A Golden Parachute for Jim Kitchens

"A candidate shall not use or permit the use of campaign contributions for the private benefit of the candidate or others." - Code of Judicial Conduct of Mississippi Judges: Canon 5(C)2

"Campaign committees...should manage campaign finances responsibly, avoiding deficits that might necessitate post-election fundraising, to the extent possible." - Code of Judicial Conduct of Mississippi Judges: Canon 5(C)2 [Commentary]

Trial lawyers are seeking to raise $300,000 for a personal loan Jim and Mary Kitchens took out. If a judicial candidate pays a personal loan with campaign contributions, he is in violation of the Code of Judicial Conduct of Mississippi Judges. The punishment can be as severe as removal from office. That is very severe, but we're talking about $300,000. We'll see if the Commission on Judicial Performance takes action.

On the other hand, perhaps this is a campaign loan. In which case this was a campaign ignoring the ethical encouragements of the judicial canons in an attempt to win. I guess that happens all the time. Nothing to complain about, but nothing to brag about either for the incoming justice.

The Clarion Ledger reported today that the campaign manager said, "There is no fundraiser. What we are having is normal campaign business." Yet, according to campaign finance reports, one week before the election the campaign had more than a $50,000 surplus. Add another $300,000 to that and you have a campaign that spent more in the very last week of the campaign than many candidates spent the entire year.

Childers Offers to Substitute Self for Langston

According to blogged reports, Congressman Travis Childers has written a letter in defense of Joey Cash Langston, a now disbarred trial lawyer, who plead guilty to attempting to bribe a judge. The reports say Childers said he would go to jail for Langston if he could.

You might remember the work RightofMississippi did on the Childers Langston connections:

Travis Childers and Joey Langston, Guilt by Association Volume 1
Travis Childers and Joey Langston, Guilt by Association Volume 2
Travis Childers and Joey Langston, Guilt by Association Volume 3
(I'm not sure what happened with volumes 4, 5, 6)
Travis Childers and Joey Langston, Guilt by Association Volume 7
Travis Childers and Joey Langston, Guilt by Association Volume 8

I'm sure Langston appreciates the letter from Childers. And he wishes they could switch places, too.

Bennie Thompson, Chairman of Vacation Security

Kingfish responding over at Jackson Jambalaya:

The New York Post reported six congressmen recently enjoyed a trip to the Caribbean paid for by Citigroup and other corporations. Bennie Thompson, Democrat-Bolton, was one of high-flying politicians who couldn't resist the chance to enjoy some sun and sand in St. Marteen:

"High-ranking members of Congress were flown to a lush Caribbean resort ["Shady Island House Party," New York Post] this month for a three-day conference planned and paid for by several of the country's most powerful corporations - a violation of federal ethics rules, critics say. ...
Officials with those companies were observed at the conference - sometimes acting as featured speakers at daily seminars and freely mingling among the pols at social events. Citigroup - which just last week received a massive bailout from the federal government - was one of the conference's biggest sponsors, ponying up $100,000 to help finance the event, according to one of the lobbyists at the gathering.....

Everyone got it? Ole Bennie goes on a trip paid for by the people who caused this mess and just took a few HUNDRED BILLION dollars from us last week while they tried to use a bogus charity for cover.

Bennie Thompson seems to be enjoying his position as Chairman of Vacation Security. He also has enjoyed trips to Havana, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Orlando, Puerto Rico, Antiqua, Fort Lauderdale, Panama City...really all over the world but these are Spring Break type ones that the Democratic Pledge Chairman Bennie Thompson really enjoys.

Don't forget that Bennie Thompson also flew Air Abramoff on a fact finding mission to the Northern Mariana Islands.

These free trips are just a day in the life of a man who represents one of the poorest districts in the country. Wasn't there some talk about "change" earlier this year?

Oh, pardon me.

This is a classic image (hat tip to barneyfife by way of Y'all) of Joe Biden Agnew and Joey Cash Langston.

Two New from NRSC

Devastate



Ronnie Musgrove Day

Kitchens: Pain and Suffering Caps "Unfair"

Let there be no doubt, Jim Kitchens is a trial lawyer. He served on the American Trial Lawyers Association Board of Governors for 17 years. He served on their Executive Committee. Trial lawyers all over the county know he will be on their side if he gets on the Supreme Court.

Jim Kitchens believes the medical malpractice reform the legislature passed in Mississippi is unfair. How do we know? He said so.

Jim Kitchens, a trial lawyer in Jackson, warned the committee that tampering with contingency fees charged by lawyers would ultimately hurt poor clients who couldn't afford to hire attorneys on an hourly basis. And, he said, capping how much a victim could collect for pain and suffering was unfair. - Commercial Appeal (June 21, 2002)

Tupelo Daily Journal Endorses Wicker

Today the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal endorsed Cochran, Wicker, Childers.

