No point excerpting: Take 5, and read the whole thing (”Needing to wake up, West just closes its eyes”).

BizzyBlog Was Among the First to Ask; With the Air America Bailout, Now Others Are Asking Too

At the very end of this post on January 27, I asked this question about Air America Radio (AAR), which at the time was surviving by the good graces of one rich guy’s wallet:

Are Al Franken’s ridiculously outsized earnings (including a LOT of money up-front) from a network that is funded by one guy a “clever” way of circumventing campaign-finance law and underwriting a possible Franken run for the US Senate in Minnesota?

My question only concerned Franken. But now that The Democracy Alliance (no working web site; an April 2005 article about the organization’s plans is here), a far-left liberal group that includes billionaire George Soros, Peter “the Progressive” (Insurance) Lewis, and Rob “Meathead” Reiner as prominent members, has, according to Radio Equalizer Brian Maloney, promised to underwrite up to $8 million of Air America Radio’s future losses, the scope of the question has expanded, and others are asking it, including Bill O’Reilly at Fox News. In an interview on O’Reilly’s TV show (transcript here), Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who specializes in campaign finance law, called AAR’s financial maneuvers “money laundering.”

Brian also makes an important point for those who thought that AAR would actually compete with the rest of Talk Radio as we currently know it:

Removing any remaining doubt Air America (which has never been willing to comment on our investigations) is a non-commercially-viable charity case, the network will likely need additional infusions to continue operating over the long haul.

So now we have taxpayer-funded, outrageously-salaried public broadcasting AND the wealthy elitist-funded money-sucking Frankenstein Monster that is AAR, both operating without the normal financial constraints private-sector enterprises face, and both of which would fall flat on their bloated carcasses if the non-market-driven funding spigots got turned off.

You might be tempted to say, “Look at the bright side — Soros et al could probably spend their money more effectively in other ways and accomplish more politicallly, so on balance it’s a good thing to watch them flush it down the tubes on the microscopically-rated AAR.”

Not so fast. Melanie Morgan at World Net Daily made the point back on February 17 that AAR is openly helping liberal candidates campaign for political office in a way that leverages the rich-libs’ money:

Francine Busby is a Democrat candidate to fill the vacant congressional seat that had been held by Randy “Duke” Cunningham. Cunningham was forced to resign after admitting his guilt to a number of corruption and bribery charges.

Yet despite the focus on ethics in the race, Democrat Busby has now appeared on Air America programs several times, including on Al Franken’s nationally syndicated show. Busby’s campaign events are also promoted on the website of Air America’s San Diego radio affiliate.

With Air America’s help, Busby has raised approximately $520,000 – more than any other Republican or Democrat candidate for the seat.

So almost $22,000 a day ($8 million in losses spread over a year) is being funneled into AAR by George Soros and the gang to promote candidates they would otherwise be limited to donating some multiple of $2,100 to (of course they can still do that too), while at the same time giving these candidates air time and web site promotion to raise money from others.

From here, this looks like an end-run around campaign finance laws.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

Sweetness and Light — Saudi Shipping Company Controls 9 US Ports (i.e., ALREADY; see correction)

Note: based on S&L post content, it should
read “9 Berths at North American Ports.”

The company’s name is NSCSA (America), Inc. The company profile is here.

The company has terminals at nine ports in North America (eight in the US and one in Canada; list at S&L Link has two duplicates).

No one else in the press bothered to figure this out and report it.

Sweetness “graciously” comments: “Maybe they don’t know about it, as the company’s only been around since 1979.”

I guess a story’s never vetted until the bloggers have been given a week to do the job the WORMs (Worn-Out Reactionary Media, known to most as The Mainstream Media) should be doing.
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Previous Posts:

• Feb. 26 — The Dubai Deal: Confessions of a Knee-Jerk Reactor, with Plenty of “Good” Excuses
• Feb. 19 — That Arab Seaport Takeover Thingie

The people running Al Gore’s TV network can’t even get the naming thing right:

Current TV Facing Two Lawsuits Over Name
Thu Feb 23, 8:19 PM ET

A cable television network co-founded by former Vice President Al Gore is facing at least two lawsuits challenging its use of the name Current TV.

A Maryland company is suing in federal court in Cincinnati claiming trademark infringement. Minnesota Public Radio has made a similar complaint in a Minneapolis court.

