Defense of the Dean Scream

From Instapundit: Dave Winer defends the Dean Scream and gives a behind the scenes look at it. I don't know who this person is and therefore his credibility is somewhat suspect, but his explanation of why he screamed makes good sense. The Media of course can't grasp the answer, because it does not fit the mold of Dean they have already made.

Now, why Glenn Reynolds linked to this could be judged as a bit "Negative" Dean support. Glenn might want Dean to face Bush, so why not help him anyway he can. Reyonlds has political influence, especially in the primary stages, so saying he is being Machiavellian is not as big of a reach as it may seem.

Bush Then and Now

THEN: In the 2003 SOTU Bush's mention of elements relating to the "liberation" of Iraq.

The dictator who is assembling the world's most dangerous weapons has already used them on whole villages -- leaving thousands of his own citizens dead, blind, or disfigured. Iraqi refugees tell us how forced confessions are obtained -- by torturing children while their parents are made to watch. International human rights groups have catalogued other methods used in the torture chambers of Iraq: electric shock, burning with hot irons, dripping acid on the skin, mutilation with electric drills, cutting out tongues, and rape. If this is not evil, then evil has no meaning. (Applause.)

And tonight I have a message for the brave and oppressed people of Iraq: Your enemy is not surrounding your country -- your enemy is ruling your country. (Applause.) And the day he and his regime are removed from power will be the day of your liberation. (Applause.)

NOW: In his 2004 SOTU

Since we last met in this chamber, combat forces of the United States, Great Britain, Australia, Poland and other countries enforced the demands of the United Nations, ended the rule of Saddam Hussein, and the people of Iraq are free. (Applause.)

Having broken the Baathist regime, we face a remnant of violent Saddam supporters. Men who ran away from our troops in battle are now dispersed and attack from the shadows. These killers, joined by foreign terrorists, are a serious, continuing danger. Yet we're making progress against them. The once all-powerful ruler of Iraq was found in a hole, and now sits in a prison cell. (Applause.) Of the top 55 officials of the former regime, we have captured or killed 45. Our forces are on the offensive, leading over 1,600 patrols a day and conducting an average of 180 raids a week. We are dealing with these thugs in Iraq, just as surely as we dealt with Saddam Hussein's evil regime. (Applause.)

The work of building a new Iraq is hard, and it is right. And America has always been willing to do what it takes for what is right. Last January, Iraq's only law was the whim of one brutal man. Today our coalition is working with the Iraqi Governing Council to draft a basic law, with a bill of rights. We're working with Iraqis and the United Nations to prepare for a transition to full Iraqi sovereignty by the end of June.

As democracy takes hold in Iraq, the enemies of freedom will do all in their power to spread violence and fear. They are trying to shake the will of our country and our friends, but the United States of America will never be intimidated by thugs and assassins. (Applause.) The killers will fail, and the Iraqi people will live in freedom. (Applause.)

Month by month, Iraqis are assuming more responsibility for their own security and their own future. And tonight we are honored to welcome one of Iraq's most respected leaders: the current President of the Iraqi Governing Council, Adnan Pachachi.

Sir, America stands with you and the Iraqi people as you build a free and peaceful nation. (Applause.)

Before the war, the "liberation of Iraq" was a minor element, almost in passing, in the reasoning for war. After the war, BOOM, that was nearly the only reason for going to war that Bush is talking about. When talking about WMD the length of content from the speeches would be reversed between the years. Notice that switch? Notice how before the war it was WMD all the time, but now WMD is almost a dirty word in the administration, and Freedom for Iraq is all that matters. How was this not misleading the American people?

Allen vs. Smitherman

Well, I wonder who organized the speakers at city council yesterday calling out Mike Allen:

"He had no right to call this man a young punk, whether he agrees with him or not," West End resident Earmon Powell said Thursday. "He had no right to say that about our beloved brother."

For the record, Mike Allen had every right to call Chris Smitherman anything he wants. Earmon Powell is just wrong, but he has the right to make his incorrect statement if he wants.

Allen's comments were not becoming of an elected official. If the local Dems have any balls left, they will run a commercial with the"smart-mouthed little punk" comment all through Allen's future campaigns.

One contention I found laughable though:

In the past, some segments of the African-American community have complained that the chief, assistant chiefs and many members of the department's command staff are graduates of Elder High School, a predominantly white, conservative Catholic school on the West Side, and that might have influenced the way they deal with minorities.

Smitherman, though, never made that assertion, and has said he wanted the data for informational purposes.

Why didn't Smitherman provide detail on what his "informational purposes" in knowing what high school each police officer attended. There is no other logical reason to know what high school each officer went to except for proving or disproving the Elder High School story. If he wants to know the level of education of each officer or the rates of those with college degrees, that might be useful. I wonder if Smitherman asked for the names of the colleges any police officers attended.

UPDATE: Greg Mann comments and points to and Enquirer editorial. I agree with Greg that the Enquirer failed to criticize Allen for his end of the feud. I agree with much of Enquirer's critique of Smitherman's demeanor, but Allen was just as childish, if not worse. He has not gotten the "dissing" he deserves from the big media outlets. Allen is considered a "hero" in WLW land.

Weekend Update Lead: Rose to sign books at gambling casino

Tina Fey would be remiss if she did not use this headline as an example of legitimate news outlets putting her out of business.

Same Old Thing

Sam Malone appears to need do some fundraising. How better to gain some West Side money then try and take away the rights of women to pay for medical procedures. Now of course the procedure is an abortion, the most polarizing political issue of the modern area. Malone and DeWine both new they would loose, but they have to please the anti-abortion contributors with at least a symbolic gesture that everyone knows will not stop abortions. All it would do is hurt women. Controlling and hurting women seem to be an obsession for anti-abortion activists.

I knew Malone was supporting discrimination against homosexuals with his support of a lawsuit trying to remove the recent hate crimes ordinance. What I did not know was the Malone was a theocrat ant-abortionist. I thought he was at least hands off on the abortion issue, not making much of it, but instead he wishes to govern the city by voting as his religious dogma tells him he must vote. How Nice. This has been a week full of theocratic Republicans. Bush, Ohio GOPers, and now Malone are trying to impose religious beliefs on the populace via secular law.

WMD-Related

Rob Bernard points out that Bush's use of the term "WMD-related program activities" in the SOTU was used in the Kay Report. I can't disagree. The problem is that it does not absolve Bush of playing language creep. Kay may be his excuse now, but what was Bush's excuse when he said right here in Cincinnati that Iraq had (have at that point) in their possession. One might wonder why Bush would lift that quote from the report anyway. It is a horrible sound term. It sounds like what John Stewart might think up to make fun of Bush's SOTU. I guess Bush was just cutting out the middleman.

Computergate?

Kevin Drum points out a startling up tick in the severity of the alleged computer hacking by Republican senatorial staffers on Democratic computers. It appears that over at least a year a series of memos from Senate Democrats and their staffers were stolen and then leaked to the media, namely Bob Novak, or used as talking point fodder.

This act is theft. This act is as big as Watergate. Obviously it is not involving the President, but in this case it can be proven that what was stolen was used to smear the Democrats. Add in Plamegate and media SHOULD be in a frenzy. For some reason they are sitting on their hands. Hmmm