Links and Minifeatures 05 24 Wednesday

Carnival of The Vanities RecommendedPart-Time Pundit (regarding congressional privilege)Jack Yoest (visit to Arlington National Cemetery)

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If you're going to be a link whore, be a link whore. Hit Associated Press! AP Unveils Deal to Tie Stories to Blogs



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Because of my trouble with Dell, I went over to Jeff Jarvis' place to see if there were any updates to his ongoing saga, and found instead, a nice three part piece on a panel of journalism types that also included Hugh Hewitt. Part One Part Two Part Three. Many good thoughts, but there were still those "journalists" who are unclear on what the troubles are, namely, first, that they've let their prejudices and agenda get in the way of their reporting while pretending they haven't, second, the fact that they are clueless about what they are reporting about but nonetheless hold themselves out to be experts. I have been witness to a few major news stories. In every case, those "news" reports I read later missed central facts, chose misrepresentative emphases, and in general,just blew it. Furthermore, I can't recall ever reading an article where I have relevant professional qualifications where the reporter did a good job on the professional knowledge angle. The sample size is large enough to be indicative. If they're that badly wrong, that often, when I can fact check them, why should I trust them to get it right when I can't or haven't?



To give many of them credit, they appear to be waking up to this reality. "Use the public," Mr. Jarvis writes them as saying, "there are people out there who really know this stuff!" To which I say, "Halllelujah!" but the proof of this is in the doing.



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Captain's Quarters had a conference call with Ed Meese on the similarity between the current senate bill and Simpson-Mazoli.



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I meant to run this yesterday, but with the internet being so intermittent I didn't notice it had slipped out of the Links and Minifeatures unsaved Revisionist History: Antiwar myths about Iraq, debunked in OpinionJournal



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Via Instapundit, who makes the point that this political solidarity likely has a lot more to do with fear of being caught themselves rather than any concern for their fellow Congresscritter, various congresscritters are crying that searching a congressional office is violating seperation of powers, despite the fact that there was a pesky little thing called a judicially approved search warrant executed.



Volokh Conspiracy notes that the Judiciary Committee is going to hold hearings on abuse of executive power as a result.



The relevant text of the Constitution:

The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treasury of the United States. They shall in all cases, except treason, felony and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other place.

1) As I read this, this says you can't arrest them while they're actually in the halls of Congress in session. Says absolutely nothing about executing valid search warrants. They also cannot be charged for what they say in Congressional session. Has nothing to do with criminal activity elsewhere.



2)As I understand it, bribery in six figures is a felony, negating any defense under this section.



3) This has nothing to do with whether Jefferson was Democrat or Republican, an ally of the president or an enemy. He's being investigated for being more crooked than a fractal boundary. They have him on film and in the presence of witnesses taking $100,000 in cash bribes. Just as with "Duke" Cunningham, the FBI is quite correctly furthering the investigation to the logical conclusion.



4) So much for the part of the 1994 Contract With America that said Congress was not above the law.



5) It appears that about once per generation, the FBI has to remind Congress not to get too outrageous in its corruption, lest the public get wise to the game.



These rascals have grown too rotten to countenance. Time for new rascals. Luckily, most primaries are still to come. You can vote for for other members of the same party you usually vote for, so you needn't even vote for those of the opposition.



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Tomorrow's article will be new. Look for it bright and early at 7AM Pacific