We're Number 24! Hit and Run

Happy World Press Freedom Day! To celebrate, take a gander at Freedom House's annual rankings [PDF] of press freedom around the globe. The U.S. has slipped a few notches down the chart to #24, tied with the recently totalitarian Latvia and Estonia, the liberty-lovin' Barbados, and some "countries" called Dominica and Canada. Explains the Freedom House press release:

While the United States remained one of the strongest performers in the survey, its numerical score declined due to a number of legal cases in which prosecutors sought to compel journalists to reveal sources or turn over notes or other material they had gathered in the course of investigations. Additionally, doubts concerning official influence over media content emerged with the disclosures that several political commentators received grants from federal agencies, and that the Bush administration had significantly increased the practice of distributing government-produced news segments.
"Even in established democracies, press freedom should not be taken for granted," said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. "It must be defended and nurtured."

Former Secretary of Health and Human Resources Tommy Thompson said today that the flu vaccine shortage thus demonstrated the kind of "careful, long-range planning" that the Bush Administration brings to bear on difficult problems. "One or two more vaccine shortages, and we'll be able to put away that so-called lockbox," Thompson boasted.

This

"Even in established democracies, press freedom should not be taken for granted," said Freedom House Executive Director Jennifer Windsor. "It must be defended and nurtured."

Is this the start of something truly awful?

Authorities say a Phoenix man was arrested Thursday for the fatal shooting of his neighbor.

Phoenix Police Department spokesman Tommy Thompson said 50-year-old Gary Thomas Kelley was booked into the Maricopa County Jail on Thursday night and was charged with one count of murder and two counts of aggravated assault.

Officers were called to the scene of a shooting near 7th and Southern avenues around 1 p.m. and found 44-year-old Juan Varela wounded. He was transported to a local hospital, where he died.

According to Thompson, Kelley and Varela lived two houses apart for a number of years but have gotten into altercations during the past several years.

They reportedly quarreled again Thursday, during which Kelley used racial slurs towards Varela. A neighbor tells ABC15 he heard a man yelling racial slurs and asking the victim if he wanted to die. As the argument went on, Varela's brother Antonio walked over to the men and also exchanged words with Kelley.

Thompson said Juan Varela tried kicking Kelley, at which point he pulled out a gun and shot the victim on the sidewalk. Officers arrested Kelley at his home, where it appeared he had been drinking and was intoxicated.

Thompson said a search of the house turned up a gun believed to have been used in the fatal shooting.

Neighbors tell ABC15 they fear the shooting may have been the result of the debate over Arizona's new illegal immigration bill. A niece of the victim told ABC15 her uncle was born and raised in the U.S.

This might not be about anything related to SB 1070, but why would the neighbors make up the immigration law angle?

Until we get more information we won't speculate, but the fact that people could be blaming murder on the xenophobic immigration bill crafted by the admitted voter caging jerk Kris Kobach is just the beginning.

... Kris Kobach, chairman of the Kansas GOP, sent out a self-congratulatory litany of accomplishments. Among them was one particularly eye-catching item:

"To date, the Kansas GOP has identified and caged more voters in the last 11 months than the previous two years!" [...]

Not exactly a surprise, is it? This administration has set new records for greed and self-interest:

WASHINGTON — Shortly after leaving his job as U.S. energy secretary in early 2005, Spencer Abraham took a $60,000-a-year post as a director of Occidental Petroleum, which soon became the first firm in 20 years to ship oil to the U.S. from Libya.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge accepted director's fees and consulting work from several firms seeking contracts with his old agency.

Tommy Thompson, the former secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, has consulted, lobbied or worked as an employee for 42 companies since leaving office in January 2005.

All told, 17 of 24 former Bush Cabinet members have taken positions with at least 119 companies, including 65 firms that lobby the government and 40 that lobby the agencies they headed, a liberal-leaning watchdog group said in a report Monday.

Melanie Sloan, the executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said that the group's six-month investigation "has shown that most of these former Bush administration officials have cannily leveraged their time spent in the public sector'' and "made a mint on the backs of American taxpayers."

"It may be legal, but it is certainly not honorable," she said.

With the convicted-by-a-jury-of-his-peers Scooter Libby sentenced to 30 months in prison today, we knew that the question of a pardon would come up in tonight's GOP debate. Some of the candidates blew it off, but Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Sam Brownback supported a pardon and completely misrepresented the facts of the case, stating that there was no underlying crime in the outing of Valerie Plame. Obviously, they got Victoria Toensing's talking points before the debate.

It's now proven that Libby's lies and obstruction hindered Patrick Fitzgerald's investigation making it impossible to find the truth behind the leak. Oh, and Tommy Thompson managed to sneak in a "Clinton did it" moment as well...

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AP Via Yahoo:

Note to Sen. Sam Brownback: In Packerland, it's not cool to diss Brett Favre.

The GOP presidential hopeful drew boos and groans Friday at the Wisconsin Republican Party convention when he used a football analogy to talk about the need to focus on families.

"This is fundamental blocking and tackling," he said. "This is your line in football. If you don't have a line, how many passes can Peyton Manning complete? Greatest quarterback, maybe, in NFL history."

Oops, wrong team to mention in Wisconsin, once described by Gov. Tommy Thompson as the place "where eagles soar, Harleys roar and Packers score."

Realizing what he had said, the Kansas Republican slumped at the podium and put his head in his hands.

"I'm not sure how I recover from this," Brownback said. "My point is we've got to rebuild the family. I'll get off this." Read more...

Ouch. That's gonna leave a mark....

Atrios:

WASHINGTON - Former Wisconsin governor and Republican presidential hopeful Tommy Thompson told Jewish activists Monday that making money is "part of the Jewish tradition," and something that he applauded.

Speaking to an audience at the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington D.C., Thompson said that, "I'm in the private sector and for the first time in my life I'm earning money. You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition and I do not find anything wrong with that."

Thompson later apologized for the comments that had caused a stir in the audience, saying that he had meant it as a compliment, and had only wanted to highlight the "accomplishments" of the Jewish religion.

I don't know if you remember Reggie White's speech to the Wisconsin Legislature:

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White said the United States has gotten away from God, in part by allowing homosexuality to "run rampant."

HOMOSEXUALITY IS a sin, and the plight of gays and lesbians should not be compared to that of blacks, White told lawmakers.

Continue reading »

Yahoo News :

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson, who served as Health and Human Services Secretary in President Bush's first term, said Wednesday he intends to form a committee to explore a possible run for the White House in 2008.

[..]Thompson, who will turn 65 on Sunday, spent nearly four decades in politics and government, including 14 years as governor. He resigned as HHS secretary in December 2004 shortly after Bush won a second term. His tenure at HHS was marked by anthrax attacks, a flu vaccine shortage and passage of the Medicare prescription law. Read on...

There's a record of achievement to run on.

Bill Maher on Jeff Gannon

Video

HBO's Real Time with Bill Maherand his guests Lesley Stahl Robin Williams, Sen. Joe Biden, and former HHS Sec. Tommy Thompson

You knew Bill was going to be all over this story. Leslie Stahl actively particiated as well.

anyone linking to the video please use http://www.crooksandliars.com/2005/02/19.html#a1644

via Wonkette :Network Analysis: Covering Jeff Gannon

Henry the Intern takes a wander through the news network transcripts and comes back with the number of segments and mentions of Jeff Gannon in the last month:

CNN: 18
MSNBC/NBC: 9
FNC/FOX: 2
PBS: 1
ABC: 0
CBS: 0