Tag Archives: culture/society

New NBC Show Turns Conservative Hypocrite Into Liberal Hero — But Even MSM Ridicules Plot

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

NBC tonight (10 PM EDT/PDT, 9 PM CDT) debuts a new drama, Outlaw , centered on a conservative Supreme Court justice who, as a gambler and a philander, is a hypocrite played by Jimmy Smits. Realizing his political misdirection, he resigns from the court so he can become a crusading lawyer for liberal causes. But the program is so awful, even MSM TV critics are ridiculing it. (Joe Scarborough has at least one cameo in it.) “The show is so ludicrously dumb that your eyeballs will hurt from rolling so much,” Hank Stuever warned in Tuesday’s Washington Post. In USA Today, Robert Bianco pleaded : “Surely NBC’s joking. There’s awful, and then there’s atrociously, hilariously awful — a line NBC and Jimmy Smits soar across with Outlaw.” He proceeded to describe the show’s premise: A gambling, womanizing, conservative Supreme Court justice who chucks the court to become a crusader for the outcast and oppressed? That’s not a prime-time show, it’s a Saturday Night Live  sketch. We meet Smits’ Justice Cyrus Garza as he’s being thrown out of a casino for counting cards. Outside, he stops to debate a case he’s due to decide with a pretty ACLU protester (because you know those justices, yak, yak, yak) — whom he then beds. But her words move him, and he resigns to become a trial lawyer. Recognizing the commonality of TV shows that ridicule conservatives as hypocrites or people with dark and nefarious motives, Bianco asked: “Do we really need another show promoting another shadowy, conservative cabal, this one with tentacles in the Senate and the court and an anti-Garza agenda?” The take from James Poniewozik on Time.com : Outlaw — sneak-peeking tonight before moving to Fridays — starts in a direction of implausibility and keeps on going. The premise: Cyrus Garza (Jimmy Smits) is the most conservative justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, and the son of a famous and passionate liberal attorney. After his father dies in an accident, Garza re-examines his life and decides to embrace his father’s beliefs. He further decides that the legal system he works in is flawed, in such a way that he cannot do any good as a Supreme Court justice [!]. So he quits the bench and decides to become a freelance lawyer, traveling and taking on highly controversial cases. In the second episode we’ll get liberal guilt-tripping on Arizona, Bianco noted: “Friday, when Outlaw moves to its regular slot, the case involves racial profiling and Arizona’s immigration law.” NBC.com has posted an uninspiring four-minute trailer , which includes a scene with Joe Scarborough playing himself.

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Former CNN Anchor O’Brien Attacks ‘Nutbag’ O’Donnell on Twitter

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

Former CNN anchor Miles O’Brien (no relation to current CNN special correspondent Soledad O’Brien ) slammed Delaware Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell as a ” Tea Party nutbag ” in a Tweet on Wednesday evening . O’Brien continued that he “forget [sic] her ignorant nonsense ,” referring to her defense of the creationist viewpoint during a 1996 appearance on his former network. O’Brien, who was let go by CNN in 2008 after they closed their science unit, linked to an article on the left-wing website Talking Points Memo after his attack on O’Donnell. The article, by Eric Kleefeld, highlighted an item by Dan Amira of New York magazine , who “dug up” the Republican’s March 1996 appearance with O’Brien and Dr. Michael McKinney of the University of Tennessee-Chattanoga. During the panel discussion, O’Donnell defended the creationism. Kleefeld labeled it as just another part of the social conservative’s ” religious right work ,” citing her apparent ” long career in anti-sex and anti-masturbation activism .” The former anchor’s Tweet is not surprising, gives his record of liberal bias when he was at CNN, particularly on the issue of climate change. On February 9, 2006 , O’Brien accused scientists skeptical of the theory of manmade global warming as being ” bought and paid for by the fossil fuel industry .” Over two months later, he suggested raising gasoline taxes to “help pay for these alternative fuels.” During 2007, the then-CNN anchor insisted to former Republican Congressman J. C. Watts that the ” scientific debate is over ” on the climate change issue. O’Brien also dismissed critics of Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” later that year. Less than a year before his dismissal from CNN, he compared manmade global warming skeptics to Flat Earthers . More recently, O’Brien, working a special correspondent for PBS’s NewsHour program, helped promote Dubuque, Iowa as a “city of a future” during a June 17, 2010 report, for its transformation from a former industrial center into a “green” capital, with the help of money from the Obama administration’s “stimulus” package. Outside of the global warming issue, the journalist conducted other left-leaning advocacy. He helped CNN promote the controversial “Death of a President” movie depicting the assassination of former President George W. Bush during an October 27, 2006 segment with director Gabriel Range. He labeled four American contractors who were kidnaped in Iraq ” mercenaries ” less than a month later . In April 2008, he tried to spin the 40% approval rating the Democratically-controlled Congress had at the time: “Democrats are marking 100 days of their congressional reign now, and they’re riding pretty high .”

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Noted Palin-Trig Conspiracy Loon Andrew Sullivan Piles on Anti-Levin Bandwagon

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

Want to make friends in “elite” political blogosphere? Don’t dare be outspoken on behalf of Delaware Republican U.S. Senate nominee Christine O’Donnell. In a Sept. 15 post on his The Atlantic blog , “The Daily Dish,” Sullivan takes a break from gossiping about political figures’ genitalia to take on conservative talker Mark Levin’s response to those who were seemingly hell-bent on O’Donnell not being the Delaware GOP nominee within the conservative media intelligentsia. After going through a litany of Levin’s alleged indiscretions against O’Donnell detractors, Sullivan argues that his so-called “conservative” counterparts had it coming since Levin had been so critical of the pseudo-intellectuals that have masqueraded as conservatives over the years. “He still hasn’t figured it out,” Sullivan wrote of John Hinderaker of Powerline, who argued Levin was too hard on his fellow conservatives . “If more conservatives had challenged Levin back during his similarly intemperate, intellectually bankrupt attacks on Jim Manzi , David Frum , and so many others , he might not be upping the populist ante some more. Instead they kept silent for a fellow movement conservative, or even defended him. And big surprise, he’s persisting in intellectually bankrupt attacks that egregiously mislead his audience. There is some karmic justice in all this, isn’t there?” It’s curious that Sullivan would suddenly take on this role of accusing Levin of bullying his conservative brethren. It’s not as if Sullivan doesn’t have his own demons, including his position on Judaism and Israel, as The New Republic’s Leon Wieseltier alleged earlier this year . “About the Jews, is Sullivan a bigot, or is he just moronically insensitive?” Wieseltier wrote. “To me, he looks increasingly like the Buchanan of the left. He is the master, and the prisoner, of the technology of sickly obsession: blogging-and the divine right of bloggers to exempt themselves from the interrogations of editors-is also a method of hounding.” However, it’s quite possible, based on his track record with the former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin questioning the authenticity of who Trig Palin’s real mother was , that defending Christine O’Donnell, a female conservative candidate, from some obsessive attacks from her own side might not make sense to Sullivan. Levin addressed Sullivan’s observations on his Facebook blog : “Yawn. Snore. You clowns are so irrelevant.”

