YOU'LL READ ABOUT THIS PRETTY MUCH EVERYPLACE today...here's a link (Washingtonpost.com) that gives you video of Cindy Sheehan's arrest in front of the White House.

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THIS IS WORTH A QUICK read because it made headlines all across the country. The entire "intelligent design" thing has ended up in court. This is the Washington Post today...

HARRISBURG, Pa., Sept. 26 -- Lawyers for a group of parents Monday challenged the teaching of intelligent design as nothing more than an old argument for God wrapped in new cloth, as a new legal front opened in the evolution wars.

An expected month-long trial opened Monday in federal court in Harrisburg, as 11 parents from Dover township seek to block their school board's demand that biology teachers read a four-paragraph statement to students casting doubt on Darwin's theory of evolution.

"This clever tactical repackaging of creationism does not merit consideration," Witold Walczak, legal director of the Pennsylvania American Civil Liberties Union and a lawyer for the parents, told a federal judge. "It's an old argument for God that's been around for centuries."

The statement mandated by the school board notes that intelligent design offers an alternative explanation--namely, that life in all of its complexity could not have arisen without the help of an intelligent hand.

Most advocates of intelligent design are silent as to whether that hand belongs to God or some other intelligent force.

WANNA PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS? Here's a good event. I'd challenge the folks who wanted to see "restrictions" on books in the Fayetteville Public Schools to demonstrate that they don't want to "ban" anything by taking time to participate in this...

CELEBRATE THE FREEDOM TO READ Sponsored by the OMNI Center for Peace, Justice, and Ecology and the NWA Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union

On Wednesday, September 28, 7p.m., at the United Campus Ministry/OMNI local citizens will Celebrate the Freedom to Read by reading from books that have been banned in the United States.

Music by Clark Ogden.

Drinks and snacks provided free.

Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read

September Banned Books Week - Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year. Observed since 1982, the annual event reminds Americans not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted.

Banned Books Week is sponsored by the American Booksellers Association, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression, the American Library Association (ALA), the Association of American Publishers, the American Society of Journalists and Authors and the National Association of College Stores. It is endorsed by the Library of Congress Center for the Book.

Many bookstores and libraries across the nation join in the celebration with displays and readings of books that have been banned or threatened throughout history. These include works ranging from the Bible and "Little Red Riding Hood" to John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men."

Each year, the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom receives hundreds of reports on books and other materials that were "challenged" or asked to be removed from school or library shelves. The ALA estimates the number represents only about a quarter of the actual challenges. "Most Challenged" titles include the popular "Harry Potter" series of fantasy books for children by J.K. Rowling. The series drew complaints from parents and others who believe the books promote witchcraft to children.

The challenges reported reflect a continuing concern with a wide variety of themes. Other "Most Challenged" titles include: "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers, for racism, sexual content, offensive language, drugs and violence; "It's Perfectly Normal," a sex education book by Robie Harris, for being too explicit, especially for children; "King and King" by Linda de Haan, for homosexuality; and "We All Fall Down" by Robert Carmier, for offensive language and sexual content.

The date for Banned Books Week 2005 is September 24 to October 1.

For more information, contact the Office for Intellectual Freedom at 800-545-2433, ext. 4220, send e-mail to nperez@ala.org or see the ALA Web site at www.ala.org/bbooks.

OH BOY, THIS IS AMAZING, and did he really do this? We picked this up from our friends at the Arktimes.com blog...seems Da Gov was in Iowa, and, if you follow this at all, compared Democrats to Nazis. Haven't we all had just about enough of that? I can't recall how many times self-labelled conservatives have said they can't stand it when they get called "fascists" or "nazis" by their opponents. I seem to recall an interesting Daily Show segment about this kind of political hyperbole...Anyway, here is our purloined copy of the Artimes post...they say from a viewer of C-SPAN who watched the stump speech...

Mike roars towards the finish line:

"And I thought, you know, what a shame if someday some father took a daughter through a memorial dedicated to the memory of America, and some daughter would see what happened to our country... see our country lose its footing, give away its basic core principles... Ladies and Gentlemen, that's the reason you need to work hard in Polk county next year, the reason its important you help sign up candidates who believe what you believe, who have principles that you believe in... You're the somebodys. Somebody has got to do something."

You may be asking yourself... "Did Mike Huckabee just equate Democrats regaining a few seats in government to the systematic extermination of 6 million people?"

Yes.

And it wasn't a quick off the cuff thing, he closed the speech with it. There was no other reason to bring up the story. And there was nothing ambiguous about it. Go find the text if you think I'm distorting or taking things out of context. (I can't find it on CSPAN.org yet.) If anything, it was worse because he had even more to say than I've included. My typing couldn't keep pace with his impassioned words, hence the elipses above.

By the way, Gov. Huckabee was in Polk County, Iowa pondering a 2008 White House run. Way to start reaching across the aisle, Governor.

--Don Elkins
--"In Focus" Column, Friday, Sept. 23, 2005
--Northwest Arkansas Times

One, maybe two people - OK, maybe a lot more - started asking some scary questions after watching videotape from downtown New Orleans after Katrina turned the place into a nasty swimming pool. Those questions became more insistent after Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff displayed either a) total incompetence or b) an inability to deal with reality in the days following the disaster.

