You Must Watch This!

My dear friend Karin Babbitt sent me the link to this video of a plea from her mother who is and prison camp survivor.  Not only is it impassioned but an unbelievable story.  If you feel compelled to action you can go to this site for further information. http://FreeDinasArt.wordpress.com

18 BILLION DOLLARS IN BONUSES? REALLY?

by Bruce David
Editorial Director
Hustler

It's an outrage. The very people responsible for destroying our economy -- the crooks on Wall Street -- saw no problem in giving out 18 billion dollars in bonuses despite the fact that their institutions are broke. Aren't bonuses supposed to be based on a percentage of the profits a business -- in this case a bank or investment house or brokerage house -- makes? They didn't have any profits in 2008! In fact, they asked the American people to bail them out. Had we failed to do so most -- if not all -- of the great banking and investment institutions would have failed. So it was your money and mine that they gave out in bonuses -- the tax money we gave the government which then went to the TARP. 

Even more outrageous was the response of Wall Street when President Obama called them out on their actions. Ali Velshi, CNN's Chief Business Correspondent -- a regular Wall Street cheerleader -- actually had the nerve to defend the bonuses, saying they are considered a normal part of the salary on Wall Street. Sans bonuses, a lot of the lower echelon employees might only take home a mere $100,000 for the year. I say they're damned lucky if they take home anything. And I'm sure most Americans would be quite happy to make $100,000 or even $50,000 a year.

Meanwhile, FOX News was busy defending Wall Street by saying the bonuses were paid as a percentage of sales made by individual brokers. In other words, somehow the individual who made money for the company should be separated from the company itself which is broke. That almost makes sense except for one thing: The company is broke! They’re unable to fulfill their obligations to these employees. And I can’t afford to help them do so.

So here's the deal: I want our money back! All eighteen billion -- or twenty billion (the latest number I'm hearing) -- of the 700 billion that was part of the bailout. President Obama should immediately tell those criminal elitists on Wall Street he's taking that 18 billion out of the unpaid remainder of the TARP. If they want it back, Merrill Lynch and those other Wall Street creeps will have to recover it from the people they gave bonuses to.

And one other thing: CNN should fire Ali Velshi. He's a moron. As for FOX, who cares what they say? No one with half a brain believes them anyhow.

Tag! You're it!

by Tom Yamaguchi

Last week, Alex tagged me on Facebook with a challenge called "25 Random Things About Me. Here are the rules:

"Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you."

Always willing to accept a writing challenge, I made my list, posted it as instructed, and tagged 25 more Facebook friends who I wanted to know more about.

This is my list:
1. I have lived in the same house in West Berkeley for almost 28 years.
2. I generally can't cook, but I love to make pesto.
3. I love watching animated cartoons, especially Tex Avery and Chuck Jones.
4. Once, when I saw the Kinks at the Concord Pavilion, I was one of the fans who got to shake Ray Davies' hand.
5. One thing I miss about San Diego is OB People's Food.
6. I came out as a gay man at age 40.
7. I was adopted at age 19.
8. One of my favorite places to visit as a kid was the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
9. I wish society had a more positive attitude about homosexuality when I was a teenager.
10. I was trained to write functional resumes and have assisted several hundred homeless people looking for jobs.
11. I am disappointed that I have not been able to maintain a close friendship with my ex-wife.
12. I have ridden my bicycle several times up Mount Madonna.
13. Though I am not a strict vegetarian, I am not really into steak or hot dogs.
14. I used to help run a food buying club and am now a member of the CoG coop grocery.
15. I regularly contribute to the Radio Bolo blog.
16. My first bicycle commute was from Ocean Beach to Kearny Mesa in San Diego during the seventies.
17. My first full time job as a political activist was gathering signatures to get Bill Press' Tax Big Oil initiative on the ballot in 1980.
18. I edit the monthly newsletter for Strawberry Creek Friends Meeting and help update the website.
19. I have one thing in common with Barack Obama. I'm left-handed.
20. I spent the first 13 years of my life in South Jersey.
21. i was originally named after my father, Thomas Francis Campbell.
22. I am really concerned for the environment and the future for my two daughters.
23. I wish I had done more traveling when I was younger, but now I feel guilty about airplane travel.
24. I do love riding trains, even though I get frustrated when they are delayed.
25. I wish they had Macintosh computers when I was in elementary school.

