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Arianna Huffington Equates Ground Zero Mosque Opponents to Koran-Burning Pastor

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

Snatching the proverbial low-hanging fruit off the branch, Arianna Huffington compared the vast majority of Americans who oppose the construction of a mosque close to Ground Zero to the thirty members of a Florida church who plan to burn copies of the Koran on 9/11. Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America” today, the liberal publisher criticized the president for not echoing her logical fallacy. “I think the point [President Barack Obama] could have made is to connect [Koran burning] with the opposition of the mosque,” asserted Huffington, publisher of The Huffington Post. “You can’t really completely separate these things.” Huffington then attempted to pass off circular logic as a “teachable moment:” People who are saying we should not build the mosque there are basically denying the fundamental principles the president was talking about in your interview, you know, which is basically freedom to worship your religion on private ground, wherever you are. That’s like an essential part of what America is based on. It was not an afterthought that the Fathers had – you know, religious freedom. Conservative commentator Tucker Carlson, founder of The Daily Caller, countered Huffington’s fatuous claims: So if you think that it’s intentionally provocative and an insult to the memory of 9/11 to build a mosque basically on the site, that’s the same as burning a Koran or hating Islam? That’s not even close. They’re not related. After agreeing with Huffington’s illogical parallel, GMA anchor George Stephanopoulos directed a loaded question at Carlson. “Here’s the point I don’t get – and it’s not a mosque it’s an Islamic center with a mosque and an inter-faith center inside – why isn’t it honoring the memories of the victims of 9/11 to put that center there and prove that we’re not going to sacrifice our freedoms?” demanded the former Clinton adviser. A transcript of the relevant portion of the segment can be found below: ABC GMA September 9, 2010 8:17 A.M. E.S.T. GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: We were talking about the Florida pastor just before we came on the air. Starting with you, Tucker. This had to be kind of a tough call in the White House. You’ve got this Florida pastor, thirty followers, yet pretty clearly from the beginning the week until the president’s interview with me yesterday they were saying “we’ve got to take this on.” TUCKER CARLSON, founder of The Daily Caller: I don’t think he needed to take it on. I think it was foolish to respond to your question – a good question though it was. He should have waved his hand dismissively; this guy represents no one, he’s a lone wacko. I think the president truly believes, and many in his party do, that the center of the country is filled with people just like this, who are intolerant and hateful, and there’s no evidence of that at all. There haven’t been a lot of anti-Islamic incidents. STEPHANOPOULOS: Setting aside what happens here in the United States, which is a hard thing to set aside, I think the danger is that even if he is a wacko, around the world he is seen as representing America? CARLSON: So they’re going to hate us more now? I mean, come on. ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, founder of The Huffington Post: It’s very hard for him not to respond when General Petraeus himself has said that this is going to be putting our troops at risk. I think the point he could have made is to connect it with the opposition of the mosque. STEPHANOPOULOS: That would be doubling down though, wouldn’t it? HUFFINGTON: You can’t really completely separate these things. STEPHANOPOULOS: No, you’re right. HUFFINGTON: And I think that’s really the teachable moment. People who are saying we should not build the mosque there are basically denying the fundamental principles the president was talking about in your interview, you know, which is basically freedom to worship your religion on private ground, wherever you are. That’s like an essential part of what America is based on. It was not an afterthought that the Fathers had – you know, religious freedom. CARLSON: So if you think that it’s intentionally provocative and an insult to the memory of 9/11 to build a mosque basically on the site, that’s the same as burning a Koran or hating Islam? That’s not even close. They’re not related. HUFFINGTON: I didn’t say it’s the same, but there is a continuity. And you can’t just say “this is okay, and anything beyond that is not.” STEPHANOPOULOS: Here’s the point I don’t get – and it’s not a mosque it’s an Islamic center with a mosque and an inter-faith center inside – why isn’t it honoring the memories of the victims of 9/11 to put that center there and prove that we’re not going to sacrifice our freedoms? CARLSON: Well I guess there are two points. One, there is no mosque or inter-faith mosque, there’s actually nothing, it’s merely an idea and it’s nowhere close to coming to fruition. So the point of this is to provoke. The point of this is to put a stick in the eye of people who are offended by this, which is like seventy percent of Americans. If you truly wanted to honor the memory of those killed on 9/11 why not ask the relatives of those who were killed on 9/11. Shouldn’t they have a say in this? They’re overwhelmingly against this. STEPHANOPOULOS: A say, but not a veto.      HUFFINGTON: Yes, you can’t have a veto and still basically stand up for the fundamental principles of the country and one of them is the freedom to worship wherever you are, on private ground, and whatever religion you believe in. I mean, that’s a fundamental freedom, that was part of the founding of this country. It wasn’t like an ancillary thought that the Founders had. CARLSON: But nobody is denying that. The argument is is it a good idea? Or is it somehow a desecration? And you can believe, as I do, that it is a provocation and a desecration and it’s wrong and maybe even immoral, but that you shouldn’t prevent it legally. There is an argument to be made. And I have to say, conflating people who think it’s wrong to build the mosque at Ground Zero with people who want to burn a Koran.