Journalists repeatedly asked him why he had no idea thousands of people found themselves stranded, starving and dying of thirst in the Superdome and at New Orleans' Convention Center.

Shortly afterward, FEMA chief Michael Brown found himself on the job market.

Many of those tough questions took the administration and the Homeland Security Department to task for the response to the storm, and went one step beyond by asking, "If this is the way you handled a natural disaster, how would you handle a terrorist attack, and what about your performance would lead anyone to think you could stop Al Qaeda from carrying out its will inside the borders of the United States?"

The president followed that up by essentially responding that, perhaps, things might need a bit of adjustment in those regards.

This past week, we also learned a little bit more about how bureaucracy has a tendency to do some ridiculous things - things that display just how misplaced federal priorities have become.

The FBI decided to send out a note to its field offices to ask for volunteers for a special new task force. A task force that will spearhead America's important effort to keep all of us safe from a creeping threat, something that apparently now sits somewhere on a list of "big things" to get worried about.

Now, instead of keeping an eye on the borders, watching international communications traffic, and doing their best to make sure Muslim fundamentalists don't drop off a suitcase-bomb in a major city - the feds will put together a task force to fight those nefarious adult filmmakers.

No, these guys won't go after child pornographers, they won't go after white slavers, they'll go after the purveyors of material openly marketed and sold to American adults.

Attorney General John Ashcroft - Oops! I mean Alberto Gonzalez - has decided this needs federal attention right now when we can't even keep New Orleans safe, when we haven't caught Osama bin Laden (remember him?) and he has a "mandate" from Congress to do so. Golly - after all, what you watch in the privacy of your own home could simply help the terrorists bring down America!

The Washington Post ran a story about it on Tuesday, in which reporter Barton Gellman quoted an upset FBI agent as having said, "I guess this means we've won the war on terror... we must not need any more resources for espionage."

Fortunately for that agent, Mr. Gonzalez has run into two problems.

First, he can't find any volunteers to join his special task force. A circular sent to field offices nationwide routinely got laughter from those on the receiving end. A report in a national publication quoted some of the less profane responses from field agents to the request. Many said they didn't want to have that on their resumes. Some cited the failed attempts by Reagan Attorney General Edwin Meese to attempt the same sort of effort in the 1980s. The official response from the FBI? It's not a joke - Mr. Gonzalez is very serious about this and thinks adult entertainment threatens the fabric of America. He just can't get any "serious" agents to join the crusade.

The other problem may mean some much bigger trouble for the plan to clean up the minds of adults. Many very big businesses make a lot of money off this stuff. Most major hotel chains take in a lot of cash from providing those pay-per-view "naughty" movies in-room. Companies including General Motors and communication giants like News Corp. (yes, Rupert Murdoch's Fox News parent company) and others also get big bucks for racy content on cable and on satellite systems.

So, why do this and why do it now?

Who knows? We could speculate that it comes as part of a larger social agenda, or we could speculate that it serves as a "red herring" to divert attention from other issues and other problems - for example, an ineffective approach to preparing the nation for possible future terror attacks or even natural disasters.

Of course, when one cannot address a problem directly, or when frustration sets in because of very little success fighting a primary problem, something like this might serve as a panacea. Hey! We haven't caught bin Laden, New Orleans washed away, and oil prices keep going up, but we'll handle the problems we can manage, like smut! At the risk of annoying some of our very serious readers, I'll venture a suggestion for Mr. Gonzalez and the rest of the folks at the FBI looking for that elusive group of elite porn fighters. They might come to Fayetteville, where we've recently seen an overabundance of zealous people willing to fight anything that contains content with which they don't agree. I'm sure someone like state Sen. Jim Holt would feel more than willing to sign up to help with this problem, and he wouldn't have much trouble getting one or two people to join him. Mr. Gonzalez just needs to look in the right place. At the same time, he could keep his trained operatives in place to fight terrorism. You can simply consider it an effective use of resources.

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AN INTERESTING SERIES OF COMMENTS both about and by Governor Huckabee this weekend, and this morning. Seems his leadership through the hurricanes hasn't made everyone happy. First, this piece from the DemGaz on how people like Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton has a bone to pick with the Right Rev. Huckabee...

Gov. Mike Huckabee's decision to bypass the state's normal disaster relief plan and run the Hurricane Katrina relief program himself is creating misinformation and causing frustration for local government officials, county judges said Friday. "It's creating headaches and confusion," said Washington County Judge Jerry Hunton. "And anytime you have an emergency, the one thing you want is to avoid confusion."

Under the state's normal disaster response procedures, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Services coordinates the response through an emergency operations center in Conway, said Kelly Robinson, spokesman for the department. County judges are in charge of their counties' response and report to the state emergency agency, said Sebastian County Judge David Hudson.

When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast and refugees started to stream into Arkansas, Huckabee set up his own emergency response operation with a Capitol command center in Little Rock, said the governor's spokesman, Jim Harris.

Wayne Ruthven, director of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Services, said his agency is still in charge of coordinating relief efforts by government entities such as the registration and supply center Washington County and Fayetteville are running in Fayetteville.

