Tag Archives: keith-olbermann

Disgraced Governor-Turned CNN Host Spitzer Credits Liberals for Health Insurance Across State Lines Initiative

A governor forced to resign for patronizing call girls will probably have a hard time landing a job making pronouncements on politics, right? But there, on CNN, is former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.  Spitzer will co-host a show with pseudo-conservative Kathleen Parker called “Parker Spitzer,” which is set to debut on Oct. 4. But in the meantime, Spitzer has been making regular appearances on CNN programming to offer the liberal perspective on issues. On CNN’s Sept. 20 “Anderson Cooper 360,” that’s what he did, carrying water for the Democratic Party – even though his argument was factually leaky. In the wake of the GOP’s nomination of Christine O’Donnell as the Delaware candidate for U.S. Senate, Spitzer took on conservative talker and blogger Dana Loesch over what issues the Tea Party movement was really interested in taking a stand on – fiscal or social. Loesch argued that the movement isn’t just about opposing this Congress’ policy endeavors, but is also offering solutions, as was the case with ObamaCare. The Tea Party supporters may differ on some issues, leading to some vague positions, but, “I think that means for the amounts of issues, perhaps, when you get into social issues,” Loesch said. “But, for things like health care, the movement has been incredibly clear. Some of the things that they have put out are – let’s be able to buy insurance across state lines. Let’s – have health insurance companies compete. We’ve taken on everything from health care, to education, to foreign policy, and not just general.” And according to Loesch, the Democrats have offered a series of platitudes on these policy issues, which she claims they could have offered some more specifics. “I mean, we have isolated specific issues within the realm of each of these topics and we have gone at it,” Loesch continued. “When you talk about people being general, where we have seen people be general is from the Congress currently in Washington, D.C. We’ve seen broad generalizations on a number of different policies. We would actually like to see congressional Democrats be a little bit more – just be a little bit more precise with things.” Spitzer was in agreement over a policy point, but he wanted to credit the Democratic Party, which controls both chambers of Congress and the White House with an idea that it hasn’t been noted for championing, and that it was unable to implement. “Well, you know, because I’m always looking for points of agreement, I agree with you about the ability to purchase across state lines, competition across state lines,” Spitzer said. “Those have been perspectives taken primarily by the liberal wing of the Democratic Party and opposed by the Republican Party. So, if you want to ask, why…” However, it was the Republican Party that fought for the ability for consumers to purchase insurance across state lines. This had long been a policy point offered by the GOP, even at the height of the ObamaCare debate, as shown in a Feb. 25 post on the GOP House Conference blog . Spitzer’s erroneous assertion led to this back-and-forth with Loesch: LOESCH: That came out in the Patients’ Choice Act. SPITZER: … why that – why that has not been permitted… LOESCH: No. SPITZER: What do you mean? You can’t say no. Facts are facts. The reality is … LOESCH: Patients’ Choice Act – the fact is the Republicans came out with a Patients’ Choice Act. I have to correct you on that point. SPITZER: Talking over somebody isn’t going to change the facts. The reality is… LOESCH: Well, I had to point out the facts. SPITZER: … the opposition to interstate competition has come from the Republican Party. And that remains to be the case. A 2009 study showed that health insurance premiums would be reduced by 61 percent for Massachusetts residents if they were allowed to purchase insurance in North Carolina,  which, as the GOP conference blog pointed out, is something that could have easily been put into the Democrat’s health care reform legislation. And as Loesch explained, it was House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., who was at the forefront of this push – not the “liberal wing of the Democratic Party,” as Spitzer claimed. “No. That is – that’s – that’s an error. That’s a factual error – Patients’ Choice Act. It came out. Eric Cantor, a number of congressional Republicans came out,” Loesch said. “And that was one of the main talking points, the patients’ bill of rights.”

