Tag Archives: Nation

Media Liberals on ‘JournoList’ Plotted to Bury the Jeremiah Wright Story in 2008

The Daily Caller has another scoop on the leftist JournoList e-mails today, recalling when they all wanted the Jeremiah Wright story to be dead and buried in the spring of 2008. Jonathan Strong explained “Employees of news organizations including Time, Politico, the Huffington Post, the Baltimore Sun, the Guardian, Salon and the New Republic participated in outpourings of anger over how Obama had been treated in the media, and in some cases plotted to fix the damage.” Stephanopoulos asked, “Do you think Reverend Wright loves America as much as you do?”…The tough questioning from ABC left many of them outraged. “George [Stephanopoulos],” fumed Richard Kim of the Nation, is “being a disgusting little rat snake.” In one instance, Spencer Ackerman of the Washington Independent urged his colleagues to deflect attention from Obama’s relationship with Wright by changing the subject. Pick one of Obama’s conservative critics, Ackerman wrote, “Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists.” Michael Tomasky, a writer for the Guardian, also tried to rally his fellow members of Journolist: “Listen folks–in my opinion, we all have to do what we can to kill ABC and this idiocy in whatever venues we have. This isn’t about defending Obama. This is about how the [mainstream media] kills any chance of discourse that actually serves the people .” “Richard Kim got this right above: ‘a horrible glimpse of general election press strategy.’ He’s dead on,” Tomasky continued. “We need to throw chairs now, try as hard as we can to get the call next time. Otherwise the questions in October will be exactly like this. This is just a disease.” The most eye-opening quote may come from Chris Hayes, a regular guest and occasional guest host on The Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, writing about how America is a murderous, torturing giant, and that’s much more outrageous than Wright. In fact, Hayes echoed Wright’s sermons: Chris Hayes of the Nation posted on April 29, 2008, urging his colleagues to ignore Wright. Hayes directed his message to “particularly those in the ostensible mainstream media” who were members of the list. The Wright controversy, Hayes argued, was not about Wright at all. Instead, “It has everything to do with the attempts of the right to maintain control of the country.” Hayes castigated his fellow liberals for criticizing Wright. “All this hand wringing about just how awful and odious Rev. Wright remarks are just keeps the hustle going.” “Our country disappears people. It tortures people. It has the blood of as many as one million Iraqi civilians — men, women, children, the infirmed — on its hands. You’ll forgive me if I just can’t quite dredge up the requisite amount of outrage over Barack Obama’s pastor,” Hayes wrote. For followers of the Clinton scandals, it gets incredibly rich when Katha Pollitt confesses: Katha Pollitt – Hayes’s colleague at the Nation – didn’t disagree on principle, though she did sound weary of the propaganda. “I hear you. but I am really tired of defending the indefensible. The people who attacked Clinton on Monica were prissy and ridiculous, but let me tell you it was no fun, as a feminist and a woman, waving aside as politically irrelevant and part of the vast rightwing conspiracy Paula, Monica, Kathleen, Juanita,” Pollitt said. “Part of me doesn’t like this s–t either,” agreed Spencer Ackerman, then of the Washington Independent. “But what I like less is being governed by racists and warmongers and criminals.” Ackerman went on: I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear . Obviously I mean this rhetorically.

"OxyContin Express" Nominated for an Emmy

Congratulations to Vanguard for a News and Documentary Emmy nomination for last season’s investigation into the nation’s prescription drug epidemic.

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"OxyContin Express" Nominated for an Emmy

Climate Scientists Speak Out: "The Urgent Need to Act Cannot be Overstated"

Photo via Boston Politico , the right-leaning, beltway-insider political magazine, has run a must-read op-ed by four of the nation’s leading climate scientists . These four scientists have recently testified before Congress about the urgent need to act on climate change, and the piece explains why. Here’s the gist of it: … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Climate Scientists Speak Out: "The Urgent Need to Act Cannot be Overstated"

