This Looks Like a Job for the ACLU!

It's been a bad week for cops in New Jersey. They've been getting in trouble from the north to south end of the state, first for the now-infamous NHL gambling scandal and now for...telling jokes?!

Pretty much everyone who knows me personally knows that I'm a big fan of the Opie and Anthony and Ron and Fez shows on XM's satellite radio service. I listen to the entire shows every day, and though I occasionally use my favorite talk shows to find blog topics, when I do cover something they've talked about, I try to put my own spin on it and not regurgitate the things I've heard for my own audience. Unfortunately, if you're reading this blog and are familiar with the O&A show, a lot of this is going to be familiar to you, because those guys' opinion on this situation matches mine exactly.

Before today, I never even knew the O&A regular known as "Club Soda Kenny" was a West Orange, NJ police officer when he wasn't on the air. But he is, and in between he helps the "boys" with their travel arrangements, security, and the like. I've even met him (by which I mean I said hello) at one of Jim Norton's standup comedy shows in Falls Church, Virginia. Now, his job and 22 years' worth of his pension are in jeopardy because of a short standup routine he performed last year while in his O&A show "character". I've heard most of the act on the radio, and his act wasn't funny--his delivery was pretty awful. It was what most would consider offensive--it contained jokes on rape, bestiality, and pedophilia.

But "Kenny" (real name John Feder) never brought his job into it--to the best of my knowledge, he's never even brought it up on the air, dating back into O&A's stint on syndicated "terrestrial radio" days. He didn't tell these jokes from an officer's point of view. As far as anyone knows, he's never actually engaged in any of the illegal activities that he joked about. This should be a First Amendment case, pure and simple. Jim Norton pointed out the most telling line of the Star-Ledger article:

However, Alana Goebel, assistant director of the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault, said police departments should not tolerate officers who joke about rape, regardless of their right to speak freely.

Read the last part of that sentence again: "[R]egardless of their right to speak freely." The quoted proponent of Feder's firing admits that he has rights under the First Amendment.

Where is the ACLU, the defenders of personal liberties, including, one would think, free speech, in all of this? Are they leaping to Feder's defense in a clear-cut First Amendment issue? Not according to the front page of their website--they're trying to make it harder for the government to fight terrorism, plugging their CourtTV show, and touting their victory allowing homeowners to post campaign signs on their own property. Shame on them--if a man who has dedicated his life and career to protecting others' lives and rights isn't entitled to the same protection under those rights, then who is? I challenge them to at least save this dedicated officer's pension that he's worked so hard for over so many years, if not his career.

Brokeback to the Future

This was too funny not to link here.

Hat tip to CNN.com.

Cartoons

Just a quick hit on this subject--I think the only thing I can add is that as of the time I'm writing this, four people have been killed over a bunch of cartoons. Read that last sentence again and let the absurdity sink in. A bunch of freaking cartoons.

Faxman has some good thoughts on the subject; VodkaPundit has several great posts as well.

Truckers vs. Coke

American Trucking Associations urge Coca-Cola to pull or change their Super Bowl advertisement

This falls under the category of "some stereotypes are stereotypes for a reason." I hate sharing I-95 with meth'd up truckers, either driving way too fast and close on the bumper of my tiny Chevy Cavalier or driving far too slow in the passing lane. Just about everyone has had a bad experience on the road with a bullying trucker in a giant semi--if they hadn't, then the joke simply wouldn't work. I, for one, will make sure to run out and buy a case of Coke (I seldom drink soda or keep it in my house) if Coke has the balls to leave this commercial intact.

Tech Tip: Recover Your Software Keys

Ever lost a CD key when you need to install your Microsoft products on a new system?

Nir Sofer of NirSoft has the answer. This neat little program recovers the Product ID of your Microsoft products, and works backward to give you the product key for Windows, Office, and other Microsoft sofware, including Internet Explorer.

The NirSoft site is full of other useful freeware, too, including a bevy of programs to recover lost passwords for a number of applications.

Theo

Theo Epstein returns as Red Sox General Manager

I guess this is a case of better late than never...but after losing Johnny Damon and a couple of dicey offseason trades, is it too late to get the Red Sox into the 2006 postseason? This Yankees fan certainly hopes so. HA HA HA!

Nice Guy Eddie

In memoriam:



Memorable character actor Chris Penn, who appeared in one of my favorite movies as well as one of my favorite video games, passed away yesterday. Rest in peace.

