Tag Archives: Cnn

Joliet Herald-News Ignores Story of Demonstrators With Nazi Signs From Local Congresswoman’s Campaign Office

Posted on September 18, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Joliet, Illinois must be a community absolutely bursting with newsworthy events. Why? Because the Herald-News newspaper in that city was (conveniently) unable to cover a local news story that has become a sizzling hot topic in the blogosphere. All one has to do is enter the name of the Illinois 11th Congressional District Congresswoman, Debbie Halvorson, into Google Blog Search and you will get results chock full of a shocking incident a few days ago, including this video . The Frugal Café Blog Zone, which is but one of many sites covering this, explains : Would MSNBC or CNN have featured this shocking story if the vile protesters at the Nazi-themed protest were CONSERVATIVES or REPUBLICANS or if left-wing extremists had dressed up like Nazis and crashed a tea party posing as conservatives or Republicans? Why do you even ask? Of course they would. When interviewed in the video below, these anti-conservative protesters in Joliet, outside Chicago — proudly carrying Nazi-esque signs slamming GOP congressional opponent Adam Kinzinger and other well-known conservatives, like Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin — denied several times being there in support of, or affiliated with, Democrat Rep. Debbie Halvorson. Congresswoman Halvorson is running against Kinzinger in the November election. … Much later, these bogus grassroots protesters were videotaped returning to the congresswoman’s campaign office in the dark of night. Obviously, they’re part of the liberal congresswoman’s camp. Unless Halvorson had NO IDEA that these left-wing extremist folks had her campaign office keys and gained access to her office. They look pretty darned cozy in there in the video with Julie Merz, Halvorson’s campaign manager. Many prominent blogs are now covering this shocking story of dirty campaign tactics including InstaPundit , Riehl World View , and The Other McCain . What will it take to get the Herald-News to cover this unfolding story in its own backyard of Joliet? A banner headline at the top of the Drudge Report linking to the video of the demonstrators with the Nazi themed signs returning home to the Debbie Halvorson campaign headquarters? Meanwhile a sampling of headlines in the current edition of the Herald-News that they found to be more important than this local political scandal that has heated up the blogosphere: Joliet couple power up for solar energy Yorkville swears in first deputy chiefs Plan set to spend proposed taxes USF to honor alumni at homecoming event

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Joliet Herald-News Ignores Story of Demonstrators With Nazi Signs From Local Congresswoman’s Campaign Office

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CNN’s Showbiz Tonight: That’s Gay Salutes

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

This week, Bryan Safi salutes CNN's basement baby – Showbiz Tonight. The lowbrow entertainment show asked the question no other news outlet would dare (or care) to ask: Is television gayness in shows like “Modern Family” and “Glee” bad for society? That's Gay is a recurring segment on the weekly television show infoMania. In each episode of That's Gay, Bryan Safi explores gay issues and stereotypes as they are portrayed by the clueless media. For more Bryan visit http://current.com/groups/thats-gay/ and Current TV. infoMania is a half-hour satirical news show that airs on Current TV. The show puts a comedic spin on the 24-hour chaos and information overload brought about by the constant bombardment of the media. Hosted by Conor Knighton and co-starring Brett Erlich, Erin Gibson, Ben Hoffman, Bryan Safi and Sergio Cilli, the show airs on Thursdays at 10/9c on Current TV. added by: bryan_safi

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Erick Erickson Smacks Down CNN’s Bash for Calling Voter Anger Racist

Posted on September 17, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Are you getting tired of hearing liberal media members claim the voter anger around the country is all because Barack Obama is black? RedState Editor and CNN contributor Erick Erickson is, for on Wednesday’s “John King USA,” he let Dana Bash have it for reiterating this insulting accusation. “Talking to Democrats, I know you have, privately, will say some of the anger they hear in their districts, they say there’s no doubt some of it is latent racism,” uttered Bash. Erickson was having none of if responding, “Oh, good lord…It’s the last best trick of a losing Democrat, is to accuse the Republicans of racism.” When Erickson concluded his reply by stating Obama’s “world view is fundamentally anti-American,” a heated discussion between him and CNN’s Roland Martin ensued (video follows with transcript and commentary): DANA BASH, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Talking to Democrats, I know you have, privately, will say some of the anger they hear in their districts, they say there’s no doubt some of it is latent racism. They can’t prove it — ERICK ERICKSON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Oh, good lord. When Republicans start talking, they scream racism. It’s the last best trick of a losing Democrat, is to accuse the Republicans of racism. The issue here has nothing to do with race. The issue has to do with nobody, Republican or Democrat, has figured out what this guy’s world view is. And the Republicans are starting to set the narrative for 2012 already that this guy’s world view is fundamentally anti-American. ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Erick, you’re not going to sit here and say the president of the United States who is sworn to defend and protect the constitution, has an anti-American view. No what he wants to do — ERICKSON: I think he has a view of America that views America as one of many nations and not the last best hope for mankind. MARTIN: First, if you look at facts, Erick, we are one of many nations, so let’s deal with that. When they have financial crisis taking place across the globe it also affected us, so we can’t act like we’re the only country out here. You will not sit here and call this president anti-American when he represents the United States of America, including you. ERICKSON: I think his world view is an anathema to the American destiny as conservatives have viewed it and I think Newt Gingrich — MARTIN: So what’s your world view? ERICKSON: My world view is that America is the last best hope for mankind for freedom and Obama doesn’t view it that way. MARTIN: It’s President Barack Obama and he is an American and it’s insulting to sit here and have Newt Gingrich talk about this Kenyan view. We know what he was saying there. It made no sense whatsoever. He should be ashamed of himself. And apologize for it. He’s an American and he’s a Christian just in case you were confused. JOHN KING, HOST: I’m going to call it between Roland and Erick here. The other panelists silent during that. I appreciate the respectful debate between the two of you. Nicely done, Erick. This racism schtick by liberal media members is getting old. Are Americans that disagree with Democrat policies going to have to put up with this nonsense until Obama is removed from office? Yes – that’s a rhetorical question. 