After posting, I realized I wanted to add another thing to the list. There is a picture of me on the streets views of Google Maps. Last summer, a friend reminded me of a previous encounter we had near his Emeryville office. Larry, who is an architect, was walking to the corner with one of his co-workers when I came by on my bicycle. I stopped, and we talked for a couple minutes. Then I went on my way. Later, Larry was looking at Google maps in order give a client driving directions. Our previous encounter was now completely recorded in photos, and none of us were aware our pictures were being taken.

So why stop at 26? Here are 25 more random (an not so random) things about me.

26. I am viewable on Google Maps with my bicycle at the southwest corner of 59th and Doyle in Emeryville, CA.
27. My first personal computer was a Commodore 128.
28. My first word processor was SpeedScript, which I typed in Machine Language line by line from a book of Commodore programs and games.
29. My first email account was with QuantumLink, a predecessor to America Online.
30. My first Internet email accounts were with the Well and Peacenet.
31. My previous jobs include dishwasher, janitor, receptionist, personal care attendant, canvasser, signature gatherer, assembly worker, and literacy tutor.
32. During my time as an assembly worker, I was also a failed union organizer.
33. For much of my adult life, I had long hair. When I decide to get it cut, I donated my ponytail to Locks of Love, an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients.
34. As an opponent of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, I was arrested for trespassing.
35. The anti-nuclear activists I stayed in jail with included Jackson Browne, Wavy Gravy, and Robert Blake.
36. Listening to Dr. Steven Chu helped me change my position on nuclear power, along with the help of a friend who teaches high school science.
37. I attended the 1988 Democratic Party convention as an attendant for a delegate who uses a wheelchair.
38. During the Democratic Convention, I stayed with the California delegation at the Atlanta Hilton where the infamous Rob Lowe video was made.
39. I called the Alex Bennett program on a pay phone in the lobby of the Atlanta Hilton. (Who knows, maybe while Rob Lowe was up in his room, making that video.)
40.One of the first things I do each day on the web is read the comics, including Dilbert and Zippy the Pinhead.
41. The most fun I had in San Francisco was visiting Alex Bennett's show and hanging out with some very talented comedians.
42. My favorite drugs are coffee and chocolate.
43. I used to be a part of the nude beach scene at Black's Beach in La Jolla, CA.
44. Every February 9, I celebrate William Henry Harrison's birthday.
45. I am in favor of touch screen voting because I believe people with disabilities have the right to cast a secret ballot.
46. Alex Bennett used many of the letters I sent him for his Letters segment.
47. I did not learn how to drive and get my license until I was 20, which is not typical of young males in Southern California.
48. Although I tend to be a skeptic, I believe in a world where peace is possible.
49. The best quality I find in any person is a sense of humor.
50. I am continually amazed that I meet so many interesting people.

Now, dear reader, consider yourself tagged. Create you own list of 25 random things about you. Share them if you like.

You may join the Great American Broadcast Group on Facebook. http://www.facebook.com/groups.php?id=1663960847#/group.php?gid=48937007494

Where Are The Jobs?

Slowly but surely the American people are being strangled to death. Is it because there is no money out there? Not really but it's all being squirreled away by greedy companies who just want to keep making a high profit. The real reason why so many people are being let go is not that keeping them would drive the company under, but that they want to keep profits high in down times. The stupidity is that by letting people go they are only exacerbating the situation more and may be sealing their doom in the future.

On monday a record a record 75,000 job cuts were announced. How many of them were needed because there was no work for those people and how many were because those companies wanted to maximize profits in bad times.

Caterpillar who makes farm and construction equipment announced that 20,000 people would be laid off. If nobody is buying tractors then there is no sense in building them, but is 20,000 realistic or is that number unreasonably high in order to make a bigger profit in bad times?

Clear Channel an outfit that owns the most broadcast stations in America totaling over 1200 and a nationwide billboard business, let go 1,850 people. It is interesting that last year their revenues fell 9%, but they made a profit and that current number laid off is 9% of the company's total staffing. The question is are they afraid of going into the red or just wanting to keep profits the same as in better years?

We are living in times when people are expendable. In fact most companies look at the employee as a a liability where in the past they were an asset. Company loyalty to their staff is almost negligible and yet the company demands loyalty from them. It's a bad deal all around.

