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Ed Schultz, Clueless as Usual, Angered by Allegedly Unprecedented Criticism of First Lady

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

Is Ed Schultz determined to make his mark as the dumbest man in media? Hardly a day passes without the lib radio host and MSNBC action hero providing more fodder for the premise. On his radio show Monday, Schultz rushed to the defense of first lady Michelle Obama for criticism of her winging off to an opulent Spanish resort hotel during — as Schultz and other liberals oft remind us — the worst economy since the Great Depression. Here’s Schultz defending Mrs. Obama after first talking about a campaign ad that mocks House Minority Leader John Boehner as an out-of-touch elitist golfer ( click here for audio) — I think the Democrats, as far as setting the tone, I don’t know why the White House isn’t all over this. I think that the criticism that Michelle Obama is getting for being overseas is absolutely disgusting. She is the first lady of the United States, the assumed ambassador, someone who can do nothing but goodwill for America and its allies and its image in the world. And I think it’s important. I’ve never, ever seen a story like this where the first lady is criticized. This is a great chance for the White House to go on the offensive. It is true that Michelle Obama’s overseas and she’s not running for anything, but she’s not on the golf course 119 times the way John Boehner is. Then again, Boehner isn’t bringing 70 Secret Service agents in tow on the public dime when he hits the links (his office denies that Boehner has golfed anywhere near as often as alleged by Blue America). Schultz claims he’s “never, ever seen a story like this where the first lady is criticized.” The sentiment of a Democrat, no doubt, but surely not a democrat. I’ll attempt to jog Schultz’s memory with the first obvious example that comes to mind. Just out of curiosity, Ed, did Hillary Clinton undergo much criticism in the eight years she was first lady? (I remember it well, from back when I was a Democrat). Unless Schultz was also in a coma during the decade before that, surely he recalls that first lady Nancy Reagan withstood similar slings and arrows during her husband’s two terms in office. Nancy Reagan and her astrologer — ring a bell? How about Mrs. Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign against drug abuse, the one liberals raved about? Any of this strike a chord? If Schultz were an inquisitive sort, he might be familiar with what is arguably the closest parallel to Michelle Obama’s vacation in Spain and its cost in political capital to her husband — then-first lady Jacqueline Kennedy yachting in the Mediterranean with — wait for it — her future second husband, Aristotle Onassis. As described by Laurence Leamer in his 2001 book, “The Kennedy Men: 1901-1963” — The president clearly would have preferred not to have his wife sailing around the Mediterranean with Onassis, but there was no other luxury yacht in the world like the Christina, and he figured it was just the tonic that Jackie might need before facing the rigors of re-election. To keep up a pretense that the journey had some other purpose than amusement, and to watch over his wife, he asked Franklin Roosevelt Jr., his undersecretary of Commerce, and his wife, Suzanne, to go along. Kennedy was consumed enough by the idea of his wife going off with the Greek magnate that while staying at the Carlyle Hotel on September 20, he doodled on a notepad ‘Jackie-Onassis.’ … Jackie sailed off on October 5 from Athens, along with a crew of sixty, including two coiffeurs and a dance band. The ship had hardly left port when the previously sacrosanct Jackie became the subject of criticism. Was it ‘improper for the wife of the president … to accept [Onassis’s] lavish hospitality?’ asked Congressman Oliver Bolton, an Ohio Republican. With his re-election campaign less than a year away, Kennedy was attuned to even the most subdued criticism. He knew that the Republicans would attempt to create an image of the White House, in the words of the GOP national chairman, as a scene of ‘twisting in the historic East Ballroom … [and] all-night parties in foreign lands.’ ‘Well, why did you let Jackie go with Onassis?’ Kennedy was asked at a private party while the boat sailed the Aegean, bad publicity traveling in its wake. ‘Jackie has my blessing to go anywhere that will make her feel better,’ he replied, leaving the matter at that. … Jackie’s European sojourn had created headlines that might please a king, but not a democratic leader — ‘Mrs. Kennedy Aegean Island-Hopping,’ ‘Jackie Follows Script as Hollywood Wrote It,’ ‘Jackie Sails in Splendor.’ Betty Beal, a Washington social columnist, reported that Jackie’s European trip had caused ‘complaints … to pour in from all quarters and it may hurt politically.’ Marianne Means, a Hearst columnist and reporter, wrote: ‘During her three years in the White House, she had consistently refused all invitations to appear with the president at political functions and most public events, outside the realm of the arts. She did not once accompany him last fall as he campaigned for Democratic congressmen up for re-election. And she has never traveled with him on any of his trips around the country.’ Jackie had a radiant popularity all her own that would help create the almost frenetic excitement that would translate into votes next November. In 1960 Kennedy’s advisers had thought Jackie might be a liability; in 1964, in a close campaign, she might prove a crucial asset. Later that fall, Mrs. Kennedy decided to accompany her husband on a campaign swing for the first time since 1960, to Texas where JFK sought to broker peace between feuding Democrats.

