Tag Archives: election

AP’s Sidoti Laments Dems’ Prospects in Ohio, Is Convincing as HuffPo Zealot

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

In a post at National Review Online’s Battle ’10 blog last night , Mytheos Holt commented on a report seen at the Huffington Post: HuffPo Panics about GOP Sweep of Ohio Looks like the Huffington Post is buying into the “As Ohio goes, so goes the nation” meme this election cycle, based on a story out today. The HuffPo item is by Liz Sidoti. But Sidoti is a national politics writer for the Associated Press, and what Holt really read was what AP would like us to believe is a supposedly “objective” analysis of the electoral situation in Ohio right off the wire. Word for word, the item at HuffPo is the same dispatch as found  at the AP’s main site . The only clue as to its origin, which Holt missed (and it’s easy to see how), is the teeny-tiny AP logo where Sidoti’s byline appears. In other words, Sidoti’s stridency and Democrat-sympathetic viewpoint are so obvious that she passes the HuffPo zealotry test. Here are some examples of how Sidoti “successfully” came off as a  budding HuffPo pundit: Dems’ prospects threatened by economic woes Frustrated, discouraged and just plain mad , a lot of people who have lost jobs – or know someone who has – now want to see the names of Democrats on pink slips. And that’s jeopardizing the party’s chances in Ohio and all across the country in November’s elections. In this big swing-voting state alone, Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland is in a dogfight for re-election. Senate candidate Lee Fisher may be even worse off. As many as six House Democrats could lose their jobs this fall. Recession-fueled animosity is dominating every race, giving Republicans hope of huge victories. … In Ohio, like almost everywhere else, voters don’t much care for Washington, Wall Street or anything resembling the establishment. They grouse about every politician, including President Barack Obama, whom Ohioans played a critical role in electing. They fume over the nation’s teetering finances. … Republicans are hoping to capitalize on voters’ economic disillusionment, frustration with Obama and tea party-generated enthusiasm. Democrats are relying on a financial advantage, a robust get-out-the-vote operation and, mostly, the ghost of George W. Bush to curb an expected Nov. 2 shellacking. … at Suzzie’s Beechwold Diner, Steve Reither epitomizes the Democrats’ other big challenge: a fired-up electorate tilting toward the GOP. A Republican-turned-independent, Reither is sick of both parties and says: “They all talk about change and nothing changes.” But he saves his harshest words for Obama, whom he calls a socialist and a liar. This year, he says he’ll probably vote largely with the GOP in November – “I’ll hold my nose” – simply to fire Democrats. “This administration and his cronies are running this country into the ground,” Reither, 55, says as he finishes his breakfast. The owner of a small auto restoration business, he says he’s been struggling for the past two years, and he blames Obama’s policies that “hurt the little guy.” Democrats at all levels are sounding a populist tone, casting their races as helping voters on Main Street vs. Republican policies intended to help Wall Street. Republicans, in turn, argue that Democrats – led by Obama – are making a tough economic situation worse with a free-spending, big-government agenda. Of course Sidoti’s work looks like HuffPo punditry, as it’s all from the Democrats’ “woe is us, these terrible things are happening” perspective. Republicans are seen as the unworthies upsetting the apple cart. And voters? Well, they’re just “mad” and full of “animosity.” It’s quite instructive to see how an AP report is correctly interpreted as left-leaning output. And sad to say, Liz Sidoti isn’t anywhere near the wire service’s worst offender. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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AP’s Sidoti Laments Dems’ Prospects in Ohio, Is Convincing as HuffPo Zealot

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On Meet the Press, Host Sets Up GOP Senator to Debate on Iraq with Anti-War NBC Reporter

Posted on September 5, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Sunday’s Meet the Press , NBC host David Gregory wrapped up his interview with Sen. Lindsey Graham by setting up a debate with anti-war NBC reporter Richard Engel, who wasn’t shy this week in asserting on NBC’s Today that the Iraq war was unnecessary, that Saddam Hussein was growing more moderate and respectable by the day, and was gaining acceptance in Europe. After Gregory played a clip of that — complete with Engel calling Iraq a “giant distraction of resources” from Afghanistan, just like a congressional Democrat — Senator Graham insisted that the NBC reporter was “completely rewriting history” and that Saddam “was not becoming a good citizen, he was becoming a more dangerous dictator. The world is better with him dead.” Even as this stage of the Iraq war, as the surge seems to quite clearly brought peace and calm, never-say-it’s-a-win die-hards in the liberal media are the first line of attack on the Republican position: DAVID GREGORY:  Senator, I want to conclude by asking you a question about Iraq and Afghanistan.  The president, of course, ended Operation Iraqi Freedom with an Oval Office address, addressing the nation on that point on the end of the war.  Our own chief foreign correspondent, Richard Engel, who covered the war throughout and has covered the war in Afghanistan as well, offered some analysis during an appearance with Ann Curry on the “Today” show about the legacy of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.  I’d like you to listen and react to it. RICHARD ENGEL:  If there had been no invasion, Saddam would still be in power.  He was probably getting more moderate.  He was being welcomed into the–into–by, by a lot of European countries.  He was being welcomed into Eastern Europe in particular.  He as heading in a, in a direction of, of accommodation.  The, the sanctioned regime that was holding him in place was starting to fail.  So I think he would–it would be somewhat of a, a basket case, but it would still–it would be–Iran would be a lot more contained. So it would be a dictatorship that was trying to break out of its box, but Iran would not be as dangerous as it, as it is today. ANN CURRY:  And had the United States not invaded Iraq, would we be done in Afghanistan? RICHARD ENGEL:  Probably.  That was a giant distraction of resources, of intelligence assets.  That war would probably be over. GREGORY:  Senator, what do you say? SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM:  Completely rewriting history.  Our planes were being shot at in the no-fly zones, Saddam Hussein was violating every U.N. resolution to account for his weapons program, he was openly defying the international community when it came to controlling Iraq.  He was not becoming a good citizen, he was becoming a more dangerous dictator.  The world is better with him dead.  If we can get a government together soon in Iraq and it becomes stable and secure, we’ll have a democracy between Iran and Syria.  Iran’s biggest nightmare is to have a neighbor on their border who practices democracy.  So the 4,400 young men and women who’ve died have done this country a great service by securing Iraq and making… GREGORY:  Well, nobody’s disputing whether they’ve done the country a great service.  But even our current… GRAHAM:  We’re safer. GREGORY:  …defense secretary, who’s a Republican says, “Iraq will always be clouded by how it began.” Three-quarters of the American people think it was not worth the cost. GRAHAM:  Well, I can tell you, we will be safer by how it ends.  History will judge us, not by what we did wrong at the beginning, but what we got right at the end.  If we can get the government stable in–and, and President Obama, it is now his job to finish out Iraq.  If it finishes out well and it becomes secure and stable, allied with us on the war on terror–this is the place al-Qaeda was beat by fellow Muslims.  I can’t underestimate how important that was.  Al-Qaeda went into Iraq to topple our efforts to bring about stability and representative government, and they were, they were beaten by Muslims with our help.  That is a huge win in the war on terror.  So Afghanistan is a — we’re getting things better, we got a long ways to go, but I am glad we did what we did in Iraq.  America will be safer and history will record this as a big event in the Mideast where a dictatorship was replaced by a democracy in the heart of the Arab world. PS: I am not related to Senator Graham.

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On Meet the Press, Host Sets Up GOP Senator to Debate on Iraq with Anti-War NBC Reporter

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Feingold On His Tough Re-Election Race: I Blame George Bush!

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

A recurring rubric at James Taranto’s Best of the Web Today column at the Wall Street Journal online, is “We Blame George W. Bush,” for tongue-in-cheek examples of the former prez being blamed for things palpably beyond his purview.  Let’s add another one to the list.  Dem senator Russ Feingold has blamed his tough re-election race on, yes, W. Let’s think about that. If Bush were such a bad president.  If his policies were so disastrous for the country. Wouldn’t that boost the chances of an incumbent Dem senator who, like Feingold, had voted against Bush policies every step along the way? Hey, I don’t try to understand Dem logic: I just report it.  Feingold made his logic-defying allegation on this evening’s Ed Show. ED SCHULTZ: Even the progressive Russ Feingold is in a real tough fight for his seat in Wisconsin.  Senator Feingold is a progressive—as progressive as you can get— he voted against the Iraq war, he voted against the Patriot Act, he voted against the Wall Street bailouts; all very strong progressive positions. But somehow we’ve gotten to the point where the less a candidate knows about Washington it seems the better off they are, and now Feingold, a guy who has always fought the good liberal fight is up against a candidate who is trying to buy the election so he can go to Washington and extend the Bush tax cuts for the rich. Senator Russ Feingold joins us tonight, here on the Ed Show. Senator, good to have you with us tonight.  You know, you have been one of the most hard-working guys out there.  You do over 70 town hall meetings a year.  What are you hearing in Wisconsin? And why are you polling below 50%? RUSS FEINGOLD: Well, this is a year of challenges because of the mess that was left us from the Bush years. Wait a second! If Bush were so awful, and you fought Bush every step of the way as Ed documented, wouldn’t that make you a winner in Wisconsin?  Could it possibly be that, now under Obama and a Dem congress, W [to quote those old Cross Your Heart commercials] is looking “suddenly shaplier”?

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Feingold On His Tough Re-Election Race: I Blame George Bush!

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Bill Press: On Election Night Boehner Office Will Be ‘Morgue,’ Pelosi’s A ‘Party’

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Gallup might be seeing an historic spread in the Republicans’ favor, and even Mark Halperin is predicting GOP gains of as many as 60 seats. But amidst all the Dem panic and gnashing of teeth, the Pelosi party can still count on one true believer: Bill Press. Former California Dem chairman Press has predicted that when results come in on Election Night, GOP leader John Boehner’s office will be a “morgue,” while Pelosi’s place while Pelosi’s place is “where the party’s going to be.” Press proferred his hyper-optimistic prediction on this evening’s Ed Show, reacting to the report that Ohio talk radio host Bill Cunningham will be broadcasting from Boehner’s office on Election Night.  For good measure, Press—ironically no fan of the First Amendment, apparently—expressed disappointment that it was legal for Cunningham to do so. Let’s make sure Press’s prediction is duly noted.  See you on November 2nd, Bill. ED SCHULTZ: Bill Cunningham, radio talk show host out of Ohio, who’s a severe righty, is saying that he is going to be broadcasting from The Tan Man’s–John Boehner’s–office on Election Night. BILL PRESS: Well first of all, I checked. It is legal , in the House, for members can allow broadcasters to broadcast from their offices, I’m sorry, I’m sorry to say . . . But I’ve got to tell you, Ed, so it’s legal to be there, but if I were Bill Cunningham I’d stay home. Because once the results come in, it’s going to be like a morgue in Boehner’s office. You and I, you and I ought to broadcast, Ed, you and I ought to broadcast from Nancy Pelosi’s balcony.  That’s where the party’s going to be. Check the mirthful reaction of GOP strategist John Feehery. Even Ed had to chuckle at Press’s prediction.  