So what can the government do. First of all quit bailing out companies who will take the money and let people go. Earmark that money for job security and nothing else. But if its a chance to help a corporation or help the people, guess who's taking a walk? The only reason the government wants to get money in the hands of the people is so they will turn around and spend it on the corporation, not to put food in their mouth but when they do, they dole out the food in a manner that makes people grovel at the cost of their self esteem.

I wish I could come up with a rosy end to this blog, but there isn't one. Maybe it's just that capitalism is a miserable failure and nobody is ready to admit it.

Lefty Obamanation

By Tom Tamaguchi

Barack Hussein Obama did not waste any time before publicly flaunting his perverse, degenerate lifestyle. Sitting down to sign the first proclamation of his presidency, witnesses stood in horror as Obama grabbed his pen with his left hand. Then, with the audacity that has become his trademark, Obama glared at the shocked onlookers and blurted out, "I'm a lefty. Get used to it." With that act, the rumors that had circulated during the campaign were finally confirmed. Our newly elected President has chosen the left-handed lifestyle.

Religious leaders have pointed to the tendency of Americans to elect left-handed leaders as a sign our nation is headed to moral oblivion. Past presidents such have Bill Clinton have tried to keep their sinister tendencies quiet. Ronald Reagan successfully converted to the proper hand, though it took years of therapy. It is said, that while governor of California, several interventions were performed at a secret location near Lake Tahoe. For Barack Obama, it may already be too late.

"It's shameful, " says the Reverend Gilbert Procturn. "All major religions reject the left-handed lifestyle as morally repugnant. The left hand is the unclean hand. You use your left hand to wipe yourself after using the toilet. When I see our President touching a legal document with his unclean hand, it is like he is wiping himself with the United States Constitution."

There is no doubt in Rev. Procturn's mind that sinisterism is against all that Christianity stands for. "Ask our good Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. If they tried to grab a pencil with the wrong hand in Catholic School, there would be a nun with a ruler on top of them ready to inflict serious damage. If they didn't comply, you better believe those left hands would end up in no condition to hold anything."

This approach may seem a bit severe to some in the psychological community. Richard Coma of the Brain Healing Institute has developed a cure for what he calls Opposite Brain Disorder or OBD. "Lefties are thinking in the wrong side of their brains, and we need to reach out with God's love to help them with their problem." Coma developed his methods through interventions similar to Reagan's treatments in a secret Lake Tahoe condominium. Coma admits that he once chose the sinister lifestyle. "My therapist was a big man. He was very powerful and firm. After one weekend session, I found I could use my right hand and enjoy it."

Now it is Coma who is administering the treatments. "If I have a relapse, I can even perform the treatments on myself." He admits that not all of his peers approve of his method. "They took away my license to practice psychotherapy. It was all very political. They just don't want their patients to know the truth."

Coma cites statistics and provides evidence the left-handed die younger and live completely miserable lives. "Nobody really wants to be left-handed. Doesn't everybody want to be normal, I mean, like everybody else?"

Coma supports himself by selling books and conducting trainings at the Brain Healing Institute. His book for parents, Growing up Right, shows how OBD can be caught and reversed at a very young age. "Restraining the left hand behind your child's back is one way you can heal OBD. It may sound harsh, but think of it as tough love. Have faith and remember that OBD can be cured."

The Reverend Procturn is more pessimistic. "Showing Obama with his left hand hooked around his pen and smiling like that sends the wrong message to our nation's youth. If we don't condemn this shameful public performance, kids will think there is nothing wrong with it. Obama is recruiting them to his perverted, sinister lifestyle. Obama and all of them are headed straight to hell. We have to take a moral stand for this country. "

Would we have been better off if Obama had not been elected? "No," admitted the Reverend. "There is no hope. McCain is left-handed, too."

Digital Exam

With the February "drop dead" date for the digital conversion of television moved to June 12th, I figured it was time to run one of my Hustler columns that dealt with this mess.  It was edited as always by Bruce David.

OK. Here’s the exam. What does the date February 17, 2009 mean to you? Sure you know you’ve seen it somewhere but can remember. How about the lower third of your favorite TV show. Now you’ve got it. That’s the day TV goes completely digital and your old reliable standby analog TV will disappear forever. Have I lost you yet? Well if I have here’s a little primer.