New Year's Photos

In response to the...ahem...overwhelming barrage of comments, I've uploaded the pictures I took of my friends and I at The Boathouse in Exton, PA for New Year's Eve a few weeks ago to my Flickr site. You can view the photos here.

Resident Aliens: (Space)hogs

Here's a sentence I never thought I'd type on this blog: let's raise a glass and toast one for the great state of Taxachusetts.

You see, about a week and a half ago, the state legislature gave me a great birthday present: they voted against a bill granting in-state tuition to illegal aliens....oh wait, I'm sorry, I believe the politically correct nom du jour is "undocumented immigrants".

This trend is just disturbing: coddling people who are violating federal laws at taxpayer expense. College tuition at state schools is supposed to be cheaper for state residents because the school is funded, at least in part, by the taxpayers. But how many illegal aliens actually report their income and pay state taxes? Very few, I'm sure. I've lived in Delaware as a full time resident for six years now, and as a homeowner for almost three, yet if I wanted to change my college tuition rate from out of state to in-state (a moot point, since I can attend classes free due to the fact that I'm a full-time professional at the university), I would have to jump through a number of bureaucratic hoops to prove that I no longer live with my parents in another state. Apparently, in 14 states (Delaware is not one of them), I wouldn't even have to prove that I legally live in this country. Ridiculous.

Monday Quick Hits

I don't have any really coherent thoughts for a Monday, so here's a few unconnected ramblings (most of which came as I read the local section of the paper earlier):

-I watched the Billy Bob Thornton remake of Bad News Bears over the weekend, and it was pretty good (at least at 2 AM, under a heavy haze of alcohol, but really, that's how all Billy Bob Thornton movies should be watched.) It was a great retelling, with Billy Bob retaining much of his edge from the equally terrific Bad Santa, turning Morris Buttermaker into a borderline sociopath. The end gets a little "soft" for my taste (reformation seems inevitable in any film like this), but I still highly recommend it.

-Faxman dodged jury duty last week. This Wilmington woman tries to make it more interesting--by insulting and yelling at the jurors? That's the kind of excitement I can live without. Thus far, in the 6 years I've been a permanent resident of Delaware, I've avoided the call for jury duty. When it inevitably comes, I hope I'm not in this broad's orientation group.

-Local business owners want to install cameras in a neighborhood that's near some pretty dicey areas. What a surprise, the ACLU is against a crime prevention measure.

American Civil Liberties Union of Delaware Executive Director Drew Fennell said she is concerned whenever she hears of a new camera surveillance program. "Depending on the technology, they could invade private spaces such as the interiors of buildings or cars -- or violate people's expectations of privacy on the street," she said.

If a cop sees something illegal going on in a house or car from the street, that's called "probable cause", Drew. Why should it be any different if it's seen through a camera aimed at a public place?

Chocolate City

Like George Clinton and Parliament, I always thought Washington, DC was Chocolate City and the Vanilla Suburbs".

Apparently, I was wrong.

Does Ray Nagin know how to alienate people, or what? He starts off his Martin Luther King Day speech with a page straight out of Pat Robertson's book:

"Surely God is mad at America. He sent us hurricane after hurricane after hurricane, and it's destroyed and put stress on this country," Nagin, who is black, said as he and other city leaders marked Martin Luther King Day.

"Surely he doesn't approve of us being in Iraq under false pretenses."

See how neatly he combines a religious-right-sounding "God's will" with standard issue left-wing "Bush lied" rhetoric? Sure, he's probably still a bit steamed at the president about the poor initial response after Katrina (even though there's plenty of blame to go around from top to bottom), but the last time I checked, the soldiers helping to free Iraq were from many different countries, not just the U.S., and even the American soldiers over there aren't all from the hurricane-devastated areas.

And from there, he just moves on into what amounts to segregation talk:

"It's time for us to come together. It's time for us to rebuild New Orleans - the one that should be a chocolate New Orleans," the mayor said. "This city will be a majority African American city."

Imagine the uproar--and rightly so--if the mayor of another city had come out after such a disaster (Giulani after 9/11 springs to mind, although the damage there was much more localized) and said "Let's rebuild this city in plain vanilla!" Anyone brain-dead enough to say something like that would be absolutely finished politically--the news media would see to that. They wouldn't cover it for a day, cover the apology, then that would be the end of it.

And what a backpedaling apology--see if you believe his rationalization. It's a fitting close to this post.

“How do you make chocolate? You take dark chocolate, you mix it with white milk, and it becomes a delicious drink. That is the chocolate I am talking about," he said.

Odd Couple

As the old saying goes...

"Keep your friends close...

...and your enemies closer."