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Newsweek Shocker: ‘The Environment is No Longer a Surefire Political Winner’

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

After pushing manmade global warming for years, the folks at Newsweek appear to be cooling on the idea. Prominently placed at the front page of the magazine’s website Monday was a large, overhead picture of what appeared to be a golf fairway or park with the following headline in green: A Green Retreat: Why the Environment is No Longer a Surefire Political Winner Even more surprising was the contents (h/t Climate Depot ): Following two of the harshest winters on record in the Northern Hemisphere-not to mention an epic economic crisis-voters no longer consider global warming a priority. Just 42 percent of Germans now worry about climate change, down from 62 percent in 2006. In Australia, only 53 percent still consider it a pressing issue, down from 75 percent in 2007. Americans rank climate change dead last of 21 problems that concern them most, according to a January Pew poll. Last month Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper, blasting climate change as a “sideshow” to global economic issues, canceled the meeting of environment ministers that has preceded the G8 or G20 summit every year but one since 1994. Merkel has slashed green-development aid in the latest round of budget cuts, while in Washington, Barack Obama seems to have cooled on his plan to cap emissions. In perhaps the most striking momentum reversal for environmental politicians, last month Rudd became the first leader to be destroyed by his green policies. Flip-flopping over planned emissions cuts as the opposition exploited Australian voters’ flagging support for climate measures, he was finally ousted by party rebels.  After discussing some of the politics involved at local levels around the globe, author Stefan Theil started pointing out the really inconvenient truths Nobel Laureate Al Gore has hidden from his followers:  Increasingly, the whole concept of radical, top-down global targets is coming under scrutiny as citizens and governments face tougher choices over costs and benefits. Green policies can be popular when they mean subsidizing renewable fuels or going after unpopular power companies, but can quickly hit a wall when they force lifestyle change, such as less driving and fewer swimming pools-fears Rudd’s opponents have exploited. Policies that push trendy green fuels also cost much more than other options, such as replacing dirty coal with cleaner gas or emissions-free nuclear power. Some schemes, such as America’s corn ethanol and Europe’s biodiesel made from rapeseed, have virtually zero net emissions savings, but any petroleum they displace is quickly bought up by China. Even in the ideal case that the United Nations’ goal of 80 percent emissions reduction by 2050 is technologically and politically feasible, economists disagree widely on whether the cost of the current set of policies, such as carbon caps and green-fuel subsidies, is justified by the avoided damage from warmer temperatures.  But here’s what should really grab the attention of those that either believe this myth or are still on the fence: In many ways, green projects have become just another flavor of grubby interest politics. Biofuels have become a new label for old-style agricultural subsidies that funnel some $20 billion annually to landowners with little effect on emissions (only Brazilian sugar-cane ethanol produces any significant savings; America’s corn ethanol and Europe’s biodiesel do not). Germany’s solar subsidies, a signature project in the country’s battle against climate change, are perhaps the most wasteful green scheme on earth, producing a mere 0.25 percent of the country’s energy at a cost to consumers of as much as $125 billion. A leading member of Merkel’s Christian Democrats in the German Parliament says there is growing unease both in his party and in the Bundestag “about the scary monster we’ve created that is sucking up ever larger amounts of money for a negligible effect.” With green politics losing its moral high ground, there is a growing realization that climate change is just one policy priority among many that compete for limited resources and attention. That means, first, that climate politics will likely fall off its pedestal of being the Western world’s overarching priority. Second, the new sobriety could give more space to a third stream of climate politics between those who see warming as an unmitigated catastrophe that must be stopped at any cost, and those who reject global warming as a hoax. A new climate realism would more carefully weigh the costs and benefits of emissions controls, and look at other options beyond the current set of targets. The new debate will be more pragmatic and include a broader mix of policies. That might include a shift of subsidies into research and development, as many climate economists have argued. It would also include greater efforts to adapt society to a warmer climate, rather than focusing only on stopping the warming process in its tracks. Those that have been following this debate from a grander perspective than what is typically presented by global warming-obsessed media know that climate realists have been saying this for years. Sociologists and economists from around the world have argued that moneys currently being devoted to try to “stop this problem” could be far better spent in ways that would more greatly impact citizens on every continent.  But as Theil pointed out: That idea has so far figured little in the debate, largely because mainstream environmentalists fear it will distract from their push for CO2 cutbacks. Yet adaptation may offer equally valid and much less expensive choices than cutting back on emissions. Imagine that: man could adapt to a changing environment more cheaply than trying — likely with little to no success! — to prevent the change: In other words, some of the money spent on current policies that often have only limited efficacy might be better spent on other measures, including protection against the worst effects of warming. What’s more, current economic worries are a reminder that every dollar spent on solar cells or biodiesel is a dollar less for education and other budget priorities. Truly shocking stuff, especially from a magazine that as Tom Nelson points out published a cover story almost exactly three years ago entitled “Global Warming Deniers: A Well-funded Machine.” So why the change of heart? Was it evidence that the weather really isn’t cooperating with the desires and computer model-driven predictions of the alarmists? Did last year’s ClimateGate scandal, despite the relative lack of press it got here in the states, open up some eyes as to the modus operandi and the deviousness of those spreading the myth? Did revelations concerning misreporting and truly bad science employed by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change contributors weaken the resolve of believers? Or was it all the controversy surrounding the Green Messiah Al Gore’s new home purchase in Montecito quickly followed by a separation from his wife and allegations of a four-year-old sex scandal? Or is it merely a consequence of a struggling economy and a federal government trying to figure out ways to finance all its current commitments without the additional burden of environmental spending? Whatever the reason or combination thereof, Americans should hope that this isn’t just a brief moment of sanity, and that Newsweek isn’t going to quickly reverse course once someone wakes up Monday morning and realizes what’s been so prominently placed at the front page of its website. 

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Newsweek Shocker: ‘The Environment is No Longer a Surefire Political Winner’

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Olbermann Claimed He’d Never Call a Woman ‘Idiot,’ But Tags Palin ‘Idiot’ 22 Times

