Category Archives: Media

The Media Is Big Loser In VP Debate

To make a judgment about every horse race, you always want to know ‘who won?’. But in the context of last night’s vice-presidential debate, it is also relevant to know ‘who lost?’. And in this case, you have to say that the mainstream media lost, BIG TIME.

Leading up to the debate, NBC’s political director Chuck Todd called the debate and the race as already over. That Gov. Sarah Palin lost the debate and McCain lost the race even before last night’s debate started. They characterized the debate as if, to use a boxing analogy, Sen. Joe Biden would win the match in the first minute of round one in a 15 round fight. Well, if you saw the debate last night, you have to agree that the fight went the distance. And if anyone got so much as a black eye, it was the 35 year defending champion Joe Biden. But in terms of this debate, a draw is a win for Palin.

Based on all the media hype leading up to the debate, you could come away feeling that Palin won only because she didn’t lose in the first round.

It does not take much to confirm the notion that 2008 is the year that journalism died. All one needed to do is to watch last night’s debate analysis on MSNBC immediately following the debate. Remember when journalism consisted of reporting what happened? The lineup on MSNBC last night took shots at Gov. Palin on ‘what she didn’t say.’ It looked like they tried to do in round sixteen what Joe Biden could not do in the first fifteen.

Obama's Debate 'Words, Just Words'

During the first Presidential debate last Friday night, Sen. Barack Obama made two powerful points that seemed to make some points for him and against Sen. John McCain. One was his ‘me too’ response to what McCain said about a bracelet he wears from a fallen soldier. The other was that Dr. Henry Kissinger, a McCain adviser, supported his view that the U.S. president should meet with Iran’s president and other rogue dictators without preconditions.

His dance about Henry Kissinger’s advice was deceptive, if not simply indicative of a candidate loose with the facts. But don’t expect the mainstream media to set the record straight.

Here is a quote from Dr. Kissinger immediately after the debate about Obama’s remark.

‘Senator McCain is right. I would not recommend the next President of the United States engage in talks with Iran at the Presidential level. My views on this issue are entirely compatible with the views of my friend Senator John McCain. We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that any negotiations with Iran must be geared to reality.’

The bracelet issue is really not much of an issue, except for the fact that Obama was asked by the family not to bring up their son’s name or use it in speeches and debates. The father and mother, since divorced, have both confirmed that point.

All that can be said about it with any certitude now is that Obama showed the world how deep his commitment to that soldier was when he didn’t even know his name. And, that for a man wanting to be Commander in Chief, he can not be trusted to keep his word to the mother of a fallen soldier.

For the mother’s part, she is an Obama supporter. She is reported to have said that Obama’s mention of her son on Friday was appropriate because he was responding after Sen. John McCain said a soldier’s mother gave him a bracelet.

ACORN And Sen. Barack Obama's Economic Crisis

Before getting interested in politics, the mention of the word acorn conjured up images of squirrels for me. Now that ACORN is an acronym, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, it conjures up images of socialist squirrels of the human kind. And front and center in ACORN is the Democrat(ic) party’s candidate for president, Sen. Barack Obama from Illinois.

Rather than have 100 percent of any recovery realized by reselling these mortgages going to either retiring the national debt or being returned to the people whose money they used (that would be you and I), or a combination of the two, the original bailout plan was to give 20 percent of it to ACORN. This was a major objection of the Republicans in the House. Which also explains to me, why they were kept out of the process.

Now that ACORN is front and center in the minds of those that are paying attention to the current financial crisis, we all need to know why, for Democrats, they are front and center in the proposed bailout, especially since they are instrumental in creating the problem in the first place.

Continue reading ACORN And Sen. Barack Obama's Economic Crisis

CAIR Challenges 'Obsession' To The FEC

Following up on a recent post entitled ‘Delivering Propaganda,’ a group called CAIR (more on them later) is asking the Federal Election Commission to investigate whether The Clarion Fund, a nonprofit group that distributed the documentary ‘Obsession, Radical Islam’s War Against The West,’ is a “front” for an Israel-based group with a stealth goal of helping Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Don’t you just love conspiracy theories? Please check your tinfoil turban at the door, and, watch out for those black helicopters. They’re coming for you.

It is quite telling that this Muslim group thinks that making people aware of ‘radical Islam’ is a political statement that helps a particular political party. To which all I can say is, oh well, if the shoe fits, wear it.

CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said . . .

If you heighten the hysteria over national security or terrorism or do anything to make people more fearful, it’s clear they would trend toward McCain because that’s been his mantra throughout the campaign.

Continue reading CAIR Challenges 'Obsession' To The FEC

Delivering Propaganda?