“This is a straight-forward case of trademark infringement,” according to briefs filed last month in U.S. District Court by Current Communications Group of Germantown, Md., a provider of broadband Internet services that relies on a Cincinnati company to help distribute its service.

Current Communications contends that it had registered several variations of “Current” trademarks before Current TV was introduced in April 2005.

Minnesota Public Radio claimed in a suit filed earlier this month that it applied to register “The Current” as a trademark four months before Gore’s network changed its name to Current TV.

Gore’s company bought Newsworld International, a 24-hour cable network, from Canadian Broadcasting Corp. in May 2004 and had planned to use the name “INdTV” and aim programming at 20-somethings, according to the Cincinnati lawsuit.

Current TV, based in San Francisco, features alternative news and “citizen journalism” pieces, many submitted by amateurs who send in video. According to its web site, viewers contribute about one-third of the station’s content.

A message seeking comment from Current TV on the Cincinnati lawsuit was not immediately returned.

Hold the smugness. This has happened before — in fact, just a bit over three months ago. Something that rolled itself out as Open Source Media (best coverage of the roll-out is here) had to hastily change its name to Pajamas Media because they “forgot” that there was, as Ann Althouse noted, already an Open Source, which of course aggressively defended itself, forcing a hasty name change by the Pajamas People.

Two pretty dumb mistakes by two supposedly smart sets of people. Hopefully, Al Gore’s “current” problem will stay out of the courtroom too.

Yep, along with so many others, I, after a few minutes of not-careful thought, initially opposed the Dubai Ports World deal.

I’m now a grudging supporter, pending further security assurances that it would appear are forthcoming, and promise to cool it on the knee-jerk reactions in the future. But as you’ll see in a bit, I think a lot of us have very good reasons why we reacted as we did.

This National Review Media Blog quick hit briefly and pretty satisfactorily explains why there is “probably” little to be concerned about, while taking The New York Times to task for perpetuating the popular distortions:

Today’s NYT editorial is one of the worst I’ve ever read, both for its slant, and its blatant inaccuracies. It begins right with the first sentence:

It’s easy to imagine how the Bush administration might have defused much of the uproar over a deal to allow a company owned by the Dubai royal family in the United Arab Emirates to run six American ports.

This is false. Dubai Ports World will not be running these ports. How many times does this have to be said: They will only be managing the loading and unloading of shipping containers. And they will only be doing this at a few terminals at each port. DP World has a relationship to each port authority similar to that of a tenant and landlord. Tenants conduct their business in the space set out by the landlord, and have to abide by any and all rules. DP World will not be running these ports, just like I don’t run my apartment building.

Now that my current position is out there, I have to express intense frustration with how the Bush administration has handled the issue, and explain why so many people on both sides of the ideological aisle had an instinctive reaction to oppose the deal.

To be blunt: This administration does not seem to recognize that it has earned a reputation as weak in virtually every area of security and defense not directly related to the military and The War on Terror overseas, specifically (at least) these four:

1. Airport security. The insane refusal, in the name of “no profiling,” to recognize that 25 year-old Middle Eastern men are more likely to cause a security problem on a plane than 8 year-old little girls, which air travelers see in some analogous way nearly every time they fly, has shaken confidence in the government’s law-enforcement judgment.
2. Immigration. The indifference towards border security with Mexico, even in light of hundreds of incursions by criminal gangs, has made people feel that keeping Vicente Fox happy is more important than preventing terrorists from swimming across the Rio Grande or tunneling under from Tijuana. The failure by the government to deport criminals who shouldn’t be here and to deter street crime by illegals, and the incomprehensible courting of the illegal immigrant community by businesses (even mortgage lenders!) have all added to the frustration.
3. Language. The refusal until very recently to call out radical Islam (2nd paragraph at link) as the real enemy has given people an impression that the government prefers political correctness over recognizing reality.
4. Appointments. The recess appointment of the inexperienced Julie Myers to head up Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the poorly vetted and withdrawn appointment of Bernard Kerik to head up Homeland Security, have caused a lot of people to believe that personal connections are more important that leadership skills and competence.

For these reasons (not “Islamophobia,” as Larry Kudlow and others are condescendingly claiming), the administration should have known that the Dubai Ports World deal would cause a firestorm of opposition, because, frankly, most of us have been trained by prior behavior to expect that deals like this won’t be properly scrutinized. Knowing this, Mr. Bush’s people should have been way out in front on this issue, instead of playing a furious game of catch-up they may yet lose. That so many people throughout the administration did not see this coming, as is apparently the case, is stunningly non-Rovian.

