Tag Archives: Barack Obama

MSNBC’s Chuck Todd Baffled by Wall Street’s Anti-Obama Sentiment: The President ‘Has Not Done’ Much to Business

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

During Morning Joe on Thursday, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd appeared baffled by a discussion of negative feelings directed towards Barack Obama from Wall Street. The confused journalist wondered, “Look, at the end of the day, he has not done that much when it comes to business stuff.”   Mad Money host, Jim Cramer relayed to Todd that Wall Street is upset because, “Most of the people on Wall Street are behind the scenes guys” and the President is demagoging the issue and demonizing them.  Todd became upset that, regardless of what the President does, “He is getting trapped and hit from both sides, but it isn’t just that, this is how sour the American public is.” To understand why Wall Street and the American public might be “sour,” one needs to look no further than the cap and trade energy proposal, health care, the financial reform bill, the stimulus, or the nationalization of the automobile and student loan sectors. Perhaps Todd could listen to what a colleague on CNBC said. Back in February, Maria Bartiromo asserted that “there are a lot of people on Wall Street and in business increasingly that have said to me actually, ‘I don’t know that I would vote the same today given the fact that we did not expect he was so much to the left, and we did not expect that there was going to be such a big bite in business.’ I mean, that’s a fact.” Recently the media have been expressing incredulity at Barack Obama’s falling poll numbers. This includes MSNBC’s news anchor Contessa Brewer lamenting that after everything President Obama has done, “What else do people want?” Sounding a similar note, Good Morning America’s George Stephanopoulos on Thursday touted, after all of Obama’s achievements, “What more could the President have done?”

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Jon Stewart Vulgarly Attacks GOP Concerns for Rising Taxes and Deficits

Posted on August 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Comedian Jon Stewart on Wednesday joined the growing liberal chorus attacking Republicans for their concerns about rising taxes and exploding budget deficits. The only thing different about the “Daily Show” host’s approach was that he needed vulgarity to make his point. Potentially even worse, Stewart in his opening segment Wednesday actually used CNN’s Fareed Zakaria to support his view that letting the Bush tax cuts expire would be a good thing for the nation. Ironically, that was the only thing remotely funny about this sketch (video follows with partial transcript and commentary, extreme vulgarity warning, see BMI’s coverage as well ): The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c Deductible Me www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party “Let’s begin tonight in D.C.,” Stewart said. “It’s our nation’s capital. For the last 18 or so months Barack Obama’s been the President and Democrats have controlled both houses of Congress. Purely by coincidence, that’s the exact same amount of time that Republicans have expressed a newfound concern for our nation’s financial stability.” To set-up this “Republicans are hypocrites skit,” Stewart played clips of Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va., Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio and former Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich warning against the budget deficit. At that point, Stewart said, “The deficit wants to skullf–k your mother. It wants to eat your children after it shows your wife a level of physical passion you’ve never been able to provide.” But here was the real punchline: Stewart played a clip from the August 1 installment of CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS” when the host of that show told his viewers that letting the Bush tax cuts expire would instantly shrink our nation’s deficit by 30 percent. After the clip ended, Stewart said Zakaria was right. That would have elicited uproarious laughter from a well-informed audience, for as NewsBusters reported shortly after Zakaria made this pathetic claim, nothing could be further from the truth. Supporting our view, the Heritage Foundation’s Brian Riedl has research that indicates these tax cuts were just a drop in the bucket of the overall federal budget deficit, and the real culprit is the explosion in spending – not the trotted out liberal misnomer that these tax cuts are responsible. Riedl explains the budget surplus forecasted at the end of the Clinton presidency was set to shift to a $6.1 trillion deficit and that the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts were responsible for a mere 14 percent of this shift. The true culprit: the liberal sacred cow of entitlement spending. “Instead of closing the long-term deficit by splitting the difference between tax hikes and spending cuts, lawmakers should address the source-rising entitlement costs,” Riedl wrote. Indeed. In fact, even if the tax cuts were extended, revenues are projected to rise above the historical average by 2017. Contrary to Zakaria and Stewart’s view, this leaves surging spending responsible for the entire increase in long-term deficits. Business & Media Institute adviser and Cato Institute fellow Daniel Mitchell agrees, and refuted Zakaria’s claim on his Aug. 4 podcast . “Our real problem isn’t that deficits are large,” he said. “It is that the government is far, far too big. That’s what we should focus on, so he’s looking at a symptom rather than the underlying disease and then if we have to look at the issue of federal spending and federal revenue – even under the Obama budget projections – while low now because of the economic downturn – are going to climb to their historical post-World War average. We do not have, in other words, a shortage of revenue in the United States or in Washington, D.C. We have too much government spending.” On top of this, as NewsBusters reported a few hours before Stewart made his foolish comments, a new study published by the liberal Brookings Institution found the savings associated with just letting the Bush tax cuts expire on upper-income wage earners – what President Obama is advocating – to be minimal when compared to the current deficit totals. But facts weren’t getting in the way of Stewart’s populist rant as he next asked a truly absurd question: “How exactly can you be for deficit reduction and extending tax cuts? How do those two diametrically opposed thoughts exist in the same Party platform?” Well, Jon, here’s how: the last time Republicans cut taxes while controlling spending in the mid-1990s, the nation produced budget surpluses for four straight years while adding 12 million jobs to non-farm payrolls. Alas, this is an inconvenient truth Stewart and his ilk have chosen to ignore for over ten years, and Wednesday was no exception as the “Daily Show” host then played a clip of Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) saying the following on “Meet the Press” Sunday: REP. MIKE PENCE (R-INDIANA): They talk about tax cuts the same way they talk about spending increases as though the government owned all of the money. They say, “Are they paid for?” Well, I think, I think deciding on a government spending increase is very different on whether or not we allow the American people to keep more of their hard-earned tax dollars. Makes sense, right? After all, it is OUR money! Obviously not according to Stewart, for he not only seemed totally perplexed by Pence’s logic, he mocked it by asking, “So, you’re saying money the government gets is different than money the government spends?” Well YEAH, Jon! When the government is spending $1.5 trillion MORE than what it takes in, there is a difference! A HUGE difference! Clearly missing this indisputable fact, Stewart said the deficit’s opinion on this matter can be summed up with a clip from the movie “Goodfellas”: ACTOR RAY LIOTTA: Business is bad? F–k you, pay me! Oh, you had a fire? F–k you, pay me! Place got hit by lightning, huh? F–k you, pay me!” In reality, although he clearly didn’t know it, Stewart was making the conservative point about the current administration and Party in power: regardless of how the economy and the American citizens are doing financially, today’s government acts like a Mafioso thug demanding to be paid. Thank you, Jon – we couldn’t have said it any better.

