Mike Volpe and Bobby Knight III (UPDATED)

Michael Gaynor is at it again and responding to my latest expose on his relationship with Michelle Malkin and Anita Moncrief. Frankly,Gaynor is a side show. He's a distraction. Malkin is the main player here and she continues to hide like the coward that I called her. Gaynor is the attack dog for those forces that Malkin deems below her and he's glad to do it.

He's unreadable and insignificant. So, he doesn't matter. He only matters in that he's part of this corrupt relationship. What really matters here is once again I call Michelle Malkin a coward and it's Michael Gaynor attacking me. He also did it very early in the morning which is interesting.

Clearly, however, Michelle Malkin can't fight her own battles. Instead, she has Michael Gaynor attack for her. That's cowardly. That's her M.O. Malkin will attack the New York Times, Washington Post, and other media mercilessly. They have a higher profile and they don't respond. In this case, she can't bring herself to respond herself and instead has Gaynor attack me himself.

The only thing I gathered from the article was that I am protecting President Obama. Anyone that's read my work knows I generally have no use for President Obama. My motivations have nothing to do with that. I wouldn't call Anita Moncrief a whistle blower under any circumstances since I've done many stories about whistle blowers and there's simply a huge difference between the heroism exemplified by a true whistle blower and Moncrief's opportunism. Gaynor refers to an article I wrote months ago, and I simply didn't know her whole story then. She wasn't the subject of the piece, ACORN was. Of course, ACORN was and is targeting her. After all, her theft was less than $2000 whereas Dale Rathke's was in the neighborhood of one million dollars. When a group goes after the $2000 theft but not the one million dollar embezzlement, I'd say they're targeting someone. That ACORN is targeting Anita Moncrief doesn't make her actions heroic. Frankly, she's given that organization plenty of ammunition to target her with. After all, she committed theft and fraud and wrote about it in admission.

Frankly, if someone refers on occasion to Anita Moncrief, or anyone, and calls her a whistle blower, I wouldn't care. It wouldn't matter. Both Gaynor and Malkin write about Anita Moncrief obsessively and they obsessively refer to her as a whistleblower. They have a duty then to provide proper context. Pointing to some article I wrote months ago doesn't provide context. In my last article, I pointed to the story of Dr. David Gossman. He noticed that his employer, Lahey Clinic, had ties to a medical device firm, Medtronics, that was inappropriate. He reported this relationship to administration and he was fired. Anita Moncrief did no such thing. While working at Project Vote, she didn't report on any wrongdoing. In fact, she, herself, engaged in wrongdoing. It was only after she was fired that she reported on the wrong doing. So, if Gaynor and Malkin insist on writing obsessively about her, they must explain to the audience what they mean by whistle blower. That carries an aura of courage and integrity. Moncrief's actions were neither courageous nor had any integrity, but were full of opportunism.

Frankly, this is going round and round at this point, it's boring having a back and forth with Michael Gaynor since his work is unreadable.

Every time Michael Gaynor writes about me, I refer to Bobby Knight. That's because in the movie about him he chewed a player out. The player was dejected. Then a teammate came over and said not to worry. You only need to worry when Knight ignores you. It's when they ignore me that I worry. I'd also suggest to Gaynor that blogging protocol requires that you link to a piece when you write about it. I have no problem linking to his pieces. He should have no problem giving his audience, all four people, the opportunity to read my work in whole.

Epilogue:

MGM (that's an acronym for Malkin, Gaynor and Moncrief) have been making this thesis. They believe that ACORN 8 is too blinded by ideology to go after the president and that's why they refuse to get on board with Anita Moncrief about her expose of the connection between Obama and ACORN. ACORN 8 are all current and former board members of ACORN. They are true believers in the cause of ACORN. In fact, to this day, they want to see ACORN reformed not destroyed.

