Judy Miller the Diva

Judy was on Larry King Thursday night, and gave a virtuoso performance in denial. With a sophomoric grin and a delusional account of what happened to her at the NY Times, Judy was a talking point of the battered soul. The victim in all of this.

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She was stunned and saddened over her perceived attacks by Maureen Dowd and Arianna Huffington against her great character. After all, it was only a few stories that were slightly off in her mind after twenty-eight years of reporting. The WMD reports were a mere blip on the screen based on slightly faulty intelligence. It could happen to anyone right-Judy? Miller was particularly annoyed at that pesky word " entanglement," Bill Keller used.

Let's clear that up, after all what's more important- a war that you helped promote, helping your pal Scooter Libby who's involved in outing a CIA agent or a single expression? She refused to answer any questions about Scooter's upcoming case even though she is legally allowed to. So how are the Aspens this time of year?

Time for Robert Novak to Feel Some Chill

via Jay Rosen: "I, for one, have had it with Robert Novak. And if all the journalists who are talking today about "chilling effects" and individual conscience mean what they say, they will, as a matter of conscience and pride, start giving Novak himself the big chill...read on"

It's about time somebody starts beating the drum to silence that arrogant, smug bastard. (Here's the video of Robert with Ed Henry trying to be the victim in the Plame game.) I was able to get Novak to apologize on the air twice by simply getting off my ass and raising some hell to CNN. What will it take for the journalistic community to do the same?

As Jay says, "how can they look at anybody with a straight face and say they are concerned for future whistle blowers if one of their own, Robert Novak, together with sources made possible an act of retribution against an actual whistle blower?" Wasn't it Novak who started the rumors flying about Rhenquist?

via The Carpet Bagger

I hesitate to criticize Hugh Hewitt's Weekly Standard articles, not because they're awful on the merits, but because it’s practically a blogging cliché. It’s almost too predictable to bother. Hewitt's latest, however, was too offensive to ignore....read on

Indeed, the piece is filled with ad hominem attacks against Americans United and it's director, the Rev. Barry Lynn. (Like too many conservatives, Hewitt finds it easier to make personal attacks than persuasive arguments.) Hewitt's argument follows a certain child-like reasoning: Lynn is bad, Lynn is presenting an argument, therefore the argument is bad.

It's a shame Hewitt didn't think this through a little more. It's not Lynn and Americans United who have gone after the Air Force Academy; it's current and former cadets who’ve been the victim of discrimination and are looking for help. It’s not “hearsay” if the cadets have seen — and been the victim of — the harassment fist hand....

This is an important story, but as usual Hewitt is incapable of sustaining an intelligent argument...whoops...I started an ad hominem attack...Steve is right. It is pretty easy to do.

STLtoday:

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missouri state Rep. Scott Muschany, R-Frontenac, was indicted today in connection with a reported sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl on May 17, the day after this year’s Legislative session ended.

The alleged victim is the daughter of a state employee. The girl’s mother and Muschany -– who is married and has two children -- were romantically involved, the woman said.

A Cole County grand jury returned an indictment today charging Muschany with the Class C felony of "deviate sexual assault." The indictment identifies the victim only by initials. It says that on May 17, Muschany "had deviate sexual intercourse" with the girl, "knowing that he did so without" her consent.

The document also alleges that the mother "did admit that the incident did take place, including her witnessing same." Read on...

After so many Republican sex crimes and scandals, you just have to scratch your head and wonder how one party could attract so many deviant hypocrites. Ready for the money shot? Muschany co-sponsored a bill in 2006 that toughened sex offender laws.

A six year old West Virginia jury award now worth $70 million against the country's fourth largest coal company was overturned last week by the West Virginia Supreme Court. Now a look back at what happened in between is raising eyebrows, not to mention Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship's hackles. This one seems eerily similar to John Grisham's latest, only this is for real. ABC's Brian Ross explains.

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After Massey Energy appealed the case, its CEO Don Blankenship, a Richmond Virginia resident, helped bankroll a $3.5 million ad campaign to successfully unseat W.V. Supreme Court Justice Warren McGraw and replace him with Justice Brent Benjamin, or as fellow Justice Larry Starcher put it, "the election was bought, a seat was purchased on our Supreme Court, and I'm highly offended by it." Then pictures surfaced of Blankenship and W.V. Supreme Court Chief Justice Spike Maynard vacationing with their girlfriends on the Riviera. "It was a trip the Chief Justice never disclosed to the court, even when he voted with the majority to overturn the huge Massey verdict, according to Justice Starcher, who is now being interviewed by the FBI."

After the pictures became public, Justice Maynard did recuse himself, but so did fellow Justice Starcher because (gasp), he had dared to have been critical of Blankenship's relationship with the Court. So the three remaining W.V. Justices, including Blankenship's 3.5 million dollar Justice Benjamin, reheard the case last week and again overturned it.

When approached for a comment by ABC News, Blankenship threatened that the reporter was "liable to get shot" and attacked his camera.

W.V. Chief Justice Maynard insists he's been the victim of "the mother of all political smears," even after it came out that Blankenship's chief political consultant is now helping Maynard's re-election bid. Let's hope that goes about as well as Blankenship's $3 million attempt to finance a GOP takeover of the W.V. House in 2006.