CBS’s Schieffer Interviews Eric Holder, Ignores Black Panther Case

While devoting all of Sunday’s Face the Nation to an interview with Attorney General Eric Holder, CBS host Bob Schieffer failed to ask a single question about the Obama Justice Department dropping a voter intimidation case against the Black Panthers or allegations that the department has adopted a policy of ignoring such cases. Schieffer discussed a range of topics with Holder, from the federal lawsuit against Arizona’s immigration law, to a potential criminal investigation into BP, to the trial of terrorist Khalid Shaik Muhammed and closing Guantanamo Bay. At the end of the interview, Schieffer even asked about Holder’s infamous comment that the United States was a “nation of cowards” when it came to discussing race. However, the Face the Nation host failed to use that comment as a transition to the Black Panthers case, despite the fact that former DOJ attorney Christian Adams recently testified before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, accusing the department of adopting a policy of refusing to pursue voter intimidation cases that involved black defendants and white victims. On Holder’s “nation of cowards” comment, Schieffer asked: “A lot of people criticized you for that. A lot of people applauded you for saying that. Are you sorry now that you said that or what exactly did you mean by that and how do you feel today after some time has passed?” Holder responded: “I was trying to say in that speech is that we should be honest with one another…we ought to have the strength of character to say that which we really feel….To just have an open, honest dialogue about something that I think for too long we have not been willing to discuss.” Schieffer wondered: “Do you see any sign that we are doing better on that?” Holder remarked: “I think the fact that we have an African American as president, perhaps an African American as an attorney general, is a spur in that regard.” Here is transcript of the July 11 exchange between Schieffer and Holder on that topic: 10:51AM BOB SCHIEFFER: You know, early on in the administration, you created quite a stir when you said in a speech that we’ve become a ‘nation of cowards’ because we weren’t talking enough about race. A lot of people criticized you for that. A lot of people applauded you for saying that. Are you sorry now that you said that or what exactly did you mean by that and how do you feel today after some time has passed? ERIC HOLDER: You know, I think that this is – ours is a great nation, but one of the great things that we have always tried to – we’ve always wrestled with, from the inception of this nation, is the question of race. If one looks at the history of this country in the 19th century, race was, I think, the dominant issue. Look at the history of this country in the 20th century, race was one of the dominant issues. It remains an issue that, I think, still divides us. And if you look at the demographic changes this nation is about to undergo, we have to have, I believe, an open and honest discussion about race, ethnicity, the diversity that we are about to see, an unprecedented diversity in this country, can be a great source of strength for this nation, but if not dealt with appropriately, can also be something that is very divisive. And what I was trying to say in that speech is that we should be honest with one another and not feel that we have to retreat into our cocoons and only say that which we consider to be safe, that we ought to have the strength of character to say that which we really feel and people who are receiving it should understand that those things are said in good faith. To just have an open, honest dialogue about something that I think for too long we have not been willing to discuss. SCHIEFFER: Do you see any sign that we are doing better on that? HOLDER: Well, slightly. I think certainly that speech that I gave generated some conversation. I’m not sure I heard all the applause that you were talking about with regard to those remarks. I think perhaps we are getting to a place where – a better place. I think the fact that we have an African American as president, perhaps an African American as an attorney general, is a spur in that regard. But I think there’s still a lack of desire. And understandable, I think, in some ways. People feel uncomfortable talking about racial issues out of fear that if they express things, they will be characterized in a way that’s not fair. I think that there is still a need for a dialogue about things racial that we’ve not engaged in. SCHIEFFER: Mr. Attorney General, thank you for being with us in Aspen. HOLDER: Thank you.

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CBS’s Schieffer Interviews Eric Holder, Ignores Black Panther Case

WaPo Writer Attempts to Kickstart New ‘Grassroots’ Coffee Party Via Another Name

Psst!

