Tag Archives: Media

Media, Pensacola, Politics

Helen Thomas, The Point Is Control

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‘It’s a pattern of controlling the press.’ The ‘events are pre-packaged.’ This is what Helen Thomas, the Grande Dame of The White House press briefing room, told White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs about the ‘town hall meeting’ that President Obama has planned. Another infomercial. ‘Yes, and if you act now (vote for everything that I think is good for you, you don’t have to read it), you’ll get a second one absolutely FREE.’ Emphasis on ‘free.’

Of course I have to agree with both Chip Reid and Helen Thomas that it is disingenuous to call it something that it is not, where questions solicited over the internet are screened in advance, and they pick and choose the ones they want to answer.

That is not any-one’s definition of a town hall meeting. This is a town hall show. I wonder if someone from Air America radio is advising David Axelrod on how to fool the American people? This is similar to the way that Air America radio host Mike Papantonio and Robert Kennedy Jr run their Ring of Fire radio show. That show is to talk radio as this ‘town hall’ event is to a town hall event.

Frankly, I’m glad to see the media standing up, instead of laying down, to Gibbs (the administration) on the willful deception going on in The White House. They have certainly come a long way since the presidential campaign season when they had enough ‘plants’ in ‘debates’ that were run by them to open up a roadside stand. In either case, it is the same deception. Is this the change you were expecting?

This video is noteworthy just for the sheer incompetence on display in the performance of the White House Press Secretary. This is a real gem.

In responding to Helen Thomas telling Gibbs that the White House screens the questions and calls reporters on the night before to tell them that they will call on them at the ‘town hall’ meeting, Gibbs responds to Thomas with ‘eh, we’ve had this discussion ad nauseum’ and then points to someone else to change the subject. But not before she responds with ‘of course you would, you don’t have any answers.’ Priceless.

See the entire exchange below. Get the kids and some popcorn, you will want to see this again and again.

Media, Politics, Race Relations, Supreme Court

Supremes Overrule Sotomayor's Empathy

It comes as no surprise to many that the Supreme Court would overturn the decision made by Sonia Sotomayor. That’s what happened today.

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.

It is instructive to watch how the Supreme Court decision will be reported. Headlines like these should be a clue.

The storyline will be less about Sotomayer being overruled, less about the fact that the plaintiffs prevailed in getting equal protection under the law, and more about stoking the racial fire and accusations that the court wants to ‘wind back the clock.’

And, more importantly, less about the fact that the court’s solution to the case was only that. A solution of the case. Plaintiffs prevail, end of story. There was no constitutional question regarding racial preferences to be decided.

The constitutionality of racial preferences under the law will come before the Supreme Court some day. And you can bet that a court with Sotomayor and one more ‘sympathetic’ judge would codify government-approved racial discrimination once and for all.

related links: Sotomayor, Equality Or Pay-Back | It’s The Supreme Court, Not Oprah

Energy, Media, Politics

Barnum & Bailey Congress

This is where the heated debate in Congress has gotten to. As usual for all of this administration’s emergencies, this bill called ‘Cap & Trade’ has to be voted on, TODAY. And the 1000 page bill grew to 1300+ pages around 3AM this morning. And, the 1000 or so pages were released last night. The members of the House don’t yet have the 300 page amendment that was slipped in it but are expected to debate and vote on. Huh?

Oh it gets better. Did you know that the Speaker Pro Tempore, Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) just said that providing representatives with physical copies of the bill is not her job. Digest that one for a moment.

When asked if she had a full copy of the bill, she wasn’t sure.  Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) asked to see for himself if the entire bill was physically at the Speaker’s desk. His request was objected to by a democrat and no physical verification occurred. But hey, we need to vote on this. It’s important. It’s so important that they can’t risk anyone knowing what is in it.They were told, it’s on a website. What?

Didn’t we just do this with the porkulus bill? Didn’t we just mortgage our grand children’s future on legislation that no body read or even had the time to read?

Can you appreciate the Democrat’s interpretation of ‘full disclosure? ‘ It goes along the line of, we’ll disclose what we want to disclose and when we want to disclose it. Shut up and lay down.

First we have to follow Rahm Emanual’s ‘Rule One.’ Not to let a crisis go to waste. Even if we have to create a crisis to do it. Any problems will be up to future generations to fix. Don’t worry, be happy.

