-controlled assembly proposed an income tax increase that would primarily have raised taxes on high-bracket individuals and businesses. The bill would have reduced the $15 billion deficit by one-half. Dems needed two-thirds support of legislators to pass the bill, which they knew they didn't have. They brought the bill up for a vote anyway. Since no Republican voted for the measure it failed.

LAT says faculty advisors need protection

The LAT argues today in favor of a second loony bill from California's loony legislature, one that would protect faculty members who advise student newspapers from retaliation by school administrators. It's a Democrat sponsored bill, which is probably why the LAT supports it. But the problem the bill addresses isn't a problem worthy of legislation. It's a waste of time better spent working on the long overdue budget.

LAT argues for end run around U.S. Constitution

The LAT argues today in favor of a loony bill from California's loony legislature (which should be working on the budget crisis) that would try to make the Electoral College a non-factor in presidential elections.

Democrats are still smarting from the 2000 election in which Gore got more of the popular vote but lost to Bush in the Electoral College. That has happened a few times, very few. It isn't likely to happen again but could. Next time, however, Republicans could be on the losing end. But Democrats want to make sure it never happens again because they are sure Democrats will always win the popular vote.

The whole thing is silly. The LAT's arguments are manufactured.

LAT: Bush foreign policy in tatters

The LAT reports this morning that Bush's foreign policy efforts of more than seven years have failed because of events in Georgia, Iraq and Afghanistan. More depressing, Georgia had seemed a Bush success story until the collapse, the LAT says. Bush's efforts in Palestine resulted in Hamas's takeover in Gaza.

Bush, of course, is responsible for the Russian invasion of Georgia. After all, he befriended Saakashvili, making him overconfident and causing him to stick a Georgian finger in Russia's eye. The same thing occurred in Hungary in 1956 and Czechoslovakia in 1968. Bush wasn't president then but he's still to blame. He should know that Russia can invade small countries in its sphere of influence whenever it gets irritated and those small countries should be advised to kow-tow to the Russians to keep them from getting upset. Fortunately, the LAT is still around to report such "news."

LAT evaluates McCain/Obama appearances

On Sunday morning, the LAT reported on the appearances of John McCain and Barack Obama at Saddleback Church in Southern California. In its wisdom, the LAT says Obama was analytical and nuanced and revealed more about his faith. McCain had the easier task, the LAT says, apparently meaning to suggest he had a friendlier audience. The LAT should know that readers are less interested in reporters' evaluations than in what the presidential candidates said.

LAT opposes loss carrybacks

The LAT argued on Saturday that allowing businesses to carry back losses under California's tax law, as federal law does, would reward Countrywide and companies like it at the expense of California's taxpayers. But taxing companies or people year by year is arbitrary. That's long been understood by people who analyze tax policies. Why choose a single year? Why not two, three or five year taxable periods? Isn't it fairer both to governments and taxpayers to level out year to year fluctuations? Wouldn't level tax revenues help solve California's binge-bust budget problems?

The LAT wants what it wants. First, to punish Countrywide and similar companies. The LAT wants to be judge and jury. Second, to get some money. California has a $15 billion budget deficit. Gotta cover it somehow.

LAT editors' bad mood

On Friday, August 15th, cranky LAT editors argued:

1. All Californians are guilty of mistreating prisoners of the state's penal system. The prisoners need $8 billion for health care. California has a $15 billion budget deficit. Combined, California has a $23 billion problem. Where will the money come from? The LAT's answer: wherever.

2. Now that Pelosi has done an about face on offshore drilling, Republicans are playing hardball. They want her to grovel. Republicans ought to sign on to her poison pill, the LAT argues.

3. Mukasey shouldn't be talking truth to powerful Democrats. He ought to hang Goodling, Gonzales and the rest. Commission of a crime isn't necessary, the LAT argues.

Skelton wants action

LAT columnist George Skelton writes this morning that because of legislative gridlock in Sacramento, worthwhile legislation is being ignored. But frankly, if California's legislature was given a permanent vacation, Californians would hardly notice. Last year, the legislature presented the governator with nearly 1,000 bills for signature. Chances are, few of those bills had been read by any senator or assemblyman or woman. Most were undoubtedly written by lobbyist or staff with little input from legislators.

Californians need a time out. They need to send the legislators home for a year or two, without pay or benefits. Before allowing the legislators to return to Sacramento, the legislators should be reminded of how well the state got along without them.

The legislature's primary duty is to pass a budget. That it hasn't done yet. The budget is now a month and a half overdue.

LAT loves high gasoline prices

A LAT editorial yesterday argued that high gasoline prices are good because they force people to change their behavior. Well, it does show that the market works.