Visit link:
Disgraced Governor-Turned CNN Host Spitzer Credits Liberals for Health Insurance Across State Lines Initiative

BMI’s Seymour Tells Fox Biz Media Manipulating Tax Debate Terms

In the current federal tax debate, the media are “really helping out the liberals” just by choosing certain words over others, according to the Business & Media Institute. In an appearance on Fox Business Network Sept. 21, BMI’s Julia Seymour told host Charles Payne that the mainstream media – “particularly the cable primetime shows that we looked at,” had been framing “the debate as tax cuts, rather than tax increases.” Seymour was referring to BMI research showing that the media was using the language of the left and the Obama administration when reporting on the tax issue. MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann said on Sept. 13 that “Democrats want to cut everybody’s taxes,” despite the president’s stated intent to raise taxes on the rich. “It was 27 tax cut-framed stories, versus two tax increase stories,” Seymour told Payne. The media were thus 13 times more likely to put a positive spin on the Democrats’ intentions than to characterize the move as a tax increase. “Is it the case really that the media perhaps – the mainstream media – has been trying to shape it in a way that makes it, ah, seem better for the Democrats rather than the Republicans,” asked Payne. “Certainly,” Seymour responded. “The Obama administration has made it clear they want to increase taxes on the people they deem wealthy. But that’s not the way you hear the stories – you hear that Obama wants to keep middle class tax cuts.” She cited the “complete distortion” of MSNBC host Keith Olbermann’s tax assertions, and included CNN among the outlets spinning tax increases into a question of tax cuts.

See the original post:
BMI’s Seymour Tells Fox Biz Media Manipulating Tax Debate Terms

NBC News Prez Whines That Fox News Is ‘Trying to Brand Us’ As Liberals Because of the Radical MSNBC Lineup

Washington Post media reporter Howard Kurtz wrote this howler today in a story on how MSNBC’s leftishness rubs off on the mothership: “No one is suggesting Brian Williams’s newscast had suddenly become biased.” That’s right. Brian’s show has been biased for a long time . But there’s more comedy in how NBC News chief Steve Capus tries to suggest it’s unfair to see NBC as liberal because of the ever-increasing left-wing shrillness quotient of MSNBC in prime time:  Capus concedes that MSNBC’s lefty lineup at night–Ed Schultz, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, Rachel Maddow and, as of next week, Lawrence O’Donnell–raises questions about NBC. But cable is “narrowcasting,” he says, and “I think the audience gets it, pure and simple.” Fox News, he adds, is “trying to brand us” as a liberal broadcast network because of MSNBC. “It’s a classic political tactic — they don’t like Keith Olbermann, they’re going to come after us. It’s annoying.” NBC News has operated with a left-wing tilt going back to at least Huntley/Brinkley in the sixties, but now they have a new way of pretending to be straight news: Don’t we look calm and sedate next to Olbermann?  Kurtz was also told that MSNBC was a complete programming mess for 11 years, but adding radical-left talk show host after radical-left talk show host has suddenly made the network “serious,” after all these years:  Fox still dominates the cable news race, but MSNBC now regularly beats CNN in prime time, and Joe Scarborough’s “Morning Joe” has become the most talked-about breakfast show . Capus attributes the turnaround to the channel branding itself “the place for politics,” giving it a long-sought focus after so many short-lived programs with the likes of Alan Keyes, Phil Donahue and John Hockenberry. For its first 11 years, “MSNBC didn’t have its act together,” Zucker says. “Only in the last three years has MSNBC emerged as a serious network. Kurtz is buying the company spin on this one. Fox & Friends crushes Morning Joe in the morning (often by a gap of about 1 million to 400,000). Kurtz doesn’t even note that CNN Headline News has boasted that its Morning Express with Robin Meade has beat Scarborough in the coveted 25-54 demographic for many months . Perhaps Kurtz is being charitable to NBC so he doesn’t look too much like a CNN employee. Kurtz is certainly correct that Fox News enjoys taunting NBC and MSNBC (if he doesn’t mention that NBC and MSNBC often shoot back):  Fox Executive Vice President Brian Lewis responds that “NBC, and especially MSNBC, is not even a blip on our radar screen. We don’t care what they do. Capus must be confusing us with CNN” as a close competitor. (Fox host Bill O’Reilly, for his part, regularly describes NBC as a left-wing network, at one point slamming “Capus and his character assassins.”)