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Jon Stewart Vulgarly Attacks GOP Concerns for Rising Taxes and Deficits

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Dan Quayle’s Son: "Barack Obama Is The Worst President In History"

Posted on August 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

CNN) – Ben Quayle, the son of former Vice President Dan Quayle who is seeking a House seat in Arizona, is making a splash with a new campaign ad in which he looks straight into the camera and declares, “Barack Obama is the worst president in history.” “My generation will inherit a weakened country,” Quayle also says solemnly in the new 30-second spot. “Drug cartels in Mexico, tax cartels in DC. What's happened to America? I love Arizona. I was raised right. Someone needs to go to Washington and knock the hell out of the place.” Quayle, the 33-year-old son of the former vice president, is one of 10 Republicans seeking the GOP nomination for the third district House seat of retiring Rep. John Shadegg. The Republican-leaning district primarily encompasses Phoenix and its surrounding suburbs. Quayle recently ran into controversy after admitting to having posted on the controversial website DirtyScottsdale.com four years ago. The racy website features scantily clad women and focuses on profiling the Scottsdale nightclub scene. Quayle told a local TV station Tuesday he posted on the website on behalf of a friend to “drive some traffic.” added by: TimALoftis

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CNN’s Moos: Booing Scouts Weren’t ‘Courteous and Kind’ to President Obama

