Couldn’t Help But Notice (062907)

If you haven’t dug into the details of the staged Elizabeth Edwards ambush of Ann Coulter, rest assured: Ann’s right, while Liz and those attempting to smear Coulter are wrong. This point Coulter makes speaks volumes (bold is mine):

These are bald-faced lies, and the mainstream media knows they are lies. Yet they were repeated ad nauseam on Wednesday by The Associated Press, the AOL pop-up window, CNN, NBC and — stunningly — the host of the lowest-rated cable show himself, who personally told me he knew the truth.

That host is Chris Matthews. The truth he knows is that all the garbage about Coulter in the latest incident is made up. But, chivalry lacking, he lacks the cajones to tell anyone but Coulter. Nice.

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The intimidation campaign of Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin to unlawfully force city employees to live within the city limits despite state law that says she can’t, and despite losing in court so far (previous posts here and here), is better understood in this context:

Residents leaving Dayton in droves

So far this decade, only five large U.S. cities — one of which is post-Katrina New Orleans — have lost bigger shares of their populations than Dayton.

For the decade, Dayton has now lost an estimated 9,462 people or 5.7 percent of its residents. The city, which began the decade as the 126th-largest city, now ranks 143rd in population with 156,771 people as of last July 1.

McLin is forcing those on the city’s payroll plantation to live in the city because ever fewer of those who actually still have their full constitutional freedoms are willing to.

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Lucas County does the seemingly impossible, combining a clear breach of fiduciary duty to taxpayers with a whacked-out idea (HT Thurber’s Thoughts):

June 23, 2007

Lucas County residents will be able to apply for low-interest loans to buy local artwork though a county-funded program, Commissioner Ben Konop, announced yesterday.

….. Lucas County residents who qualify for the program, administered by KeyBank, can receive a loan at 1 percent interest starting at $500, up to a maximum of $2,500 to purchase a piece of local artwork.

….. The county has agreed to invest $250,000 in a one-year certificate of deposit with KeyBank. The interest rate on the investment will be only 1 percent rather than the typical 4 to 4.5 percent, Mr. Konop said.

Maggie Thurber:

So, if the investments should be managed to maximize interest rates, has our treasurer done this? Nope! He’s decided that, instead of maximizing interest rates, he’s going to help people buy art.

She further points out that the program may violate state law, and definitely violates investing principles promulgated by the state auditor.

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Sorry, we can’t wait 20 years for this alleged demographic turnaround to “solve” the illegal immigration problem.

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It’s amazing how libs can explain away appearances at religious events and forums as not being violations of church-state separation. Memo to Barry Lynn: No one outside of Old Media is buying what you’re selling.

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Al Gore, centimillionaire. It’s amazing what you can achieve with a few years of rent-seeking and milking the old-boy network.