From the “No, He Didn’t” Dept.:

Tiger Woods apologized Saturday for kicking his golf club on Friday during the second round of the Masters.

“Certainly, I’m frustrated at times and I apologize if I offended anybody by that,” Woods said. “But I’ve hit some bad shots and it’s certainly frustrating at times not hitting the ball where you need to hit it.”

That is NOT an apology. He did NOT say he’s sorry for what he did.

As far as Woods is concerned, WE are the ones with the problem because WE are offended by supposed professionals kicking their golf clubs like spoiled 10 year-olds. If there were no expressed outrage, the thought of apologizing apparently wouldn’t even have occurred to him, and his “frustrating” play almost seems in his mind to justify his actions.

It gets worse:

Woods has struggled during the first major championship of the year. He posted an even-par 72 during the third round on Saturday to scores of 72 and 75 to all but fall out of contention at Augusta National.

Tiger Woods struggled through an emotional third round Saturday, then apologized for kicking a club during Friday’s second round.

Woods said he was not approached by any club officials about Friday’s incident, although he still could be fined for his behavior by the PGA Tour, which never announces such punishment.

“I certainly heard that people didn’t like me kicking the club, but I didn’t like it, either,” Woods said. “I hit it right in the bunker and it didn’t feel good on my toe either.”

Really? We’re supposed to feel sorry for him because he felt pain when he kicked his club?

As I said this morning (third item at link):

… though I’d really rather not see Tiger Woods eclipse Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18 wins in major golf tournaments, I really would like to root for him to win one or two more, which would give him 15-16.

But as long as incidents like those described here which occurred during the second round of the Masters keep happening, I’m not going to.

His “sorry you’ve got a problem with that” handling of conduct which should have occasioned a simple, unconditional “I was wrong; I am sorry” just reinforces that sentiment.

Related: AP’s Jim Litke gets in the neighborhood of the right sentiment, but still misses the mark: “Woods apologized. Sort of.” Actually, Jim, he didn’t apologize at all.

Well, if this doesn’t beat all.

A NewsBusters reader advised me through LInkedIn that “I saw your work referenced in the latest Limbaugh Letter.” So I asked him to scan in the related content and forward it to me, which he graciously did.

It turns out that my correspondent was seriously sandbagging me (click here or on graphic to enlarge and open in a separate tab or window; picture is only of top half of the article’s first page):

Rush Limbaugh used my February 3 column at PJ Media (“State GOP Establishments Attack Their Base”; Feb. 5 BizzyBlog mirror) as the basis for introducing his March 2012 two-page cover story (“It’s War”) about how, in Rush’s words, “the all-out assault on conservatives (by the GOP establishment) is the story of this primary campaign.”

Rush’s opening:

Rush made several points germane to the presidential race which I should also mention:

… There’s been abject panic whenever a non-Romney takes the lead.

… At root, these establishment Republicans are singularly worried about what other people (i.e., liberals) are going to think of them for being in the same Party with social conservatives. It really is no more complicated than that.

… In fact, I’m convinced that if the upcoming election could be decided on social issues, the Republicans would win in a landslide — because we’re on the right side of the culture war. The Republican establishment is scared to death of it.

Near the end was the closest thing I’ve seen or heard Rush take to a direct swipe at Mitt Romney:

It doesn’t get much clearer than that — and we still have delusional people trying to claim that Romney is a genuine conservative, and even the most conservative candidate in the race. Stop it already.

Thanks to Rush for noticing the PJ Media column; thanks to PJM for publishing it; and thanks to Matt and Mark at Weapons of Mass Discussion, BizzyBlog’s Rose, and others who have kept me informed of state-related matters in Ohio so I could expound coherently on the shenanigans of ORPINO (the Ohio Republican Party In Name Only) and its Chairman, Kevin DeWine.

Rush has met conservatism’s enemies, Kevin, and they clearly include you.

TOPSIDE UPDATE: James O’Keefe’s tribute — “God bless you, Andrew Breitbart; thank you for all you’ve taught me and all that you’ve given to us all.”

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… What an awful development.

Please pray for his family, friends, admirers, and fellow activists.

A video I posted in September 2010 epitomized how important his work was, and how critical it is that others carry it on:

Breitbart, all alone except for camera accompaniment, challenged a bused-in crowd numbering probably 100 or so protesting a Glenn Beck appearance to tell him specifically why Glenn Beck is a coward and what Beck has lied about — and got no coherent response, while enduring hateful homophobic slurs from the crowd members.