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Ed Schultz, Clueless as Usual, Angered by Allegedly Unprecedented Criticism of First Lady

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Liberal Think Tank Destroys Myth Bush Tax Cuts Favored Rich

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

For approaching ten years, America’s media have depicted the tax cuts implemented by former President George W. Bush as almost exclusively favoring the rich. This dishonest characterization has picked up steam recently as these tax cuts are about to expire, and the tax-loving press have campaigned for their departure as if a plague on the society. For his part, President Obama is advocating the expiration of tax cuts only to couples making over $250,000 a year and individuals making more than $200,000. With this in mind, the Tax Policy Center, a division of the liberal Brookings Institution, published a report on July 29 that included Treasury Department estimates of tax revenue losses that would accompany an extension of Bush’s cuts. Inside the accompanying PDF was evidence the Left and their media minions have been misrepresenting the beneficiaries of these cuts for a very long time: As this is likely very difficult to read, there are three crucial components to this report: This shows that the total ten-year cost of extending the Bush tax cuts is estimated by Treasury to be $3.675 trillion. Next, Treasury estimated the ten-year revenue gain of not extending these cuts to couples making over $250,000 and individuals making more than $200,000: This shows that by following Obama’s recommendations, Treasury is estimated to receive $679 billion extra in the ten years after 2010. Finally, Treasury estimated the ten-year cost of extending the Bush tax cuts except to Obama’s description of high-wage earners: So, let’s put all the pieces together. According to Treasury, the total ten-year cost of completely extending the Bush tax cuts is $3.675 trillion. The ten-year cost exclusively associated with extending tax cuts to folks Obama, the Democrats, and the media consider rich is $679 billion. This means that almost $3 trillion of the cost associated with the Bush tax cuts over the next ten years, or 82 percent, is not for benefits to the so-called rich. As such, despite what the Left and their media minions have been claiming, 82 percent of the Bush tax cuts benefited the poor, middle-class, and upper-middle class in this country. And, despite the preceding appearing at a conservative website, this data was originally published by a division of a liberal think tank.  As the media love quoting reports from the Brookings Institution, I’m sure we’ll see this information splashed all over a TV set near you in the coming days…but I wouldn’t hold my breath!

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Liberal Think Tank Destroys Myth Bush Tax Cuts Favored Rich

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NBC’s O’Donnell Casts GOP Primary Winner As a Sexist