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Tuesday’s American Morning, CNN’s Jeanne Moos picked up on the viral video of Boy Scouts booing President Obama’s taped message to the recent National Jamboree, but got in a light jab at the youth for their behavior: “Booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of Boy Scout Law. A Boy Scout is ‘trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind’- wait a minute, ‘courteous and kind’? ” The correspondent, known for her light reports for the network, concluded the 6 am Eastern hour with “unique take” on the video, as anchor John Roberts put it. Moos noted that “45,000 Scouts were celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting” in the United States at the Jamboree, which was held at the U.S. Army’s Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, and that “two months earlier, the White House informed the Scouts that the President had prior commitments.” Moos continued that the “Scouts…booed the President’s message, and this 23-second video made its way on to conservative websites, which slammed the President for forsaking the Boy Scouts to appear on ‘The View.'” She later gave the Obama administration’s explanation for the apparent snub: “The White House says ‘The View’ had nothing to do with it- that the President was already scheduled to be on the road that day.” The CNN correspondent’s jab against the booing culprits, using two of the twelve points of the Scout Law , came near the end of the report. She added that “a statement from the Boy Scouts said the organization does not condone booing.” Moos concluded, “If the President’s watching this, the jamboree returns in four years.” In the past, Moos has hit subjects from both sides of the political spectrum. On the April 30, 2008 edition of American Morning, the correspondent devoted all but six seconds of a two-and-a-half minute report to “granny” supporters of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama’s presidential campaigns. Later that year, during the Democratic National Convention, she highlighted the dancing antics of CNN’s liberal pundits . Just over a year ago, on August 4, 2009, Moos devoted an entire segment to the viral Obama as the Joker image . That December, the correspondent also exposed left-wing rage being directed at independent Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman. Most recently, during a June 22, 2010 report, she refreshingly spotlighted how the President frequently golfed during the oil leak disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. The full transcript of Jeanne Moos’s report from Tuesday’s American Morning: KIRAN CHETRY: Meantime, the Boy Scouts are voicing their displeasure with President Obama, claiming that he passed up an invitation to join their big jamboree to appear on ‘The View.’ JOHN ROBERTS: No one, though, was prepared for just how emotionally the Scouts would react, and here’s Jeanne Moos with her unique take on it. JEANNE MOOS (voice-over): It’s bad enough getting booed, whether you’re busted for dog fighting (crowd boos football player Michael Vick), or competing for Miss Universe- UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE ANNOUNCER: USA. (crowd boos) MOOS: But imagine getting booed by the Boy Scouts. (scouts boo as taped message of President Obama plays, from YouTube.com video) And the person they’re booing is the president of the United States. Actually, what they were booing was President Obama sending a taped message, rather than coming in person to the recent Boy Scout jamboree. UNIDENTIFIED MALE 1: Thanks for showing up! MOOS: Some 45,000 Scouts were celebrating the 100th anniversary of Scouting. Two months earlier, the White House informed the Scouts that the President had prior commitments. UNIDENTIFIED MALE 2: It doesn’t really bother me. UNIDENTIFIED MALE 3: Disappointed but, I mean- busy man. What can you do? MOOS: But just a few days after those interviews- PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: Scouts just like you- MOOS: Scouts just like these booed the President’s message, and this 23-second video made its way on to conservative websites, which slammed the President for forsaking the Boy Scouts to appear on ‘The View.’ OBAMA (from ABC’s ‘The View’): Thank you! MOOS: Some figured the booing tape was somehow doctored. (reading from website) ‘I don’t believe for one second that these 23 seconds of film is accurate.’ MOOS (on-camera): Believe it- some Boy Scouts booed.  (holding three fingers up in Scout Sign) Trust me, ‘Scout’s honor.’ MOOS (voice-over): The Boy Scout who shot it wouldn’t do an interview, but he told us that though he didn’t boo, there was a moderate amount of booing going on around him, mostly from Scouts annoyed, not because of the President’s policies, but because he didn’t show up as six previous presidents have. The White House says ‘The View’ had nothing to do with it- that the President was already scheduled to be on the road that day. JON STEWART (from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show”): Look on the bright side. Boy Scouts will finally get their merit badge for crushing disappointment. Look- MOOS (on-camera): Now, on the face of it, booing would seem to go against some of the 12 tenets of Boy Scout Law. MOOS (voice-over): A Boy Scout is ‘trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind’- wait a minute, ‘courteous and kind’? (scouts booing, from YouTube.com video) A statement from the Boy Scouts said the organization does not condone booing. UNIDENTIFIED MALE 4: I hope you’re watching this! MOOS: If the President’s watching this, the jamboree returns in four years. OBAMA (from 2009 Inauguration): I, Barack Hussein Obama, do solemnly swear- MOOS: That if re-elected, I will try to make it to the next jamboree. OBAMA: So help me God. MOOS: Jeanne Moos, CNN, New York.   ROBERTS: Some of the Boy Scouts not too happy about getting a taped message.

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Biden’s ‘The View’ Interview Tougher Than Obama’s, But Why?