Wicker for Senate – Wicker, like Cochran, has proven that he understands the importance of securing federal discretionary spending producing jobs and prosperity that otherwise would go elsewhere. Some call it pork; we call it investment. He was an effective 1st District congressman who has stayed in close touch with his constituents and deserves a chance to prove he can carry that effectiveness into the Senate over the better part of a full term. Given the likely strengthened Democratic majority in the Senate, that may require a less party-oriented approach on Wicker’s part.

We have considerable respect for the accomplishments of Musgrove, especially as an education-oriented governor and lieutenant governor. But Wicker gets the nod on experience at both the federal and state levels and a proven ability to deliver in areas critical to the economic success of our region and state.

Pay to Proclaim

Conservative Belle has posted a number of campaign contributors to Ronnie Musgrove, who Musgrove then honored with a proclamation. Hey Ronnie, a receipt works just fine. You don't need to put the state seal on it! Conservative Belle: Sure, Ronnie Musgrove. We Believe You.

Barton's Balance: More Lawsuits

Can a candidate sue himself for political malpractice? I'm sure Gene Barton will look into that after the election. An article in today's Clarion Ledger describes Barton's balance:

There's no question there were too many frivolous lawsuits in Mississippi at one point, he said. The doctor his wife worked for as a nurse was sued 15 times, he said. "But now the pendulum has swung to the other extreme," Barton said. "I'm running to bring back balance."

Let's get this straight. Barton wants to take Mississippi back to when there were too many frivolous lawsuits? That's his idea of balance? No thanks.

Connecting Kitchens and Diaz

Jim Kitchens and Oliver Diaz are both running for the Mississippi Supreme Court. Diaz was acquitted of charges involving a judicial bribery scheme in which trial lawyer Paul Minor, former chancery court judge Walter W. Teel, and former circuit judge John H. Whitfield were convicted. Also wrapped up in that trial was Oliver's wife Jennifer Diaz. He is proud to have been acquitted, she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of tax evasion. Her attorney was Jim Kitchens who said she, "did what she did for her family.” Just an interesting connection.

Gene Barton's Team: Bennie Thompson, NAACP, Barack Obama

Gene Barton already announced he is pro-choice. We don't need to wait till he is on the bench to find out that opinion. Now we know how liberal he really is. In Greenwood, Gene Barton said he had been endorsed by the U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson and the Mississippi Democratic Party. He said the NAACP has not endorsed him but is helping his campaign with resources. And Obama?

Barton also linked his campaign to that of Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

“In fact — this was before I got in the race — I was going to put all of my energy into Obama’s campaign,” he told the Democratic crowd to sustained applause.

He said his support for Obama early on had his neighbors talking.

“They said, ‘Gene Barton, he’s got an Obama sign in his yard. Nobody else has one in the whole county,’” Barton said.

Barton then said Obama was “very worthy of the office” of president before adding, “But I’m not supposed to endorse anybody. I still have an opinion. It is hard to shut me up.”

Ronnie Mus-go Away Again

No Friend of the Coast



Where in the World Is Ronnie Musgrove?



Musgrove's Bad Road: Dead Ends, Wrong Turns

Kitchens Negative Attacks

Used to before the election, desperate campaigns would circulate a scandal sheet with false or scurrilous allegations against their opponents. They'd end up on cars or in your yard or handed out right before the election. The Jim Kitchens Campaign has done the online version (which they are free to do). I won't bother linking it, but in their news release the Kitchens campaign says "We have said from day one that this race should be about the issues, about a person’s record and not about personal attacks." Except none of the Kitchens false allegations are about Jim Smith's record. None. They don't show where he ruled incorrectly in a single case. They are all personal attacks. Desperation.

The Kitchens campaign did have the courage to sign their name to the attacks. So they also deserve the credit for their negativity.

Today the Neshoba County Democrat endorsed Jim Smith. The endorsement says in part:

Smith has run a strictly positive campaign and worked to earn every vote, visiting every cabin and camper at the Neshoba County Fair....Kitchens' campaign has festered with negativity and attacks against Smith.

The endorsement also says:

Chief Justice Jim Smith has a proven record of fairness on the Mississippi Supreme Court. Under his leadership, the Court has cleared all its backlogs and is current for the first time in decades. He administers the Court with professionalism and respect for the dignity of the law that is sorely needed in Mississippi's legal profession today...Smith is known in his community as an intelligent jurist and a humble man of faith...Mississippi will benefit from the re-election of an honest and fair man of integrity like Jim Smith.

Honor. Fairness. Professionalism. Dignity. Not negative attacks.

(Truth is, RespondMississippi enjoys watching campaigns get rough and tumble. We like the attack ads and the quips and the partisan rhetoric. We want more, not less. We don't believe the press does its job at exposing records, and so the opposition campaigns must do it instead. And Smith may need to respond to Kitchens aggressively. But let it be known the first shots were fired by Kitchens.)

