Thespis Journal

Watch Hillary address the moonbats of code pink right before the war began. She is singing a different out of pitch song today.

Today, The Dayton Daily News becamse the latest newspaper to come out against the ammendment sponsored by The Getting It Right for Ohio’s future coalition. While some in the education establishment are banking on this ammendment, passage of this proposal doesn’t look good, and it is only January. The opponents of this measure are just getting warmed-up. With liberal papers like the Daily News coming out against it now, the ammendment has very little chance of passing.

Here are some of the harsh words of the Daily News editorial:

All the leaders of this campaign are associated with schools. They believe that schools always are hurting for money to one degree or another. They want that problem fixed, and getting protection in the Constitution seems a sure-fire way.

But their strategy is myopic — and, arrogant. As much as people want their children to be well-educated, they also want safe streets, clean water and myriad other things.

Either state taxes would have to go up in unspecified ways, or state spending on other services would have to be cut in unspecified ways. Voters wouldn’t know precisely what they’re voting for — and against — under this proposal.

The Getting It Right for Ohio’s Future campaign is about taking the responsibility for funding schools away from the politicians. While there’s much to criticize them for, they still are the right people to be making this call. Voters can hold them accountable.

The amendment’s backers need to get out more. They’ll find that informed people are sure this idea does not get it right.

From 1965, Leontyne Price singing one of her signature arias: Vissi Darte from the opera Tosca by Giacomo Puccini. Leontyne Price possesses one of the greatest voices of the 20th century. Her exquisite interpretations of the music of Mozart, Verdi, and Puccini are unrivaled in their expressive and emotional qualities. Miss Price will turn 80 on February 10, 2007.

Her magnificent tone is certainly on display in this recording. You’ll love it.

Saturday, January 27 marked the 46th anniversary of Price’s debut as Leonora in Il Travatore at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. Her appearance was marked by a forty-two minute ovation at the curtain call.

Sometimes the truth can come from the strangest sources-even the Washington Post. Robert Kagen pens a column that blasts the elite political class reigning in congressional Washington today. “Many of their proponents frankly, even proudly, admit they are responding to the current public mood, as if that is what they were put in office to do. Those who think they were elected sometimes to lead rather than follow seem to be in a minority.” Kagen goes on to honestly dismantle any logic behind any of these “grand delusions.”

To the extent that people think about Iraq, many seem to believe it is a problem that can be made to go away. Once American forces depart, Iraq will no longer be our problem. Joseph Biden, one of the smartest foreign policy hands in the Senate, recently accused President Bush of sending more troops so that he could pass the Iraq war on to his successor. Biden must assume that if the president took his advice and canceled the troop increase, then somehow Iraq would no longer be a serious crisis when President Biden entered the White House in 2009. (more…)

The New York Post has said it very well today. We should be reading and hearing incessant outrage from the media regarding this pathetic display by the democrats and republicans in the congress. Supporting the resolutions of non-support for the mission of our troops places these politicians on the same side as the terrorists. When Vice-President Cheney says that the resolutions reinforce the position of the terrorists and undermine our troops and their mission, he is prophetic. History will record the short-sightedness of of these hypocrites.

January 28, 2007 — What a bunch of hypocrites.

Congressional Democrats, having just given their imprimatur to President Bush’s new Iraq-theater commander, are about to declare that the officer shouldn’t have the resources he needs to get the job done.

Or, as Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Friday: “A resolution that in effect says that the general going out to take command of the arena” - that would be Lt. Gen. David Petraeus - “shouldn’t have the resources he thinks he needs to be successful certainly emboldens the enemy and our adversaries.”

Notwithstanding Gates’ warning - and a similar one from Petraeus - the Democrats are moving ahead with a non-binding resolution declaring President Bush’s troop surge “not in the national interest. (more…)

From George Will comes the news that Grandma Pelosi has no problem violating the constitution. In a time of war, is this what Pelosi and company think is important?

“The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every second year by the people of the several states…”

- U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 2

“What’s the Constitution between friends?”

- Rep. Timothy Campbell, a Tammany Democrat, to President Grover Cleveland after Cleveland said a bill that Campbell favored was unconstitutional

THERE they go again. House Democrats should at least provide variety in their venality. Last Wednesday, fresh from legislating new ethics regarding relations with lobbyists, they demonstrated that there are worse forms of corruption than those involving martinis and money. (more…)

I am so irritated with Chuck Hagel’s juvinile display of hystronics in the senate this week. This so-called Republican of Nebraska has joined with the leading liberals in sponsoring a treasonous resolution criticising the mission in Iraq. It is impossible to believe that Hagel would say on the one hand, ” we support the troops,” while on the other hand sponsor a resolution condemning their mission. When General Pratorious siad that the resolution would embolden the enemy, John Warner and several other Senators were displeased the General’s honest statement. Chuck Hagel is clearly a Republican in Name Only.

