I rarely actually write complaint letters — I often contemplate it, but usually lack the motivation to actually do it — but WSBT, the local CBS affiliate, aired a sufficiently ridiculous “news report” this evening that I was inspired to write the following e-mail to their news director:

Ms. Sauer,

I’m writing to express my disappointment with your station’s report on tonight’s late edition about the MoveOn.org ad campaign against Chris Chocola. The report was a classic example of shoddy journalism placing “balance” ahead of the truth. You told us how MoveOn said Chocola voted, and you told us how Chocola said he voted, but you never told us how Chocola actually voted. Past Congressional votes are a matter of fact, not opinion. They are also a matter of public record. Therefore, it’s your job, as journalists, to look up the facts and inform the public — not just quote the Left’s opinion and the Right’s opinion and call it even.

It’s especially absurd that you quoted Chocola as saying that he voted for “what he calls the Refinery Act.” What do you mean “what he calls”? That’s either its name, or it isn’t, and he either voted for it, or he didn’t! Did the reporter research this question at all, or did you just figure it was sufficient to give your viewers “both sides” without actually getting to the truth?

As the election approaches, I hope you will take more seriously your responsibility to inform the public of crucial facts, and not just serve as a mouthpiece for propagandists on both sides.

Sincerely,
Brendan Loy
South Bend, IN

Harumph.

Rep. Tom DeLay will drop out of his re-election race, two Republican congressional sources tell CNN. Visit CNN for the latest.

Florida and UCLA are about to get underway in the national championship game.

UPDATE: UCLA trails 42-25 with 17:30 to go, matching their biggest deficit of the tournament (against Gonzaga). Can the Bruins pull another miracle comeback? Right now, their hopes for a championship — and Mike Tran’s hopes to break several Living Room Times pool records — are in serious trouble.

UPDATE 2: A near perfect game by the Gators, and Florida wins, 73-57!

For the first time all tournament long, Mike Tran gets a game wrong where the winner wasn’t a team that he had predicted to lose in the first round. Unfortunately for him, it was his Bruins, in the title game. Brian Kiolbasa holds onto the all-time Living Room Times men’s pool points record, and Justin Vale holds onto a share of the largest margin of victory in any Times pool. (Full update on the pool a little later.)

UPDATE 3: Okay, the quality of One Shining Moment has really declined over the years. For such a scintillating tournament (well, up until the Final Four), that was a subpar highlight reel. C’mon… not showing Northwestern State’s buzzer-beater is inexcusable! Likewise, why show UCLA’s players running around the court instead of showing the actual dramatic play where they beat Gonzaga? Give us more dramatic plays and fewer slow-motion closeups of players’ faces, please. Also, where was Wichita State? Only one Bradley highlight? Only one really good George Mason highlight? LAME!

Zacarias Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty, a jury decides in the first U.S. trial about the 9/11 attacks. Visit CNN for the latest.

I’ve been meaning to post this for a few weeks now, but I haven’t gotten around to it. And given that I’m not always up on everything posted on Brendan’s website, this may have already made news here …

In what is sure to be a grim vision of things to come, Major League Soccer’s team formerly known as the New York/New Jersey Metrostars have a major sponsor … And, as such, a new name. That’s right, they are now known as the New York Red Bulls.
I’ll save the editorializing, but give me a break! I see the future of sports ownership, and it ain’t pretty … I’m waiting for Disney to follow suit and name one of their sports franchises after Mickey Mouse. Because that’s going to strike fear into the hearts of opponents.

BTW: the Red Bulls tied DC United 2-2 yesterday in their opener at RFK Stadium in DC.

Great link for fellow trekkies.

I realize by the time most of you get to brendanloy.com in the morning you will have noticed that The New York Times has launched a redesign of their website, which their Letter to our Readers explains. But in case you didn’t now you know

Some additional information from Khoi Vinh, on the The Awesome Redesign I Didn’t Do. Khoi recently joined the NYTimes design team; before that one of his last freelance projects was a redesign of The Onion Which he talked about on his blog. As well as an interview he did with The Weekly Standards. So there you go, perhaps some added value for those that care about such esoteric things. At minimum, it gives you a killer trivia question should the need arise.

Irish Trojan readers with ties to the Buffalo area will be greatly relieved to learn that Tim Horton’s is not an Al Qaeda target.

In addition to the deadly tornadoes near where DrawingDead lives in northwestern Tennessee, a possible tornado caused damage in downtown Indianapolis in the midst of the city’s Final Four festivities. There was wicked weather in Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky and Illinois, too. CNN has more. Here’s an image of the storm that caused it all, as of 10:45 PM last night:

The Virginian-Pilot looks at the question of whether George Mason can become “Gonzaga of the East.”

Are the conditions ripe for another Ross Perot? InstaPundit thinks so.

This all relates to the immigration issue, about which Mickey Kaus’s take is worth reading.

A trailer for the Simpsons movie is playing with Ice Age 2, in theaters now. But you don’t need to go to the theater; you can watch it here. (Hat tip: Andrew Hiller.)

Given that the Republican Party’s symbol is an elephant, one can’t help but wonder if it was a Freudian slip, a clever double entendre, or simply an unfortunate choice of words, when Barack Obama said of Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman, after Lieberman’s speech at a Democratic fund-raiser was met with a mixed reaction:

“I know that some in the party have differences with Joe. I’m going to go ahead and say it. It’s the elephant in the room. And Joe and I don’t agree on everything. But what I know is, Joe Lieberman’s a man with a good heart, with a keen intellect, who cares about the working families of America. I am absolutely certain that Connecticut’s going to have the good sense to send Joe Lieberman back to the United States Senate.”

Some are less certain, as the above-linked New York Times article indicates, and Democratic primary challenger Ned Lamont intends to keep it that way. Read the whole thing.

In a related story, check out Bayou Buzz’s April Fools joke. Heh.

At least eight people were killed when a tornado slammed into
northwestern Tennessee's Dyer County, emergency official says. Visit CNN for the latest.

Duke’s dominating 64-45 win over LSU means the 9th annual Living Room Times women’s NCAA pool will go down to the wire between Rick Boeckler and Victoria Lopez.

Boeckler, a resident of Silver Spring, MD, needs home-state team Maryland to win the championship. Lopez, a former USC student who is trying to break the “Trojan Curse” in Living Room Times pools, needs Duke — which ousted the Women of Troy from the tournament in the second round — to win.

Neither Boeckler nor Lopez got both of Sunday’s games right. The only contestants who can claim that are Josh Rubin (currently in 26th place) and Brandon Minich (currently in 30th). They both picked Maryland to win the championship, as did Chris Evans — the only other contestant who predicted the Terrapins would reach the title game. (35 contestants picked Duke to get this far, and 14 said the Blue Devils would win the title.)

More after the jump.

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