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Although there are few tough interviews on ABC’s “The View” – this was an exception to the rule – Vice President Joe Biden received a surprisingly more serious reception than did President Obama on the daytime celebrity show. He even had a snide remark for Whoopi Goldberg about high taxes for the wealthy. As Newsbusters reported , President Obama’s interview was essentially a rousing festival of praise for the administration and Obama’s family. By contrast, Vice President Biden’s interview, although by no means tough, was missing the slew of softball questions that Obama enjoyed. There were even some awkward exchanges between Biden and co-hosts Barbara Walters and Whoopi Goldberg, on the issues of foreign policy and taxes, respectively. While the show’s hosts continually fawned over President Obama, token conservative co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck soon brought up Biden’s infamous F-bomb gaffe at the health care bill’s signing. Sherri Shepherd followed up by asking about the administration’s answers for angry Tea Partiers, and Whoopi Goldberg then pressed about the problem of high taxes. Biden quipped, “You have a lot of money, that’s why it bothers you,” before assuring Goldberg that he was kidding. That didn’t suffice for the comedian and actress, who continued to press the issue. “People do assume – they see somebody and say ‘They have a lot of money, so take it from them,'” Goldberg pointed out. “But no one says, ‘Well what are they doing with their money, and how are they working? Are they taking care of their family?'” “If we’re going to start talking about a national sales tax, on top of everything else, what taxes can you guys remove?” and exasperated Goldberg demanded of Biden. “I think that they’re worried, too, about how [their money] is being spent,” Hasselbeck remarked about Americans frustrated with the administration. “I think that’s a main issue, not just how it’s being taxed, but how it’s being spent, and it’s astronomical right now.” Veteran journalist Barbara Walters later pressed the Vice President on foreign policy, resulting in another mildly tense exchange. You can view the questions for President Obama’s interview on “The View” here , and compare it with Vice President Biden’s questions, which are listed below: ABC THE VIEW 8/9/10 11:23 a.m.-11:49 a.m. EDT JOY BEHAR: I was wondering, why did Dick Cheney never want to come on? Was it something I said? … BARBARA WALTERS: Mr. Vice President, you have the second most powerful job in the country, and I’m going to ask you a very simple question that may sound like a very simple question. But most people have no idea what the Vice President does except for ceremonial things. Vice President JOE BIDEN: (Unintelligible) (Laughter) WALTERS: Well, that’s why I asked. You know, you break the tie in the Senate, but do you have any power, I mean, what do you do every day? … ELISABETH HASSELBECK: You mentioned relationship with the President, and it obviously is very good, too. You know, it’s – he’s been in the past talking about words, you know, he’s told us that there are certain words that, as America, we should kind of stay away from. The “War on Terror,” “radical Islam,” etc. You get up there, health care bill signed, and you throw the F-bomb, and I’m thinking “Oh man! That might be one we shouldn’t say, too!” (Laughter) So were you surprised that you got the pass from him on that? (Laughter) BIDEN: I was just thankful my mother couldn’t hear or see it. And it was a little embarrassing. JOY BEHAR: Did you realize there was a microphone? … BEHAR: You know, there seems to be a lack of decorum in politics these days. (Laughter) You know, somebody yells out “You lie!”, another person calls Stupak a “baby killer,” and then there was a thing out of your office, Rahm Emanuel, saying that these liberal guys were a bunch of “retards,” my quotes are there. What is going on? And is it dangerous, and is it different? SHERRI SHEPHERD: Well what about the – you know, we have these Tea Party – the Tea Party people now, they’re protesting big government, health care, uh, spending — WHOOPI GOLDBERG: Taxes – SHEPHERD: And your administration – taxes – is saying that they’re these far right lunatics. I mean, why haven’t you addressed any of their – BIDEN: Well by the way, the President and I haven’t said they’re far right lunatics. Look, I think there’s an awful lot of people out there are frightened and scared. It’s a very difficult time. I travel all over the country, I’ve been in over 60 cities, people have lost their jobs, they’re unsure if they’re going to keep their homes, they’re not sure that the jobs they have they’ll keep, can I get my kid back to college, etc.? And they’re very worried. There’s fringes in every outfit. But the vast majority of these people, I think, are just frustrated. And what they don’t get yet, and I understand it, is they’re going to see that we’ve spent our time cutting taxes. We’ve given the largest tax cut in the history of America to middle class people. We’re actually paying for what we do. GOLDBERG: Okay. I like the idea of that. But when you look at how much taxation is going on in this country, you know, I ‘ve been crutching about this from the beginning. Because I don’t mind paying taxes. BIDEN: You have a lot of money, that’s why it bothers you. (Laughter) I’m joking. (Crosstalk) GOLDBERG: Here’s the interesting thing. You may see somebody, and people do assume – they see somebody and say they have a lot of money, so take it from them. But no one says, well what are they doing with their money, and how are they working? Are they taking care of their family? Are they doing – so now, if we’re going to start talking about a national sales tax, on top of everything else, what taxes can you guys remove? BIDEN: Well by – we aren’t talking about that. WALTERS: The President is. BIDEN: No, the President said he was open to listening about that. Look, we’ve set up a commission, a fiscal commission that is designed bipartisan, that is going to report after November elections back to us to say that “This is what we recommend is how to get control of the long-term deficit. And the President said everything’s on the table, everything’s on the table, from cuts, to even considering revenues. And so look, here’s the deal. The question is nobody likes taxes. Nobody likes paying taxes. And I don’t blame them. The question is, who deserves the biggest break right now?  From 2000-2007, the middle class lost ground in America. They lost ground. For the first time since 1929, you had one percent of the people making 23.5 percent of all the income. GOLDBERG: Then why not hit – and I know this must be crazy – but you know, the communications taxes, you look on the phone bill – we are being taxed within an inch of our butt. Why can’t we get some relief from those folk – people don’t mind paying the federal and the state. HASSELBECK: I think that they’re worried too about how it’s being spent. I think that’s a main issue, not just how it’s being taxed, but how it’s being spent, and it’s astronomical right now. …     BEHAR: Before we go any further, I must ask you – what is the appeal of Sarah Palin, exactly, do you think? … HASSELBECK: Is [Palin] something that the administration’s eyeing in 2-12? Or is she someone that they consider to be a legitimate threat again? … WALTERS: Can I ask some foreign policy questions, okay? While we’re at it? Because there’s some important things. Last week Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the administration does not have an adequate plan to stop Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The whole world is worrying about this. Why don’t we have a plan? BIDEN: Barbara, we do have a plan, and look, if, as the secretary said, when that, a reference to that memo was leaked. It was inaccurate, what was said, it does not reflect what the memo said, I’ve read the memo, I know the memo. We have, from the day we – actually before we took office, before we took office, one of the first things we did in putting together our national security team, was come up with a game plan as to how to deal with Iraq’s – I mean Iran’s – effort to get a nuclear weapon. We have clearly known exactly what we were doing, and – WALTERS: Sanctions are not working. BIDEN: No, no, no. Sanctions – WALTERS: But you have China doesn’t want to agree to have sanctions – BIDEN: China will agree to sanctions. There will in fact be – this is the first time the entire world is unified that Iran is out of bounds. You have a – they’re more isolated than they have ever been. They are more isolated with their own people, they are more isolated externally, they are more isolated in the region – WALTERS: So is the next step sanctions? BIDEN: The next step is sanctions. WALTERS: And if they don’t work?          BIDEN: I’m not going to speculate beyond that. It’s not appropriate to do that. … WALTERS: Also the Israelis are debating now whether they should attack themselves, without U.S. permission – attack Iran without U.S. permission. If they decided to do that, what are your thoughts? … HASSELBECK: You know, I was reading, growing up they called you “Joe Impedimenta,” is that correct, because of a stutter that you had? I mean, so many people do struggle with that. Exactly how did you overcome it over the years? … WALTERS: And you still today, you work with the American Institute of Stuttering, I just want to mention that – … SHEPHERD: One thing you’re not embarrassed about, which is so great. You’ve been married for 32 years to your wife Jill. But – I love it, because – you asked Jill five times, five times to marry you. When she said no the other four, what made you keep asking? … WALTERS: Why didn’t [Jill] want you? … HASSELBECK: A lot of people are in love with you, Mr. Vice President. Truly, you’re a pretty cool guy, I have to say. I mean, we don’t sit on the same side of the political aisle, but it’s good to share the sofa!  We’re so thankful that you are here. Thanks to the Vice President, and we’ll be right back.