Yet, this ideology didn't stop them from taking on the leadership of ACORN. They all risked their positions on the board of ACORN to challenge the leadership for a series of crimes and wrongdoings they discovered. So, MGM would have us believe that the same group of people that risked their place on the board of ACORN to expose its corruption are now simultaneously hiding a key piece of ACORN corruption because that would be bad for the president. They are blinded by ideology. Ideology didn't blind them from taking on ACORN but it is from taking on the President. Some of ACORN 8 have been associated with ACORN for two plus decades. That long history didn't stop them from putting ideology aside to take on ACORN. Yet, these same people can't bring themselves to take on the president even though that would take on ACORN as well.

Beyond that, Michael Gaynor has both indicated that he and Michelle Malkin do maintain contact and that they aren't in contact. Here's what he said in a previous piece about me.

I emailed Ms. Malkin making the same point THE DAY BEFORE!

Then, he said this in his latest piece.

If Ms. Malkin and I were co-conspirators, that biography would have been updated to include Culture of Corruption and I'd have an autographed copy of Culture of Corruption, but we are not, it is not and I do not.

The next time I have the pleasure of meeting Ms. Malkin will be the first time.

So, it appears as though whether Michael Gaynor knows Michelle Malkin depends on the point he's making. Both have said they are in constant contact with Anita Moncrief. No other journalists write nearly as obsessively about her as the two of them. If they aren't in constant contact, maybe Anita Moncrief should make an introduction. Furthermore, if they don't know each other, then why is Michelle Malkin quoting Michael Gaynor, without identifying him, while Gaynor attacks a third party.

Michael Gaynor noted at the time in response to McCray: “Tellingly, Mr. McCray did NOT complain about keeping the information from prosecutors and the public. Perhaps that is because ACORN 8 leaders also kept important information from prosecutors and the public and put off the possibility of legal action to protect then presidential candidate Obama’s election prospects. Incredibly, Mr. McCray essentially claimed that bad leadership is ACORN’s only problem. Mr. McCray admitted that the ACORN 8 are out to replace the current ACORN control group, but the ideological difference is limited…Mr. McCray and the ACORN 8 did not complaint that ACORN has functioned wrongfully as an unofficial arm of the Democrat Party for many years. Instead, Mr. McCray celebrated ACORN’s “effectiveness” and complained only about ACORN leadership corruption.

So, there's only two possibilities. Malkin doesn't know Gaynor. In that case, she quoted someone she doesn't know, didn't identify him, and didn't allow the party, Michael McCray, Gaynor was attacking to respond. On the other hand, the three of them are in constant contact and in that case they have been orchestrating and coordinating these attacks all along. Pick your corruption.

Finally, I like the title of Gaynor's piece, The ACORN 8 Schill is Really Shrill, but he makes the insinuation that I am beholden to ACORN 8 and this is all really being written on their behalf. Keep in mind that Gaynor has no other sources near ACORN, besides Moncrief, and neither does Malkin. I just finished three interviews with Wade Rathke. Let's just say he and ACORN 8 don't see eye to eye. For Gaynor to make that accusation at me is the height of absurdity. He's written obsessively about Anita Moncrief since last spring and he says I'm a shill for someone. I just finished doing three interviews with Wade Rathke and I'm supposed to be a shill for ACORN 8. Is that really a serious accusation?

Mr. President: Take Some Advice from John Wooden

President Obama met with some sailors yesterday and again defended his indecision on his strategy in Afghanistan.

I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary," Obama said to loud applause. "And if it is necessary, we will back you up to the hilt

It's now been more than two months since the General, Stanley McChrystal, requested about 40,000 more troops for the war in Afghanistan. The president has yet to give the general the troops he requested. When criticized, the president constantly reminds everyone the gravity of the decision. No one doubts that this decision is of vital importance. Unfortunately, in war, very difficult decisions must often be made without the benefit of time.

John Wooden used to follow a philosophy that should help the president here, "be quick but don't hurry." Everyone agrees that this decision must be made carefully, but it also must be made quickly. John Wooden used that philosophy to great success in basketball and the president must stop delaying and make this decision as well.

The war continues while the presidents mulls his "solemn decision". That's unacceptable. Wars are fluid and decisions can't be made at your own pace. They must be made at the pace of the war. In that respect, it's no different than basketball. Wooden's philosophy is simple and it applies here. The president must start to be quick while not hurrying. Right now, it appears as though he simply doesn't want to make a decision.