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CBS’s Smith: Did Opposition to Ground Zero Mosque Lead to Koran Burning?

Posted on September 9, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In an interview with Democratic Congressman Keith Ellison on Thursday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Harry Smith implied a link between Ground Zero mosque opposition and a pastor’s plan to burn the Koran: “…a line that can be drawn from the…anti-Muslim sentiment that seems to be growing in this country and seems to be festering in the Islamic cultural center….Do you see a line that connects here?”   Ellison, the only Muslim member of Congress, defended the planned mosque: “…in my view, the cultural center in lower Manhattan, the purpose of it wasn’t to offend or insult anyone. The purpose was to try to build bridges of understanding…there’s no doubt that the people who pull this project together were not intending to insult anyone.” The Congressman then agreed with Smith’s characterization of the opposition: “…there does seem to be a certain wave of anti-Islamic sentiment.” In the 8AM ET hour, a news brief on the same topic featured a sound bite from an Islamic radical calling for a day of burning the American flag in retaliation. Correspondent Charlie D’Agata proclaimed: “The plan to burn the Koran has already sparked outrage among Muslims the world over….In Britain, a former leader of an Islamist hard line group told CBS News this morning, he plans to call on Muslims worldwide to make 9/11 a ‘burn the Stars and Stripes day.'” A clip was played of radical Islamic leader Anjem Choudary: “The burning of the Koran has united the Muslims around the world and has made them very angry. And I think that the Americans are really digging their own grave.” D’Agata acted as if such radicalism was solely in response to the planned Koran burning and not commonplace among Muslim extremists. In an interview with controversial Florida pastor Terry Jones on Wednesday , Smith questioned whether or not radical Islam was even a threat to America.          Here is a full transcript of Smith’s September 9 segment on the controversy: 7:00AM TEASE: HARRY SMITH: Koran outrage. Concern grows for U.S. citizens around the world as a Florida pastor continues his plan to burn the holy Muslim book this weekend. We’ll have reaction from the only Muslim member of Congress. 7:06AM SEGMENT: HARRY SMITH: Now to the latest on the Florida pastor who says he will burn the Koran this Saturday, the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. His demonstration is now causing safety concerns for people in his hometown as well as Americans in other countries. CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella is in Gainesville, Florida, and has the latest. Kelly, good morning. KELLY COBIELLA: Good morning, Harry. And this morning the President – President Obama – is stepping into this controversy, saying this protest would be a ‘recruitment bonanza’ for Al Qaeda. It is just one more in a chorus of voices warning about a possible violent backlash to this, but so far, the Florida pastor at the center of it all is standing firm. TERRY JONES: We are not convinced that backing down is the right thing. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Koran Controversy; Pastor Remains Steadfast As Opposition Mounts] COBIELLA: The protest of one man with less than 50 followers is having a ripple effect around the world. The State Department ordered U.S. embassies to assess their security and brace for possible protests. And the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan warned again that Jones could be putting U.S. lives in danger. DAVID PETRAEUS: We’re concerned that the images from the burning of a Koran would be used in the same way that extremists used images from Abu Ghraib. COBIELLA: Jones claims he has silent support from people who sent copies of the Koran to burn and others too afraid to speak publicly. Yet even members of his former church in Germany are distancing themselves from him. On her Facebook page, Sarah Palin urged Jones to back off, calling the protest ‘insensitive and an unnecessary provocation, much like the building of a mosque at Ground Zero.’ The man behind that project said on CNN Wednesday night he never meant to offend the victims of 9/11. FEISAL ABDUL RAUF [IMAM]: If I knew that this would happen, this would cause this kind of pain, I wouldn’t have done it. COBIELLA: In Florida, Jones’ neighbors packed a church to pray with imams, priests, and rabbis as a show of tolerance. UNIDENTIFIED MAN [IMAM]: I come in peace. COBIELLA: Religious leaders are trying to convince Jones to change his plans. MAN: I think the pastor as a Christian will follow in the footsteps of Christ and would do the right thing. COBIELLA: Anger at this protest is clearly growing. At least 100 counterprotesters are expected here on Saturday, probably many more than that. And some fairly intensive security measures are being put in place, including Gainesville police officers, the S.W.A.T. team, and the FBI. Harry. SMITH: Kelly Cobiella in Gainesville this morning, thank you. Joining us now from Minneapolis is Representative Keith Ellison, the first Muslim ever elected to Congress. And from Dallas, Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Good morning to you both. RICHARD LAND: Good morning. KEITH ELLISON: Good morning. Thank you. SMITH: Dr. Land, let me start with you. Numbers of ministers, evangelicals, pentecostals, you even have Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham, who is no fan of Islam, trying to reach out to this pastor. Does this pastor have a theological leg to stand on? RICHARD LAND: No, no. If you just ask the question, ‘what would Jesus do?’ Jesus would never do this. This is – this is odious. This is absolutely beyond the pale. It doesn’t follow the Golden Rule. It doesn’t follow the teachings of Jesus in any way, shape, or form. And he’s being urged by Christians from all spectrums and other religious leaders not to do this, out of respect for our Muslim citizens and also out of respect for the serious danger that it’s going to place American soldiers and American civilians in overseas. I mean, this is a – this is a needless, hurtful, and really, absolutely beyond-the-pale provocation. SMITH: Congressman, let me ask you this because you have the President speaking out on this issue now, saying that this burning of Korans is going to work as a recruitment tool for Al Qaeda. ‘A recruitment bonanza.’ Who does this hurt most? KEITH ELLISON: Well, I think it certainly has the potential to hurt Americans in uniform of our country. But I think it also damages our Constitution. It damages the fabric of our nation that is based on the idea of religious liberty, an ideal enshrined in our First Amendment. But the thing I’d like to say is that I urge people in congregations, Muslim and other, to urge restraint, to urge patience and to urge caution. You should not reward this provocation with a counterresponse, unless that is a loving response, unless that is an interfaith response. But I would ask religious leaders to speak to their congregations and say, ‘he’s trying to provoke you. Don’t be provoked.’ SMITH: One of the things that’s being talked about, Congressman, is that there is a line that can be drawn from the anti-Islamic – anti-Muslim sentiment that seems to be growing in this country  and seems to be festering in the Islamic cultural center that’s being proposed to be built a couple of blocks away from Ground Zero. Do you see a line that connects here? ELLISON: Well, the – in my view, the cultural center in lower Manhattan, the purpose of it wasn’t to offend or insult anyone. The purpose was to try to build bridges of understanding. Now, people can have different interpretations as to what it means to them, but there’s no doubt that the people who pull this project together were not intending to insult anyone because there’s a mosque within four blocks and they’ve been in this place for a number of years before. This is a deliberate attempt to provoke people, so I think that there are real distinctions. Of course, the similarity is that there does seem to be a certain wave of anti-Islamic sentiment, but let me just add- SMITH: Quickly. ELLISON: While there is anti-Islamic sentiment, there are many, many more Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, who are standing in solidarity with their fellow Americans who are Muslim and I think that’s a good sign. People are rising to the occasion. SMITH: Very quickly, Dr. Land, what is the antidote for this? LAND: Oh, I think the antidote for this is, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor as yourself. ELLISON: I agree. LAND: Take into consideration your fellow citizens and your neighbors’ feelings and let’s act as – toward others as we would want to be treated ourselves. SMITH: Dr. Land, Congressman Ellison, thank you both very much for taking the time to speak with us this morning. Do appreciate it. ELLISON: Thank you. SMITH: Alright. ELLISON: Thank you, Dr. Land. LAND: Thank you. SMITH: Take care.          ERICA HILL: It continues to be a fascinating story. Here is a full transcript of D’Agata’s report: 8:01AM SEGMENT: JEFF GLOR: President Obama wants a Florida pastor to call off his plans to burn copies of the Koran on Saturday. Mr. Obama said this morning, quote, ‘this is a recruitment bonanza for Al Qaeda’ and that it might cause serious violence in Pakistan or Afghanistan.’ He also says it might lure more individuals who would be willing to blow themselves up in American or European cities. CBS News correspondent Charlie D’Agata is in London this morning with more on this. Charlie, good morning. CHARLIE D’AGATA: Good morning to you, Jeff. The U.S. State Department has issued a warning to American embassies in Muslim countries to brace for an anti-American backlash, demonstrations, and the possibility of violence. [ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Koran Buring; President Obama: “Recruitment Bonanza For Al Qaeda”] The plan to burn the Koran has already sparked outrage among Muslims the world over. Protesters in India burned American flags this morning and chanted, ‘down with America.’ In Britain, a former leader of an Islamist hard line group told CBS News this morning, he plans to call on Muslims worldwide to make 9/11 a ‘burn the Stars and Stripes day.’ ANJEM CHOUDARY [RADICAL ISLAMIC LEADER]: The burning of the Koran has united the Muslims around the world and has made them very angry. And I think that the Americans are really digging their own grave. D’AGATA: In Afghanistan, Muslim leaders said the U.S. can’t afford to let the burning go ahead. [SPEAKING IN BACKGROUND, MULLAH HABIBULLAH, AFGHAN MUSLIM PREACHER] D’AGATA: ‘America must stop this,’ he says. ‘The Taliban will use it as proof they’re here to destroy Islam.’ During a trip to Pakistan, actress Angelina Jolie was appalled at the idea of burning the Koran. ANGELINA JOLIE: I have hardly the words to – that somebody would do that to somebody’s religious book. D’AGATA: Indonesia, the world’s largest Muslim country, has sent a letter to President Obama asking him to step in and forbid the bonfire from taking place. Jeff. GLOR: Charlie D’Agata in London this morning. Charlie, thank you.