The result:

Narrator: “In the end, the protesters decided to throw in the towel and head back to their school buses (City of Chicago school buses — Ed.) for the long ride home.”

Andrew Breitbart, who was completely unafraid, will continue to inspire others who need to call upon their own courage for years to come.

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UPDATES: Reactions (will update throughout the day) –

• Roger Simon — “America … has lost one of its truly great patriots.”
• Ed Morrissey — “No one who saw it will ever forget how he seized the podium at Anthony Weiner’s press conference and demanded vindication from media outlets who had been disparaging him and defending Weiner when the former Congressman got caught literally with his pants down.”
• Michelle Malkin — “Even in death, he succeeds in exposing the hate-filled intolerance of the tolerance poseurs.” Check out the hateful tweets at her post.
• Matt Sheffield at NewsBusters — “He succeeded in ways greater than he likely ever dreamed in his desire to help the right learn to toughen up and understand how the left views politics as the moral equivalent of war.”
• Sheffield also has the official statement from Brent Bozell at the NB’s parent, the Media Research Center — “Today we have a lost a truly brilliant mind and a tireless warrior for the conservative movement. Andrew was one of the few good guys who knew Hollywood inside and out. He coupled that knowledge with the creativity and passion that has become his trademark, offering it for the cause that he so believed in. The entire Breitbart family will be in our thoughts and prayers. May he rest in peace.”
• Gateway Pundit — “Thank you for your courage, strength, honesty and devotion.”
• Brian Maloney at Radio Equalizer has reactions from Rush Limbaugh and Mark Levin.
• Weasel Zippers — “Liberals Celebrate the News.”
• Pamela Geller at Atlas Shrugs — “Andrew was our warrior, our leader. Fearless, unapologetic, brilliant. I admire few, but Andrew was in a league of his own. His herculean contribution to the war is incalculable.” From an Atlas commenter: “A powerful angel is now with us.”
• Jeff Emanuel at RedState — “I can say, without reservation, that Andrew Breitbart the man was fully deserving of every posthumous accolade he will receive today and in the future. He also deserves a conservative movement that will carry on his work, with the same courage and dedication he brought to it every day …”
• Students for Life director Kristan Hawkins, quoted at LifeNews.com — ““His passion to defend conservative and pro-life ideals – fueled by his own adoption – have made him a leader in exposing the corruption and bias of the media. I’m so happy that his mom chose life. He leaves behind an inspiring and beautiful legacy, including 4 children. Our team at SFLA is continuing to pray for his family.”
• Right Scoop — “we lost one of our greatest fighters on the right against tyranny.”
• DaTechGuy tweets: “I am andrew breitbart right now and if you are a blogger on the right so are all of you.”

UPDATE 2: Ed Driscoll —

Andrew Breitbart’s entire mission, both on Twitter and on his Big sites, was to say to the MSM, you don’t get the final word anymore. It’s now a conversation. We’ll consider what you report, and how you report it, and determine for ourselves how factually accurate it is. How well it matches up with our worldview. How well it matches up with modern “liberalism’s” mission statement that promises tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism — and if you can’t respect your neighbor, simply because he disagrees with you on the size and role of government, you’ve failed that mission statement.

(Billboard.com is carrying this AP report on Whitney Houston’s life and death.)

Houston’s 1991 Super Bowl rendition of “The Star Spangled Banner” is indeed “the greatest national anthem in sports history”:

From Chris Case at Yahoo Sports:

Ten days after the United States went to war in the Persian Gulf, Whitney Houston performed the greatest rendition of the Star Spangled Banner in sports history.

On Jan. 27, 1991, Houston took the field at Tampa Stadium prior to Super Bowl XXV to sing the national anthem. The US was at war in Iraq and the game between the New York Giants and Buffalo Bills was serving as a welcome respite from the televised reports of scud bombs and cease fires.

The pop star had recorded the vocal weeks before in a Los Angeles studio and lip-synched the song at the Super Bowl, but few in the crowd of 73,000 or the 110 million watching at home seemed to notice. Houston’s gospel-infused performance and her soaring vocals, all set to the patriotic backdrop of flags and flyovers, are the standard against which all anthems are compared. It’s as close to perfect as a human voice can get.

The beauty of Houston’s version is in her restraint. Other vocalists try to make “The Star-Spangled Banner” their own with unnecessary flourishes and self-indulgent arrangements. Whitney let the song stand on its own. She just sang the heck out of it.

Houston had agreed to sing the song a year earlier, long before most Americans had heard of Kuwait. She arranged the song with her musical director Ricky Minor, who later became well known for his same role on “American Idol.” It went on to become the fastest-selling single in her record label’s history and raised over $500,000 for the American Red Cross.