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Bill Press: On Election Night Boehner Office Will Be ‘Morgue,’ Pelosi’s A ‘Party’

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Vanity Fair On Sarah Palin: She Has A Terrible Temper, Is A Bad Tipper

Posted on September 1, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Two years after entering the nation’s klieg lights Sarah Palin is the subject of a detailed and sometimes scathing profile in next month’s Vanity Fair. The portrait that emerges is one of a willful, often-paranoid, sometimes vengeful woman with a terrible temper and a knack for folksy soundbites, who knows her strengths, saw her moment in the spotlight and has grabbed onto it with both hands. Or as Vanity Fair’s Michael Joseph Gross puts it “anywhere you peel back the skin of Sarah Palin’s life, a sad and moldering strangeness lies beneath.” What is perhaps most amazing about the profile is that it took this long for it to come about. For a woman who has been the subject of spectacular amounts press attention very few details about her personal life, or any life behind the public face and Facebook page, have come to light. Ironically, if Palin wasn’t so secretive none of the things revealed in this profile would be terribly interesting; for the most part it’s pretty basic stuff. But the newness of it subsequently makes it hard not to wonder if this marks some sort of turning point for Palin and the press. Certainly her public persona appeared to take a hit following her puzzling support of Dr. Laura’s N-word debacle (her Facebook and Twitter have been notably tame since), and Sunday’s NYT op-ed calling for the Dems to come up with their own Palin appears to have hit a nerve. Not that Palin is going anywhere, not by a long shot, but one gets the sense her time of skating through all the attention with nary a nod to the public outside a handful of controlled mediums be coming to a close. In the meantime here’s a short selection of passages from the VF profile including some solid speculation about the woman who may be the voice of Palin’s Facebook page. Read the full piece here. Update: Ben Smith thinks you should take this piece with a grain of salt: “[M]y takeaway from the magazine piece is more that you can really write anything about Palin.” A takeaway that arguably adds to the conclusion Palin’s press avoidance is beginning to work against her. Palin and the press: “Her on-the-record statements about herself amount to a litany of untruths and half-truths.” She keeps tight control of her pronouncements, speaking only in settings of her own choosing, with audiences of her own selection, and with reporters kept at bay. (Despite many requests, neither Palin nor her current staff would comment for this article.) She injects herself into the news almost every day, but on a strictly one-way basis, through a steady stream of messages on Twitter and Facebook. The press plays along. Palin is the only politician whose tweets are regularly reported as news by TV networks. The woman behind Sarah Palin’s Facebook page Palin’s most unconventional hire is a novice media consultant, Rebecca Mansour, a 36-year-old Los Angeles resident who has been identified in news stories as a screenwriter. Mansour has said that she volunteered for Obama early in the 2008 campaign and then became disillusioned. Not long after the election…[Mansour] co-founded the most popular pro-Palin blog, Conservatives4Palin, known informally as C4P. By mid-August, her byline, long the most prominent one on C4P, had vanished from the site.But her voice, or at least a voice that sounds much like hers, was about to turn up in another venue…After Mansour’s voice disappeared on C4P, however, Palin’s voice on Facebook and Twitter started sounding increasingly provocative and irascible…This summer, in her capacity as a SarahPAC staffer, Mansour insisted to a reporter that “anything that goes out under [Palin’s] name is hers.” Palin’s virtual voice does sometimes have the ring of authenticity. But often it sounds less like Palin herself than someone else’s fantasy version of Palin at her most vitriolic. On one occasion Palin’s virtual voice contradicted remarks she made in a TV interview two days later. Andrew Sullivan Alert Palin delivers basically the same speech she gave 18 hours earlier to the Tea Party group in Independence. You could pretty much replace the word “constitution,” from yesterday’s remarks, with “Bible,” and be good to go. Then Palin departs from the script and speaks as if from the heart, describing her fear and confusion upon discovering that Trig would be born with Down syndrome. “I had never really been around a baby with special needs,” she tells her listeners. For what it’s worth, this statement is untrue. Depicting the same moment of discovery in her own book, Palin writes that she immediately thought of a special-needs child she knew very well: her autistic nephew. Such falsehoods never damage Palin’s credibility with her admirers, because information and ideology are incidental to this relationship. For someone who loves the common folk, Palin is apparently a bad tipper Palin does not always treat those ordinary people well, however—it depends on who is watching…The only time I heard of Palin giving a generous tip was in St. Joseph, Michigan, after the owner of Kilwin’s chocolate shop, on State Street, sent a CARE package to Palin’s suite, and Palin walked to the store to say thank you. She also wanted to buy more boxes of candy to take home. When the owner would not accept her money, Palin, encircled by the crowd that had jammed the store to get a glimpse of her, pressed a hundred-dollar bill into the woman’s hand, saying, “This is for the staff.” That Ben Franklin was the talk of State Street the whole rest of the day. And has a Terrible Temper The intensity of Palin’s temper was first described to me in such extreme terms that I couldn’t help but wonder if it might be exaggerated, until I heard corroborating tales of outbursts dating back to her days as mayor of Wasilla and before. One friend of the Palins’ remembers an argument between Sarah and Todd: “They took all the canned goods out of the pantry, then proceeded to throw them at each other. By the time they got done, the stainless-steel fridge looked like it had got shot up with a shotgun. Todd said, ‘I don’t know why I even waste my time trying to get nice things for you if you’re just going to ruin them.’ ” This friend adds, “As soon as she enters her property and the door closes, even the insects in that house cringe. added by: TimALoftis