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Steven Chu: Static Kill "Completed Successfully"

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Photo via Xinhuanet US Secretary of Energy Stephen Chu has just made an announcement on the current state of the operations to permanently plug the blown-out well below the Deepwater Horizon site. Chu has been instrumental in the spill’s response, which at first was criticized by some for being slow and lackluster , but has since developed into a more comprehensive effort. His update revealed the fact that cement — in addition to mud — had successfully been injected into the blown well, and so fa… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Steven Chu: Static Kill "Completed Successfully"

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Copenhagen Dashed: AP Reports Lament That Bonn Talks ‘Slip Backward’ and ‘Stumble’

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The past week has brought forth a couple of items from the Associated Press’s — and for the most part the establishment press’s — special corner of journalistic unreality. It is an area where human-caused global warming is still a given, and where that the nastiness known as ClimateGate that exposed the entire global warming enterprise as entirely unsupported by verifiable scientific data doesn’t exist. Maybe we should refer to that special corner as “The Climate Zone.” The reports each arrived via AP Writer Arthur Max. Mr. Max and conference attendees at climate negotiations in Bonn shouldn’t be mad about having the opportunity to spend in Germany’s capital city. After all, the temperatures there, based on the current report for Tuesday and plus the three forecasted days in the graphic at the top right (seen currently at Google ), are on track to be virtually identical to the city’s pleasant historical August average highs and lows of 73 and 54 degrees , respectively, for August. But despite the reasonably pleasant atmosphere (yeah, I know temps and climate aren’t the same, so back off already), Mr. Max’s August 6 and August 8 reports tell us that discussions between “rich” and “poor” countries have been quite frosty. Meanwhile, reactions from the the supporters of international statist expansion in the environmental movement who are on hand for the festivities have been quite heated. Overall, everyone, including the clumsy Mr. Max, is making mince meat of President Barack Obama’s claim, occasionally echoed in establishment press outlets at the time, to have accomplished anything meaningful at last December’s Copenhagen conference. First, here are the opening paragraphs from Max’s Friday missive : Climate talks appear to slip backward Global climate talks appeared to have slipped backward after five days of negotiations in Bonn, with rich and poor countries exchanging charges of reneging on agreements they made last year to contain greenhouse gases. Delegates complained that reversals in the talks put negotiations back by a year, even before minimal gains were scored at the Copenhagen summit last December. “It’s a little bit like a broken record,” said European Union negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger. “It’s like a flashback,” agreed Raman Mehta, of the Action Aid environment group. “The discourse is the same level” as before Copenhagen. The sharp divide between rich and poor nations over how best to fight climate change – a clash that crippled the Copenhagen summit – remains, and bodes ill for any deal at the next climate convention in Cancun, Mexico, which begins in November. “At this point, I am very concerned,” said chief U.S. delegate Jonathan Pershing. “Unfortunately, what we have seen over and over this week is that some countries are walking back from progress made in Copenhagen, and what was agreed there.” Fortunately or unfortunately (I’m going with the former), there really wasn’t much that “was agreed there,” despite Pershing’s posing, as Max revealed in his Sunday submission (bold is mine): Analysis: Climate talks stumble from Page 1 The new climate change treaty under negotiation for the past 2 1/2 years begins with a brief document called “A Shared Vision.” The problem is, there isn’t one. The latest round of talks that concluded Friday showed that the 194 negotiating countries have failed to even define a common target or method for curbing greenhouse gases – just one example of the ongoing divide among rich and poor nations. Talks began in 2007, with the aim of wrapping up a deal in Copenhagen last December. But that didn’t happen, despite the presence of 120 heads of state or government. It ended instead with a three-page statement of intentions brokered by President Barack Obama. Though less than expected, the Copenhagen Accord scored some breakthroughs. It boiled down the core elements of a deal to 12 carefully worded paragraphs, and it inscribed hard-fought compromises by the main protagonists, the U.S. and China. Details were to be filled in by the next major conference in Cancun, Mexico, starting in November. But the accord was never formally adopted. … The paper was merely “noted” by the conference, stripping it of any legal force. Now, much of the Copenhagen deal has been thrown open again. As readers can see, Mr. Max couldn’t stay consistent in his musings even in the space of five paragraphs. In the third paragraph above, he notes that a deal “didn’t happen.” But in the seventh, he says that “the Copenhagen deal has been thrown open again,” as if a deal really was done. What transpired in Copenhagen was not a “deal.” If “the paper” had no “legal force” and could only be “‘noted” by the conference,” it really didn’t rise even to the level of what most of us would consider a “memorandum of understanding.” In other words, there really never has been a “deal.” Then again, for journalists in “The Climate Zone” who have had years of practice presumptively insisting that human-caused global warming is settled science, when it’s not — not even the “warming” part, as one leading advocate admitted in one of the ClimateGate e-mails — making the leap from “no deal” to “deal” hardly causes them to break a sweat. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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Variety Columnist Accuses FNC of Racial Motivations, Provides Zero Quotes from Actual Programming