View original post here:
NBC News Prez Whines That Fox News Is ‘Trying to Brand Us’ As Liberals Because of the Radical MSNBC Lineup

Matthews Jokes About Obama Bringing Gun to Knife Fight When Dealing with GOP

On Sunday’s syndicated Chris Matthews Show, as the group discussed how a budget fight between a Republican Congress and President Obama might play out politically, host Matthews joked about the Chicago saying about bringing a gun to a knife fight and putting people in the morgue as a metaphor for how Obama might deal with Republicans politically – a saying President Obama also has a history of using : CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: But Obama knows how to play confrontation politics the Chicago way, and this is the kind of thing that, this is where the rubber meets the road. MATTHEWS: You mean like Jimmy the Cop, “They come at you with a knife, you go at them with a gun”? PAGE: You’ve got it. And remember- MATTHEWS: “They put you in the hospital, you put them in the morgue”? Is that what we’re talking here? Notably, some MSNBC liberals like Keith Olbermann have a history of accusing Republicans of inciting violence by using metaphors, and just a few weeks ago, Cenk Uygur of the Young Turks filled in on MSNBC’s The Ed Show and went to lengths to accuse Republicans of inciting violence with metaphorical rhetoric, all while ignoring Obama’s own similar history. Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Sunday, September 19, syndicated Chris Matthews Show: CHRIS MATTHEWS: Clarence, does he have Bill Clinton’s finesse and plainness like Clinton did? The minute it got to the tough- CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Nobody’s got Bill Clinton’s finesse, but- MATTHEWS: He was good at that stuff. He was good when it got to Newt. PAGE: But Obama knows how to play confrontation politics the Chicago way, and this is the kind of thing that, this is where the rubber meets the road. MATTHEWS: You mean like Jimmy the Cop, “They come at you with a knife, you go at them with a gun”? PAGE: You’ve got it. And remember- MATTHEWS: “They put you in the hospital, you put them in the morgue”? Is that what we’re talking here? PAGE: Just look at Clinton versus Gingrich. They faced each other down, and who got blamed for the shutdown? It was Gingrich and the Republicans.

Link:
Matthews Jokes About Obama Bringing Gun to Knife Fight When Dealing with GOP

MSNBC’s Wolffe Repeats Debunked Newsweek Claim of Koran Flushed Down Toilet by Guantanamo Interrogators

