A Sad Night in Chat
Mood:  sad
Topic: My Columns

Those of us regs have lost one of our own... blast_from_the_past.

Without knowing what brought his untimely death, all I know is that he was 46 and ill with something, a good guy, and a chat staple in our room.

I didn't want to press the issue as to what was the cause, or what happened. Just wanted to say it sucks, and I feel bad about it. So it brought on a guestbook site, IN MEMORY OF blast_from_the_past.

IF YOU SIGN THE GUESTBOOK, PLEASE BE RESPECTFUL

Clintax criticizes Bush energy bill, so I guess we should go back to the Clintax's no-energy policy
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Clinton Criticizes Bush Energy Bill

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Former President Clinton lashed out at the Bush administration's energy policies Friday, criticizing them as "dumb economics" during a wide-ranging speech to a friendly crowd at Brown University.

But Clinton encouraged Americans to support democracy in Iraq, and said they should encourage the Bush administration to work with the rest of the world in bringing peace to the region.

The former president said those who opposed going to war with Iraq had to put those feelings aside. "You should want it to work now," he said.

Clinton -- received enthusiastically by more than 4,000 students, politicians and top state Democratic fundraisers -- called Bush's energy policy selfish. "I also think it's really dumb economics," he said.

A Bush administration-backed bill passed by the House this month includes tax cuts and subsidies to energy companies, and would open a wildlife refuge in Alaska to oil exploration.

Clinton also said he would gladly give up the Bush administration tax cuts that he said benefited the wealthy and hurt working families -- a talking point widely used by Democrats during the 2004 election.

Clinton, who recently was named the U.N. envoy for tsunami recovery, told The Associated Press he plans to go back to tsunami-affected areas twice this year, once within the next month.

In Clinton's native Arkansas, meanwhile, Gov. Mike Huckabee announced he would join Clinton at a New York City school Tuesday as part of a national effort by the American Heart Association to fight childhood obesity.

An American Heart Association spokesman said the governor and former president would announce a "major initiative to address one of the nation's most pressing health issues."

Clinton underwent heart surgery last year. Huckabee has received national recognition for shedding 105 pounds in what he called a "personal pilgrimage" to healthy living.

NY Newsday ~ Associated Press - Brooke Donald ** Clinton Criticizes Bush Energy Bill

MO Woman assaulted by 'peace' protester
Mood:  silly
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Rita Preckshot stands Wednesday on Providence Road and Broadway with a group of supporters, including talk-radio host Fred Parry, holding a flag on the left. Preckshot was allegedly assaulted in mid-March by anti-war protester Paul Allaire. >>>>>

Protester gets support

After altercation, 15 join usually solitary protest

Rita Preckshot is used to standing alone every Wednesday afternoon at the corner of Broadway and Providence Road. As a group Columbia residents gather there every week to oppose the war in Iraq, Preckshot stands just south of the intersection holding an American flag to show her support for the troops.

On Wednesday, Preckshot was not alone, as she was joined by 15 new supporters, who came not only to support her position, but also her presence as well.

They came to join her after Preckshot reported being assaulted last month.

"I only know three of them," Preckshot said, smiling and looking around at her supporters.

The new faces came in response to allegations that Preckshot was assaulted by Paul Allaire, 41, of Arcadia, last month near a peace demonstration at the intersection.

Preckshot said Allaire hit her in the face on March 16. Allaire is charged with third-degree assault and is scheduled for a court appearance on May 13, according to court records.

The assemblage of new supporters was dubbed "Rally for Rita" by local radio host Fred Parry.

Parry said he was outraged last month when he heard about the incident and talked about it on his radio show, KFRU/1400 AM’s Morning Meeting with Fred Parry and Simon Rose.

"I agree with what this woman is saying," Parry said. "I feel guilty that she’s been standing here every Wednesday night while I’m at home eating dinner with my family, getting abused by ‘peaceful’ people."

Jack Bozarth, a retired Air Force officer, said he heard about the rally on the radio show and came to keep that kind of violence from happening again.

"We’re here because we’re hoping (Allaire) might come and talk to us today," he said. "And so he can find somebody else to hit besides a middle-aged woman."

