Good morning . . .
The events of Pope John Paul II's death was the primary story on this blog for the past several days. Today I will return to the more mundane news about politics and the media.
There will no doubt be occasional stories and notes about the events surrounding the funeral of John Paul II and the election of the new Pope.
The Vatican has announced the funeral of Pope John Paul II will be Friday at 10am Vatican time (3am Eastern time in the US).
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Before reviewing leftover news from Friday, I must criticize some of the media for their greater concern for getting a story rather than getting the correct story.
On Friday Fox News Channel and the Drudge Report both announced that the Pope had died. After some checking Fox News Channel quickly and correctly retracted the story. The Drudge Report left the inaccurate story online for several hours before correcting it. A little late to save your credibility Matt.
The inaccurate story originated from an Italian news service and Sky New Italy. It was the Vatican Press Office not known for its rapid response to media inquiries that quickly corrected the story. CNN, MSNBC, CBS, NBC, and ABC did not report the inaccurate story.
The news business is competitive. Getting a story first often outweighs getting a story accurate. Most newspapers, radio, and television stations never admit their story was wrong. They always seem to blame someone else. While the blame was correctly placed, the story should have been checked with the Vatican Press Office before airing any inaccurate information. I will continue to watch Fox News Channel, I will only use the Drudge Report as a source for this blog only after checking with several other sources.
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Before his death many people inside and outside the Catholic Church wondered why the Pope did not resign. Many were concerned that the complications from Parkinson's disease would interfere with running of the Church. The National Catholic Reporter has an interesting article that explains many of the reasons for Pope John Paul II to remain until his death. Breaking News Feb. 28, 2005
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Republicans will be holding a press conference today to discuss judicial appointments. The coalition of wants to end the Democrat obstruction of nominees.
The group that includes David Keene, president of the American Conservative Union says that the Democrats have no right to block and up-or-down vote. They favor what the call a "constitutional option" - a change in the Senate rules that would prevent the use of the filibuster to block judicial nominees.
The press conference is scheduled for noon. CNSNews.com -- News This Hour
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Friday former Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Berger plead guilty to "stealing" documents from the National Archive.
When the story broke last summer Berger said that it was an "honest mistake." During the Friday hearing Berger admitted to intentionally stealing the documents and destroying them.
The documents destroyed by Berger were after action reports on the terror threats during the 2000 millennium celebration.
Under the plea agreement, Berger will spend no time in jail, pay a $10,000 fine, give up his security clearance for three years, and cooperate with investigators. That last part of the plea seems interesting. Are there are missing documents?
Last summer when the Justice Department started looking at the case, Berger resigned as a top advisor to failed presidential candidate John Kerry. Berger will be able to reapply for the security clearance just in time to "help" Hillary Clinton bid for the White House in 2008.
Berger is another example of the lack of ethics in the Clinton White House.
CNN.com - Sandy Berger pleads guilty to taking classified material - Apr 2, 2005
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The Supreme Court ruled today that Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA) are shielded from creditors in bankruptcy proceedings.
The unanimous court reversed a ruling that a bankrupt Arkansas couple could not keep from creditors the money in an IRA that was rolled over from an employee-sponsored retirement plan.
The ruling places IRAs with Social Security benefits, company pensions, 401(k) plans, benefits tied to age, illness or disability as protected under federal bankruptcy law.
Justice Clarence Thomas wrote the 14 page opinion for the case.
Yahoo! News - Supreme Court: IRAs Are Shielded from Creditors
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The Supreme Court declined to consider whether police can have drug dogs sniff outside people's home without any specific suspicion of illegal activity.
The justices let stand a lower court ruling that allowed the drug sniff, rejecting the appeal of a Houston man who said it was a improper police "search."
In the ruling, the court declined to clarify the scope of police authority after it ruled 6-2 earlier this year that dog sniffs for drugs were OK outside a car if the motorist had been lawfully stopped for a traffic violation.
The case is Smith v. Texas, 04-874
Yahoo! News - Supreme Court Won't Hear Drug Dogs Case
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More later.
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