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MSNBC’s Thomas Roberts Hypes Pro-gay Rights Lady Gaga as the ‘Joan Baez of Her Time’

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

MSNBC News Live host Thomas Roberts on Monday pleaded with his Twitter followers to help get Lady Gaga on his program, at one point hyping the pro-gay rights singer as the “Joan Baez of her time.” In the 11am hour, Roberts, who is openly gay and hosted The Advocate On-Air , explained that he had Tweeted Lady Gaga to come on the air and talk about her appearance in Maine to rally support for overturning Don’t Ask Don’t Tell. He lobbied, “And I want Gaga to join me. So, I want you to help me. I’ve sent her a message at Twitter.com/LadyGaga and you should too.” He later begged, “So, keep it up out there, Gaga little monsters. Write to @LadyGaga. Try and convince her to come on the show at two o’clock. We’ll even do a phoner with her.” (Little monsters is the nickname for Gaga fans.) Roberts enthused over the singer, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta. Talking to radio host Michael Smerconish, he speculated, ” So, will Lady Gaga become the Joan Baez of her time? ” Roberts later compared, “And in your opinion, is this like Oprah supporting Obama?” MSNBC’s daytime anchors, supposedly delivering objective news, have a history of arguing, on-air, for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Contessa Brewer , a colleague of Roberts, is another example. Partial transcripts for the September 20 segments can be found below: 11:35 THOMAS ROBERTS: Lady Gaga is using her star power today to fight the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy on gay service members. A proposal to repeal the measure attached to a defense spending bill that is scheduled to be voted on tomorrow. Lady Gaga is attending a rally in Maine today. Maine’s senators could cast the deciding votes in favor of the bill. And I’m going to be hosting the 2pm hour right here on MSNBC. And I want Gaga to join me. So, I want you to help me. I’ve sent her a message at Twitter.com/LadyGaga and you should too. See, that’s what it says: “Help me get @ Lady Gaga on my 2:00 p.m. hour.” Help me. Little monsters out there. I think that’s- Right? I think that’s what they’re called? I’m asking Courtney Hazlett. She’s right here. But, anyway, little monsters, help me get Lady Gaga on at two o’clock so we can talk about what she’s got planned in Portland, Maine. 11:51 ROBERTS: Welcome back to MSNBC. And I’m asking you to help me today in my Twitter campaign to get Lady Gaga on my 2:00 show here on MSNBC. This is the tweet that I sent to Lady Gaga earlier today, and everyone out there: “Help me get @LadyGaga on my 2pm hour on MSNBC. Want to talk to her about the Maine rally on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the repeal.” So, it’s coming up today at 4pm in Portland, Maine. She’s trying to get Senator Collins and Senator Snowe’s attention there in that state. But, I’ve been getting people tweeting me back really nice stuff. JJLucasH saying, “Hey, Lady Gaga, we need you to contact Thomas Roberts for this important 2pm show.” Also, I like this one from UNCJohnny: “Make an anchor boy happy.” That would be me. Help me get @LadyGaga on my 2pm hour on @MSNBC. So, keep it up out there, Gaga little monsters. Write to @LadyGaga. Try and convince her to come on the show at two o’clock. We’ll even do a phoner with her. We want to hear why she’s doing this at 4pm in Portland, Maine. 2:08 ROBERTS: I want to tell you about Lady Gaga moonlighting as a Washington lobbyist. The pop superstar isn’t giving up her singing gig, but she’s holding a rally in Maine today, making her case to Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to end the military’s policy of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. And here’s the pitch she has out there on YouTube. LADY GAGA: Ultimately, the law is being enforced using gay profiling. And gay soldiers have become targets. In short, not only is the law unconstitutional, but it’s not even being properly or fairly enforced by the government. ROBERTS: So this comes a week after the MTV Music Awards when she was escorted by members of the military who were being kicked out for admitting they are gay. I started a Twitter campaign to get Gaga on the show. Unfortunately, we were told she’s not doing press before this . … ROBERTS: So, will Lady Gaga become the Joan Baez of her time? Michael Smerconish is a nationally syndicated radio talk show host and a MSNBC contributor. All right, Michael. Give me your take. What do you think? MICHAEL SMERCONISH: My take- Thomas, I get nervous when entertainment figures weigh in on matters of politics. But, Long ago I had to cross the bridge and say if I pick my entertainers by politics, I would have nobody to listen to and no movies to watch. She has a constituency. And we are such a segmented society. When you think of all the different media outlets, the different internet web sites and so forth that are out there- And I’m sure she has a constituency that Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins may not hear from on this issue or any other. So, for that matter, yeah. I take it seriously. I think that there’s a group of people will come out and be energized like they haven’t because of Lady Gaga. ROBERTS: Well, she has over six million Twitter followers. I think she’s the number one followed person. And isn’t Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell just a matter of time? So, going after a youth culture, maybe as she is, is the right way to go? SMERCONISH: Well, I think you raise a great point. My view is that the heavy lifting halready been done on Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I do believe it’s a matter of time. On a whole host of issues having to do with same-sex relationships. So, so, perhaps, you know, she smells victory on this and wants to be, in part, credited. I guess that’s a cynical take. But I do think it’s going to happen. And I do believe this will have some impact in energizing people who up until now haven’t been heard from on it. ROBERTS: And in your opinion, is this like Oprah supporting Obama? SMERCONISH: Uh, I don’t- You know, dare I say it, I’ve got more respect for Oprah than Lady Gaga. [laughs] I don’t know, man. I- You’ll have to make that judgment. ROBERTS: But still you understand the power that she has. And when she wields it, and she does so in an effective way, it can make a difference. SMERCONISH: There’s no doubt about it. The entertainment world generally, I think, is comprised of individuals who if they use it in the right way have tremendous political power.