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‘Top Chef’ Host: Senate School Lunch Bill Didn’t Go ‘Far Enough’ to Fight ‘National Crisis’ of Child Obesity

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

“Top Chef” judge Tom Colicchio rang alarm bells about child obesity on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” Wednesday, saying it is now a “national health crisis.” Colicchio warned that the recent Senate school lunch legislation did not go “far enough” and that access to healthy school meals needs to be increased for kids to save future health care costs. “It’s a pretty good bill, but I don’t think it goes far enough,” the chef complained of the school lunch bill. “They need to increase access for kids.” “After-school programs, after-school periods, breakfast programs, weekend programs, summer programs – those aren’t included in the Senate bill; they’re included in the House bill,” Colicchio mused. “Obesity has become a national health crisis.” He said the problem poses “billions” of dollars in future health care costs if it will not be addressed properly. “Morning Joe” co-host Mika Brzezinski, a nutrition-warrior herself, agreed and argued that obese children need to be viewed as victims – as children “whose future is cut short before it even starts.” “They’ve got nothing, because their health is always in jeopardy, their life will be shortened, their options will be limited,” Mika lamented.   Both Mika and Colicchio chose the “malnourished” label for obese children, and Mika lauded the FDA food guidelines at restaurants, movie theaters and grocery stores as a step in the right direction. “Obesity is actually malnutrition. It’s not overeating. It’s malnourishment,” argued Colicchio. A transcript of the segment, which aired on September 8 at 8:41 a.m. EDT, is as follows: MIKA BRZEZINSKI: And joining us now, the lead judge for “Top Chef,” Tom Kilickio, who is here to discuss the school lunch legislation in front of Congress, which is making its way – maybe not perfect – TOM COLICCHIO, Judge, “Top Chef”: Well, the Senate passed the bill. BRZEZINSKI: Yeah. COLICCHIO: And It’s a pretty good bill, but I don’t think it goes far enough. BRZEZINSKI: Yeah? COLICCHIO: Yeah. There’s a couple of – a couple issues with it. One, they need to increase access for kids. And so, automatic enrollment through Medicaid is something that the House bill is putting forth. After-school programs, after-school ___ periods, breakfast programs, weekend programs, summer programs – those aren’t included in the Senate bill, they’re included in the House bill. The other, sort of, big issue is that the Senate bill, even though it’s a good bill, they’re taking 2 billion dollars from SNAP program. So essentially, they’re stealing from dinner to pay for lunch. And, you know, that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The House bill, it’s an 8 billion dollar bill over ten years, and they said they’ll find the offsets to make it work. BRZEZINSKI: You know, if anyone wants to understand why this is important, and why we need to do this, and many other things – take a look at New York. Take a look at the kids in New York. And the numbers that we saw in the headlines over the weekend, in terms of obese children. And, especially in poor areas, and in poorer areas there are many more. And… there are 51 percent in Queens, it’s unbelievable. COLICCHIO: Queens, the Bronx, but also rural areas too. Places like Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas – you know, obesity has become a national health crisis. BRZEZINSKI: Yes. COLICCHIO: And talk about saving money on health care. This will save dividends down the road, if we take care of this problem now. This is going to cost us billions of dollars in health care, if they don’t take care of this. MIKE BARNACLE: Did you say that one of the bills, the Senate bill not the House bill, doesn’t include breakfast for school kids? COLICCHIO: No, it includes breakfast. Well, no, it doesn’t include breakfast. And it also does not include weekend feeding and summer months. You know, hunger doesn’t go away in the summer. It’s still there. BARNACLE: Well no. If you look at those numbers – 51 percent obesity in Queens, 12 percent on the Upper West Side – if you look at the kids at the bus stop, the kids on the way to school, I’ll tell you what they have for breakfast. They have a fish sandwich and a big O from McDonalds on their way to school, and their day calorically health-wise is on the way down. BRZEZINSKI: Oh God. COLICCHIO: Well that’s the biggest problem right now. You talk about obesity. Obesity is actually malnutrition. It’s not overeating. It’s malnourishment. And so, there’s, there was a study done – in the summer months, children are putting on weight now. Which you’d think the opposite, you’d think they’re more active. But no, they’re putting on more weight, and the reason being is when they’re in school programs, they were getting breakfast and they were getting lunch. They were getting more nutritious meals, they were not just getting empty calories and fat and sugar. BRZEZINSKI: And you know, I get criticism for how staunch I can be on this topic, but when you look at a child who is obese, you look at a child whose future is cut short before it even starts. They’ve got nothing, because their health is always in jeopardy, their life will be shortened, their options will be limited. And now we have classrooms with more children who are obese than children who are not. And I don’t know why – I even got reactions on Twitter saying “Don’t use the word ‘obese,’ you’re marginalizing people,” or “You’re adding to the hatred.” And I’m thinking we need to use the word, we need to address this. COLICCHIO: Let’s call them “malnourished,” because they are. BRZEZINSKI: They are malnourished children, whose futures are being cut short. Now we have other things that have happened. Recently the FDA put out these calorie count guidelines – grocery stores, movie theatres, trains, airlines – everyone’s trying to potentially get into it to give people a sense of what they’re eating, not just children, adults. What more can be done – I guess my question to you, as a restaurant-eur, and on “Top Chef” restaurants – do they have a responsibility here to make food that’s better, that’s more nutritional? COLICCHIO: Well, if you’re talking about the kind of restaurants that I have, that are sort of high-end restaurants, we’re using whole ingredients, we’re not buying canned food or processed food – so we’re already putting healthy food on the table. But it’s the fast food restaurants that you have to worry about. That’s where the majority of the people are actually getting their food from these days. And so those are the restaurants – ADRIANNA HUFFINGTON: But I’d say the fast food restaurants, and also the production of food.– I mean, what kind of cooperation are you getting from the kind of manufacturers that produce so highly-processed food, that that’s where the malnourishment that you are talking about occurs? COLICCHIO: Well you’re right, and I think the biggest problem though is we’re subsidizing the worst foods for us. And that seems to make them cheap, like sugar, and corn for high fructose corn syrup – those are the things that we’re subsidizing at the risk of our health. And that’s why these products are cheap, because they’re being subsidized, and that’s why people with low incomes can afford them. But they’re the wrong foods to feed our children. BRZEZINSKI: We all need to try and get our arms around this.

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CNN’s Chetry to Koran Burning Pastor: You’ll Have Blood on Your Hands