Statesmanship

Senator Thad Cochran
(Responding Via Y'all Politics)

Litigation Addiction

It is clear that plaintiff attorneys around the country are pumping in money to change the Mississippi Supreme Court. They are funding Jim Kitchens in hopes to defeat Chief Justice Jim Smith.

But litigation addicts in Mississippi are helping, too. Just looking at the big names on his most recent report. David Baria, former Mississippi Trial Lawyers Association president gave $1000. Shane Langston sent him $1200. The Mike Moore Firm gave $1000. Ed Williamson of Philadelphia and Isaac Byrd of Jackson each gave $1000.

But of course trial lawyers will fund his campaign. The funny part is the litigation addiction mindset. Ole Kitch's campaign is upset at people exercising their free speech. An organization apparently took photographs off of Jim Smith's web site and used them. Kitch's campaign said, "Surely Mr. Smith, a judge, knows that he could file suit against those groups for stealing or copyright infringement."

Like an addict facing his drug of choice he can't believe someone else would turn down the opportunity. Look! You can sue! Why don't you sue? For the love of man, don't you see you can sue!

I'm sure Jim Smith knows anyone can sue anyone for just about anything. But his first reaction is different from Kitchens. But then, that is what Kitchens does for a living.

Patsy, Please Call The Secret Service

It is with horror that I have heard some people at recent televised political rallies shout "Kill him!" when one of our major presidential candidates raised questions about his opponent. We cannot be that shining beacon on the hill, if we keep silent to hate. We must turn to that person who suggests the unthinkable and say, "That is unacceptable! Go home and pray for your very soul. We don't do that in America." - Patsy Brumfield, Notheast Mississippi Daily, October 16, 2008

The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled “kill him” when presidential hopeful Barack Obama’s name was mentioned during Tuesday’s Sarah Palin rally are unfounded. Agent Bill Slavoski said he was in the audience, along with an undisclosed number of additional secret service agents and other law enforcement officers and not one heard the comment. He said the agency conducted an investigation Wednesday, after seeing the story, and could not find one person to corroborate the allegation other than Singleton. Slavoski said more than 20 non-security agents were interviewed Wednesday, from news media to ordinary citizens in attendance at the rally for the Republican vice presidential candidate held at the Riverfront Sports Complex. “We have yet to find someone to back up the story,” Slavoski said. “We had people all over and we have yet to find anyone who said they heard it.” Slavoski said the agents take such threats or comments seriously and immediately opened an investigation but after due diligence “as far as we’re concerned it’s closed unless someone comes forward.” He urged anyone with knowledge of the alleged incident to call him at 346-5781. “We’ll run at all leads,” he said. - Andrew M. Seder, Scranton Times Leader, October 15, 2008

Alston and Kitchens

Ole Kitch has a friend in Alex Alston. Alston, is the unofficial Clarion Ledger judicial correspondent. He has written numerous pieces for the Clarion Ledger based on his own research attacking the Supreme Court. The Ledger uses his "research" in its editorials as facts. Whenever his information is challenged, the Ledger allows him additional space to respond. He might as well be a contributing columnist.

Well, the Ledger has never disclosed Alston's motivations. Alston is the guy who lost millions because the Supreme Court overturned (7-2 decision) a jury verdict in a life insurance case (Stewart vs Prudential). His client hid the fact he suffered a stroke and was nearing death while negotiating a life insurance policy. Once that fact was revealed to the insurance company, they refused to write a policy under the previously negotiated conditions. Basically, Alston sued a company to claim a policy that didn't exist. He won with a Hinds County jury. The Supreme Court overturned it. As the lawyer, his share of the take would have been millions of dollars.

Hey, I'd be upset if I lost millions of dollars. I understand. Give me someone to yell at and a platform. A Court and a newspaper? That works fine.

But that doesn't mean the Court isn't right. And it doesn't give the Clarion Ledger license to hold up a disgruntled attorney as an authority on the Court. But then, the First Amendment gives the Ledger that license, and fair treatment is not a precondition for free speech.

Anyway. In addition to his public attacks on the Court, Alston is now supporting the guy who wants to take out Chief Justice Jim Smith. The latest campaign finance report of Jim Kitchens shows contributions from Alston on August 19 and September 30 for a total of $1000. I wonder if the Ledger will continue to give Alston carte blanche to opine now that his motivations are both personal and political.

Labor Unions: Bringing Musrove and Obama Together

Mark Cochran, Political Coordinator for United Steelworkers of America, working North Mississippi and Tennessee for Barack Obama and Ronnie Musgrove.
Responding via Y'all Politics

Kitchens Leading in Beverly Hills, New York City, Chicago

Jim Kitchens is a man of the people - the people of Beverly Hills, New York City, Chicago, Miami, Washington D.C., Honolulu, Massachusetts, Los Angeles. His latest campaign finance report shows he raised greater than $80K from out of state, mostly trial lawyers. There isn't anything wrong with out-of-staters supporting a Mississippi candidate. But the question is, "Why?" I'm sure these out-of-state trial lawyers just want good government. They aren't interested at all in putting someone on the Court who could serve their interests - the interests of big trial lawyers coming to sue in Mississippi. Let me repeat, these are not Mississippi trial lawyers battling it out for their ideology. That's politics. No big deal. But when you combine the latest report of Jim Kitchens with his past reports, you find that $150K has been pumped in from out-of-state trial lawyers. Why? You can decide.



(Thanks for the email with the tip. YOUaretheresponder.)

Jesse Jackson on Obama Foreign Policy

Jesse Jackson on Obama's Israel policy:

The most important change would occur in the Middle East, where "decades of putting Israel's interests first" would end. Jackson believes that, although "Zionists who have controlled American policy for decades" remain strong, they'll lose a great deal of their clout when Barack Obama enters the White House....Jackson is especially critical of President Bush's approach to the Israel-Palestine conflict. "Bush was so afraid of a snafu and of upsetting Israel that he gave the whole thing a miss," Jackson says. "Barack will change that," because, as long as the Palestinians haven't seen justice, the Middle East will "remain a source of danger to us all." "Barack is determined to repair our relations with the world of Islam and Muslims," Jackson says. "Thanks to his background and ecumenical approach, he knows how Muslims feel while remaining committed to his own faith."

The Washington Post has this to say about Jesse Jackson's previous opposition to "Zionists."

Rev. Jesse Jackson referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown" in January 1984 during a conversation with a black Washington Post reporter, Milton Coleman. Jackson had assumed the references would not be printed because of his racial bond with Coleman, but several weeks later Coleman permitted the slurs to be included far down in an article by another Post reporter on Jackson's rocky relations with American Jews.

A storm of protest erupted, and Jackson at first denied the remarks, then accused Jews of conspiring to defeat him. The Nation of Islam's radical leader Louis Farrakhan, an aggressive anti-Semite and old Jackson ally, made a difficult situation worse by threatening Coleman in a radio broadcast and issuing a public warning to Jews, made in Jackson's presence: "If you harm this brother [Jackson], it will be the last one you harm."

Finally, Jackson doused the fires in late February with an emotional speech admitting guilt and seeking atonement before national Jewish leaders in a Manchester, New Hampshire synagogue. Yet Jackson refused to denounce Farrakhan, and lingering, deeply rooted suspicions have led to an enduring split between Jackson and many Jews. The frenzy also heightened tensions between Jackson and the mostly white establishment press.

Kitchens - The Joke is on Mississippi

Jim Kitchens wants to be on the Mississippi Supreme Court. The key word there is Mississippi.

Kitchens, leaving worry behind, joked that if he could include the territory of a few other surrounding states it would be to his benefit. Kitchens said he is pleased with his campaign's progress. "The district touches Arkansas, Louisiana, and Alabama, and I think I'm running way ahead in all those states," he joked. (Madison County Herald, October 9, 2008)

About half of all of Kitchen's fundraising came from out of state, no joke. His campaign brought in more than $86,000 from outside Mississippi, where he apparently is doing very well, no joke. Today we should see his next finance report and see if in this election, the joke is on Mississippi.

Chief Justice Jim Smith: Character

Biden Responds to Himself

From the debate transcript.

Biden on Change: "I'm not going to change. I have 35 years in public office. People can judge who I am. I haven't changed in that time."

Biden on Getting Involved in Ethnic Wars: "Look what we did in Bosnia. We took Serbs, Croats and Bosniaks, being told by everyone, I was told by everyone that this would mean that they had been killing each other for a thousand years, it would never work. There's a relatively stable government there now as in Kosovo....Go look at joebiden.com, contemporaneously, held hearings in the summer before we went to war, saying if we went to war, we would not be greeted as liberator, we would have a fight between Sunnis and Shias, we would be tied down for a decade and cost us hundreds of billions of dollars."

Biden on Future Involvement in Ethnic Wars: "I don't have the stomach for genocide when it comes to Darfur. We can now impose a no-fly zone. It's within our capacity. We can lead NATO if we're willing to take a hard stand. We should rally the world to act and demonstrate it by our own movement to provide the helicopters to get the 21,000 forces of the African Union in there now to stop this genocide."

Biden on Going To War: "I indicated it would be a mistake to -- I gave the president the power. I voted for the power because he said he needed it not to go to war but to keep the United States, the UN in line, to keep sanctions on Iraq and not let them be lifted."

Gene Barton, "I am pro-choice."