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CNN Marks Pope’s UK Visit By Highlighting Women ‘Priests’

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Predictably, Thursday’s American Morning on CNN marked the Pope Benedict XVI’s first day in the UK with a report on dissenting Catholic women who claimed they are ordained priests, contrary to the teachings of the Church. Correspondent Carol Costello took a misinterpretation of a recent Church document on ordination as fact, and ran only one sound bite from a Vatican official. Substitute anchor Drew Griffin introduced Costello’s report 24 minutes into the 6 am Eastern hour with the misinterpretation of the Catholic document, forwarded by the mainstream media outlets such as Time magazine, that it condemns the simulated ordination of women as ” a crime similar to pedophilia .” However, a July 16 Reuters story quoted Monsignor Charles Scicluna’s clarification: “Scicluna, an official in the Vatican’s doctrinal department, said there was no attempt to make women’s ordination and pedophilia comparable crimes under canon … law ….While sexual abuse was a ‘crime against morality,’ the attempt to ordain a woman was a ‘crime against a sacrament .'” The CNN correspondent began by highlighting the apparent negative response the Pope is receiving in the UK due to his visit: “You heard Kiran mention that Pope Benedict is now in Britain. He’s there to appeal to the millions of Catholics in that country. But his visit is not without controversy. Many tickets remain unsold, which suggest many of Britain’s Catholics are indifferent to his presence.” She continued by introducing the subject of her report: “You could argue many American Catholics feel the same way, because of the way the Vatican handled the sex abuse scandal. Some say it’s time for a change in leadership- a big change, that includes women.” Costello repeated her misleading interpretation of the Church document later in her report: “[C]ertainly, the Vatican made that clear when it restated recently that ordaining women as priest was a great offense, on the same level as pedophilia .” She asked one of the women “priests” featured about it: “When you saw that, what went through your mind?” The correspondent’s lone Catholic voice in her report gave a very mild refutation of this spin: COSTELLO (voice-over): Father Joseph Tobin, appointed by the Vatican to oversee religious work worldwide, says though the Vatican quickly said the comparison was inadvertent and wrong, the ordination of women is still a serious crime. FATHER JOSEPH TOBIN, CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS: The Catholic Church has traditionally not arrived to the point that it believes that it is the will of God. Now, I think I have to accept that. Throughout the report, Costello featured clips from the dissenters’ worship services throughout the report. She acknowledged that “they [the women “priests”] hold Mass where they can, in their own homes or in non-Catholic churches, ministering to small, mostly female congregations, who say the traditional Catholic Church is not meeting their needs .” But what the clips of the services made clear is that all of the self-proclaimed female clerics are hovering near or after retirement age, and so is much of their congregation. Contrast this with the AP’s September 15 report noting how “thriving U.S. orders [of nun] typically are younger, which makes them closer in age to potential newcomers. These orders also emphasize traditional practices, like wearing long, flowing black-and-white habits, and educating students.” Which of these two groups has a future? CNN has long been a promoter of left-leaning heterodox dissenters inside the Catholic Church. Just over two weeks earlier, commentator Jack Cafferty himself called for the ordination of women , as he highlighted the advertising campaign of a British organization calling for such simulations of ordination. Earlier in 2010, Cafferty devoted five segments over a 20 day period to bashing the Catholic Church. Anchor Kyra Phillips falsely claimed during a June 11 segment that Pope Benedict XVI hadn’t apologized for the priestly sex abuse scandal, and endorsed the dissenters she brought on during two segments during March and April. The network as a whole devoted a series of a slanted segments on the abuse scandal during the first months of the year. The full transcript of Carol Costello’s report from Thursday’s American Morning: GRIFFIN: Time now for an ‘A.M. Original,’ something you’re only going to see on American Morning. Female Catholic priests- the Vatican vehemently opposed to the idea, calling it a crime similar to pedophilia. Well, despite the Church’s stand, more women are pursuing the calling of the priesthood, and Carol Costello has the story, joining us live in Washington. Good morning, Carol. COSTELLO: Good morning, Drew. You heard Kiran mention that Pope Benedict is now in Britain. He’s there to appeal to the millions of Catholics in that country. But his visit is not without controversy. Many tickets remain unsold, which suggest many of Britain’s Catholics are indifferent to his presence. You could argue many American Catholics feel the same way, because of the way the Vatican handled the sex abuse scandal. Some say it’s time for a change in leadership- a big change, that includes women. COSTELLO (voice-over): (piano music) For most Catholics, this is curious- women in priestly robes- GLORIA CARPENETO, ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: Mary is a part of that Trinity. COSTELLO: Preaching from the altar- ANDREA JOHNSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC WOMEN PRIESTS: This is the Lamb of God. COSTELLO: Consecrating the bread and wine- something considered a serious crime by the Catholic Church. Gloria Carpeneto considers herself a Catholic priest, ordained thanks to an unnamed male bishop, who secretly ordained the first female priests and bishops in 2002. COSTELLO (on-camera): Have you ever met the secret bishop? CARPENETO: (laughs) (unintelligible) secret bishop? COSTELLO: The secret bishop? CARPENETO: No, I have not met the secret bishop. COSTELLO: Because if anyone ever found out who this bishop was, he would be done. CARPENETO: It would be a tremendous personal risk for this bishop to come out. COSTELLO (voice-over): According to canon lawyers, though, the secret bishop has automatically been excommunicated, or banned from participating in the Church, because he knowingly violated church law. And certainly, the Vatican made that clear when it restated recently that ordaining women as priest was a great offense, on the same level as pedophilia. COSTELLO (on-camera): When you saw that, what went through your mind? CARPENETO: I was horrified. I was horrified. I thought, for myself, I didn’t like that notion of, suddenly, I’m in the swimming pool (laughs) with people who have been accused of sexual abuse- crimes against children. COSTELLO (voice-over): Father Joseph Tobin, appointed by the Vatican to oversee religious work worldwide, says though the Vatican quickly said the comparison was inadvertent and wrong, the ordination of women is still a serious crime. FATHER JOSEPH TOBIN, CONGREGATION FOR RELIGIOUS: The Catholic Church has traditionally not arrived to the point that it believes that it is the will of God. Now, I think I have to accept that. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first women bishops to be ordained in the United States of America. (audience applause and cheers) COSTELLO: But even the threat of excommunication isn’t stopping Catholic women from what they consider the priesthood. Carpeneto says there are now five bishops, 47 priests, 10 deacons, and 16 candidates in formation in the United States, all of them illegitimate in the eyes of the Catholic Church. JOHNSON: What many people say to us is- well, why don’t you go somewhere else where you’re accepted? COSTELLO (on-camera): I was just going to ask you that. I mean, why stick with Catholicism when Catholicism obviously isn’t supportive of you? JOHNSON: It’s Catholicism that needs us. (at religious service) May our God be with you. COSTELLO (voice-over): And so they hold Mass where they can, in their own homes or in non-Catholic churches, ministering to small, mostly female congregations, who say the traditional Catholic Church is not meeting their needs. COSTELLO (on-camera): So if you had a meeting with the Pope, and you could see Pope Benedict, what would you say to him? MADELEINE ROTHE, RC WOMEN PRIESTS PARISHIONER: I’m not sure I’d like to have a meeting with this pope just because I don’t think he’s very open and that’s a huge road block. COSTELLO (voice-over): It’s the kind of spiritual road block that Carpeneto was trying to remove, and the Catholic Church is resisting. COSTELLO (on-camera): Is it up to God? CARPENETO: Yeah, I think it is up to God, and I think God has said to me you can be ordained. COSTELLO (live): So how important is this movement? I asked our Vatican analyst John Allen, and this is what he told me. He said- you know, you look at the poll numbers, large numbers of Catholics support the ordination of women priests. At the same time, most Catholics are not willing to follow these women before the Church gives its blessing. And, Drew- you know, I asked these women who consider themselves priests, if they’ll ever be recognized in the eyes of the Church in their lifetime, and all of them said, sadly and emphatically, no. GRIFFIN: But they consider themselves pioneers, maybe, for the future? COSTELLO: They consider themselves rebels. They say, unless they force the issue, things will never change. GRIFFIN: All right. Carol Costello, a very interesting report. Thanks, Carol.