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Today Show Hypes Christine O’Donnell’s Witchcraft Past

Posted on September 20, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Today co-anchor Matt Lauer, on Monday morning, couldn’t wait to tell viewers about the revelation that Christine O’Donnell once admitted to practicing witchcraft, as he greeted viewers at the top of the very top of the show: “Casting a spell. She’s already won her state’s Republican Senate primary and captured headlines across the country. Now a video surfaces showing Christine O’Donnell admitting she dabbled in witchcraft as a high schooler.” Lauer’s colleague Kelly O’Donnell, then went on to dredge up clips from Bill Maher’s old Politically Incorrect show as she called the Delaware GOP Senate nominee a “tempest in the Tea Party.” While most of Kelly O’Donnell’s piece was devoted to Christine O’Donnell’s “witchcraft talk” that didn’t keep her from mentioning that the Tea Party was causing “tension” in the Alaska Senate race: “And there’s more Tea Party tension brewing for Republicans. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who lost her primary, jumped back in the race.” O’Donnell also aired a clip of Murkowski claiming her victorious primary opponent Joe Miller had “extremist views.” Continuing with the theme of a GOP at war with itself, O’Donnell did manage to note the Democrats had another problem altogether as she observed: “While some Republicans are fighting each other the President, appearing at a dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus, tried to inspire those disinterested Democrats to join the fight for November.” The following is the full O’Donnell story as it was aired on the September 20 Today show: MATT LAUER: Now to politics, with the midterm elections only six weeks away, both parties are having to deal with the sudden impact of the Tea Party. NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell is in Washington with more on that. Kelly, good morning to you. [On screen headline: “Tempest In The Tea Party? O’Donnell Admits She ‘Dabbled Into Witchcraft'”] KELLY O’DONNELL: Good morning, Matt. Well the President is trying to help Democrats hold on to a vulnerable Senate seat in Pennsylvania today campaigning and raising money there, while Republicans have more turmoil to deal with. One GOP incumbent won’t accept her defeat in a primary and there are more surprises about that newcomer who is certainly becoming a tempest in the Tea Party. Delaware’s Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell is stirring the pot. CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: They call us wacky, they call us wing nuts, we call us, “We the People.” KELLY O’DONNELL: Hours after she was cheered at a gathering for social conservatives in Washington D.C. an old clip of O’Donnell hit TV Friday, this strange comment from 1999. (Begin clip from Politically Incorrect) CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: I dabbled in witchcraft. I never joined a coven, but I did, I did. (End clip) KELLY O’DONNELL: Comedian Bill Maher teased that unless she comes on his TV show again, he will release more. (Begin clip from Politically Incorrect) CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: One of my first dates with a witch was on a Satanic altar and I didn’t know it. And I mean there’s a little blood there, and stuff like that. BILL MAHER: That was a date? CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: Yeah we went to a movie and then like had a little midnight picnic on a Satanic altar. MAHER: Let’s have a movie and a sacrifice? (End clip) KELLY O’DONNELL: Citing schedule conflicts, O’Donnell backed out on two Sunday morning shows, prime media real estate for a candidate. CHRIS WALLACE, FOX NEWS: Late Friday night, her campaign cancelled. BOB SCHIEFFER, CBS NEWS: She cancelled on us yesterday. KELLY O’DONNELL: Instead O’Donnell campaigned at a picnic in Delaware where she made light of the witchcraft talk. CHRISTINE O’DONNELL: How many of you didn’t hang out with questionable folks in high school. But, no, there’s been no witchcraft since. If there was, Karl Rove would be a supporter now. KELLY O’DONNELL: Democrats worked their own magic with a new TV ad hitting O’Donnell for past tax problems and old debt from her 2008 campaign. (Begin ad clip) ANNOUNCER: She’ll fit right in, in Washington, O’Donnell spends money she doesn’t have. (End clip) KELLY O’DONNELL: And there’s more Tea Party tension brewing for Republicans. Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski, who lost her primary, jumped back in the race. She was narrowly defeated by Tea Party conservative Joe Miller, who was endorsed by Sarah Palin. LISA MURKOWSKI: We cannot accept the extremist views of Joe Miller. KELLY O’DONNELL: Murkowski is defying the GOP leadership to run a write-in campaign that even she says will be tough to win. MURKOWSKI: You don’t think we can’t fill in an oval and learn to spell Lisa Murkowski, we can figure this out. KELLY O’DONNELL: While some Republicans are fighting each other the President, appearing at a dinner for the Congressional Black Caucus, tried to inspire those disinterested Democrats to join the fight for November. BARACK OBAMA: Tell them we can’t wait to organize. Tell them that the time for action is now. KELLY O’DONNELL: And when asked about the influence of the Tea Party, former President Bill Clinton said that the voters responding to those candidates are showing good impulses because of the feelings that are out there this year, but he’s not sure what their agenda would be. And Christine O’Donnell’s advisers, when I asked them again about this witchcraft thing, reminded me of the kind of fun lines she tried to use there, saying, that if she were still practicing witchcraft, then Karl Rove would be one of her supporters, not her detractors. So they’re trying to make light of it. Matt?

