And the whining continues

By now you all have heard about the conservative Princeton student who faked threatening notes and an attack on himself.

I won't recount the story. But there is an excellent article on the situation by blogger Max Blumenthal. You can read it here.

As for me, I don't feel the need to give my opinion of the matter. It has been the talk of the blogs for over a day now and I don't think that I can add to anything that I have read.

But I can't help but to feel sorry for the guy. He had advantages and wasted them. He was attending Princeton, one of the top universities in the country and in one swoop, destroyed that opportunity.

It is a sad situation when folks feel that they have to make up stories to further their cause. And it's even sadder when they are caught.

Now from the department of giving someone cheese to go with that whine comes our friend, Gary Bauer.

Bauer, a "pro-family" activist and former Presidential candidate is upset over the following:

A U.S. judge ordered the Secret Service on Monday to disclose records of visits by nine prominent conservative Christian leaders to the White House and Vice President Dick Cheney's residence.

The ruling, in response to a legal watchdog group's suit, could shed light on the influence leaders like James Dobson of Focus on the Family have had on President George W. Bush's administration. It may also affect legal efforts to force the release of visiting records of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other similar cases.

"We think that these conservative Christian leaders have had a very big impact," said Executive Director Melanie Sloan of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which filed the case.

Bauer registered his anger with One News Now. I am sure he knew that this supposed news organization (which is an extension of the American Family Association) would print his comments without the courtesy of showing both sides of the story. He was not disappointed:

Bauer, the president of American Values, says he finds the freedom of information request by CREW "offensive."

"I do think it's quite telling that [this] organization ... wants to know about religious leaders visiting the White House,; and yet as far as I know, they did not request the names of Muslim leaders that have visited the White House," he observes. "And of course they would not dare file a request that would ask for [the names of] visitors of a particular race that had visited the White House or met with the president."

And of course he was quick to play the victim:

The American Values president says the request demonstrates "the ongoing effort by cultural elites to try to intimidate Christians out of the public square." He also says he is willing to tell anyone who wants to know how many times he has been to the White House to give President Bush advice on "the great issues facing our country."

Bauer may not have realized it but he answered his own question when he made that crack about Muslims.

Let me break it down this way:

I don't remember any Muslim leader bragging that Bush made them privy to why a potential Supreme Court judge (i.e. Harriet Miers) would be suitable to their base. James Dobson did.

I don't remember any time that Bush jumped into a private family issue to suit the Muslim community like he did with Terri Schiavo. He did this of course to appease Dobson, Bauer and the rest of that ilk.

I don't remember any time that Bush adopted any talking points forwarded by the Muslim community like he did for Dobson, Bauer, and company when talking about why he was for a constitutional amendment against gay marriage.

The fact of the matter is that CREW has a point and a right to view those visitation logs.

What is happening to you all is part and parcel of participating in a free and Democratic society, Bauer.

Get used to it.