Anyone that votes for this Cap and Trade bill should be shunned at the polls next time around. That your U.S. Representative needs to be a conservative next time goes without saying.

Tomorrow’s headline, if it passes the House today, ‘Obama administration advances energy bill to the Senate’ or something like that. This bill is more of an economy killer, at a time when we are in economic upheaval, than it is an energy bill. It won’t be reported as another railroad job same as the stimulus (porkulus) bill was not reported that way.

The bill gets ZERO new energy from fossil or nuclear sources. It does nothing to reduce our dependancy on foreign oil. Instead, it chokes the economic engine of the country in the name of catastrophic man-made global warming while killing jobs and raising prices of everything, especially electricity. Oh, and it also puts virtually all industry under the thumb of government by  taxation.

Media, Politics

President Obama’s Gift For King Abdullah

I guess one could say that President Obama is making some progress in gifting heads of state. But you would never know it from the US media.

Obama has a record on this since becoming President. One of the first things he did to outfit the Oval Office was to give the bust of Winston Churchill back to Great Britain after the offer to keep it for at least the next four years was turned down by The White House. That was in February.

A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government’s art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back.

How far that move helped our image around the world is debatable. British diplomats were not impressed.

Considering the reason the gift was offered in the first place says more about Obama’s views of the war on terror and the attacks on 9/11 than his sensibilities for international diplomacy and relations with Great Britain.

The first gift exchange came later when British Prime Minister Gordon Brown had his first State visit to The White House.

Brown presented Obama with a pen holder crafted from the timbers of the 19th century British warship HMS President (whose sister ship, HMS Resolute, provided the wood for the Oval Office’s desk), Obama offered up … 25 DVDs of American movie classics.

Then came Obama’s trip to Great Britain where he and the first lady met the Queen.

The president, who was accompanied by the first lady, gave Her Majesty an iPod loaded with video and photographs of the queen’s 2007 visit to Jamestown, Richmond and Williamsburg, Va. He also gave her a songbook signed by composer Richard Rodgers.

In return, the queen gave the president a silver-framed, signed photograph of her and her husband, Prince Philip, which is reported to be a standard present for visiting dignitaries.

I'm not bowing. I'm not bowing.The next gift exchange happened in Saudi Arabia when the King presented the President with the King Abdul Aziz Order of Merit, which is the country’s highest honor. From the picture, it could be easily confused with bling from MC Hammer or MC Obama. But to the Saudi Arabian people, it is a high honor bestowed on special people.

What has not been reported in the US media, strangely enough (I’m kidding), is the kind of gift that President Obama gave King Abdullah. No, this time it is not something off an end-cap in Best Buy. For this visit, the president put a lot of thought into this gift, which took 5 months to make. So at about the time Great Britain was being insulted by all the above, a gift based on the Quran for Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah was being made. It’s not that he doesn’t know any better.

President Barack Obama’s invaluable gift to King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, has a noble connotation.

It is a Qur’anic verse which says: “O mankind! We created you from a single pair of a male and female, and made you into nations and tribes, that you may know each other. Verily, the most honorable of you with Allah is the most righteous of you. Verily, Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware.” (Qur’an, 49:13)

From the picture it looks like a nice gift. So why is it that the US media hasn’t reported on it? You have to look at Saudi media to find out. Doesn’t it show that the president has made some progress in gift giving? Besides, it does go a long way to reinforce the president’s sensitivities to Islam that he spoke of in his speech in Cairo. Do you think that’s why?

More pictures here.

Media

Goebbels Media, Obama Media, What's The Difference?

President Obama is so worried that his government-run health care will not pass, that on June 24th ABC will be turning over its programming to The White House. Literally.

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House. The network plans a primetime special — ‘Prescription for America’ — originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

The White House plans a town hall style infomercial, with no opposing viewpoints.

Do you believe Obama when he says, as he often does, that he wants a vigorous debate on important issues?

The Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a letter of complaint that said in part . . .

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party’s views to those of the President’s to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party’s opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

I guess the Obama camp has burned out CNN’s (the most trusted name in news) credibility during the campaign with their ‘plants’ as questioners so they are turning to ABC to carry the load for this one.

ABCNEWS Senior Vice President Kerry Smith on Tuesday responded to the RNC complaint, saying it contained ‘false premises’ . . .

