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Report Incomplete: Coakley VS Brown… The Not-Especially-Conservative Conservative?

Looks like this week I’m gonna be focusing in on crappy journalism. Here is a quick description of the two candidates running in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy’s old seat:

The policy differences between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown were as clear during last night’s debate as they have been throughout this short special-election campaign.

Coakley supports ObamaCare, opposes the war in Afghanistan, and favors higher taxes on the wealthy. Brown is against the health care legislation, backs the president’s surge in Afghanistan, and wants across-the-board tax cuts à la JFK. Coakley is an EMILY’s List prochoice hard-liner; Brown condemns partial-birth abortion and is backed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Coakley has no problem with civilian trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Brown thinks it reckless to treat enemy combatants like ordinary defendants.

But the most striking thing about the debate was not that the very liberal Democrat and the not-especially-conservative Republican disagreed on the issues. It is that they are both viable candidates in a race too competitive to call. In Massachusetts!

“I don’t know what’s going to happen on Jan. 19th,’’ Coakley said. She wasn’t being coy. Nobody knows what’s going to happen next week.

When Ted Kennedy died five months ago, who would have guessed that the contest to replace him would be anything but a slam-dunk for the Democrats? Yet there was no slam-dunk on that stage last night, and the race certainly doesn’t feel like a slam-dunk now.

“It’s not the ‘Kennedy Seat,’ ’’ Brown has been reminding Coakley lately. “It’s the people’s seat.’’ Amazing thing is, he could be right.

My big surprise is not that the seat is up for grabs; Kennedy retained his seat as much on the power of being an incumbent as he did on being a Kennedy. No, I’m really baffled that Brown, as described in this article – he against Obamacare, is against PBA, and supports the surge in Afghanistah, has all the credentials of being a solid conservative – yet is labeled as not-especially-conservative! Is there something about Brown that we don’t know?  Did he vote for Obama last year? Does he support cap-and-trade? Is he – GASP – an atheist????   What exactly make him not-especially-conservative?

Dan and Bruce @ Gay Patriot are following this race and Brown much closer than I. If you want some real election coverage, and want to find out if Scott Brown is a sort-of conservative, go have a peak at their site.

Tale Of Two America’s – Corporate Greed VS Government Need.

Remember when gas prices doubled and went up from $2 a gallon to over $4 a gallon, and the newsies threw a hissyfit?  Here is the San Francisco Chronicle monitoring the situation as gas prices go above the then record of $3.36 a gallon.

Fast forward a few years to 2010. The bay area subway system known as BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) has, according to the San Jose Mercury News almost TRIPLED their rates. Add in the $1 parking fee, and well, lets just say this public mode of transport isn’t very economical. It’s a rip-off! So, how does the San Francisco Chronicle’s respond to this inflationary???? Googling “sf chronicle bart price increase“, the newest article concerning BART price increases appears to have been written back in June of 2009. June??? I can’t believe the Chron hasn’t written anything about the BART situation since June. Actually, they have. Why, just yesterday this  piece appeared in the Chronicle, titled   “Hundreds ride BART sans pants” documenting a stunt perpetrated by the PLF to protest the high prices. No, not the Pacific Legal Foundation, or the Palestinian Liberation Front, but the Pants Liberation Front!  Here is how the protesters summed up their feelings of this obviously important occasion:

“It feels strangely normal,” said Luke Jakobsson, a student from Castro Valley who rode BART from the East Bay in nothing but shoes, a Swedish soccer jersey and matching skivvies. “Although I’m not sure how I feel about the wind in my ass.”

Some wore frayed cotton boxers, others opted for pink satin thongs, and a few forewent underwear entirely.

“It’s refreshing. This is California,” said Katyana Gradler, who’s visiting from Pittsburgh and wore pink tights and not much else for the occasion. “At home, we couldn’t do this because there are 4 feet of snow on the ground.”

Her friend Enrico Rossi, an Oakland craftsman, took the pantless theme a step further, shedding shirt and underwear as well. Instead, he wore work boots and a taupe-colored, transparent leotard.

OK, I lied. It wasn’t a protest of insane price increases.  And there is no such thing as the “Pants Liberation Front”… though there should be. Anyway, i wonder why the throngs aren’t up in arm over the almost tripling of the cost of riding the BART? Could it be because that is not a privately run company?

On the other hand, maybe all hope is not lost. The Chron did come out  against the unions when they threatened to strike last fall. Good for them. Wonder if they’ve ever gone against the teachers union?