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Tina Brown: Glenn Beck Is ‘The White Malcolm X…It’s White Racial Politics’

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Tina Brown, the founder and editor of the online publication the “Daily Beast,” said Sunday that conservative talk show host Glenn Beck “has become sort of the white Malcolm X.” Chatting with Howard Kurtz on CNN’s “Reliable Sources,” Brown said of Beck, “I think that he’s a fascinating demagogue, actually.” She continued, “It’s white racial politics, in a sense, because he’s really saying — a lot of his message is, you know, that Obama is a racist.”  And continued, “[Beck] talks about God, but when you drill down to what he’s actually saying, he calls [Obama] a Nazi and socialist who’s taking over the country. I mean, his language is extremely inflammatory” (video follows with transcript and commentary):  HOWARD KURTZ, HOST: On this same topic, Glenn Beck has become an influential and certainly divisive figure after that Lincoln Memorial rally, that huge rally. Do you see him as something of a cultural phenomenon? What’s your take? TINA BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, “THE DAILY BEAST: Well, I do. I think that he’s a fascinating demagogue, actually. He really is a demagogue. And he has become sort of the white Malcolm X in a strange way. I mean, the way he goes out there with this kind of very — he’s very much kind of — it’s white racial politics, in a sense, because he’s really saying — a lot of his message is, you know, that Obama is a racist. You know, I mean, all the stuff that we keep hearing about “Hussein Obama” and the references to Obama being undoubtedly kind of racist, really, in all the terminology. KURTZ: He’s backed off that a little bit, and now he seems to be talking a lot about God and America — BROWN: Yes, he talks about God, but when you drill down to what he’s actually saying, he calls him a Nazi and socialist who’s taking over the country. I mean, his language is extremely inflammatory. And he likes to play it now revivalists, religious bring it together. But he’s playing a double game, because actually he’s a hypocrite. And he’s a Tea Party hypocrite. He’s preaching one thing and he’s actually being another. Notice how Kurtz laughed when Brown called Beck a hypocrite and a Tea Party hypocrite.  Not very professional, Howie.   As for Brown, given her absurd comments, you wonder if she’s actually ever spent any time listening to Beck or if she’s relied on far-left leaning websites and MSNBC to form her opinion. I opt for the latter – how ’bout you? 