Posted on August 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Variety Magazine TV critic Brian Lowry – formerly a reporter for NPR and the Los Angeles Times – surely was not a member of JournoList. But he sure writes like he was. Lowry took a page directly out of the Spencer Ackerman Guide to Dubious Racism Accusations in his most recent column , claiming the Fox News Channel caters to racial fear and resentment to sell its brand. Lowry provided no examples to back up his claims. He did not give voice to any opposing views. The only evidence he offered to back up his accusations were quotes from “thoughtful conservative” (read: not-so-conservative conservative) David Frum and liberal Washington Post blogger Greg Sargent. In true JournoLista fashion, Lowry cited Fox’s coverage of the New Black Panther scandal at the Justice Department as evidence of the channel’s attempts to “delegitimize Obama” by stoking racial fears. Just as Ackerman advocated with the Jeremiah Wright scandal, Lowry cried racism in order to avoid any actual discussion of this administration’s strange affinity for racialist radicals – or any of Fox’s actual coverage of the scandal. Networks cater to all kinds of demographics. But overlooked amid recent hand-wringing over racial politics and the separate debate over whether Fox News merited a front-row White House briefing room upgrade is the main ingredient in the channel’s stew: fear. With Barack Obama’s election, Fox has carved out a near-exclusive TV niche, while having plenty of company in radio: catering to those agitated (consciously or otherwise) by having an African-American in the White House. Yet a broader secret of its success — preying upon anxiety in general — hasn’t really changed since the Sept. 11 terror attacks. As the original home of the “news alerts” (which usually aren’t alerting us to breaking news), Fox News under CEO Roger Ailes has been adept at tapping into deep-seated concerns. And in order to powerfully connect with core viewers, it’s not enough to disagree with President Obama’s policies; rather, they must be couched as an existential threat to U.S. society. Lowry goes on to single out Glenn Beck (of course), and to cite a couple of commentators who he apparently considers experts on Fox’s alleged “fear and racism” strategy. Thoughtful conservative commentators have cited the dangers in such overheated rhetoric. Former Bush speechwriter David Frum has become one of the most articulate, writing after passage of healthcare reform, “Conservative talkers on Fox and talkradiohad whipped the Republican voting base into such a frenzy that deal-making was rendered impossible. How do you negotiate with somebody who wants to murder your grandmother? Or — more exactly — with somebody whom your voters have been persuaded to believe wants to murder their grandmother?” Frum added that talk hosts operate “responsibility-free” — playing a different game than Republican politicians, since perpetuating frustration and outrage boosts their ratings… For all the invectives hurled at Bill Clinton and George W. Bush in the three-cable-news-network era (which didn’t begin, unbelievably, until halfway through Clinton’s presidency), the most egregious attempts to delegitimize Obama are both distinct and not particularly subtle. The latest theme — illustrated by Fox’s crusade regarding the New Black Panther Party — hinges on fear of racial bias where whites are the aggrieved party. As the Washington Post’s Greg Sargent noted, Fox’s eagerness to “drive the media narrative … simply has no equivalent on the left.” Still, the most ruthless liberals — those more committed to partisan advantage than accuracy — have inevitably drawn lessons by observing, and will retaliate whenever Republicans regain power. Since its inception, Fox has emulated the “If it bleeds, it leads” mindset of local news, garnishing its presentation with snazzier graphics and more urgent production values. The canny post-Sept. 11 adaptation has been, “If it scares, it airs.” As mentioned above, David Frum is of course presented as the “even some conservatives don’t like Fox” commentator. And of course Lowry things Frum is “thoughtful” – if he were more conservative, he wouldn’t be deserving of that label. Frum is not given space to criticize Fox because he’s thoughtful. He’s thoughtful because he criticizes Fox. As for Sargent, Lowry readers who don’t know the WaPo blogger are left without any indication of his political leanings. Lowry presented Sargent as a media critic noting what he claims is a simple reality, but did not mention that the blogger is on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Fox’s prime time talkers. So Lowry’s only substantiation for his sweeping theories about the root of Fox’s success comes from a left-wing blogger, and a conservative who makes a living ripping on other conservatives. And Lowry has the temerity to criticize Fox’s journalistic practices.

