August 15, 2004 by s.z.

Pushing RadioUserLand Comments Space to the Farthest Limits, Thanks to the Bible It seems like all the comment space got used up for the post on Amber's take on the assault weapons ban -- and so comments made after this morning aren't showing up (at least I can't see them).  So (although it's probably a bad idea, in that it will make our new friend think we care what he thinks), I will post -- as comments -- the emailed versions of the comments (well, I will as soon as the comment function comes back).   I'm sorry if I miss anybody, or if your formatting gets messed up in the conversion. 9:39:44 PM

The $5 Million Dollar Man Here's one for Roger Ailes' "Grand Old Police Blotter" -- the Richard "Dick" Dasen story: KALISPELL, Mont. — Until he was arrested this year in his underwear in a motel room with a nearly naked young woman who was behind in her payments to his finance company, no businessman in this town was more respected than Richard Dasen. Being arrested in a sleazy motel in your underwear with a nearly naked young woman who's behind on her car loan: now THAT'S what I call a sex scandal! Anyway, it seems that Dasen, a man known for his civic and church work, has been charged with rape for allegedly paying a 15-year-old girl for sex; he's also been charged with two felony counts of promoting prostitution, and one of "sexual abuse of children," for taking sexually explicit pictures of girls younger than 18.  Dasen apparently preyed on young women who were having financial problems due to meth addiction. Asked by police how many women were involved, Dasen said there had been too many to count. He also apparently lost count, police say, of how much money he paid these women. Investigators counting his checks — he paid by check, in amounts between $1,000 and $6,000 per encounter, sometimes as much as $130,000 a month — now estimate that Dasen spent at least $5 million, said Charles Harball, the city attorney.  And I thought that Robert Redford was a chump for paying $1 million for sex in Indecent Proposal! Many of the women Dasen allegedly paid for sex met him for the first time when they came to Christian Financial Counseling for help in consolidating and managing their debts. Well, he did help them with with their debts, although most would argue about the Christianity of his methods . . . Detectives have interviewed about 40 of these women, and many of them have said that Dasen "used their indebtedness to him to coerce them to have sex," Kalispell Police Chief Frank Garner said. If Dasen was "not satisfied with the sexual services that he was receiving, it was common for [him] to arrange for repossession of vehicles that he has purchased or funded for those females, through his finance company," according to a confidential informant's statement to police that is quoted in court documents. "Lucille, you'd better show a little more enthusiasm about that blow job, or the Honda gets it."   And here's the portion of the news story which qualifies it for the "Grand Old Police Blotter: "He was incredibly benevolent," said Denise Cofer, a local activist in the Christian Coalition and a candidate in the fall election for county commissioner. She said Dasen was a supporter of conservative Christian causes, such as opposition to abortion. Anyway, even though Dasen owns a successful finance company and some other businesses, the police are still investigating where the $5 mill he spent on sex came from.  "He had access to a lot of funds from a lot of different sources, and there is really no accounting for any of it," Harball said. The state Department of Public Health and Human Services also is trying to find out what Dasen, as a court-appointed conservator, did with $500,000 that had been awarded in a product-liability settlement for the long-term care of a severely brain-damaged child. Throw in the fact that Dasen's DNA was detected on a semen-stained bedspread in the room in which a young woman was found stranged last year (although Dasen's not been named as a suspect in the case), and this story would be the epitome of sex scandals  -- you know, if only Dasen was the Vice President or something. 4:46:13 AM

Hey, Vern! NC Candidate: Pakistani a 'Terrorist' The minute I saw that headline, I knew who the "NC Candidate" must be: our old friend Vernon Robinson.  I hope those NewsMax readers are happy to see how their campaign contributions were used. CHARLOTTE, N.C. Aug. 15, 2004 — A Pakistani man charged with immigration violations after filming Charlotte skyscrapers is described as a "terrorist" who came to the country "to kill you" in a new television ad from a North Carolina congressional candidate. Vernon Robinson began airing the ad days before his runoff election Tuesday in a Republican primary against state Sen. Virginia Foxx. Of course, the Pakistani is Kamran Akhtar, who videotaped buildings in Dallas, Houston and Las Vegas.  He is being held on immigration-related charges while the authorities investigate whether he has any ties to terrorism. His family said that Akhtar is a just a video buff.  But he's a foreigner and he entered the U.S. through Mexico, which is all the proof that Vernon needs to declare that Akhtar is a terrorist who came to the America to kill YOU!.  Akhtar's attorney, George Miller, called the political ad "grossly unfair." "We haven't even had a probable cause hearing," Miller told the Charlotte Observer. "There's been no trial. There's been nothing." Well, 9/11 changed everything, including the legal presumption that someone is innocent until proven guilty.  At least that's the case when a politician needs a poster child for his new fear-mongering ad.  And here's a description of that ad, which shows a photo of Akhtar, as an announcer speaks: "When Vernon said our unguarded Mexican border was a threat to our national security, the liberals laughed," an announcer says in the ad. "They're not laughing anymore.   Hey, I'm still laughing at Vernon! This is Pakistani terrorist Kamran Akhtar. He got arrested videotaping targets in Charlotte, North Carolina. He came here illegally, across our Mexican border." Then Robinson speaks: "I'm Vernon Robinson and I approve this message because Akhtar didn't come here to live the American dream. He came here to kill you. Yes, you!  Akhtar knows where you live, and with his videocamera of mass destruction, he was going to murder you while you slept.  He also was going to sleep with your wife and beat up your dog.  In Congress, I will shut that border down." Wow, if North Carolina's 5th district elects Vernon as their Congressman, then he will single-handedly shut down the U.S./Mexico border?  That's quite a campaign promise!  I hope the voters in his district appreciate his looniness as much as I do. 3:44:19 AM