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Desperate Dowd: Savior Obama Losing To Rough Beast Of The Right!

Posted on September 19, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Imagine a movie: Maureen Dowd is seen thrashing around on her bed, clearly in the grips of a gruesome nightmare.  When she awakes, it is not to relief but to the horrifying discovery that reality is worse than anything her fevered brain had conjured. That is the sense of hopelessness, desperation and depression in which Dowd drowns in her New York Times column of today. The piece is one long lament, as Dowd decries the Dems’ fate.  Not only are they on the brink of losing–they are losing to opponents who are not merely wrong but “the worst” and “insane.” Dowd sees things in absolutely apocalyptic terms.   She depicts the right [symbolized by Christine O’Donnell] as Yeats’ beast of the Second Coming, aligned against Obama, whom she portrays as a weary and reluctant savior. What Dem, glorying in the apotheosis of Inauguration Day, could have imagined things falling so far, so fast?  Surely not Dowd, seen reduced to a pitiable personage beating her fists against a bitter fate.

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At NYT, Kate Zernike’s Clueless Advice to GOP Candidates: ‘Enlist (Tea Partiers), but Avoid Speeches on the Constitution’

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

It’s almost tempting to just run a few paragraphs of Kate Zernike’s latest item in the New York Times and simply have folks take their rips, but a bit of background would be helpful. Zernike (pictured at right) is the Times reporter who seems to have made it her mission to somehow singlehandedly discredit what may when all is said and done come to be seen as the most significant grass-roots movement in America in a long, long time. Earlier today, Clay Waters at NewsBusters reviewed Zernike’s new book, “Boiling Mad — Inside Tea Party America,” noted that she “evinces little sympathy or feel for conservative concerns,” and is intent on “finding racism everywhere she looks in Tea Party land.” In a late March post (at NewsBusters ; BizzyBlog ), I noted a Zernike item (“With No Jobs, Plenty of Time for Tea Party”) which cynically questioned “whether the movement can survive an improvement in the economy, with people trading protest signs for paychecks.” This is the same Kate Zernike  Andrew Breitbart memorably called “a despicable human being” after she claimed to have found racism that really didn’t exist at CPAC in February. With that background, the paragraphs that follow from Kate’s latest calamity won’t surprise anyone too much, but they will as usual disappoint if you’re foolishly expecting anything resembling fair treatment (bold as mine): So you’re a Republican candidate and you want to take advantage of the Tea Party energy that jolted once-sleepy primaries. But you aren’t sure whether that means you have to take a stand against masturbation or urge your supporters to gather their bayonets — tactics that seem to have worked for a few Tea Party candidates so far. You’re not certain most Americans share the Tea Party enthusiasm for repealing the 17th Amendment (or even know that it established direct election of United States senators by popular vote). You don’t have Sarah Palin’s phone number. Not to worry. There’s no doubt that the Tea Party is a double-edged sword: a New York Times/CBS poll last week found that while most Americans had not formed a view of the Tea Party, the percentage of independent voters who view it negatively had increased. But the Tea Party has brought a swell of new participants to the political process, and historical and economic trends are working in favor of the party out of power — that would be you, G.O.P. The trick is to take advantage of the Tea Party passion and stay away from its extremes. Celebrate the genius of the Constitution, but don’t get into the particulars. Tea Party activists, Republican moderates and independent handicappers all agree that the road for Republican candidates is to talk about the debt and concerns about the new health care legislation — areas where Tea Party sentiment is more aligned with the views of most Americans. … Tea Party activists — and their candidates — pose a problem when they move the discussion into a broader one about the role of government. “You see these rallies and the signs are all about the Constitution,” said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of a nonpartisan political report. “They want it to be about these big ideological ideas, when I don’t think most voters think that way. It’s very clear that what’s best for the election is to make it about Obama, Pelosi, health care, the deficit.” Rothenberg is about as “nonpartisan” as Larry Sabato , i.e., give me a break. He also doesn’t get it if he really thinks that enough voters to matter aren’t worried about the Constitution and how its limits on Executive Branch perogatives are being ignored. You’ll note that Zernike didn’t quote a bona fide Tea Party member about her novel suggestion to “not get into the particulars” of the Constitution. Zernike? The arrogant condescension continues. Remember in November. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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Bill Maher: Obama Would Be A Better President ‘If He Was Fully Black’