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Media Bash Beck for Not Being Evangelical After Years of Bashing Evangelicals

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

The editors of the mainstream media must think we all have very short memories. Their latest schtick is to smear conservative talk show host Glenn Beck as a creepy Mormon who has no business influencing evangelicals. Aside from the disgusting hypocrisy of Mormon-baiting one minute and then bashing Islamophobia the next, these news outlets are also hoping you’ve forgotten about their recent smearing of evangelicals like Sarah Palin, John Hagee, and James Dobson. But hey, they shouldn’t be held accountable for their own religious bigotry on display in 2008. That was a whole two years ago, and anyway they had a Democrat messiah to protect. For a flashback at how low the media stooped then, let’s review an editorial cartoon shamelessly bashing Pentecostalism that appeared on the Washington Post’s website on September 18, 2008: This cartoon, which insults Pentecostalism as gobbledygook and portrays a God that spouts profanity, was so offensive Post ombudsman Deborah Howell was forced to admit “readers were right to complain.” And the bashing didn’t stop there. On September 5, a week after Palin’s acceptance speech with McCain’s campaign, tax-payer funded NPR claimed many Pentecostals view Iraq as “a holy war,” and then suggested the Alaska governor’s involvement in the church has “no doubt shaped her faith, and possibly, her view of world events.” Four days after that, CNN’s prime time show AC 360 asked if Palin’s colorful religion would “impact policy in Washington.” That same day saw CBSNews.com run an article that painted Pentecostalism in exotic tones, and then sincerely asked if Palin believed in separation of church and state. Not to be outdone, liberal website Salon.com brazenly posted the headline ” What’s the difference between Palin and Muslim fundamentalists? Lipstick .” That’s how much respect the media had for Christianity two years ago. Worse yet was Time magazine on October 9, 2008. Less than a month before the election, hard-hitting journalist Amy Sullivan wondered ” Does Sarah Palin Have a Pentecostal Problem? ” What followed was an entire article of unabashed religion-baiting: Palin’s religious background must initially have been seen as a positive to McCain campaign vetters, who assumed that her faith would appeal to the conservative base of the party that has always been suspicious of McCain. But ever since she joined the ticket in late August, the Alaska governor’s various religious affiliations have caused headaches. First came reports that her pastor at the nondenominational Wasilla Bible Church was connected to Jews for Jesus, an organization that seeks to convert Jews to Christianity. Prominent Jewish leaders, including the co-chair of McCain’s Jewish outreach effort, have since demanded to know whether Palin also believes that Jews must be converted. The Bible Church became an issue again when Katie Couric asked Palin about the church’s promotion of a program to help gays “overcome” their homosexuality. Note the subtle dig at the beginning – McCain chose Palin to appease the Republican party’s powerful base of evangelicals. That was another popular theme in the media then, and many news outlets exploited it for all it was worth. On August 15, 2008, Washington Post writer Krissah Williams Thompson bragged that “Bush’s unpopularity has been an embarrassment to the evangelicals who overwhelmingly voted for him.” Thompson went on to gush that McCain could “not afford to lose” the Christian vote and was forced into “fighting back” against Democrat advances on his base. On June 28, Newsweek’s Lisa Miller echoed the narrative that “for decades, right-wing kingmakers used their sway with voters to pick candidates and set a national agenda.” This was seen as the primary reason McCain picked Palin. Indeed, the Los Angeles Times claimed that Palin helped McCain get a clutch endorsement from James Dobson, which would translate into “millions of evangelicals” deciding their vote. Ah, harmless minister Dr. James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family and one of the media’s favorite Christian punching-bags. When Dobson chatted with Palin during the election season, the Washington Post flippantly called him the “Christian Right leader” who ostensibly decided “how [his] God will be voting on election day.” It pained the media that devout Christians had such powerful influence on the Republican party. During the presidential primaries in January, ABC News lamented that “the Republican contest was essentially about one thing: religion.” Political commentators like Dobson, and vice presidential nominees like Palin, were too devout in their Christian beliefs and could not be trusted to handle policy decisions. When audio of President Obama’s pastor, Jeremiah Wright, broke into the national conversation, the media frantically compensated by attacking random pastors who endorsed McCain from a distance. On May 22, the Associated Press gleefully reported that McCain was forced to drop a routine endorsement from a church he’d never been a member of: McCain actively courted Hagee, who leads a megachurch with a congregation in the tens of thousands and has an even wider television audience. Former Republican presidential rivals also sought Hagee’s backing. The preacher has controversial views that were well-known before McCain accepted his endorsement at a news conference Feb. 27 in San Antonio shortly before the Texas presidential primary. Obama’s longtime membership in a controversial church was not to be taken seriously. But McCain accepting endorsements as he passed through Texas was an embarrassment. And yet suddenly, after so many years of complaining that conservatives were too evangelical, the media are worried that a new cultural leader, Glenn Beck, is not evangelical enough. NewsBuster Tim Graham recently caught the Washington Post asking if Mormons are really Christians. Yes, that Washington Post – the same paper that printed a disgusting cartoon about Pentecostal gibberish. Suddenly, we’re supposed to believe it cares about doctrinal purity among evangelicals. The New York Times on Monday printed an editorial from Ross Douthat that criticized Beck’s Mormonism for having too many “theological differences” from Dobson-esque Christianity. He went on to snicker that “neither serious evangelicals nor serious Mormons should be terribly enthused” about Restoring Honor. Serious evangelicals? Like who? Sarah Palin, who was branded a witch-hunter? John Hagee, who was repeatedly called “controversial” for months? What about that theocratic control freak James Dobson who gets to decide how God votes – is he a serious evangelical? If the media want to encourage evangelicals to follow respectable leaders, it would help if they identified evangelicals who are actually called respectable.