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With Tax Hikes Coming, Cable News Uses ‘Tax Cut’ Phrasing 13 Times as Much

Posted on September 16, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The largest tax hikes in history get closer every day, and the focus of the news cycle is finally on taxes . Tax cuts , that is. After portraying Obama as a tax cutter when he took office, journalists have recently been talking about the Bush tax cuts, whose expiration will amount to a huge tax increase on Americans. But most stories have failed to explain that the pending expiration will raise taxes on many people, including investors, small business owners and families, during an economic slowdown. While cable primetime shows criticized conservatives for wanting to “cut taxes” for the wealthy, a morning appearance by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was one of the few that put the debate in perspective of tax hikes. McConnell appeared on MSNBC’s “Daily Rundown” Sept. 14 and said, “This [Bush tax cuts] has been tax policy for 10 years now. This is not about tax cuts, this is about raising taxes in the middle of a recession.” According to Americans for Tax Reform, many tax increases are on the way. On Jan. 1, 2011, personal income taxes will rise, the “marriage penalty” will return, the child tax credit will be chopped in half, the “death tax” will return and capital gains and dividend tax rates will jump. But that is the opposite of the way the mainstream media have been telling the story. Primetime cable shows on MSNBC, CNN and Fox News Channel have focused on the fight over “tax cuts” more than 13 times as often as they discussed it in terms of tax hikes. On weekday evenings between Sept. 6 and Sept. 13, 27 of those primetime cable shows framed the debate around tax cuts, compared to just two that spoke solely in terms of tax increases. An additional 12 shows presented both tax cut and tax increase phrasing. FNC was the most balanced with nine of its primetime programs using both terms to cover the story. But MSNBC coverage was full of liberal talking points and spin. Keith Olbermann distorted the facts entirely on “Countdown” Sept. 13, claiming that “the gripping detail is this: Democrats want to cut everyone’s taxes, Republicans want to cut taxes on every dollar earned above a quarter-million.” That misrepresented the position of Republicans including McConnell, who told MSNBC the next day that “We should not be raising taxes on anyone during a recession.” McConnell said he is unwilling to raise taxes on anyone, even the wealthy. Obama’s so-called compromise solution has met resistance even from some Democrats , who agree with Republicans that that raising taxes on anyone in a bad economy is a bad idea. Former White House budget director Peter Orszag wrote a column calling for his own kind of compromise: extend the cuts for two years, then scrap them all. But the president insists he does not want to extend the tax cuts for top income earners. Obama campaigned on repealing the Bush Tax cuts for the “rich” setting the bar for wealth at $250,000 for families, $200,000 for individuals. The White House has mentioned extending those tax cuts for people making less, but also wants to spend more money on ” clean energy ” and infrastructure.   According to Jeffrey Miron of Cato Institute, the Bush tax cuts that are set to expire worked because they made the market more efficient . Writing specifically of dividend and capital gains taxes, Miron noted, “These taxes appear to hit wealthy capitalists, but in reality they fall partly on consumers via higher prices, and on workers, via lower demands for their services when corporations shut down or move overseas. So low taxation of dividends and capital gains helps both low and high income taxpayers.” White House Given Face Time on Broadcast Morning Shows, Boehner Gets None MSNBC and CNN weren’t the only ones spinning the tax cut/hike debate from the left. Rep. John Boehner created a political controversy after he said on “Face the Nation,” “If the only option I have is to vote for some of those tax reductions, I’ll vote for it.” Boehner had said he would “fight” against raising taxes on anyone, but his apparent compromise was fodder for journalists (and cheap shots from MSNBC about his “trademark tan”). All three broadcast network morning shows highlighted Boehner’s remarks Sept. 13 as they discussed Obama’s “compromise” bill, and they all made sure to give the Obama administration time to plead their case, while failing to interview Boehner. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs was interviewed live on “The Early Show,” “Today” and “Good Morning America” following segments about the political fight over taxes. The shows aired a snippet of Boehner’s “Face the Nation” interview, but didn’t bring him on to elaborate or defend himself against left-wing attacks. In contrast, Gibbs was given 10 minutes and 55 seconds that morning to present Obama’s views and attack Boehner. Gibbs told CBS the U.S. shouldn’t “borrow” $700 billion to extend tax cuts “for folks quite frankly, that weren’t asking for them and don’t particularly need them.” On Sept. 8, Obama had accused Republicans and Boehner specifically of holding tax cuts “hostage .” In the same speech he called for Republicans to stop blocking the Senate’s small business bill, which he supports. One reason for conservative opposition of the small business bill is disagreement over a $30 billion Treasury-run ” lending facility ” for small businesses. The Hill reported on Aug. 31, that Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council President Karen Kerrigan has said the bill will not address the problems such businesses are facing . “The concerns and needs of most business owners go much deeper, and this legislation does not address broader issues related to taxes, regulations and excessive spending which threaten to aggravate currently poor economic conditions,” Kerrigan said. “At the end of the day, proposed tax hikes along with legislation and regulatory initiatives in the pipeline will drive business costs higher and drain more private capital from our economy.” Kerrigan specifically cited the expiring Bush-era tax cuts which will increase taxes on small businesses as one of the reasons for “stalled” small business expansion. Cannot ‘Afford’ Top 2-3 Percent Cuts? Obama’s primary argument has been that the U.S. cannot “afford” to extend the tax cuts to the rich. Many in the news media have echoed that claim, and perpetuated the liberal argument that tax cuts are a “cost.” That argument is one of five common ways the media spin tax stories in a liberal direction. Calling tax cuts a “cost” assumes that all money belongs to the government, rather than to the taxpayers who have worked hard for it. Olbermann pushed that liberal theme Sept. 13 when he blasted Boehner saying: “[He] wants to increase that deficit by $700 billion over ten years by extending those Bush tax cuts on income over a quarter-million.” MSNBC’s Savannah Guthrie also promoted that viewpoint in her interview with McConnell Sept. 13. Guthrie pressed McConnell to admit that tax cuts would increase the deficit. “You don’t dispute that it would require more debt for these tax cuts? You don’t dispute that?” Guthrie asked the senator. CNN’s Ali Velshi claimed tax cuts aren’t “free” and that extending the Bush tax cuts to the top 3 percent of earners would cost ” between 650 and 700 billion dollars. Extending it for the rest of us is going to cost a lot more, possibly $3 trillion.” The media have long attacked the tax cuts claiming that they were responsible for the deficit, instead of criticizing government spending. Conservatives argue that government spending is the real problem in Washington. According to Stephen Moore’s book “The End of Prosperity,” the 2003 tax cuts generated a huge increase in federal tax receipts. A $785 billion increase between 2004 and 2007, Ryan Dwyer told The Washington Times. That was after Bush had slashed dividend and capital gains rates to 15 percent in 2003. The economy also bounced back, according to Dwyer: “In three years, $15 trillion of new wealth was created. The U.S. economy added 8 million new jobs from mid-2003 to early 2007, and the median household increased its wealth by $20,000 in real terms.” Similarly, under President Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts federal revenues grew rapidly ( 33 percent cumulative growth ) according to a Congressional Economic Update from 1995. Instead of arguing that the U.S. can’t afford to cut taxes, Cato Institute Director of Tax Policy Chris Edwards argued that the U.S. can’t afford not to. He wrote that the average top tax rate for the top 30 OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) nations has fallen by 5 percentage points since 2000. So if the top rate tax cuts are not extended the U.S. will have the tenth highest rate among the 30 countries jeopardizing the nation’s competitiveness. Like this article? Then sign up for our newsletter, The Balance Sheet .