The odds are that Mr. Bush will recover from this snafu, but how many more near-misses can he and his gang take? And when will they get serious about addressing the four glaring weaknesses identified above?
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UPDATE: There’s a Reason 5, Unpleasant Surprises — Anyone in the mood to explain how six turned into 21? Or is the UPI article wrong? Zheesh. (”partial answer” posted here previously removed, as it was incorrect)

UPDATE 2: Dennis the Peasant explains it all, in this post, and many other previous one. And it’s 23, not 21. And yes, he has almost singlehandedly embarrassed the Mainstream Media and the blogosphere. For my relatively small part: Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. But I don’s agree with him that, at least in my case, it had to do with “playing the Muslim card.” It has/had to do with the “terrorist card,” and I can tell the difference.
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Feb. 26: Wizbang Weekend Carnival Participant.

Did he ever. Go to the video at the link to see the shots he made (a couple were from “way downtown”), and scroll through the link’s pictures to see what his mom had to say about how Jason McElwain or Greece, NY has handled his autism (HT Michelle Malkin):

GREECE, N.Y. (Feb. 24) - Jason McElwain had done everything he was asked to do for the Greece Athena High School basketball team - keep the stats, run the clock, hand out water bottles.

That all changed last week for the team manager in the final home game of the season. The 17-year-old senior, who is autistic and usually sits on the bench in a white shirt and black tie, put on a uniform and entered the game with his team way ahead.

McElwain proceeded to hit six 3-point shots, finished with 20 points and was carried off the court on his teammates’ shoulders.

“I ended my career on the right note,” he told The Associated Press by phone Thursday. “I was really hotter than a pistol!”

In recent days, McElwain’s phone has hardly stopped ringing. When his family went out for a meal, he was mobbed by well-wishers. A neighborhood boy came by to get a basketball autographed.

McElwain, 5-foot-6, was considered too small to make the junior varsity, so he signed on as team manager. He took up the same role with the varsity, doing anything to stay near the sport he loves. Coach Jim Johnson was impressed with his dedication, and thought about suiting up McElwain for the home finale.

His performance was jaw-dropping: 20 points in four minutes, making 6-of-10 3-point shots. The crowd went wild.

“It was as touching as any moment I have ever had in sports,” Johnson told the Daily Messenger of Canandaigua.

McElwain didn’t begin speaking until he was 5. He lacked social skills but things got easier as he got older. He found many friends and made his way through school in this Rochester suburb, although many of his classes were limited to a half-dozen students. And he found basketball.

On the varsity, he never misses practice and is a jack-of-all-trades.

“And he is happy to do it,” Johnson said. “He is such a great help and is well-liked by everyone on the team.”

Even though McElwain was in uniform for the Feb. 15 game, there was no guarantee he would play - Athena was battling for a division title.

The fans, however, came prepared. One section of students held up signs bearing his nickname “J-MAC” and cutouts of his face placed on Popsicle sticks.

The Trojans opened a large lead against the team from the nearby Spencerport. With four minutes left, McElwain took the court to deafening cheers.

The ball came to him almost right away. His 3-point shot sailed completely off course, and the coach wondered if he made the wrong move. McElwain then missed a layup. Yet his father, David, was unruffled.

“The thing about Jason is he isn’t afraid of anything,” he told the newspaper. “He doesn’t care what people think about him. He is his own person.”

On the next trip down the floor, McElwain got the ball again. This time he stroked a 3, all net.

He was just warming up.

“As soon as the first shot went in that’s when I started to get going,” he said.

On the next attempt, he got another 3-pointer. Then another, and another. In fact, he would have made one more 3, but his foot was on the line, so he had to settle for 2 points.

Greece Athena won 79-43, and pandemonium reigned. McElwain signed autographs, posed for pictures and was hoisted by his teammates.

The Trojans begin sectional play Saturday and McElwain will be on the bench again, wearing his usual shirt and tie.

It doesn’t bother him. More important, he said, is “trying to win a sectional title for the team.”

McElwain will soon be done with high school basketball, then enroll in business management this fall at Monroe Community College.

“I’ll go on to college and I’ll try to hoop there,” he said. “I just love it, it’s one of the greatest sports in the world.”