Posted on July 12, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Since April 8 of this year, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann has called former Governor Sarah Palin an “idiot” 22 times on his Countdown show, usually by uttering the words, “That woman is an idiot.” But in August 2004, the MSNBC host claimed to be too “naive and old-fashioned” to call a woman an “idiot,” as he attacked conservative commentator Michelle Malkin for misquoting him as having called her an “idiot,” when, in reality, he had charged that she had “made a fool out of herself” instead. In fact, Olbermann contended that if he had in reality called her an “idiot,” it would have been grounds for him to apologize: We at Countdown were preparing an apology for my choice of language last night after the writer Michelle Malkin went on Rush Limbaugh’s radio entertainment program and wrote in her Web blog that I had called her a, quote, “idiot.” It was Ms. Malkin, who on Hardball last night, raised the accusation that John Kerry’s Vietnam wounds may have been self-inflicted. It’s naive and old-fashioned, but I feel you should reserve those terms like “idiot” exclusively for men. Political differences, fault or innocence are all secondary. There are codes. There’s also a problem. I never called her an idiot. But since April, the words, “That woman is an idiot,” referring to Palin, have become a near regular part of the show, as the Countdown host has ascribed the term to the former governor during 20 episodes of his show between April 8 and July 8, including once when he used the label three times in one show as he also called her “idiot woman” and “that idiot.” Over the last couple of years, Olbermann has a history of making even more incendiary attacks on Malkin and Palin, once comparing Malkin to a “mashed-up bag of meat with lipstick on it,” and once crudely joking with Rachel Maddow about the difference between Palin and a pitbull being that “you can train a pitbull to occasionally keep its mouth closed.” Last February, he slammed Sarah Palin, former New York Lieutenant Governor Betsy McCaughey, and other ObamaCare critics, especially those who have used the term “death panels,” calling such national health care opponents by the names “subhumans,” “ghouls,” and “fiends.” He went on to “damn” to “hell” those who use the term “death panels.” Olbermann: “It’s a life panel, and damn those who call it otherwise to hell!” Below are transcripts of the times Olbermann has called former Governor Palin an “idiot” since April 8, in reverse chronological order, followed by the times from August 2004 when he called Malkin a “fool,” and then claimed that calling a woman an “idiot” would be beneath him: #From July 8: KEITH OLBERMANN: Videotapes from Osama bin Laden grew irrelevant when it became clear what they were – without exception, rather loud, angry incoherent and boring. And in our fourth story tonight: Joining the ranks in both form and relevance are the videotapes from half Governor Sarah Palin. Her latest scoring the highest on that last coincidence: boring. The video produced by Palin`s political action committee, Sarah PAC, and features images of women at Tea Party rallies holding signs like, “Don`t Tread on Me.” There are also plenty of shots of Palin at various events and voiceovers all Palin taken primarily from the speech she gave before the anti-choice Susan B. Anthony List. The nearly two-minute video is entitled, “Mama Grizzlies.” Here is part of it. SARAH PALIN: All across this country, women are standing up and speaking out for common sense solutions. These policies coming out of D.C. right now, this fundamental transformation of America, well, a lot of women who are very concerned about their kids` futures, saying, “We don`t like this fundamental transformation, and we`re going to do something about it.” It seems like it`s kind of a mom awakening in the last year and a half where women are rising up and saying, no, we`ve had enough already, because moms kind of just know when something`s wrong. There in Alaska I always think of the mama grizzly bears that rise up on their hind legs when somebody`s coming to attack their cubs, to do something adverse toward their cubs. You thought, pit bulls were tough, well, you don`t want to mess with the mama grizzlies. OLBERMANN: Mama grizzlies eat their own young. That woman is an idiot. #From July 7: KEITH OLBERMANN: When it comes to lies about health care reform, half Governor Sarah Palin can`t top her death panel stinker. But she has managed to smear a key Obama appointment with something similar, that he`s bent on rationing health care based on quality of life. And in our fourth story, if the GOP were not bent on drawing political blood, it might find out that the new head of Medicare and Medicaid is actually a choice they should like, just as he is liked by a man Bush 43 appointed to the same job. President Obama made a recess appointment today of Dr. Donald Berwick to serve as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. CMS has not had a confirmed administrator since 2006. White House communications director, Dan Pfeiffer, explained the recess appointment, quoting, “Many Republicans in Congress have made it clear in recent weeks that they were going to stall the nomination as long as they could solely to score political points.” Last night, a Republican not in Congress or employed, Sarah Palin, offered this Tweet of hyperbole: “Press corps, please do your job as Obama sneaks in Berwick appointmentt, please cover his mission, socialized health care and rationing based on quality of life.” I thought Americans were supposed to ignore the press corps? That woman is an idiot. That left Senate Minority Leader McConnell to lead the chorus of Republican officeholders, quoting, “Apparently, the Obama administration intends to arrogantly circumvent the American people yet again by recess appointing one of the most prominent advocates of rationed health care to implement their national plan.” The supposedly grievous intentions of Dr. Berwick deriving from this comment, quote, “The decision is not whether or not we will ration care, the decision is whether we will ration with our eyes open. And right now, we are doing it blindly.” But, as health care experts know, that was a statement of fact about an already broken health care system. And who echoed Dr. Berwick? Quoting, “Rationing happens today. The question is who will do it?” Is that President Obama? House Speaker “Evil” Pelosi? No. Republican Congressman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin. But the CMS director under President Bush, Tom Scully, said this about Dr. Berwick, quote, “He`s universally regarded and a thoughtful guy who is not partisan. I think it`s more about the health care bill. You could nominate Gandhi to be the head of CMS and that would be controversial right now.” #From July 1: KEITH OLBERMANN: Our runner-up, Sister Sarah, speaking at the International Bowl Expo in Vegas. According to the online Bowling Examiner, quote, “Palin recalled her youth when her father set pins in Idaho. (OLBERMANN IMITATES PALIN’S VOICE) ‘My dad was on a Thursday night bowling league,’ she said. ‘He bonded with his buddies. I have memories of that point of my life which mean very, very much to me.’” When her family moved out of Idaho, she was three-months-old. She can`t even get through a damn bowling convention without lying? That woman is an idiot! #From June 28: KEITH OLBERMANN: But our winner, yes, Sister Sarah. You`ve by now heard about the gaffe fest that was her speech at Cal State Stanislaus on Saturday. She said, perhaps, 100 things that brand her as a phony. But none is more symbolic of her imbecility, her corner-cutting, her downright endorsement of stupidity instead of intelligence, than this one. SARAH PALIN: -because this is Reagan country. Yeah! And perhaps it was destiny that the man who went to California`s Eureka College would become so woven within and interlinked to the Golden State. OLBERMANN: Eureka College is in Eureka, Illinois. Illinois, where Ronald Reagan was from. There is a town of Eureka in California, but it doesn`t have a college. And Palin went to three different colleges but doesn`t have an education. (OLBERMANN IMITATES REAGAN’S VOICE) Well, that woman is an idiot . The half governor of Alaska, today`s “Worst Person” – there you go again – “in the World.” #From June 21: KEITH OLBERMANN: First, no, this is not your water coming to a boil, it`s our nightly checkup on the something for nothing crowd, it is “Tea Time.” And we go back to the citizen zero of the plague, Sister Sarah herself. She has a solution for the Gulf. Pray, baby, pray. “Gulf disaster needs divine intervention as man`s efforts have been futile. Gulf lawmakers designate today day of prayer for solution/miracle.” Well, there you have it, a Palin presidency preview in microcosm. Oh, crap. Something bad happened, don`t worry, God will fix it. A quick miracle and presto change-o the oil stops. We should even have a “Department of Homeland Miracles” also. If you want to point to the success of prayer in your own life, I`m not going to argue with you, and I think I could offer my own examples. But I think even Billy Graham would admit that relying on honest to goodness structural miracles, fires stopping themselves, buildings falling up, 100,000 barrel a day oil cataclysm sealing themselves, that`s pretty poor public policy. But who am I to criticize Mrs. Palin? I mean, I learned the other day that I have no political disagreements with her, no questions of right or wrong, people versus corporations, intelligence or idiocy because as an AWR Hawkins writes at the Web site Human Events, “Liberals hate Palin because she`s beautiful.” “They despise her,” he writes, “beauty. It pushes them over to the edge to know that she doesn`t just shoot an assault rifle but makes an assault rifle look good when shooting it.” Uh-oh, even Rich Lowry can see where this one is going. “This was obvious when she was running for Vice President on the McCain ticket and it became known that she`d taken part in beauty pageants to get money to pay college tuition. How dare her that she is not only beautiful, but she used that beauty for profit.” Oh, no, Mr. AWR Hawkins, you didn`t just write “she used that beauty for profit,” did you? “So when a Keith Olbermann-type moron refers to Palin as an “idiot” again, or a Chris Matthews-type repeats his belief that she`s “frightening,” we just need to remember that the left criticizes that which they fear. We also have to keep in mind that the fact that all the names they throw at Palin are really code words for `Dang, that woman looks good.