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Variety Columnist Accuses FNC of Racial Motivations, Provides Zero Quotes from Actual Programming

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Juan Williams: Missouri’s Anti-ObamaCare Ballot Irrelevant – Only Old White People Voted For It

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Juan Williams on Sunday said the passage of Missouri’s anti-ObamaCare ballot initiative last week is irrelevant because only older white people voted for it. Discussing the issue on “Fox News Sunday,” the liberal FNC contributor said, “As far as the Missouri vote, you get 70 percent inside an echo chamber of older white people, no not in St. Louis not in Kansas City, saying, ‘Oh yeah, we don’t like a requirement that everybody has to have healthcare even though the hospitals in Missouri say it’s gonna drive up our costs.'” Host Chris Wallace seemed somewhat stunned by this and asked, “What happened to respect for democracy?” When Williams elaborated saying that he believes this will eventually be decided by the courts, Liz Cheney rightly scolded her colleague, “I think it is stunning you and the White House are unwilling to heed the votes of the people in Missouri” (video follows with transcript and commentary): LIZ CHENEY: You’ve also got Robert Gibbs this week when asked about what does it mean that 71 percent of the people in Missouri said they don’t want any mandate for health insurance, he said, quote, “It means nothing.” Now when you’ve got a White House that is that unwilling to listen to what the people out there are saying, I think that you know, it causes some real concern about whether or not they are actually going to be responsive to the voters. But, I think, frankly it gives the voters much bigger impetus come November to elect some folks who will listen to him. CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Juan? JUAN WILLIAMS: I like George W. Bush, but the decider? I think, he’s the one that coined that phrase. He said he was the decider when he was president, so I guess President Obama can be the decider now that he is president. Isn’t that the deal? CHENEY: I don’t think Bush ever said he got to decide who had the keys to the scar. WILLIAMS: Look, I think this is, and as far as the Missouri vote, you get 70 percent inside an echo chamber of older white people, no not in St. Louis not in Kansas City, saying, “Oh yeah, we don’t like a requirement that everybody has to have healthcare even though the hospitals in Missouri say it’s gonna drive up our costs, everyone is just going to run to the emergency rooms when they have their accidents.” WALLACE: What happened to respect for democracy? WILLIAMS: I have tremendous respect for democracy, but as Ted Olson… WALLACE: The proposition was on the ballot… WILLIAMS: Yes. WALLACE: …and 71 percent voted in favor of it. WILLIAMS: That’s who’s energized. The unions didn’t participate and they didn’t get out there… WALLACE: Well, that’s their problem, isn’t it? WILLIAMS: Right, so because everybody knows, as Ted Olson told you in an earlier segment on the gay rights issue, the courts, the courts have said that federal law trumps state law in this area, or they will decide if it’s to be the case. WALLACE: That has to do with immigration, we are talking about healthcare. WILLIAMS: That is exactly right, Chris, on the issue, does, can a state say that we will not require our citizens to buy health insurance? That issue is right now being taken up by several attorney generals around the country in seperate states, and, they will eventually end up in the courts. I hate to inform you of this, you should know this as our anchor. (Laughter) CHENEY: It is a real constitutional issue whether or not the federal government has the right to force people to buy insurance, and I think it is stunning you and the White House are unwilling to heed the votes of the people in Missouri. Isn’t it wonderful how much race is now brought into every discussion about politics? I thought Barack Obama was going to change all that.

