2008-08-10 07:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Dim Bulb: Sen. Barack Obama

What: Even though Obama’s father was Kenyan and even though Obama is running for president in a year where terrorism is a key issue, Obama failed to say a single public word about the commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the terrorist bombing of the American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Why: He missed an easy chance to convince Americans that he will be

tough on terrorists.

Cure: Treat the terrorist threat seriously.

Publisher cowers before Islam

1| Weakness invites more terrorism

Random House was going to publish "The Jewel of Medina" by journalist Sherry Jones. An eight-city publicity tour had even been scheduled for the book on Mohammed and his child bride.

The details: Deputy publisher Thomas Perry said the book was being postphoned indefinitely because Random House had received "cautionary advice" about not offending Muslims and that it "could incite acts of violence by a small, radical segment." Heeding threats of violence guarantees even more threats from terrorists, thus killing freedom of speech, press and thought.

Wine and cheese thugs

2| Liberal activists threaten conservative donors

Accountable America is a new liberal political organization meant, according to The New York Times, to "create a chilling effect" that prevents conservatives from donating to political causes of their choice.

The details: More than 10,000 such donors will soon receive letters threatening them with legal action, public harassment and destruction of their privacy. Donors to Accountable America are not required to make their names public.

Can a state do that?

3| Let's nationalize oil, car companies

A proposed ballot initiative would establish a new tax to finance a California Superfund designed to buy controlling interests in Exxon-Mobil, Chevron, General Motors and Ford, among others.

The details: Proposed by Santa Monica CPA Paul McCauley, the initiative would if approved make California the first state ever to attempt to use tax dollars to buy a controlling interest – i.e. nationalize – a public company of any sort. Wonder why they didn't include Citgo?

IRS revives Gecko's cell phone rule

4| That iPhone is a corporate perk

Remember that bulky box Gordon Gecko used to impress people? It looked like an Army Walkie Talkie, but back then the IRS considered such cell phones to be an exotic perk befitting capitalist tycoons.

The details: Federal tax officials are again requiring people with company provided cell phones to keep detailed logs of their use, just as if they would for a luxury company car, according to Reason Magazine's Hit & Run blog.

Sheiks shriek at Nissan

5| Saudi oil barons blast Japanese car ad

Nissan fuel-sipping Tilda isn't sold in the U.S. but it is overseas and Nissan recently began running a funny television spot showing several characters dressed like Arab sheiks screaming and yelling at the vehicle.

The details: The increasingly predictable reaction from some Arab quarters is for censorship of anybody and any statement even remotely suggesting criticism of Muslims or their faith. Isn't there something somewhere in their holy literature about taking a chill pill once in a while?

Take a walk

6| Metro ends its shuttle service to FedEx Field from Landover station.

The details: Federal regulations prohibit the service if private companies are willing to do it. The cost might go up or down if a private service ever picks up the slack, but in the meantime there will be more pedestrians walking streets that weren’t designed for them.

Move your own car

7| D.C. Department of Public Works will be issuing warnings on cars parked illegally in street sweeper spots.

The details: Street sweepers will be outfitted with $36,000 cameras in an effort to “change behavior.” The city should save the money and just tow cars that are parked illegally at the owners’ expense.

Not a smart move, congressman

8| Big lobbying firm contributes to congressman’s portrait fund

The details: Former House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., is eligible to have a formal portrait done of himself and hung in the committee’s main hearing room. The lobbying firm Wexler & Walker Public Policy Associates and the Wine Institute, which represents California’s wine industry, each recently gave $1,000 to the U.S. Capitol Historical Society on behalf of the Jerry Lewis Portrait Committee. Isn’t this a little crass, even by Washington standards?

Obama gives kid a pep talk

9| Seven-year-old asked why he wants to be president.

The details: So Sen. Barack Obama, campaigning in Elkhart, Ind., responded by telling the little girl that “America is …, uh, is no longer, uh … what it could be, what it once was. And I say to myself, I don’t want that future for my children.” That oughta give her some hope!

How to split America for good

10| Nuremberg show trials for Bush appointees studied.

The details: Legal and diplomatic advisers likely to be in prominent positions in an Obama administration are quietly talking seriously about possibly staging Nuremberg-type trials of selected Bush administration officials on charges related to the run-up to and conduct of the war in Iraq. And this is meant to boost American national unity and encourage domestic political harmony?