`” How can I be both honest and gentlemanly about this? Okay. Code words: No, no, they`re not. When I say that woman is an idiot, I mean, that woman is an idiot. I`ll leave out the gratuitous shots Mr. Hawkins then takes at Hillary Clinton and Eleanor Roosevelt. But I did want to circle back to the headline. “Liberals hate Palin because she`s beautiful.” I wonder if Mr. Hawkins understands the admission contained in his dubious premise. It is, in short, the climax of Mr. Lowry`s fevered review of Mrs. Palin`s performance at the vice presidential debate, and he wrote about her, watching her winking, winking at him, winking only at him. To wit, this is how the right wants us to pick our leaders. This is their criteria for our women leaders? I think I might prefer Mrs. Palin’s idea. Start praying for divine intervention because man’s efforts to find intelligence among conservatives has been futile. #From June 16: KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: And the comic relief: Sister Sarah suggests getting a little Dutch boy to put his finger in the oil leak? SARAH PALIN: The Dutch. They are known – and the Norwegian – they are known for, for dikes and for cleaning up water and for dealing with spills. They offered to help. OLBERMANN: That woman is an idiot. #From June 2: KEITH OLBERMANN: First, a “Quick Comment” on the politician whose career ended the moment B.P. ignored the warnings aboard the doomed Deepwater Horizon. Thank goodness we still have Sarah Palin. We revert to Twitter, it may only be 140 characters per message, but the gifted queen of “Sarah-noia” can still rewrite history, even with such circumscription. “Extreme greenies, see now why we push ‘Drill, baby, drill’ of known reserves and promising finds in safe onshore places like ANWR? Now do you get it?” Yes, we get it. You`re lying again. The message of the farce that substituted for the 2008 Republican ticket said nothing about safe onshore places like ANWR. It was just “Drill, baby, drill.” Not only that, but when President Obama mistakenly increased offshore drilling two months ago, there were no qualifiers about safe onshore places from his critics. The half-governor attacked the President thusly. “While Interior Department bureaucrats continue to hold up actually offshore drilling from taking place, Russia is moving full steam ahead on Arctic drilling and China, Russia and Venezuela are buying leases off the coast of Cuba.” That woman is an idiot. Ms. Palin can try to back fill all she wants, but she will never retroactively attach the caveat of safe onshore places. The phrase is hers, she owns it. It may well turn out to be her epitaph that mindless, deliberately double-entendred, three-word policy statement/bad porn movie title, “Drill, baby, drill.” #From June 1: KEITH OLBERMANN: Sarah Palin`s response to all this has been to drill more, especially in wildlife reserves, onshore, because them is safer. Her neighbor Joe McGinniss answers her equally wacky response to his arrival in town and she shows up in the Twitter report, next. OLBERMANN: Just who was spying on whom in Alaska? McGinniss v. Palin, next. First, the Twitter report and quelle coincidence, our Tweet of the day from Sarah Palin USA. And for some reason, she scrubbed this soon after posting it. “Governor Jindal, to avoid ravished coast, build the berms, ask forgiveness, later. Feds are slow to act. The local leadership in action can do more for the coast.” Ravished? Ravaged, maybe? Even on Twitter, that woman is an idiot. #From May 19: KEITH OLBERMANN: But first tonight`s “Worst Persons in the World.” The bronze to Little Miss Bendy Straws, appearing on Fixed News a little after 9:00 p.m. Eastern last night to discuss the special election in the Pennsylvania 12th, where the aide to the late Jack Murtha, Mark Critz, faced Republican Tim Burns for a seat in Congress right now. Her enabler, Mr. Hannity, said, (IMITATES HANNITY’S VOICE) “If Burns pulls this off tonight, what would that say to you?” And she replied, in her usual inimitable gibberish, (IMITATES PALIN’S VOICE) “I think Burns will pull this off tonight. And just like the ‘Randslide’ that we were just talking about, you`re going to see Burns having this representation of a smaller, smarter government, getting the economy back on the right track with some limited overreach of the government. That`s what Burns stands for. We need someone like Tim Burns in there. And you`re going to see that via vote today with the electorate.” Critz 53 percent, Burns 44 percent, a Critz-slide. That woman is an idiot. #From May 17: KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: And little “Miss Bendy Straws” endorses racial profiling and hatred. SARAH PALIN: It`s time for Americans across this great country to stand up and say, “We`re all Arizonans now.” OLBERMANN: No, actually, Arizona says it`s time for Americans in this great country to stand up and say: “No, really, we`re Americans. We have papers.” That woman is an idiot. #From May 14: KEITH OLBERMANN: Former half Governor Sarah Palin had a busy day today, and experienced criticism. In our third story, she said she misses President George W. Bush. In the next breath, she bemoaned bailouts, including the one that President Bush engineered on his way out of office. And Palin said that if President Obama had his way, he would gut the Second Amendment. First, her speech before an anti-abortion group, she called the President, quote, “the most pro-abortion President ever to occupy the White House,” and also spoke of her own decision to have a baby with Down’s Syndrome, her daughter`s decision in the face of an unplanned pregnancy. Her first statement about her daughter`s pregnancy during the presidential campaign included the quote, “We`re proud of Bristol`s decision to have her baby.” Palin still doesn`t address the fact that the decision implies choice, which she, if she had her way, would deny women who face an unwanted pregnancy. But on the topic of George W. Bush good, bailouts bad, Palin really hit her stride. SARAH PALIN CLIP #1: Oh, of course, I always like seeing though, too, the sign of the billboard, George Bush saying, “Miss me yet?” I love that one. PALIN CLIP #2: We do. Because when Washington goes on a spending spree and starts borrowing money to take over and bail out insurance companies and financial institutions and the banks, the automakers, and keeps spending endlessly, and running up dangerously unsustainable debt and deficits, and expect that our kids and our grand kids are going to pay the bills for us, for our overspending today, I think that`s immoral, it`s unethical, it`s not right, and I think that all of us agree on that. OLBERMANN: Of course, the bank and financial institution part of that bailout litany kind of thing was heartily pushed by President Bush and Vice President Cheney, who were willing to try anything to keep an all out Depression from happening during their watch. As for deficits, Palin did not mention Bush`s two wars, massive tax cuts for the rich, even the Medicare prescription drug program. At her second event today, the National Rifle Association, she attacked President Obama on the Second Amendment, even though Obama as a candidate had spoken favorably of a Supreme Court decision that said Washington`s ban on handguns had gone too far. And as President, Obama signed legislation which expanded gun rights, including the law permitting gun owners to carry concealed weapons in national parks. PALIN: President Obama and his allies, like Nancy Pelosi, have been relatively quiet on the gun control front. Not because they don`t want to limit your rights, but because they`re afraid of the political consequences. Don`t doubt for a minute that if they thought they could get away with it, they would ban guns and ban ammunition and gut the Second Amendment. OLBERMANN: That woman is an idiot. #From May 13: KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER, WITH WORDS “DOUBLE DOG DARE YA SARAH” ON SCREEN: And idiot woman speaks in front of a big flag sponsored by a sump pump company, quote, “Somebody told me, ‘You know you`re going into enemy territory.’ I said, ‘It`s Chicago, it’s not MSNBC.’” Yeah, like you had the courage to come to MSNBC. … OLBERMANN: But our winner, Sister Sarah. The maestro of the bendy straw spoke to a crowd of 4,000 in Rosemont, Illinois, outside Chicago. SARAH PALIN: A gal walked up and asked him where he was from. And he said Alaska. And then, all of a sudden, the clerk turns beet red and the veins pop out of her neck, kind of like how Rachel Maddow does sometimes. Now watch, that clip`s going to be on air for her dot com, increase her ratings. OLBERMANN, IMITATING PALIN’S VOICE: “For her dot com.” It`s pronounced Maddow, Ms. Paline. She continued, “I`m glad to be here on the President`s home turf. Somebody told me, ‘You know you`re going into enemy territory.’ I said, ‘It`s Chicago, it`s not MSNBC.’” That woman is an idiot. And the event at which that idiot spoke was sponsored by an Illinois firm that specializes in battery-operated backup sump pumps. So it`s not just a sump pump political event, it was a backup sump pump political event. Moreover, to put it plainly, and this is a matter of record, that woman does not have the courage – personal or political – to appear on MSNBC, not without an army with her. I mean that literally. The half governor of Alaska, now celebrating two years without holding an actual news conference, nor having the guts to be interviewed on a network like this one, but the toast of America`s backup sump pump political circuit, today`s “Worst Person in the World.” #From April 30: KEITH OLBERMANN: President Obama putting a hold on his new offshore drilling policy until the investigation of this oil spill is complete. Mr. Obama is saying he is still committed to drilling here in the U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I continue to believe that domestic oil production is an important part of our overall strategy for energy security. But I`ve always said it must be done responsibly for the safety of our workers and our environment. The local economies and livelihoods of the people of the Gulf Coast, as well as the ecology of the region, are at stake. OLBERMANN: One half of the ticket which ran against Obama during the 2008 presidential election using the slogan “Drill, baby, drill,” taking to her Twitter page, to say in multiple tweets, “Having worked/lived through Exxon oil spill, my family and I understand Gulf residents` fears. Our prayers are with you. All industry efforts must be employed.” And later, “Domestic drilling: why we can still believe,” linking through to her Facebook page, wherein the human oil slick writes in part, “No human endeavor is ever without risk – whether it`s sending a man to the moon or extracting the necessary resources to fuel our civilization. I repeat the slogan, ‘Drill here, drill now,’ not out of naivete or disregard for the tragic consequences of oil spills, I continue to believe in it because increased domestic oil production will make us a more secure, prosperous and peaceful nation.” That woman`s ghost Tweeter is an idiot. #From April 29: KEITH OLBERMANN: Earlier this month, Sarah Palin told Republicans in New Orleans, no more study is needed to drill for new oil in the Gulf. SARAH PALIN CLIP #1: We can produce it safely and responsibly. We don`t need more studies, we need more action. PALIN CLIP #2: -because energy produced in America is security for America. And it is jobs for American workers, jobs that can`t be outsourced. Let`s drill, baby drill, not stall, baby, stall. OLBERMANN: That woman is an idiot. #From April 28: KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? Rebellion in “Arizona-stan.” The sheriff of Pima County, from Tucson, at the Mexican border, says he has no intention of enforcing the new “show me your papers” law. Clarence Dupnik calls it “unnecessary,” “racist,” “disgusting.” Sheriff Dupnik joins us. Yet others demand more. “We want the National Guard on the border,” says Republican Congressman Poe of Texas. Republican Congressman Hunter, the younger, of California, wants deportation of children born here to undocumented immigrants because the kids` souls are not American enough. REP. DUNCAN HUNTER (R-CA): It takes more than walking across the border to become an American citizen. It`s what`s in our souls. OLBERMANN: It sure is. And the half governor as usual sees a plot. SARAH PALIN: I think that President Obama is playing to his base on this one, and I think that`s quite unfortunate. OLBERMANN: That woman is an idiot. #From April 16: KEITH OLBERMANN: Two years ago today, then-Governor Sarah Palin urged Alaskans to sign advanced health care declarations. Last summer when a provision in the health care bill would have helped people get the facts from their doctors about such decisions and coverage from their insurers about such meetings, Palin irresponsibly dubbed it Obama’s death panel. In our third story on the Countdown, today is national health care decisions day, and President Obama has now made it easier for gay men and lesbians and others who want to designate as legal surrogates people who are not conventional family members. The President first, he has directed his Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius to issue new rules requiring most hospitals to extend visitation rights for the partners of gay men and lesbians and to respect a patient’s choice about who he or she designates to make critical health care decisions for them. The new rules would also apply to widows and widowers, and members of some religious orders who choose a friend or a companion for visitation or as a legal surrogate. It was just two years ago that Governor Palin marked this day by encouraging people in her state to create their own advanced directives. But it was former half governor, former presidential candidate Palin who posted on her Facebook page last August quoting, “The America I know and love is not one in which my parents or my baby with Down’s Syndrome will have to stand in front of Obama`s death panel so his bureaucrats can decide based on a subjective judgment of their level of productivity and society, whether they are worthy of health care. Such a system is downright evil.” Of course, she was right, the America I know and love is not one in which that would happen. Palin even reveled later in broadening that claim. SARAH PALIN: We`re not going to back off on our criticism of the problems of the health care bill, and one aspect of it is the death panels still. If we have our health care paid for by the bureaucracy by the government, we`re going to be subject to bureaucrats deciding which – panels and commissions deciding, just like they do overseas, who will be worthy of receiving the health care that government is going to provide. So that is the death panel that I referred to, and I won`t back off on criticizing that aspect of the health care bill. OLBERMANN: This woman is an idiot. #From April 14: KEITH OLBERMANN: Good evening from New York. We begin tonight in unprecedented fashion. Liberals, progressives, Democrats, our top story tonight is not really for you, though you are encouraged to rubber neck at the train wreck. Tonight, our fifth story is a genuine and sincerely genuine attempt to help Tea Party members around the country. Politico, a mainstream political news Web site, today publishing a secret document it obtained establishing definitively that some of the nation`s top Tea Party leaders are using you, using you to line their own pockets and propagate the precise establishment politics that you hate so much. Here it is. And the reporter who got it is standing by to talk with us. It was written just days after last year`s Tax Day Tea parties proposing the creation of the Tea Party Express, the group that launched 1,000 bus tours. The express charter was not written by a Tea Party leader, nor even by a grassroots independent, but by a Republican operative telling Politico the Tea Party Express could, quote, “give a boost to his consulting firm`s PAC,” political action committee, “and position us as a growing force.” The charter is worth quoting at length, bringing established Tea Party leaders unto the express, quote, “will be a very, sensitive matter. We have to be very careful about discussing amongst ourselves anyone we include outside of the family, because, quite frankly, we are not only not part of the political establishment of conservative establishment, but we are also sadly not currently part of the Tea Party establishment – i.e., Michelle Malkin, Eric Odom, Smart Girl Politics, TCOP, FreedomWorks, Newt Gingrich, etc. We can probably pull off a phenomenally successful tour without these big-ego establishment types.” The document also talks about how to appear authentic. “We`ve already discussed doing a casting call among our Nevada supports and donors to appear in at least one of our TV ads targeting Harry Reid to buttress our ‘authenticity,’” their quote marks, “in running ads in the state.” One goal, electing Republicans, quote, “It is also worth considering making a return run to Michigan. Former Republican Michigan Governor John Engler has recently stated that he believes the Republican party will do quite well in Michigan.” But the big goal of founding firm Russo Marsh? Money – for them. Sal Russo telling Politico, “We`re hardly making any money at all.” Politico reporting that after its scheme, the PAC quadrupled its fundraising, paying almost half that money to the Russo Marsh consulting firm itself and to Russo Marsh`s sister company King Media Group. The PAC`s former political director telling “Politico, quote, “We stole the brand name to make money.” None of which stopped Sarah Palin from shilling for the Tea Party Express today in Boston. SARAH PALIN: So, Tea Party Express, we applaud you for uniting