In May 1941 the FCC adopted what we now have as our television standard of 525 scan lines. An electron beam sketched the picture in small lines across the face of the television tube. The total number of those lines amounted to 525. We weren’t the first with TV , Germany and Great Britain were doing it in the ’30 and their scan lines were more at 625 and 725. Why we adopted an inferior system is beyond me, but I bet it had something to do with politics and payoffs. The more lines the better the definition of the picture. That’s why if you’ve ever watched TV in Europe, the picture always seemed so much better. To add to all this confusion every country had a different system. Ours was called “NTSC”. Europe had “PAL” while even other countries had “SECAM”. There was no worldwide standard. What a mess.

TV here began to make its commercial debut in 1946. It would have been earlier but the world war held off our launch. It was black and white and it was fuzzy, but people would sit around happily watching the old Indian head test pattern just because it was there. 

Color didn’t come along that much later. The first system to be approved by the FCC was from CBS who started broadcasting color in 1951. It involved a large whirling color wheel and was incompatible with black and white. RCA ‘s system wasn’t approved because it really wasn’t ready for primetime. In spite of it all RCA persevered by among other things, coming up with a compatible system, improving on the original set and by starting rumors that the color wheel of the CBS sets could come loose and decapitate its viewers. The fight was a prolonged affair, but CBS gave up due to production problems. The eventual winner was RCA. RCA’s TV network NBC started colorcasts in 1953.

Since that time 55 years ago nothing has really changed with the possible exception of the addition of stereo sound.

In the meantime other countries, notably Japan, had been working on new systems meant to create a picture of High Definition. Most of them were analog as opposed to digital. 

I suppose another explanation is due. Analog is a variable continuous signal. Digital is a series of 0’s and 1’s basically representing on and off. Digital is said to be more flexible and efficient than analog and uses less bandwidth. Still scratching your head? Never mind it’s not important to know how it works as much as that it exists and that everyone’s going to get rich from it.

The FCC then mandated that there should be a cut off date for analog television and after many tries finally came up with February 17, 2009. Yes it’s a Tuesday which makes no sense at all.

So is all this better for you? Well the old system was ancient, but who this is really great for are the people who make TV equipment. There’s just no way they will lose on this deal.

If you have an old fashioned tube set, you must have a converter, which can be had for around $50 and less if you get a coupon from the government. However don’t buy that converter or throw out your TV set just yet. If you have cable or satellite you are ready good to go since that’s all you will need. If you don’t it’s time to get that converter or just buy a new fangled digital picture box.

The cost of the flat screen digital TV’s are coming down to what tube prices once were. If you look around you can get into a 32” for around $500.

All that said, what happens to people who need food first and rely on over the air signals as their only source of entertainment and information? Hasn’t anybody heard that there’s a recession on? Gas costs a bundle and “Mac and Cheese” is a major staple.

There might have been a better way. Those old channels could have been kept on the air but the telecommunication boys have been drooling to get their hands on them for years. Think of the Trillions being spent by everyone to do the conversion. it’s good for business.

Here’s how this is this good for you? Remember all those crappy shows on your old TV? Now they will all be in Hi-Def.

All this still confusing? Then let me tell you about the two digital systems 1080i and 720p not to mention the 1080p they can’t broadcast but is on Blu-ray……..

Aww fuck it! It’s all a big mess.

The Sunday Funnies

So there we were in California for my induction into the "San Francisco Bay Area Radio Hall Of Fame" and we had just come back from visiting an old high school buddy.  While at his place we talked about old times and he let it slip that I used to use "Jerry Bennett" as my show business nom de plume.   Well this set "Girlfriend" into hysterics and by the time we got back to my business manager's place in Larkspur she couldn't stop laughing.   Here she tries to profess her undying love for me but just can't.    Jerry????  I was young and unimaginative.

W's Farewell-More Great Moments in Disappointment

by Tom Yamaguchi

Breaking news-Bush now admits he has made some mistakes during his presidency. We understand, George. We've made a couple, too: 2000 and 2004. But that is another story.

It may be too early to judge if Bush is the worst President in history. He is clearly the most disappointing in my lifetime, even more disappointing than Jimmy Carter. I voted for Jimmy Carter. What was I thinking? Oh that's right; I was getting my news from Rolling Stone and taking advice from Hunter S. Thompson. What was I thinking?

Can we say anything positive about the presidency of George W. Bush? He did raise money to fight the AIDS epidemic in Africa. I am glad Bush and the Republicans are taking the AIDS epidemic seriously. Too bad they weren't so motivated when the epidemic started while Reagan was president in the 1980's. We could have saved a lot of money and lot of lives. Reagan did not say the word AIDS in public until the middle of his second term. 