Finally, a judicial candidate gives a straight answer on an issue of policy. Gene Barton told the Lafayette County Bar Association at a candidate question and answer luncheon, "I am pro-choice." He said you have to put your faith on hold. Sure, judicial candidates aren't supposed to prejudice themselves on matters that might come before the court. Sure, running in North Mississippi, announcing that you're pro-choice is not smart. But at least we know where Gene Barton stands. He stands with the "pro-choicers."

Mississippi Republican Party endorses Lamar, Pierce, Smith, Chandler

Yesterday, the Mississippi Republican party endorsed Ann Lamar, Randy Pierce, Jim Smith, and David Chandler for the Mississippi Supreme Court. From the release:

“These four individuals have demonstrated experience, integrity, fairness and a commitment to the Mississippi values the Republican Party supports,” said Republican Chairman Brad White.

In the Central District, the Republican Party endorsed Chief Justice Jim Smith for reelection. “As Chief Justice, Jim Smith has led the Supreme Court to timely hearings and has cleared judicial backlogs. With a proven record of fair leadership as Chief Justice, we endorse him for reelection.”

The GOP endorsed Chancery Judge Randy “Bubba” Pierce for the Southern District post currently held by Oliver Diaz. White said, “Judge Pierce represented his constituents with honor and integrity as Chairman of the Education Committee in the House of Representatives. The Democrats there started giving him the cold shoulder when he showed his independence and voted with his fellow conservatives for tort reform. And after being appointed by Governor Haley Barbour to the judiciary, Judge Pierce continues to demonstrate fairness, integrity, and a commitment to Mississippi values.”

“When Governor Barbour appointed Ann Lamar to the Supreme Court, he made a wise choice,” White said of the Republican’s endorsement in the Northern District, Place One. He continued, “As a prosecutor, Ann Lamar put criminals in jail. As a circuit judge she demonstrated fairness to all parties. Now she serves with distinction as the only woman on the Mississippi Supreme Court, and with her decisions she demonstrates integrity and a commitment to being fair and unbiased.”

For Post Two in the Northern District, the Mississippi GOP chose Appeals Court Justice David Chandler over the incumbent Chuck Easley. “There is no question, no doubt that David Chandler will make a better Supreme Court Justice than has Chuck Easley. Chandler’s professionalism and competence outshines Easley’s record in every respect,” White said.

In 1998, the Mississippi legislature changed election laws to require judicial candidates to be nonpartisan. In 2002, the federal court ruled in response to a case filed by the Mississippi Republican Party “that a state may not directly suppress core political speech of a political party concerning the merits of judicial candidates by prohibiting the party from endorsing or financially supporting judicial candidates.”

“Ever since the federal courts returned our freedom of political speech, the Mississippi Republican Party has made endorsements of judicial candidates. We will communicate our endorsements to Mississippians and encourage voters who agree with the principals of the Mississippi Republican Party to support and vote for these candidates,” White said.

The Beef Plant is Gone - But Plenty of Bull on Sale

Hat tip to Conservative Belle, we're laughing, too.

Biden Doesn't Approve of Obama Commerical

Maybe their new disclosure should be, "I'm Barack Obama and I approved this message." "And I'm Joe Biden, I don't, and I'm not really sure Barack does either."

Change We Can Bail Out

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Campaign Contributions (Source: OpenSecrets.org)

Barack Obama - Rank #2 - Amount $126,349
John McCain - Rank #62 - Amount $21,550
Joe Biden - Rank #217 - Amount $3,300
Sarah Palin - Rank (none) - Amount $0

Interestingly, Barack Obama used former Fannie Mae CEO James Johnson to help vet his choice for vice president. Johnson resigned from Obama's campaign due to favorable loan deals with Countrywide Financial.

Barack Obama Taps Former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnton to Help Choose Running Mate

Barack Obama advisor Jim Johnson quits under fire

Obama and Jim Johnson


Obama's Economic Advisor Franklin Raines

The Tort Bar's Comeback

John McCain, Thad Cochran, Roger Wicker...congressional and judicial races...for some it comes down to this, and that's why you see the trial lawyers working so hard to beat the good guys. "The Tort Bar's Comeback" (The Wall Street Journal: 16 September 2008)

As voters mull the stakes in this year's election, here's an issue that ought to ring alarms in the ears of serious people: tort reform. After 20 years of state and federal efforts to reform a runaway legal system, the trial bar is reviving the monster.

At the federal level, lawyers and law firms invested in 2006 more than $85 million to get pro-lawsuit Democrats elected. Congress's new leadership has begun a political repayment plan -- packing legislation with provisions to increase the number and size of lawsuits. So far, this effort has been largely stymied by President Bush's veto threat. The tort bar sees 2008 as the real prize; it has already thrown $107 million toward increasing Democratic majorities.