Church groups running refugee camps the governor's office established, such as the Arkansas Baptist Assembly camp in Siloam Springs, are answering directly to Huckabee's office, Ruthven said.

Ruthven said he agreed with the governor's decision to take charge of the hurricane response directly. "It's not normal, and it's not the standard operating procedure. It took everybody to get the exceptional response," Ruthven said. "It took [the Arkansas Department of Emergency Services] coordinating and the governor directing."

Hunton, however, said the system created two different channels of communication between county efforts and state officials and has sparked rumors and confusion for the county judges. "The county judges are operating on the emergency management side, and the faith-based organizations are operating on the governor's side," Hunton said. "Rumors are rampant, because when something happens on the governor's side we hear about if through the grapevine."

However, in this morning's Op-Ed section, Mr. Huckabee pats himself (and by extension the rest of us) on the back for his efforts...not sure if this came as a response to the criticism in the paper over the weekend...tempest in a teapot?

I cannot say enough good things about the thousands of Arkansans who stepped forward to help the evacuees who fled to our state following Hurricane Katrina. We've shown the world the kind of spirit that makes Arkansas such a special place to live.

As I visited evacuee shelters across the state, I heard more heartbreaking stories than I ever thought I would hear in America. If you have a dry place to sleep and know you will have a meal tonight, you have much more than these people had. I talked to evacuees who stayed on rooftops for three days with no food. Others endured the horrors of the Superdome and the Morial Convention Center. Some watched crimes occur and hoped they wouldn't be the victims of crime. Others looked on helplessly as bodies floated by in the floodwaters.

THIS GRABBED OUR ATTENTION out of Boston. Seems the White House may find success in eliminating certain wage guarantees and any kind of fight over school vouchers because of the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. This is an interesting read. Our thanks to our man in the trenches, "Mr. G" who sends this to us this morning as a way of keeping an eye on crafty maneuvers going on behind closed doors.

WASHINGTON -- Republican lawmakers in Congress have tried repeatedly in recent years to allow children to use federally funded vouchers to attend private schools. They have been defeated seven times since 1998.

At least nine times in the past decade, Republicans sought to repeal or undermine a Depression-era law that requires federal contractors to pay the ''prevailing wage" in the region they are working in. None of the efforts succeeded.

But now the GOP is poised to realize both of those goals. President Bush's reconstruction package for the Gulf Coast region devastated by Hurricane Katrina includes nearly $500 million for vouchers that children can use at private schools anywhere in the nation. And Bush declared a ''national emergency" to waive the prevailing wage law during the cleanup, freeing contractors to pay construction workers as little as the minimum wage, rather than the $8 to $10 prevailing wages in Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi.

Indeed. To hell with the will of your elected representatives in Congress. Machiavelli would smile about this if he could.

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SHALL WE AGAIN WAGE the media war? Haven't had too many of those accusations lately, but here are some choice comments you'll enjoy. They are true - I can attest to that. They also apply to many Republicans.

David Croteau, Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Sociology and Anthropology, (archived at Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting), June 1998:

The findings include: · On select issues from corporate power and trade to Social Security and Medicare to health care and taxes, journalists are actually more conservative than the general public.

· Journalists are mostly centrist in their political orientation.

· The minority of journalists who do not identify with the 'center' are more likely to identify with the 'right' when it comes to economic issues (eminent domain?) and to identify with the 'left' when it comes to social issues.

HERE'S THE TRUTH THAT SO many have now known. The war is unpopular, can't be won the way it's being waged, and most Americans want to see it end, or see the troops start coming back home. It has little to do with Cindy Sheehan, and it's not just "anti-capitalist" agitators who don't like it -- it's people who've never protested before, it's members of the military, it's businesspeople. Here are poll numbers illustrating that. And, if you'd like further proof, you can compare the number of Americans who turned out this weekend for an anti-war protest at the White House and in downtown D.C. Just about 100,000. On the other side, for a riduculously named "pro-war" rally, perhaps a few hundred.

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AH! THE STORY THAT JUST WON'T DIE, because, as Shakespeare wrote, "murder will out!" Seems someone else has blown the whistle on "extra-legal" punishment techniques...Here is Time Magazine's exclusive report on even more torture...

The U.S. Army has launched a criminal investigation into new allegations of serious prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan made by a decorated former Captain in the Army's 82nd Airborne Division, an Army spokesman has confirmed to TIME. The claims of the Captain, who has not been named, are in part corroborated by statements of two sergeants who served with him in the 82nd Airborne; the allegations form the basis of a report from Human Rights Watch obtained by TIME and due to be released in the next few days

Here's the link to the report, in full. So, time yet for a full and independent investigation of what the you-know-what is happening at DOD?Need low-cost, high-quality news for your online or commercial broadcast? Simply visit RNS Radio News today! Have a news tip, but want to stay in the shadows, keep your ID secret? Drop us a line at anonymous news tips.

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A LATER-BREAKING STORY from D.C. Seems the House, pretty much along party lines, decided to vote in favor of allowing Head Start Programs to practice discrimination along religious lines. If you have another explanation of this, I'd certainly love to hear it. All of our congressmen, save one, voted against this. With all the recent unpleasantness in the news, I hestitate to criticize Rep. B, but "bonk" there it is...why approve this, expect to follow party line ideals? Seems on its face that the Senate will either simply shoot down this version of the bill, or the U.S. Supreme Court would rule the admendment unconstitutional...here's part of the article...