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YG Says Ladies Can ‘Toot It And Boot It’ Too

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

L.A. rapper looks to capitalize on debut single’s success, in Mixtape Daily. By Steven Roberts YG Photo: MTV News Fire Starter: YG If you’ve set foot in L.A. over the last few months, you’ve definitely heard YG’s “Toot It and Boot It.” The laid-back, infectious tune is a staple of any SoCal party, and it’s starting to gain traction throughout the rest of the country. So the next question on everyone’s minds has to be: What does the phrase “toot it and boot it” mean? “The song ‘Toot It and Boot It’ means have fun for one night,” YG explained. “Go to Vegas, you meet a girl in the club, tell her what’s up, take her back to the hotel, and then you do you-know-what, then after you do that, you kick them out. You got to go. You toot it and boot it. You got to give them the boot, and then it’s on with your life.” The song is a new take on the old notion of a one-night stand. YG said the track came together after producer and vocalist Ty$ and a few of his homies invited him to the studio to jump on a track they were working on. And despite the song’s seemingly misogynistic overtones, YG insisted “tooting and booting” is an equal-opportunity sport. “The girls like that song, because they do a lot of tootin’ it and bootin’ it too, so they feel where I’m coming from,” he said. The rapper hails from L.A. and is signed to Def Jam, a label not traditionally known for signing too many West Coast acts. YG had amassed an impressive following in L.A., thanks to the promotional team he co-created “Pu$haz Ink.” He caught Def Jam’s attention by pushing his high-energy party music at shows and clubs. YG’s debut album, Fresh on Campus, will definitely have his traditional party vibe. His previous producers handled a majority of the album, and his next single, the suggestive “Patty Cake,” is in line with what fans expect from him. “I wanted to come out with ‘Patty Cake,’ because ‘Toot It and Boot It’ is a laid-back song,” he said. “I feel all my fans know me as the party dude, like, ‘He turnt-up,’ so I feel like I’ve got to come out with something next that’s turnt-up.” YG’s third single, “Hell Yeah,” will have a bit more star power with a potential feature from “Deuces” duo Chris Brown and Tyga. He knew Brown’s best friend, Miho, from L.A., and he connected the two artists. Brown was more than happy to jump on the song when YG sent it to him. He was debating adding Tyga, joking that he selfishly may want to be the only one rapping. Besides his debut release, which is slated for early 2011, YG recently filmed the movie “We the Party,” directed by Mario Van Peebles, and he said he’s been asked about starring in the Tupac Shakur biopic . YG said he enjoyed his first acting experience and said he might stick with it. “I really liked it, you feel me?” YG said. “I hear that’s where the money at, so I’m finnin’ to go get the money.” For other artists featured in Mixtape Daily, check out Mixtape Daily Headlines .

