...or has Georgia become the center of the culture war?

Nothing wakes up this reporter like a story out of the Georgia courts:

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Genarlow Wilson will be freed from prison within a few days having served two years of a ten year stretch. His crime was having consensual oral sex with a 15 year old girl when he was 17. The operative word here is "consensual". The law at the time left judges with little sentencing discretion in cases like this. It has since been changed.

The Attorney General in Georgia is black, as is the defendant, so forget the race card. This is just another example of "hang 'em all and let God sort them out" justice that has gripped America in this new Conservative Christian Era. And just when we were applauding the Peach State for maintaining the integrity of public schools by retaining copies of the Harry Potter books in the school libraries.

Genarlow could still be charged with having oral sex. Yes, my friends, oral sex is still a crime in Georgia and 18 other states including Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota and the District of Columbia. (Congress prefers its screwing the old fashioned way...with legislation.)

Still you would think that prosecutors had more important crimes to pursue than sexual experimentation among teenagers. Somebody call Ted Haggard to see if he would like to cast the first stone?







isitjustme update...FLASH... The State of Georgia is reconsidering the decision to release Mr. Wilson for fear that other sexual molesters will also petition for release. Great. Let's keep one kid in the slammer unjustly so the state won't have to deal with all of its other mistakes. I love this country.

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Attend the tale of Roy Pearson. In case this obscenity has escaped your notice (that's why we're here, folks) Roy is the administrative law judge that has filed and argued a $54 million law suit over the loss of a pair of suit pants. The "suit" was filed against the Chung family who own and operate Custom Cleaners in D.C.

There is no higher purpose here. Mr. Pearson, ( hereafter referred to as a-hole of the first part) is pissed because his best suit is now a sports jacket. He has hauled the Chungs into court to make a point (besides the one on his head). The Chungs have actually offered this mope $12,000 just to go away. The question as to why any judge would hear this load of tripe is a little more complex.

Pearson has been pursuing this quest for two years. He has built his case around a sign in the cleaner's window that says "satisfaction guaranteed". I suspect that his next stop will involve a Persian carpet store displaying a "going out of business" notice.







He has fought every attempt to send him home and has presented just enough law to be granted a hearing. Judge Judith Bartnoff, of the D.C. Superior Court is expected to rule next week. One can only hope that her ruling includes forcing Mr. Pearson to wear a sandwich sign to work that reads, "I'm the moron who thinks his Men's Warehouse suit pants are worth $54 million".

Note to Mr. Pearson...Good luck finding a non-Korean cleaners the next time your threads need a press.

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It appears all but certain that Rupert Murdock will soon be the proud owner of Dow Jones and The Wall Street Journal. For comparison, think Larry Flint owning Disney or McDonald's buying Lutece.

This is a sad day, indeed. Not just because I spent 37 years telling clients about editorial integrity and trusted news sources, but because America is running perilously short of information it can believe. In broadcast, CBS News is a shell of what it was in the days of Morrow and Cronkite. CNN is suspect (just listen to Lew Dobbs) and, as for Fox News, pa...lease. In print, there are no newspapers or magazines (including the Christian Science Monitor) that haven't been attacked for biased journalism. The Wall Street Journal was the one place where the news was seen as untainted (at least by people who understand the difference between news and editorial).

The day that Murdock gets his Aussie paws on The Journal, the credibility of the content will drop by 50%. Whether or not he ever sets foot in the newsroom the perception will be that his imprimatur is as prevalent there as it is at The Weekly Standard or Fox News.

So let's all thank the Bancroft family, soon to be former owners of Dow Jones. Considering that none of these Philistines had a hand in the creation of The Journal or Barron's or anything, they can't wait to profit from them. Apparently you can't be too rich or too boorish. Enough is never enough. We all hope that their 30 pieces of silver they receive from News Corp. keep them warm at night. In one greedy move they went from being the wealthy patrons of a public trust to just another pack of coupon-clipping mansion-dwellers with too much money and too little class. It is fondly hoped that they cart their millions back to Massachusetts and Rome and wherever the hell else they reside and wallow in the anonymity they so richly deserve.

Remember what it says in Mathew, 16 (slightly altered):


"What profit it a man to suffer the lose of his immortal soul even if he gain the whole world"

... but Rupert Murdock?