Sunday Morning Read (Washington Times Edition)

If you wish to keep up with the news and politics of the day, you could do a lot worse than subscribing to the Washington Times email list. The Times has long (since 1984, that is) been the conservative alternative to the Democrat / Leftist propaganda organ known as the Washington Post. In 1984, WaPo stood alone on the local newspaper field, after the prior year’s demise of Washington’s previous “other newspaper” – the Washington Star. The founding of the Times filled a competitive hole in the ideological information landscape.

The Times was founded, and funded at a loss, by New World Communications, until 2010. (I don’t know, but I’ll bet it’s still running at a loss under new ownership.) New World Communications is an international media conglomerate with holdings in other interesting places like Japan, South Korea, and South America. New World Communications is also associated with the Unification Church and its’ founder Sun Myung Moon. The Times, as you would expect, has often been the butt of jokes implying it is “cultish,” based on this association with the “moonies.” On the other hand, you might be able to see the possible interest a South Korean religious figure with deep financial resources might have in funding right leaning voices for religious freedom. South Korea, after all, happens to be located immediately south of North Korea – that militaristic socialist (i.e. fascist) regime, run by the lunatic Kim family dynasty.

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I subscribed to home delivery of the Times’ paper edition off and on for many years. Every couple of years or so the phone would ring while I was sitting at my desk paying bills or something, and a disembodied voice would offer me a great deal on trying the Times (again). My agreement would produce the unintended consequence of barely read, ink soaked, dual folded papers stacked up on my porch, waiting to be placed on the curb for the recycling industry. I would fail to proactively renew the subscription, then the phone would ring at my bill paying desk some time later, and the cycle would repeat.

When the time honored phone call arrived this past week, I told the disembodied voice ‘no thank you, I’m already on the email list.’ (The advantage for me - I barely ever read the emails, either, but at least the unread bytes don’t produce an unsightly pile on my porch.) The disembodied voice accepted my answer on face value and politely moved on to her next call. I’m not sure how the Times can survive this environment, but that’s not my problem to resolve right now.

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Instead I’ll post on today’s delivery of the Times’ Top Stories and Opinion pages to my email inbox. The three part format is as follows: The original Times link, my alternative heading matching it to this blog’s theme, and a reprint of the comment I left behind as LAS. All the comments immediately went into moderation – I presume due to the harmless little url signature I habitually include – as is the right and privilege of the Times’ staff, of course. This post will allow me to circle back and audit their moderation standards.

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BARRASSO: Strategic Petroleum Reserve is for emergencies - not political disasters

LAS Headline
Obama will drain Strategic Petroleum Reserve to fund re-election campaign.

LAS Comment
Draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve will be a "two-fer" for Barry. In the short term it helps his re-election prospects by artificially lowering prices. After the election, it won't be there to offset his second term agenda to drive prices through the roof. And he will ruthlessly pursue this second term agenda - no question.

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RUSE: Obama mandate: Not a women’s issue

LAS Headline
Gub’ment takeover of health insurance industry has officially entered the bedroom.

LAS Comment
Memo to Gloria Allred: If you make me pay for your contraceptives, you have to pay for my booze. Deal?

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EDITORIAL: Taking back property rights

LAS Headline
Supremes were wrong to rule in favor of Crony Developers

LAS Comment
Just one of many "precedents" the Supremes have been dead wrong on.

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KUHNER: Obama’s Islamist agenda

LAS Headline
Obama extended open hand, Tehran cut it off ... next President to “inherit" one hell of a mess in Middle East.

LAS Comment
“[Hillary says] Arab Spring is backsliding” Backsliding? It never was. Barry and Hillary were hoodwinked by the Muslim Brotherhood from day one.

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Limbaugh apologizes for making slurs about Georgetown student

LAS Headline
Team Leftie trots out useful idiot to testify in favor of unconstitutional institutional mandate.

LAS Comment
I need a PC ruling: Can I label her a “mooch” for asking the rest of us to underwrite her voluntary behaviors?

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Movie Review: ‘The Lorax,’ cuddly cartoon agitprop the Unabomber would’ve loved

LAS Headline
Dr. Seuss as interpreted by Dr. Goebbels.

LAS Comment
The answer to your last two questions ... Hollywood still thinks it's profitably hip to be openly Leftie. This will change in due time. The only thing Hollywood really cares about is being popular.

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Conflicting accounts over Afghan Koran burnings

LAS Headline
Surprise! No wrong doing in Afghan Koran burnings. Expect more riots. And more Obama apologies.

LAS Comment
Cooler heads will prevail officially. Islamists will riot when the findings are announced nevertheless. It's what they do.