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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Neeka who wrote (411731)	6/4/2003 7:27:37 PM
From: sandintoes	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Borrowed this from c. Horn. America Bashing Is the Only Permissible Kind of Hate Speech By Daniel G. Jennings CNSNews.com Commentary May 30, 2003 The left has long made a crusade of suppressing what it likes to call "hate speech." That is any language that leftist intellectuals find to be racist, sexist or biased in any way. Unfortunately, there is one kind of hate speech that the left not tolerates but embraces, supports and promotes -- speech that encourages hatred of America. Anti-American hate speech is heard and seen everywhere these days; at peace rallies, college graduation ceremonies, the Academy Awards, college classrooms, in big budget movies, in best selling novels and non-fiction books. Major celebrities who get tainted by even a hint of racism or anti-Semitism become pariahs. Yet major celebrities who bash America, who call Americans evil and predators or such nonsense, escape that kind of wrath. In the last two months we've seen a big-budget movie, the X-Men sequel, X-2: X-Men United, aimed at youth, that portrays the U.S. military as Nazis, a distinguished author and journalist calling Americans predators in a graduation speech, and Disney bankrolling a documentary by film maker Michael Moore that blames America for the September 11th atrocity. This sort of nonsense is tolerated and celebrated in modern America. Just imagine the reaction if a big-budget movie promoted the idea of the world Jewish conspiracy, a distinguished author and journalist talked of the racial inferiority of black people at a college graduation, or a distinguished film maker wanted to make a documentary that proved all homosexuals are child molesters. Such bigoted expressions of opinion would never be tolerated. The claims made would be false and harm innocent people. Yet the same people are willing to tolerate and even promote anti-American hate speech: vicious attacks on America and American life that add up to nothing but shallow and shrill propaganda. Yes, as Americans we have a duty to respect the opinions of others. However, it is the duty of all thinking people to denounce genuine hate speech in whatever form it takes and whomever it targets. It is time that the left started applying their own standards to the torrent of vicious anti-American hate speech pouring out of our news and entertainment media and academia. Perhaps then people will believe that their campaign against hate speech is genuine. ( Daniel G. Jennings is a freelance writer and journalist who lives and works in Denver, Colo.)

To: Neeka who wrote (411731)	6/5/2003 8:07:24 AM
From: JakeStraw	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769667

Stewart Quits Top Posts After Indictment By ERIN McCLAM Associated Press Writer customwire.ap.org NEW YORK (AP) -- Martha Stewart stepped down as head of the company she built on her vision of gracious living - a media empire now scarred by an indictment that could send its founder to prison. Stewart resigned late Wednesday as chairwoman and CEO of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, which has made her a fortune and stamped her style on everything from magazines and TV screens to bed linens and bath towels. She plans to stay on as creative chief and a member of the board. Stewart's resignation came hours after federal prosecutors in New York charged her with obstruction of justice, conspiracy, securities fraud and lying to investigators. She pleaded innocent on all counts before a federal judge, saying "not guilty" in a calm, deliberate tone and with little expression on her face. The indictment stems from Stewart's sale of nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone Systems on Dec. 27, 2001 - the day before a disappointing Food and Drug Administration report that sent the biotech company's stock price tumbling. Also indicted was Peter Bacanovic, Stewart's former broker at Merrill Lynch, who prosecutors say illegally sent word to Stewart that the family of ImClone founder Samuel Waksal was planning to unload shares. Bacanovic also pleaded innocent to all counts against him, including perjury and obstruction of justice. In an open letter published as a full-page ad in USA Today on Thursday, Stewart said, "I want you to know that I am innocent - and that I will fight to clear my name." "I simply returned a call from my stockbroker," Stewart wrote. "Based in large part on prior discussions with my broker about price, I authorized a sale of my remaining shares in a biotech company called ImClone. I later denied any wrongdoing in public statements and voluntary interviews with prosecutors. The government's attempt to criminalize these actions makes no sense to me." The letter was also published on a Web site - marthatalks.com - where Stewart said she would post information about the case. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $2 million fine for Stewart, and 25 years and $1.25 million for Bacanovic. Any sentences would likely be much lighter under federal guidelines. Following the indictment, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint seeking to ban Stewart, 61, from ever leading a public company and to limit her activity as officer of a public company. Regulators also want the court to force Stewart and Bacanovic to pay more than $45,000 - the losses they say Stewart avoided by unloading ImClone stock before Wall Street learned legally that the FDA had declined to review ImClone's application for approval of its cancer drug Erbitux. At a news conference, Manhattan U.S. Attorney James Comey told reporters the case was about Stewart's alleged lies - to the SEC, the FBI and to her own investors. "Martha Stewart is being prosecuted not because of who she is but because of what she did," he said. Her attorney said Stewart was being unfairly targeted - perhaps because of her extraordinarily high profile. Attorney Robert Morvillo also asked: "Is it because she is a woman who has successfully competed in a man's business world by virtue of her talent, hard work and demanding standards?" At a hearing before U.S. District Judge Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum, Stewart was released without bail until her next court appearance June 19. Stewart ignored reporters and camera crews as she entered and left the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. The indictment does not claim Stewart had specific knowledge of the FDA decision - only that the Waksals were about to dump shares. She was not charged with insider trading, a more difficult charge to prove than fraud. Still, according to the government, Bacanovic's tip on the Waksals was funneled through Douglas Faneuil, an assistant who pleaded guilty last year to a misdemeanor charge of taking gifts to keep quiet about Stewart's stock sale. Stewart even deleted a computer log of a phone message in which Bacanovic told her he thought ImClone was "going to start trading downward," according to the indictment. The securities-fraud charge claims Stewart misled her own shareholders last summer, playing down the scandal in a clear attempt to keep her company's stock price from falling. Waksal, a longtime friend of Stewart, will be sentenced next week after pleading guilty to six counts in the insider-trading scandal. He could get six to seven years in prison, plus fines. At Stewart's company, the scandal had already caused earnings to slump. Revenue in the first quarter dropped 15 percent from the same period a year earlier.