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Media Bash Beck for Not Being Evangelical After Years of Bashing Evangelicals

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MSM Acknowledges Lisa Murkowski Lost Primary Because She’s Pro-Abortion But Thinks We’re Crazy

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Even though liberal MSM types like Ron Elving , senior Washington editor at NPR , have a hard time understanding what’s going on, they are giving credit for Joe Miller’s Alaska GOP Senate primary (apparent) victory to pro-life voters. But the title and opening paragraph of Elving’s August 26 piece not so subtly tell us he thinks Alaskans have gone crazy… Elving, among others, still can’t fathom that pro-lifers now comprise the majority. Even if so, he thinks people who believe preborn humans shouldn’t be slaughtered for convenience and profit, and/or parents who want to know before their daughters abort (which was the ballot initiative that helped get voters out), wear tin hats. Nevertheless, he gave us credit: Which kind of AK Republican was most motivated for this primary? The answer appears to be the populist, evangelical, anti-abortion Republicans who are likely to identify with the movement known as the Tea Party . Murkowski [pictured right] had a vulnerability within her own party because she was a supporter of abortion rights in some cases . While abortion views are divided in AK as elsewhere, opposition to abortion is more concentrated in the Republican Party. And this week’s ballot featured a voter measure on requiring parental notification prior to an abortion for a minor. Murkowski endorsed the measure, but the anti-abortion activists who came out to vote for it may well have preferred Miller’s anti-abortion credentials overall . It was also this issue that influenced former AK Gov. Sarah Palin to switch her support from Murkowski to Miller…. [W]hen Miller later emerged as an anti-abortion champion aligned with the Tea Party and other Palin causes, the state’s most mediagenic citizen made her move. It didn’t hurt that Mike Huckabee , the former minister, governor and presidential candidate who also appears on Fox News , came to the state to campaign for Miller….   Politics and World News also gave the nod for Wilson’s (apparent) win to those who believe preborn babies shouldn’t be suctioned and chopped, nor should 12-yr-olds almost certainly impregnated under shady circumstances be secreted away for abortions without their parents knowing… as did the Anchorage Daily News … Note in ADN’s story how enthusiastically Miller supported Ballot Measure 2, in contrast to Murkowski’s tepid support, clearly trying to straddle the fence… The abortion issue may have cost embattled… Murkowski an untold number of votes Tuesday to Republican primary challenger Joe Miller , say anti-abortion activists. The ballot also included a sharply contested voter initiative generally requiring parents to be notified before their teen receives an abortion. Miller [pictured below left, with voters] came out strongly for Ballot Measure 2. “He told voters over and over again: Flip your ballot over, vote ‘yes on 2.’ Before you vote for me, vote ‘yes on 2.’ Ballot Measure 2 is much more important than this Senate race,” said Bernadette Wilson, campaign manager for Alaskans for Parental Rights, the “yes on 2” group. Murkowski never did the same, Wilson said. All the other statewide Republican candidates gave money to the effort. Murkowski didn’t, Wilson said. Supporters of the parental notification requirement noticed, she said. Murkowski’s campaign said the senator supported Measure 2 and went to 2 fundraisers for it. But her campaign lawyer advised that she couldn’t let Alaskans for Parental Rights use her name in its materials, because that would amount to an illegal campaign contribution to her, under federal election law, according to an e-mailed copy of the analysis. The initiative, which marked the first time Alaskans confronted an abortion issue at the polls, passed with 55 percent of the vote. In addition… AK Family Council asked candidates detailed questions on abortion and other social issues. Murkowski’s answers showed her to be pro-choice, while Miller was the opposite… The political group sent the answers to thousands of its supporters, as well as pastors and the media…. Murkowski’s record on abortion is complex . She has long said abortion decisions are between a woman and her doctor, and in her first appointed Senate term, she voted for a nonbinding “sense of the Senate” that supported Roe v. Wade . But she’s voted against federal funding for abortion, and supported a ban on late-term abortions…. Alaskans for Parental Rights never told its backers to vote for Miller, and didn’t work on his campaign, Wilson said. But it didn’t have to. Weeks ago, when her group first waved their “yes on 2” signs along the Seward Highway in Midtown, Miller drove past, then made a U-turn to join them, Wilson said. On Election Day, Miller waved one of their signs along with one of his own. “People who voted ‘yes’ on Ballot Measure 2 and people who voted for Joe Miller are of like mind,” Wilson said. “People kind of linked arms and came to the polls for both.” “There’s no doubt that Lisa Murkowski’s pro-abortion views had an influence on this election,” [council president Jim ] Minnery said. Of note is I learned about this MSM articles via Robin Marty at the pro-abort site RH Reality Check , who seemed to have no wind in her sails when reporting the AK pro-life phenomenon…. no excuses, no rationalization, even appearing to defend Murkowski as a supporter of Measure 2 by reposting her excuse for lack of overt support. [Bottom photo via the AP ]