Ellen Hayes, a new resident of Columbia, said she heard about the rally on the radio and talked to Preckshot for the first time Wednesday.

"I thought it was unusual that one person stands by herself," she said. "I heard about the altercation. I thought there would be strength in numbers."

Allaire said the incident was simply a "gut reaction." He said he was trying to hand Preckshot a flier advocating an end to the war when she slapped his hand away. He returned the slap before he had time to think about it, he said.

"I was not expecting to be slapped, and I guess anytime somebody slaps me, my first reaction is going to be to defend myself," he said.

Allaire said he realizes now his actions were not right.

"I wish it never would have happened," he said.

Mark Haim, director of Mid-Missouri Peaceworks, said his group — which is the main group involved in the rallies each Wednesday — is non-violent and does not condone any acts of violence. Haim said he has talked with both Preckshot and Allaire and that the situation is "a classic case of he said, she said."

"Paul isn’t the sort of person that engages in unprovoked assault," he said. "There are two sides to every story."

Haim said Allaire is not a member of Peaceworks or a regular demonstrator with the group on Wednesdays.

Abe Haim, a friend of Allaire who has worked with him since last fall, said he was a witness to the altercation and that if the gender roles had been reversed, the story would not have been so sensational.

"Nobody would have seen Paul as the aggressor," he said, adding that whenever there is this type of altercation, there is a tendency for people to view the male as a perpetrator and the female as a victim.

Preckshot said the incident has not influenced her dedication to making her political statement each Wednesday.

"I’m not leaving," she said. "I’m coming back next week and every week after that."

Columbia Missouian ~ Victoria Okoye ** Protester gets support

Dems attacks on Delay are hypocritical and will backfire
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Democrat's "Delaying" Tactics Will Backfire
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

The Democrats are celebrating Dennis Hastert's decision to revise House Ethics Committee's rules back to their pre-existing wording as a victory.

Not so fast guy's. You are aware, aren't you, that Tom Delay has been asking for an investigation to go forward. It has been the Democrats that have been dragging their feet, complaining about process and enjoying the questionable practice of character assassination while refusing to begin an investigation. It would be curious behavior for the Democrats to refuse to seat the Ethics committee since they are so vehement in their accusations of Majority Leader Delay, if I didn't know their motives. The Democrats aren't interested in the truth. Never have been, and never will be. Investigating Tom Delay has never been their aim, only damaging him by using smear tactics.

The truth is that Democrats are only interested in destruction. On all fronts, they offer no positive solutions, only negative accusations. We have all seen it. They practice character assassination as naturally as they breathe. It has become their only answer to any of the issues facing America. Social security is going broke, Democrat's answer; President Bush is "trying to destroy the system." Saddam Hussein is in bed with al Qaeda, Democrat's answer; President Bush "lied to us and got us into an illegal war." John Bolton is nominated to be the American U.N. Ambassador, Democrat's answer; "he's a big meany, and doesn't like (incompetent) uppity subordinates. Tom Delay is the most successful House leader in recent history (since Newt Gingrich), Democrat's answer; "he's a crook, unethical, and also a big meany."

Today's Dumbocrat's bread and butter, is unfounded or unsubstantiated allegation. Their technique, throw out a hundred such emotionally charged baseless accusations, and hope one or two of them turn out to be true. They do it with judges, with cabinet appointees, well...pretty much with anything Republican.

Now as anybody who has followed my writings knows, I am no fan of hypocrisy, from the left or from the right. You also know that because of the inherent extreme Left-wing bias in the MSM, I believe that Republicans need to "do it better." They must, because actions that have even the appearance of questionable ethical behavior, will be scrutinized to the nth degree by the press, and if they possibly can be misconstrued as improper, they will be so described by them in large type, as headlines on the front page or as the "teaser" at the opening broadcast. But I also believe that all members of Congress should have to adhere to the same standards. Am I happy about Leader Delay's activities? No. Am I comfortable with his behavior? No. But neither do I accept the behavior of the Democrat hypocrites.