Bush may be right about keeping us safe from more terrorist attacks, but we have no way of verifying that. He says he was not afraid to make the tough decisions, but what about making tough decisions on climate change? The impact of global warming is a greater threat to our safety than Al Qaida. Failure to ratify the Kyoto Treaty is on Bush's list accomplishments. "I guess I could have been popular by accepting Kyoto, which I felt was a flawed treaty," he said at his final press conference, "and proposed something different and more constructive." Instead, the Senate ended up not ratifying any treaty. Frustrated cities and states have committed themselves to achieving the goals set by Kyoto while the federal government has done nothing. Bush's EPA was more interested in fighting states from using clean air laws to regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

Bush was elected in 2000 with the high hopes of being a compassionate conservative. He acknowledged that half the country had voted against him. He promised to reach across the aisle as he had done as Texas Governor. One thing I didn't hear him say during the 2000 campaign was "Oh, and if elected, I will go to war with Iraq and oust Saddam Hussein." If he did, I missed that speech. He may want us to believe the war was a reaction to 9/11. All the evidence, including the Downing Street Memo, show the Bush people were setting us up for the war as soon as they got into office. Lyndon Johnson's vision of a Great Society was derailed by the Vietnam War. To his defense, Johnson got stuck with a war he inherited from Eisenhower and Kennedy. Bush was derailed by a war he started.

All presidents disappoint us, and Obama will be no exception. So far, the disappointments have been nothing to get too worked up about. Rick Warren is a bad choice, but he will be out of the picture soon enough. The nominee for Treasury Secretary has to explain why he didn't pay his income taxes. Bush's Defense Secretary is keeping his job after being responsible for keeping our troops in Iraq and preventing detainees in Guantanamo Bay from getting due process. The nominee for Surgeon General is not a supporter of universal health care and seems to be in bed with the major drug companies. We are sure to see bigger disappointments. 

According to the St. Petersburg Times, creator of the Truth-O-Meter, Obama made 510 promises in his campaign. The Truth-O-Meter evaluated the accuracy of the candidates' campaign advertising. Now the paper will be evaluating Obama's campaign promises with the Obameter. The Obameter will track how many of those promises the new president will keep and how many he will break. The web site, http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/promises, notes that Obama asks us to hold him accountable and replies, "OK, we will."

When we do find ourselves getting really upset with Obama, we can try saying this: "President John McCain." That should help ease the pain a bit.

Welcome To The Inhoguration

Finally our long national nightmare is over. Here's hoping that we don't have a new one, but things don't look good.

First of all the new president has fucked up a lot. Come on, Rick Warren for christ sake! What a slap in the face to gays everywhere who campaigned for Obama to have this future Jerry Falwell give the invocation. To appease the gays a few days ago he asked an Episcopalian bishop Gene Robinson who is gay to give the invocation, but not at the inhoguration but at the Sunday kickoff event.  Obama just doesn't get it.   He says he wants to be inclusive.  Then why not invite the Ku Klux Klan  or the American Nazi Party?  Warren is an immoral fuck who shouldn't be allowed within 10 miles of this event let alone on the dias. As for being inclusive, for 8 goddamn years they didn't include us. Fuck 'em, it's our turn.  Obama wants to compromise.  Nothing good ever comes out of compromise except watered down ideas. 

Then there is the Bill Richardson gaffe.  He had to step down from being Commerce Secretary due to an investigation that is going on about possible improprieties on his part.  Then there was his Treasury Secretary to be Timothy Geithner who it seems forgot to pay some $30,000 in taxes and has an undocumented alien working for him.   All this from a guy who will oversee the IRS.   How about Julius Genachowski his choice for FCC Commisioner who was an old pal from law school who was once an FCC attorney.  Smell like cronyism doesn't it? If these actions were made by a Republican the liberals would have a "hissy fit".

Now comes the biggest oversight of all.  I believe we are in a recession if not a downright depression that is effecting everyone. Then why the fuck are we spending over $150 million dollars on the inhoguration?   Sure $45 million is in private funds, but still, what kind of example of austerity does this send?   Obama says he wants recognize these financial times so he asked that no flowers be bought for the 10...count 'em 10 inhogural balls.   Wow does that ever send a message of modest behavior and change.

