"Bits & Pieces" - Commentary by Tony Seton

Bits & Pieces

Bits and pieces from this reporter’s notebook.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....There’s dirt in the CBS eye after network executives caved to pressure from Republicans and conservatives and pushed their two-part movie on Ronald Reagan off to Showtime, a pay cable channel with fewer viewers. The right-wingers were upset at (1) because Reagan was portrayed in a less than glorious light, and (2) he was so portrayed by James Brolin, leftie Barbra Streisand’s husband. No doubt the movie was vapid anyway, but shame on all of them for the censorship.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....The White House is trying to explain why The Bush Boy hasn’t attended any funerals of Americans fallen in Iraq, or come out to express his sorrow with the shooting down of the Chinook helicopter on Sunday. They claim the president doesn’t want to show favoritism. Said a flack, "If a helicopter were hit an hour later, after he came out and spoke, should he come out again?" Well yeah, tell him to put down the pretzels, get off the couch, turn off the football game and tell the truth.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....A new report says that Saddamite officials tried to prevent the IraqAttaq with a last minute peace initiative. High-level Iraqis contacted top U.S. officials and said they had no WMDs, inviting our soldiers in for an inspection. Not to be deterred from their planned slaughter, the Bushies rebuffed the offer.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Microsoft announced a bounty on virus writers. The software giant is offering two $250,000 rewards for information leading to the convicting of the Blaster worm and the SoBig.F e-mail virus writers. This is part of a $5 million effort to bring justice to the sociopaths who would vicariously mess with the lives of millions of strangers.

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Some at the Pentagon like to travel in style. According to a new report, 44,000 people bought 68,000 first- and business-class tickets over the last two years. No guess on the extra cost. They’re gonna set up a task force to investigate. Lotsa heads are gonna roll, right?

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....Authorities in the Northwest think that they’ve got the killer of 48 women, most of them prostitutes. A meek-mannered 54-year-old painter, whom police dropped from their suspect list early into his killing spree, pleaded guilty to four dozen first-degree murder counts, explaining, "I did not want to pay them for sex."

Da-deet-da-deet-da-deet-deet....He’s lost that lovin’ feeling. Half of the Righteous Brothers is gone. Sixty-three-year-old Bobby Hatfield was found dead in his Kalamazoo hotel room. A soul and inspiration for generations of ballad loves, Hatfield, with his partner, Bill Medley, unchained some of the finest melodies in rock.

And that’s SetonnoteS...I’m Tony Seton.