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With Tax Hikes Coming, Cable News Uses ‘Tax Cut’ Phrasing 13 Times as Much

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GOP losing hope to take back congress, Tea Partys fault

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

With polls showing significant GOP momentum this fall, Republicans in recent weeks began to believe they had a real chance of retaking control of the Senate in November. But a major primary upset at the hands of a tea party insurgent on Tuesday may have put the Senate GOP's dreams of a majority at serious risk. In the biggest electoral surprise of the night, conservative activist Christine O'Donnell defeated longtime GOP Rep. Mike Castle in Delaware's Republican Senate primary. Castle, a moderate who once served as the state's governor, had been so favored to win in November that his decision to run had reportedly influenced Democrat Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, to abandon plans to seek his father's old seat. But with O'Donnell's come-from-nowhere win Tuesday night, top Republicans in Washington now see virtually no chance the GOP will be able to pick up the Delaware seat this fall. As a result, they admit their already slim chance of winning back Republican control of the Senate is likely dead. “It's hard to see a path for us,” one senior Republican official, who declined to be named while discussing party strategy, told The Upshot. “Never say never, but it has become much harder for us after tonight.” According to Public Policy Polling, just 31 percent of Delaware voters believe O'Donnell is “fit” to hold office. She trails Democrat opponent Chris Coons by 16 points, according to the latest PPP survey. On Tuesday night, the National Republican Senatorial Committee issued a tepid statement of congratulations to O'Donnell, but a GOP official told Fox News the party has no plans of putting money into the race. Still, O'Donnell's surprise victory was significant win for the Tea Party Express, which spent $250,000 at the last minute to boost O'Donnell's campaign. Since the first primaries in early spring, she's the eighth tea party-endorsed candidate to defeat an establishment-backed GOP contender in an election cycle that has been dominated by voters choosing change over experience. Two weeks ago, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski lost her primary race to Joe Miller, who was backed by Palin and the Tea Party. Other surprise tea party wins among Senate candidates this year include Sharron Angle in Nevada and Rand Paul in Kentucky. In Florida, Marco Rubio was also endorsed by tea party activists, although he's tried to move toward the middle since winning the primary last month. The difference between O'Donnell and other tea party-backed Senate candidates is she's running in a state that traditionally elects moderates. O'Donnell, a perennial candidate who once argued against masturbation on a MTV special, is not likely to move toward the middle, as Rubio has, and she doesn't look to benefit from the same anti-incumbent wave that's driven Angle's poll numbers against Harry Reid in Nevada. That's the key reason why national Republicans are so loathe to embrace O'Donnell's candidacy. Not that she cares. “They have a losing track record,” O'Donnell told CNN Tuesday night. “If they're too lazy to put in the effort that we need to win, then so be it.” http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100915/el_yblog_upshot/tea-party-victory-… added by: littlwarrior

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On CNN, Bill Maher Says Tea Party Has ‘No Policy Points,’ Obama Has No Domestic Terror on His Watch