But this time the full court press will backfire. Because Speaker Dennis Hastert has approved the rule change, the Dims will have to put up or shut up. At the same time, they themselves will be open to investigation. They are in a mad scramble, even now, to retroactively, put their houses in order. Whoops , did you catch that? Retroactively? Nice try guys, but it won't work. The fact that you are only now paying the piper, won't protect you from the public's scrutiny of your dancing. Your hypocrisy will be evident to all, even as you rationalize it to your ethically challenged, brainwashed, Liberal constituencies.

What exactly is it that I am talking about? Glad you asked. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was fined $21,000 for collecting and distributing funds in excess of campaign-finance limits through two leadership political-action committees: PAC to the Future and Team Majority. Ms. Pelosi wants an investigation of DeLay because he accepted a paid trip from the Korea-United States Exchange Council in 2001. But wait! One of Nancy Pelosi's staff took a comparable trip with KORUSEC in 2003. Whoops! And guess what, Pelosi's office failed to file the required financial documentation for the trip. Double Whoops! Leader Delay did file all of his required paperwork. Once this was made public, Pelosi's people scrambled to retroactively (there's that word again) file said papers.

So, what else? How about this, APR (American Public Radio) sprang for "Power Trips" for congressional members. Who took these trips? Well, nine of the top ten offenders...err "Trippers" and all of the top five were...Democrats. Oh yeah, and let's not forget Jim McDermott he has an investigation pending as well. Now who is it that is ethically challenged?

As for Tom Delay, well I'm not sure that I would want him as my next-door neighbor, but I'm not interested in having a "nice guy" in congress, we have enough of those in people like Jim Leach and Chris Shays, I want a guy that will fight for what is right. What does Tom Delay say about the ethics charges? His response is, "I will be asking (the committee) to look at these issues, as it not only pertains to me but to the entire House, because obviously, there are questions that need to be answered by the ethics committee. What trips can be taken? How can they be taken?"

Watch out! You Democrats started this hateful process, but it may finish you.

"For they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up." Hosea 8:7

Mens News Daily ** Democrat's "Delaying" Tactics Will Backfire

Harry Reid faces reality ~ said it would take a ''miracle'' for Dems to win back the Senate next year
Mood:  surprised
Now Playing: 'Miracle' needed to win back Senate
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid raised a few eyebrows yesterday on the Senate floor when he said it would take a "miracle" for Democrats to win enough races next year to take back the Senate.

"I would like to think a miracle would happen and we would pick up five seats this time," he said during a floor debate over the filibusters of President Bush's judicial nominees. "I guess miracles never cease."

Republicans were delighted by what they called an "admission" from the highest-ranking elected Democrat in the country.

"After listening to Senator Reid's political spin about judicial nominees for the last several weeks, it is good to hear him come back to reality -- if even for a brief moment," said Brian Nick, spokesman for the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "Senator Reid can do the math: A Democratic Party, plus no ideas, plus obstruction, plus over-the-top partisan rhetoric equals continued minority."

Partisans on both sides of the aisle privately acknowledged that it was a fairly stunning remark.

But Democrats pointed out that Mr. Reid was making a larger point about the so-called "nuclear option" that Republicans have threatened to use to unclog the filibusters -- that Republicans might one day regret abolishing the filibuster for judicial nominees.

"If the Republicans keep abusing their power, it won't take such a miracle," said Phil Singer, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Jim Manley, spokesman for Mr. Reid, noted that his boss "also said he believes in miracles."

"As a small-town boy from Searchlight, Nevada, who rose to become Democratic leader of the U.S. Senate, Senator Reid has shown that we can overcome the odds and is certain that we can win back the Senate," Mr. Manley said.

Washington Times ~ Charles Hurt ** 'Miracle' needed to win back Senate

Parent Arrested Over Protesting Gay Content In Elementary School Book
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: Parent Arrested Over Gay Content In Book
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

Man Wanted Son Shielded From Discussions

BOSTON - A confrontation over a children's book in Lexington ended with a parent being arrested.

NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that David Parker, 42, refused to leave his son's elementary school Wednesday after the boy brought home a book from the school featuring gay characters.