and for putting up with all the B.S. from the “lamestream media” with some of the ginned up controversy with the Tea Parties, false accusations of being, this group being racist, being violent. Thank you to the Tea Party Express for putting up with that and still uniting Americans. OLBERMANN: In a whole new way tonight, in the way of the three-card Monty dealer, this woman is an idiot. And if Tea Partiers still doubt they are being played, consider what Palin said at the Tea Party Express rally today about Tax Freedom Day, the day signifying what portion of the year you work to pay your taxes. The later it is, the higher your taxes are. This year it fell on April 9, meaning you worked 99 days just to pay your taxes. This year and last, as the Tax Foundation itself shows, the earliest, therefore the lowest tax days in decades. Under Bush it was never earlier than April 14, meaning you worked at least 104 days for the government under Bush. But here was Palin today: PALIN: Folks, we need your voice now more than ever. Americans now spend 100 days out of the year working for government before we even start earning money for ourselves, for our families, for our small businesses, 100 days out of the year. OLBERMANN: That’s, whoa! As promised now, Politico’s senior reporter, Ken Vogel. #From April 13: KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: And Sarah Palin`s inconvenient taxable income. How much has she made since she walked out as governor of Alaska? SARAH PALIN: We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction. OLBERMANN: The direction of $12 million. How is that selly outy thing working for you? That woman is an idiot. All the news and commentary, now on Countdown. #From April 9: KEITH OLBERMANN, IN OPENING TEASER: The Wilkerson declaration: Secretary of State Powell`s chief of staff says Bush and Cheney knew most detainees were innocent. Of Cheney, Lawrence Wilkerson says, “If hundreds of innocent individuals had to suffer in order to detain a handful of hardcore terrorists, so be it.” A spokesman for Mr. Powell says, “The general does not know the basis upon which Colonel Wilkerson claims to know the views and intentions of the senior officials cited in the story.” Our guest, attorney from the Hamdan case: Lieutenant Commander Charles Swift. Republicans gather in New Orleans: SARAH PALIN: Yes, we can kowtow to enemies, criticize allies, vacillate, bow, dither- OLBERMANN: To repeat, this woman is an idiot. #From April 8: KEITH OLBERMANN: Good evening from New York. President Obama and Russian President Medvedev this morning signing a major treaty, the new START treaty, to shrink their nation`s respective arsenals of nuclear weapons. But in our fifth story on the Countdown, the agreement will be moot unless it is ratified by two-thirds of the Senate where Republicans have not yet decided if they’re for it or against it, even though the first START treaty was proposed by none other than President Ronald Reagan and signed by his successor, President George H.W. Bush, and this one has been endorsed by President Reagan`s secretary of state. At a ceremony in Prague, the leaders of the two countries which combined account for 90 percent of the world`s nuclear weapons, putting pen to paper on a document that would reduce their deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 for each country, a drop of 1/3, still impossibly high. Long-range nuclear weapons would be limited to 700 for each nation. As we mentioned, the first START treaty initiated by President Reagan who once said, quote, “I believe we`ve come to the point that we must got at the matter of realistically reducing, if not totally eliminating, the nuclear weapons, the threat to the world.” The treaty then signed by President Bush in 1991. President Obama`s new START treaty endorsed by former Republican secretaries of state, George Shultz and Henry Kissinger. In fact, Secretary Shultz describing the treaty that was signed today as containing, quote, “relatively modest reductions.” But he concluded, “I think it`s a constructive step.” Secretary of State Clinton at today`s signing ceremony in Prague noting that the Senate has a long history of bipartisan approval of such treaties. The view of Senator Lugar, the ranking Republican on the foreign relations committee, said to be favorable, and an aide to Senator Lugar saying that his boss ultimately hopes the votes to ratify the new START treaty will be there. His party`s leadership possibly hoping something else. In a letter to the President last month, Minority Leader McConnell and Senator Kyl, the number two Republican in the Senate, raising concerns about the treaty because they believe it links offensive weapons and missile defense. The Senators warning the President, quoting, “It is highly unlikely that the Senate would ratify a treaty that includes such a linkage.” Any references to missile defense made only in the preamble and not in the treaty document itself to avoid an official link. At a news conference in Prague, the President is saying that he and the Russian president would continue to talk about missile defense, adding that he believes the U.S. would be no less safe because of it. OBAMA: I`ve repeatedly said that we will not do anything that endangers or limits my ability as commander-in-chief to protect the American people. And we think that missile defense can be an important component of that. But we also want to make clear that the approach that we`ve taken in no way is intended to change the strategic balance between the United States and Russia. OLBERMANN: Meanwhile, Sister Sarah opposing President Obama`s entire nuclear approach, the former half governor of Alaska reducing the President`s earlier decision to take nuclear weapons off the table in the event of a nonnuclear attack, but leave them in place for biological or chemical attacks, reducing all this to terms she could understand, kids on a playground. SARAH PALIN: No administration in America`s history would, I think, ever have considered such a step that we just found out that President Obama is supporting today. You know, that`s kind of like getting out there on the playground, a bunch of kids ready to fight, and one of the kids saying, “Go ahead, punch me in the face and I`m not going to retaliate. Go ahead and do what you want to do with me.” No, it`s unacceptable. This is another thing that the American public, the more that they find out what is a part of this agenda, they`re going to rise up and they`re going to say, no more. National defense, national security is the number one job of the federal government. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE BY AUDIENCE) OLBERMANN: That woman is an idiot. Earlier on ABC`s World News Tonight, the President asked by George Stephanopoulos to respond to Sarah Palin- OBAMA: I really have no response to that. Last I checked, Sarah Palin is not much of an expert on nuclear issues. OLBERMANN: All right, he put it better than I did. #From August 20, 2004: KEITH OLBERMANN: We at Countdown were preparing an apology for my choice of language last night after the writer Michelle Malkin went on Rush Limbaugh’s radio entertainment program and wrote in her Web blog that I had called her a, quote, “idiot.” It was Ms. Malkin, who on Hardball last night, raised the accusation that John Kerry’s Vietnam wounds may have been self-inflicted. It’s naive and old-fashioned, but I feel you should reserve those terms like “idiot” exclusively for men. Political differences, fault or innocence are all secondary. There are codes. There’s also a problem. I never called her an idiot. OLBERMANN, FROM THE AUGUST 19, 2004, SHOW: And this woman, Malkin, who made a fool out of herself on this network about an hour ago, basically said in this, in what she was reading, the book that accompanied the Swift Boat ad, that Kerry, at least, somebody asked whether or not Kerry should be asked, in that sort of, “let’s step away from actually making a statement, let’s just put it as a question about a question about a question.” JOHN HARWOOD, WALL STREET JOURNAL, FROM AUGUST 19: Right. OLBERMANN, FROM AUGUST 19: -whether or not Kerry shot himself. OLBERMANN: So that’s what you’re dealing with here. She’s an author or a journalist or something, and she misquoted the insult to herself. And keeping track of this particular over-inflating souffle on Hardblogger on MSNBC.com, a nice place to visit on your way to our corner of the Web at countdown.msnbc.com. #From August 19, 2004: KEITH OLBERMANN: “Where, is there a line that could be crossed, though, John? I’m just thinking about what we saw in the last hour. Larry Thurlow said, and we just played a clip of it, that his belief was that John Kerry had arranged for not only his heroism in Vietnam but also his early out, which is a code word for being sent home, and you get sent home usually because you have been injured, meaning he arranged his own injury in some way. And this woman, Malkin, who made a fool out of herself on this network about an hour ago, basically said in what she was reading, the book that accompanied the Swift Boat ad, that Kerry, at least somebody asked whether or not pKerry should be asked in that, sort of, ‘let’s step away from actually making a statement, let’s just put it as a question about a question about a question,’ whether or not Kerry shot himself. If that is the gist of the next Swift Boat ads, is that something that damages more the Republican Party and George Bush than it could possibly damage John Kerry?”