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Mexico Mayor Has Been Gunned Down Inside His Own Office

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

Mexican mayor gunned down inside own office By the CNN Wire Staff September 8, 2010 9:29 p.m. EDT Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemns the “criminal and cowardly” killing. STORY HIGHLIGHTS * The mayor of El Naranjo was killed in his office * Four gunmen arrived at the city hall * Two stayed outside and two entered to shoot the mayor, authorities say (CNN) — The mayor of El Naranjo, Mexico, in the central state of San Luis Potosi was gunned down and killed inside his office Wednesday, officials said. Witnesses say that four armed and hooded men stepped out of a white truck at city hall, the San Luis Potosi government said in a statement. Two of the men posted themselves outside, and two went inside and to the top floor of the building, where they entered the mayor's office and shot him, the statement said. The attack happened in broad daylight, at about 1:30 p.m. (2:30 p.m. ET), and was brazen even by the standards of Mexico's violent drug cartel wars. At least seven mayors in various Mexican states have been assassinated in 2010. Mexican President Felipe Calderon condemned the “criminal and cowardly” killing of the mayor. “The federal government reiterates that it will continue working for the security of the citizens, with all the available resources of the state,” Calderon said. Alexander Lopez Garcia assumed office in October of last year as a candidate for an alliance between the Revolutionary Institutional Party (PRI), and the Ecologist Green Party. CNN's Mariano Castillo and Nick Valencia contributed to this report. added by: EthicalVegan

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Amy Winehouse To Appear On Quincy Jones Tribute Album

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

Singer has teamed up with Mark Ronson to re-record the 1963 hit ‘It’s My Party’ for Q: Soul Bossa Nostra. By Mawuse Ziegbe Quincy Jones’ new album, Q: Soul Bossa Nostra Photo: Rogers & Cowan Amy Winehouse achieved global fame by layering candid, contemporary lyricism over throwback, doo-wop sounds. Now she’s putting those powerhouse vocals and her affinity for retro rhythms to use for her latest foray back into the spotlight. The U.K. singer will contribute a track to Q: Soul Bossa Nostra, a tribute album celebrating the work of legendary producer and musician Quincy Jones. Winehouse has hooked up with British producer Mark Ronson, who crafted the infectious old-school groove of her sophomore release, Back to Black. For the new project, the duo revamped the playful, if pouty, “It’s My Party,” the 1963 Lesley Gore hit produced by Jones. “Amy and I are both incredibly honoured and excited to be recording this song for Quincy. The regard she holds him in is second to none,” Ronson said in a statement released Wednesday (September 8). “We’ve gone back and forth on this track, fixing and improving it until we were satisfied it was good enough for Quincy.” Jones appeared amped to welcome Winehouse and Ronson’s contribution to Q, which is slated to be released on November 9. “Amy’s talents as an artist are undisputable and I am astounded not only by her voice but by her tremendous knowledge of and respect for music and its history,” Jones said in the statement. “I am thrilled that she and Mark wanted to be a part of this album and I absolutely love what they did to make the song their own.” The Jones track is the latest step toward the limelight for Winehouse, who has battled headline-grabbing issues with drugs and divorce among other personal dramas . Earlier this year, The Roots’ ?uestlove said he and Winehouse were tinkering with a supergroup , and in July, the singer hopped onstage at a Ronson gig in London . Winehouse has also been working on solo material. When she stepped out at the July premiere of “Psychosis,” directed by new flame Reg Traviss, she said her latest album should be available by January and would revisit the well-worn sounds of her previous effort. “It’s going to be very much the same as my second album, where there’s a lot of jukebox stuff and the songs that are … just jukebox, really.” Are you looking forward to Winehouse’s return to music? Let us know in the comments! Related Photos What Has Amy Winehouse Been Up To? Related Artists Amy Winehouse Quincy Jones

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REPORT: Conservative Groups Gearing Up To Spend $400 Million On Midterm Election