WASHINGTON - The House voted Thursday to let Head Start centers consider religion when hiring workers, overshadowing its moves to strengthen the preschool program's academics and finances.

The Republican-led House approved a bill that lets churches and other faith-based preschool centers hire only people who share their religion, yet still receive federal tax dollars.

Democrats blasted that idea as discriminatory.

WE HATE TO DO THIS, but it seems warranted this morning. Here's the final score on the book-banning story in Fayetteville. Yes, it did turn out to be an issue of community standards and yes it did turn out to be an issue of parental control and consent. However, it just didn't turn out the way some people would have liked. A note to Dana Kelley at the DemGaz: Sir, it's over. The majority of parents in the district, in Fayetteville (not in Bentonville, Rogers, Springdale, anyplace else) expressed themselves pretty clearly, and they didn't want what you'd like. Yes, that means heavy-duty sour grapes from some, who just won't let it go. If you keep going after this point, you're simply trying to impose what you see as the "right" thing on the parents in the district, not what they want to have happen, not what the law and common sense support. So, a suggestion -- why don't you go to your own districts and impose censorship there? If everyone should plainly see and understand what you've so laboriously pointed out, you should have no trouble -- in Jonesboro. You will, of course, have to do the same thing that happened in Fayetteville, ask parents of kids in the districts to voice their opinion. Analysis? It seems like a moot point now, one proven, one no longer worthy of headlines...get over it. Here are some stories about it, from one point of view. First, George Archibald from arch-conservative Washington Times weighs in (George, thanks for the mention...)

Objections of Arkansas parents to graphic descrip-tions of sexual acts in booksoffered to students in their school libraries have fueled a feud in the Ozarks. Some parents say the books are so shocking they "will curl your toes." The school superintendent compares the protests of parents to "cancer."

Secondly, the DemGaz's Dana Kelley, who continues to astound us with his continuing tour of the outer rim of the galaxy and a pretty obtuse reading of everything that happened...check your oxygen tanks and supply of Tang...here goes...

It's also amazing to read the quotes attributed to students in Fayetteville who spoke at a special meeting to gauge public opinion on the whole ruckus. "When you start to remove choices," one student reportedly said, "you start going against what this country was founded on, which is the freedom of choice."

If that poor student meant that the United States of America was founded on public school libraries containing books like "Doing It," then he or she definitely needs to spend more time at Fayetteville High School's library -in the history section.

Freedom of choice isn't mentioned anywhere in the Constitution, and it wasn't a founding principle at all. It's a beatitude of our secular, relativist times, as is pornography in public schools.

Actually, it is -- something we know as the pursuit of happiness, and it is mentioned expressly in the founding documents and has been clarified by the Supreme Court on one or two occasions (maybe he couldn't find the history section either.) With excuses to Mr. Faulkner, ah, the sound and the fury...signifying nothing. Just remember Mr. Kelley, freedom isn't free.

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AS LONG-TIME FANS OF THE NY TIMES, we were teed-off when the paper this past week decided to put its fantastic Op-Ed columnists into a "pay-only" basket. However, some will take a chance and publish the work anyway. Seeing as the Democrat-Gazette will no longer Maureen Dowd, and you'll have to pay to read her stuff now, she seems like one of the most-censored editorialists in America. Here's a link to this week's column...

The president won't be happy until he dons a yellow slicker and actually takes the place of Anderson Cooper, violently blown about by Rita as he talks into a camera lens lashed with water, hanging onto a mailbox as he's hit by a flying pig in a squall, sucked up by a waterspout in the eye of the storm over the Dry Tortugas.

Then maybe he'll go back to the White House and do his job instead of running down to the Gulf Coast for silly disaster-ops every other day.

WE'RE CERTAIN WE'LL hear more of these stories in the near future, but this illustrates the financial vacuum present during major events like Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. A couple of us even speculated about what bandits could have done in New Orleans during the "aftermath." This items comes from this morning's Arkansas Times Blog...they say they received it from a credible source. Seems like it bears some further examination for possible waste, abuse and fraud...

A 757 just landed at Fort Smith transporting evacuees from TX to Fort Chaffee.....transported 12 evacuees on a 757.....for the cost of that they could have bought them all a car and let them drive!!! Is this a decision of Homeland Securtity or was this plane really the property of Halliburton. They could have each had a car and a $600 toliet seat! It is a hell of a note when the Democats have become the party of fiscal responsibility.

INTERESTING NOTE this coming from radio talker Ed Schultz a few minutes ago. He says police have arrested a protest organizer, and may have arrested Cindy Sheehan for making a speech...developing. In the meantime, here's the latest on what Sheehan is doing in the Big Apple (or whatever the city calls itself right now...)

NEW YORK, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Peace activist Cindy Sheehan brought her "Bring Them Home Now Tour" to a Brooklyn church on Sunday, where she was greeted by hundreds of cheering supporters.