LAT reminds us of nuclear dangers

On yesterday's front page, the LAT reported on nuclear waste at the Hanover site in Washington state. The federal government built several nuclear reactors there beginning in 1943, originally to make plutonium for the A-bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. The site is being cleaned up at a cost of $2 billion according to the LAT. Presumably, the piece is intended to remind people of the dangers of nuclear power, since that is in the news currently as a possible partial solution to the energy crisis.

LAT argues for Hamdan release

Without admitting they were wrong when they said that military tribunals couldn't be just, the LAT now argues that Hamdan should be released so that the world will not get the idea that military tribunals are useless because whatever the verdict the defendant stays in jail.

LAT sees Dem victory

LAT reporter Peter Wallsten visits Florida and declares Democrats winners of next fall's election -- based on his observations, which are highly scientific, not.

LAT columnist recommends bribery

LAT liberal columnist George Skelton has a solution for California's budget crises: bribe some Republicans in the California legislature with judgeships or other cool jobs, or cash. Dem legislators need two Republicans in the Senate and seven in the Assembly in order to pass tax increases, the only way Dems can think of to balance the state's budget, which has a $15 billion hole. Cutting expenditures never occurs to them.

So that's what's taking so long -- the budget deadline was June 30th? The Republicans who plan to sell their votes are waiting for better offers.

LAT can't leave Plame affair

Like most other Democrats, the LAT is attached to the Plame affair like a crab's claw to a plump finger. Shake it all you want but the crab hangs on.

Democrats think there's justification for their fixation in there somewhere but a special counsel has pursued the case ad infinitum. There isn't anything significant that hasn't already been revealed.

The same applies to the U.S. attorneys firings, except that there has been no special counsel. Instead there have been endless Congressional investigations. Now, a federal district court judge has refused to provide a blanket exemption to Harriet Miers and Josh Bolten from testifying before Congress. But district court judges are often overruled by appellate courts.

The LAT says Congress and the administration should negotiate. It's a little late to suggest that. They've already negotiated. Democrats want a show trial and wont give up until they get one, or until the Supremes tell them to cease and desist.

LAT: Chavez needs to learn that democracy is never the work of one man.

Chavez is Hugo Chavez, Venezuela strongman, obviously. Democracy is not on his agenda. Dictatorship is.

Lexington says McCain lies

Sadly, Lexington, of The Economist, misrepresents. Lexington  faults McCain for chastising Obama for not visiting injured troops in Germany, arguing McCain was disingenuous because Obama visited injured troops in Iraq. What does one thing have to do with the other? It's Obama's place to make the argument if he thinks the one thing offsets the other.

Military tribunals OK now

Now that Hamdan (the "Yemini" as the LAT described him in a headline on today's front page) has received a sentence of only 5 1/2 years, military tribunals are good, only Bush is bad. Before, military tribunals were show trials dispensing fantom justice, according to the liberal press, but that's all changed, temporarily.

The LAT editorials wrong on two counts

Today's LAT includes an editorial lamenting the trial of Salim Ahmed Hamdan, Bin Laden's driver, by a military tribunal in Gitmo. The LAT argues that Hamdan should have been tried in civilian criminal courts, where he likely would have been found not guilty because he received no Miranda warning. The LAT says the military tribunal system is unfair, notwithstanding that Hamdan was found not guilty on one of two charges. The LAT editorial was doubtless written before Hamdan's sentence was decided. Given that Hamdan got only 5 1/2 years, will tommorrow's editorial say the trial was fair?

In the second editorial, the LAT argues that nuclear power is too dangerous to use. Besides, the LAT says, nuclear power plants take so long to build that John McCain's time table for building 45 new plants in 22 years can't be met. There are too many hoops to jump through, the LAT says. Well yes, because enviromaniacs put them there. Those hoops need to be lowered or eliminated.

LAT presents Mao

The front page of today's LAT features a large picture (24 column inches) of Mao, with a small image of Yao Ming carrying the Olympic torch near the bottom. This is equivalent to featuring a similar sized picture of Adolph Hitler or Joseph Stalin.

LAT reporter says Hamdan trial unfair

You wouldn't necessarily call it reporting the news but LAT reporter Carol Williams writes today that Hamdan is being railroaded by a bunch of military guys who mostly agree with Bush. Those are not her words but they're sustantially what she's arguing.

The governator's new health plan

According to the LAT, California's governator has a new health plan that includes putting a cap on insurers' profits, requiring a minimum set of benefits and restricting the right of insurers to cancel plans retroactively. Will insurers choose to do business in California if the plan becomes law? If not, who will provide the insurance?