Posted on September 7, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Tuesday’s American Morning, CNN’s Kiran Chetry used General David Petraeus’s denunciation of a planned Koran burning by a church to blast the church’s pastor for any subsequent deaths of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan: ” Are you willing to have the blood of soldiers on your hands by this demonstration? ” Chetry also lectured Pastor Terry Jones over his apparent lack of “refined” Christianity. Chetry interviewed Pastor Jones 41 minutes into the 7 am Eastern hour. After asking him why he and his church were planning to burn Korans, the anchor launched into her critique of the minister: “I wanted to let you say your piece, because when I first read this story, I thought there’s no way that this could be as bad as it sounds. It appears that it is . You’re saying that you’re going to burn the holy book of another religion to send a message to the radical elements of that religion, with no thought to the fact that you’d obviously be highly offending everyone in that religion. How do you justify that?” Later in the segment, Chetry turned theologian and quoted Scripture to Pastor Jones as she continued to question his planned action: ” What about turn thy cheek? I mean, this is- you know, Christianity at its most- you know, refined. It’s that you just don’t act out in violence. You don’t act out in any manner of hate, that you turn thy cheek, that you don’t rise to the nastiness or the level of payback that your perceived enemies do. I mean, isn’t this the exact opposite of what Christ taught all of us to be and to do? ” The CNN anchor’s “blood on your hands” remark came moments later: CHETRY: I just want to ask you this: does it bother you that the military and the military leaders believe that by doing this, you are very likely putting the risk- the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk in Muslim countries? David Petraeus, the general- this is what he said: ‘Their actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of young men and women who are serving in uniform over here, and also undermine the very mission that they’re trying to accomplish.’ Are you willing to have the blood of soldiers on your hands by this demonstration? As she wrapped up the interview, Chetry again questioned Pastor Jones’s Christianity. After the minister emphasized that Islamists “must be shown a certain amount of force, a certain amount of determination,” the anchor replied, ” That doesn’t sound like the Christianity most of us were taught .” Earlier in the segment, Chetry stated how “freedom of religion is…one aspect of what makes our country so great and different from many countries around the world,” in the context of Muslims’ right to worship and build mosques, such as the Ground Zero mosque, but didn’t once raise how Pastor Jones and his church have the First Amendment right to burn Korans. This isn’t surprising, given how CNN has been using their coverage to press how “Islamophobia” is apparently sweeping the nation. The full transcript of Kiran Chetry’s interview of Pastor Terry Jones on Tuesday’s American Morning: CHETRY: This morning, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says that a Florida church’s plan to burn the Koran on 9/11 could put the U.S. mission there and our troops at risk. Hundreds of Muslims in Afghanistan are protesting the decision, chanting, ‘Long Live Islam;’ ‘Death to America,’ we saw. That’s the latest video of the Kabul protests. There’s been others in Indonesia, as well as other places. Joining us now from the Dove Outreach World Center in Gainesville, Florida, is Terry Jones, a reverend of the church, senior pastor and the man behind the event. Thanks for joining us this morning to talk more about this, Terry. One of the things I’m wondering is- PASTOR TERRY JONES: Thank you. CHETRY: This rally is set to take place Saturday- of course, that’s September 11th. It’s also the last day of the Ramadan fast, the holiest day known as Eid in the Muslim religion. Why are you going to burn Korans? JONES: Yeah, we first declared September 11th, ‘International Burn a Koran Day’- actually, for two reasons. Number one, we wanted to remember those who were brutally murdered on September 11th. And actually, we wanted to send a very clear message to the radical element of Islam. We wanted to send a very clear message to them that we are not interested in their Sharia law. We do not tolerate their threats, their fear, their radicalness. We live in the United States of America. We want to send a clear message to the peaceful Muslims. We have freedom of speech. We have freedom of religion. They are more than welcome to be here- more than welcome to worship- more than welcome to build mosques. But our 9/11 demonstration- our 9/11 protest is to send a clear message to the radical element of Islam that we will not tolerate that in America. CHETRY: Well, I wanted to let you say your piece, because when I first read this story, I thought there’s no way that this could be as bad as it sounds. It appears that it is. You’re saying that you’re going to burn the holy book of another religion to send a message to the radical elements of that religion, with no thought to the fact that you’d obviously be highly offending everyone in that religion. How do you justify that? JONES: Well, we realized that this action would indeed offend people- offend the Muslims. I am offended when they burn the flag. I am offended when they burn the Bible. But we feel that the message that we are trying to send is much more important than people being offended. We believe that we cannot back off of the truth of the dangers of Islam- of the dangers of radical Islam just because people are going to be offended. Overseas, we see they have no problem burning our flag. They have no problem calling for the death of America- the death of our president- CHETRY: Right, but this isn’t overseas, this is America. I mean, part of- JONES: So we feel it’s time to stand up. CHETRY: But this isn’t overseas, I mean, this is America, and you just said that you welcome peaceful Muslims and you welcome people who build Korans [sic]. I mean- you know, freedom of religion is what- is one