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MSM Acknowledges Lisa Murkowski Lost Primary Because She’s Pro-Abortion But Thinks We’re Crazy

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You can’t be President if you’re Black / School kids learn that lesson in Mississippi

Posted on August 27, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Black Students are not allowed to run for President. the following is from a memo sent home to parents dictating which posts can be filled by which race. 8th grade…………………..7th grade…………………..6th grade President -white……….President-white…………President-white V-President-black…….V-President-white………V-President-white sec-tres-white…………..sec-tres-black……………sec-tres-white reporter-black…………..reporter-white……………reporter-black The Nettleton Middle School elections are divided between offices pegged for black and white students, according to the memo, which was provided to TSG by a parent. The document was handed out to every student in the school’s sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, and it details the race requirements for each of four class officer spots (president, vice president, secretary-treasurer, and reporter). Of the 12 offices for which students compete, eight are earmarked for white students (including the three class president spots), while four are termed “black” seats. Middle school administrators have not returned TSG phone calls, so it is unclear how this policy was established, or whether the number of offices apportioned for each race changes annually. Additionally, it is unknown how children who are not black or white would run for student government offices. Students seeking class office were directed to return their election applications, complete with the petition signatures of 10 classmates, to science teacher Jenny Payne by August 24. The Nettleton middle school has about 400 students, and about 72 percent are white, according to a source familiar with the school board's operation. The majority of the remaining students are black. The city of Nettleton has a population of 2013 and is located 15 miles south of Tupelo, the birthplace of Elvis Presley. The middle school’s policy was first reported this week by Suzy Richardson, who operates Mixed and Happy, a blog about mixed-race families. (1 page) [UPDATE: The Nettleton school superintendent, Russell Taylor, tonight posted a statement on the district’s web site announcing a review of the “processes, historical applications, compliance issues, as well as current implications and ramifications” of the student election system.] added by: Stoneyroad

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Pataki Smacks Down Matthews: You Bash Limbaugh, How About Olbermann?