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Obama Administration Protected Black Panther Who Advocates Killing "Cracker" Babies

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

A former Justice Department lawyer hired during the Bush administration alleged on Tuesday that the department scaled down a voter-intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party last year because his former colleagues do not want to protect white people’s civil rights. The case arose after two members of the New Black Panther Party stood outside a polling place in a majority-black precinct in Philadelphia on Election Day in 2008. A video of the men, posted online, showed them dressed in paramilitary clothing, and one carried a billy club. In January 2009, less than two weeks before the Bush administration left office, the civil rights division invoked a rarely used section of the Voting Rights Act to file a civil lawsuit alleging voter intimidation by both men, the party chairman and the party. In April 2009, the division seemed to win the case by default because the New Black Panthers failed to show up in court. But the following month, a longtime Justice official, Loretta King — who was then the acting head of the division — decided to reduce the scope of the case. The department dropped the charges against the party, its chairman and the man who was not carrying a club. It pressed forward with the lawsuit against the man with the club, obtaining an injunction that forbids him from carrying a weapon near an open polling place in Philadelphia through 2012. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN67KJdd6Mw added by: ibrake4rappers13

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George Will Quotes Obama To Smack Down Liberal’s Attack On Sarah Palin

Posted on July 11, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

George Will on Sunday used a Barack Obama quote to smack down a predictable attack on Sarah Palin made by the Washington Post’s Ruth Marcus. As the Roundtable discussion of ABC’s “This Week” moved to the former Alaska governor’s “Mama Grizzlies” video, Marcus voiced her unsurprising displeasure.  “I think it’s the same, old, vapid, platitudinous Sarah Palin,” said Marcus. “There is not a shred, not a shred of substance in this ad.” When he got his turn, Will tore Marcus apart, “On the vapidness meter, that ranks nowhere near, ‘We are the ones we have been waiting for,’ which was Obama’s way of flattering the self-esteem of his supporters” (video follows with transcript and commentary): JAKE TAPPER, HOST: There was an interesting political development this week here domestically in the United States with former vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin rearing her head and releasing this Web video for her PAC. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SARAH PALIN: Moms kind of just know when something’s wrong. There in Alaska, I always think of the mama grizzly bears that rise up on their hind legs when somebody’s coming to attack their cubs, to do something adverse toward their cubs. If you thought pit bulls were tough, well, you don’t want to mess with the mama grizzlies. (END VIDEO CLIP) TAPPER: So, Ruth, you’re the actual only mama grizzly at the table. What’s your take on this? RON BROWNSTEIN, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Rear. Rear for us. RUTH MARCUS, WASHINGTON POST: Well, yes, I think I’ll withhold my rearing, unless there’s an adverse event towards one of my cubs. BROWNSTEIN: Yes. MARCUS: I — there’s been a lot of talk about this video as signaling a kind of new, kinder, gentler Sarah Palin, trying to broaden her appeal beyond the kind of Tea Party base. I don’t get it. I think it’s the same, old, vapid, platitudinous Sarah Palin, not to put too fine a point on it. There is not a shred, not a shred of substance in this ad. What are the adverse events and what do you intend to do about them? TAPPER: Reihan’s shaking his head. You liked it. REIHAN SALAM, NATIONAL REVIEW: I thought it was an outstanding ad, very impressive, and I’ve got to say, quite a lot of issue — non-issue issue ads from the Obama campaign during the 2008 that proved very successful. Basically, Republicans have a problem. TAPPER: Yes, we can. MARCUS: “We’re for vapidity.” SALAM: They have a problem. They have a problem, which is the gender problem. They have a huge problem with connecting with upper-middle-class women. And, you know, Sarah Palin might not be able to do that, but working-class women are huge. They’re very important. Get them out there. Get them energized. Get them active. And if you look at Hillary Clinton circa this time in the cycle, she had very high negatives. And I don’t think that issue ads were going to help her with those high negatives. Similarly, Sarah Palin has sky-high negatives. So I think that that’s something she has to manage, something she has to work on, and this is a kind of plucky Sarah Palin that I think really appeals to people, that’s not as hard-edged, not as polarizing, and I think that it was really impressive, far more impressive than anything I’ve seen from her in a long time. BROWNSTEIN: You know, Sarah Palin as a political figure is much more of a cultural statement than she is a policy agenda, and she really does divide the electorate along cultural lines. If there is an audience for Sarah Palin, as Reihan suggests, it is a blue-collar female audience, which does relate to her in some ways, but she is an enormously polarizing figure with a real low ceiling. If she runs in 2012, I believe you would see the Republican Party divide along the same class and cultural lines that the Democrats did in ’08 between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. TAPPER: But, quickly, are mama grizzlies, as she predicts, going to be a force this November? BROWNSTEIN: I know about the lower 48, how many grizzlies there are. But yes. Yes. You know, blue-collar — if she is referring there to culturally conservative, working-class white women, they have moved away from the Democrats pretty sharply under Obama. There’s a lot more erosion there than there is the upper-middle-class, where he’s still pretty strong. So in that sense, she is speaking to a constituency. Whether she is the voice that you want to ultimately be defining your party, that’s another question. TAPPER: George? GEORGE WILL: She’s trying to get — flatter people by telling them — they may be grandmothers — but telling them they’re grizzly bears, and it makes them feel good. On the vapidness meter, that ranks nowhere near, “We are the ones we have been waiting for,” which was Obama’s way of flattering the self-esteem of his supporters. Bravo! In the end, despite what his fawning press think, some of the most vapid comments in presidential history have come from Barack Obama.   It is therefore marvelous that ABC has Will around to point this out when some liberal media member is predictably bashing a conservative.  Exit question: Would “This Week” be worth watching if Will wasn’t a Roundtable panelist?

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

Posted on July 10, 2010 by Benny Hollywood| Leave a comment

Psst!

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CNN’s Rick Sanchez: Conservative Talk Show Hosts are Uneducated

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

On Friday’s Rick’s List, CNN’s Rick Sanchez attacked conservative economic policy, singling out the right’s support for lower tax rates, and complained that ” we in America are so easily led to go against our own interests …. you would find that at least half…[are] pulling for the rich guy.” Sanchez also belittled conservative talk show hosts: ” Many…don’t even have a college degree .” The anchor led the 3 pm Eastern hour with a rant against ” these guys on talk radio, some of whom make hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars ” and their defense of “the money guys…the super-rich, night in and night out- you know who I’m talking about- you will hear this and you have heard this consistent narrative. We’re being held back by high taxes in this country, high tax rates- cut taxes on the wealthy and, zoom, there it goes. Our economy is going to be back with a vengeance. Get the government off our backs and all our problems in this country are going to be solved.” Sanchez then caricatured the conservative take on the present economic situation and, unsurprising, introduced race into the issue. He also targeted CNBC personality and Tea Party hero Rick Santelli: SANCHEZ: And, by the way, the mess we’re still digging out from: it’s not Wall Street’s fault, not a thing to do with the government turning a blind eye to the high-rolling financial shenanigans of some people on Wall Street. No, not at all. It’s the poor people’s fault, who brought the rest of us to our knees, mostly, by the way- I know you hear this- I know you hear this- mostly minorities, them Hispanics and them blacks who bought the homes that they couldn’t afford. They defaulted on those loans, and then we all went down, by golly. Do you think I’m kidding about this? Look, here’s one of the biggest media darlings of this message . RICK SANTELLI (from MSNBC’s “Hardball”): Why don’t you put up a website to have people vote on the Internet as a referendum to see if we really want to subsidize the losers’ mortgages? SANCHEZ: This guy’s a superstar now. That’s right, superstar: ‘losers.’ Remember that? If you lose your job and you end up defaulting on your mortgage, you are a loser. That was the rant that fueled, in many ways, the Tea Party movement. Quit subsidizing the losers, America. How did the CNN anchor refute Santelli and “these guys on the radio”? He turned to the left-wing New York Times: SANCHEZ: Now, let me show you something else. I want to show you- hey, Rob, are you good there. Where’s the newspaper? I want to bring you in the newspaper that I had here just a moment ago. Here it is. Here’s The New York Times. All right? What’s that say? Can you see it? Biggest defaulters on mortgages are the rich. So, who are the losers? Hispanics? Minorities? Black people who bought more home than they could really afford? Once again, let’s look at this. The biggest defaulters on mortgages are the rich…more than one in seven homeowners with loans in excess of $1 million are seriously delinquent, okay? Now, let’s look at the rest of us, people like you and me. About one in 12 mortgages below the $1 million mark is delinquent. Who are the losers again? Who are the losers again, Mr. Santelli, or whatever your name is? Okay, the article goes on to say, though it’s hard to prove, the data suggests that many of the well-to-do are purposely dumping their financially-draining properties. They’re doing this on purpose. You know what? I don’t want it. I will dump it, just as they would any other sour investment. Fine, but let’s be clear. The rich aren’t paying their mortgages, and at a higher rate than anyone else. Sanchez then set up a straw man of the conservative position on taxes: SANCHEZ: I want to make a point about taxes now. To hear the narrative out there, you would think that we’re the highest taxed nation on the planet, in the history of the planet. You hear it every day on your way home. Just turn on your radio, folks. In fact, there’s another list out there I want to show you, of the top 30 industrial nations in the world. Where do you think the United States ranks? Now, you hear every single day we’re the most taxed country in the world, no question about it. And it’s all these politicians and the government. And where do you think we are? Of all the developed countries in the world, where do you think we are, as far as the tax rate? Where do you think we are? Twenty-sixth- twenty-sixth out of thirty. That’s according to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development- twenty-sixth out of thirty. Again, here’s the list. Here’s my highlight marks that I have put right there. You see it.  We are right after- here, I’ll tell you. Who comes before us? Switzerland, Mexico and Australia. Who comes after us? Ireland, Luxembourg, Iceland, and New Zealand. After mouthing the left’s consistent talking point that “the rich have gotten…richer, the poor…poorer,” the anchor brought on Georgia Tech Professor Danny Boston, who agreed that the New York Times statistic “debunks the stereotype” on the economy. Later, Sanchez returned to his tax straw man and bemoaned how so many people hold the economic conservative position: SANCHEZ: We hear we’re the most taxed country in the world. That seems to show that maybe we really aren’t. We’re 26th of the 30 developing [sic] nations. We hear that it was the poor people who bought too many homes that they couldn’t afford. Now, we’ve got a statistic saying, no, that’s not true. In fact, it’s the rich who have been the most delinquent and defaulted on their mortgages. It’s like statistic after statistic seems to- why is it that we in America are so easily led to go against our own interests? Because- and you know what I mean by that. Most of the people who are super rich in this country are- what, 1 percent? Then there’s 99 percent of the rest of us, and yet, if you look at studies politically and sociologically, you would find that at least half of that 99 percent is pulling for the rich guy , and saying- oh, yes, it’s not his fault, it’s our fault. Near the end of the segment, the CNN anchor took a conservative talking point against President Obama and applied it to Professor Boston, as a set up to launch his attack on conservative talk show hosts: SANCHEZ: Well- you know, a lot of the folks who would criticize someone like you- they would criticize you, first of all, because you’re a college professor, which, in their mind, makes you overeducated, and thus, stupid. But is that something that’s frustrating as well, that you know this stuff and can explain it as easily as you just did to us, but yet, t he people who are really leading the charge in this country are the guys on the radio and- many of which don’t even have a college degree . Well, Mr. Sanchez, as you demonstrated yourself, you can have a college degree and still make mistakes about basic geography, such as when you misidentified the Galapagos Islands as Hawaii during CNN’s live coverage of the February 27, 2010 earthquake in Chile.

