Tuesday Briefing

RUSH FIGHTS BACK

Plus: $33 For Franken's Book?



Upon his return from a week in Mexico, a clearly irritated Rush Limbaugh lashed out Monday at liberal critics who accused him of seeking to make a profit from troops stationed in Iraq. He says the idea for his "adopt-a-soldier" Limbaugh subscription gift offer came from a listener.

While he was away, however, lefty detractors were quick to compare his program to Air America's recent (and failing) "associates" campaign.

That's where donations to the "progressive" radio network are rewarded with bumper stickers and other items.

Yesterday, Limbaugh posted this note on his website:

Rush 24/7 Adopt-A-Soldier Program Rolls Out Amid Absurd Charges of Profiteering from Kooks

Giving our troops what Harkin sought to deny them...

"A listener suggested this whole adoption idea, and I will personally match every pledged subscription. I will not profit from this. You know, you don't need a password or another website to read what this is about. It's all right here."

It's unlikely any of this will placate critics, who are still smarting over Air America's increasingly dire financial situation.


Sure, part of this is about exchange rates, but would you pay $33 for Al Franken's new book?

The Truth (With Jokes) has now been released in the UK, with a suggested retail price of £17.99, or about US $33 based on current pound/dollar rates.

Do English readers really follow American politics in such detail? It seems hard to imagine.

In addition, how many in the UK have ever heard of Franken? It's hard to picture "Stuart Saves His Family" having done any better in England than in America, so this seems a fair question.

The (former Manchester) Guardian/Observer's review is typical of the socialist organ, meaning Franken's of course presented as an American hero, but this bit of caution is interjected:

Some of the subjects discussed will not necessarily resonate with British readers. But the black farce of postwar Iraq will, including the story of how a 21-year-old student at the University of Richmond suddenly found himself living in one of Saddam's palaces and spending Iraq's £13 billion budget.

If Franken is right, the corruption, mismanagement and giving of reconstruction contracts to Halliburton and other crony firms is a historic disgrace.

The author reveals Bush's America as Catch-22 come true: a bloated and hilarious self-parody dominated by power, money, war and crazies. But Franken remains a patriot: a Jewish American family man who believes in God (sort of), knows the Democrats' failings and is desperate to rescue his beloved country from the 'Werewolves of Washington'.

Al Franken's robust call to arms is immune to the charges of glibness and smugness often levelled at British liberals. His is the voice the American left has been waiting for.

That it attempts to paint Franken as a moderate is what's funniest about this review. I'm not sure even Al wants that label.

At least for his sake, he was presented as only "sort of" believing in God. That should prevent any major trouble with the left at home.


Also, the Seattle Times does the right thing and publishes a full story for Tuesday's editions on the media's out-of-control antics during the Tacoma Mall shootings and hostage-taking incidents.

From their investigation (here's my Sunday post on the subject):

In the tense hours after a young man opened fire in Tacoma Mall on Sunday and took hostages in a Sam Goody store, the store phone rang several times. It wasn't hostage negotiators. It was the media.

Monday, police officials said they were upset that journalists from The Associated Press, Fox News and KOMO-TV called the store and interfered with a hostage situation.

"Depending on what they said, they could have said things that could have set him off further. We don't know what his triggers were," Tacoma police spokesman Mark Fulghum said. "Negotiators are specially trained to deal with subjects and bring it to an end. These folks, they're interested in the story and could possibly make the guy even angrier and start the shooting up all over again."

Kenny Irby, an instructor at The Poynter Institute, a journalism school in Florida, called it a "dangerous precedent."

"Every news organization has to consider a certain level of restraint during an ongoing criminal situation. ... When we move beyond our role as witness and become participants in the events, that's where a dangerous line is drawn."

When news organizations found out that a man had shot several people in the mall, the media raced to get information.

UPDATE: gun restrictions clearly didn't work in this case.

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