Sheehan was accompanied by a dozen veterans and family members of active-duty or killed-in-action soldiers who oppose the war in Iraq and are calling for withdrawal of U.S. troops.

"These people," she said of those who are touring the country with her, "are true American patriots" who "paid the most terrible price," in contrast to "the maniacs who run our country right now."

A COUPLE OF DEMGAZ EDITORIALS we've enjoyed, and both of them from opposite points of view -- unexpectedly. One comes from the DemGaz editorial board on the recent book decision by the Fayetteville School District. The other comes from Pat Lynch, writing on this morning's editorial pages, the opposite view. First, a sample from the DemGaz...

It was also telling that no student or faculty member spoke in favor of restricting book access, although the opportunity for them to do so was offered repeatedly.

Still, numbers were only a small part of the story at the meeting. If Laurie Taylor was listening closely enough to those who disagree with her, she would have learned a lot, maybe even enough to erase her shock that there was a controversy at all.

She would have heard from John Remmers, an art teacher at the high school and the faculty sponsor of the Gay-Straight Alliance. He spoke emotionally about the gay students he knows who feel isolated, scorned and confused about their orientation and the responses to it. Mr. Remmers also talked about the high suicide rate among young gays and lesbians. He implored the board not to restrict access to books containing information about their sexuality. Too often, the only place they can go to for answers is the school library.

Now, the other side...radio guru Pat Lynch, who thinks free speech got shut down for the aginers...

As a former national board member of the ACLU, I would have thought that the intellectually superior and morally unblemished education establishment would have wanted to demonstrate to the many students in attendance exactly how the uniquely American ideal of free speech works in the real world. Instead, taking hold of a slender technicality, the very people who should have set the proper example of tolerating different viewpoints -it's all about the beauty of diversity, right? - told Holt to sit down and shut up. The administration's reasoning was that, since the meeting was for local school patrons, parents and students only, the senator, a resident of Springdale, was not entitled to speak.

Strange reversal or roles here, no?

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NOT THAT YOU NEEDED TO KNOW, but Piotr Janowski is the coolest world-class violinist this blog can say it actually knows. This guy plays like Hendrix on speed, we wonder what he'd do with a fender and a pick. With some much discontent, so much criticism hanging in the air of late (we're not innocent, not at all) we thought we'd pay our highest compliments to an artist who stands alone. We don't know if he'll ever return for a special gig or two with the Northwest Arkansas Symphony. We were present for his farewell performance, and feel poorer for not having known him for a longer period of time. This guy's a hero, a gem, and yes, in the parlance of the youth, he rocks.

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--Don Elkins
--In Focus Column, Friday September 16, 2005
--Northwest Arkansas Times

Have you contributed to hurricane relief efforts?

Millions of us did. Many gave what they could in terms of food, clothing and, of course, cash. Major American corporations also displayed a spirit of largess aiding those caught up in what has become one of America's largest disasters. Wal-Mart, for instance, donated merchandise and cash totaling more than $20 million (apologies to the World's Largest Retailer if it totaled far more than that, but I just wanted to give you an idea here) and finally, after a few days had passed, Congress jumped on the efforts as well, appropriating billions of dollars to help the Gulf Coast. The president asked for more than $50 billion along with that. It'll cost an amazing amount of money to clean up what happened.

If you've followed the news, you've also heard the trouble suffered by those in Washington, D. C., over the disaster. The head of FEMA, Michael Brown, found himself compelled to resign (did he jump, or was he pushed?) and President Bush himself felt compelled to stand before a television camera and take personal responsibility (again, jump or pushed?) for the failure of the government to respond quickly or effectively enough.

The president also finds himself in the poll doldrums, where numbers from a series of recent research projects show Bush as an "unpopular president."

It would seem to the casual observer that Bush's much celebrated "political capital" has all but run dry as the administration goes into the home stretch.

It has become fashionable for notably conservative pundits both in print and on television to knock Bush for his shortcomings in light of the disaster. Jack Cafferty on CNN and even the Wall Street Journal editorial page and the Washington Times have leveled heavy criticism at the president.

This bit of information may come as even more of a surprise. It now seems one of the nation's largest and oldest conservative organizations has put the president on notice. The American Conservative Union has a number of news releases out that have nothing to do with Katrina. One asks supporters to celebrate the career of Jesse Helms; another asks supporters to oppose a measure the groups say would create a "race-based" government. However, the headline story this week read (in part) as follows: "Conservatives demand administration and Congress check out-of-control federal spending." Long a traditional conservative political value, fiscal conservatism has taken a beating under this administration, with much treasure going toward an effort in Iraq that may have stalled.

The ACU Web site has the following quote from Chairman David Keene: "Clearly the terrible tragedy resulting from the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina will require substantial federal resources to be expended, and all Americans support this relief effort...but the idea that Congress should spend tens of billions of dollars on this relief effort in the absence of reprioritizing overall federal spending makes absolutely no sense."

That noise threatens the rest of Bush's agenda for his final term in office, including plans for making his tax cuts permanent and plans to repeal the estate tax. Both of those items now sit indefinitely on hold because of the current crisis, with promises from Republican Party leaders on Congress to address them at the proper time. The ability to accomplish those and other parts of the administrations plan have suffered a major setback because of the delay in relief efforts and because of the price tag expected to rebuild an entire major American city.