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

http://www.newdeal20.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/picture-21.png In the wake of the Citizens United Supreme Court ruling earlier this year, corporations and special interest groups now enjoy the ability to spend unlimited amounts of money on elections. Now, with less than 10 weeks until November, it’s clear just how far conservative groups are willing to go to try to influence the midterm elections. According to a new report from ThinkProgress, conservative organizations have committed (or already spent) $400 MILLION to advance their conservative agenda at the ballot box this year. For comparison’s sake, this outside money alone is more than the Democratic campaign committees http://bit.ly/ahWQxY spent combined when they took back both houses of Congress in the last midterm election. Indeed, the Wall Street Journal notes that special interest groups have already spent three times as much in 2010 than they had in 2006 http://bit.ly/aKSlIP . Among the outside groups that plan to spend hundreds of MILLIONs of dollars electing conservatives are some familiar faces and some new ones as well. While the NRA and the Chamber of Commerce have long supported conservative causes, the former plans to double its spending from $10 MILLION in 2006 http://bit.ly/dmz7Gt to $20 MILLION http://bit.ly/bZHEsw now and the latter will triple its commitment http://http ://bit.ly/aKSlIP to $75 MILLION this year http://bit.ly/9v6ClV . Many new groups are also entering the scene in a big way, including Karl Rove’s American Crossroads group with $52 MILLION http://politi.co/awScg7 and Norm Coleman’s American Action Network with $25 MILLION http://bit.ly/aslsCg . Those conservative groups trying to use $400 MILLION in outside spending to tip the midterm election include: > – *Chamber of Commerce* has pledged to spend > – $75 MILLION http://http ://bit.ly/9v6ClV > – *American Crossroads* has pledged to spend > – $52 MILLION http://http ://politi.co/awScg7 > – *Americans for Prosperity* has pledged to spend > – $45 MILLION http://nyti.ms/a8gWtX > – *Republican State Leadership Committee* has pledged to spend > – $40 MILLION http://http ://bit.ly/aslsCg > – *American Action Network* has pledged to spend > – $25 MILLION http://bit.ly/aslsCg > – *American Future Fund* has pledged to spend up to > – $25 MILLION http://bit.ly/dywWzx > – *Club for Growth* has pledged to spend AT LEAST > – $24 MILLION http://bit.ly/cCKOS5 > – *National Republican Trust PAC* has pledged to spend AT LEAST > – $20 MILLION http://bit.ly/aKSlIP > – **An unnamed** *Health Insurance Industry Coalition* has pledged to spend > – $20 MILLION http://bit.ly/bST4bX > – *National Rifle Association* has pledged to spend > – $20 MILLION http://http ://bit.ly/bZHEsw > – *Faith and Freedom Coalition* has pledged to spend > – $11 MILLION http://bit.ly/ddcqhn > – *FreedomWorks* has pledged to spend > – $10 MILLION http://http ://nyti.ms/a8gWtX > – *Americans for Job Security* has pledged to spend > – $10 MILLION http://politi.co/cSUiQa > – *Susan B. Anthony List* has pledged to spend > – $6 MILLION http://bit.ly/9T5PLf > – *Our Country Deserves Better (Tea Party Express)* has ALREADY SPENT > – $5 MILLION http://bit.ly/ajFcGU > – *Tax Relief Coalition* has already spent > – $4 MILLION http://bit.ly/a0V4p2 > – *Republican Majority Campaign* has pledged to spend > – $3 MILLION http://bit.ly/avk0QQ > – *Campaign for Working Families* has pledged to spend > – $2 MILLION http://bit.ly/cpP6Bv > – *Heritage Action for America* has pledged to spend > – $1 MILLION http://bit.ly/9Wb55b > – *Financial Services Roundtable* has already spent > – $0.5 MILLION http://bit.ly/aQ4pNR > – *Family Research Council* FRC has raised > – $0.5 MILLION http://bit.ly/dx5RWf > – *Citizens United Political Victory Fund* has pledged to spend > – $0.2 MILLION http://bit.ly/caDIWO – ** TOTAL: $399.2 MILLION or $399,200,000 ** – Given the number of progressive accomplishments in the 111th Congress, including health care reform, the economic stimulus bill, and Wall Street reform, it’s no wonder that conservative groups are fighting tooth-and-nail to prevent a repeat next term. Chris LaCivita, a Republican strategist who has also been involved in many independent-expenditure campaigns, told Politico, “If there is a time for independent groups to step up, this is it. This is the year for independent groups to put up or shut up.” http://politi.co/cSUiQa Indeed, with conservative special interest groups putting it all on the line this November, their $400 MILLION pledge may even increase before long. added by: toyotabedzrock