aspect of what makes our country so great and different from many countries around the world. So why would you want to play into that? JONES: We’re not playing into it at all. I just made a very clear statement. Muslims are welcome here. They are welcome to worship, as long as they submit to- obey the Constitution of the United States- do not, sooner or later, try to institute Sharia law in America. Our message is very clear- it is not to the moderate Muslim. Our message is not a message of hate. Our message is a message of warning to the radical element of Islam, and I think what we see right now, around the globe, proves exactly what we’re talking about. CHETRY: What about turn thy cheek? I mean, this is- you know, Christianity at its most- you know, refined. It’s that you just don’t act out in violence. You don’t act out in any manner of hate, that you turn thy cheek, that you don’t rise to the nastiness or the level of payback that your perceived enemies do. I mean, isn’t this the exact opposite of what Christ taught all of us to be and to do? JONES: I agree with you exactly. I think, most of the time, we as Christians are indeed called to turn the other cheek. I believe that, most of the time, talk and diplomacy is the correct way. But I also think that once in a while- I think you see that in the Bible- there are incidents where enough is enough and you stand up. Jesus went into the temple and he threw all of the money-changers out. He did not ask them to leave. He was not peaceful. He was at that time very, very upset. Even when this very close friend and disciple, Peter- even when he tried to stop Jesus from fulfilling his will- from fulfilling the father’s will, Jesus called him the devil. Jesus called the religious leaders of that time serpents and snakes. So I agree that, most of the time, diplomacy and turning the other cheek is the proper way, but sometimes not. CHETRY: Are you- you don’t care- I mean, yes or no- you don’t really care if you’re offending Muslims by burning the Koran, right? That doesn’t bother you if they’re offended? JONES: We realize that we are definitely offending them, yes. CHETRY: Okay. So I want to ask you this: does it bother you though- JONES: But we actually think that Muslims should- CHETRY: I just want to ask you this: does it bother you that the military and the military leaders believe that by doing this, you are very likely putting the risk- the lives of U.S. soldiers at risk in Muslim countries? David Petraeus, the general- this is what he said: ‘Their actions will in fact jeopardize the safety of young men and women who are serving in uniform over here, and also undermine the very mission that they’re trying to accomplish.’ Are you willing to have the blood of soldiers on your hands by this demonstration? JONES: Yeah, we are actually very, very concerned, of course, and we are taking the general’s words very serious. We are continuing to pray about the action on September 11th. We are indeed very concerned about it. It’s just that we don’t know- I mean, how long do we back down? When do we stop backing down? CHETRY: So you’re saying that you very might- you’re saying that you might well go through with this? You’re saying that you’re praying about it, you may not burn the Koran on September 11th? JONES: I’m saying that we are definitely praying about it. We have firmly made up our mind, but at the same time, we are definitely praying about it. But like I said, I mean, how long- I mean, when does America stand for truth? I mean, instead of us being blamed for what other people will do or might do, why don’t we send a warning to them? Why don’t we send a warning to radical Islam and say- look, don’t do it. CHETRY: Well, I’m not questioning- JONES: If you attack us- if you attack us, we will attack you. CHETRY: I am not questioning your intelligence, but I am wondering if you thought through the consequences of doing this, of what may happen, and whether or not you’ll end up doing far more harm than good? JONES: We are definitely doing that. We are definitely weighing the situation. We are weighing the thing that we’re about to do, what it possibly could cause, what is our actual message, what are we trying to get across, how important is that to us right now- that is very, very important that America wakes up. It’s very important that our president wakes up. It’s very important that we see the real danger of radical Islam. That’s what we’re talking about. Actually, everyone should be in agreement with us. CHETRY: All right. We have to go. JONES: There should be no disagreement there. We are not against Muslims. We’re not against the mosque. We’re against the radical element of Islam. Even moderate Muslims should be on our side. CHETRY: No moderate Muslim is going to be on your side when you’re burning their holy book. I mean, that just sounds silly. JONES: Of course, it’s not silly. You can separate yourself from that- CHETRY: You’re burning their holy book. They’re supposed to be on their side. I don’t get that part. Listen- JONES: You can say- we are not for the burning of the book, but we are for what this man is saying. What he is doing, we’re not for that. We don’t believe in burning our holy book, we don’t believe in burning the Koran- CHETRY: Just reasoning this through, don’t you think you could possibly reach out to more people by not burning the Koran on September 11th? JONES: But what he is saying- we are actually for that. We are against radical Islam. Excuse me? CHETRY: I said, don’t you think you could possibly do more good about bringing attention to your concerns about radical Islam by not burning the Koran on September 11th, by saying, you know what? We’re going to take the higher road here- we’re not going to do this? JONES: At this time, no. CHETRY: All right. JONES: I believe that we are dealing with an element that you cannot talk to. We are dealing with an element- they must be shown a certain amount of force, a certain amount of determination, and putting a stop to it. CHETRY: That doesn’t sound like the Christianity most of us were taught, but, you know what? I thank you for your time and your perspective this morning. Dr. Terry Jones, thanks for being with us. JONES: Thank you.