Betsy Newmark has it right again:

Chuck Hagel, who has replaced Lincoln Chafee as conservatives’ least favorite Republican, is high on the buzz he’s generated by his public opposition to the war in Iraq and General Petraeus’s plans for fighting there. So, he’s pondering whether or not he should run for president. Well, he has zero chance of winning in a Republican primary, but that could just be a stepping stone to a decision to run as an independent or as part of a bipartisan ticket, although it’s not clear which party would nominate such a hybrid. (more…)

The movie of Dreamgirls may have finally put this classic Broadway show on the road to a revival. There have been rumors of a revival for many years, but a production never materialized. Dreamgirls deserves a Broadway revival, and it could be a huge success. We’re looking forward to it along with the long-awaited, but never guaranteed revival of The Wiz.

January 26, 2007 — THE Oscars may have snubbed “Dreamgirls,” but Broadway’s ready to welcome back one of its most beloved musicals with open arms.

John Breglio, a lawyer who oversees the estate of “Dreamgirls” director and choreographer Michael Bennett, has called a meeting next month to discuss plans for a Broadway revival, said Henry Krieger, the show’s composer.

“We’re going to figure out how to do this,” Krieger told The Post. “We think it’s time. All is good.”

The movie version of “Dreamgirls” has been generating plenty of hype, although the film suffered a setback this week when it failed to snag an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

It did, however, pick up eight other nominations, including three for new songs Krieger wrote for the movie.

Krieger said it was too early to discuss details about the revival, but theater insiders speculate that Oscar nominee Jennifer Hudson may be asked to reprise the role of Effie on stage.

Hudson, a self-described “theater baby,” is said to be eager to do a Broadway show.

Betsy Newmark makes an astute observation on the hypocrisy in congress this week:

The Senate Armed Services Committee voted unanimously to approve General Petraeus’s nomination to be commander of the forces in Iraq. He’s expected to be easily approved by the rest of the Senate.

Isn’t this a bit of cognitive dissonance? The Democrats on this committee and in the Senate condemn the plan that Petraeus put together. They’re willing to vote (in a nonbinding way, of course) to voice their disapproval of this plan. But they’re approving the guy who devised the plan and is going to head on over there to put it in action. And they wish him Godspeed as they do so. If they’re so against this plan, why approve the guy who developed it and wants to implement it?

Meanwhile, the Democrats (and some Republicans) are having some trouble trying to distinguish how their nonbinding resolution doesn’t interfere with their support for the troops. Senator Schumer went on NBC and was asked about this by David Gregory.

Gregory: But how can the public really buy [that] the Democrats support the troops but don’t support the mission? How can you do both?

Schumer: Well, that’s the difficulty. A resolution that says we’re against this escalation, that’s easy. The next step will be how do you put further pressure on the administration against the escalation but still supporting the troops who are there? And that’s what we’re figuring out right now.

In other words, it’s easy to pass a meaningless resolution. Figuring out how they support the troops - that is for later.

The New York Sun updates us on the saga of Sandy Berger’ Stockings. You’ll remember that Berger stole pivotal documents from the National Archives on the eve of the 9-11 Commission hearings. Since that time, Rush Limbaugh has referred to Mr. Berger as Sandy Burglar. Burglar got away with a $50,000 fine and a slap on the wrist.

Now we have the case of Donald Keyser. He wasn’t treated at all like Sandy Burglar.

A longtime high-ranking official at the State Department was sentenced to just over a year in jail yesterday for keeping thousands of classified documents at his home and for lying about his personal relationship with a younger Taiwanese diplomat.

In late 2005, the former deputy chief of the State Department’s East Asian and Pacific Affairs Bureau, Donald Keyser, pleaded guilty to three felony charges stemming from an investigation into his contacts with the Taiwanese agent, Isabelle Cheng.

Judge Thomas Ellis of Alexandria, Va., imposed the sentence after a lengthy hearing yesterday. According to court records, the judge ordered Keyser to spend a year and a day in jail and two years on supervised release, and to pay a fine of $25,000.

Keyser had asked not to be sent to jail. He submitted a sheaf of letters from former colleagues praising him for his selfless devotion to America during more than three decades in the Foreign Service.

” Mr. Keyser had an absolute obligation to safeguard the classified information entrusted to him and utterly failed to do so. His sentence of imprisonment is a warning to others in positions of public trust,” the U.S. attorney overseeing the case, Chuck Rosenberg, said in a written statement.

It seems that the Burglar rules only apply to Clinton cronies. The outrage over Berger’s tampering with critical evidence and destruction of significant dcouments never materialized in the mainstream media. Thankfully, some responsibile media outlets will not let the story die. (more…)