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

Bill Maher on Friday said Barack Obama’s problem is “he’s only half black.” He’d be a better president “if he was fully black.” In the season premiere of HBO’s “Real Time,” while chatting with former Clinton labor secretary Robert Reich, the host said, “Isn’t Obama’s big problem is that he does everything half-assed? Maybe it’s because he’s only half black.” Maher continued, “If he was fully black, I’m telling you, he would be a better president.” As if that wasn’t enough, “There’s a white man in him holding him back because everything is half-assed” (video follows with transcript and commentary, file photo):   BILL MAHER, HOST: Isn’t Obama’s big problem is that he does everything half-assed? Maybe it’s because he’s only half black. You know? It’s that, if he was a, if this, if he was fully black, I’m telling you, he would be a better president. There’s a white man in him holding him back because everything is half-assed. The stimulus was half-assed, healthcare is half-assed, let’s talk about Afghanistan.   What’s really hysterical about this is earlier in the program, Maher accused members of the Tea Party of being racist. I guess it isn’t racist to say there’s a white man inside the president holding him back. On the other hand, just imagine the uproar if Maher said Obama’s problem is that he was half white and that ” there’s a [black] man in him holding him back because everything is half-assed .” It seems a metaphysical certitude the panelists and his audience wouldn’t have laughed at that, nor would HBO’s management. In fact, Maher might be looking for a job tomorrow for saying something like that. Interesting double standard we have today, isn’t it? 

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CNN: ‘Hardcore Conservatives’ Meet in DC; Reagan ‘Most Secular’ President

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

CNN’s Suzanne Malveaux led Friday’s Situation Room by labeling the social conservative Value Voters Summit a “traditional showcase for hardcore conservatives .” Later in the same segment, senior political analyst Gloria Borger stated that the Tea Party movement was ” anti-health care ” and bizarrely referred to Ronald Reagan as ” the most secular president we’ve known in our lifetime .” Malveaux used her “hardcore conservatives” line as she introduced a segment on Republican Senate candidate Christine O’Donnell’s speech to the Summit. Just before this, she stated how “some are calling her [O’Donnell] the new poster girl for the Tea Party phenomenon” and later continued that she apparently “preached a new kind of gospel at the Values Voter Summit: the Tea Party’s anti-government mantra.” After playing a clip from the Republican’s speech, Malveaux turned to Borger and asked, “Give us a sense of the response. I mean, how did the crowd respond to her message?” The CNN analyst replied with her view on the Summit as a whole, including her label of the Tea Party movement: BORGER: She was clearly very well-received, as you saw, and today’s event- not only just O’Donnell, but all of the speakers, were really embracing all of those Tea Party themes that we’ve heard so much about during this campaign season already- anti-big government, anti-health care, anti-any kind of bailout .” Of course, Borger was using a liberal accusation against conservatives, that their opposition to ObamaCare translates to a more general opposition to all health care. She continued that O’Donnell used a “class warfare argument- the us versus them, which we hear a lot from Sarah Palin, and it’s about the elites don’t understand us.” Minutes later, Malveaux raised how many potential 2012 Republican presidential candidates addressed the conference, using clips from Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum as examples. She asked Borger, “What do you think is the challenge for the main Republican contenders?” This is when the analyst cited Reagan’s apparent secularism: BORGER: Well, I think- just what you heard today, they got to figure out a way to capture the enthusiasm of the Tea Party voters, without, in a general election, look like they’re captives of the Tea Party voters, and it’s going to be a very difficult thing for someone to do because the Tea Party demands you to be ideologically pure, to a certain degree . And when you run in a general election as a Republican, you don’t want to become Barry Goldwater, you know? You want to be able to win. The person I think back to is Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan- remember, he was able to capture Christian conservatives when he was probably the most secular president we’ve known in our lifetime , and that was because he was optimistic and open and welcoming, and I think that kind of a candidate in the Republican Party would be able to do both. Borger is a bit off-base in her analysis. She might be thinking about how Reagan wasn’t a regular church goer during his time in the White House. But as National Review’s March 22, 2004 book review of Paul Kengor’s “God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life” outlined, the former president was far from being “secular.” Reviewer S.T. Karnick noted how “prayer was central to Reagan’s life. He prayed often, both in public and in private.” Karnick also pointed out how Kengor explained “Reagan’s ‘religious truancy’ – his puzzling lack of church attendance while serving as president – by arguing that he was sincerely reluctant to distract congregations with a celebrity’s presence and large, intrusive security detail.” Moreover, both the analyst and Malveaux overlooked the current president’s “religious truancy” in office, to use Kengor’s term. Earlier in 2010, CNN used similar labels to describe CPAC, another annual mainstream conservative meeting. Analyst John Avlon stated that the conference’s “saving freedom” theme was ” a little extreme ” and ” a little far out ” during a February 19 segment . Three days later, anchor Rick Sanchez noted how Ann Coulter apparently ” exemplifies the hardline spirit of CPAC .” On other instances, the network has regular taken the time to label conservatives as somehow extreme. CNN legal analyst Lisa bloom condemned Proposition 8 in a January 12 editorial on CNN.com and labeled its supporters ” lunatic-fringe bigots .” Rick Sanchez hinted during a March 3 segment that Texas Governor Rick Perry was a racist. Less than a month ago, anchor John Roberts labeled Tea Party-backed Republican candidates ” very far to the right ” and specifically labeled Florida Republican Rick Scott as an ” ultraconservative .” All of this from a network that also claimed earlier this year that they were the only non-partisan network .