Posted on September 15, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

It could be a real contest for which thing Bill Maher said on CNN’s Larry King Live was the most ridiculous. It began with the assertion “Christine O’Donnell, like all these tea baggers, has no plan, no agenda. No policy points. They have one advantage. They’re running against Democrats. That’s their big advantage.” But for a sheer lack of factual grasp, it might be this statement, that domestic terrorism has apparently vanished under Obama: “And by the way, Obama has been president for 20 months and there has not been an attack. Bush was president for nine months when we got hit. So on that score, he’s kept us safer.” Did Maher sleep through the Fort Hood mass murder, not to mention the failed attacks in New York and Detroit?   Larry King typically asked Maher about the “crazed fringe” on the right and their hatred of Obama. King never asked Maher about his own “crazed fringe” on the anti-Bush left suggesting the last president was a Nazi, a chimpanzee, and mentally ill or disabled:  KING: What do you make of this whole — the anti-Obama thing which has gotten kind of, in a sense, crazed? No, he wasn’t born here. He’s a Muslim. He is against America. What do you make of that fringe? MAHER: I was talking about it with Jay Leno last night. I suggested maybe he’s not even a mammal. He might be a werewolf, Larry. We don’t know that. KING: That’s right. We don’t know. MAHER: I mean it was bad enough when we had these people called the birthers who thought he was not born here. KING: They’re still around somewhere, though. MAHER: Many of them. Yes. No, they haven’t gone away. But I was saying last night that I’ve identified this new group and I’m calling them the churchers. KING: The churchers? MAHER: The churchers. They’re the people who don’t think that he is a Christian. They think he’s — KING: He’s the first president ever to issue a press release that he is. MAHER: He’s a secret Muslim, Larry. I guess you haven’t been paying enough attention. KING: Secret Muslim. MAHER: When I talked to him, he told me about his plan to use drinking water to sterilize white people. I get — whoops, I’ve said too much. KING: Oh my gosh. MAHER: No, it’s the — what’s really scary is that more people think he’s a Muslim now. KING: How did we get to this, though? MAHER: Well, you know, I have a theory that the Internet makes people stupider. And Also Fox News makes people stupider. You know the Pew group did a study recently and they found out that 10 years ago, Democrats, Republicans and independents basically got their news from the same sources, probably more from CNN, for example. Then we had this polarity. And now, you know, John Edwards said we have two Americas. We do have two Americas. We have the America that’s living in reality. The people who understand that Obama is a centrist liberal from Hawaii who is trying to dig us out of the hole we’re in. And then we have this other Fox/Matt Drudge/Rush Limbaugh reality where he is a Muslim sleeper cell, Manchurian candidate who was sent over by his Kenyan father imbibe — you hear — KING: What kind of intelligent person would believe that? MAHER: Intelligent person? Larry, we’re broadcasting in America. How ridiculous. Well, no, I don’t think intelligent people do believe it. But, you know, then we’re going to get into partisan bickering because more than half of Republicans agreed with the state that said Obama is trying to impose Islamic law on America. I mean that is a very radical thing to believe. And it’s more than half of Republicans. Not tea baggers. Not radicals. The mainstream Republican people. KING: Is there a racist tone in this? Is there — in other words, is this racist — is this inherent racism? Where’s it come from? MAHER: Does the Pope go to the bathroom in the woods? Yes, Larry, it’s extremely racist. I mean it’s so funny because the tea baggers, the one thing they hate is black people. For all Maher’s talk of “two realities,” he’s too arrogant to contemplate that he’s mangling the facts on the Tea Party or terrorism, or just smearing the entire Tea Party as racist. King let his buddy Bill Maher unspool a long soliloquy against the insanity of the entire prospective field of Republican presidential contenders about to assemble: MAHER: I cannot wait to see the Republican debates in 2012 when you think about who is going to be on that panel. Sarah Palin, Newt Gingrich, Haley Barbour, John Bolton, Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney. How are they going to out-fire breath each other? I mean where this rhetoric has gone to at this point? It’s only 2010. And we’re having Newt Gingrich, as we were talking about before, calling him an anti-colonial Luo tribesman. Luo tribesman. That’s the new Kenyan, Larry. And Kenyan, of course, was code for nigger. But that’s where they are. They can’t say it out loud. But that’s where this whole campaign is going to be. You asked about racism. It’s all about racism. They cannot fathom this idea that there is a black president. And that’s what they are going to fight about. The other thing about Sarah Palin is that if you read that “Vanity Fair” article this month, if you read the “Newsweek” cover story a few months ago where she was praying on the cover, she’s a true religious snot. I know people are saying, oh there goes, Bill Maher. He’s always talking about religion. Well, read the article. Read about her. There’s a part where it says they were giving her books to study up on. And they came back and said, did you read any? She said, No, I haven’t looked at the books. I’m just reading the e-mails from my prayer warriors. Prayer warriors. These are people — and she’s one of them — who believe there are demons in the world. Everything in her world view is about demons or angels, people who are with us and people who are against us. You know, when liberals say things like, well, when you fight the mosque, building the mosque in New York, you’re just encouraging a war with Islam, they don’t understand, people like Sarah Palin want a war with Islam. That’s what it says in the Bible. Bring it on. Let’s get it over with. That’s who could be running our country in four years — two years.

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Bozell Column: Here Comes The Mud

