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As you know, I have promised "behind the scenes" in this blog and the next quote — see below — from Laura Ingle (search) is VERY "behind the scenes." But, first some background to her quote. Laura, as you may know, is our new Dallas Bureau FOX News correspondent. She had been living in California when she was hired from KFI Radio. Her new job required that she move from Los Angeles to Dallas.
No sooner was she hired and beginning preparations for the move than Hurricane Katrina (search) hit and she was immediately "on the road" covering the Gulf States and all the damage. In this business of news, we don't get to plan very much — news happens unannounced — and we don't always get notice as to when we get dispatched to cover some news.
Right before Katrina hit, and thus right before she left for Katrina coverage, Laura managed to make a day trip to Dallas and get an apartment and then go back to California and pack. Katrina hit and the movers were thus on their own. The movers — without Laura's guidance, since she was in the Gulf States — moved her things to her new Dallas apartment.
On Thursday, Laura left New Orleans (search) for her first trip to her new apartment in Dallas since she signed the lease. Of course no one unpacked for her, so she walked into an apartment filled with boxes left by the movers. She called me about 30 minutes after she arrived and told me that her apartment is wall-to-wall boxes, but that she was going to take a quick shower and then meet a mutual friend for dinner.
During our conversation she groaned how she does not yet have cable in her apartment and won't have it for a month (the earliest the cable company will install it.) She was frustrated since she needs to watch the news — that is her business. I recommended a satellite radio, which she thought a great idea.
Then, during the conversation she blurted out, "Oh no!" I said, "What?" Laura answered, "I just realized, I don't have a shower curtain." She paused a moment, and then added, "Oh, I do have big trash bags... and I have a scissors and tape." She is resourceful....
Now, some e-mails from viewers:
E-mail No. 1 — The next few e-mails reply to Thursday's blog about Harriet Miers (search):
You miss the point. Most conservatives/originalists I've talked with or heard complaining about the Miers nomination are not attacking Ms. Miers personally or her competence, though a few, such as Ann Coulter (search), are.
The big complaint most of us have is that Ms. Miers has no public record on Constitutional and statutory application and interpretation. Such a record would both inspire more confidence that she will act as an originalist on the Court and exert a degree of moral pressure on her in fact to do so. Were she a judge, we could probably find something in her written opinions. Otherwise, she might have written some law review or law journal — or Texas Monthly — articles touching on the subject, or at least discussed it in one or more scholarly or formal speeches. As far as I can tell, she has done none of those things. That does not make her an intellectual lightweight or unworthy to serve on the Supreme Court, just an unknown quantity and an unnecessary risk. Reagan's correspondences, included in the book, "Reagan, a Life in Letters" (author's name eludes me now), and O'Connor's abysmal, self-contradictory record on the Court demonstrate his heartfelt convictions about her were wrong. With a solid Republican Senate majority, Bush did not have to take a chance and nominate somebody based on his and other friends' warm and fuzzy feelings about the nominee; he could and should have picked somebody with a solid, objective record, judicial, academic or otherwise, of supporting Constitutional originalism. Surely, he could have found among the many excellent possibilities some such person with whom he also felt personally comfortable. We originalists are, by and large, angry and disappointed with him, not her.
Paul L. Veazey, Jr.
Lake Charles, LA
E-mail No. 2
I agree. Despite what many pundits express, and to his credit, George Bush does not seem to be put off by, nor does he underestimate smart women. Ms. Rice, et al., seem to prove that. To automatically assume that Ms. Miers is "unqualified" simple because she has never sat on a judicial bench is naive at best and downright sexist at worse.
Actually, what does prior courtroom experience have to do with the Supreme Court anyway? Most all of the lower courts decide the guilt or innocence of an individual. The Supreme Court decides only the constitutionality of a given law as applied by a lower court. Even in my uneducated head that seems like apples and oranges. It would seem that while being knowledgeable of the "law of the land" and the constitution would be an advantage, actual courtroom judicial experience could even be a liability. It could simply muddy the waters where clear, concise thinking about constitutional law is required.
Peace,
Lloyd Davidson
Lancaster, OH
E-mail No. 3
Greta,
I wholeheartedly agree with your assessment of the criticism that is currently going on about Ms. Miers. I honestly don't understand it. The "left" and the "right" are upset... go figure! I cannot help believe that much of it is from snobs that don't think Ms. Miers "measures up." I know lots of smart people who never attended an Ivy League school. Politics has gotten so nasty! Too many of the "politicians" are grandstanding, instead of focusing on meaningful issues. Guess that's one reason why I only watch FOX News Channel. At least I can get both sides of an issue. I am watching your program more than ever before... actually giving up some of the "regular" programming (on those other channels) that I use to not be able to live without. Keep up the good work. I have really enjoyed your Katrina reporting (Shep, too). Great job!
Elizabeth Travis
Texas resident
Louisiana native
E-mail No. 4
Greta,
Today on www.google.com, if you type "failure" in the search box and click on "I'm feeling lucky" instead of "Google search", a presidential biography of George W. Bush comes up... LOL! I wonder how that happened?!