Appearing as a guest on Friday’s Countdown show, MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe – formerly of Newsweek – referred to the debunked story that was retracted by Newsweek in May 2005 which had incorrectly claimed that American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay had flushed a Koran down a toilet to intimidate Muslim prisoners. But Wolffe did not inform viewers that the story was untrue as he accused conservatives of a double standard for criticizing Newsweek’s inaccurate Koran desecration story from 2005 while not being aggressive enough in condemning Pastor Terry Jones’s declaration that he would burn the Koran on September 11. Wolffe: I’m struck all the time with this story about the experience of those of us who worked in Newsweek – not the least of whom is Mike Isikoff now at NBC News who wrote a story about the abuse of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay , and there were riots and people died and the overwhelming torrent of abuse from conservative, the echo chamber, more than elected officials I think, certainly from conservative media, was that Newsweek had lied and people died. That’s what they said. Newsweek’s erroneous story inspired riots and a significant number of deaths in 2005 before it was retracted by the magazine, although, as previously documented by the MRC, Newsweek buried its retraction. Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Friday, September 10, Countdown show on MSNBC: KEITH OLBERMANN: The Republicans, on the other hand, are sounding like almost nothing. We reported Tuesday on the deafening silence of the leaders who previously told us, “Listen to General Petraeus,” and this time they had nothing to say, and obviously some have broken their silence since, but even then most have been tentative or brief or even offensive at the analysis that, or the analogy I made to Captain Chowdhury, equating the book burning to building buildings. Do you have a perception of what Republicans are trying to do or not do about this issue? RICHARD WOLFFE: Republicans are in a strange situation now, as well. The politics is weird for them. Remember that, for all the confidence about taking about Congress, there’s a certain amount of fear in the Republican party. They’re worried about the challenge from the right from the Tea Party, which in the first incident has been directed at fellow Republicans, not at Democrats. But, you know, if you’re going to equate something with Koran burning, you know, I’m struck all the time with this story about the experience of those of us who worked in Newsweek – not the least of whom is Mike Isikoff now at NBC News who wrote a story about the abuse of the Koran in Guantanamo Bay, and there were riots and people died and the overwhelming torrent of abuse from conservative, the echo chamber, more than elected officials I think, certainly from conservative media, was that Newsweek had lied and people died. That’s what they said. And I don’t hear similar things now about someone who’s abusing, threatening to abuse the Koran and the kinds of impact that the generals, the commander in chief is saying is going to happen. So if you’re going to equate things, let’s treat apples with apples.

Go here to read the rest:
MSNBC’s Wolffe Repeats Debunked Newsweek Claim of Koran Flushed Down Toilet by Guantanamo Interrogators

Howard Dean: Limbaugh, Beck and Ingraham Part of ‘Hate Wing of GOP’

Howard Dean on Tuesday accused Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, and Laura Ingraham of being part of a “significant hate wing of the Republican Party.” Chatting with Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s “Countdown” about the Florida pastor that wants to burn Korans on the upcoming ninth anniversary of 9/11, Dean said, “I think the Republican Party has become the party, this really started back with Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy, that appeals to hatred.” He continued, “I don’t think the majority of Republicans are haters, but there is a significant hate wing of the Republican Party, including the talk show hosts like Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh and people like that and they don’t dare cross them” (video follows with transcript and commentary):  KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST: Governor, good evening. HOWARD DEAN: And the guy with the longest introduction on television. OLBERMANN: General Petraeus wants this Pastor Jones to cancel the Koran burning. Why aren’t people like Sarah Palin and John Boehner and McConnell and company helping to cut to the nut of this, General Petraeus protect our men and women in uniform? DEAN: Unfortunately, I think the Republican Party has become the party, this really started back with Richard Nixon’s Southern strategy, that appeals to hatred. And I don’t think the majority of Republicans are haters, but there is a significant hate wing of the Republican Party, including the talk show hosts like Glenn Beck and Laura Ingraham and Rush Limbaugh and people like that and they don’t dare cross them. For a long time we’ve thought that Fox worked for the Republican Party. Now we know that Fox really runs the Republican Party. Exit question: when people like Dean, Olbermann, and their ilk spew hate, do they have the slightest understanding of how hypocritical it is to accuse others of being haters, or does their seemingly limitless antipathy for their opponents make this impossible?

Continue reading here:
Howard Dean: Limbaugh, Beck and Ingraham Part of ‘Hate Wing of GOP’