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Matthews Reveals His Obama ‘Thrill’ Has Moved Up From Leg to ‘All Over Me’

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

Chris Matthews is still getting a thrill up his leg, and even further, whenever he hears Barack Obama speak, as the MSNBCer, on Monday’s Hardball, announced to the world “I get the same thrill up my leg, all over me,” whenever he listens to Obama’s 2004 Democratic convention speech. Matthews also revealed he is really sensitive about how his “thrill” moments are described, as he took offense when a guest inaccurately labeled it a “tingle” as Matthews shot back: “It wasn’t a tingle, up my leg, that’s what right wing fascists say. I got a thrill up my leg. Okay? You’re reading the right wing blogs. Start tuning your station.” [ audio available here ] Matthews, however, is quite aware that the rest of the country doesn’t share the same all over body thrill he does as he asked his guests, Roger Simon of the Politico and Jim Kessler of Third Way, “Can President Obama stir us again and help his party keep power this November?”  The following is the full segment as it was aired on the September 7 Hardball: [5:17pm] BARACK OBAMA: I stand here knowing that my story is part of the larger American story. That I owe a debt to all of those who came before me and that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible. CHRIS MATTHEWS: Wow, that was America’s introduction to Barack Obama in 2004 in his acknowledgment that only in America was his story possible inspired us. And as he battled through the 2008 primaries he retold that story, and it was electric. OBAMA: My own story tells me that in the United States of America there’s never been anything false about hope, at least not if you’re willing to work for it. Not if you’re willing to struggle for it, not if you’re willing to fight for it. I should not be here today. I should not be here today. I was not born into money or status. I was born to a teenage mom in Hawaii. My father left us when I was two. But my family gave me love. They give me an education. And most of all they gave me hope. Hope, hope that in America, no dream is beyond our grasp. If we reach for it and fight for it and work for it. MATTHEWS: I get the same thrill up my leg all over me, every time I hear those words. I’m sorry, ladies and gentlemen that’s me. He’s talking about my country and nobody does it better. Can President Obama stir us again and help his party keep power this November? Jim Kessler is co-founder and vice president of Third Way, a progressive think tank. Roger Simon, our buddy is chief political columnist for Politico. Gentlemen, with a little bit of sentiment, Roger, try here. ROGER SIMON, POLITICO: I’m sentimental. MATTHEWS: Try to stick with me. It seems to me, that what’s thrilled me, and I admitted it so many times, is when he talked about America. He wasn’t saying “I’m going to do this because I’m a big shot and I’m a brain.” He said, you know, “I was lucky and also I was fortunate to live in this country and, and we can do things on our own without a lot of help from government and big stuff. On our own we can do things. That’s what your piece is about, isn’t it? He doesn’t talk like that any more. JIM KESSLER, THIRD WAY: Right. I think it’s hard to talk like that when you’re in the middle of a lot of legislative battles, but if you look back 10.8 percent unemployment, 6.3 percent inflation, decline in GDP, doubling of the deficit over the previous years and presidential approval ratings south of 40 percent, Ronald Reagan, November of 1982, at the exact moment of the midterm elections he held all 54 Republican Senate seats, they lost a couple dozen House seats, which is basically par for the course. It shows you can have an economic environment as bad or worse as what the Democrats and Barack Obama are facing- MATTHEWS: If? KESSLER: If, you have to own one thing. You have to own optimism. And that’s what, that’s what President Reagan was