Police arrested Parker for trespassing at the Estabrook Elementary School and he spent the night in jail.

The book in question, "Who's In The Family?" introduces children to different types of families, including a family with two fathers.

"This is propaganda. This is meant to form things in a child's mind at an early age," said same-sex marriage opponent Brian Camenker, of Article 8 Alliance.

Parker said school officials have continued to tell him he has no right to control whether his child is taught about gay marriage.

"What I am saying is, because of the same-sex marriage law, people are treating it as a mandate to teach the youngest of children. It is not a mandate to teach the youngest of children, particularly if parents say, 'Hold on, I want to be the gatekeeper of the information. It is not that I don't want my child to ever learn it, it is I want to control the timing and manner,'" Parker said.

"They make the book available for families to read with their children if they choose to. If they choose not to do that, that is perfectly fine. They don't have to do that," said Lexington Schools Superintendent William Hurley.

Gov. Mitt Romney said Parker has a point.

"We have in Massachusetts a parental notification statute specifically in matters related to human sexuality. If a parent wants to be informed of what is being taught in a classroom and wants to have their child withdrawn from the classroom for that portion of the class dealing with human sexuality, that parent has the right," he said.

Parker was released on $1,000 personal surety. He said he has not decided if his son will stay at the school.

Boston Channel 5 WCVB ** Parent Arrested Over Gay Content In Book

Oklahoma Dems walk out to avoid acting on worker's comp bill
Mood:  d'oh
Now Playing: Democrats Walk Out Of Senate After Fallin Takes Gavel
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Oklahoma Dems walk out to avoid acting on worker's comp bill... instead of facing a vote they weren't happy about ~ obstructionism runs rampant

Lt. Gov. Attempts To Force Vote On Workers Comp Bill

OKLAHOMA CITY - Republican Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin's attempt to preside over the Senate and force a vote on a GOP workers' compensation bill was blocked Thursday when Senate Democrats refused to attend the session with her in the chair.

"We will not engage in silly political games that are calculated to get somebody elected governor," said Senate President Pro Tem Mike Morgan, D-Stillwater.

"If they want to sit in there and posture themselves to run for governor, they can sit in there all night long. We're not going to participate."

Fallin has said she is considering running for governor next year.

Sen. Glenn Coffee, R-Oklahoma City, said GOP senators asked Fallin to exercise her constitutional authority and preside because it was time to pass a work comp bill that did not have to go to a conference committee.

"We have studied and debated and talked about workers' comp reform for long enough in Oklahoma," he said.

On Wednesday, Sen. Scott Pruitt, R-Broken Arrow, withdrew his work comp bill from consideration after an amendment was approved striking the title of the bill, meaning it would go to a joint conference for further work.

Pruitt said he did not want the bill watered down.

Democrats said difficult issues like workers' comp normally go to conference committees in order to get a compromise that can be passed.

Sen. Charles Laster, D-Shawnee, who has been involved in negotiations on the bill, said he stands ready to pass a work comp bill that is fair to all parties, but Pruitt's bill had undergone several changes in recent days and was not in shape to be approved intact.

The House passed two workers' compensation bills Thursday and Laster said they could be used as vehicles to keep the issue alive.

Morgan or his designee normally presides over the Senate. By late morning, Democrats continued to refused to participate with Fallin attempting to preside.

A quorum call was under way, but with only 22 Republicans in the chamber, the Senate was not technically in session. It takes attendance by 25 senators before a quorum can be declared.

Democrats said Republicans were skirting Senate rules they agreed to by bringing Fallin to the chamber to preside.

Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, said his staff had been working with both sides to draft a compromise and the talks had been productive.

"I believe that as long as those talks continue in good faith, we will strike a bipartisan agreement on this important issue very soon," Henry said. "Political stunts, however, do not get us any closer to comprehensive workers compensation reform."

Oklahoma KOCO 5 ~ Associated Press ** Democrats Walk Out Of Senate After Fallin Takes Gavel

The Tumor on the Democratic Party
Mood:  chatty
Topic: Columns

Back in 1992, speaking at the Republican National Convention, Pat Buchanan warned that America was being torn apart by a cultural war and sounded a clarion call to arms that went largely unheard in a nation concerned with things more mundane than matters of the nation's spiritual health.