“ABCNEWS prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers — of all political persuasions — even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABCNEWS is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue.

“ABCNEWS alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.”

Apparently, ‘diverse voices’ is not the same as opposing voices. No surprise that folks like CNN or the Huffington Post don’t mention the lack of opposing viewpoints in this ‘vigorous debate.’

Pointing out media bias has become a daily exercise, in futility. I don’t understand how journalists are not just embarrassed by the sheepish, slavish, totally in the can for this president behavior? The answer to that was written long ago, when journalism as a media watchdog died.

h/t: Provolone Greg

related links: Drudge | Time CNN | Huffington Post

Media

Words, Just Words

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The arrogance and bias of the mainstream Obama-media is getting even more in your face.  Try this headline for example, ‘Analysis: GOP using buzz words to taunt Dems.’

Steeped in denial over the reason for the Tea Parties around the country, the media is showing us the same denial when ‘analyzing’ Obama’s accomplishments and plans for the country. The attempt to discredit legitimate concerns by reducing opposition to ‘buzz words’ is the media circling the wagons around the president.

Republicans are lining up behind a pointed political attack line: President Barack Obama is nationalizing American industry and socializing medicine.

Tax and Spenders are buzzwords. That Obama is nationalizing American industries and socializing medicine are not. And its not just Republicans that feel that way. The bi-partisan angst is growing here in the US and abroad.

Where are the articles claiming that the European Union are reacting to buzz words when they voted to roll back socialism in all but one country?

The fact that Obama is too socialist for socialists should be a clue.

Media, Politics, War On Terror

It's What Passes For Safe That Matters

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That the Obama administration has made America less safe in the war on terror isn’t even debatable, but you’re welcome to try.

Starting with

  • conferring constitutional protections afforded to US citizens to foreign terrorists
  • to trying to dismantle the most effective parts of the Patriot Act that the Left calls domestic spying
  • to the apology tour where the words terrorist and terrorism were not mentioned
  • to the revelation (whether or not they are ultimately released) of more 6 or 7 year old fun pictures of terrorists being uncomfortable
  • to closing Club Gitmo (11 months remaining) and trying to put the jihadists in the American prison system, where they can do some recruiting
  • to re-defining acts of terrorism as a ‘man made disaster’ for the purpose of not offending the enemy that wants us dead
  • to limiting missile defenses and halting development of missile defense systems while North Korea fires off ICBMs and nuclear bombs
  • to the seismic shift from fighting a war to a law enforcement task where the FBI will be mirandizing terrorists captured alive on the battlefield
  • to putting a lawyer/professor/politician in charge of the CIA.

Putting people with no experience in top positions seems to be a hallmark of this administration. Leon Panetta was Bill Clinton’s Chief of Staff from 1994-1997. With change like this, hope is all that’s left.

Taking all that into consideration, you’d have to be a fool to think that what vice president Cheney said was not true. He said the policies of this administration have made and will make America less safe. Fact is, Cheney didn’t say he hopes we get attacked again.  That is the Left’s spin of what he said which, the AP dutifully repeats as an unchallenged fact.

Which brings us to this article in the AP where CIA director Leon Panetta is doing what liberals are quick to do. Ignore the message, attack the messenger. Close debate, end of discussion.

CIA Director Leon Panetta says former Vice President Dick Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s approach to terrorism almost suggests “he’s wishing that this country would be attacked again, in order to make his point.”

The reason Cheney spoke up to call it as he sees it was because no other elected Republicans were. He loves this country and believes the people need to know what this administration is up to, including its attempt to re-write history. Which is especially important right now because the media will not. The Liberals in charge of Washington don’t like that inconvenient truth but, it is what it is.

Remember the infamous 911 Commission’s report that liberals were quick to pounce on in some areas, while ignoring other parts? The parts that the Left chose to ignore speak directly to Cheney’s remarks and our security at home and abroad.

They (the terrorists, al-Qaeda) were at war with us and we were not at war with them. And, it is not a matter of if but a matter of when another attack will come.

The same article quotes Vice President Biden on the NBC show ‘Meet the Press’ this morning who said ‘I think Dick Cheney’s judgment about how to secure America is faulty, I think our judgment is correct.’

