Morning Briefing - 2.8.05

Good morning . . .

There has been a story brewing in the blogsphere since January 28 that has yet to see the light of the mainstream media.

A CNN News executive Eason Jordan made some remarks at a conference that have stirred some controversy. Jordan apparently said that US troops in Iraq have targeted journalists for assassination. According to Jordan 12 US journalists have been killed by US troops. He further said that the US military categorizes the deaths of journalists as "collateral damage."

What Jordan said at that conference which was recorded and there is a tape is not as important as his almost immediate backtracking plus an email sent to some bloggers that Jordan's remarks were taken out of contest. If that is true CNN, give us the tape or acknowledge the story on CNN and show the tape.

As Watergate defendants knew the cover-up is worse than the crime. More on the Jordan story and its aftermath can be found on TKS on National Review Online.
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Reports are surfacing in Rome that Pope John Paul II was minutes from death when he was rushed to a Rome hospital last week. Suffering from the flue with complications from Parkinson's disease, the Pope refused to go to the hospital for several hours while suffering from distressed breathing and coughing fits.

Sources inside the Vatican say that the Pope could have died within ten minutes of his arrival at the hospital.

The current status of the Pope's health shows that he is recovering and getting stringer, but will remain in the hospital for a few more days.

Meanwhile in the Vatican there is open talk about the Pope's resigning. The Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Cardinal Sodano said that a decision to resign should be "left to the conscience of the Pope." He added, "If there is one man who knows what to do. It is he." Cardinal Sodano, 77, is one of the potential successors.

In the past the Pope has refused to mention resignation saying, "Did Christ come down from the Cross?"
Times Online - World
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The President's budget is receiving criticism from all sides and the budget debate will be heating up in the days, weeks, and months to come.

One of the President's promises is to increase Homeland Security. A portion of the budget shows a "substantial" increase in the homeland security fee paid by the airlines. The proposed budget shows it going from $3 to $5.50 per flight segment.

With several airlines in bankruptcy and others involved in a price war, industry experts say it will be an additional burden on the airline industry. So what! If that extra $3 per trip is going to protect me from a terrorist attack, I'll pay it. In fact knowing the airlines, every passenger will be paying the extra fee not the airlines.
Airlines protest hike in security fee in proposed Bush budget
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Statements made recently by John Kerry demonstrate that he is still unable or unwilling to take responsibility for his loss in the November election.

He says that unfair criticism of Teresa Heinz-Kerry and Osama Bin Laden are the causes for his loss.

Perhaps, senator, you can contribute your loss to your lack of candor, lack of policy, and that the American voter did not trust you with the security of the country.
Yahoo! News - Kerry Defends Wife, Pins Loss on Osama
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More in the Afternoon Update.