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Olbermann Mangles Another Fact, Claims Abe Lincoln Only Lost One Election

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

In today’s “What Fact Did Keith Olbermann Mangle Now” segment, the host of MSNBC’s “Countdown” on Tuesday hysterically mocked Arizona senatorial candidate Sharron Angle for claiming Abraham Lincoln lost “quite a few” elections. “Just for the record, do you know how many elections Abraham Lincoln lost in his lifetime?” Olbermann arrogantly asked. “Seven of eight he won,” answered MSNBC’s hottest property. Just for the record, Olbermann wasn’t even close to being right (video follows with transcript and commentary, h/t The Corner ): KEITH OLBERMANN, HOST: It`s Tea Time. If I asked you which Tea Partier was likeliest to compare themselves to Abraham Lincoln, could you guess? Yes, it`s Sharon obtuse Angle from Nevada, in the middle of a fawning interview with a supporter who confessed to once predicting she would not win the nomination. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BILL MANDERS, SHARRON ANGLE SUPPORTER: I said you`ve lost; how are you going to win this? I don`t possibly think that you`re going to win it. SHARRON ANGLE (R), TEA PARTY CANDIDATE FOR SENATE: That`s right. MANDERS: And then you surprised everybody and won this nomination. ANGLE: That`s right. MANDERS: This opportunity to run against the beast, Harry Reid. ANGLE: Well, you know, it`s just like Abraham Lincoln. He lost quite a few. But he won the big one. He won the one that mattered for this country. And really that`s what we`re in. MANDERS: Do you think you`re too — (END VIDEO CLIP) OLBERMANN: Oh, now you`re Abraham Lincoln? I`m beginning to doubt you`re even Sue Lowden. Just for the record, do you know how many elections Abraham Lincoln lost in his lifetime? The Illinois state assembly in 1832. He prevailed in four elections for state assembly, one for Congress, two for president. Seven of eight he won. Sharron Angle, I knew Abraham Lincoln`s won-loss record, and you`re no Abraham Lincoln. For those that didn’t catch it, Olbermann was spoofing that infamous moment in the 1988 vice presidential debate between Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle. Deliciously, it is the “Countdown” host that was no Jack Kennedy in this instance, for as Jeffrey Lord reported at the American Spectator Friday, Olbermann was 100 percent wrong: Here’s Abraham Lincoln’s actual score with elections. He did indeed win four state assembly elections, and lose in 1832, just as Olbermann says. In fact, Abe ran 8th in a field of 13 candidates back there in 1832. Here’s Lincoln’s record with voters, per [Pulitzer Prize winning Lincoln biographer Carl] Sandburg: 1832 — Lost his first race for the state assembly 1834 — Won a seat in the state assembly 1836 — Won re-election 1838 — Won re-election 1840 — Won re-election 1842 — Lost a race for Congress to John Hardin (per biographer Sandburg. Lincoln actually came in behind a friend, Edward D. Baker — losing his own Sangamon County delegates to Baker. Later, he would name one of his sons for Baker). Lincoln structures deal that Hardin, Baker and finally himself would each serve back-to-back single terms in Congress. 1846 — Wins congressional seat, succeeding his friend Baker, who had succeeded Hardin. As per the Lincoln deal. 1854 — Elected again to the Illinois legislature, but loses a race for the United States Senate to Lyman Trumbull. Writes to a friend: “I regret my defeat moderately, but I am not nervous about it.” Mary Lincoln was so enraged at this loss that she never again spoke to Trumbull’s wife Julia — who had been a bridesmaid at Mary and Abe’s wedding. 1856 — Loses the vice-presidential nomination of the new Republican Party to William L. Dayton, a former U.S. Senator from New Jersey. Dayton received 259 votes to Lincoln’s 115, becoming the running mate of John Charles Fremont. Hearing of his defeat, Lincoln laughs and says, “It must be some other Lincoln.” 1858 — Lincoln loses a race for the United States Senate to legendary rival Senator Stephen A. Douglas. In the course of the campaign, the two travel Illinois in what are known to history as the “Lincoln-Douglas” debates. The debates help make Lincoln — and his pro-union, anti-slavery argument — famous. 1860 and 1864 — Elected and re-elected president. In other words, Keith Olbermann was not only wrong but so wide of the truth and the facts as to give Bill Clinton on Monica a good reputation. Sharron Angle, on the other hand, was right. Making her remark 100 percent factually correct. Lincoln ran 13 times, according to biographer Sandburg, not eight as Olbermann said with such assured smugness. Lincoln lost not once, as Mr. Drama Queen asserted, but, again according to the Pulitzer winning biographer, five times. Once for the state assembly, once for Congress, once for vice-president and twice for U.S. Senator. The latter Senate race famous to this day.  So, on Tuesday evening, Olbermann selectively edited and cherry picked from a Rush Limbaugh radio transcript to make the conservative talk show host look like a racist AND completely misrepresented history to smear a Republican senatorial candidate. All in a day’s work for a liberal shill at MSNBC I guess.  Adding insult to injury, the “Countdown” host Wednesday called former Alaska governor Sarah Palin an idiot. You were saying, Keith? 