In New York City, Clothing Recycling Program Could Spur Nationwide Movement

Image via Ecouterre . Come September, one of the largest textile recycling initiatives in the nation will launch in New York City, the Associated Press reports (via Ecouterre ). In 2008, over 190,0… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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In New York City, Clothing Recycling Program Could Spur Nationwide Movement

For AP, Angry Conservative Are ‘Demagogues,’ But Obama’s ‘Sharp Tone Is Justified’

The Associated Press gave voice to a Repuiblican Congressman today to bemoan what he sees as “poisonous ‘demagoguery'” from the usual suspects, including, by the AP’s own account, Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck. Rep. Bob Inglis, R-S.C., who lost in a primary for the GOP nomination last month, went so far as to claim that heated political rhetoric is “dividing the country into partisan camps that really look a lot like Shia and Sunni.” The AP did not feel the need to qualify this absurd statement (and it is absurd, given that a few years ago Sunni and Shia tribes in Iraq were “systematically trying to assassinate moderates”). And while the AP now feels the need to unquestionably parrot claims that conservatives are dividing the nation into potentially murderous political sects, just last year it ran an article headlined “Obama spokesman says sharp tone is justified.” By the AP’s unquestioning accounts, heated conservative rhetoric is dangerous, but heated liberal rhetoric is necceary for the health of the nation. Wrote the AP in Febrauary of last year:     President Barack Obama’s spokesman is defending the sharper tone Obama is taking to push his economic stimulus plan through Congress.     Obama sharpened his rhetoric while addressing House Democrats in Virginia on Thursday. He appeared to be sending a message to Republicans as he warned against turning back to the policies of the last eight years and insisted that voters chose a new course in November.     Spokesman Robert Gibbs says Obama is simply “fighting on behalf of” the 3.6 million Americans who’ve lost jobs since the start of the recession. Contrast that tone — understanding of, even laudatory towards the President’s claims — with the mood of its piece on Inglis:     While not naming names, 12-year incumbent Rep. Bob Inglis suggested in interviews with The Associated Press that tea party favorites such as former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and right-wing talk show hosts like Glenn Beck are the culprits…     Inglis said voters eventually will discover that you’re “preying on their fears” and turn away…     Inglis said the rhetoric also distracts from the real problems that politicians should be trying to resolve, such as budget deficits and energy security.     “It’s a real concern, because I think what we’re doing is dividing the country into partisan camps that really look a lot like Shia and Sunni,” he said, referring to the two predominant Islamic denominations that have feuded for centuries. “It’s very difficult to come together to find solutions.” So conservatives using harsh language is “preying” on the fears of Americans, distracts from the issues, and has the potential to turn political foes into something resembling warring religious clans. Meanwhile, President Obama’s use of harsh language is “fighting on behalf” of the unemployed and channeling the will of the public and anyone who says otherwise is trying to “[turn] back to the policies of the” Bush administration. Got it. Thanks, AP.

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For AP, Angry Conservative Are ‘Demagogues,’ But Obama’s ‘Sharp Tone Is Justified’

Marketing Junk Food to Kids Could Soon be Illegal

Photo via SMH It’s a topic that sparks heated debate, and one that we’ve tackled here before: Should corporations be allowed to market unhealthy food to children? When a county in California banned McDonald’s Happy Meals , it caused a veritable uproar. Happy Meals, are one of the most cannily marketed kids’ products — yet many feel that it’s the parents’ role to decide what to let their kids eat, regardless. So I’m curious to see how the nation will take the news that market… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Marketing Junk Food to Kids Could Soon be Illegal

1 in 4 Americans Don’t Know Shit

So they did a poll to see if native born, all American citizens know why we celebrate the 4th of July. They found that about three-quarters of residents — 74% — know the U.S. declared its independence from Great Britain in 1776. The bad news for the academic system — 26% do not. This 26% includes one-fifth who are unsure and 6% who thought the U.S. separated from another nation. Countries mentioned are France, China, Japan, Mexico, and Spain. I think this is an AMAZING result. Considering that a good 10% of Americans probably have Alzheimer’s. Then another 5% are just regular crazy people. And probably 11% of Americans got offended that some annoying academic calling them up during dinner to ask inane question and answered, “The United States won its independence from the country of Bite Me.” See the complete table at sushibandit.com added by: SushiBandit

U-S-A! U-S-A!

Give it up for the United States of America, 234 years young today! On this Independence Day, we dish out props to the nation where dreams come true. Let’s hear it for the red, white and blue … FEEL THE PRIDE : Freedom at its best and worst. [Photo: PacificCoastNewsOnline.com] The great Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt either just ran a 5K, or think that the Revolutionary War took place in 1880-1881. We’re putting our money on the latter.

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U-S-A! U-S-A!