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Savannah Guthrie’s Soak-the-Rich Obsession: Higher Taxes Only Means of Lowering Deficits

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

Isn’t it odd after the passage of TARP, the stimulus and ObamaCare that left-wing politicians and their cheerleaders in the mainstream media are suddenly worried about budget deficits? As opposed to reining in deficit spending, the new public policy stance for the Democratic Party going into the 2010 midterm election is to call for a tax hike on the top-income earners by letting the Bush tax cuts expire for those folks. In an interview on MSNBC’s Sept. 17 “The Daily Rundown” with Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, co-host Savannah Guthrie pressed the Texas senator on the need to raise taxes in order to lower budget deficits. Guthrie asked: “Sir, as you know, a lot of the energy in the Republican Party, some of the animating issues have to do with deficit and spending, and I ask you given the concern among Republican voters about deficit spending, how is it that Republicans can get behind allowing the Bush tax cuts to go forward for the wealthiest Americans, something that will cost $700 billion borrowed money deficit spending. How do you square that up?” This is becoming a pattern for Guthrie. The previous week, Guthrie pressed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell with the same line of questioning . But according to Cornyn, Guthrie was offering false choices, which was the exact same way McConnell responded when she pushed the same premise. “Well Savannah, it doesn’t make any sense to raise taxes in order to keep current tax policy in place,” Cornyn said. “I think frankly that’s a false choice. My preference would have been to make these tax rates permanent, but we didn’t have the votes to do it so they’re temporary. They’re going to expire.” Cornyn’s response didn’t satisfy “The Daily Rundown” co-host. Apparently in Guthrie’s mind, if you earn money – what the government allows you to keep is a federal expenditure, suggesting all earned income is the government’s and they’re just allowing you to keep some of it. “But, that will be deficit spending, right? I mean, it is deficit spending?” an unrelenting Guthrie interrupted and fired back at Cornyn. Cornyn called Guthrie’s “deficit spending” description a false construction and said raising taxes on anyone would be an “anti-stimulus.” “I think that’s a false construct, with all due respect, because these are current tax rates,” Cornyn replied. “We’re talking about the largest tax increase in American history. And particularly Democrats, I think, and Republicans are looking now to say, ‘You know what, even if we’re for raising the marginal tax rates to what they were in the ’90s, the worst time to be doing this is during a time of fragile, economic recovery so I hope we can come together and to stave that off, because I can’t think of a worse anti-stimulus at this time than this huge tax increase.” During the 2008 election, political opponents of the Republican Party and the party’s presidential nominee Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., would often describe the GOP’s economic policies as “Hoover-esque.” Liberal economist Jared Bernstein was one of the people who used it to describe Republican policies in 2008 . Bernstein now holds a prominent position in the Obama White House as the chief economist for the vice president. But you don’t have to appear more “Hoover-esque” than raising taxes in the middle of an economic downturn – as former President Herbert Hoover did immediately following the stock market crash of 1929 with The Revenue Act of 1932.

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CNN: What Did Kiran Chetry Do That Made John Roberts Snap at Her on the Air?

