Sun Times’ Sweet called out by Bayless for lying

Oh, it’s ON … ?

While everyone was busy on the Twitter with the primaries, they may have missed spicy Chef Rick Bayless – who cooked at the White House for the State Dinner ‘do over’ Tuesday – totally called out Sun Times’ Lynn Sweet for lying.

I’d be inclined to believe Bayless.

“In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place.”

So said Mahatma Ghandi.

And, he’s right.

And therein lies the job of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.

There has been a lot of debate about judicial experience, historic meaning, cigar preferences, sexuality, childlessness and choice to live as a single woman, eating habits? choice of designer? liberal or conservative leanings? Pecan praline or mint chocolate chip? Coke or Pepsi? ESPN or Project Runway? of Elena Kagan.

Frankly, it’s sad.

I do not want any of the judges in the highest court in the land to adhere unabashedly to a political preference, though I expect them to have one, as any human being (including journalists) likely does.  I do not want any Supreme Court Justice to decide in advance on Brown vs. Board of Education because of a political bent.  I don’t want any woman who serves on the highest court in the land to decide all men are better off dead because she was once a member of the fictional tribe of the Amazon, and I don’t want any justice to ban cookie dough ice cream because sometimes there are tainted eggs.

I want a Supreme Court Judge to listen to each issue as it passes through the court. I want him or her to listen to the arguments presented from both sides.  I want a middle of the road, intelligent, scholarly, empathetic, thoughtful human being to rule on the most important issues of the day.

Polarization be damned.

20 years ago, DNA evidence was hi-tech … it’s everyday now.  I want judges to take that into consideration – their personal life and personal politics should NEVER get in the way of the facts or the truth.

And, the same measures should be taken with Elena Kagan.

‘Brownie,’ GOP blame U.S. Coast Guard for lack of response to oil spill

Well.

I guess the GOP, and not surprisingly ‘Brownie,’ don’t really understand how their own government works.

Only, this time, by insulting the ‘reaction time’ of President Obama to the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf Coast, they’ve actually insulted the reaction time of the United States Coast Guard who responded just as they should have … and, in record time.

4/21 – Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters are responding to an explosion and fire aboard a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) approximately 52 miles Southeast of Venice.Watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center here received a report at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday of an explosion and fire aboard the MODU Deepwater Horizon.   Reports are that the estimated 126 people on board have gotten off the rig. The nature and severity of injuries is not available at this time. Coast Guard units responding: MORE HERE

4/21 UPDATE: Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes, and cutters are responding to an explosion and fire aboard a mobile offshore drilling unit (MODU) approximately 52 miles Southeast of Venice. Watchstanders at the U.S. Coast Guard District Eight command center here received a report at approximately 10 p.m. Tuesday of an explosion and fire aboard the MODU Deepwater Horizon. MORE HERE

4/21 UPDATE: Working closely with towing industry representatives, the Coast Guard on Wednesday allowed commercial vessels to slowly transit the area where the towing vessel Misty Day sank Monday on the Kanawha River near Poca, W.Va. Salvage equipment is expected to be on scene at approximately 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, and it is projected that salvage operations will take place Thursday morning.  Once salvage equipment is on scene, the river will again be closed to vessel traffic until the Misty Dawn is raised. The Misty Dawn had approximately 4,000 gallons of fuel on board when it sank at approximately 2 a.m. Monday near the center of the channel.  The vessel has been completely boomed off and the Coast Guard is working with pollution and salvage contractors to ensure that no additional pollution impacts the waterway. MORE HERE

4/21 UPDATE: The fire is still burning and the cause of the explosion is under investigation.  Initial indications show that this was not a terrorist incident.   The investigation is a cooperative effort between Mineral Management Service and the U.S. Coast Guard. MORE HERE

So, not only did the Coast Guard dispatch to search for the missing, see to the injured, and investigate the cause of the explosion … they had the foresight to determine that the disaster did not appear to be an act of terrorism before continuing – ALL IN ONE DAY.  Shameful.

(Timeline of the United States Coast Guard’s dispatches here: http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/425/46479/&offset=0)

SIDE NOTE:

In case you’re wondering: “PIER System evolved out of a large-scale industrial accident that occurred in the Pacific Northwest in 1999. It was clear that the currently available technologies were not enabling communicators to meet the rapidly rising demand for instant information in the Internet age.”

The  communications question, now, is if this company PIER System was created in response to the 1999 disaster and the response time was as quick as it was … what would have happened if broadband was faster?

In defense of Mediaite

Well, there’s been a brouhaha. When isn’t there a media spat now and again?  I like them – they’re kinda fun sometimes.  Whether it’s Jezebel’s Scott Baio Twitterspat, Keith Olbermann’s daily needling of those who often deserve it, or in this case, a Mediaite columnist vs., well … um, a lot of people.

There are a few things I don’t don’t do with regard to my daily inhalation of all things media:

• I don’t read the Drudge Report.
• I don’t forgo reading the Huffington Post, Mediaite, or DailyKos and the like because I disagree with one of the many blog posts therein.
• And, I do my best to not confuse what the purpose  of each of said sites are.

I have some favorites I’ve tut tutted here on Tommy’s blog and I make no bones about writing.  I do my best not to hate on the whole blog (though I forget from time to time to reference the particular author as in this particular linked post).
There’s one thing that can be stated as fact:  Mediaite is NOT the Drudge Report or RedState or FireDogLake or anysuch of that sort.

I remember when I first saw the gossipy announcement that Dan Abrams had a blog upstart.  He was clear from the beginning about what the blog would bring its readers:

“It’s my hope that after checking out the site you will see this as a unique property that will quickly become the must-read for anyone interested in media, the business of it and the personalities behind it.” Abrams continued:  “Why would I give up the opportunity to edit my own site? There are a number of reasons. Most important, however, I want this site to be viewed as objective – tough and opinionated – but not the Dan Abrams Post.”

So, really it’s quite clear what the site bills itself as.

Now, if we want to start referencing all the serious media outlets who inquired  seriously as to whether the President was the Antichrist, or whether they hyperventilated at every Drudge flashy siren, or whether another news outlet cared enough to debate the merits of the  National Enquirer, or whether another serious media news outfit cared to discuss the supposed scandal in the blacked out portions that may implicate Obama … well, I guess we can – but, do we want to?

Well I, for one, do … analyzing how everyone reports the news – or provides commentary on it – is the sport of news nerds.  Which one of you didn’t watch #nerdprom over the weekend?