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LeBron James’ Move To Miami Heat Prompts Reactions From Hip-Hop Community

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

Ludacris, Soulja Boy, Diddy, Fabolous and others take to Twitter over King James’ career choice. By Mawuse Ziegbe LeBron James announces he will play for the Miami Heat on Thursday Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images Basketball fans around the country reacted strongly when LeBron James finally dropped the news last night that he was signing with the Miami Heat after frenzied speculation about the NBA MVP’s next move. Hip-hop’s basketball fans took to Twitter in droves to vent, lament and crack jokes about King James’ decision. Teflon Don Rick Ross tweeted “Miami the spotlight of the world!!!!!” which was later re-tweeted by fellow Miami MC Trina. “Pretty Boy Swag” rapper Soulja Boy Tell’em offered a simple Twitter message about the ‘Bron hubbub, tweeting “Lebron James Swag.” Even glitzy ’90s rapper MC Hammer enthusiastically chimed in with “LeBron signs with the HEAT !!!!” Diddy , like many New Yorkers, had been hoping James would come to Gotham and wrote on his Twitter page, “Lebron will sign with the knicks! Yea I said it!” But an hour later, the party-startin’ mogul seemed at peace with ‘Bron’s finale choice and tweeted, “ok i can handle Miami!!! its my second home!!!! lets go!!!!!!” Queens MC Q-Tip approved of James’ choice and typed on Friday (July 9), “I think @kingjames made the right decision.” Rumors had been swirling that James would possibly go to a Chicago, New York or New Jersey team, so not everyone was geeked about ‘Bron heading down south. “Miami???!!!! nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” ?uestlove of the Roots said in an impassioned tweet. Some MCs offered their sympathies to fans of James’ former team, the Cleveland Cavaliers. D.C. MC Wale , who called the MVP’s choice earlier in the night, tweeting, “Miami…I bet,” followed up his prediction an hour later with a comforting note for Cleveland: “Seriously feel bad for cavs fans.” Ludacris offered something a little stronger for Cavs fans , tweeting, “Conjure [cognac] is on deck in Cleveland just in case anybody feel like gettin f—ed up tonight.” Others typed their thoughts about how James’ move would affect the Heat. Dallas rapper Dorrough tweeted , “LeBron James and DeWayne Wade is Like Jordan and Kobe on the same team. I dont think its gon work.” ATL songstress Ciara tweeted “Looks [like] Miami Heat and Denver Nuggets next year!” likely referencing a possible showdown between Miami and Nuggets star Carmelo Anthony. As fans eagerly anticipated James’ announcement last night, one artist took the opportunity to mine some humor out of the situation. Brooklyn MC Fabolous , who is known for his punchy one-liners, started the trending topic #JustOfferedLebron, which resulted in tweets like, “The Nets #JustOfferedLebron a Best of Both Worlds 3 album wit JayZ if he signs,” and “BP #JustOfferedLebron free gas for life if he continues to take all the attention off the oil spill.” Related Photos LeBron James’ New Neighbors In Miami LeBron James’ Big Night

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Women of The Daily Show Speak

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

Dear People Who Don't Work Here, Recently, certain media outlets have attempted to tell us what it's like to be a woman at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. We must admit it is entertaining to be the subjects of such a vivid and dramatic narrative. However, while rampant sexism at a well-respected show makes for a great story, we want to make something very clear: the place you may have read about is not our office. The Daily Show isn't a place where women quietly suffer on the sidelines as barely tolerated tokens. On the contrary: just like the men here, we're indispensable. We generate a significant portion of the show's creative content and the fact is, it wouldn't be the show that you love without us. So, who are the women of The Daily Show? If you think the only women who help create this show are a couple of female writers and correspondents, you're dismissing the vast majority of us. Actually, we make up 40% of the staff, and we're not all shoved into the party-planning department (although we do run that, and we throw some kick-ass parties). We are co-executive producers, supervising producers, senior producers, segment producers, coordinating field producers, associate producers, editors, writers, correspondents, talent coordinators, production coordinators, researchers, makeup artists, the entire accounting and audience departments, production assistants, crew members, and much more. We were each hired because of our creative ability, our intelligence, and above all, our ability to work our asses off to make a great show. Is it hard to work at The Daily Show? Absolutely. When it comes to what makes it onto the show, competing ideas aren't just hashed out between the faces you see on camera or the names that roll under the “writers” credits. Jokes and concepts come from our studio department, our field department, our graphics department, our production department, our intern department, and our control room. Jon's rule is: the strongest idea and the funniest joke win every single time, no matter who pitches it–woman or man, executive producer or production assistant. And of course none of these jokes and ideas would get to air without the layers of production talent working behind the scenes. The fairness of our workplace makes competition tough and makes the show better. So if it's so challenging, why have we stayed for two, five, ten, fourteen years? Because it's challenging. We feel lucky to work in a meritocracy where someone with talent can join us as an intern and work her way up to wherever her strengths take her. But also because it's an environment that supports our being more than just our jobs. The Daily Show (to an extent few of us have seen elsewhere) allows us the flexibility to care for our families, pursue our own projects, cope with unexpected crises, and have lives outside the show. Also… are you kidding? It's The Daily Show for Christ's sake. You ask some stupid questions, imaginary interlocutor. What's Jon Stewart really like? Jon's not just a guy in a suit reading a prompter. His voice and vision shape every aspect of the show from concept to execution. The idea that he would risk compromising his show's quality by hiring or firing someone based on anything but ability, or by booking guests based on anything but subject matter, is simply ludicrous. But what's he really like? Well, for a sexist prick, he can be quite charming. He's also generous, humble, genuine, compassionate, fair, supportive, exacting, stubborn, goofy, hands-on, driven, occasionally infuriating, ethical, down-to-earth and–a lot of people don't know this–surprisingly funny (for a guy brimming with “joyless rage”). How else to describe him? What's the word that means the opposite of sexist? That one. In any organization, the tone is set from the top. Since taking over the show, Jon has worked hard to create an environment where people feel respected and valued regardless of their gender or position. If that's not your scene, you probably wouldn't like it here. We happen to love it. And so… And so, while it may cause a big stir to seize on the bitter rantings of ex-employees and ignore what current staff say about working at The Daily Show, it's not fair. It's not fair to us, it's not fair to Jon, it's not fair to our wonderful male colleagues, and it's especially not fair to the young women who want to have a career in comedy but are scared they may get swallowed up in what people label as a “boy's club.” The truth is, when it comes down to it, The Daily Show isn't a boy's club or a girl's club, it's a family – a highly functioning if sometimes dysfunctional family. And we're not thinking about how to maximize our gender roles in the workplace on a daily basis. We're thinking about how to punch up a joke about Glenn Beck's latest diatribe, where to find a Michael Steele puppet on an hour's notice, which chocolate looks most like an oil spill, and how to get a gospel choir to sing the immortal words, “Go f@#k yourself!” added by: onemalefla

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Decline of Larry King, Rise of TV ‘Cretins and Crackpots’ Is Blamed on the Blogosphere

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

The decline and fall of Larry King Live on CNN is depressing Washington Post TV writer Tom Shales , who lamented on Tuesday that “Larry King’s show got to be an increasingly lonely outpost of humane civility in a mephitic menagerie of hotheads, saber rattlers, cretins and crackpots.” “Mephitic” is a ten-dollar word for “sulfurous stench.” Shales predicted: “What we’ll probably see more of in the weeks and months of remodeling ahead is more of that carping, contentious talk that thrives on competitors Fox News and MSNBC, where personalities like Bill O’Reilly and Keith Olbermann (arguably two sides of the same coin) hold forth.”  He blamed all this on…the blogosphere: What has brought on the wave of harshness and calumny that saturates public conversation in the 21st century — so far? The Internet, with its mob rule and forums open to every conceivable variety of nut, has arguably been a principal cause, elevating trash speech to the level of published commentary just because there’s room for it — here, there, everywhere. Maybe Larry Kings cannot thrive or even survive in a world where the norms for discourse are rage, vehemence and character assassination. King wanted to be liked, not feared; admired, not loathed. The veteran broadcaster has no apologies to make, either. For 25 years, he made a radio format work on television, and certainly without being another pretty face. The ugliness might lie ahead, especially if CNN tries to out-shout the boors and demagogues representative of Fox News Channel and MSNBC. Not that every person who helms a talk show on these networks is guilty of coarsening the conversation. But the big noises, the most prominent personalities, seem also to be the most shrill and hostile. They set the standard, substandard though it may be. Shales even recirculated the unproven, never-found-on-video claims of Tea Party protesters yelling the N-word at black Members of Congress on Capitol Hill during the ObamaCare debate: And what happens on television invariably affects — and sometimes infects — American life, manners and mores. In March, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) was shocked to be jeered and vilified by anti-health-care-reform demonstrators on Capitol Hill who used the most vile of racial epithets when screaming at him. “It surprised me,” Lewis said afterward, “that people are so mean, and we can’t engage in a civil dialogue and debate.” If he’d watched more cable TV, Lewis might not have been quite so surprised.

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Decline of Larry King, Rise of TV ‘Cretins and Crackpots’ Is Blamed on the Blogosphere

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