“I think it was a time when Americans needed to believe in our country.” Houston said later that year. “I remember standing there and looking at all those people, and it was like I could see in their faces the hopes and prayers and fears of the entire country.”

I get upset, perhaps more than most, when people use the memory and life of the Rev. Martin Luther King to promote things that run opposite to his message, as the Cincinnati Public Library just has done in using today’s holiday as a vehicle to promote a book by racist, violence-supporting 1990s rapper Sister Souljah.

So does Mark at Weapons of Mass Discussion, who has articulated why we cringe and mourn at the serial abuse. Two of many key paragraphs:

I always believed in content of character over color. Always. And where is the status of Dr. King’s dream today? Sadly, with what I see in our culture today, the Dream is dying on the vine. Color and ethnicity are being trumped over character and shared values. Color and tribe are being used to divide us, especially at a time in our nation when we should and need to be together.

The Sistah Souljah garbage at Cincinnati Public Library is just a small part of the problem. There has been a huge shift in our culture and in the dynamic of the black community. Where once we were about coming together and being color blind, now we seem to be overly color sensitive. And it is spawning a backlash. Don’t get me wrong. Martin’s dream was not about giving up identity or being proud of one’s race or background. Rather, it was about respecting that; but at the same time, looking past the paradigms of color and getting to the essence of each other. We don’t seem to do that much anymore.

He goes on to provide many examples.

Read the whole thing.

In the annals of fawning coverage of scandal-plagued Democrats, Michael Biesecker’s Saturday morning report on John Edwards’s illness and its effect on his upcoming trail on campaign finance violations surely must be among the worst.

Biesecker missed at least a half-dozen natural opportunities to tag Edwards as a Democrat, finally doing so in cryptic fashion in his 15th of 17 paragraphs. He didn’t identify Edwards as the 2004 vice-presidential candidate until that same paragraph, and in doing so named who was at the top of the GOP ticket (George W. Bush) without naming who was at the top of the Dems’ (John Kerry). The AP reporter threw obsequious virtual kisses at a man who betrayed his terminally ill wife while omitting two clearly relevant recent reports, one from an outlet which has scooped the look-the-other-way establishment press time after time in this sad, four-year saga. Here are several paragraphs from Biescecker’s blather (some of the many clear opportunities to tag Edwards as a Dem and examples of over-the-top fawning are bolded):

Judge: John Edwards has serious heart condition

Ex-presidential candidate John Edwards has a serious heart condition that will require a medical procedure next month and his illness limits his travel including for an upcoming court case over possible campaign violations, his doctor told a judge, who delayed the trial.

Federal Judge Catherine Eagles did not disclose the exact nature of Edwards’ illness Friday or what procedure he needed. However, she said the two-time presidential candidate had “three episodes” and indicated his condition could be life-threatening if left untreated.

A cardiologist for the 58-year-old ex-North Carolina senator wrote two letters about his condition to Eagles, who talked about them during a hearing to consider whether the trial on six felony and misdemeanor counts should begin this month. Eagles said jury selection will now start March 26, at the earliest.

Edwards is taking medication and is scheduled to undergo a procedure in February from which it will take several days to recover, Eagles said. She did not describe what the episodes involved or if the procedure would require unclogging arteries or other common treatments. The doctor’s letters and other medical records have been kept under seal by the court.

… The trial has already been delayed twice, including a continuance granted so Edwards could attend his eldest daughter’s wedding.

… Known for being telegenic Edwards had customarily entered the federal courthouse through the public entrance, where a group of reporters and cameramen assemble. But on Friday, he took steps to slip through unnoticed. A court security officer indicated he had come and gone through a back door.

Two years ago, Edwards confessed he fathered a baby born to his ex-mistress. He had long denied the girl, Frances Quinn Hunter, was his, even after he admitted cheating on his wife with the child’s mother, Rielle Hunter. Hunter had been hired before Edwards’ 2008 White House campaign to shoot behind-the-scenes video of him.

(Paragraph 15 of 17)

… In early 2010, Edwards publicly admitted fathering Hunter’s child and friends disclosed that he and his wife, Elizabeth, were separated. She died in December 2010 from incurable breast cancer that was first diagnosed in 2004, a day after the Democratic ticket that included John Edwards as the vice presidential candidate lost to George W. Bush.

The Edwardses were law school sweethearts who married just days after they took the bar exam together in the summer of 1977. They had four children together, including a son who died at age 16. Although the couple had separated, John Edwards was at her side around the clock as her health deteriorated. He did not speak at her funeral.