Mike Isakov
Akron, OH
E-mail No. 5
Greta,
I do want to hear what Harriet Miers has to say, but my stumbling block is the statements that have been made about President Bush picking her because of her religion. If I read my history books correctly, there is supposed to be a separation between church and state. If President Bush talked to James Dobson about the nomination days before the announcement, I question the separation. This almost seems anti-American.
Naomi M.
E-mail No. 6
The Minnesota Vikings rule. So what if they're having sex on a boat on the lake partying? Abortion doctors kill babies, queers spread their gay message... I am all right with FOX News but get off their backs. To Packer fans, you still suck.
Paul W.
E-mail No. 7
I am proud to be 100 percent conservative and Republican! I couldn’t be more proud of the conservatives, who do not follow a leader blindly. We love, pray for, and admire President Bush, but we bring into sharp focus, without fear, what is right for our country. We will not abandon our principles for anyone, or anything. I feel convinced, too, that as we learn more about Miers, we’ll all agree that our president made the right choice!
John Casimir,
Milford, NH
ANSWER: Has it occurred to you that it might be "blind" to reach a conclusion about Harriet Miers before you have heard her testimony before the Senate? I have no idea what she thinks or whether I agree with her or not on issues... but I am smart enough to wait and hear from her before I start criticizing her. To do otherwise, would be blind in my mind.
E-mail No. 8 — These next e-mails refer to the police and the man arrested in New Orleans on Saturday night. I have thus far found no e-mail — except E-mails No. 12 and 13 below — that supports the police conduct. Imagine if the camera had not been there... and it had been the word of one man against four police officers. Now we can have the situation reviewed fairly and thoroughly — rather than relying on testimony:
Greta,
What I find amazing is that not only did the police beat this man, but the mounted policeman tried to run interference for them and the little woman that was coming to his rescue was almost run over by the horse!
Ginny Retting
Dover, DE
E-mail No. 9
Never seen such police scum in my life, Greta! Such a disgrace after all the years of fighting for civil rights! Those officers need to be taken out and beaten themselves. Pure intolerance!
Lisa
NY
E-mail No. 10
Dear Greta,
After watching the tape of the beating I can't understand how these policemen say that they are not guilty. My God, he was not at all resisting arrest at the beginning. They had him pinned against the wall with his hand behind his back. This is sick.
Liliane Shepard
Lincoln, CA
E-mail No. 11
Re: the New Orleans man being beaten — the horse-riding officer that repeatedly tried to block the camera view of the crime should be charged also, at least with conspiracy. It is time to wake up because our police have way too much power. A few months ago my stepson who is in college and wanted to be with the police came home after doing a ride along with local police, and was appalled at what goes on. He said, do you know they make stuff up on people and say it is OK to do, it is part of the job? Then he said they had roughed up a young man that was doing nothing against them. He then stated, he didn't want to be a cop anymore, as he witnessed the corruption. The boy says they are told that when he becomes a cop he joins the group and resigns from the normal society, and should only hang out with other cops.
Does this not all sound like something we would hear from a communist country? Shouldn't citizens vote or have a say in how they want our police to act? If they don't like it, then don't be a policeperson. This self-proclaimed cult is out of control and we must stop it.
One other thing, the football players? Lets stay out of peoples' personal lives. Isn't a private party... private?
Craig Norpel
E-mail No. 12
Greta,
The first time I saw the abbreviated version of the gentleman on Bourbon Street, I wanted to keep an open mind until more information was brought forward, but I felt the police were just in their treatment — the gentleman DID appear inebriated to me. After seeing the full-length video, I am 100 percent behind the police. Please view the video again and notice how many police it took to subdue this gentleman — and while I am no longer convinced he was inebriated, I am convinced he was under the influence of some type of substance. The strength that this gentleman exhibited was unbelievable — from what I saw, it took four men to subdue him. Something is not right with that picture!
I feel you try very hard to be fair and balanced, but I don’t think you even tried to be tonight.
I won’t stop watching, but I am very disappointed in you.
R. Hoeffner
TX
E-mail No. 13
What a spectacle! No, not the police tape. You and your left wing police bashing cohorts! What I saw on the tape was an out of control black guy resisting arrest with all the physical force he could muster. He was given repeated serial chances to peacefully submit to arrest. I also saw several nosy-nelly wannabe police haters trying to interfere.
You and your friends were bug-eyed, frothing at the mouth police haters running wild. I'd like to see you, and both the white and the black defense attorneys on your show slammed against a wall, cuffed and jailed.
I am furious at you and your show and will never watch again.
Dan May
GA
From time to time I read news articles that might grab your attention, too. Do you remember when figure skater Nancy Kerrigan (search) was assaulted? Now, under the headline, "never dull," there is a musical opera about it. Click here to read the Associated Press story.
This next article also caught my attention. It seems to me that it would be cheaper to buy replacement candy than have a commission hear three hours of testimony. Click here to read the Associated Press story.
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