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Former New York Governor George Pataki on Wednesday got into a heated discussion with Chris Matthews over the Ground Zero mosque and the Republican opposition to it. In the middle of his second “Hardball” segment on MSNBC, Matthews played a clip of Rush Limbaugh saying on the radio earlier in the day, “If this is a nation that is Islamophobic, how do we elect a man whose name is Barack Hussein Obama?” This led Matthews to ask his guest, “What do you think of guys that keep putting out lies like that?” Over the course of the next five minutes, Pataki basically took over the show not only putting Matthews in his place, but also doing the same to his other guest, Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post (video follows with transcript and commentary): CHRIS MATTHEWS, HOST: Governor, it just seems to me that people on the right of the spectrum, right across the right center right all the way over, really don`t like Muslims. Take a look — here`s Rush Limbaugh today. Here`s what he said today about — about the — about our election of — well, he refers to President Obama, basically, as a Muslim here again. Here he is. Let`s listen. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) RUSH LIMBAUGH, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: My question — Mr. Matthews and Mr. Fineman, a question for you. How can America be Islamophobic? We elected Obama, didn`t we? If this is a nation that is Islamophobic, how do we elect a man whose name is Barack Hussein Obama? (END VIDEO CLIP) MATTHEWS: Governor, this is why, I think, 25 or some 30 percent of the people think that Barack Obama is a Muslim, this trash talking by Rush Limbaugh, the voice of the American right here, who speaks for so many Republicans, assuming that he`s a Muslim because we voted for him and that proves we`re not anti-Muslim. What do you think of guys that keep putting out lies like that? So, in Matthews’ view, Limbaugh not only believes Obama is a Muslim, but he’s also responsible for how 25 to 30 percent of the nation thinks.  Well, before we get to Pataki’s fabulous response, here’s what Limbaugh actually said today on this subject: RUSH LIMBAUGH: Monday night on Mess NBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. He and Howard Fineman are blaming me for the Obama Muslim poll. They’re blaming me for the fact that about 20, 25% of the American people think Obama’s a Muslim and that fewer and fewer Americans believe that Obama is a Christian. Well, that’s not what I was doing. These guys are outthinking me by half here. To put this back in context, I was trying to explain to these people why the poll was what it was. Don’t forget, it’s not us that took the poll. I’m in the wake of this. I had nothing to do with the shaping of opinion on this poll. The only time I have referenced Obama being a Muslim was when I was quoting Khadafy. I’ve never put it out there myself that Obama is a Muslim. I’ve quoted Moammar Khadafy for saying so. I’m trying to explain to these people in the media, “You want to know why the American people think this, let me help you.” What do we know about Obama being a Christian? The only thing we know is that he has said so. But we don’t see him going to church. We don’t hear him talk about it like other presidents have. But we do know that his pastor for 20 years was Jeremiah Wright. And the American people have heard what Jeremiah Wright said, America’s chickens have come home to roost and all of that. And we also have heard Obama say he never heard Wright say any of these things. Well, sorry, media. We just don’t believe that a parishioner does not hear the pastor for 20 years. Sorry. We may be rubes, but that doesn’t compute with us. I mean those of us that go to church know what the pastor says. One of the reasons we go is to hear what the priest or what the pastor says. This Pew poll was taken back in July. Now, I never said anything about Obama being a Muslim until the last few days. With that as pretext, here’s how Pataki responded to Matthews: GEORGE PATAKI, FORMER GOVERNOR NEW YORK (R): Well, I think it`s clear that Rush and I both understand that Barack Obama is a Christian. He has expressed his Christianity. He has shown that he goes to church, although I have doubts about his choice of the right church when he was with Reverend Wright for so many years in Chicago. But, you know, you can pick out inflammatory positions on either side. The idea of this Islamic center so close to Ground Zero is wrong, and you`re painting it as something that the right is opposed to. In New York State, the Democratic governor and the Democratic speaker are opposed to it. Harry Reid has come out against it. There is bipartisan opposition, and by the way, the vast majority of Americans think it is the wrong center and the wrong site at the wrong time. Exactly. The polling data on this issue finds huge bipartisan opposition to this mosque. Yet, Matthews and his ilk continue to blame this on conservative talkers like Limbaugh: MATTHEWS: Right. PATAKI: And just commenting on Eugene`s analysis that it`s making the U.S. look bad in the Islamic world, if the people who proposed building this in fact wanted to reach out, wanted to build bridges, they would understand the nature of the opposition. They would understand the emotion involved around September 11, and they would have taken up a Democratic governor`s offer to relocate that site. They won`t do that. So, it makes me question, not just question, but doubt seriously, if in fact this is about building bridges, as opposed to just sticking — poking a stick in our eye at one of the hallowed grounds and the scenes of one of the greatest tragedies in American history. And I have to tell you that you — I am not anti-Islam. I am very strongly anti that mosque. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: Well, you think that`s the message, Gene, that we`re sending here as a country? (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: Is that the message that we`re sending, we`re not anti- Islamic? (CROSSTALK) PATAKI: It`s not the message you`re sending, Chris, when you say that the right is anti-Islam. MATTHEWS: I`m looking at the poll data. PATAKI: We`re in favor of tolerance across the political spectrum. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: OK. I have just cited a major national poll that says most Republicans don`t like Islam, period. I have just quoted Rush Limbaugh from today`s broadcast where he is making it sound like we have elected a guy who is Islamic, and therefore we`re not anti-Islamic, playing that old game again, that canard that he`s really not a Christian. I would think if I were a guy sitting in a Cairo cafe right now, I be would thinking, I don`t really want to go to Michigan State and study engineering because those people don`t like me. Nicely set up, Pataki whacked the ball out of the park: PATAKI: Well, you know, you always manage to get a clip from Rush. I would love to have one from Keith Olbermann or someone, because you can always take — MATTHEWS: Well, I`m looking for Republican opinion here. Exactly! Matthews is always looking for Republican opinion to bash, which once again set Pataki up nicely: PATAKI: — take positions — let me give you a Republican opinion. (CROSSTALK) PATAKI: We believe in freedom of religion. In New York City, there are over 100 mosques. In New York State, there are over 300 mosques. MATTHEWS: Right. PATAKI: We believe that religious tolerance is an important part of our Bill of Rights and of our country. But that doesn`t mean that we have to tolerate building a center with questionable sources of funds, questionable leadership so close to Ground Zero. It is the wrong thing to do at the wrong site. MATTHEWS: Gene, your last word here, please. EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: Well, I believe the organizers of the mosque will refuse, as all of us do, to be classified as second-class citizens of this country. PATAKI: That`s right. ROBINSON: I believe the governor forgets that innocent Muslims died in the collapse of the Twin Towers, along with Christians and Jews and everyone else. And — and I just think it is an outrageous violation of what we as Americans hold sacred, freedom of religion, and the fact that we are all equal to say, yes, sure, we like Islam, but we don`t like you here. Brace yourselves, for Robinson was about to get schooled: PATAKI: You know, I think it`s an incredible violation of our freedom of speech if you think that by expressing an opinion that differs from yours somehow, it is in any way treating people as second-class citizens. Ouch! Even Matthews recognized Pataki was right: MATTHEWS: OK. I`m with you. I`m with you. PATAKI: It`s not. MATTHEWS: Governor — Governor, you rang my bell. I agree. Both sides — I respect your opinion. I respect the other guy`s opinion. What I don`t respect are people talking about blacklisting the construction companies, talking about we`re going to get those people and run them out of business who do try to build this center. That is bad Americanism. That is not American to say, all right, you have a right to do it, but we will ruin your business if you do it. Is that freedom of speech or is that something else? PATAKI: No, it`s not. No, it`s not. And I agree with you. (CROSSTALK) MATTHEWS: OK. Then we`re together on that — (CROSSTALK) PATAKI: We have to follow the law. But let me raise another point here. The developer, so-called developer of this project, earlier, about a year or so ago, plunked down $4.9 million in cash to buy the site. A year-and-a-half before that, he was a waiter. He then plunked down $5 million to buy the second site and got a mortgage in excess of $20 million or $30 million, a guy who was a waiter as a restaurant a year-and-a-half ago. People are asking him the source of that almost $10 million in cash. MATTHEWS: OK. PATAKI: He won`t answer the questions. And I think it`s — the American people and certainly the people of New York have a right to know the source of the funding, because that goes to what this center is going to be used for. I have grave doubts. I think it should be moved. And if they were really serious about reaching out and building bridges, they would listen to those of us who respect Islam, but who don`t believe that center should be there. Outstanding, Governor. Absolutely outstanding. Now watch Matthews further make a fool of himself: MATTHEWS: OK. Seven years ago, the man who is building this center was speaking at Danny Pearl`s funeral. I`m not sure he`s a bad guy, like you say he is. This is why folks like Olbermann don’t allow conservatives on their programs, for Matthews was seriously about to get owned: PATAKI: Well, I can tell you, Danny Pearl`s father has said that it should not be built there. Game, set, and match Pataki. Bravo, Governor! Bravo!