What say you?

related links: CIA head says Cheney almost wishing US be attacked | Cheney Responds to Panetta

Media, Politics

When Good Is Bad, Obama Fires IG

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In what will become the most unreported action by President Obama, in his supposedly open and honest administration, Chicago-style politics rears its ugly head yet again. The president removed the Inspector General in charge of overseeing how government grant money is spent after he found discrepancies. After he found the abuse of public funds, the U.S. Attorney balked at having the justice department take a look at it.

Obama’s move follows an investigation by IG Gerald Walpin of Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, who is an Obama supporter and former NBA basketball star, into the misuse of federal grants by a nonprofit education group that Johnson headed.

Walpin was criticized by the acting U.S. attorney in Sacramento for the way he handled an investigation of Johnson and St. HOPE Academy, a nonprofit group that received hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal grants from the Corporation for National Community Service. The corporation runs the AmeriCorps program.

The IG becomes the focus of the story, that the matter wasn’t handled right, instead of the corruption of the person responsible for handling the public funds.

Sen. Grassley (R-Iowa) felt an explanation was needed, since the IG had identified millions of dollars that were mis-appropriated.  White House Counsel Gregory Craig, in a letter to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, cited the U.S. attorney’s criticism of Walpin to an integrity committee for inspectors general.

In the end, Chicago style politics takes the day. The bad guy is good, and the good guy is bad. Keeping the matter out of the courts and out of the media, the U.S. Attorney worked out a ‘deal.’

The U.S. attorney’s office reached a settlement in the matter. Brown cited press accounts that said Johnson and the nonprofit would repay half of nearly $850,000 in grants it received.

This is not change. This is more of the same.

Fairness Doctrine, Media

Freedom Of Speech Award 2009

Talkers magazine, the leading industry magazine and newspaper for the talk radio business, awarded Rush Limbaugh with the coveted Freedom of Speech Award at the New Media Conference of Talkers Magazine in New York over the weekend.rushfreedomofspeechaward

Talkers . . .

Rush is now the first two-time recipient of the prestigious honor, for the massive attention he garnered in the mainstream press as a result of statements made on the air critical of the President of the United States and particular branches of the Federal government that went on to spark a national dialogue and debate — a process that reflects the very heart of the First Amendment.

Rush spoke about freedom of speech and talk radio in accepting the award. It was a fine 10 minute speech about our freedom of speech and instructive on how to be successful in talk radio. Something the Air America crowd would do good to listen to.

See the video of his acceptance speech.

Immigration, Media, Politics

European Union Moves 'Center-Right'

The European Union held parliamentary elections over the weekend and the results indicate a rejection of socialism as they see it and of left-leaning parties in most member nations.

Conservatives raced toward victory in some of Europe’s largest economies Sunday as initial results and exit polls showed voters punishing left-leaning parties in European parliament elections in France, Germany and elsewhere.

Right-leaning governments were ahead of the opposition in Germany, France, Italy and Belgium, while conservative opposition parties were leading in Britain and Spain.

First projections by the European Union showed center-right parties would have the most seats – between 263 and 273 – in the 736-member parliament. Center-left parties were expected to get between 155 to 165 seats.

The EU seems to get it. They’ve seen it all before. Even more reason for the Obama administration to keep his socialist plans on the fast track. Before most Americans figure him out and what he is doing. The US media are not talking.

You can kind of tell when a media outlet doesn’t like what they’re seeing. Look how the left-leaning Telegraph.co.uk describes the victories. They get very creative in adjectives for the winners.  Extremists, far-right, fringe parties, anti-immigrant, anti-Islamic immigrant party, anti-gipsy extremist, ultra-nationalist. See any bias there?

Far-Right parties and extremists made gains across Europe this weekend as protest votes and low turnouts marked the European parliament elections.

Support for centre-Left parties and governments crashed across the EU as fringe parties, not the Socialists, picked up protest votes while the centre-Right weathered the storm.

Anti-immigrant and far-right groups made significant gains in the Netherlands, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, Slovakia and Finland.

In Slovakia a low turnout of just 19.4 per cent propelled an anti-gipsy extremist ultra-nationalist into the parliament and Hungary’s far-Right Jobbik took three seats for the first time.

In France, Nicolas Sarkozy’s centre-Right UMP group was the big winner, with 28 per cent of the vote, as the opposition Socialists suffered serious losses, plunging the already weak party into further disarray.

Can hardly wait to hear David Axelrod’s spin on the election results. It is the writing on his wall.