However, the "political capital deficit" (not as high as the $7.9 trillion U.S. deficit, but getting close) doesn't just extend to the Katrina relief efforts and spending in Iraq. They come as part of the overall problem, but include troubles perceived among many conservatives before the current situation.

Keene went so far as to say, "Because of these massive increases in federal largess, conservatives throughout the United States are increasingly losing faith in the president and the Republican Leadership in Congress to adequately prioritize and rein in overall federal spending,"

When those whose party cooked up the "nattering nabobs of negativity" remark during the Nixon era begin to feast on their own leader, things have become pretty serious.

Want to read more from the leader of the American Conservative Union?

Keene adds, "Excluding military and homeland security, American taxpayers have witnessed the largest spending increase under any preceding president and Congress since the Great Depression."

For supporters of the president, this time may feel like the Great Depression. But don't let it get you too down - and that comes from a member of the nefarious press, always quick to criticize, always quick to find the negative in any story, especially if that story happens to be overtly negative.

The political winds change faster than those 100 mile-plus-anhour winds that wrecked New Orleans.

If Wal-Mart managed to silence critics (at least for awhile) with its amazing response to what the nation watched happen on the Gulf Coast, maybe the administration will listen to its critics in places like the American Conservative Union, draw up a new economic plan, back off those tax cut plans and gain the approval again of the greater rank-and-file.

Then again, we've started watching Hurricane Ophelia - and you never can tell what will happen.

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TO THOSE OF YOU WHO ASKED ME ABOUT THIS, I will allow the words of Laura Kellams of the DemGaz to answer some of your questions. This piece ran in the NWA edition Friday morning...

Elkins said Thursday that he has "no plans to run for Congress" but he wouldn't rule it out.

He said he is an independent, not a Democrat, but didn't turn down the Democratic Party of Arkansas when approached by Chairman Jason Willett. "I'm flattered, and I've had more people than I can count on one hand ask me" to run for various offices, Elkins said in a telephone interview. "It's one of those things I get asked once in a while."

Asked if he's considering it, Elkins at first wouldn't say yes or no and would only say that he's "pretty focused on my work right now." "I don't know what to say about it. It's one of those things that can get dicey," he said.

Later, Elkins called back and said, "I have no plans to run for office.... I really am focused on television."

Bart Haynie, a spokesman for the Democratic Party, said Willett had asked Elkins if he'd consider running.

Elkins is one of several people in Northwest Arkansas who've been approached about running for different positions, he said. "He obviously wouldn't be the sole person," Haynie said of potential candidates Willett has spoken with. "We're considering several other candidates."

ALL IN ALL, IT WAS a football kind of night last night. We listened to Mr. Cheney get "bombed" in Mississippi, and also listened to the Daily Show and Girl Arkansas last night (regardless of Razorback Football) -- here is a streaming link to the complete show, 2 hrs, .mp3, let 'er rip!.

September 10, 2005 Arkansas Tonight .mp3

Enjoy!

VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY PAID a visit to the Gulf Coast yesterday. He received a less than gracious reception while talking with reporters on live television in Gulfport, Misssissippi. At least one source identifies a heckler as one, a "Dr. Ben Marble" who decided to launch the f-bomb on the Vice President. We apologize in advance for the word in question, but it happened on live television, and may warrant a quick look. Here's the video

Cheneyvsmarble .wmv

Perhaps Dr. Marble became angry after reading this article...seems rescuers found a 6-year old boy with a group of toddlers looking for help. This is amazing, this is sad, this leaves me feeling helpless...

In the chaos that was Causeway Boulevard, this group of refugees stood out: a 6-year-old boy walking down the road, holding a 5-month-old, surrounded by five toddlers who followed him around as if he were their leader.

They were holding hands. Three of the children were about 2, and one was wearing only diapers. A 3-year-old girl, who wore colorful barrettes on the ends of her braids, had her 14-month-old brother in tow. The 6-year-old spoke for all of them, and he told rescuers his name was Deamonte Love.

Also today, we discover from Time Magazine that Mr. Brown of FEMA lied about his experience on the FEMA website. Seems "Brownie" has even more explaining to do. Maybe he should go wherever Spiro Agnew went, you know, someplace far away and silent, where he won't have so many questions.

This is also sad, even more so because it could be helped, it doesn't have to happen. If you think stone-cold people aren't out there, think again (this is the Tribune's Terry Armour)

OCALA, Fla. -- As relief organizations seek housing for those left homeless by Hurricane Katrina, the Majestic Oaks Homeowners Association is reminding residents that evacuees aren't welcome in that community.

The association recently delivered notices to its 500-plus homes advising homeowners "that our covenants and by-laws prohibit additional families in family homes."

Audrey Andrews, vice president, said the association encourages residents to make donations to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina. But, she added, the board thought it needed to ward off any sudden influx of evacuees, except family members.

One resident, Nancy Fisher, said she took in evacuees from Florida's hurricanes last year. She doesn't feel the regulations should apply during the current crisis.

"You shouldn't be asked to deny evacuees a place to stay just because you have a nice home," Fisher said.

