Tag Archives: Media

Rush, Happier Than A Pig In

Rush Limbaugh has got to be feeling good nowadays. Especially since not very long ago, the media was out there downplaying Rush’s affect on the political process and trying to put him out of business. Limbaugh? Yea, he’s an entertainer, a wacko, and the adjectives continue. Then, borne totally out of his genius in knowing Democrats like every square inch of … you may have heard it. I just can’t type it. Rush coins ‘Operation Chaos.’

Things are beginning to change in the eyes of the media. Now his ‘operation’ appears successful if you listen to Chris Matthews, who said that people who voted to be mischievous in the democrat primary, an open primary, ought to be ashamed of themselves. I don’t know where Chris was during voting in the New Hampshire primary when people were bussed in from out of state, Massachusetts, to vote for McCain in the republican primary. Democrats and the media ended up choosing the Republicans’ candidate. It was not a big problem back then. No laws were broken, just the Republican party.

The point is how well Rush knows Democrats. He knows what makes them tick and how they will react and, he knows the ‘Clinton machine’ and how it operates. Thus, the birth of Operation Chaos. All he had to do was call it, and take credit for what he knows will happen and what the Clinton’s will do. And it is all happening before us.

The more Democrats think Rush Limbaugh is spoiling their party the better. As he has said many times before, they’ll open the door on their nose every time there is an opportunity, this time by pointing fingers at everyone else but themselves for their troubles.

Olbermann, Rush Calls For Riots

What happens when people who don’t listen to Rush Limbaugh criticize him? It can manifest itself in the person of Keith Olbermann who last night accused Rush of trying to start rioting at the Democratic national convention.

If Olbermann listened to Rush enough to get to know him, he wouldn’t have shown us just how shallow he is in this characterization of Rush. The context is that Rush was playing his CinC USOC role, based on what ‘democratics’ would do if the super delegates went contrary to the popular vote. Obama had the popular vote at the time. It is not a stretch to think that the convention would degrade just like it did in 1968. Especially since there is an activist group in Denver called ‘Recreate ’68.’

The Most Ridiculous Item Of The Day award goes to Keith Olbermann at pMSNBC.

video link

related link: Maggie’s Notebook

New York Times Co. Stock, Junk?

Moody’s Downgrades New York Times Co. To Notch Above Junk‘ is the headline in Editor & Publisher. Times are bad for the Times. Advertising revenue is down and is expected to continue in that direction, and until when is any one’s guess. Some would argue that a notch above junk is being generous.

Moody’s Investors Services believes . . .

the publisher’s free cash flow leverage will remain “significantly weaker” in 2008 than expected.

And . . .

The ratings firm assigned a “stable outlook” to the Times Co., saying it expects “greater revenue stability in 2009 as digital media generates more revenue and cyclical economic pressure eases.

I think it is wrong to expect that the downturn or recovery of the Times is part of anything cyclical like the economy. The Times’ downfall is self-inflicted by its product. And Mayor Bloomberg denies an interest in bailing them out by buying into it. Says he doesn’t want to get into the paper business. He may be a liberal but he’s not stupid.

Never fear, I’m sure there’s someone in Dubai interested in taking things over. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. al-Jazeera could make it official and just become a major investor. I mean, cutting out the middleman can be more efficient.

I love it how the free market works.

related link: Moody’s Downgrades New York Times Co. To Notch Above Junk| Mayor Bloomberg, I’m Not ‘Times’ Savior

Progress In Iraq Ignored

The fact that most of the news nowadays is about the economy, if not about the Democratic primary race and not about Iraq is not news. I mean, ever since the surge started showing positive results, news in Iraq is limited to a death toll tally or IED and mortar count. What is happening in Iraq that is also being ignored surrounds the current fighting going on in Muqtada al-Sadr territory against his militias in Basra. The news here is that the Iraqi army is the military doing the fighting there, not U.S. Basra was turned over to Iraq for full security control last December, and what we are seeing is Iraq taking care of business. And, Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is personally overseeing operations against al-Sadr’s militias and supporters. al-Maliki says

“We have made up our minds to enter this battle and we will continue until the end. No retreat,” al-Maliki said in a speech broadcast on Iraqi state TV.

So where are the headlines like Iraq Taking On Security Responsibilities?

related link: Iraqi prime minister says no retreat

Five Years, 7,000

kneeling_soldier.jpg

Nothing but heroic courage and selfless sacrifice to celebrate today. Not the fact that the total war casualties reached 4000. Seems like only yesterday that the media was all pumped up for the 500th. Then the 1000th.

Militarily, this war has proven to be the most successful war, especially considering the global scale of the enemy, in history. Actually, the total casualties is 7,000. The first 3,000 were unarmed civilians.

One can only imagine how much lower the count would have been, and how much closer to being able to leave Iraq we would have been if the other half of the country did not choose to abandon the war in mid-stream.