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

Democratic Senator Michael Bennet got his own live spot on Wednesday’s Today show to make his pitch to Colorado voters, but his Republican opponent only got a brief soundbite, that came after a clip of him that put him in a negative, even sexist light. While Today co-anchor Ann Curry chatted live with Bennet in the first half hour, NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell only gave Republican candidate Ken Buck a few seconds in her report on yesterday’s primary races: KELLY O’DONNELL: Winning on the Republican side – career prosecutor Ken Buck who had said this on the trail. KEN BUCK: Why should you vote for me? Because I do not wear high heels. O’DONNELL: Former Lieutenant Governor Jane Norton was the establishment choice, but the Tea Party picked Buck. Do you think of yourself as a Tea Party candidate? BUCK: I think of myself as a grassroots candidate and the Tea Parties are certainly part of that grassroots effort. O’Donnell never gave Buck the chance to explain to the country that his comment/joke came in response to Norton criticism of his candidacy, as he told CBS News’ Bob Orr : “My opponent has said a number of times on the campaign trail that people should vote for her because she wears high heels, because she wears a skirt, because she’s a woman…She ran a commercial that said Ken Buck should be man enough to do X, Y, and Z…I made a statement, it was a lighthearted statement that I’m man enough, I don’t wear high heels and I have cowboy boots on.” By not airing Buck’s clarification and pointing out that the “Tea Party picked Buck,” O’Donnell left Today viewers with the impression that Tea Party voters had just favored the sexist candidate in the race. In contrast Buck’s Democratic opponent in the fall got a full interview segment to make his case to Colorado voters. The following is Curry’s interview with Bennet as it was aired on the August 11 Today show: ANN CURRY: Washington has been keeping an especially close eye on the primary results in Colorado. As we mentioned Democratic Senator Michael Bennet, who had the backing of President Obama, won his party’s primary while setting up a November showdown with Tea Party backed Republican Ken Buck. We’ve got Senator Bennet this morning, joining us this morning. Hello Senator, good morning, and congratulations. [On screen headline: “Rocky Mountain Race, Obama Picks Wins Colorado Senate Primary”] SEN. MICHAEL BENNET: Good morning. Thank you. Thanks for having me today. CURRY: You know, your race fueled this idea that President Obama might not be such an asset on the campaign trail as it, as he was two years ago. Now, this morning after your victory, and it looks like you won pretty handily in looking at the numbers with 100 percent of precincts reporting, you, you won more than a 54 percent of the vote. What do you want to say about President Obama as his, in terms of his being an asset on the campaign trail? BENNET: You know, I’m very pleased to have had his support but I don’t think it made the difference in the primary and won’t make the difference in the general. The content of what I hear in my town hall meetings has never been further away from what we’re hearing on our television sets than it is today. People are focused on how we get out of the most savage economy since the Great Depression. And I think, you know, the politics in Washington and the, and the political conversation we’re hearing on TV these days is not particularly responsive to that and, and we have spoken to that and I think that’s why we were successful in the primary and will be in the general. CURRY: Well so if you’re saying that it wasn’t necessarily what put you over the top, was it, would you have considered it a hindrance? I mean how would you describe the usefulness of President Obama being with you on the campaign trail, in some part, to your campaign? BENNET: I certainly wouldn’t describe it as a hindrance and I also don’t think it made the difference. I don’t think it was material to most primary voters. CURRY: Right. In your victory speech, to the point you were making earlier, you said that, quote, “Washington has a lot to learn from Colorado.” Exactly what do you mean by that, Senator? BENNET: Look we, even before we were in the worst recession since the Great Depression, if you look at the last period of economic growth, it’s the first time in our history that our economy grew and middle class income fell. That’s never happened before. So families in Colorado are earning $1,000 less at the end of the decade than they were at the beginning. The cost of health insurance has gone up by 97 percent. Their cost of higher education has gone up by over 50 percent. People are struggling to figure out how to make sure that we’re not the first generation of Americans to leave less opportunity, not more, to our kids and our grandkids. That’s what people in Colorado are focused on. CURRY: Well alright. I think we’re gonna have to leave that as the last word. There will be a lot of questions, more to come as I’m sure you face this general election. Senator Michael Bennet, thank you so much this morning. BENNET: Thank you. Thanks, thanks for not asking me any wrestling questions. CURRY: Okay. You bet. You can count on that. BENNET: Alright.