Senator David Vitter fell victim to a humiliating incident today. No, it wasn't the town hall meeting he held with LA residents discussing his hypocritical involvement in the "DC Madam" prostitution scandal. It was after the meeting when his driver backed into a parking sign while quickly fleeing the press.

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Fender-benders aside, Vitter finds himself in some hot water now that Deborah Palfrey is going to trial and he's been named as a potential witness. As News 9 reports, Vitter may even invoke his 5th amendment rights. We'll be sure to follow this one.

At his presser today President Bush was asked by CNN's Ed Henry whether he had mentioned the Saudi rape case at all during conversations with King Abdullah in the past few weeks.

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Bush begins his answer with a supposedly heartfelt 'what if it was my daughter' explanation but then when pressed further says that he doesn't remember whether he ever brought the subject up or not but insists the Saudi King “knows our position loud and clear.”

Henry: On another issue of credibility in the Mid East -- At the Annapolis Summit you used your influence to get Saudi Arabia to the table but I wonder whether now you will use you influence to do something about the Saudi rape case that has gotten so much international attention? What goes through your mind when you hear about a 19 year old Saudi woman getting gang raped by seven men and basically a Saudi court blames the victim and sentences her to 200 lashes? You spoke to King Abdullah by telephone in the last couple of weeks. Did you press him on this case? If so what did you say and if not, are you giving him a pass?"

Bush: My first thoughts were these. What happens if this happened to my daughter? How would I react? And I would have been -- I would have been very emotional, of course. I’d have been angry at those who committed the crime, and I would be angry at the state that didn’t support the victim, and our opinions were expressed by Dana Perino from the podium.

Henry: Did you press King Abdullah about it personally?

Bush: I talked to King Abdullah about the Middle eastern peace. I don't remember if that subject came up.

Henry: If it was that important to you why wouldn't you at that level bring it directly up to King Abdullah?

Bush: There's plenty of time. He knows our position loud and clear.

Even after considering 'what if' the victim was his own daughter, apparently Bush decided it really wasn't important enough to even bring up after all.

TS here. Goodbye, you Princes of Maine, you Kings of New England! And a genuine thanks for all comments and tips, and -- most especially -- your tolerance. Anyway, here are a few keepers from round the Internetz.

“Around 1994, someone called me up to complain about being the victim of a stock fraud. Since representing such folk is my business, I asked him who he wanted to sue. He said he didn't know anyone's name. He explained there was this place called the "internet' where people promoted stocks. The client apparently wanted to sue the internet, or possibly usenet, itself.” -- Arthur

“What I do remember about the Bork hearings, since I was an adult at the time and not a doughy adolescent dreaming of icing those cinnamon buns on either side of Princess Leia's head, is that Bork was forced under oath to allow for "organic development" of that Constitutional text he insisted was inviolate, thereby giving up the game, something the last twenty years of utter failure to redefine the concept into something workable has double underlined.” – Doghouse Riley

“For all Bush has done right, tax cuts, Afghanistan, Iraq, Roberts and Alito, torturing Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, etc., his lack of discipline on domestic spending, especially the Medicare boondoggle are going to be a black mark on his presidency. Well, at least he tortured that guy. Nobody can take that away from him.” – Belle Waring

“All that work by those staff writers to advocate invading Iraq and Iran and now all they have to show for it is 3,800 dead Americans in Iraq rather than the key to the executive pisser.” -- Clif

“Heck, I didn't even know there was mule racing!” – John Hawks

“Guys, I don’t know what conservatarians did to you in your past, but clearly it’s affected you. I suggest yoga or tai chi or something. If that doesn’t work, go find a self-described “libertarian” blog where torture and detention without trial is enthusiastically supported, and go vent at them. But this isn’t one of those blogs.” -- Thoreau

You can get me at instaputzen [at] gmail [dot com].

So says Quigo! Oh, this keeps getting better. Poor Michelle Malkin is playing the victim again, but this time she's fighting back. She's placing ads against her FOX colleague Geraldo Rivera. He's been trying to fight the racist---anti-immigration positions that his network is promoting and he finally had enough of Malkin's routine. He couldn't have made his feelings any clearer in the Boston Globe and on H&C.

Malkin placed some Google ads against Geraldo and also placed it on the FOX Noise website and Quigo. The funny still keeps coming as she received an email telling MM that her content was offensive and the account was blocked.

Only in Malkinworld.

comment 65:

On September 1st, 2007 at 1:10 pm, TMoney said:

I’m beginning to wonder about Geraldo’s immigration status. Maybe his middle name is ‘Anchor’.

  (h/t Howie at DWT for pic) Via Taking Down Words:

Former Clark County GOP Chair and newly elected Young Republican National Federation Chair Glenn Murphy is under investigation for criminal deviate conduct, a Class B felony, for allegedly engaging in oral sex with a sleeping victim. This is not his first run-in with the law for this kind of offense.Read the investigative report and a prior arrest for sexual battery in 1998 here: glennmurphy.pdf

WARNING: This is some pretty graphic stuff. Don't let the kiddies read it.

UPDATE: Murphy recently sent an e-mail telling friends in Florida about his decision to resign from the YRNF position for business reasons. Read more...

According to the police report the alleged victim is a man. The warning above should definitely be heeded, the report is extremely graphic. Murphy (no relation to me) was considered to be a rising star in the Indiana GOP...