If the war was more or less a cold one then, it is now blazing hot and at stake is nothing less than America's soul. Win it and the nation regains its spiritual health; lose it and the nation descends into the muck and mire of rampant paganism, Marxism and moral decadence.

While the combat in the political realm seems to be the normal result of a party out of power in opposition to the party in power, far more is involved than the mere desire of the outs to oust the ins.

At issue in the more publicized battles over such matters as the nomination of John Bolton, the relentless assault on the leadership of Tom DeLay and the matter of the president's judicial nominations is something far more profound than mere political wrangling.

These are major battles in the war over the very future of the United States of America and its people. Should the pagans prevail in these fights they will take the high ground and be able against all odds to defend the indefensible until their enemy is exhausted and willing to compromise the uncompromisable.

At that point the decadence will be set in concrete, irreversible and fatal.

Make no mistake about it, this a a real war, with human lives at stake. In a nation that rightly mourns the 500,000-plus deaths in the Civil War it has already cost the lives of 40 million innocent unborn Americans.

At stake are the lives of the elderly and the disabled. The battle over the fate of Terri Schiavo was a mere skirmish. The Grim Reaper won that preliminary fight and will now proceed to escalate the battle to claim more and more victims under the banner of the alleged "right to die with dignity," a euphemism for enforced euthanasia.

It is vitally important that we identify the combatants. They are now clearly visible and easy to identify. One the one side is that great majority of Americans who cling to their Judeo-Christian heritage; on the other, a barbarian horde waging a furious jihad against the doctrines of Moses and Jesus Christ and the Constitution of the United States born out of those doctrines.

In the van of this horde is what was once a great Democrat party that identified with average Americans and fought vigorously on their behalf, but has now been taken over lock, stock and barrel by militant secularists determined to drive any thought or mention of God from the public square.

God, it seems, is an obstacle to the realization of their dreams of an earthly socialist paradise where anything goes, where we are all free to do anything we please as long as it isn't to follow the dictates of such restrictions on human freedom as the Ten Commandments or Holy Scripture.

Last night I watched a TV program about a Romanian woman enslaved by an enormous 160-pound tumor – an obscene growth that encircled her torso like the tentacles of a giant octopus, confined her to bed, greedily swallowed up most of her blood supply to feed itself, and had her tottering on the brink of death.

As I looked at this giant disgusting heap of corrupt growth I could not escape the thought that this is what has happened to the Democrat party; an alien growth has it firmly in its grip, and unless it is excised, as the woman's tumor was excised by a compassionate American surgeon who traveled to Romania to save her, its lifeblood will be drained, it will die, and only the tumor will remain.

But before it dies, it will suck away our life, liberty and any hope of the pursuit of happiness, which, after all, is not found by living in the sewer, nowadays the headquarters of the liberal-dominated Democrat party.

Am I being harsh in my assessment of the party of my ancestors? Sure. How can I be anything but harsh in looking at a party that proudly parades its devotion to the slaughter of the innocent young and the innocent old and the murderous doctrines of Karl Marx and his disciple Lenin.

Ann Coulter said it best. Speaking to a Time magazine writer, she said: "They are terrible people, liberals. They believe – this can really summarize it all – these are people who believe you can deliver a baby entirely except for the head, puncture the skull, suck the brains out and pronounce that a constitutional right has just been exercised. That really says it all."

A Democrat president twice vetoed a ban on this gruesome infanticidal practice; most members of his party and their abortion industry allies with their millions in blood money political contributions have consistently supported it.

This is the party of abortion in all its forms, the party that endorses sodomy, euthanasia, and the tyranny of an out-of control judiciary that implements the programs they cannot impose through legislation.

This is the party that will use any tactic, no matter how sleazy, to prevent John Bolton from being confirmed as our ambassador to the United Nations, a corrupt one-world Marxist institution dedicated to destroying our national sovereignty and putting us at the mercy of a Marxist world government. It sees Bolton as a clear and dangerous threat to all that, and he must at all costs be stopped.