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Al Gore Complains about Global Warming Media Coverage; Blasts The Wall Street Journal on ClimateGate

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

No matter what happens, even surrounding his personal life or his pet cause global warming, former Vice President Al Gore just isn’t going away. During an Aug. 10 conference call , Gore launched into a critique of the media’s recent coverage of ClimateGate, specifically blogs, talk radio and “biased right-wing media.” “Well I believe Mark Twain often gets the credit for the saying … that a lie runs around the world before the truth gets its boots on,” Gore said. “Now I’m not sure that’s the real reason for it, but there is a sad but undeniable truth that those who wanted to try sewing confusion used an echo chamber from blogs and talk show hosts and biased right-wing media to promulgate the distortions of the paid skeptics and professional deniers who tried to undermine the evidence.” Gore, who earlier during the call said he all but given up on cap-and-trade legislation being passed this Congress ( audio here ), alluded to a handful of “formal inquiries” that he argued cleared the science of any doubt that may have been caused by the leaked e-mails from ClimateGate, despite the questionable circumstances surrounding these inquiries . “There have been of course multiple, formal inquiries, all of which have dispelled the falsehoods that go under the title of ‘ClimateGate,'” Gore continued. “The three separate inquiries conducted not only cleared the scientists and the organizations involved, but strongly reaffirmed the basic assertions that they have been making.” But this time the former vice president named names. He went after The Wall Street Journal for its coverage of ClimateGate, even though the daily newspaper was one of the few outlets covering the scandal with much vigor. “I’ll give you one example – The Wall Street Journal wrote upwards of 30 editorials and news stories during the time about the story of the University of East Anglia broke and not a single one of them presented the side of the science. There are many other examples as you know.” In recent months, Gore has had his own public relations problem with media coverage surrounding his personal life, including a divorce and allegations sexual misconduct , which he was later cleared of by Portland, Ore. authorities. But to combat the media, which he alleges has been working against him on global warming, he urged his supporters to send letters to the editor, demand equal time and write op-eds. “It is our responsibility to demand that reporters, editors and all journalists report the truth,” he said. “It is only through consistent and constant pressure from us demanding equal time in local and national media that we will get the truth out. And that is why it’s so critical to write letters to the editor, to post comments online, to draft and write op-eds that share your point of view and use the facts and spread them far and wide. Only when the media hear from enough of us will they change their habits and print the truth about these scientific facts.” A 2008 Business & Media Institute study disputes the idea that Gore’s cause of climate change alarmism has faced an uphill battle as far public relations goes. Over the years, it showed the alarmists have outnumbered the skeptics in airtime, a trend that has been occurring over the years.

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On CNN, Tavis Smiley Sees Racism in Rangel, Waters Probes; Actress Trashes Limbaugh