Of course, I wish Edwards a speedy recovery from his medical situation.

Here are the two stories Biesecker ignored:

• National Enquirer, Janaury 9 (“John Edwards Secret Rendezvous With Love Child”) — “IN a last-ditch bid to avoid prison, JOHN EDWARDS plans to wed mistress RIELLE HUNTER – and reunited with her and their love child in a dramatic meeting photographed exclusively by The ENQUIRER. The disgraced politician popped the question after a terrifying heart scare led to his request to postpone his impending criminal trial, sources say, and Rielle eagerly agreed to marry him.”
• Celebrity Baby Scoop, January 13 — “Former presidential hopeful John Edwards, 58, reunited with mistress Rielle Hunter, 47, and their soon-to-be 4-year-old daughter Quinn on Wednesday (January 11).”

To the inevitable snarking that the Enquirer and other tabloid-like entities aren’t reliable sources, the response is obvious: They nailed the Edwards story over four years ago, and dragged the establishment press kicking and screaming into covering it. Biesecker could easily have cited these reports and their sources and let readers decide how much faith to place in them. But instead, he engaged in the standard “la-la, you don’t exist” routine. Who will be surprised if the AP and the rest of the press haven’t been scooped again?

The sad thing is that the press doesn’t seem to care if they get scooped — at least if the scandal-pagued politician involved is a Democrat.

Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org.

You know, it’s one thing for a former player to question the heart of the Atlanta Falcons for their failures to convert two critical fourth-and-one situations in their losing playoff game against the New York Giants today.

But ESPN’s Chris Berman? Chris Berman?

Berman’s Wikipedia entry gives no indication that he even played sports in high school (even if he did, it’s a “so what?”), let alone at a higher level.

For Chris Berman to be telling the Atlanta Falcons in the network’s post-playoff game coverage that “they should be ashamed of themselves” and that “You’ve gotta be able to man up” is an embarrassing joke.

Trent Dilfer was similarly but more diplomatically rough on the Falcons, saying something on the order of “you show who you really are in really difficult situations.” Fine. He played the game and quarterbacked a winning Super Bowl team. I get that. But he remembered that he was on TV, and didn’t go with the “man up” line he might conceivably use if he were with friends or former players in a nonpublic situation.

If Chris Berman were at a social gathering and said what he said on TV tonight, I daresay that half the people hearing it would be laughing at him, and the other half would be saying “Who the bleep are you to say that?”

Go back to giving players clever names, good buddy, and leave the analysis and testosterone level evaluations to people with some credibility.

We’re back for another year starting tonight, beginning 15 minutes ago.

Go here to listen (find the “Listen Now” link).

His latest “Work and Days” post is as complete a collection of Obama myths vs. reality as I’ve seen.

Just one example:

That his brilliance is a myth was not just revealed by the weekly lapses (whether phonetic [corpse-man], or cultural [Austria/Germany, the United Kingdom/England, Memorial Day/Veterans Day] or inane [57 states]), but in matters of common sense and basic history. The error-ridden Cairo speech was foolish; the serial appeasement of Iran revealed an ignorance of human nature; a two-minute glance at an etiquette book would have nixed the bowing or the cheap gifts to the UK.

Read the whole thing.

Many happy returns, sir.

From AP:

Republican U.S. Rep. Geoff Davis says he won’t seek re-election to Congress.

In a statement Thursday he said he’s leaving so he can spend more time with his family.

The fiscal and social conservative has served a district that stretches along the top of Kentucky from the Louisville suburbs to the West Virginia border since 2005.

National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Pete Sessions said Kentucky is losing an “influential” and “exemplary” representative.

Initial reactions: I don’t think Davis has been anywhere near scandal or ethical problems during his tenure, but you never know, especially with what I think is the suddenness of the announcement. This should be a district a Republican successor can hold.

Full statement at Davis’s web site:

Congressman Geoff Davis [KY-4] made the following statement today:

“In order to devote more time to my family, I have decided not to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives.

“It is an honor to have the trust and confidence of the citizens of Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District.

“I have been blessed with an exceptionally competent staff who have helped thousands of Kentuckians over the years. Moreover, together we have passed critical pieces of legislation and enacted laws to reform our government, strengthen our national security, protect our veterans and service members, create economic revival and energy independence, and improve transparency and accountability of the government.

