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Category: Metro Detroit

If the sex text messages are phony, let's see 'em

Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's defense team has a logic problem in its effort to suppress those steamy text messages.

The defense questions the authenticity of the messages. But on the other hand, his court paperwork to keep things secret says the mayor "has a reasonable expectation of privacy in his text message communications."

Well, hell, Mr. Mayor. If they're not your messages, then why not let them be released publicly? You cannot have a right to privacy over messages that are not yours.

Nothing wrong with being a love dog. The mayor's had his run. And you have to sympathize with young love. After he and Christine Beatty were booked, the mayor said "I look forward to complete exoneration once all the facts surrounding this matter have been brought forth."

Since then, Kilpatrick's attorneys have worked hard to see that some stuff is not "brought forth."

If the messages are phony, then the best mayoral defense would be to get them all public so we can all see.

Best case for the the city: a plea bargain that gets the mayor out of office, even if it's a trade for no jail time.

Here's a .pdf of the motion to keep text messages secret.

Category: Whither Michigan?

Detroit: City of bums

Let's see. Detroit's mayor charged with felonies. City Council members targeted in a federal bribery investigation. More than $40 million in questionable spending over at the Detroit Public Schools. Officials there suspect money was paid to contractors for no-work.

Lovely city.

CNN ran another story on the Kwame Kilpatrick mess earlier this week. Nothing new. But to the theme that Detroit is a political swamp, dotted with incompetent, perhaps corrupt, officials.

Here for story.

Category: Pundit watch

Bye bye, Microsoft XP

It wasn't a bad run, the Microsoft XP operating system. The system was the one in which Microsoft finally got it right. Vista not so much. Although Vista has nice features including the file-copy protocols.

The Microsoft way to sell maybe-ware and then improve it slowly. Vista still has a chance. The XP did its job.

And by the way, Apple fans. Someone I know go a MacBook and it has glitches too. Not as hassle-free as legend claims.

As it turns out, Bill Gates is bailing out, too. An American classic along with Thomas Edison and Henry Ford.

Here for story.

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Category: Quote Watch

Trouble in Hillaryville

"Penn was the chief strategist. Following our loss, he now disclaims responsibility for anything and everything that went wrong and acts as if he were barely involved, which is especially galling from someone who made [nearly] $20 million from the campaign."

-- Harold Ickes, Hillary insider talking about Mark Penn, another Hillary insider.

No happy camper, he.

Here for story.

Category: Quote Watch

Democratic unity: 'Like visiting Aunt Ida...'

"This felt like when your mom forces you to go visit your Aunt Ida and she has to pinch your cheeks and you're sitting there in an uncomfortable suit and you can't wait to leave."

-- Annonymous bigtime Hillary donor, explaining what Democratic unity feels like.

Here for more.

Category: Pundit watch

Weekend TV talk: The new gun rules

Tom Brokaw today suggests a different set of rules to regulate guns in urban and rural areas. Well, Tom, the Supreme Court just said that owning a gun is a basic right. So why you can tinker at the margins, no unnecessary limitations are allowed in any region.

Brokaw's "Meet the Press" also included this note: People die because guns are banned and they can't own one, or have it ready to fire in self defense. So knocking down gun bans can have benefits, as well as a downside.

But whatever the downside, it's worth defending a freedom.

Just like putting up with a lot of obnoxious speech from, say Moveon.org, in order to keep free speech for all.

Category: Whither Michigan?

If it wasn't for bad luck, Detroiters would no luck at all

Swell. Now some members of the Detroit City Council are targets of a criminal investigation. Let's see, that makes it a complete set. The mayor has been charged with felonies. Council under investigation. Tax rates are high. Services are low. Crime is high.

It's not the city's image that's the problem. It's the city.

Here for story.

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Category: Pundit watch

It's the people, not the gun, stupid

Now we have some common sense on owning guns. As has been noted before, it's not the gun that kills or injures a person. It's always been the person behind the trigger, as in Dick Cheney. Banning guns makes no more sense than, say, forbidding car ownership because some people are killed by cars.

Or because cars are used in bank robberies, etc.

Constitutionally, the Second Amendment is listed among a batch of individual rights. To say the Second Amendment was thrown in as a reference to group militia having guns -- as opposed to individuals -- doesn't cut it. And the U.S. Supreme Court said as much in its recent decision on the matter.

The traditional pistol or rifle is just shaped metal. To be afraid of shaped metal per se is on the short side of bright. To be afraid of someone carrying lethal shaped metal is another question.

But then a broken beer bottle can be lethal too. Ditto ice picks.

Washington's 32-year ban on guns didn't do much for the murder rate. In 2006, The city has the seventh highest murder rate in the country (Detroit was first, of course). Other cities with no ban on guns had substantially lower murder rates than Washington, suggesting that any problem is not the gun but the people who own them.

Don't deny rights based on the fact that some people will abuse them.

Some people, for example, abuse free speech. But let's not ban or over-regulate free speech because of that. As it turns out, many universities have sacrificed free speech on the altar of political correctness.

That is, speech is limited if this group -- or that -- would be offended. In the long run, it's better to have offended citizens than a tradition of limited speech.

Speaking out freely is one of the main defenses against an oppressive governments. Just ask the women of Saudia Arabia. They have no political voice. And as a result, aren't even allowed to drive a car.

And because the country is a kingdom with limited individual rights, that's the way it is. Period. No Moveon.org or NOW to protest.

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Category: Quote Watch

Bill Gates on success. He oughtta know.

"Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose."

-- Bill Gates, super-rich founder of Microsoft. In a collection of his quotes and off-the-mark predictions.

Here.

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Category: Metro Detroit

Raise taxes? Are you kidding me?

The case of Judge Helene White shows just how broken the federal government. Her appointment to the U.S. appeals court has been pending for more than 10 years. Few question her credentials.

It's the politics.

Makes me wonder why some people, especially Democrats, want to raise federal taxes.

Why would anyone in their right mind want to send more money to such a dysfunctional system? One that can't quickly decide on a qualified judge.

Here for story.