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

PBS talk show host Tavis Smiley guest-hosted on CNN’s Larry King Live on Tuesday night, and perhaps unsurprisingly, encouraged the view that there’s racism in the congressional ethics investigations of Charlie Rangel and Maxine Waters. “Facts are facts. The names that keep coming out happen to be members of the Congressional Black Caucus.” Smiley never seemed to consider whether the charges had merit — on the content of these politicians’ character — only on the color of their skin. He asked actress Aisha Tyler about this alleged outbreak of racism in the Democrat-dominated Congress, and Tyler unleashed an attack on Rush Limbaugh for suggesting the media thinks Michelle Obama’s entitled to a lavish vacation in Spain because of America’s sordid racial past: SMILEY: I wanted to raise this with Aisha. Maxine Waters on this radio show, on “The Tom Joyner Show” today — and I’m paraphrasing here — makes the point that this committee is established under Democrats, but the names that keep leaking out on the folks under investigation happen to be African- American members of Congress. Eight names of members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including, of course, Charlie Rangel, including Maxine Waters, have leaked out. What do you make of that? TYLER: Look, if I was a conspiracy theorist, or if I was a little bit more dead inside that I already am, if I had been deadened more by the political process over the last two years than I already have been, you would see a pattern of trying to besmirched the president’s name by association. I think what we have generally — I mean, when you look at something like the FLOTUS trip to Spain and everyone criticizing her for not taking American trips — she’s already taken four American vacations here. There’s this ongoing effort to call regular kind of common behavior into question and associate it somehow with race. Taking a lavish trip to Spain with 60 Secret Service agents isn’t “common behavior,” even if Mrs. Obama can’t travel without an entourage. Limbaugh’s brief commentary was addressed to the point that the liberal media have long defended the Obamas in everything they do, with the added psychoanalysis that the Obama deserve a different, more charitable standard of analysis because they are the historic first black family in the White House. What was seriously phony in this conversation was Tyler and Smiley expressing oh-so-great reluctance to see racism in every criticism of a black politician: TYLER: I hate to be in that want place. I don’t ever want to be in that place mentally. It’s not a fun place for me to be, to be always thinking about things being motivated racially. SMILEY: But — I think the R-word is over-used in this country. But facts are facts. The names that keep coming out happen to be members of the Congressional Black Caucus. STEPHANIE MILLER: As you know, it’s a complete mistake when Fox News is talking about Shirley Sherrod and runs footage of Maxine Waters by accident, and talking about John Conyers and runs footage of William Jefferson by mistake. You know that’s just a mistake. TYLER: You don’t even want to say what the subtext is in there. It’s such a clam. You know what I mean? You don’t even want to bring it up. I do think the word racism is over-used in this country. At the same time, what I do think is happening right now is there’s more of a subtext of racialism, where when you have somebody like Rush Limbaugh saying that the reason that Michelle Obama went to Spain is that black people are trying to get some of what white people have enjoyed. I mean, come on. Smiley was so enjoying Tyler’s attacks on Limbaugh that he returned to encouraging them after a commercial break: SMILEY: Welcome back to Larry King Live, joined now by our panel. Before the break, Aisha, you were starting to lay out for us your formulation at least about the Michelle Obama trip to Spain. I want to go around the horn, but go ahead and finish your point. TYLER: The thing that I’m really struggling with here — and I’m not going to call Rush Limbaugh, but that is a racialist attitude to say that somehow black people have never traveled abroad until the First Lady got her shot at Spain. I mean, look, I speak three languages. I lived in Europe. I lived overseas. The idea that somehow she’s getting back at white people for slavery by paying her own way to take her daughter to Spain is just extraordinary hyperbole of the highest order. And it’s ridiculous. Tyler was the one picking up the “extraordinary hyperbole” in alleging Limbaugh had said “black people have never traveled abroad” or that Michelle is “getting back at white people for slavery” with the Spain trip — neither of which he said.

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On CNN, Tavis Smiley Sees Racism in Rangel, Waters Probes; Actress Trashes Limbaugh

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CBS’s Erica Hill: GOP ‘Extreme Right;’ Dems Just Need to Alter Message ‘A Little Bit’