NB Bonus: Obnoxious Liberal Quotes that Couldn’t Fit in Our Labor Day Edition

It’s happened again! Collecting quotes for the Labor Day edition of MRC’s bi-weekly Notable Quotables, I found more outrageous liberal eruptions than could fit into the normal newsletter. So, just for NewsBusters readers, here are 12 worthy quotes that just couldn’t squeeze into the regular issue (although hopefully a couple of these gems will find their way into our upcoming September 20 edition): Obama Opponents Pine for “Ethnic Purity” “First of all, we have a mixed race President who has a middle name ‘Hussein.’ And a good part of the anxiety that’s going on in small-town white America isn’t just the plain old black and white stuff of the past. It’s the fact that South Asians are moving in and running the local motel or, you know, I don’t want to deal in those sorts of cliches, but there are a lot of Latinos about who are moving into these areas that their grandchildren are coming out as gay or intermarrying. The purity of, the ‘ethnic purity,’ to coin a phrase, that they grew up with no longer exists….” — Time ’s Joe Klein on the Chris Matthews Show , August 29. It’s “Baffling” Stabbing Suspect Not Stereotypical American Bigot “It is the knife attack that’s cut deep into a national debate over faith and fear…The suspect, 21-year-old Michael Enright, has a baffling profile. An honors film school student, he volunteers with a church group that promotes peace and understanding….Still, the attack, some Muslims are certain, was fueled by what they call fearmongering over the Islamic cultural center and mosque planned for this site near Ground Zero….There is one other note about that suspected stabber that muddies the water even further. That peace group he volunteered with, they actually support putting that Islamic center down here near Ground Zero where we are tonight.” — ABC correspondent Jeremy Hubbard on World News , August 26. Burden Should Be on Everybody but the Mosque Builder “Some would say that it is really for Americans, for majority of Americans to be more sensitive to minority communities. It’s not really the obligation for the imam to, you know — he talked to members of the Jewish community, the JCC, the Jewish Community Centers were a model. And there’s a rabbi who has been helping. He talked to some members of the 9/11 families, not all clearly. Why is the burden on him?” — NBC News correspondent Andrea Mitchell to former Pakistani ambassador Akbar Ahmed on MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell Reports , August 24. GOP Candidates: “Very Far to the Right” and “Ultraconservative” “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?” “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?” — CNN’s John Roberts filling in as anchor of Anderson Cooper 360 , August 24. Upset Democrats Can’t “Demonize” George W. Bush Again “The problem for the Democrats is this, that the energizer bunny for the 2006, 2008 campaigns has disappeared because of George W. Bush’s being a circumspect and discreet former President it makes it very difficult for Democrats to demonize him again. He’s become a non-person.” — Columnist Mark Shields on Inside Washington , August 27. Only Liberal Women Are “Compassionate” Host Chris Matthews: “Margaret, it looks like liberals are in trouble this year, progressives, if you will. That includes a lot of women.”… Bloomberg’s Margaret Carlson: “There’s a certain kind of woman that’s gonna do okay. I mean you have the momma grizzlies but it’s the grizzly part of it, not the momma part that’s working….It’s the corporate titan bear — Carly Fiorina, Meg Whitman as you say. So that is the kind of woman. It is not the kind of — it’s not a compassionate women year.” — MSNBC’s Hardball , August 30. GOP = “The Party of Hate” “Tonight, we start with the party of hate. The Republican Party in this country has been running on hate and division for the last 50 years. First, it was the southern strategy meant to discriminate against African-Americans in order to gain white southern votes….Then there’s the vitriolic fight against immigrants, undocumented ones and in Arizona just people who happen to look undocumented. And, of course, there’s the grand daddy of all prejudice, fear and hatred stoked up against Muslims in this country….What black person, gay guy or girl, immigrant or Muslim American in their right mind would vote for the Republican Party? They might as well hang a sign around their neck saying ‘I hate myself.’” — Fill-in host Cenk Uygur on MSNBC’s The Ed Show , August 26. “The Republican method for winning elections is hate. Hate somebody. Anybody will do. We have seen it this year with immigrants and now, Muslims….They do it to win and did it in 2004 and 2006 against gay Americans…. Think the GOP has run out of minority groups to target and smear? No. Next, John Boehner attacks those federal bureaucrats with fattened salaries and pensions. Federal bureaucrats, like John Boehner.” — Keith Olbermann on MSNBC’s Countdown , August 26. Times Prefers Their Editorial Line to Actual Laws “The Justice Department decided last week not to bring charges against Tom DeLay, whose unethical conduct represented a modern low among Congressional leaders….Mr. DeLay, the Texas Republican who had been the House Majority Leader, crowed that he had been ‘found innocent.’ But many of Mr. DeLay’s actions remain legal only because lawmakers have chosen not to criminalize them.” — From a New York Times editorial , August 22. Host Sees Plot to “Harvest and Incarcerate” Young Black Men “How much of that [the cycle of poverty] in your opinion is family-planning driven, how much of that is a function of systematic racism in our country and laws that are enforced to basically pick-up, harvest and incarcerate young black men — particularly in New York with the Rockefeller laws — and how much of it is a complete abandonment of education as a value system period in this country, unless you’re rich?…Because it, in my opinion, has been a default position to incarcerate black men as opposed to educate and integrate black men into our economy.” — MSNBC’s Dylan Ratigan on the August 23 Dylan Ratigan Show , talking to a blogger promoting more “family planning” counseling for young African Americans. People Are Against Destroying Embryos Because They Love Ignorance “I have the greatest respect for those who disagree, but to me putting restraints on stem cell research is not far from those who refused to look through Galileo’s telescope because they believed their doctrines and tradition had already told them what they would see. Their beliefs, too, were deeply held, but where would the store of knowledge be had their view prevailed? As we again try to untangle the arguments over stem cells, let us also consider this: No civilization, no society, has survived if its people came to believe they knew enough and needed to know nothing more.” — Bob Schieffer’s closing commentary on CBS’s Face the Nation , August 29. Are We Being Unfair to You, Sir? “It’s getting baked in a little bit in the media that [the] BP [oil spill] was President Obama’s Katrina. And it’s also getting baked in that the administration was slow off the mark. Is that unfair?” — NBC’s Brian Williams to Obama in an interview shown on the August 29 Nightly News .