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

How long ago it seems now that Barack Obama was inaugurated, and the Great Uniter championed “hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics.…[T]he time has come to set aside childish things.” It seems the president spoke prematurely. With his approval ratings sinking, and Democratic prospects tanking, Obama began the fall campaign in Milwaukee with a petulant tone about his adversaries: “They talk about me like a dog. That’s not in my prepared remarks, but it’s true.” Precisely which Republican was suggesting the president was a household pet? Who cares? He knew he wouldn’t be challenged. Perhaps he was tired and a little dyslexic, and was thinking about the media: “They talk about me like a god.”  The Great Uniter realizes – finally – that the nation has tired of his attacks on George Bush, so a new White House strategy has emerged.  The next day, Obama was in Ohio, and attacked the potential next Speaker of the House, John Boehner, eight times in his remarks. He even claimed that since Boehner opposed an $800 billion “stimulus,” he was against firemen saving lives. “Mr. Boehner dismissed these jobs we saved – teaching our kids, patrolling our streets, rushing into burning buildings – as ‘government jobs,’ jobs I guess he thought just weren’t worth saving.” This can be dismissed as the usual worn-out liberal hyperbole – vote for “stimulus” or you oppose policemen and firemen and teachers – but when it comes from the alleged Great Uniter? No worries: the media are repeaters, not reporters. What’s really alarming is how eagerly the “news” networks take Obama’s liberal cues and start savaging the Republicans with even greater ferocity. Rep. Boehner appeared on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on September 12, and host Bob Schieffer started whacking him over the head about being a smoker, and being in cahoots with the tobacco industry. “I’m not objective about this. I’m a cancer survivor. I used to be a heavy smoker. Do you still smoke?” Boehner said yes. Schieffer then announced that Boehner had taken $340,000 from the tobacco industry. “How do you square that with the fact that cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in this country; 435,000 people — their deaths are linked to cancer. That’s one in five. How do you justify that in your own mind?” When Boehner calmly said Americans have a right to smoke, or overeat, Schieffer scoffed: “Well, I mean, they have a right to shoot themselves if they choose to.” This is not the way servile Schieffer greeted Obama in several Obama interviews on “Face the Nation.” He’s never pressed Obama in a puritanical tone as to why our Chain-Smoker- in-Chief hasn’t kicked the habit. Instead, in their last face-to-face a year ago, Schieffer was feeling Obama’s pain about “the sort of meanness that has settled over our political dialogue” and how “President Carter is now saying that he thinks it’s racial. Nancy Pelosi says it could be dangerous. What do you think it’s all about?” Democrats in these last few weeks before Election Day know that the public remains enraged over ObamaCare and thinks the “stimulus” was an enormous boondoggle. So they’re slinging personal mud at an astonishing rate. In Nevada, wildly unpopular Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has a new ad with a state trooper charging that Republican Sharron Angle favors Nevada being “a safe haven for domestic abusers.”  They say this because they know there is no accountability. Instead, several anchors were attacking Newt Gingrich for insisting that Obama’s anti-American, that he’s channeling his Kenyan father’s opposition to American imperialism. CNN’s Anderson Cooper could have used a sedative as he began his piece thusly: “Newt Gingrich ignites an uproar, saying President Obama is essentially a Kenyan con man who tricked Americans into voting for him and his secret radical agenda. So, are GOP politicians rushing to condemn his remarks tonight? And is anything out of bounds these days?” Well, yes. Apparently, saying Sharron Angle favors wife-abusers is “in bounds” with Cooper and his liberal colleagues, as is everything else a Democrat says. In 1994, I said the Republicans were in for a vicious fall campaign, not just from their Democratic opponents, but from a very hostile media. Just as it seems that 2010 could turn out to be a bigger Republican tidal wave than 1994, it’s quite possible that the viciousness of the Obama-loving media will be even greater this year than it was against Gingrich & Co. Call it their very own Contract on Conservatives.

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CNN’s Velshi Against Tax Cuts, Denies There’s Been a ‘Surge’ in Spending

Posted on September 14, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