selling to the American people. A destination, a vision about success and where America was going. MATTHEWS: Was that a confidence in themselves or in his program? KESSLER: I think it was confidence in himself, as a leader, because there was doubts about Reaganomics. Reaganomics hadn’t worked for one moment, at that point, but they understood the destination where he wanted to take this country. And they said, “You know what we’re gonna hitch a ride with this guy. I’m not sure about the program but I know where he wants to take this country” and, you know, he, he, ya hitched a wagon to him. And people stuck, stuck with him. MATTHEWS: Somebody is giving him other advice here. He’s getting somewhere else because this, they’re talking, “They’re treating me like a dog.” This whining almo-, not whining. That’s a knock. But, you know, he’s talking like he’s being put down. He’s not being put down. He’s being criticized. SIMON: No, he’s the President of the United States. He can’t portray himself as a victim. One other thing that the Republicans had going for them in ’94 is that the Democrats were fat and sassy and lazy and didn’t see it coming. Also they had a movement leader in Newt Gingrich, and his Contract With America which was more symbolic than real. But people said, “Oh here it is in writing. This is a good deal.” MATTHEWS: Yeah, but only about one-fifth of people knew about that so-called contract. Let me ask you about Jim’s point, about the basic speech he used to give about America. No one questioned Barack Obama’s Americanism when he was running as a candidate. They didn’t talk about his religion. They knew he had an exotic name, Barack Obama. But that was so much like a lot of our names, they’re accidents of our parents or grandparents. It wasn’t who we are. Now the Republicans have tagged him with that, it’s his identity. He is Barack Hussein Obama. That’s who he is, it’s an identity because he doesn’t seem to wow us with his love of country like he used to, that’s my thought. SIMON: Well I think he’s suffering under the belief that he’s got to something for an encore. You can’t go back to the past. And you saw on the podium the past placard. “Change you can believe in.” MATTHEWS: Yeah. SIMON: “Change we can believe in. Well now people have the right to say, “Where is the change? Where is it? It didn’t happen.” MATTHEWS: Well it’s a year-and-a-half. SIMON: People are impatient. MATTHEWS: Yeah. SIMON: They want to see something. MATTHEWS: But why did they put up with Reagan for a year-and-a-half of nothing but 11 unemployment, 11 percent unemployment? SIMON: Reagan, as Barack Obama is, though in different ways, a very magnetic personable figure that people liked and trusted. Barack Obama, as I said, is the same. By Election Day he cannot improve the unemployment figures. But, by Election Day, he can goose up the Democrats. He can make them confident. MATTHEWS: Yeah okay. Here’s the question. Let’s watch Reagan for a second and then I’m gonna ask you Jim, can a Democrat be turned on the way a Republican can? I know I can. Somewhere in the middle, slightly left but I’m there and I can get it turned on by America as anybody on the right. But maybe, I’m gonna ask you whether Democrats really want to be positive. Here he is, Reagan being positive, maybe talking to the choir. Here he is in January of 1982. Let’s look. RONALD REAGAN: Don’t let anybody tell you America’s best days are behind her, that the american spirit has been vanquished. We’ve seen the triumph, too often in our lives, to stop believing in it now. MATTHEWS: Can a Democrat talk like that? KESSLER: Yes. I mean, look, you talked about that tingle up your leg. I mean you know… MATTHEWS: It wasn’t a tingle, up my leg, that’s what right wing fascists say. I got a thrill up my leg. Okay? You’re reading the right wing blogs. Start tuning your station. KESSLER: My, my apologies. MATTHEWS: No it’s not enough, because you’re reading the wrong stuff. But go ahead, I was just kidding. I can take it. I’m sorry.

