Where I live, there is a local entertainment newspaper that comes out weekly called the New Times.  It is unquestionably a left wing rag, that offers the guarantee of anti-Christian, anti-Bush, anti-"the man," anti-corporate, anti-police and anti-conservative writings from cover to cover.  It is predictable.  I would guess that I have read three good journalistic articles in the past two years that benefited consumers and did not take cheap shots at one of the aforementioned groups. 

It is a publication that is designed to appeal to those on the left, with articles on recreational drug use, the joys of drunkenness, adultery, alternative lifestyles, strippers, bars, those suppressed by 'the man,' scandals in corporate America, scandals in the Republican Party, police cover-ups and anything else they can invent or extract from urban myth. 

Last week, the May 11th issue of New Times featured a cover story about a local Japanese chef who prepared meals out of domestic pets and animals from the endangered species list.  It was typical of the articles in the weekly, and did not raise suspicion.  As a matter of fact, after reading New Times for an extended period, the article was right in line with the type of oddball people the paper attempts to glamorize.   A slice of the bizarre that appeals to those who favor the bizarre.

The article described the hero chef serving a group of paying customers at a local public mansion a meal of bichon frise, penguins, pygmy owl, bighorn sheep, seal and sparrow. The mansion makes rooms available, at a cost, for private parties.

Reading the article would turn the stomach of most people, but it was certainly in line with other sickening articles featured in New Times over the years and not particularly odd in comparison to the normal fare every week. 

Today, I picked up the May 18th issue of New Times and my eyes were drawn to a small teaser on the front page pointing towards the Letters page.  Interestingly enough, it was a letter from the administrator of the mansion described in the previous weeks issue. He was furious with New Times for the exotic animal delicacy article and the fact that his establishment was mentioned. 

Apparently, since the article appeared the week before, he had received "hundreds of angry phone calls and e-mails from people around the country…."  "One of the phone messages was from a person who promised to burn down the mansion and another threatened the lives of our staff."  "Another phone call was from the Humane Society in Washington D.C. which was receiving hundereds of phone calls."  "In publishing this story, New Times has jeopardized the safety of my staff, and the safety of the Mansion, not to mention the financial loss of revenue from cancelled events." 

The New Times Editor responded, though quite amused at the result of their 'parody.' Yes, you read right, the paper claimed that it was satire and not meant to be believable. The joke was on the readers.  My opinion is that the joke is on the New Times paper.

If the 'exotic/endangered animals as food' story was believed by so many, then if must have been indistinguishable from what is normally published in the paper.  And what is most revealing, is the reaction by the PETA types out there.  They actually threatened to burn down a building and harm other people based on the content of the story.  Their knee-jerk reaction and willingness to "threaten the lives" of the mansion staff point out one reality.  Those on the extreme left put animals lives on a plateau above human life.

The editors response went on to say, "we were trying to poke fun at animal- rights wackos who'd send their turtles to MIT if not the institute's acceptance policy."  And, "don't go burning down the mansion please." 

Understand what has happened here………..the extreme left, in an effort to poke fun at the super extreme left, had underestimated their own extremist views to a point that reality was undistinguishable.  Hysteria and the threat of violence resulted, proving the delusional state that most on the extreme left are perpetually in.  So next time you're tempted to joke about snacking on sea-turtle eggs, think again.  Some maniac who worships Howard Dean has you in his crosshairs. 

I recently found a warning form stuck under my windshield wiper. The warning was from the Motor Vehicle Department and was placed where I found it by a police officer. The warning stated that I had allowed my vehicle registration to expire last October, and consequences would ensue soon if the situation remained in limbo. Funny, I thought, I know my registration is good through the latter part of this year.

Sure enough, a quick check of my registration proved this to be the case. Since the year sticker turned out to be missing from my license plate, the fact is that some low life stole the tag for their own use. I was now in the unenviable position to have to visit my local MVD office and wait in a long line. This is exactly what happened Saturday.

The wait outside the MVD office was close to an hour. The line snaked around two sides of the building. Strategically placed on either side of the line were two tables. One was manned by a middle aged white guy and the other a past-middle aged African American. The white guy represented a PETA or PETA affiliated organization. He was very vocal and very obnoxious, admonishing those in line that lest they sign his petition, they will allow helpless animals to die.  "Do you want to let animals die?," he repeated methodically. "Sir, do you want to let animals die?" he asked me three or four times. The tone was accusitory.

The African-American gentleman claimed to be non-partisan and was aggressively registering all those within earshot to vote.  He went from person to person, from one end of the line to the other insisting that all who were unregistered come to his table.  Once there, he launched into a diatribe about the evils of the Bush Administration and the Republicans, using every Michael Moorish line and fictional argument one can imagine.  How very "non-partisan" of him.

As if these two weren't enough, a third democratic party operative went from person to person down the entire length of the line.  He wore a Vietnam Veteran hat. Under other circumstances, that may have ingratiated him in my eyes, but his message fell flat with me.  He was urging every captive member in line to sign his petition requiring the state to send all residents a voting ballot.  While this initiative was originally started by a Republican who lost a primary run, it was now embraced by the democrats who see an unchecked source of additional votes for their party.  The guy leaned on me hard when I refused to sign what sat on his clipboard.

You may compliment the democratic party on their aggressive determination to win back seats in November, and put their man or woman in the Oval Office in '08, but I see an ethical problem. 

They were soliciting with a political agenda outside a state motor vehicle office, all the while claiming non-partisan intentions.  They had a captive audience, people filling a legal obligation to the state, who were being persuaded to vote democratic.  While they solicited a captive audience with the endorsement of the state, they ranted about a Republican President and his party, despite a promise of non-partisanship.  Surely, the democratic administration that runs this state endorsed the actions of the solicitors.

I felt violated.  Yeah, that sounds like a gross exaggeration, but it is the best way to describe the experience. When one is required to visit a motor vehicle office, and wait in a long line to make a transaction that can not be done on-line, and then to be harrassed is irritating. To have to listen to a rehashing of Michael Moore/ Howard Dean talking points with the state's blessing is angering.

This is only one of many MVD offices in my state.  I have to assume that this activity is occurring at every one of them.  It is likely happening at motor vehicle offices in all 50 states.  Is it any wonder that the Presidents approval rating sits at 31% even as I write this? 

Have you read any good articles in your local paper about the President?  Heard any pro-Bush stories on CNN? Seen an upbeat story about all the hospitals we're building in Iraq, the new schools, power stations, water treatment plants and virtual information project?  Of course not. And as the democratic connected media tells it, so do the motor vehicle department hawkers. 

The message prevails………….never mind the strong economy, the record low unemployment, the record high home ownership, the record high school test scores, the success of no child left behind, the strategy to turn a war torn mideast into a series of democracies, who don't fight with each other.  Never mind any of this good news, because the naysayers outside the MVD offices are building to a crescendo with the bad news printed in every major newspaper.  This insidious strategy is at work today and every day.  Proof positive that you can fool most of the people, most of the time.

November may prove that a consistant fictional message prevails over an invisible factual one.  The vehicles for the fictional message are many, and varied, and reach a large audience. The means cross all ethical boundries, but no one is complaining, so new members of congress and the White House may find their way inside the beltway because snake oil sellers prevailed.