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Bad News Out of GM Is Not News at AP

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The news out of Government/General Motors during the past couple of days hasn’t been particularly good. First, August sales results were disappointing. Second, it become known today that GM will attempt to go public on November 18, a later than originally hoped post-election date chosen to hopefully allow for another reported quarterly profit to boost investors’ appetite for its shares. As so often has been the case during Democratic administrations when unfavorable developments arise, the UK press has seen potential problems with the IPO, while the Associated Press has been acting as if all is well. In two separate items, AP reporters couldn’t even bring themselves to tell readers what the company’s real August sales decline was. In a report yesterday on the industry’s awful August, reporters Dee-Ann Durbin and Tom Krisher were appropriately gloomy overall, but they massaged GM’s reported result (bolds are mine throughout this post): Americans nervous about the drumbeat of bad economic news stayed away from auto showrooms. Automakers nervous about their bottom lines didn’t offer deals to lure them in. As a result, it was the worst August for U.S. auto sales since 1983, when the country was at the end of a double-dip recession. General Motors, Toyota, Honda and Ford all reported declines from the month before and from a year earlier. The bleak results were a reminder that, for all the good news about the turnaround of the Detroit automakers, the market for cars and trucks in the United States remains frail. Initial data showed sales came in at about 997,000, down 5 percent from July, according to AutoData Corp. “Coming in below a million units is eye-opening for August,” said Paul Ballew, a former chief economist for GM. “I never thought I’d see that. That’s a tepid month for August, which is supposed to be one of the top months of the year.” … “We know it’s going to be a modest recovery. It’s going to be bumpy,” said Don Johnson, GM’s vice president of U.S. sales. “What we don’t want to do is get back to putting incentives in the marketplace to keep the plants running.” … Overall, sales at Ford were down 5 percent from July and 11 percent from last August. At GM, sales of its four remaining brands were down 7 percent from a month ago and 11 percent from a year ago. For the year so far, sales are up 5 percent at GM, which is preparing for an initial public offering of its stock that could come as early as next month. We learned today that the “next month” part concerning the IPO isn’t going to happen. In her report today , Durbin’s massage was more thorough: Analyst: GM plans to sell shares on Nov. 18 General Motors plans to start trading shares again on Nov. 18, timing that allows the company one more quarter of earnings to build its case to investors, a firm that researches initial public offerings said Thursday. Scott Sweet, the managing partner of IPO Boutique, said GM plans to price the shares on Nov. 17 and begin selling them the next day. He said the automaker wants to start a two-week a road show to drum up investor interest on Nov. 3, the day after the midterm congressional elections. It’s unclear if the IPO dates have been finalized. Two people with knowledge of the process say the automaker’s board hasn’t approved a date for the IPO but is expected to meet next week to discuss the issue. GM is in a “quiet period” before an IPO, so no one is authorized to discuss the process publicly. … Sweet said his information comes from multiple people on Wall Street but declined to name them. He says the company hasn’t yet established a price for the shares, but hopes to raise $15 to $20 billion with the initial public offering. The timing could disappoint some Democrats who supported the government’s $50 billion bailout of GM last year and wanted to point to a successful IPO before the elections. … But one more quarter of earnings could help the automaker establish that it is healthy and capable of making sustained profits. GM earned $2.2 billion in the first half of 2010 despite depressed U.S. auto sales, but it lost $3.4 billion in the fourth quarter of last year. GM also hopes the U.S. auto market sees some modest improvement this fall. On Wednesday it said its U.S. sales fell 5 percent from July and 11 percent from last August, when they were boosted by the Cash for Clunkers program. The fact is, as seen in this Wall Street Journal compilation , that GM’s August 2010 sales were 24.5% lower than August 2009. For Dee-Ann Durbin’s and Tom Krisher’s benefit, that’s the result you get when you go to the WSJ link and compare the 185,105 vehicles sold in August 2010 to the 245,066 sold in 2009, and divide the difference (59,961) by 245,066. Yes, according to the company , sales of the company’s four remaining brands were down “only” 11% from a year ago. But it’s your job to report the full story, not merely to parrot the company’s press release. The folks at the Financial Times understand that, and also see how a company reporting declining sales in its largest market might encounter a bit of difficulty foisting its shares on the investing public. Reporter Bernard Simon also managed to find space for the actual year-over-year sales decline in yesterday’s coverage (link requires free registration): GM Sales Dip Casts Shadow Over IPO General Motors’ sales in its core US market sagged in August, potentially complicating its bid to drum up investor support for its forthcoming public share issue. Sales were a quarter lower than in August 2009 , when demand was bolstered by the Obama administration’s cash-for-clunkers scrappage incentives. GM has also eliminated four brands since then. More worrying, however, was a 7.2 per cent decline from July. Low-margin sales to car rental operators and other fleet owners climbed to 28 per cent of the total, from 25 per cent in July. “August was definitely what we call ‘one of those months’,” said Don Johnson, GM’s head of US sales operations. Mr Johnson said that consumers remained cautious amid an unexpectedly slow revival in employment. In the longer term, however, he forecast that there was “pent-up demand building” that would “eventually be released when the economy gets a firmer footing”. … GM filed a bulky draft prospectus for an initial public offering with US and Canadian regulators last month. The US and Canadian governments hold 72 per cent of GM’s equity. The document warns that in spite of a pick-up in demand since late last year, “many of the economic and market conditions that drove the [earlier] drop in vehicle sales, including declines in real estate and equity values, increases in unemployment, tightened credit markets, depressed consumer confidence and weak housing markets, continue to impact sales”. If the recent revival falters, the prospectus warns, “our results of operations and financial condition will be materially adversely affected”. It’s hard to fault Mr. Johnson for his optimism, but if he thinks the revival in employment has been “unexpectedly slow,” he’s been reading too many happy-talk missives from Team Obama. Durbin at the AP and an unbylined Reuters article both report that GM will conduct its IPO “road show” during the two weeks after the November elections. Reuters says that “The final value of the IPO has not been set but one source said early plans for the IPO envisioned selling $12 billion to $16 billion in common stock and $3 billion to $4 billion in preferred stock that would convert to common stock under a mandatory provision.” That’s $15-$20 billion of the $50 billion (really more) the government “invested” in return for a 61% stake during the company’s emergence from bankruptcy. Even if the IPO flies, it will still be Government Motors. Both Reuters and the New York Times correctly noted GMs 25% year-over-year August sale decline. Since AP couldn’t bring itself to do so, the graphic at the top right of this post, which may have seemed a bit over-the-top when it appeared a few weeks ago, is more appropriate than ever. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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CNN Continues One-Sided Reporting on ‘Islamophobia’ in America