If he really wanted to send a message of change and make a point that these are tough times, he could have just done the whole swearing in thing inside The White House and televised it.  His hero Franklin D. Roosevelt did that in 1942 when there was a war on and said it would be in bad taste to lavish any extravagance on the event. The speech was short and the event small.

So tonight inside people in their tux and gowns will be feting on wine an pheasant in our nation's capitol while outside Americans go hungry and wonder how they will survive this financial Apocalypse. It is sad to say that this man, who so many are putting their  faith in, is kicking off his presidency in such an elitist way.

The sad part is that he doesn't even see it.

Kicking A Man When He's Dead

It's a holiday so here is a rerun of one of my favorites

This article appeared as one of my columns for Hustler Magazine and was edited by Bruce David.  Of all the columns I have done so far, this one is my favorite and I thought I would share it with you.

A few months ago an article of mine appeared in Hustler magazine called “The Political Cage Match” in which I discussed the appalling coverage by the news networks of the campaign for the presidency. I especially picked on NBC whose coverage was so terrible that I was compelled to rip each and everyone of their sleazy news team a new asshole. But I saved my biggest salvo for Tim Russert a man who embodied everything that has been egregious about this year’s election coverage. As luck would have it old Tim died just about day and date with that issue coming out. Did I feel bad? Did I try and buy up all the known copies of that issue? No! In fact I felt no remorse about my critique. The coverage of his death that followed only made me more resolute in my feelings as it went into overkill.

Constantly for seven straight days they hammered away at his passing. Look, I’m not so hard hearted as to not understand that the passing of a close associate, especially one that came so suddenly did warrant some on the air tributes but this went on for a week.

It was as though NBC News was sitting Shiva for a gentile. Sitting Shiva for all you non-Jews out there is ritual in which the immediate family goes back to the home and (if you’re really orthodox) sit on hard benches for seven days while friends come by and bring food and drink for them. I work about a block away from their New York News Center and was almost compelled to walk over there with a box of knishes it was getting so morbid. It’s a toss up as to which is in worse taste, what I am writing now or the way they handled the whole thing.

All the tributes told us what a great guy he was. There were remembrances about what a great father he was. Proof of that was his son Luke who seemed like a well mannered and decent individual of great bearing, but who wound up spending more screen time that week than any NBC newsman. After a while it seemed like he was auditioning for his father’s job. Don’t worry if you liked him, I’m sure this won’t be the last we’ll see of him.

There were constant mentions of what a “workaholic” he was, sometimes working as much as 14 hours or more a day. My question is, when did he have enough time to be a great husband and father? Didn’t he realize the besides depriving his family he was setting himself up for the heart event that removed him from their lives completely?

By the way, I should note that a few weeks later Tony Snow, the former press secretary and host on Fox news died. In many ways he was more important than Tim, but the media played this one out after just a weekend and that was it. Maybe Fox does have some taste after all.

Sure it was sad that Tim had to go at the age of 58. It is far too young for anyone to die. But so is 18 or 21 or even 34 and those are ages that our men and women are being slaughtered at in the war in Iraq. So many soldiers died so young and all because of the likes of Tim Russert.

It was “Timid Tim” after all who was part of the press helping George Bush beat the drums for war by believing every press handout from the White House without question. As Washington bureau chief for NBC he made major editorial decisions and allowed the “Bushies” to get away with wholesale murder not by action but by inaction. He blithely allowed the run up to the war to be reported without asking questions.

The press should be our ombudsmen. We don’t have access to power and the truth but they do and we invest in them the responsibility to do what we cannot. The value of a strong and vigilant press is that they do the snooping for us and attempt to sort fact from fiction.

So whom am I supposed to feel sorry for? Tim at 58 who dropped dead while recording the opening for “Meet The Press” at the air-conditioned NBC studios in Washington DC or the soldier who died younger than he should have lying in a ditch somewhere in the blazing heat of the Middle East. It’s got to be the soldier who found himself in a hellhole because Tim didn’t do his job.

Mind you, I’m not callous. I feel sorry for Tim’s family who never again will have the fleeting glance of seeing him in a blur going out the door to work at dawn and then a quick peek when he arrived home at 10:00 at night exhausted. Most of all I feel sad for Tim Russert who left this “mortal coil” with blood on his conscience because he failed in his duty as a journalist to ferret out the truth.