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Big Boi Says Andre 3000 ‘Is In The Studio Right Now’

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

Outkast rapper teases the duo’s upcoming album during Labor Day show at New York’s Brooklyn Bowl: ‘Everything is all Gucci.’ By Jayson Rodriguez Big Boi Photo: Johnny Nunez/ WireImage NEW YORK — Big Boi has been carrying the Outkast banner with pride even though the Atlanta duo’s last two projects — 2003’s bundled solos offering, Speakerboxxx/The Love Below and 2006’s soundtrack collection, Idlewild — haven’t exactly been the best representations of the group as a unit. On Monday in New York City, Big Boi once again did his best to make up for his partner in rhyme’s absence when he hit Brooklyn Bowl for a Labor Day set. “[Andre 3000] is in the studio right now,” he told the crowd, explaining that after he finishes with his own solo project, the pair will reunite for a new Outkast album . But as Big Boi performed the group’s hits, mixing in tracks from his Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty , the usual elephant in the room was that Andre 3000 seemed as distant as the videos projecting Three Stacks’ image on the venue’s big screens. Still, Big Boi powered through his Outkast set list, running through his verses from “Miss Jackson,” “Player’s Ball” and “Elevators” all sans an audio peep from Dre. Big Boi was efficient in his performance, moving nimbly from song to song; no complaints from the audience about the one-man show. “It’s so many f—ing songs,” Big Boi told his DJ, Swift. “I don’t care what you play.” “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik” boomed through the house speakers, but Big Boi quickly moved onto material from his proper solo debut. “I know it’s been a minute,” Big said, in reference to the time between Idlewild and Sir Lucious Left Foot, which was released earlier this year after being stuck in limbo for a few years. “So just to give you some insight, we working,” he continued. “Everything is all Gucci. My thing is, I didn’t need to put out an album just because. It has to be about the music.” With that, Big kicked off “Shutterbuggg” , and the party officially began. “I keep it player while some choose to play it safe,” Big Boi rapped over the cascading beat. “Boy, check the r

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Surprise! WaPo Hearts ‘Irrepressible’ Meghan McCain’s Memoir

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

She’s the heir to the House of Maverick – the Republican the liberal media establishment can love, who’s just as embarrassed by those icky conservatives as any network anchor or newspaper columnist. Like her senator and erstwhile presidential candidate dad John, Meghan McCain is a willing weapon for the media to use against her fellow Republicans. But unlike “the Maverick,” there’s little chance she’d ever be a threat to the real good guys – liberal Democrats.  To Washington Post Nonfiction Books Editor Steven Levingston, Meghan McCain is a “free-thinking college grad” (she’s educated, you see; she’s one of us ) joyfully bucking what she calls conservative “groupthink.” In the Sept. 1 Post, Levingston reviewed “Dirty Sexy Politics,” McCain’s memoir of her father’s 2008 presidential campaign. The book, he wrote, “is as much a scathing critique of the Republican Party as it is a passionate tale of life on the campaign trail.” And Levingston proceeded to relate that critique with undisguised relish. “McCain takes repeated jabs at the intolerant ethos of today’s Republicans,” Levingston wrote. “She rails at feeling left out: The party, she says, has been hijacked by the right wing and has rejected – to its detriment – the moderate politics that she and millions of other young conservatives espouse.” Because she dresses trashy, swears like a sailor and “has gay friends,” McCain has run afoul of the “intolerant ethos of today’s Republicans.” Even better for Levingston, besides her dad, McCain doesn’t seem to like any Republicans – certainly not two top-tier (and hence dangerous) politicians singled out in the book. Mitt Romney and his family, it seems, were just too wholesome for McCain. An Associated Press article quoted from the book: “[the Romneys] were all so handsome, in a tooth-whitener commercial kind of way, and so seriously wholesome.” She and her roommates wondered if the Romneys “could handle the constant drinking and swearing that went on in our campaign,” or “all the tawdry stories about crazy-sex you never read about.” Meghan feared her father would choose Romney as his running mate, and she would have to “stop laughing at him.” But no, it was worse than that. “When McCain met Sarah Palin, she ‘felt shaken and troubled,’ worrying like many others that the Alaska governor was not prepared for the national stage,” Levingston related. “Once the Palin clan climbed aboard, the Pirate Ship [as McCain called his campaign] started to sink,” Levingston wrote. But the facts don’t bear that out. McCain began climbing in the polls with the announcement of Palin as a running mate, and by Sept. 7, right before McCain’s disastrous handling of the financial crisis, the Real Clear Politics average of polls had it at a one-point race. Whatever Palin’s real impact on the McCain effort, she aroused jealousy on Meghan’s part. Levingston: From the minute Sarah arrived,’ McCain writes, ‘the campaign began splitting apart. And rather than joining us, and our campaign, she seemed only to begin her own.’ Palin’s arrival – this ‘sudden, freakishly huge, full-fledged phenomenon’ – was jarring for the potential first daughter, who found herself shoved into the background. Meghan didn’t take kindly to that and behaved so badly she was “effectively banished from the campaign,” according to Levingston. She admitted, “Here I’d been ruminating about how the Palins weren’t ‘ready for prime time’ when, in fact, it was me all along.” Readers shouldn’t be put off by the selfish, immature and ultimately unattractive young woman that emerges from Levingston’s review of “Dirty Sexy Politics.”  That would be to miss the important message Levingston imparted. Meghan “ended the campaign feeling alienated from her party and worried about its domination by the Christian right. Calling herself a passionate Christian, McCain fears the party will shrink and possibly become irrelevant if it narrows its agenda to ‘accommodate only one moral code.'” The Republican party might want to take a break from giving the Democrats what looks to be a historic and emphatic mid-term thrashing, and spend some time pondering its shrinkage and irrelevance.