Posted on September 2, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Thursday’s American Morning, CNN’s Deborah Feyerick continued her network’s promotion of the charge the “Islamophobia” is growing in the U.S. All but one of Feyerick’s sound bites during her one-sided report were from those who agree with this charge, with the sole exception being used an example of someone using ” Islam …[as] a political wedge issue .” Anchor Kiran Chetry and substitute anchor Ali Velshi introduced the correspondent’s report just before the bottom of the 7 am Eastern hour. Chetry stated that “attempted terror attacks aimed at the U.S. have come mostly from Muslim extremists born outside of America” and then claimed that “America’s Muslim community though has been quick to warn law enforcement about these potential threats.” Velshi added that “the question is, why does it appear that more and more that all Muslims are being portrayed as potential terrorists or as targets of hate .” Feyerick began by citing unnamed ” experts will tell you that there’s a great deal of misunderstanding when it comes to what Islam is all about. Add on politicians spreading rumors that Sharia law – Islamic law- is coming to the United States simply because a group of Americans wants to build a mosque . It’s time to ask, what’s really going on?” She then noted that the “Islamic center and mosque to be built near Ground Zero is not the only mosque drawing fire. About a dozen others across the country are also under attack, from angry protests and suspected arson in Murfreesboro, Tennessee to Temecula, California . American mosques, in some cases, [are] being portrayed as monuments to terror or terror training centers.” The CNN correspondent continued with a series of sound bites from those who allege a growing and threatening “Islamophobia,” and singled out conservatives for apparently persecuting Muslims: FEYERICK: Conservatively, figures show an estimated five million Muslims in America, and intensifying hostility and rise in hate speech is alarming to many, like these clerics who we met at a recent Islamic summit in Houston . YASIR QADHI, ALMAGHRIB INSTITUTE: You would never hear any mainstream commentator say, do you think another Christian sect could open up a mosque? Do you think Jews should be allowed to open their synagogues anywhere they want? We have mainstream news presenters just asking the question bluntly, do you think Muslims should open- should be allowed to open mosques anywhere they want? WISAM SHARIEFF, BAYYINAH INSTITUTE: What changed the game? Nineteen people changed the game? How did that happen? Because we’ve been your doctor, we’ve been your x-ray tech, your accountant. We’ve been serving you slushies for a long time. (unidentified man off-camera laughs) So, what tipped the scales? FEYERICK: Wisam Sharieff, Yasir Qadhi, and other prominent American clerics say American Muslims are under siege, both by Islamic extremists and some U.S. conservatives . QADHI: You have radical Islamic clerics, right, preaching from abroad, saying you cannot be an American and a Muslim at the same time. Well, low and behold, on the far right, you have quite a number of famous, prominent Islamophobes who are saying the exact same message. FEYERICK: The Ground Zero mosque, as some call it, has whipped up national debate, fueled, in part, by misinformation and fear-mongering. Yet, anti-Muslim feelings had been simmering. Feyerick’s example of a “famous prominent Islamophobe,” to use Mr. Qadhi’s term, was none other than former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Before playing her sound bite of Gingrich, she used her “wedge issue” label, and afterwards, went on to cite other unnamed “experts” and highlight an apparent “hate crime” against a Muslim: FEYERICK: Islam has become a political wedge issue with politicians like Newt Gingrich comparing Muslims to Nazis . NEWT GINGRICH: You know, Nazis don’t have the right to put up a sign next to the Holocaust Museum in Washington. There’s no reason for us to accept a mosque next to the World Trade Center. FEYERICK: In fact, a Duke University study finds, rather than fuel terrorism in America, contemporary mosques prevent it. National security experts and American Muslims, like Saraj Mohammed, fear there’s a lot at stake . SARAJ MOHAMMED: The more they speak and the more they incite people, they themselves are a concern to be dealt with and they have to be told, you have to stop this rhetoric. It’s hurting American security. FEYERICK (on-camera): Right. Because it’s creating hatred? MOHAMMED: Yes, it’s creating a lot of hatred. FEYERICK: The latest 2008 FBI statistics on hate crimes against Muslims don’t reflect what’s going on now. But experts believe the spike that happened after 9/11 could repeat itself . FEYRICK (voice-over): In New York recently, a cab driver was stabbed after his attacker allegedly asked if he was Muslim. QADHI: Slowly but surely, we will counter this Islamophobia. Everybody had it. The Irish had it. The Catholics had it. The Italians had it. Now, it’s just time for the Muslims. FEYERICK: (“Allah ackbar” being chanted in an unidentified location) How long it will take to counter is anyone’s guess. At the end of the segment, the CNN correspondent, along with Chetry and Velshi, forwarded the claim that the Islamic cleric behind the Ground Zero mosque, Imam Faisal Rauf, was a “moderate” and bewailed what might happen if other “mainstream” Muslims were rejected by Americans: FEYERICK (live): Imam Faisal Abdul Rauf, the one who is at the head of the so-called Ground Zero mosque , will return to New York City sometime today. He’s been serving as an emissary for the U.S. State Department, reaching out to leaders in the Middle East, acting as a bridge between the U.S. and Muslim countries . He says, just as American Catholics were crucial in pushing reform in Vatican II, so will American Muslims be indispensable in bridging the chasm between America and the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims. So, there’s a real danger that alienating or marginalizing Western moderate mainstream thinkers is going to be a problem, simply because of religion . VELSHI: It’s a big issue. I know Imam Faisal, as you do- you’d be hard pressed to ever be able to describe him as radical, or a radical thinker. He believes he’s building a bridge between different faiths, but when this label is applied, it gets applied and it sticks . FEYERICK: Well, absolutely- and you have people simply asking questions with no fundamental proof as to what they’re saying. It’s one thing to say, let’s find out where the money is coming from. Well, I can say that. But it doesn’t mean – VELSHI: Right- FEYERICK: That it’s coming from somewhere insidious. But that’s what the allegation- that’s what the insinuation is . So there’s a real, sort of- VELSHI: That’s right. It’s buried in the insinuation . FEYERICK: Yeah. CHETRY: And I know that you’re hoping to get chance to sit down and talk to him one-on-one, correct? FEYERICK: Absolutely. We spoke to the developer, who couldn’t have been more honest about what this is about, and we’re hoping to get a chance to speak to him as well . CHETRY: Good stuff. VELSHI: Thanks for your great coverage on this. Thanks, Deb. Exactly a week earlier, on August 26, Feyerick joined the mainstream media’s guessing game over the aforementioned stabbing of the Muslim taxicab driver, advancing the hypothesis that it may have been ” connected to this big Ground Zero controversy, where we’re hearing so much anti-Muslim sentiment .” Who would have thought that a mere six weeks or so earlier, the correspondent actually played hardball with the real estate developer behind the New York City mosque, Sharif el-Gamel.