Flashback to this time last year, when Gen. Petraeus wrote a ‘Letter To The Iraqi People.’ This was when the planned surge operation was about to begin. It looks like the Iraqi people took him at his word because the Iraqi people have done and are doing what he asked of them even to this day. They are turning in the insurgents and isolating them from their neighborhoods so they can be taken out. And its a good thing. Unfortunately, the left would rather abandon the Iraqi people for political expediency. Doesn’t it make sense to finish the job now instead of letting Iraq regress into a safe house/country for terrorists where we’ll have to go back and start all over, only this time with a much more dug in, armed and deadly enemy? If casualty numbers are of any concern to the Left, then they know the best option is to finish this one out and not leave, only to return to start from scratch.

related link: Iraq: The Real Story by Oliver North

Olbermann Goes Ballistic Over Geraldine Ferraro

Keith Olbermann’s take on the Ferraro – Obama flap perfectly represents the ‘media’s racial angle‘ to this story. As an added bonus, you can hear, if not see, Olbermann foaming at the mouth over this.

In typical Olbermann / Liberal fashion, he accuses her and Rush Limbaugh of doing things they did not do, taking the racist accusation to the highest level. The best part is where he says that Hillary is acting like a republican. But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself.

Please notice which party it is that is turning a political fight into a racial one. These are Democrats, who are always first to notice things like race, gender, sexual preference, and the first to accuse Republicans of being racists, sexists, and homophobes. They set themselves up as caretakers for the victims they create and, through a dependent-creating liberal agenda, cultivate.

related video: Issues of race infiltrate Dems contest

It’s Not Ferraro Dividing The Party

From the looks of the news over the Geraldine Ferraro – Barack Obama flap, I’m feeling that there’s a whole lot of race going on and it isn’t being perpetrated by Ferraro when she said this . . .

If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept.

I agree with Obama when he said that he did not take that as a racist remark. I didn’t see it that way either. It was an opinion of all the dynamics at work in a Presidential election where there is a woman and black for the first time in American history. What is distressing is the extent to which the media is running a racist angle on the story.

For the woman’s part, Ferraro has been there, done that. For the black’s part, Barack is there today. What Ferraro said was exactly right. If Barack was white, he would have been in the also-ran line with Dennis Kucinich long ago. But he is Black. He’s a handsome guy, he gives good speeches, is inspirational and, according to Joe Biden (D-DE), he is clean. In this case, the fact that he has not yet finished his first term in the Senate, has no executive experience outside of organizing neighborhood projects, seem to have no bearing on his qualifications to be President and Commander in Chief, during a war. If he would have been white, he’d be outta there. But the media apparently can not recognize that fact. Is it because they want to pick the candidate on the Democrat side of the ticket as well?

Obama’s response is clever, but shows his inability to deal with what she said. He instead attempts to tell her, and you and I, what we can and can not talk about.

“Part of what I think Geraldine Ferraro is doing, and I respect the fact that she was a trailblazer, is to participate in the kind of slice and dice politics that’s about race and about gender and about this and that, and that’s what Americans are tired of because they recognize that when we divide ourselves in that way we can’t solve problems,” Obama said on NBC’s “Today” show.

Let’s see if I understand this. Americans are tired of the race and gender politics? Oh, I thought there were record number turnouts in voting in the Democratic primaries. To the contrary, Americans are very interested in it. It isn’t Geraldine Ferraro who is dividing the Democratic party. This woman vs black issue is exposing the Democratic party in the same way that illegal immigration revealed the Republican party fissure between conservatives and Republicans.

All in all, Obama’s attempt to squelch speech by saying what you should not talk about, and to use it to accuse her of trying to divide the Democratic party, exposes his amateur, not presidential, abilities.

related links: Obama Says Ferraro Dividing Democrats | Ferraro:They’re attacking me because I’m whiteOlberman Goes Ballistic Over Ferraro

Silver Star Awarded In Afghanistan

Army Spc. Monica Lin BrownArmy Spc. Monica Lin Brown, the second female soldier since World War II will be receiving the Silver Star, the nation’s third-highest medal for valor.

Army Spc. Monica Lin Brown saved the lives of fellow soldiers after a roadside bomb tore through a convoy of Humvees in the eastern Paktia province in April 2007, the military said. After the explosion, which wounded five soldiers in her unit, Brown ran through insurgent gunfire and used her body to shield wounded comrades as mortars fell less than 100 yards away, the military said.

In her own words, the 19 yr. old medic said . . .

I did not really think about anything except for getting the guys to a safer location and getting them taken care of and getting them out of there.
“We stopped the convoy. I opened up my door and grabbed my aid bag,” Brown said.

She started running toward the burning vehicle as insurgents opened fire. All five wounded soldiers had scrambled out.

“I assessed the patients to see how bad they were. We tried to move them to a safer location because we were still receiving incoming fire,” Brown said.

Great story of all that is good with America and the Americans fighting the war. Wait and see if it makes the nightly news. But don’t hold your breath.

related link: Woman earns Silver Star in Afghan war

News Conference Preparation

One or two of the Democrat contenders might just melt down on their own once the media starts to grow a pair and ask some questions. The Wizard of ID captured perfectly the way Clinton appearances have been managed. Slowly, things are changing.

News Conference Prep

The weakest link of the two is Obama. He was seen yesterday running from reporters, er, his campaign was late and he had to run, when a Tony Rezko question came up. The media was surprised to see an Obama that they had not seen before.

related link: Obama ducks questions