When I saw the heading of William E. Jackson, Jr.’s column in Editor & Publisher, ‘Delivering Propaganda, As If It is Toothpaste,’ it got my attention. But to learn that it was the documentary ‘Obsession‘ that he was talking about, my next thought was, maybe he should have targeted the NYT and the MSM with a title like that, ‘Delivering Propaganda,’ instead of this documentary.

That documentary has a history to it that Mr. Jackson apparently is not aware of, or chose to ignore. Because of pressure from the CAIR crowd, it was pulled from a multi-faceted series on PBS about radical Islam and the War On Terror. It correctly shows radical Islam for what it is, what it does, and what it believes.

No movie distributor would carry it, probably out of fear. And no major TV network would air it. It was that powerful of a presentation. So now that it is literally given away, Jackson calls it propaganda. Newspapers isn’t the only distribution method for Obsession. They are also using direct mail.

His article illustrates why some think that the mainstream media serves as the marketing wing of the DNC, and in some cases, al-Qaeda.

related links: Delivering Propaganda, As If It is Toothpaste | Obsession – Radical Islam’s War Against The West

FBI Investigates Student For Palin E-mail Hack Job

It is good to see some progress being made. It will be better to see that they have the perpetrator under arrest. But for now, we know this much . . .

A person who identified himself as a witness tells 10 News that agents with the FBI served a federal search warrant at the Fort Sanders residence of David Kernell early Sunday morning. Kernell lives in the Commons apartment complex at 1115 Highland Ave. David Kernell is the son of Mike Kernell, a Democratic state representative from Memphis.

No surprise there, if true. Bi-partisan condemnation, including jail time for the perpetrator is what would be surprising. The fraud involved in hacking the private email account is one felony, and disseminating that information is another.

Unfortunately, there is not a good history for prosecution in cases such as this. In December, 1996, Alice and John Martin who recorded a cell phone conversation of Newt Gingrich, which ended up in the hands of ‘Baghdad’ Jim McDermott, then ranking member of the House Ethics Committee, who turned it over to the New York Times for publication, never served time. And neither did McDermott. He was ultimately ordered to pay over $700,000 in damages and court costs. That’s it. He is still in Congress. So I wouldn’t get my hopes up for real justice in this case either. Now, if the shoe were on the other foot?

link: Update: FBI serves search warrant against UT student in Palin case | Appeals Court rules against McDermott in taped call dispute

Obama On Abortion

Here’s some more news from Obama’s PR wing of his campaign, the Associated Press. Headline is ‘Obama calls out McCain on abortion.’ Does he really want to go there? It is Obama that is in favor of retroactive abortions.

With the current state of technology in stem cell research, there is absolutely no need to use embryonic stem cells any longer. But, abortion being the holy sacrament of the Democrat party’s platform, they continue to cling to embryonic stem cell research.

McCain opposes abortion rights except when the life of the mother is in danger and, unlike Palin, in cases of rape or incest. He has voted for abortion restrictions permissible under Roe v. Wade and has said the 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion rights should be overturned, leaving states to decide. Advisers say he would not seek a constitutional amendment banning abortion, although he has expressed support for such a measure in the past even while saying he doubts one is likely.

Obama does not oppose killing babies born as a result of live-birth abortions. He voted against a bill that would protect ‘the least among us.’ His actions are contrary to his glowing ‘words, just words.’

links: Obama calls out McCain on abortion | Obama’s Definition Of Parenthood Includes Retroactive Abortion | Obama More Pro-Choice Than NARAL

MSNBC To Undergo A Libectomy

Olbermann? Matthews? Too opinionated? No. Do you think? There’s no problem with either of these libs with having strong opinions. The problem is they are cast as ‘news anchors.’

MSNBC is removing Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews as the anchors of live political events, bowing to growing criticism that they are too opinionated to be seen as neutral in the heat of the presidential campaign.

Both of them would be a better fit with the rabid Air America Radio crowd, which if it was ever surveyed, was probably the majority of their audience anyway.

related links:MSNBC Drops Olbermann, Matthews as News Anchors | Meltdown at MSNBC | pMSNBC Libs Ignite On Scarborough

Gov. Palin, For The Right Reasons

The speech she gave tonight was terrific, and John McCain was right, the more we see of Sarah Palin, the more we’ll like her. For this conservative, she did very well. And as good as Romney, and Huckabee, and Guiliani were with their speeches, she topped them all.

Immediately after the speech, watching Wolf Blitzer and his panel at CNN said it all. They were speechless.

Earlier in her speech, Palin told the story of the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull. Lipstick. There were many good points that Palin made. One of my favorites was when she derided the media for saying how she was not qualified over the last few days. Her response was priceless. It went something like this . . .

‘Here’s a little news flash for those reporters and commentators. I’m not going to Washington to seek their good opinion, I’m going to Washington to serve the people of this great country.’

The crowd was on their feet. For all intents and purposes, she told the media, ITS ON!