Al Franken is a short, squat idiot

Back in 1999, comedian Al Franken published a book with a catchy title. It was catchy enough for me to pick it up and read it:  Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Idiot: And Other Observations. Frankly, it was a waste of time and I couldn’t finish it. I literally put it in the trash bin and moved on.

A couple of days ago, Franken resigned and no one will remember him in a few weeks. (Of course, he could always write another book.)

As the Star Tribune wrote in its editorial, Franken did the right thing:   

In an otherwise emotional and gracious speech, the one sour note was Franken’s continued refusal to acknowledge his actions. 

He continued to assert that the incidents are either untrue or unremembered by him.  

Why resign if you refuse to acknowledge your actions? Am I missing something?

Minnesota now moves to an election in 2018 after Governor Dayton appoints a Democrat to serve as a replacement.

What happens in 2018? It should be interesting, given that the GOP has scored some successes in Minnesota.

Also, it is realistic that former Governor Mark Pawlenty runs for the seat. He was, and continues to be very popular, according to my friend Barry Casselman who knows Minnesota politics rather well.

We can say this. First, the U.S. Senate will be a better place without Al Franken. Second, don’t assume that the Democrats will hold on to this seat, specially if the U.S. economy is doing well by the summer of 2018.

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter.

---

Tags: Al Franken To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!

Count to 10 before “breaking” stories

Last Friday, it was Brian Ross of ABC apologizing....today CNN had to correct itself...a couple days of ago it was the silly German bank story....it’s time for some reporters to count to 10 before “breaking” stories....otherwise many will spend Christmas suspended without pay....

— Silvio Canto, Jr. (@SCantojr) December 9, 2017

---

Tags: Media mistakes  To share or post to your site, click on "Post Link". Please mention / link to the My View by Silvio Canto, Jr. Thanks!

2006: The New York Times very irresponsible back then too!

Looking back at 2005, it's amazing how much has changed.   Yet, we always hear the same argument: Free press. Free press! 

Of course, everyone wants a free press. Better than that, we want a responsible press.

This NIE report story is a good example of an irresponsible press.

Pres. Bush was right on target when he said this:

"Here we are, coming down the homestretch of an election campaign and it's on the front page of your newspapers. Isn't that interesting?"

The Democrats can not win this election on their own. So they call on The New York Times to write a misleading article five weeks before the election.

The purpose of this article was to confuse the public by repeating the Democrats' talking points.  The NY Times used leaks and incomplete information and pretended to write an analysis of the war.

It failed for two reasons:

1) The President released the NIE report; and

2) Talk radio, blogs and the Internet are always ready to challenge The NY Times.

The NY Times can not get away with this garbage anymore. There are too many of us with the means to respond and destroy their partisan articles.

2005: Bill Bennett was talking about leaks

Back in 2005, Dr. Bill Bennett was outraged at some of the recent leaks to the NY Times and Washington Post.

Thanks to these leaks, our enemies are now up to date on how we keep track of their conversations or movements. All that they have to do is read the front page of the NY Times!

This is not freedom of the press. This is an irresponsible media doing whatever they can do to hurt Bush.

Sorry. If you hurt President Bush, then you hurt our effort and make us more vulnerable to a terrorist attack.

It's time for some people in the media to choose sides.

This is not about Kerry vs. Bush or Gore vs. Bush. The American people settled that issue in 2000 and 2004. This is about national security and people who want kill Americans, regardless of who they voted for!

2006: The James Risen book and more leaks

A few days ago, I found a review of a very controversial book from 2006.   The reviewer said that Risen had written a thrilling, depressing and worrying book.

James Risen's made a lot of waves back then with his attacks on the Bush Administration.    Risen said that his source was a whistle blower. 

However, it could also be a partisan trying to make Pres. Bush look bad.

Frankly, we will never know.   We do know that leaking national security information is a crime.   Someone needs to be held accountable for this leak.

This is the book:

Europe: Would you have believed this 30 years ago?

Imagine that someone had said the following in 1987:

Europe will change dramatically by 2050.  Populations will be cut sharply due to pathetic birth rates.  Large immigrant populations will change Europe.

Beyond that, European churches will be empty.  Secularism will be the continent's religion.

Furthermore, there will be more abortions than births in some European cities.  Same sex marriage, and other forms of marriage, will be legal in many countries.

Who would have believed it in 1987?   I don't know but that is the present and future of Europe!

Future Europeans will look back and be reminded that George Weigel wrote about it:  

The latest on Che

All of this "Che-mania" amazes me.  Che has become everyone's revolutionary.

Do any of these people know that Che hated capitalism or would have executed everyone who disagreed with him?

Of course not!  Isn't Che the nice young man who rode a motorcycle all over the world?

Also, who is getting all of these Che royalties?  Who owns his image?

I don't know the answer.

However, I would not be surprised if the proceeds are directed to a certain Swiss account managed for a couple of brothers who have destroyed Cuba!


Read Humberto Fontova's book and throw all of your Che T-shirts in the trash:

George Will is one of my favorite baseball writers

George Will has not been doing a lot political commentary lately but he is always talking baseball.  What else can you say about a greatbaseball fan? 

Is there a better baseball book than "Men at Work"?   He looks at four of baseball's recent greats:  A's Manager Tony La Russa, LA Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser, San Diego outfielder Tony Gwynn, and Baltimore shortstop Cal Ripken Jr.     It is really an amazing baseball book: