No Doubt About ABC's Bias

For years, many have asserted that the media is biased to the left, and many others have countered that it isn't, or that corporations own the media, so it is biased to the right. Then there's Fox News.

Say what you will for the rest of the media, but ABC has removed all doubt. From the Drudge Report:

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda: ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

The Director of Communications at the White House Office of Health Reform is Linda Douglass, who worked as a reporter for ABC News from 1998-2006.

Ok, my friends on the left. Not even Fox News does this. Can we at last say that ABC is liberally biased? I can't see how one could say otherwise.

Now, for my friends on the right who are about to have an aneurism, take a breath. You believe in private property, so remember that ABC has every right in the world to take whatever bias it wants, to air whatever it wants, to not air at its' whim, and to refuse any advertising, for any or no reason at all. You don't have to watch, and you certainly never have to listen to anyone who defends ABC as non-biased ever again.

I read the statement from the Republican Party, and concluded they are missing something. Again, from Drudge:

The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

ABC is a private company. The notion of the 'public airwaves' is crap. That Republicans don't get it is telling. Besides, cutting the Republicans out of the debate hardly means it can't be bi-partisan. It's time for the Libertarians to steal the show.

Good For Him!

The Indiana soldier on his way to Iraq who put his original 1788 copy of The Federalist up for auction has cashed in. Per the Indy Star report:

An Indiana soldier’s rare leather-bound first edition copy of volume one of “The Federalist” has sold for $80,000 at an auction.

Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was in high school when he paid $7 for the 1788 book that’s the first part of a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

I love that someone treasures the volume to the tune of $80,000, and that the money went to a soldier.

Now, be sure to read a few essays. I'd recommend Federalist 84. For as much as I disagree with Hamilton's general vision for the scope of the Federal Government, he was spot-on about how an enumeration of the people's rights could well undermine the interpretation of a constitution meant to limit government, and not the people. It was controversial in its' day, and the matter has hardly been resolved. A goodie.

Bailouts & Stimulus Are The Problem

You've probably heard of Peter Schiff- the man who was the town crier, telling anyone who would listen that the sub-prime market would collapse, and then it did. Here's Schiff on the Daily Show:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Peter Schiff
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Newt Gingrich Unedited Interview

Republicans set the fire. Democrats brought gasoline to 'fix' it. You need the Libertarians now more than ever.

H/T to Eric Schansberg for the clip!

Federalist Papers Going Once!

I love this item. A Hoosier soldier had the good fortune to stumble across an original edition of The Federalist, edition 1788, and picked it up for $7. From the Indy Star:

A rare leather-bound book that played an influential role in America's early history could bring a windfall for a soldier training for his second tour in Iraq.

Indiana National Guard Capt. Nathan Harlan was a high school junior when he paid $7 for a 1788 first edition of volume one of "The Federalist" -- a two-volume book of essays calling for the ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

I hope he gets a big pile of cash. I also hope this story might spur even one Star reader to investigate and read The Federalist. A boon for the soldier. A boon for our society.