See the original post:
NB Bonus: Obnoxious Liberal Quotes that Couldn’t Fit in Our Labor Day Edition

Liberal Radio Host Asks Christian Conservative: ‘How Many More Children Will Have to Die Before You Guys Back Off?’

Nationally syndicated liberal radio host Thom Hartmann is no Keith Olbermann — he’s not allergic to conservatives on his show. But that doesn’t mean he’s kind, or even fair. Focus on the Family has a new “True Tolerance” campaign focused on stopping school bullying — against everyone — but without programs that promote moral acceptance of homosexuality. FOTF’s Candi Cushman appeared on CNN this week to debate this, but Anderson Cooper wasn’t half as rough as Hartmann on Thursday afternoon. He mentioned that gay teens are much more likely to attempt suicide than straight teens and then just asked Cushman, point blank: “How many more children will have to die before you guys back off?” This, in itself, is a form of bullying. You must accept left-wing lesson plans formulated by Obama “safe schools” czar Kevin Jennings and his group GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network) or you favor gay teen suicide. Like a typical liberal, Hartmann wants the liberal, secular worldview on sexuality taught because it’s based on “science” and the opposing conservative view is infected by religion, which must not be allowed to inform a viewpoint anywhere in a public school. He lectured Cushman: The reason why I don’t want your viewpoints promoted in school is, a) they’re not based in science, they’re based in religion, and I believe in a separation of church and state, and b) taken to the extreme, maybe not yours but many of the people in your movement, what they do is they cause more kids to commit suicide…I think that you and the work that you’re doing and the people who you’re associated with are creating an environment that is killing our children.  Hartmann has provided yet another example of how liberal talk radio is not a reasonable or civil space to discuss and debate issues. It’s far too often a forum for mudslinging of the most vicious kind.

The rest is here:
Liberal Radio Host Asks Christian Conservative: ‘How Many More Children Will Have to Die Before You Guys Back Off?’