CNN’s Ali Velshi leaned against extending the Bush tax cuts during a commentary on Tuesday’s Newsroom, warning that it ” may not be a brilliant idea ,” and spouted the liberal talking point that tax cuts are a costly matter. Velshi also misleadingly stated that ” we have not seen a huge surge in spending .” The anchor devoted his regular “XYZ” segment at the end of the 2 pm Eastern hour to the tax issue. He began by outlining how “President Obama wants to extend the Bush-era tax cuts that apply to the middle class, or households earning less than $250,000 a year…and that sounds like a great thing.” He then continued with his argument about the “cost” of cutting taxes: “But let me put this into perspective. First, it’s not free. Extending the tax breaks to the top 3 percent of earners would cost between 650 and 700 billion dollars. Extending it for the rest of us is going to cost a lot more, possibly $3 trillion . Everyone wants to pay less in taxes, but in an economy with a debt like America’s, that may not be a brilliant idea .” Velshi is making the common liberal assumption that the tax revenue belongs to the federal government, even before it is taken away from the employed. Despite this, he added that “arguments that it [tax cuts] will grind the economy to the halt may not hold much water either. Our tax rates are relatively low, and we have not seen a huge surge in spending .” There actually has been such a “huge surge” in spending. Brian Riedl of The Heritage Foundation noted in a June 1, 2010 report that “spending and deficits continuing to grow at a pace not seen since World War II. Washington will spend $30,543 per household in 2010— $5,000 per household more than just two years ago ….Since 2000, spending has grown across the board. Entitlement spending has reached a record 14 percent of GDP. Discretionary spending has expanded 79 percent faster than inflation as a result of large defense and domestic spending hikes.” Velshi completely omitted the possible strategy of lowering spending during his commentary. In fact, he has endorsed raises in spending. On February 17, 2010 , he commemorated the one-year anniversary of Obama’s “stimulus” spending with a cake, and gushed over its focus on “green energy” during a August 24 segment . Later in his commentary, Velshi seemed to endorse the concept of raising taxes: VELSHI: It seems obvious that if you’re concerned about the economy, you’ll vote for someone who wants to cut taxes, the deficit, and the debt. But those things don’t go hand in hand. Wanting to bring down the debt and deficit- well, higher taxes may be the most immediate way to do that because those dollars go directly into government coffers. Cutting taxes is a roundabout way of doing it . You cut taxes, people and businesses have more money to spend, and theoretically, they spend that money in ways that either create jobs or increase domestic demand, which creates jobs. But that assumes that those people have enough faith in the economy that they won’t just pocket their tax savings. The anchor closed the segment by repeating his opposition to tax cuts: “Who can you fault for wanting to pay lower taxes? But just don’t be fooled into thinking that you- if you are the average American- are going to be paying less of anything .” Actually, if the Congress and President Obama somehow let the Bush tax cuts expire, it means that everyone, including the middle and lower classes, will experience higher income taxes . Even after making this statement, Velshi hinted that this was the case: “The victory for you might be the existing Bush tax cuts being extended.” The full transcript of Ali Velshi’s commentary from Tuesday’s Newsroom: VELSHI: Time now for the ‘XYZ’ of it. As things stand, President Obama wants to extend the Bush-era tax cuts that apply to the middle class, or households earning less than $250,000 a year. That means about 97 percent of Americans would continue to get the breaks, and that sounds like a great thing. But let me put this into perspective. First, it’s not free. Extending the tax breaks to the top 3 percent of earners would cost between 650 and 700 billion dollars. Extending it for the rest of us is going to cost a lot more, possibly $3 trillion. Everyone wants to pay less in taxes, but in an economy with a debt like America’s, that may not be a brilliant idea. Arguments that it will grind the economy to the halt may not hold much water either. Our tax rates are relatively low, and we have not seen a huge surge in spending. I say this because American voters need to come to terms with this issue. It seems obvious that if you’re concerned about the economy, you’ll vote for someone who wants to cut taxes, the deficit, and the debt. But those things don’t go hand in hand. Wanting to bring down the debt and deficit- well, higher taxes may be the most immediate way to do that because those dollars go directly into government coffers. Cutting taxes is a roundabout way of doing it. You cut taxes, people and businesses have more money to spend, and theoretically, they spend that money in ways that either create jobs or increase domestic demand, which creates jobs. But that assumes that those people have enough faith in the economy that they won’t just pocket their tax savings. I say this so you can make an informed decision at the voting booth. Who can you fault for wanting to pay lower taxes? But just don’t be fooled into thinking that you- if you are the average American- are going to be paying less of anything. The victory for you might be the existing Bush tax cuts being extended. Lower taxes are not feasibly in our future- at least, not until this economy really picks up.