The trial barons are making more progress at the state level, as described in a report by the American Tort Reform Association. States had been making progress: New laws cleaned up venue requirements, reformed punitive and noneconomic damages, and enacted medical malpractice reform. So-called "judicial hellholes" like Texas and Mississippi have seen insurers return and premiums fall.

The trial bar is fighting back, with success. In last year's legislative session, Michigan lawmakers proposed repealing safeguards for prescription drug providers; Maryland legislators wanted to revoke medical liability reforms; and Florida's legislature entertained the nullification of its joint and several liability reforms. The trial bar's big coup was in Colorado, where Democratic Governor Bill Ritter signed a law increasing previous limits on noneconomic damages.

Lawyers have also been laboring to create opportunities for more lawsuits, more money and more time to sue. Last year, Alabama saw legislation that would allow a tort claim to continue even after a plaintiff had died, while California proposed authorizing lawsuits for any violation of privacy. New Mexico and New Jersey passed laws authorizing citizens to file "false claims" suits on behalf of the state -- in effect turning private individuals into state bounty hunters.

Four states -- Colorado, Washington, Illinois and Texas -- considered proposals to increase the size of awards plaintiffs could claim, and with it attorneys' contingency fees. The tort bar pushed bills across the country to expand "consumer protection" damages and in at least three states to allow plaintiffs to claim damages for "emotional harm" when their pets are injured. In Maryland and Oregon, lawyers successfully shepherded new laws to extend the time in which plaintiffs could file lawsuits.

Plenty of legislatures remain wary of walking back down the highway of ruinous lawsuits, while many Governors say they'll veto this legislation. Still, the lawsuit industry is counting on discontent this fall to help flip a few more legislatures and governorships to pro-tort majorities, laying the groundwork for their proposals to become law. Tort reformers will have to push back.

Grover - Musgrover

Some blogs post pictures of sexy women or hot men in between political posts. We are G-Rated here at Respond Mississippi. At least today. We think this will help Ronnie Musgrove attract the youth vote, could they vote.

We Know Better

The Beef Plant Scandal. Con men give $70,000 to Ronnie Musgrove’s campaign. What did Musgrove do? He asked for more money - 495,000 total and the con men get a fat state contact. Result: 55 million of our tax dollars wasted, 400 jobs lost. The con men: convicted. Musgrove: he runs for the Senate. Ronnie Musgrove, we trusted him once. This time we know better.

Lipstick

There is a big difference between a hockey mom and a pig, Mr. Obama. Palin is a hockey mom and you are, well, impolite.



UPDATE: CBS has objected to perky Katie Couric being in the spot and sent their legal hounds after YouTube. But no fear, there is still free speech at JohnMcCain.com and you can see the spot here. The liberal media isn't even pretending anymore, they'll do anything for Barack Obama.

Do as I say, not as I did

In 2002, Governor Ronnie Musgrove approved a sample ballot that placed special elections at the bottom of the ballot. The ballot was prepared by a Democratic Secretary of State.

In 2008, Governor Haley Barbour approved a sample ballot that placed special elections at the bottom of the ballot. The ballot was prepared by a Republican Secretary of State.

The difference? In 2008, Musgrove is in that special election.

"What I saw today was an absolutely lawless decision of the secretary of state and the governor," said Tim Phillips, Musgrove's campaign manager.

So when Republican Haley Barbour does exactly what Democratic Ronnie Musgrove did, it becomes a "lawless decision"? I guess Ronnie Musgrove whines we should do as he says and not as he did.

Obama Doesn't Want You To See This

We don't have advertisers to threaten. For now, Obama is not president and we can still embrace free speech on the web. Obama doesn't want you to see this video.



Obama is trying to silence this video. He may disagree with his critics, but he will fight for their right to say it. Scratch that. He may disagree with his critics, but he will fight to keep their voices silent. That's right.

Obama not only aired a response ad to the spot linking him to William Ayers, but he sought to block stations the commercial by warning station managers and asking the Justice Department to intervene. The campaign also planned to compel advertisers to pressure stations that continue to air the anti-Obama commercial.

Obama spokesman Tommy Vietor said Obama supporters have inundated stations that are airing the ad, many of them owned by Sinclair Communications, with 93,000 e-mails. He called the ad false, despicable and outrageous. "Other stations that follow Sinclair's lead should expect a similar response from people who don't want the political discourse cheapened with these false, negative attacks," Vietor said. Sinclair offices were closed late Monday and officials there could not be immediately contacted. I

n a letter to station managers, Obama campaign lawyer Robert Bauer wrote: "Your station is committed to operating in the public interest, an objective that cannot be satisfied by accepting for compensation material of such malicious falsity." Bauer also wrote to Deputy Assistant Attorney General John C. Keeney, noting that the ad is a "knowing and willful attempt to evade the strictures of federal election law."

