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____________________________________ CHUCK MUTH’S NEWS & VIEWS April 25, 2004 To view the HTML version of today’s News & Views, just go to: http://www.chuckmuth.com/newsandviews/nv.cfm _____________________________________ POSTAL REFORM UPDATE Catch the latest news on the postal reform front by clicking on the “Goin’ Postal Updates” button at www.postalreform.com. In this week’s issue… * Mail to military overseas being “returned to sender” * Japan’s steps toward postal privatization * Internet biting into tax time postal revenue * GAO calls for breaking out the budget ax at USPS * Potter-vision: “unbending unions” and “unnecessary post offices” * USPS cost-cutting not enough for long term * Private businesses to USPS: Get off our toes! * The fly in the postal reform ointment: Unions * Postal reform prognosis for 2004 SOYBOY STEPS IN IT...AGAIN Our boy Nathan Tabor, a goof of a candidate down in North Carolina’s 5th congressional district, really knows how to win friends and influence people. His “charm” has now rubbed North Carolina District Attorney Tom Keith the wrong way. Wait’ll you read this... It all started with some anonymous email last February from a person identifying himself only as “Pastor Randy” which exposed Nathan’s criminal record for vandalizing a farmer’s property and driving around in a fancy car with an expired license (it was just an “oversight,” of course). Well, Li’l Nate has been on an Ahab-like quest to find out who was behind the Pastor Randy email ever since, convinced it was Jack Daly, a supporter of Tabor opponent Vernon Robinson. To make a long story short, Tabor’s campaign tricked an assistant DA in Keith’s office to issue a subpoena for Cox Communications in an effort to obtain ISP records which would identify “Pastor Randy” even after Keith told the local police department to drop their investigation. Cox provided the information requested in the subpoena, which indicated the “Pastor Randy” address belonged to Jack Daly...and Li’l Nate wasted no time issuing a hyperbolic “HAHA” press release claiming he had proved Daly was “Pastor Randy.” One problem: It actually “proved” nothing. Daly still maintains he’s not Pastor Randy. And Theo Helm of the Winston Salem-Journal reports that, “Like many things on the Internet, an Internet-protocol address can be faked (according to) Jay Dominick, an assistant vice president for information systems at Wake Forest University.” (http://www.journalnow.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=WSJ%2FMGArticle%2FWSJ_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1031775040677&path=!nationworld&s=1037645509161) Even techno-idiots know how easy it is to fake an email address. So you’d think Tabor, who’s campaign manager runs a technology firm, would know this. But Li’l Nate wasn’t about to let facts get in the way of his press release. And in the process he pulled of the biggest boners often made by novice and immature candidates...making an accusation against an opponent without first verifying, verifying and verifying it again. But back to the DA. Seems that even though Li’l Nate’s daddy was told by the Kernsville police department that they weren’t going to waste important crime-fighting time trying to track down an anonymous internet blogger in a political campaign, daddy went ahead and hired an attorney who tricked the ADA into coughing up the Cox Communications subpoena. This underhanded maneuver led Keith to tell the Winston Salem Journal, “I am outraged that we have been manipulated by the Tabor campaign. . . . I would not vote for Tabor as dogcatcher." If there is a bigger boob and more unworthy GOP candidate running for Congress this year than Nathan Tabor, we’ve yet to hear about them. Li’l Nate should just quit this campaign now before he embarrasses himself, his family and his brother’s business even more than he has already. BOONE-DOGGLE Have you noticed that a large number of folks who object to the notion of “gay marriage” can’t seem to articulate an actual argument against gay marriage without bringing polygamous marriage into the discussion? Latest case in point: crooner Pat Boone, who penned an op/ed for the Washington Times yesterday lambasting “politicians and judges (who) are trying to redefine the meaning of marriage” to include same-sex couples. “What’s next,” asks the singer, “a man and three women - a woman and four men?” See. Such folks don’t argue against same-sex marriage so much as they argue against what might come AFTER same-sex marriage. And it’s almost always something even “worse” than same-sex marriage, such as polygamous marriage, that they claim we really need to concern ourselves about. But here’s where the anti-gay marriage religious folks lose me. “Since the dawn of mankind,” Boone maintained, “the sacred bond of marriage has been correctly defined as a union between one woman and one man.” Um, but I thought I read somewhere (oh yeah, in the Bible) that polygamous marriages were OK in the “olden days.” And if so, Boone’s statement is...well, just plain wrong. Marriages were NOT defined as “one woman and one man.” And if polygamous marriages were OK in the Old Testament days, and polygamous marriages are supposedly worse than same-sex marriages today...but the reasoning against same-sex marriage is religious objections based on Old Testament teachings, then how can we object to something worse than same-sex marriages which was OK in the Bible and yet use that same Bible to come up with an argument to object to something that’s not as bad as something that was once OK? Oy, vey! It makes your head spin trying to follow this “logic.” Mr. Boone, with all due respect, might want to consider following Laura Ingraham’s advice and, “Shut Up and Sing.” FMA UPDATE Catch the latest on the federal marriage amendment front by clicking on the FMA UPDATE button at www.lawfullywedded.com. In this week’s edition… * Rauch interview link * Wildmon says FMA is DOA * Musgrave back-handed by own state * Hard right pushes to ban civil unions, as well * LaBarbera complains about ignorant Christian * Rank-and-file way ahead of “evangelical elites” * Reader: Laws don’t change men’s hearts * Chabot catches heat for not focusing on bigger fish * Barr says to stop clowning around with Constitution * It’s the stupid government, stupid! * Word games THE (CAMPAIGN) DOCTOR IS IN! You can’t change public policy if you don’t change public officials. So Citizen Outreach has established a separate website project dedicated to helping under-funded, underdog campaigns...especially at the state and local levels. Visit today...and make sure you sign up for FREE email “hot tips” on how to get more votes, more money and more volunteers for your campaign or grassroots organization. Go to: www.campaigndoctor.com * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Chuck Muth’s News & Views is published by Citizen Outreach, a non-partisan, 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. The opinions and views expressed in Chuck Muth's News & Views reflect those of the writers, editors and columnists therein and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Citizen Outreach, its officers, directors or employees. 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