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CNN’s Gergen: Obama is ‘Impressive,’ But Press Conference Was ‘Boring’

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

CNN’s David Gergen gushed over Barack Obama during CNN’s coverage of the President’s press conference on Friday, but was unimpressed by his performance: ” He impresses everyone with his competence …. The subtlety of his mind I think is very impressive . At the same time, I thought it was … boring .” Minutes later, Roland Martin replied to Gergen by rushing to Obama’s defense: ” He’s not an entertainer .” Anchor John King brought on some of the network’s ” best political team on television,” including Gergen and Martin, 19 minutes into the 12 noon hour, immediately after the President’s briefing concluded. King turned to the senior political analyst first and asked, “David, a lot of ground covered- what did you come away with?” Gergen, who once c ompared Obama to a damsel in distress , and was left in awe of how “articulate” the President was during an earlier press conference in 2009, immediately launched into his lauds about the President’s “competence” and “subtlety of mind,” but almost within the same breath, changed gears: GERGEN: Well, John, he- once again, he impresses everyone with his competence. He has capacity to deal with a range of issues. The subtly of his mind I think is very impressive. At the same time, I thought it was mostly passionless, and frankly, boring, as it went on and on until that last question on the mosque, and then it came alive. And I think the President- that’s going to be- his statements today- very passionate, controversial, but he took a much clearer stand in favor of the mosque going there than anything he said in the past. Four minutes later, anchor Candy Crowley theorized that “part of the reason that the administration held this news conference is the President has got to get all of those people who voted for him in 2008 to come out and vote for Democrats in 2010.” She then asked Martin, “Did you see anything in this news conference where you think voters went- yeah, I’ve got to get out and go to those polls?” Martin wholeheartedly agreed with Crowley’s theory about the press conference, and then replied to Gergen, acting as an apologist for the President, even while giving some mild critiques: MARTIN: Well, I think- first of all, remember, we’re in the midst of the NFL kicking off this weekend, and so, I’ll use a football analogy. He’s the quarterback- while doing that, go Houston Texans- he is the quarterback. He has to set the tone, and so, part of the problem here, he- the White House and Democrats have been off. And so, when he comes out and says- look, I will sign this bill this month, as it relates to middle class tax cuts, what are you going to do, what do you want to do? That’s the way of doing that. He also, I think, broke down, in a sense, what the Democrats have to articulate, and that is, how bad of a situation we were in walking to the door, and how we are on this road to progress. And I think he could have been more clear by saying- look, Republicans constantly have thrown up roadblocks, they constantly are saying no, blocking appointments- they want to block progress. That’s really what he was trying to do there. But let me also address something that David said. David talked about- well, you know, the nuance and what he said- you know, and it was boring. Well, you know what? He’s not an entertainer. And so, I never get the sense, watching the President, that the President really should be entertaining and really should come out- you know, guns blazing. He is going to talk about policy and these issues. And so, I listen to anybody out of Washington, D.C.- I’m really not looking for somebody who is going to just enamor me- you know, in terms of how great they are. They’re going to talk about things in a substantive way. And so, that’s really how I took it , and I think anybody who is wanting the President to say something- you know, when it comes to policy, you got that, not entertainment. It’s not surprising that Martin would respond this way, as he was one of CNN’s resident Obama spokesman during the 2008 presidential campaign.

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