“As Chairman of the Ways and Means’ Subcommittee on Human Resources, we have set a new tone that combines genuine concern for the least among us, with pragmatic process reforms that are both compassionate and conservative. That attitude and focus have produced real results and proactive bi-partisan legislation, despite the negative partisan climate in Washington. Indeed, we have proven that people of diverse world views can find common ground and produce meaningful results.

“I thank the people of Kentucky’s Fourth District for this honor and look forward to continued service to our community and to our Republic in other capacities as I return to the private sector. I also want to thank my friend and mentor, former Senator Jim Bunning, for his example of steadfast character and unimpeachable integrity in service.

“Most of all, I thank my wonderful wife Pat and our children for their unfailing love, grace under pressure, and tireless encouragement in answering this call to serve.

“I am grateful that I live in a country where a boy like me, growing up with little hope, could walk a path by God’s grace that has allowed me to encounter His peace, the joy of true love, and service at the highest levels of our elected national government. Truly, we are blessed in this Republic.”

I definitely want to take one last opportunity to thank Mr. Davis, whose district includes Northern Kentucky across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, for his military and congressional service.

Items:

• SF Chronicle: “Police, Occupy Oakland backers clash downtown”
• LA Times: “Police raid Occupy Oakland encampment, arrest dozens”

Indispensable background from Zombie at PJMedia: “Is Occupy Oakland as Bad as They Say? No. It’s worse than you can imagine.”

Go there for the full extent of the graphic truth. Here’s some of the narrative, including a few mini-grabs from Zombie’s pics (bolds are mine, Warning – disturbing descriptions) –

Much ado has been made about recent media reports describing Occupy Oakland as a cross between Lord of the Fliesand Animal House. The leftist magazine Mother Jones was furious about the negative coverage, deeming it “The Right-Wing Media Assault on Occupy Oakland,” and attempting to debunk the bad press. But Big Journalism lashed back with an article entitled MotherJones: Truth To Unflattering Reports On OWS.

Out of curiosity, I decided to check out the scene for myself to settle the matter.

… During the boring speeches, I strolled around the encampment and discovered that many of the reports about Occupy Oakland are, unfortunately, true. Let’s look at them one by one:

Drug Use and Commerce

Everywhere I went, I encountered people taking drugs — mostly marijuana. Many of them were understandably camera-shy. But … (one) guy stood right on the main walkway and puffed away on a drug pipe.

The ground around and inside the camp was also littered with other evidence of drug use …

Disgustingness

The City of Oakland issued an eviction notice the day before the rally, citing sanitation issues, garbage, rats and other hygiene problems at the encampment. The protesters announced that they simply wouldn’t budge, and the city temporarily caved in, so for now the standoff continues, though the eviction notices are still taped up around the plaza. But as far as I could tell — yes, the city has a very good point. The place was pretty disgusting.

… all over the camp were signs that said “Not a toilet,” because some occupiers basically relieve themselves wherever and whenever they feel the urge. Disgusted campers started putting up signs so that their particular tents wouldn’t be on the receiving end of any effluvia. …

Intimidating “Internal Security” Teams

Occupy Oakland has agreed by consensus to not cooperate with the Oakland Police Department under any circumstances. But as the law-breaking and nuisance behavior within the encampment started to grow, the evolving mini-society found it necessary to appoint its own ersatz police force.

… There also seemed to be a possibly separate “rally security force” consisting of guys wearing Black Panther buttons on their berets.

… Remember Lovelle Mixon, the serial rapist, child molester and murderer who single-handedly committed one of the worst mass killings of police officers in American history? Yeah, that guy. Well, the anti-police sentiment at Occupy Oakland is so intense that they regard Lovelle Mixon as a hero!! Whatever other crimes he may have committed, if he offed some pigs, then all is forgiven. F*ck the Po-lice! Power to the people!

… there are so many crime victims at the camp that the Occupiers have found it necessary to establish a donation fund to help them — presumably to replace stolen items.

Good luck with that.

Yeah, all of this is just like the Tea Party.

From the UK Telly:

Libya’s liberation: interim ruler unveils more radical than expected plans for Islamic law
Libya’s interim leader outlined more radical plans to introduce Islamic law than expected as he declared the official liberation of the country.

Nobody saw this coming (/sarc).

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UPDATE: An emailer tipped me to this. Can you imagine how much grief a Republican or conservative cabinet official would be getting if they had said something like HIllary did, as noted here –

Shortly there after, the same cameras captured the moment she learned that Gaddafi was dead, which had the Secretary of State joyously proclaiming “we came, we saw, he died!”

Now she wants an investigation into his death. My emailer believes it’s a way of backing off of her callous, militaristic remark. Good point.