When Democrats in the 43rd state legislative district in suburban Seattle met April 5 to select delegates to the state convention, they refused to begin their deliberations by saying the Pledge of Allegiance: "At the mere mention of doing the pledge there were groans and boos," wrote Web logger Eli Sanders, who attended the caucus.  "Then, when the district chair put the idea of doing the pledge up to a vote, it was overwhelmingly voted down.  One might more accurately say the idea of pledging allegiance to the flag...was shouted down." The 43rd is part of the congressional district represented by Rep. James McDermott (D-Wash), who just before the start of the Iraq war made a trip to Iraq to criticize U.S. foreign policy...

It's not widely recognized that the Wall Street Journal is a left-wing rag, a propaganda organ for the Democrat Party no less than the New York Times. That's because people compare the editorials, not the news coverage.  The WSJ is a schizophrenic, split-personality paper with a pro-America editorial page (yes, except for their open-borders nonsense), while that of the NYT's is so anti-American it is often outright treasonous. But if you focus on the front section news coverage, you'll see little difference between the two.  A perfect example is this "news" story of April 7 in the WSJ:  Democrats' Hopes for Seat Rise. The opening line of the story is: "A conservative firebrand with a connection to a former Ku Klux Klan leader will run for a Louisiana seat in the (U.S.) House of Representatives, raising Democrats' hopes they can pick up what has been a reliably conservative district for more than three decades." The "conservative firebrand" in question is Woody Jenkins, the Republican candidate.  That description of him is accurate - he's a passionate pro-life, pro-Christian, pro-capitalist, pro-America, pro-Western Civilization guy.  He's stand-up honest, integrity personified, born and raised in the Louisiana district (Baton Rouge) he represented in the state legislature for 28 years. I should know, for he's been a good friend of mine for a quarter-century.  And that's how I know the WSJ's smear alleging he has "a connection to a former Ku Klux Klan leader" is a complete willful fabrication.  The author of the WSJ article, Susan Davis, is not a journalist, she's a professional left-wing smear artist.

"Disregard what we told you last week."  "Mainstream" journalists in Iraq haven't said that in so many words.  But the stories they're writing this week say it implicitly. On March 31, six days of fighting between Iraqi government forces and the Iranian-backed militia nominally headed by the Shia cleric Moqtada al Sadr subsided when al Sadr asked for a cease fire and his forces abandoned the battlefield.  We were told at the time the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had suffered a humiliating defeat. But this week's stories make clear that Mr. Maliki is not acting like someone who has suffered a humiliating defeat, and Mr. al Sadr is not behaving like someone who has won a big victory. That's because Moqtada's "Mahdi Army" has been getting its clock cleaned - to the dismay of our journalists.

"Ted Turner Offers To Commit Suicide To End Global Warming." That should have been the headline for this story, in which the founder of CNN declared: "We're too many people; that's why we have global warming." The HFR couldn't agree more with you on this, Ted - with one caveat.  What we actually have is too many people like you.  Anyone who believes there are too many people inhabiting the earth has only one moral and consistent path of action to take: Start reducing the human population by starting with themselves, i.e., commit suicide. The world really will be much better off without you, Ted.  Trust us on this.  We don't care how you do it - slit your wrists, drink Draino, whatever - just don't take anyone else along with you unless it's Jane Fonda. In the meantime, the HFR thanks you for so clearly reminding everyone what an incredible idiot you are, and how every time you open your mouth, you do grave damage to the credibility of the commie causes you mindlessly espouse.

Most of such racists as remain in America are black.  This is because black racism is tolerated, even -- in certain quarters -- encouraged, while white racists receive the scorn and contempt they deserve.  As Jack Kemp said in another connection, "you get more of what you subsidize, less of what you tax." Black racism will fester and grow as long as racists like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright are treated more gently than racists like David Duke. Mr. Duke, a former grand dragon of the Ku Klux Klan, has been excoriated by every major political figure, liberal and conservative. But Jeremiah Wright has many defenders -- both among white liberals and his fellow black clergy -- for his views, which he has expressed in more inflammatory language than Mr. Duke employs. Why the double standard?  The reason, liberals say, is the guilt white Americans are supposed to feel for slavery and segregation.

Let's skip across the treetops of technology this week.  Thanks to a Navy TTP reader who notified Bill Gregory who then notified me of a new technology via Google. Its called Goolgle-411, simply enough and it is pretty slick. You pick up your cell phone and dial 800-Goog411 (466-4411) and you speak your location into the phone. Next tell the phone what you are looking for and voila, the business, restaurant, or site of interest is served up to you promptly free of charge... ... Some new digital cameras are showing up with an interesting addition to their already amazing qualities. Facial recognition software is being included with a number of models... ...Then there's this trio of tidbits, plus a glorious technological surprise...

"Tokyo, Japan, March 26.  In the opening game of the baseball season here between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics, 11 runs were scored." That headline would be unsatisfying to most sports fans, because it doesn't indicate which team won.  But it is very like most of the reporting of battles in Iraq: "The deadliest clashes were in Basra, where at least 47 people were killed and 223 wounded in the two days of fighting," wrote the AP's Kim Gamel in a dispatch March 26. Ms. Gamel was writing about the opening clashes of Operation Knight's Charge, the effort by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki to take control of Iraq's second most populous city from Iranian-backed militias, chiefly the Mahdi Army nominally headed by the Moqtada al Sadr. Fighting subsided after Mr. al Sadr called for a cease fire Sunday.   It is rare in the annals of war for the side which is winning to seek a cease fire.