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Juan Williams: Missouri’s Anti-ObamaCare Ballot Irrelevant – Only Old White People Voted For It

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Harris on ‘This Week’: Giving Bush Credit for Iraq Too Much for Obama to Swallow

Posted on August 8, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Christiane Amanpour on Sunday asked a rather surprising question of her “This Week” panel concerning President Obama’s speech earlier in the week about the troop draw down in Iraq:  Do you think everybody is taking a lot of credit but not giving credit where credit is due? Obviously, “everybody” in this instance meant the current White House resident who chose not to give credit to former President George W. Bush for the success in Iraq or to even mention “the surge” in his address. After former Bush speechwriter now Washington Post contributor Michael Gerson said, “I didn’t find the speech to be a particularly generous speech…he’s attempting to take credit for something that he opposed,” some truly shocking statements were made by Amanpour and Politico’s John Harris (video follows with transcript and commentary):  CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, HOST: Before turning to domestic news, I want to start with Iraq, because we just heard from General Odierno we know that the draw down, President Obama makes a speech today reaffirming the draw down, rather this week. Do you think everybody is taking a lot of credit but not giving credit where credit is due? MICHAEL GERSON, WASHINGTON POST: I didn’t find the speech to be a particularly generous speech. I mean, this is really the implementation of the status of forces agreement that was agreed to in 2008 under the Bush administration. Barack Obama, people forget, actually voted against funding for the troops. He opposed the surge. He gave a speech without mentioning the surge or General Petraeus. I think that that’s probably, you know, he’s attempting to take credit for something that he opposed. AMANPOUR: The surge, let’s face it, has worked up until now. We can see that it’s had a huge, huge impact on stability in Iraq, despite a spike of violence. Do you think that it would have been even politically expedient to actually praise the surge, because the future of Iraq is this president’s future? Imagine that. Amanpour actually said the surge has worked. This wasn’t the tune she was singing on September 10, 2007, just before Petraeus spoke to Congress about how this strategy was doing: CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, in short, they’re very worried, because they see, as, in fact, General Petraeus himself admits in an open letter to his own troops ahead of this report on Congress, that, yes, they are making some progress in some areas. He’s said to his own troops, we have the ball and we’re driving it down the field. But in short, we are a long way from our goal. They are happy, of course, the change at the moment in the Anbar province, which used to be the most dangerous. But it’s now much more safe because some of the sheikhs and would-be insurgents have switch sides and joined the U.S. against al Qaeda. But then they see at other parts of Iraq how sort of as the surge is squelching some activity in some parts of Iraq, it’s sort of coming up and showing itself in other parts, the violence. So, around the world people are looking at that and wondering how this is going to proceed. The British themselves, who are the main coalition partners of the United States, have withdrawn their troops from a high of 30,000 during the war and the immediate aftermath of the war to now less than 5,000, and they have withdrawn completely from the urban area they were responsible for, Basra in the south. And they are at an air base. And, of course, that’s being carefully looked at as to see the effect of that and what that might mean for the future. But in short, the rest of the world is exceptionally anxious. Leaders in the region do not think that there can be potentially any progress. They are very concerned about this administration. They feel that it’s a lame-duck administration, and they are very concerned about the future of Iraq, because it has massive ripple effects in this whole region.  Now, almost three years later, all that anxiety was proven unwarranted. Regardless, here’s how Harris answered Amanpour’s question:  JOHN HARRIS, POLITICO: Well, probably the more cynical thing to do, or sort of a more Machiavellian thing to do for President Obama, would have been to lavish credit on President Bush. I mean, one of the central parts of Obama’s brand at least when he came into Washington was that he was a bridge builder and could sort of drain politics. He would have therefore sort of cut off the conservative critique that he’s, which is out there, that he is leaving too soon, and looked gracious in doing so. I don’t know, I think that may have been, that doesn’t come naturally to him. It might have been a little too much to swallow. Hmmm. So admitting he was wrong doesn’t come naturally to Obama, nor does praising a former President whose strategy ended up being a huge success? Those seem like significant character flaws for the most powerful man in the world, wouldn’t you agree? Even so, it sure was nice to see two members of the mainstream media admit that our current President was taking credit for something he didn’t do especially given the other player involved. 

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