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CNN: GOP ‘Very Far to the Right’; Guest Laments McCain’s Rightward Lean

Posted on August 25, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

On Tuesday’s AC360, CNN’s John Roberts labeled Republican candidates who have Tea Party support ” very far to the right ,” and specifically referred to Florida gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott as an ” ultraconservative .” Guest John Avlon also bemoaned John McCain’s tack to the right during the primary campaign, and slammed how the senator has been called a “RINO” by many conservatives. Roberts, who was filling in for anchor Anderson Cooper, along with Avlon, CNN liberal contributor Roland Martin and Red State’s Erick Erickson, discussed Tuesday’s primary results from several states for two segments during the first half hour of the 10 pm Eastern hour. Eighteen minutes into the hour, the CNN anchor asked TheDailyBeast.com senior political columnist, “[CNN anchor] John King laid it out there, that it’s going to be a challenging year, to say the least, for Democrats. Some people predicting that this will be equal to, if not worse, than 1994. What do you think?” Avlon replied that the GOP was in “reasonable striking distance” of winning control of the House of Representatives, and later added that “the question is, are the candidates the Republicans have been putting forward in these primaries, some of the more polarizing play-to-the-base candidates, are they going to be Kryptonite when it comes to independent voters and folks in the center? That’s really where this battle is going to be won or lost.” Moments later, Roberts asked Erickson about Avlon’s analysis and included his “right” label: ROBERTS: Erick Erickson, speak to what John Avlon was talking to us about. Some of these candidates who are very far to the right , the one- many of the ones who are backed by the Tea Party- are they going to be Kryptonite come November? The anchor brought back Avlon for a second panel discussion, this time with Republican and former Representative Susan Molinari and Democrat Lisa Caputo, a former press secretary for Hillary Clinton. Roberts raised the issue of the Republican gubernatorial primary in Florida with Molinari 46 minutes into the hour: ROBERTS: When it comes to Rick Scott, who ran as an ultraconservative against Bill McCollum, does he now have to run slightly to the center, if he wants to win in November? Put it this way: the campaign- the Rick Scott campaign is reaching out to CNN, to say, ‘Hey, do you want to have him on tomorrow?’ Four minutes later, Roberts broached the issue of McCain’s lurch to the right during the primary race in Arizona against J. D. Hayworth, which ultimately led to Avlon’s lament of the whole electoral battle between the two: ROBERTS: Well, you heard a lot of that- maverick, maverick, maverick, maverick- 2002, his book, ‘Worth the Fighting For,’ said that it was the ‘education of an American maverick.’ But now, John McCain saying, ‘I’m not a maverick. I never said I was a maverick.’ (laughs) And Susan Molinari, I’m wondering how could he say that?      MOLINARI: Well- you know, times change- (both Molinari and Roberts laugh) politics change, and the situation changed. The situation in Arizona, as he explained it- you know, changed, and the President- you know, by his lawsuit in Arizona, I think really kind of raised the ante. Look, John McCain is a smart politician, and he didn’t do what a lot of other politicians did, which is to assume that, because he was the party nominee for president, that he didn’t have to work hard. And he had sort of the gift which we always think is- you know, a terrible thing of a later primary, to see that some of his incumbent colleagues and others in the House might have taken their election and their reelection in primaries for granted. And so- you know, he ran a smart race. He spent a lot of money, and he did what he needs to do to, presumably, return to the United States Senate. ROBERTS: But John Avlon, it’s almost classic John McCain, where he says, ‘I never said I was a maverick,’ and then you play the audio tape, and you say, ‘Well, with all due respect, Senator, I think you did.’ AVLON: Yeah. No, that’s just a dumb thing for him to have said, (Roberts laughs) and it’s sort of indefensible, because it’s such a core part of his identify, not just one imposed upon him, but one he accepted. And it’s dumb, because this was- this was actually a great year for someone to stress their independence- for someone to stress- the John McCain who the American people have come to know and respect, somebody who was standing up against fiscal irresponsibility when Republicans were spending like drunken sailors. He stood up against his own party. That should be a message that’s perfect for this year, and perfect for the Tea Party. The fact that he was independent should be a strength, but being primaried from the right, people kept saying that maverick was code for independent. So we’ve got to get some clarity right now. The Tea Party folks who say that the number one issue is spending- John McCain should be always a hero to them, and the fact that he’s considered a RINO by some speaks to the sickness in our politics and a problem in the Republican Party right now. ROBERTS: One more quick comment from you, and then we’ve got to go to John King, Lisa. He doesn’t really have to- if John McCain wins the primary, he doesn’t have to worry about the general election. I think he won with 75 percent last time. CAPUTO: Likely not, but what he has to worry about is what’s the public perception of John McCain? ROBERTS: Yeah- CAPUTO: What’s his legacy? Which John McCain are we talking about? Are we talking about the maverick, or are we talking about the Reagan Republican? Who are we talking about? During two July 2009 appearances, Avlon picked “wingnuts of the week” from the right and the left, and was much more critical of his right-wing selections . He also labeled CPAC 2010’s “saving freedom” theme as “a little extreme” during two segments on February 18 and 19 .

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