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

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

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 .

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WaPo’s Cohen: Obama Needs To Fire Key People Or Americans Will Fire Him

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

This really is the summer of media’s discontent. As Barack Obama’s poll numbers collapse along with the fate of Democrats in November, more of the President’s fans are calling for heads to roll at the White House. Just four days after Chris “Tingle Up The Leg” Matthews called for both Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and Defense Secretary Robert Gates to be given their walking papers, the Washington Post’s Richard Cohen warned that if Obama doesn’t fire some key people, Americans are going to fire him. Readers are advised to strap themselves in tightly, for ” Obama’s Shrinking Presidency ” provides some dangerous changes in cabin pressure: One of the unintended results of the redecoration of the Oval Office was the downsizing of Barack Obama. In last week’s prime-time address to the nation, the president sat behind a massive and capaciously empty desk, looking somehow smaller than he ever has — a man physically reduced by sinking polls, a lousy economy and the prospect that his party might lose control of Congress. Behold something we never thought we’d see with Obama: The Incredible Shrinking Presidency. This is an amazing and, to me, somewhat frightening, turn of events. The folks who ran a very smart presidential campaign in 2008 have left the defining of the Obama presidency to others, in this case people on the edge of insanity. After running through some of the poll numbers, and discussing the Birther issue, Cohen drilled home the point that must really be making September feel like the dead of winter for liberal media members across the fruited plain: Obama is not all that liked and not very much known. He has become a polarizing figure — irrationally hated by Republicans and lacking much of his original support. Among whites, for instance, if the election were held now, Obama would get just an alarming 28 percent of the vote. We are once again two nations. Cohen next addressed how some of Obama’s unpopularity is caused by the lousy economy, which, of course, was all blamed on George W. Bush despite Democrats controlling Congress since January 2007. But the Post columnist employed what conservatives would call “tough love”: His stutter-step approach to certain issues — his wimpy statements regarding the planned Islamic center in Manhattan, for instance — erodes not just his standing but his profile. What we thought we knew, we do not. Like a picture hung in the sun, he fades over time. Then came the recommendations: But what Obama can do — what he must do — is get some new people. His staff ill-serves him so that he presents a persona at odds with his performance. The president needs better speechwriters. The president needs a staff to tell him not to give an Oval Office address unless he has something worthy of the Oval Office to say. The president needs someone to look into the camera so that, when the light goes on and he says, “Good evening,” he looks commander in chiefish: big. In other words, the president needs to fire some key people. Either that, or the way things are going, the American people are going to fire him. Indeed, but first they’re going to fire Obama’s accomplices in Congress, a fact that likely bothers Cohen greatly despite him ignoring it in this piece. But there’s another issue at play here: the junior senator from Illinois was sold to the American people during the campaign as being one of the most intelligent presidential candidates ever. Fawning media members gushed over his Ivy League education and his intellectual prowess.  Now, after approaching 20 months in office, his problems are all his staff’s fault. This seems hypocritical of liberals that always want to blame problems in the society on America’s CEOs. I guess even as they criticize the object of their affection, so-called journalists need to assign the real responsibility for this adminstration’s failure to others. Unlike their normal modus operandi, media members are now dutifully protecting the captain as this ship sinks. It really is amazing the number of rationalizations necessary to be a liberal these days. 

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