A Troubling Lack of Outrage in the Derrick Rose Scandal

According to the Memphis Courant, there is a growing scandal surrounding Derrick Rose, currently of the Bulls.

In a letter to the school the NCAA says an unknown person took the SAT for a player, with his knowledge, and then the player used that test to get into Memphis. The NCAA said the athlete in question played for the Tigers in the 2007-08 season and the 2008 NCAA tournament. The only person who played just that season was Rose.

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The Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday that someone with access to Rose's academic records at Simeon High School changed a D to a C on his transcript. The newspaper reported that Rose was one of four athletes at the school whose grades were boosted for a one-month period after their June 2007 graduation and then changed back after the bogus transcripts were sent to colleges.

If the allegations are accurate not only did Rose have another student take the SAT's for him but he even had his grade changed temporarily. All of this lead Rose to being able to qualify to play for Memphis in their run to the national championship game. It means that Memphis played that entire season with an ineligible player. They cheated the entire basketball world.

Worse yet, all those directly involved are now not around to face any punishment. Rose has taken his skills to a multi million dollar contract in the NBA with the Bulls. John Calipari has moved onto Kentucky. The program was likely to sputter without Calipari and now it will be damaged in a way that will take a very prolonged time to recover.

What's more troubling is the lack of outrage by most of the media. This story has certainly gotten coverage but not nearly the coverage it deserves. If true, Rose cheated and by extension so did the entire Memphis basketball program. He didn't have the grades to qualify to play Division 1 college basketball so he cheated to be able to do it. That's absolutely no different than Manny Ramirez using performance enhancing drugs. Cheating is cheating and one reason it goes on so often is that there is a lack of moral outrage when it happens. Ramirez is currently in line to get enough fan votes to make the all star game.

In fact, those that comment on it often attempt to blame the system for this. Rick Morrissey does this very thing today in the Chicago Tribune.

Everything about the way Derrick Rose plays basketball says he cares about the concept of "team." He's unselfish. He's a wonderful passer. He's as far away from having a me-first attitude as a worker ant is.Everything about the allegations of fraudulent test-taking and grade-changing suggest he or the people around him never really cared about anything beyond his pursuit of an NBA career.

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If the NBA were a realistic goal from early on, how much could Rose's state titles at Simeon and his one year at Memphis have meant to him? That's the problem with the AAU-dominated world in which we live. There's a toe-tapping impatience all around when it comes to an extremely talented basketball player. We're always talking about "the next level," with the clear implication that the current level doesn't mean squat.

Morrissey makes the point that this case points out the absurdity of not allowing those that clearly want to pursue a basketball career of not pursuing it at their own schedule. In Europe, players are allowed to enter into basketball academy in their youths. They can play for money in their teens. In the U.S. we force our NBA players to be at least one year out of high school forcing most high school prospects to spend a year in college. That's the only reason Rose even went to Memphis, because he was forced.

All of this maybe true but none of it excuses the cheating that Rose engaged in. One of the biggest problems with cheating in sports is that we often refuse to call it for what it is. Folks like Gaylord Perry spend their entire career cheating and they were rewarded with an induction into the Hall of Fame. The stigma of cheating has faded and the rewards have long outweighed the potential pitfalls. Last summer, I wrote about Eric Gagne. Here was a baseball player that was a marginal talent. He was barely making major league rosters. Then, he exploded onto the scene suddenly and he now owns an MLB record for consecutive saves and a Cy Young. We have since learned that during the time of his dominance he was also mentioned in the Mitchell Report. In other words, not only his entire career but frankly life has been manufactured. He cheated his way to fame, fortune, records, and wealth. He also took all those away from someone that didn't cheat like him. His punishment for all this is a current contract valued in the neighborhood of 10 million yearly.

Rose cheated and wound up playing Division 1 basketball when he should have played at a junior college or in Europe. As a result, the team he played for wound up going to the National Championship game when they likely would have been knocked out in the regionals. Almost everyone associated with that team is now gone and bettered professionally and financially of their association with Rose. All of it helped ultimately by cheating. So far, no one who deserves any of the punishment will get punished. So, where is the lesson?