Wow. What an amazing world.

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HUZZAH! THE 21ST CENTURY HAS ARRIVED at Newstalk 1030 KFAY-AM, which, as of this morning has started streaming 24-7 on web at http://www.kfayam.com. So, that means you can listen to yours truly weekday mornings between 6 - 9 a.m. CDT, and you can also listen to Arkansas Tonight at that web location Saturday nights between 6 - 8 p.m. CDT. As always, we'll keep our live stream on Live365.com and you'll have the show at wairadio.com on Monday nights (I think they still play it) -- but this is a big jump for KFAY-AM, and we're glad to have finally made the plunge into webcasting. Just remember, after I leave, you'll be stuck with Snow, Limbaugh and O'Reilly until the next morning...(ouch! -- that is, unless you e-mail them to tell them you want Arkansas Tonight ALL WEEK LONG!)

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THESE ARE HIGHLY WORTH CONSIDERING because we have yet to hear a definitive answer to any of them. And, as we in Arkansas continue to experience the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, and continue to care for the survivors, perhaps answers are due all the state and local officials here who say they haven't heard a peep from FEMA on how many people to expect and what to do... These questions were given to the President by Senator Minority Leader Harry Reid (D)NV...

1 - Administration inaction to warnings of catastrophic flooding in New Orleans. President Bush, Secretary Chertoff, and other top Administration officials have repeatedly stated that no one "anticipated the breach of the levees." Yet, public studies and analyses made available to the Administration have long warned that a major storm was inevitable and would lead to the breeching of New Orleans' levees with catastrophic results. Why, then, was the Administration so unprepared to deal with the breaching of the levees?

2 - Administration insistence on harmful budget cuts. In the face of these warnings about the risks involved of a catastrophic hurricane, why did the Administration reject urgent and repeated requests from local and state officials and the Army Corps of Engineers for programs that could have helped prevent or alleviate this disaster? What specific impact did budget cuts for programs such as levee repairs/maintenance, emergency planning grants, wetlands restoration, and other related items have on the damage caused by Katrina?

3 - Slow Administration response to Hurricane Katrina warnings. Max Mayfield, director of the National Hurricane Center, has stated that both DHS Secretary Chertoff and FEMA Director Brown listened to NHC briefings days before Katrina's landfall that discussed the strength of the storm and its potential impact. Given these warnings, why did FEMA and DHS fail to adequately prepare for the consequences? Who else received these briefings? Did Secretary Chertoff or Director Brown communicate these warnings to President Bush, Secretary Rumsfeld, Leavitt, Mineta or other key Cabinet officials? If so, what specific actions did each cabinet official take?

4 - FEMA rejection of assistance. Is it true that FEMA turned away offers of assistance from states, nonprofit agencies, and the private sector - including offers for generators, water, fuel, food aid, transportation, and fire control? If so, why?

5 - Absence from Washington of the President and key officials. How much time did the President spend dealing with this emerging crisis while he was on vacation? Did the fact that he was outside of Washington, D.C. have any effect on the federal government's response? When it became apparent a major hurricane was days away from striking the Gulf Coast, why didn't President Bush immediately return to Washington from his vacation and why didn't he recall key officials and staff members back from their vacations? Would the presence of key officials in Washington have improved the response?

6 - Failure to implement National Response Plan. The Bush Administration published a National Response Plan for responding to catastrophic incidents, including natural disasters, in December 2004. The plan explicitly states that the federal government can override notification and request for assistance regulations in order to expedite assistance, and that "the coordination process must not delay or impede the rapid deployment and use of critical resources." Why did the Bush Administration fail to act according to the National Response Plan?

7 - Failure to cut through red tape. Numerous reports indicate that bureaucratic red tape impeded the rapid delivery of assistance for critical needs, such as shelter, transportation, and food. Did Administration officials have the authority to cut through this red tape and, if so, why didn't they exercise this authority?

8 - Failure to send sufficient number of troops immediately. Why did it take several days for National Guard and active military units to reach positions in New Orleans and around the Gulf Coast? Why did the Secretary of Defense wait until Saturday - five days after the hurricane struck - to deploy soldiers from the nearest Army base, Fort Polk, LA? What effect have extended overseas deployments of National Guard and Reserve forces had on these forces' abilities to respond to emergencies on U.S. soil?

9 - Lack of interoperable communications. The Wall Street Journal reports that the response effort has been plagued by "a total breakdown of communications systems, an echo of the problems that faced New York officials dealing with the 2001 terrorist attacks and a system the government has been trying to fix for four years," specifically citing "incompatible radio systems." Why has the Administration failed to solve this problem? Would the adoption of congressional amendments to increase funds for this equipment helped to mitigate this problem?

10 - Failure to respond to state and local officials. State and local officials indicate that they were asking for immediate and massive federal assistance from the outset, but that the federal government failed to mobilize for several days, dragging its feet and failing to appreciate the impact of the storm. Did this Administration work as closely in this case with state and local officials as did previous Administrations or during previous disasters?

11 - Administration efforts to shift blame from its own failures. Shortly after it became apparent that the government's response was grossly inadequate, comments attributed to unidentified Administration officials suggested that the primary blame for the chaotic response rested with state and local officials. Is there any evidence that Administration officials decided to intentionally mislead the public?