Teaching Lefties a Lesson With the Discovery Wacko: Modeling v. Mirroring

One failure of logic is to generalize from the anecdotal to the whole. Conservatives, who know rules of logic-we have Thomas Sowell after all (see what I did there?)-understand this. So, when it comes to rhetorical arguments or situations where some weirdo commits some random badness, they tend to blame…well, the perpetrator. It’s also just fundamental fairness. The left, in contrast, has spent the last year and half trying to pin every act of terrorism and evil on the vast, white, racist, homophobic, bigoted Tea Party. They do it without shame. They impugn, malign and besmirch repeatedly. Best Tea Party sign? “You’ll say I’m racist anyway.” Lefties generalize from anecdotes unless the crazy person is one of their own (and yes, that was just a generalization). Then, of course, the crazy is an “outlier”. He’s a  depraved individual . And often, there are  compelling reasons for the outburst. Those compelling reasons  demand more examination . And upon examination, well, it turns out the context is  complex and nuanced . Enter the Discovery Building bomber-hostage taker-gun nut. The blogger Atrios was quick to point out that the guy with a clear eco-terrorist bent was just a “crazy individual”. What ensued were two responses: Rise above it and model good behavior or get dirty and use the opposition’s tactics of smearing the whole with the actions of one. Ace chided Mary Katherine Ham and  Michelle Malkin for letting the Left off the hook . (Michelle said that she’s “not playing the opportunistic blame game.”) They get to have it both ways he said and they won’t learn to stop using their unfair tactics if they’re never called on it. Michelle said (and I’m paraphrasing) it doesn’t matter, the Left never learns. To which  Ace responded thusly : No they never learn, but they can be forced to go on record w statements that lunatics’ lunacies are not due to “rhetoric.” I happen to agree with Ace on this. I’ll tell you why, but first a detour of explanation. One of my children has autism. An autistic child is inside his own head and lacks a certain self-awareness. So, for example, when the child does repetitive behaviors called “stimming” like rocking in place or flapping his hands in front of his eyes, he doesn’t realize what he’s doing. A parent might say, “Johnny, stop swaying” or “Stop flapping” and the child will continue. He doesn’t know that he’s doing anything. Modeling normative behavior can help- but only if the child is aware of the normative behavior . That is, if he is not “seeing” it, he cannot model it. He is internally focused and that’s the problem. So how do you get that child out of his head? You mirror his behavior. Try it some time. A child who is swaying or flapping will show a dawn of awareness when the parent or teacher mirrors what the child is doing in front of his face. So, in my house, I will start flapping my hands in front of my face and my son will get a sly smile of awareness and he’ll stop. He gets out of his own head for a minute, registers his behavior and quits. It is very effective. In fact, it is far more effective than modeling…until the unwanted behavior stops. Once the child stops the asocial behavior, he will start watching for different behavior. Awareness comes first. You can see where I’m going with this.  From what I can tell, and it’s a scientific fact to boot, leftists lack empathy . That is, they cannot put themselves in someone elses’ shoes and modify behavior based on how they would feel if the behavior was turned toward them. They are rather autistic about their intellectual and social behavior. They’ll tar and feather a whole segment of people based on the action of one crazy and not even bat an eye. However, when their own crazy gets caught, they want the more reasonable and reasoned and logical response of not smearing a whole group of people (say, all people who watched and liked the Al Gore movie  An Inconvenient Truth ). Modeling has not helped the left. They simply do not see good behavior. They’re too into their own lefty world where their own asocial behavior is reinforced and fed (for example, Journolist). What is the answer then? Mirroring. At every opportunity, people on the right need to illustrate the absurd by being absurd. A crazy dude who hates babies and loves squirrels? Why, he’s a typical environmentalist! I mean, how is he different from Keith Olbermann and Dylan Ratigan? They’re all crazy, anger-lust filled wackos who would love for the world to be rid of humans and populated with trillions of squirrels. The funny thing is that conservatives and libertarians on Twitter are in on the joke. Well, most of them are. They get that the smear is unfair and ridiculous. They understand that it’s childish and a little silly. They have also learned that modeling fairness to the lefties does not work. They simply are too inside their own experience. So, mirroring it is. When lefties start holding to fairness in reporting and thinking, when they start viewing right-leaning outliers as the work of crazy outliers, it will be time to start modeling good behavior. I understand the notion of being above it and acting in a manner in which you want others to act. I get not getting dirty. I also know that playing nice hamstrings the right and gives the left license. So, as long as the mirroring is conducted in a self-aware, joking manner, I say have at it. Court Jesters, parody, and all manner of humor have always been used to reveal absurdity and bad behavior. Until the left mends their mendacious ways, mirroring is the best medicine. Crossposted at Liberty Pundits  

