Front page Archive Why Arlen? Arlen is the TV home of "King of the Hill." It's a small conservative town that is threatened with ruination on a regular basis by twig boys, enviro wackos, diversity nuts, "PC" police and other ivory tower liberals. I like to think of Arlen as a metaphor for this here great nation of ours.

Monday, May 30, 2005 Posted 6:42 PM by Hank WES CLARK COMPARES BUSH TO DARTH VADER ITHACA--Apparently, democrats are tired of comparing President Bush to Hitler, and have decided to compare him to fictional dictators for the rest of the summer. Speaking at Cornell University's convocation on Saturday (May 28), former Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark compared the President to "Star Wars" supervillain Darth Vader: "We don't need the kind of leadership that is so hackneyed that George Lucas quotes it in "Star Wars:" 'If you're not with us, you're against us,' " Clark said to an over-capacity crowd Ironically, "Star Wars" creator George Lucas himself has denied the Bush-Vader comparison. However, apparently Clark, like many modern Democrats, will not let the facts stand in the way of a good Bush attack. Monday, May 23, 2005 Posted 6:04 AM by Hank DEM CONGRESSMAN BLAMES "REPUBLICAN SPIN” FOR $161,000 IN JUNKET MONEY ITHACA"New York State Congressman Maurice Hinchey, recently under fire for “racking up a stunning $161,393 [in free travel] footed by special-interest groups,” is excusing his actions by blaming “Republican spin.” But a non-partisan group tells a different story. Writing in the Ithaca Journal, Hinchey, claims that his trips, to such places as Rome, Shanghai and Morocco, are ethical because he does not consider the groups that footed the bills to be lobbyists: "[A]ll of my privately funded trips abroad have been sponsored by well-known and highly regarded non-partisan, non-profit organizations that are dedicated to informing public policy.” Therefore, Hinchey blames “Republican spin” for his reputation as “New York's king of comped travel.” However, according to the non-partisan website, PoliticalMoneyLine, this does not, as Hinchey implies, mean that the groups are unaffiliated with lobbyists: "There is no legal prohibition to prevent a lobbyist from serving on the board of these organizations, and in some cases lobbyists may encourage a client to contribute to the non-profit. In some cases, serving on a non-profit's board permits the lobbyist to participate in the sponsored event or travel for Members of Congress." In defending his actions, Hinchey also fails to mention that, while all of his foreign travel is funded by “non-partisan, non-profit organizations,” his domestic travel is not. For example, PoliticalMoneyLine reports, in December, 2003, Hinchey traveled to Naples, Florida, as guest of the American Shipbuilding Association, racking up nearly $1800, in meals and lodging in that resort community. Hinchey closes his defense of this travel by stating he plans to travel to Ithaca soon, to hold a “community forum” and meet with Ithaca Journal editors. No word yet on which “non-partisan” group will be footing the bill. Monday, May 09, 2005 Posted 11:41 AM by Hank GANNETT EDITOR: OK TO VANDALIZE PROPERTY, THROW BLOOD ON FLAG A Gannett News editor has called for the dismissal of criminal charges against four anti-war protesters who vandalized an Army recruiting office near Ithaca, New York and poured blood on the office's American flag. Writing in his syndicated column, Dave Rossie justified the actions of the self-styled "St. Patrick's Day Four" as necessary to counter "Americans' sheep-like acceptance of this administration's lies and deceptions" over the war in Iraq: The defendants have said they acted out of conscience in opposition to an unjust and illegal war, and it would be unfair, it says here, to doubt their motives. They certainly had nothing to gain from what they did. Defenders of our misadventure in Iraq bridle at comparisons with Vietnam, but they are becoming impossible to ignore. Civilian protest is but one example. Home front protests against our involvement in Vietnam were far more explosive and widespread, and they helped bring that sorry episode in our history to an end. Because the defendants acted out of "conscience," Rossie noted, "The federal judge should toss the case after opening arguments." In addition to writing a column for Gannett, Rossie serves associate editor of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin, in Vestal, New York. Unless he is a hypocrite, it would seem that he invites anyone who, in good conscience, disagrees with what he wrote to go there and trash his office, with no threat of criminal prosecution whatsoever Home