Tom DeLay is the most effective weapon in the arsenal of the conservative Republican movement – he is a threat to everything the tumor craves. He must be destroyed.

Republican attempts to restore the constitutional requirement that the United States Senate confirm nominees to the federal judiciary by voting either for or against their confirmation is falsely portrayed by the tumor as an attempt to shut off debate. Give the senators the right to vote and the judiciary will be reformed.

These are all battles in the war for America's soul. They are just the beginning. The tumor is growing. We need doctors, like the good man in Chicago who healed the Romanian woman, to excise our national tumor. Doctors like George Bush, John Bolton, Bill Frist and Tom DeLay, who need our fervent support. Without it the tumor will strangle us.

NewsMax.com ~ Phil Brennan ** The Tumor on the Democratic Party

Kweisi Mfume Accused of Favoritism At NAACP; Ex-President Denies Rewarding Women he Fucked
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Mfume Accused of Favoritism At NAACP
Topic: Lib Loser Stories

Ex-President Denies Rewarding Women

Allegations detailed in a confidential NAACP report claim that Kweisi Mfume gave raises and promotions to women with whom he had close personal relationships while he was president of the nation's oldest civil rights organization.

The 22-page memorandum, prepared last summer by an outside lawyer, did not accept as true the claims lodged against Mfume by a female employee but determined that they could be "very difficult to defend persuasively" if she filed a lawsuit.

Mfume, 56, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Maryland, has denied the allegations. In an interview yesterday, he said the allegations in no way influenced his Nov. 30 announcement that he would leave the NAACP after nine years.

"I don't engage in inappropriate behavior," he said in the interview. "And if I did, I'm sure after nine years there, 10 years in the Congress and seven years on the [Baltimore] City Council, it would have been an issue long before your telephone call to me."

Disclosure of the report could prove sensitive for Mfume, who has ascended the political ranks in part on the basis of his compelling personal narrative. He overcame teenage years spent running in street gangs to become a five-term congressman and head the prominent civil rights organization.

The matter also could be delicate for the NAACP. Mfume took over the group from interim head Earl T. Shinhoster in 1996 when it was still reeling from the turbulent 16-month tenure of Benjamin F. Chavis Jr. Chavis was removed in 1994 after he agreed to secretly pay $332,400 in NAACP funds to settle claims of sexual discrimination by a female aide.

Members of the NAACP executive committee first saw the report detailing the allegations against Mfume at an October meeting in Washington, about a month before Mfume announced his decision to step down. The document has been a closely guarded secret -- one board member said the copies that were distributed were numbered and collected after the meeting. Most members reached this week declined to discuss it.

The document was intended as an assessment of the allegations as the organization's leaders evaluated how to handle the claims of the mid-level employee, Michele Speaks.

Speaks hired an attorney and asked for $140,000, two years' salary, in exchange for agreeing not to file a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or pursuing a lawsuit, according to the report. Speaks could not be reached for comment. Her attorney, Kathleen Cahill, declined to comment.

The NAACP hired Marcia E. Goodman, a Chicago employment lawyer, to analyze Speaks's allegations. In the memo, Goodman concluded that some of Speaks's claims -- including an assertion that Mfume "touched her on the hip" -- largely amounted to a "he said-she said" dispute. But Goodman wrote that others were more problematic.

Speaks could mount a credible claim of workplace harassment because of "the impression [that was] created that a woman must provide sexual favors to Mr. Mfume or his associates in order to receive favorable treatment in the workplace," the lawyer wrote in the memo.

In an interview yesterday, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond would not say whether the organization's board ultimately decided to pay Speaks.

"Whenever an allegation of any sort that violates our personnel policies comes to our attention, we investigate, and if the allegation has merit, we take action," Bond said.

Asked whether the allegations played any role in Mfume's departure, Bond said, "That's a personnel matter that I cannot comment on."

When Mfume publicly announced his retirement, he told reporters that his abrupt departure was not the forced result of any scandal or squabble but a voluntary decision to spend more time with Christopher, his 15-year-old son.