Follow this link:
Teaching Lefties a Lesson With the Discovery Wacko: Modeling v. Mirroring

Olbermann Mocked Horowitz for Exposing Stoning of Women in Iran, Ignores Actual Stoning Threat

While MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was recently dismissive of conservatives for highlighting radical Islam’s persecution of homosexuals in some countries, the Countdown host also has a history of showing more interest in mocking conservatives who complain about the persecution of women by radical Muslims than of actually reporting on such mistreatment. Last July, Olbermann ignored a story about an Iranian woman accused of adultery who was sentenced to death by stoning – a story carried by the NBC Nightly News and ABC’s World News – but on September, 28, 2007, when conservative activist David Horowitz mistakenly cited an image from a movie as if it were taken from an actual stoning, the MSNBC host pounced to slam Horowitz, calling him a “right-wing fringer,” naming him “Worst Person in the World,” as he sarcastically mocked the conservative activist’s attempt to draw attention to such persecution. Olbermann: The image is actually from a 1994 film made in Holland… [The actress] has made at least three appearances on Dutch TV since. Evidently she’s okay. But keep plugging away, Mr. Horowitz. Let’s keep spending billions of dollars to stoke up religious hatred and send our kids to their deaths on the battlefield so we can prevent Dutch actresses from having to do scenes in which their characters are buried alive in a movie. Right-wing water carrier David, “I saw it in the movies, it must be real,” Horowitz, today’s “Worst Person in the World!” By contrast, on July 8, 2010, NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams set up a story about a woman who was awaiting the sentence of stoning to death in Iran, and treated the issue with the seriousness that it deserves: Fair warning, this next story is tough to watch. It’s about a tough subject that is not for any children who may be in the room. It’s about an international outcry tonight over an ancient and brutal form of punishment, one you might think had vanished from the modern world: a woman in Iran convicted of adultery scheduled to be stoned to death. And her own son is risking his life to save hers. It’s a story that’s captured attention around the world. Before informing viewers that the Iranian government had apparently backed down and chosen not to carry out the sentence, correspondent Dawna Friesen recounted: “Stoning in Iran is less common than it once was. Amnesty International knows of just six cases since 2006. When it does happen, men are buried up to their waists, women up to their breasts. If they manage to struggle free, the death sentence is commuted, but women, buried more deeply, rarely do.” On the July 9, 2010, World News, ABC anchor Diane Sawyer introduced a piece on the subject: “And all eyes are on Iran tonight, where a wave of international outrage may be causing the ayatollahs to stop an awful execution – a mother of two, the charge, adultery. She is scheduled to be stoned to death slowly.” Correspondent Jim Sciutto informed viewers: “Six Iranians have been put to death by stoning since 2006, a brutal punishment following a set of arcane rules. Men are buried up to their waists, women to their chests, and the stones, the penal code says, must not be large enough to kill instantly or too small not to be called a stone.”

Go here to see the original:
Olbermann Mocked Horowitz for Exposing Stoning of Women in Iran, Ignores Actual Stoning Threat