12 - Effects of organizational changes at FEMA. It appears that FEMA suffered from serious systemic failures in virtually every aspect of it response to Katrina. Did these failures stem directly from the decision to strip FEMA of its cabinet level status and include it in a department where countering terrorist attacks is the primary focus? There have also been reports that many of FEMA's most experienced and capable personnel have left the agency recently. It is essential that your committee speak with current and former FEMA officials, especially those who have worked at the agency before and since the transition.

13 - Preparation for future disasters. What do experts predict about the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and other natural disasters striking the U.S. in the immediate future? What actions should the Administration and Congress take immediately to address the lessons you draw from the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Katrina so that we will be better able to respond to future emergencies including major terrorist attacks?

Any answers yet? Anyone?

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AS PROMISED, AND NOT A MOMENT TOO SOON, a group has assembled to raise wages in the Natural State...something everyone working in Northwest Arkansas' service sector jobs should welcome. This comes courtesy of Roby Brock...

Give Arkansans a Raise Now (GARN), is a newly forming coalition of religious, labor, and political representatives pushing to raise the state's minimum wage by a dollar per hour through a public referendum. The group will be strategizing a movement at a private meeting today. If the group moves forward with its plans, it will be seeking to gather petitions to put a measure on the 2006 ballot.

The state's minimum wage presently stands at $5.15. The federal minimum wage is also $5.15 per hour. GARN will seek to push the minimum wage to $6.15 per hour in Arkansas. If a state raises its minimum wage above the federal rate, the higher of the two rates applies.

This might also come as welcome news to all the new folks who've arrived looking for shelter, and jobs in the Northwest because of the hurricane.

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FINGER POINTING ASIDE, a close examination of what happened in the 7 or 8 days before relief finally arrived could mean the difference between life and death for more people as storm season continues in the Gulf...some say we can't do that now, but why not? Can we risk another huge catastrophe like we've seen in New Orleans? Apparently Tom DeLay thinks so...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The House majority leader late Tuesday tried to deflect criticism of the federal response to Hurricane Katrina by saying "the emergency response system was set up to work from the bottom up," then announced a short time later that House hearings examining that response had been canceled.

Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said House Republican leaders instead want a joint House-Senate panel set up to conduct a "congressional review" of the issue.

When does the Congressional review of Tom begin?

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AND, THE MEDIA PARADE OF BUSH-CASTIGATION continues...Tuesday, Jack Cafferty of CNN again blasted the administration, and in the morning on Imus, Tim Russert also took out a whippin' on George and Co. for their anemic response to the storm situation on the Gulf. For your morning edification, here are the .wmv files...enjoy.

Cafferty .wmv

Imus/Russert .wmv

Ah, long live multimedia!

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AH, THE MAN KNOWS MONEY, AND HE KNOWS A business story when it grabs him. We, of course, mean our friend Roby Brock from Talk Business. Yes, we do peruse his blog on a regular basis. Roby checks in (last night) with a bit of a tip on a story you might find just a wee bit interesting. Here's his note...

I've got a post coming out early tomorrow (Wednesday?)morning about an effort to raise the minimum wage by one dollar per hour through a statewide referendum. This group will meet Wednesday for the second time. Your readers should be interested in the movement. It will counter some of the right-wing ballot measures that seem to excite the Repub base.

Work it Roby! We'll be surfing the Talk Business blog all morning...

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MORE KATRINA NEWS FROM THE CORPORATE FRONT now, this comes to us from an anonymous "donor." Seems some of the folks at Cox Cable in Johnson heard some amazing stories from the Hurricane zone.

(slightly edited for grammar, etc.)

...COX cable was/is the cable company for New Orleans. All the calls from customers are coming into the COX call center in Johnson - most of them anyway. The stories the Reps there are hearing have really messed with their minds, so COX wants to get professional help in there for them. Someone called today I guess to dis' cable in New Orleans and described how her husband died right as she watched and about people dying in the streets. The people calling just need to talk and hear a friendly voice from home and I guess COX represents home and they open up. Also there are a number of COX employees from New Orleans coming here to work and live. But COX is also paying all the employees affected in the Gulf Coast area even if they do not get to another office, as long as it takes. And a fund has been set up internally for donations from current employees to donate to and the money will go to the COX employees in the area. Anyway there is your story starter. You can use or not but it is great human interest and possible to be picked up Nationally on MSNBC/NBC also.

WE'VE SEEN ALL KINDS OF RELIEF, from food and clothing, to homes, to help for pets, but some of the most victimized people in the Katrina story are the children. This came to us in TV land tonight...wanted to pass it on, because it might be a nice way to help.

Christmas for Kidz, Inc, has teamed up with the NW Arkansas chapter of the Red Cross to collect toys for the children that have been evacuated to our area. This kids have been through a lot and it would be nice to have something to call their own and we would like to help them get that. With the help of NW Arkansas citizens we can do just that, we just need your help getting the word out.

President Brad McIntyre - (479) 502-7035 or (479) 841-3347.

Give the guy a call...maybe you can bring a smile to a child's face, in time when most have very little to smile about.

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