Author: Greg Saunders

It pretty common among bloggers to offer their criticisms as faux advice, such as “Dear Mr. President, do yourself a favor and stop being a moron.” Pretending to show concern is a good trick, since it’s an easy way to rewrite the same complaints without boring yourself or your audience. I bring this up just to make it clear that this post should not be interpreted in that way. I know there are people from CNN who read this blog and I sincerely hope they take the following message to heart.

Nancy Grace is a irrational lunatic whose obsession with revenge undermines any credibility she may have once had. Please fire her.

Reliable “legal experts” don’t foam at the mouth when a lack of physical evidence keeps a suspect from being charged with a crime. In comparison to CNN’s legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, Grace’s show offers analysis akin to a torch-wielding leader of a lynch mob. Evidence, due process, and rule of law are moot on Grace’s show since the goal is never to discuss the legal process, but to seek vengeance against all criminals, regardless of their guilt.

What makes Grace’s show especially heinous is that her shtick panders to the most ignorant and emotionally charged impulses in her audience. The rage in her voice is palpable as she interviews anyone with gall to defend someone charged with a crime. Indeed, even guests who play the devil’s advocate are treated with derision as if discussion of the simple fact that our legal system provides the assumption of innocence is a sign that they lack her moral clarity. In Nancy Grace’s world, being charged with a crime is a guilty sentence.

There are some who might argue that Grace’s program exists to provoke discussion and that my reaction is proof that she “must be doing something right”. Well, if CNN’s goal is to move away from news gathering and analysis and turn their airwaves into a intellectually-stunted spectacle, then mission accomplished. But I’d like to give CNN the benefit of the doubt and not jump to the conclusion that they’d willingly throw away their reputation to a prurient thrill for the short-term gain of some advertiser revenue. Despite my frequent complaints about CNN, I still think they’re the best of the big three cable news networks.

So please, CNN, get rid of Nancy Grace. Your affiliation with her cheapens your entire network.

What Atrios said. The firing squad in Connecticut stopped being “circular” the day Lieberman lost the primary and left the Democratic party. Lieberman’s loyalty to the Democratic party is slightly better than Zell Miller’s at this point, so why shouldn’t bloggers and activists committed to helping Democrats take over the Senate be concentrating on this race? Joe Lieberman isn’t a Democrat anymore. He’s just another spoiler candidate like Ralph Nader. Joe’s got more money, better name recognition, the not-so-secret support of the entire Republican noise machine, and the bully-pulpit of incumbency. As long as Joe Lieberman is campaigning against the Democratic candidate in the race, he’s a threat to to the Democratic party’s chances of taking the House or Senate in November.

A federal judge has ordered an immediate halt to the President’s NSA spying program. TPM Muckraker has some excerpts from the judge’s decision :

“The Government appears to argue here that, pursuant to the penumbra of Constitutional language in Article II, and particularly because the President is designated Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy, he has been granted the inherent power to violate not only the laws of the Congress but the First and Fourth Amendments of the Constitution, itself.

We must first note that the Office of the Chief Executive has itself been created, with its powers, by the Constitution. There are no hereditary Kings in America and no power not created by the Constitution. So all “inherent power” must derive from that Constitution.”

Upon hearing this decision, President Bush, whose great-grandfather was a close adviser to President Hoover, grandfather was a Senator, and father was President, said “I’m sorry, were you trying to tell me something?”

Jeez. Joe “tied for third place” Lieberman doesn’t get it. The voters of Connecticut looked at you and your opponent and decided they like him better. End of story. The election is over and you lost. Cluelessness like this isn’t just infuriating, it’s pathetic :

“Now let me tell you how I see where we are now,” the senator continued, in a speech that was less of a concession than a confirmation that he would not back down. “I’m a sports fan, so I’m going to use a sports comparison, and as I see it in this campaign, we’ve just finished the first half and the Lamont team is ahead. But in the second half, our team — Team Connecticut — is going to surge forward to victory in November.”

Here’s a sports analogy you can wrap your head around :

You lost dude. Have a little dignity and give up.

This one will have you checking your calendars to see if it’s April 1st (via Kottke) :

Monopoly board game players can now pay for properties with debit cards.

Game makers Parker have phased out the standard multi-coloured cash in a new version.

Players will instead use a Visa mock debit card to keep track of how much they win or lose.

It is inserted into an electronic machine where the banker taps in cardholders’ earnings and payments.

Parker said replacing of cash with plastic showed the game was moving with the times.

Spokesman Chris Weatherhead said: “The new electronic Monopoly reflects the changing nature of society and the advancement of technology.”

If they want to modernize Monopoly, why stop there? They should make the properties increase in value quickly so that anyone who doesn’t purchase the property early rounds will never be able to afford anything. The richest player at any given point in the game will be be able to buy his/her way out of jail, while the poorest has to spend twice as long in jail as any other player. Get rid of Community Chest, Free Parking, and Luxury Tax, since they’re just outdated relics of an era in which people cared more for their society than their wallets. And the person who buys the utilities should be allowed to change the rules at any point during the game to ensure they always win. That’s how it seems to work in the real world.