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REALITY TV �A video posted yesterday on an al Qaeda-linked Web site showed the beheading of an American civilian in Iraq in what was said to be revenge for abuse of Iraqi prisoners. The video showed five men in head scarves and black ski masks standing over a bound man in an orange jumpsuit similar to a prisoner's uniform. The man identified himself as Nick Berg, a U.S. civilian whose body was found Saturday near a highway overpass in Baghdad. "�My name is Nick Berg, my father's name is Michael, my mother's name is Suzanne,� the man said on the video. �I have a brother and sister, David and Sarah. I live in ... Philadelphia.� After reading a statement, the men were seen pulling the bound man to his side and putting a large knife to his neck. A scream sounded as the men cut off his head, shouting �Allahu akbar, or �God is great.� They held the head up to the camera.� - Associated Press, 5/12/04 FIGHTING WORDS �So we tell you that the dignity of the Muslim men and women in Abu Ghraib and others is not redeemed except by blood and souls. You will not receive anything from us but coffins after coffins...slaughtered in this way. . . . As for you Bush...expect severe days. You and your soldiers will regret the day you stepped into the land of Iraq." - Statement by those who killed Nick Berg ENOUGH IS ENOUGH Let�s see. On one hand we have a handful of stupid American kids insulting, ridiculing and humiliating a some naked Iraqi prisoners. On the other hand, an American is filmed being beheaded in a scene more gruesome than anything even Hollywood could dream up. Enough already. The time for self-flagellation and gnashing of teeth over Abu Ghraib is over. Get off Rumsfeld�s back. Level Fallujah. Give al-Sadr 24 hours to turn himself in to the AMERICANS or hunt him down and wipe him and his �soldiers� out. Ditto al-Zarqawi. Let�s be honest here, folks. Somehow we HAVE gotten off track in Iraq. We stopped killing bad guys and started making nice with the �international community.� With regard to Nick Berg�s beheading, White House spokesman Scott McClellan referred to the perpetrators as �enemies of freedom.� BS. They�re murderers and animals; scum of the earth. McClellan said we want to �bring them to justice.� No we don�t; we want to send them to hell. Why can�t we call a spade a spade? It�s WAY past time to stop talking softly and wearing kid gloves. Frankly, we�ve reverted to handling this war on terrorists the way it was handled under the previous administration. Let�s hope Nick Berg�s murder shocks the White House and the nation back into reality. Cut the Marines loose and finish draining the swamp. Enough pussy-footing around. Time to get serious again. Finish the job. Kill or be killed. Do it to them before they do it to us...again. MILLION MOM DUD �Here's more evidence that a million ain't what it used to be. On Sunday the Million Mom March ended up attracting between 2,000 and 3,000 women to the West Lawn of the Capitol. . . . It tells you something about where this issue is heading politically that now-Senator Clinton didn't bother showing up this year.� - �Review & Outlook,� Wall Street Journal, 5/11/04 SUPER SIZED FLOP According to Movies.com, �Van Helsing� cleaned up at the box office over the weekend, leading the pack and pulling in $51.7 million buckaroos. �Scooby-Doo 2,� which was released way back in March, came in 12th place this weekend, racking up a little over a million Scooby-snacks. Meanwhile, Morgan Spurlock�s �Super Size Me� pig-out came in 20th place and only racked up a comparatively pathetic five hundred thousand dollars from suckers who either (a) hate McDonald�s or (b) like seeing a goofball blow chunks on screen. Remember folks, this anti-business propaganda flick was an �award winner� at this year�s annual Sundance (Liberal) Film Festival. But in the real-life box office...it was a super-sized flop. So there IS some justice in the world. POSTAL LAPDOG? If you think former Clintonite Jamie Gorelick has an irreconcilable conflict of interest serving on the September 11 Commission, wait�ll you get a load of this. The post office has a government-enforced monopoly on delivery of the mail. No one in the private sector is allowed to compete with it. For this reason (and others), the Postal Rate Commission was established to make sure the post office doesn�t abuse its monopoly and start charging citizens an arm and leg for delivery services which they are prohibited from getting elsewhere. Government monopolies are not the same as private enterprise and, therefore, shouldn�t be granted the same license to raise rates as a market-driven businesses. With that in mind, that a man named Dawn Tisdale is being considered to fill a vacancy on the PRC is extremely troubling. Mr. Tisdale is a former letter carrier, a former postmaster and a longtime postal union leader. To think that this guy will be an independent and unbiased regulator rather than a �rubber stamp� for the USPS is to stretch credibility. The postal unions regularly testify on rate cases brought before the commission. How likely is it that Mr. Tisdale will tell his former colleagues �no� when they ask for a rate increase to boost the number of employees, pay or benefits of postal workers? How likely will he be to support cut-backs and private sourcing rather than hiking the cost of stamps? How likely will he be to support closing down under-utilized facilities which might adversely impact some of his friends and union allies? Mr. Tisdale�s nomination hearing on April 29th did nothing to alleviate such concerns. In fact, such questions were never even raised by anyone on the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs chaired by Sen. Susan Collins of Maine. We think it�s time someone DID ask these questions before Mr. Tisdale�s nomination comes to the floor of the Senate for a vote. If you agree, add you name, questions and/or comments on our electronic Discussion Board. We�ll compile/edit them and forward along with a cover letter from Citizen Outreach to senators this weekend. To put your two cents in, go to: http://blog.chuckmuth.com/blog/ * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 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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