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

During a discussion of the upcoming midterm elections on Monday’s CBS Early Show, co-host Erica Hill asked Republican strategist Kevin Madden: “…when you look at this from the Republican perspective… there is some competition from the Tea Party, from those perhaps to the extreme right…is this race Republicans to lose, and if so, what do they have to do to hold on to it?” Hill picked up the “extreme right” label from her other guest, Democratic strategist Tanya Acker, who had just ranted: “I think that it’s very evident that we’re running against a group of Republican candidates, in large part, who’ve really positioned themselves at an extreme end of the right – of the right wing, which is really where not most of the country is….what Democrats have to do is talk about what it is they’re standing for and why it is the country doesn’t want to go back to a time when, frankly, a lot of us were much worse off.” Madden responded to Hill by pointing to the left-wing agenda of the Democrats: “…independent voters…they’ve abandoned Democrats, in large part because of the spending, because of the deficits, because of a very left of center agenda….it is a very good place to be right now when you’re the alternative to a Democrat agenda.” Instead of challenging Acker on the Democrats “very left of center agenda,” Hill gently wondered: “What about the President? He’s doing a lot of fundraising, does he need to, though, work on a little bit different message or is he doing the right thing?” Acker reasserted her previous point: “…the real competition here is for the moderates, is for independents. And in order for Democrats to successfully get them back on board, they’re going to have to explain why the alternatives are far too extreme.” Hill moved on, pressing Madden on Republican policy proposals: “Kevin, in terms of a message from your end, from the Republican side, there’s been a lot of criticism, and we heard it from the President…that Republicans aren’t presenting new ideas….are they presenting their ideas, though, at this point, solidly enough?” Madden replied: “…the Democrats want to spend more, they want to grow the size of the government. We presented alternatives….we’re for smaller government, we’re for lower taxes, and we’re for less spending; and that we are the better party to lead the country in the right direction.” Here is a full transcript of the August 9 discussion: 7:08AM ET ERICA HILL: Joining us now is Republican strategist Kevin Madden, also in Washington this morning, and from Los Angeles, Democratic strategist Tanya Acker. We’re going to get a closer look at what both sides need to do in these upcoming elections from the both of you this morning. Tanya, I want to start with you. as we just heard this two-point message here, don’t go back and things would be even worse were the Democrats not in charge. Is that enough for voters at this point or does there need to be a little alteration, perhaps, of the message? TANYA ACKER: Well, I think the Democrats have to focus on getting that message out very clearly in the first instance. Because look, I think that it’s very evident that we’re running against a group of Republican candidates, in large part, who’ve really positioned themselves at an extreme end of the right – of the right wing, which is really where not most of the country is. I mean, you’re talking about candidates who want to do things like take the country back to a time before Social Security, who want to really overturn a lot of the things that – reforms that the country’s really behind. So I think the Repub – what Democrats have to do is talk about what it is they’re standing for and why it is the country doesn’t want to go back to a time when, frankly, a lot of us were much worse off. HILL: Kevin, when you – when you look at this from the Republican perspective- KEVIN MADDEN: Mm-Hm. HILL: -there are some of those messages, there is some competition from the Tea Party, from those perhaps to the extreme right, as Tanya mentioned, but essentially is this – is this race Republicans to lose and if so what do they have to do to hold on to it? MADDEN: Well, look, to Tanya’s point and to your question, I think that this race is really going to be won – I think this – these elections, these midterm elections are really going to be decided in the middle. And right now those independent voters that were a big part of the Democrats’ successful coalition by – of winning in 2008, they’ve abandoned the – the White House, and they’ve abandoned Democrats, in large part because of the spending, because of the deficits, because of a very left of center agenda. So I think where Republicans feel we have an opportunity is talking to those voters and persuading them that the Democrats have taken the country in the wrong direction. The country’s on the wrong track. That we’re spending too much money, deficits are going too high, and that we can do a better job. And right now we – we have to go out there and talk about a proactive agenda, but it is a very good place to be right now when you’re the alternative to a Democrat agenda. HILL: It’s interesting because in some ways it sounds like 2008 all over again. You talk about the moderates, there was so much talk about moderates and independents, of course, during the 2008 elections, which worked out well for the Democrats, Tanya. This time around, I know you said they need to alter the message perhaps a little bit, but what about the President? He’s doing a lot of fundraising, does he need to, though, work on a little bit different message or is he doing the right thing? ACKER: I think that right now – I mean, look we’re seeing that the President is not – is having some troubles in the polls. He’s certainly polling lower than he has at any time during his presidency, and which is not unusual for any President at this point in his term. But I think that where we’re really seeing President Obama be effective is in – is in fundraising. And in order for Democrats to get the message out there, there’s no question that they’re going to need a lot of money. Because again, as Kevin pointed out, and as you pointed out, the real competition here is for the moderates, is for independents. And in order for Democrats to successfully get them back on board, they’re going to have to explain why the alternatives are far too extreme.                  HILL: Kevin, in terms of a message from your end, from the Republican side, there’s been a lot of criticism, and we heard it from the President in Bill’s package, that Republicans aren’t presenting new ideas. I know that you – you disagree with that. MADDEN: I disagree with that, yes. HILL: But are they presenting – are they presenting their ideas, though, at this point, solidly enough? MADDEN: Yes, I – I do believe so. Look, when John Boehner handed the – the gavel to Nancy Pelosi in 2008, he said – 2006 – he said, look, we are going to be an opposition party but we are going to disagree with you on substance. And if you look at the health care debate, you look at the stimulus debate. Republicans presented the American public alternatives. They presented a vision for what they would do, where they would take the country in a different direction. And I think in large part that’s going to be where you can win in the arguments in 2010. Is that we can say, look, the Democrats want to spend more, they want to grow the size of the government. We presented alternatives. The entire – during this entire debate, that said we’re for smaller government, we’re for lower taxes, and we’re for less spending; and that we are the better party to lead the country in the right direction. HILL: Well, everyone will be trying to get their messages out, especially as we ramp up with three months to go. Tanya Acker, Kevin Madden, always good to have your insight with us. MADDEN: Great to be with you. ACKER: Good to see you. CHRIS WRAGGE: Safe to say it’s going to be an interesting November. HILL: I think we can say that, yes.