"They tried to talk me out of it," Mfume said of board members.

Three months later, Mfume, who is divorced, stood with five of his six sons in a lounge overlooking Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore to launch his bid for the Senate seat being vacated by Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.) in early 2007.

In campaigns for Baltimore City Council and for Congress, the polished orator transformed a checkered past into an inspirational story of personal triumph that has been one of his strongest assets. Stumping in Bowie last week, he told a crowd of young Democrats, "Your values are what you're going to be tested on."

A separate memo shows that Mfume has faced questions about his romantic relationships with NAACP employees going back to 1998. In 1999, staff lawyers conducted an inquiry after two women got into a loud verbal altercation, allegedly over his attentions. One woman was disciplined; the other was promoted several months later, according to one document.

The altercation is described in a May 24, 1999, internal memo that lawyers for the NAACP wrote to Bond. "There appeared to be a widespread belief in the organization that President Mfume had displayed preferential treatment" to one of the women "based on a possible dating relationship," the memo says.

The lawyers then questioned whether Mfume "interfered with this inquiry by exerting improper influence on two key witnesses." Also, according to the memo, Mfume refused to answer questions in the inquiry.

Mfume acknowledged yesterday that he dated one of the women in that altercation, a female NAACP employee, for "three months" and later adopted her 4-year-old son. The boy is now 15, he said. The woman now works for the Maryland Department of Transportation.

"It was for a very brief moment," he said of the relationship. "And I fell in love with this kid who was fatherless and was very withdrawn. He's [become] an unbelievably impressive young man."

Mfume also said that he has never doled out raises or promotions within the NAACP to women with whom he reportedly had intimate relationships.

"No and no again," he said.

But Goodman's analysis in the 2004 memo said Speaks's claims could create the impression that Mfume approved raises and promotions to women who were his "paramours" or were involved romantically with one of his older sons. If those claims held up in court, Goodman wrote, they "would likely be damaging to the organization's reputation."

To bolster her analysis, Goodman details salary information for several women who worked at the NAACP's national headquarters in Baltimore and states that those rumored to have close relationships with Mfume, or with his son, have fared better than those who did not.

In Goodman's inquiry, Mfume was asked about the 10 allegations. According to the memo, Mfume said, "[T]here is not nor has there been any situation where female employees have been 'pitted against one another' to obtain raises or promotions."

Some board members offered an assessment of Mfume's performance in the job.

"He helped bring us through some very dark times," said one member, Gary Bledsoe, a lawyer from Austin.

Hazel N. Dukes, a board member from New York, agreed. "I'm dumbfounded that someone would give this around," she said of the memo. "Mr. Mfume served well at the NAACP."

The board, which is gathering today in Cambridge, Mass., is expected to discuss the selection of Mfume's successor.

Washington Post ~ Matthew Mosk, Cheryl W. Thompson, and Bobbye Pratt ** Mfume Accused of Favoritism At NAACP

NPR Apologizes to Mark Levin
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: Yahoo Chat Stuff

National Public Radio has been caught in an anti-conservative smear and forced to apologize.

On Tuesday, NPR issued a correction and apology to Mark Levin, author of the New York Times bestseller Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America. According to Levin's publisher, Regnery, a recent broadcast of NPR's "Day to Day" program falsely accused Levin of advocating violence against judges.

Yesterday's NPR apology stated: "We have a correction [that] concerns a conversation we aired on April 5 about denunciations of the judiciary by certain conservatives in the wake of the Terry Schiavo case. After noting that a U.S. senator had explicitly linked violence against judges to judicial activism, we then turned to a critique of a book by Mark Levin, called Men in Black. We want to make clear that Mr. Levin's book does not discuss either violence against judges or the Terry Schiavo case, and we regret any error or confusion that resulted from our story that day."

Mr. Levin responded by saying, "While I accept NPR's apology and correction, its broadcast was illustrative of a smear campaign launched by the Left to try to silence my criticism of judicial activism. I continue to challenge those who support government by judiciary to debate this issue on the merits."

Human Events Online ** NPR Apologizes to Mark Levin