The American Issues Project is a 501(c)4 nonprofit corporation. It is permitted by law to air a political ad provided that the majority of its spending is nonpolitical. It cannot accept money from corporations and it must identify the donors that finance its ads in reports to the Federal Election Commission.

Stanley Kurtz: Chicago Annenberg Challenge Shutdown? A cover-up in the making?

Bill Minor's Math

"But this time, Katrina has thrown a monkey wrench into the perennial Gulf Coast growth area of Harrison, Jackson and Hancock counties, displacing a still-unknown number of their residents to other counties or even out of state." - Bill Minor 08/21/2008

"About 97% of the population has returned to Hancock, Harrison and Jackson counties, the three areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to a report by the Gulf Coast Business Council, a non-profit group of businesses formed in 2006 to promote recovery." - USA Today (08/20/2008)

Better Late Than Never?

Late

The New York Times has published a correction 48 years late.

The paper's regular corrections column reported today: "A listing of credits on April 28, 1960, with a theater review of 'West Side Story; on its return to the Winter Garden theater, misstated the surname of the actor who played Action. He is George Liker, not Johnson. (Mr. Liker, who hopes to audition for a role in a Broadway revival of the show planned for February, brought the error to The Times’s attention last month.)"

Also today, The Times came clean on having referred to Senator McCain as a Vietnam-era "fighter pilot" when in fact he was shot down while at the controls of an A-4 Skyhawk - technically an attack aircraft rather than a fighter.

Never

Still no correction for the praise of mass murderer Joseph Stalin.

In the annals of 20th-century journalism, few names are more ignominious than Walter Duranty. The New York Times’ Moscow correspondent during the 1920s and 1930s, Duranty was by all accounts a liar, a recycler of propaganda and a willful apologist for one of history’s bloodiest tyrants, Joseph Stalin.

Back in 1932, however, he was the toast of Western elites, having won a Pulitzer Prize for 13 articles filed from Russia the previous year. According to the selection committee, his dispatches were “excellent examples of the best type of foreign correspondence.”

Duranty’s prize has long been the subject of intense controversy. Last spring the Ukrainian Canadian Civil Liberties Association (UCCLA) initiated a campaign to urge its revocation by the Pulitzer Prize Board. After six months of consideration, the board decided on Nov. 21 not to rescind the prize. It concluded that the pieces in question, while they fell well below “today’s standards for foreign reporting,” showed “no clear and convincing evidence of deliberate deception.”

The board tacitly acknowledged that Duranty covered up the widespread Soviet famine of 1932-33, which claimed the lives of several million in Ukraine alone. But it isolated Duranty’s famine-denying articles from his Pulitzer articles on Stalin’s Five-Year Plan. “A Pulitzer Prize for reporting is awarded not for the author’s body of work or for the author’s character,” the board explained, “but for the specific pieces entered in the competition.”

Yet by any conceivable measure, Duranty’s reporting in 1931 was an utter failure. “It reads like Pravda and Izvestiya in English,” historian Mark von Hagen tells me, citing two of the leading Kremlin press organs of the time. Von Hagen, Professor of Russian, Ukrainian and Eurasian History at Columbia, was commissioned by the Times this summer to conduct an independent study of Duranty’s 1931 coverage of the Soviet Union.

[In 1990] the Times placed a disclaimer next to Duranty’s framed picture in its Pulitzer hallway, noting: “Other writers in The Times and elsewhere have discredited this coverage.” Executive editor Bill Keller recently told the Washington Post that the 1931 articles were “awful,” “a parroting of propaganda” and “clearly not prizeworthy.”

Even still, in an interview with his own newspaper Keller expressed unease at the idea of Duranty’s Pulitzer being revoked.

Bottom line: Duranty’s is an extraordinary case of second-hand propaganda masquerading as real journalism. Rarely, if ever, has a Western reporter so consistently trumpeted the party line of a brutal dictatorship. It is perhaps too much to hope that the Times would voluntarily “return” Duranty’s prize, as the Washington Post returned Janet Cooke’s prize in 1981. And yes, no Pulitzer has ever been outright revoked. But it’s hard to fathom another instance where the Pulitzer Board has made, or will make, such an egregious, indisputable error in judgment.

By passing up a chance to right a seven-decade-old wrong, the board tarnishes its image. As Canadian academic Lubomyr Luciuk, the UCCLA’s research director, tells me, its members have effectively “become apologists for Stalin’s apologist.”

Ronnie Musgrove: A Lesson In Hypocrisy

Satire - or - "tasteless and offensive"

I love satire. Barack Obama, apparently, does not.

When The New Yorker ran its now infamous picture of Obama and wife, the Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton responded, "The New Yorker may think, as one of their staff explained to us, that their cover is a satirical lampoon of the caricature Senator Obama's right-wing critics have tried to create. But most readers will see it as tasteless and offensive. And we agree."



