Kevin Johnson's mayoral campaign spoofing Caller ID

I just got a call from someone with a Caller ID of 000000000000 (that's twelve zeros). Normaly I don't answer calls from blocked numbers. However, I had not encountered a string of twelve zeros before. Naturally, I decided to investigate and answered the call.

Who might it be calling me that is motivated enough to spoof a Caller ID? Turns out it was the campaign to elect "Kevin Johnson for Mayor" of Sacramento, CA. The call girl asked for me by name, then proceeded to tell me all about why I should support Kevin Johnson for Mayor, before asking me if she could count on my support. I laughed, told her "not today" and hung up.

Pretty dodgy--why not just have the Caller ID show up? It's not like he has anything to hide... or does he?

How to effectively silence someone you don't like

Thank God for the internet. If it weren't for the internet, I probably never would have heard about congressman Ron Paul. You see, at one time there were just under a dozen Republican presidential candidates and it would have been easy to silence any one of them by simply not inviting them to the televised debate, as happened to Dennis Kucinich recently, or perhaps taking a more tactful approach by inviting them, but not asking them any questions--or begrudgingly asking them just a few.

That was the case in Wednesday's January 30th, 2008 Republican Debate, which I and many others like to think of as more of a he-said she-said bitch fest. CNN broadcast the debate, which is available on YouTube, in 9 separate parts. All in all, Ron Paul received about 10 minutes of airtime (if that; I haven't done a detailed analysis yet), and poor Huckabee received about the same treatment. Meanwhile, like two schoolboys picking a fight, McCain and Romney were allowed to argue the entire night and throw negative spit wads back and forth at each other.

At one point -- and I timed this one myself after rewinding because I couldn't believe how he got cut off -- Paul was given only 8 seconds to respond to something before the moderator moved on to McCain, who was allowed at least 3 to 4 times as long for his answer. Of note here is that Paul was the only one to come out and say "No" to the question of whether or not Reagan's appointee Sandra Day O'Connor was a good decision. Once the "no" came out and five seconds worth of reasoning was given, the shameless moderator moved on to McCain, making Paul look somewhat like a jerk because, after all, the debate was held in the Reagan Presidential Library, and we don't want to offend Reagan, even if he didn't always make the best decisions. Nobody's perfect.

Huckabee and Paul were both visually disturbed at how little airtime was given to them, as evidenced by Paul's resting his chin in his hand while listening to McCain and Romney duke it out about some technicality on the war in Iraq. It seemed like every time Huckabee was given time to speak, he thanked the moderator and reminded them that there were two men down "at the other end of the (short) table" who would like to participate, too.

Watch the entire debate and tell me if you don't feel the same way as I do -- that Huckabee and Paul were effectively silenced, except of course when they finally butted their way in to try and address some questions. And even then, when Paul asked if he could chime in about an earlier topic that both McCain and Romney had discussed at length, the moderator interrupted with, "I promise, Congressman Paul, you'll get to address that question in about two minutes---uh, I mean that's coming up in about 2 questions."

Bud did that question to Congressman Paul ever come up? Answer: no.

That is how to effectively silence someone, a very un-American act indeed.

Shame on you, CNN.