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

Take a quick break from speculating about the outcome of the elections this November. There is a new topic that is causing quite a bit of speculation: just what did Kiran Chetry of CNN’s American Morning do last Wednesday that caused co-host John Roberts to pause in the middle of introducing guest David Axelrod and snap at her in a fit of extreme irritability? Almost as funny watching it on TV was the fact that the moment was officially recorded in CNN’s transcripts : DAVID AXELROD, SENIOR ADVISER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA: Thank you for having me. ROBERTS: Let me ask you first of all, David, before we get into the — excuse me. You would mind not doing that while I’m talking? Thank you. I appreciate that. If you don’t mind. David if, I could just Terry Jones and this Quran burning that is planned for September 11th, what does the president think about that? Does the president — is he as concerned about it as other members of his administration are? That ire was aimed at Chetry, not Axelrod. So what was Kiran Chetry doing that so irritated Roberts? So far no reporting on this mystery from CNN although Mediate described the scene: As Roberts introduced Pres. Obama’s senior adviser, he seemed distracted. “Let me ask you first of all,” pause, smile, restart. “Let me ask you first of all, David, if I could, before we get into the…” Full stop. Then, Roberts turned to where Chetry was sitting next to him (she had been on camera earlier in the segment), and said, with Axelrod still in the double-box shot: “Would you mind not doing that while I’m talking? Thank you, I appreciate that.” Then, added for emphasis and sarcasm, “If you don’t mind.” So, Dear Readers, what do YOU think Kiran Chetry did that set off John Roberts? Here are some possible Chetry actions that could have set off the conniption fit: 1. She was applying lipstick or makeup. 2. She was giving Roberts the Finger. 3. She was trying to cause Roberts to laugh by crossing her eyes. 4. She was grinding her teeth. 5. Polishing her nails. Yes, these are all possibilities but my favorite would be: 6. She held up a copy of American Morning’s incredibly low ratings . The good news for CNN here is that this is a great opportunity to boost American Morning’s basement ratings. They have the rest of today and all weekend to promo this incident on the Situation Room, Anderson Cooper 360, both John and Larry King, and Reliable Sources with a promise to reveal the tape on American Morning Monday of Chetry’s actions that set off the rage in Roberts. Although that show’s ratings will be doomed to sink again, they will at least temporarily enjoy a boost as viewers tune in to find out why John Roberts was not able to keep his anger in check.

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Man Claims Watching ‘Recycled News Shows on MSNBC’ Caused Him to Threaten Congresswoman

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

Can watching too much MSNBC affect a person to the extent that he acts in a completely irrational manner? According to a Tampa Tribune story , a Florida man convicted of threatening death upon a congresswoman for her opposition to ObamaCare believes the answer would be yes: TAMPA – A Spring Hill man who threatened U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite during the health care debate will spend more than two years in federal prison. Eric Lawrence Pidrman, 66, claims he was in an alcoholic blackout when he telephoned Brown-Waite’s office about 6:30 a.m. on March 25 and left a message saying he had 27 people who would make sure she “doesn’t live to see her next term.” “I’m terribly sorry that it ever happened,” Pidrman said this morning before he was sentenced. At the time of the morning he made the call, he said, “I very often watch the recycled news shows on MSNBC.” When agents questioned Pidrman in April, he said he was upset about threats reportedly made against Democrats during the health care debate. He said he probably thought, “Let me scare one of those righties.” “Righties.” And who frequently uses that term? I’ll give you a hint. It was the MSNBC host who recently made this “scorching” threat : “I’m going to torch this f***ing place!” he screamed during a meeting in the MSNBC newsroom according to the New York Post . “F***ers!” he added for good measure. Compare that irrational MSNBC host threat to the irrational threat left by Pidrman on the answering machine of the congresswoman: “Just wanna let you know I have 27 people that are going to make sure that this ***** does not live to see her next term.” Readers of this story have noted that there are not all that many degrees of separation between Erik Lawrence Pidrman and Keith Olbermann or…Ed Schultz: He’s right if i watched all the recycled news on MSNBC i might go nuts too. A looney leftnut was inspired by MSNBC to threaten conservatives for voicing their opinion. And this is news??? Here is just another example of where the threats and violence comes from. Not the teaparty folk etc. The union supported leftists have always been the violent ones. This guy is just typical of them. MSNBC is all I needed as they are all leftists. The big question now is if trial lawyers will begin using the “MSNBC defense” as an excuse for their clients’ threats against conservatives. 

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Man Claims Watching ‘Recycled News Shows on MSNBC’ Caused Him to Threaten Congresswoman

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