Now, USA Today reports the great satirist Randy Newman will perform "his Louisiana 1927 at this month's Democratic National Convention in Denver."

Does the Obama campaign think, as I do, that Randy Newman's lyrics in his song Rednecks "is a satirical lampoon," or do they think they are "tasteless and offensive"?

Rednecks by Randy Newman

Last night I saw Lester Maddox on a TV show
With some smart-ass New York Jew
And the Jew laughed at Lester Maddox
And the audience laughed at Lester Maddox too
Well, he may be a fool but he's our fool
If they think they're better than him they're wrong
So I went to the park and I took some paper along
And that's where I made this song

We talk real funny down here
We drink too much and we laugh too loud
We're too dumb to make it in no Northern town
Keepin' the niggers down

We got no-necked oilmen from Texas
And good ol' boys from Tennessee
And colleges men from LSU
Went in dumb - come out dumb too
Hustlin' 'round Atlanta in their alligator shoes
Gettin' drunk every weekend at the barbecues
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

Now your northern nigger's a Negro
You see he's got his dignity
Down here we're too ignorant to realize
That the North has set the nigger free

Yes he's free to be put in a cage
In Harlem in New York City
And he's free to be put in a cage
in the South-Side of Chicago, the
West-Side
And he's free to be put in a cage in Hough in Cleveland
And he's free to be put in a cage in East St. Louis
And he's free to be put in a cage in
Fillmore in San Francisco
And he's free to be put in a cage in Roxbury in Boston
They're gatherin' 'em up from miles around
Keepin' the niggers down

We're rednecks, rednecks
And we don't know our ass from a hole in the ground
We're rednecks, we're rednecks
We're keeping the niggers down

We are keeping the niggers down

Obama's abuse of Clinton delegates

The Natchez Blog, the official Mississippi blog of the Democratic National Convention, tells the sordid tale of the Obama Campaign's corralling of Clinton delegates. They must not speak to the press before getting clearance from the Obama Campaign. This includes their hometown newspaper. They speak of Clinton delegates in the past tense as if they have already joined Obama. The best is Obama's Big Brother questionnaire. As Casey Ann says on her blog:

The message then goes on to tell them to fill out a Delegate survey at the Obama campaign website. Delegates have already filled out a survey for the Democratic National Committee and the Mississippi Democratic Party, but this is a different one. It's a pretty intrusive survey, asking what you do for a living, what your ethnicity is, how old you are, what union you belong to, whether you're gay, and what your religion is. What business does the Obama campaign have asking all this information about a Clinton delegate?

Aljazeera on Tchula

But we don't cut off people's hands for stealing and we don't exercise the death penalty for things like, say, how women dress. Granted, there are some fashion crimes going on, but that is the price of freedom.

Happy Ronnie Musgrove Day

Bolivarian Responds

No Fact Check at AP?

On July 16, the Associated Press moved this story (linked here to yesterday's Clarion Ledger) which reported:

Democrat Ronnie Musgrove has filed a complaint with the Federal Elections Commission accusing U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker of accepting illegal campaign contributions...Musgrove filed his complaint Wednesday.

On July 18, the Associated Press moved this story which reports:

The Federal Elections Commission says it has not yet seen a complaint filed by Democrat Ronnie Musgrove's campaign against U.S. Sen. Roger Wicker.

I wonder, can you file a complaint without the person you're filing with know it? Did the AP report this based on a Musgrove Campaign press release? Where is the fact check?

Truth about Ronnie Musgrove's Bogus Ad

More people should see this. It is well done, and most importantly, accurate. Musgrove's claim vs. truth in 2003.

Bill Minor's same song, second verse

Bill Minor's column in the Clarion Ledger on new Democratic Chairman Jamies Franks

"New Miss. Democratic Party leaders gear up for 'rebuilding'" - July 18, 2008

Bill Minor's column in the Clarion Ledger on new Democratic Chairman Wayne Dowdy

"Revitalizing state's Democratic Party goal of Chairman Dowdy" - July 18, 2004

Kitchens caught with oil on his hands

Jim Kitchens is running for Supreme Court. On July 10, Kitchens' campaign blogged against his opponent (Jim Smith) for taking money from "Big-time oil and energy executives".

In a time of $4-per-gallon of gas, perhaps Smith’s financial backers should think more about finding ways to cut the cost of gasoline for the consumer than backing a Supreme Court justice who has, for more than a couple of these donors, ruled on their behalf.
- Sam Hall, Kitchens Campaign Manager

Also on July 10, Kitchens' campaign reported a contribution from

Carl Bozeman
$500
May 30, 2008
Owner, Bozeman Chevron Service Station, Inc.
Hazlehurst, Mississippi

Now there is nothing wrong with Kitchens getting a contribution from someone in the oil business, but his hypocrisy stinks like bad gas.