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Bozell Column: See How Low We Must Go

Posted on August 28, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The pop-music world is turning into a caricature of shamelessness, childishness and even spoiled-brattiness. To get attention quickly, some pop stars will try absolutely anything. The soul singer Cee-Lo Green has a new album coming out. How’s this for art: His first desperate single is titled “F—- You.” The shock value is already working. A video was posted Aug. 19, and within four days, it had grabbed 1.4 million views on YouTube — another sign that YouTube is not a safe website for children. On Aug. 23, YouTube began requiring visitors to sign in to view the video, saying it “may contain content that is inappropriate for some users.” That’s quite an understatement. But it’s also meaningless: it’s unrestricted on Cee-Lo’s personal website. Clicking on his MySpace page brings the song up automatically. The entire song is obscene. It’s stuffed with 16 uses of the F-bomb in under four minutes, erupting on average once every 14 seconds. It also has 10 uses of the S-word, and even two uses of “nigga.” (Don’t tell Dr. Laura Schlessinger.) Green’s producer, Bruno Mars, told MTV the whole production was “a dream session come true … Everyone was just putting their minds together and (we came) up with one of our favorite tracks we’ve ever done. Cee-Lo came in and we started singing it for him. And he’s just, ‘I love that, man. That’s beautiful.'” This scenario of allegedly unfolding genius dodges the little reality that the supposed high concept is just a musical middle finger. The singer is cursing out his ex-girlfriend, who apparently left him for a richer man. The fact that the song is catchy and bright only heightens the offense. It’s a Motown melody inserted into a manure pile. But, as usual, the Wanna Be Hip critics love it, even with that manure attached. The Wall Street Journal cooed it “may be the best rock and pop single of the year.” Just a few years ago, we could be certain that a song this stuffed with profanity would never be aired on the radio. In fact, it never would be produced. But the federal judiciary has now made it acceptable to air the worst obscenities at all hours of the day, claiming any attempt to restrict obscene content is a violation of “free speech.” The ban on seven dirty words was shredded and the libertines get where they wanted. What new low will an “artist” stoop to for commercial gain when the ground has suddenly opened, presenting an endless chasm below? Team Cee-Lo claims they’re going to prepare a radio edit called “Forget You” to avoid alienating too many station managers. How thoughtful. But that only raises the obvious question: Why not call it “Forget You” from the very beginning? The answer is the calculation that millions of teenagers will buy the original dirty version as the official version and put it on their iPods. Any radio edit is just a lame Band-Aid for a pus-filled boil. The pressure will only build for more and dirtier musical obscenity, just as almost every aspiring stand-up comedian finds it necessary to pepper his and her act with lots of curse words. Comedians can’t just be funny, as singers can’t just sing. This is not the first time pop stars have played games with the F-bomb. A few years ago, Britney Spears offered a single very thinly disguised as “If U Seek Amy.” Spears boasted, “All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy,” which only made sense if it was obscene. The British chanteuse Lily Allen offered her own “F—- You” song last year, but it wasn’t a big hit here, with its 25 gratuitous F-bombs. It was only a gold record in France, Australia and Belgium. Right there on YouTube, you can see a video of Allen singing her brightly toned song with its ugly, profane chorus — “F—- you, f—- you very, very much” — live on French television. The audience claps and claps. Once again, the future beams out at us.

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Open Thread: Another GZ Mosque Supporter Refuses to Call Hamas a Terrorist Group

Posted on August 26, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The State Department classifies it as such . Apparently Imam Dawoud Kringle is of a different mind. What do you think of Andy McCarthy’s explanation for this Imam’s non-response? Is the definition of terrorism the real issue here? 

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