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Copenhagen Dashed: AP Reports Lament That Bonn Talks ‘Slip Backward’ and ‘Stumble’

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

The past week has brought forth a couple of items from the Associated Press’s — and for the most part the establishment press’s — special corner of journalistic unreality. It is an area where human-caused global warming is still a given, and where that the nastiness known as ClimateGate that exposed the entire global warming enterprise as entirely unsupported by verifiable scientific data doesn’t exist. Maybe we should refer to that special corner as “The Climate Zone.” The reports each arrived via AP Writer Arthur Max. Mr. Max and conference attendees at climate negotiations in Bonn shouldn’t be mad about having the opportunity to spend in Germany’s capital city. After all, the temperatures there, based on the current report for Tuesday and plus the three forecasted days in the graphic at the top right (seen currently at Google ), are on track to be virtually identical to the city’s pleasant historical August average highs and lows of 73 and 54 degrees , respectively, for August. But despite the reasonably pleasant atmosphere (yeah, I know temps and climate aren’t the same, so back off already), Mr. Max’s August 6 and August 8 reports tell us that discussions between “rich” and “poor” countries have been quite frosty. Meanwhile, reactions from the the supporters of international statist expansion in the environmental movement who are on hand for the festivities have been quite heated. Overall, everyone, including the clumsy Mr. Max, is making mince meat of President Barack Obama’s claim, occasionally echoed in establishment press outlets at the time, to have accomplished anything meaningful at last December’s Copenhagen conference. First, here are the opening paragraphs from Max’s Friday missive : Climate talks appear to slip backward Global climate talks appeared to have slipped backward after five days of negotiations in Bonn, with rich and poor countries exchanging charges of reneging on agreements they made last year to contain greenhouse gases. Delegates complained that reversals in the talks put negotiations back by a year, even before minimal gains were scored at the Copenhagen summit last December. “It’s a little bit like a broken record,” said European Union negotiator Artur Runge-Metzger. “It’s like a flashback,” agreed Raman Mehta, of the Action Aid environment group. “The discourse is the same level” as before Copenhagen. The sharp divide between rich and poor nations over how best to fight climate change – a clash that crippled the Copenhagen summit – remains, and bodes ill for any deal at the next climate convention in Cancun, Mexico, which begins in November. “At this point, I am very concerned,” said chief U.S. delegate Jonathan Pershing. “Unfortunately, what we have seen over and over this week is that some countries are walking back from progress made in Copenhagen, and what was agreed there.” Fortunately or unfortunately (I’m going with the former), there really wasn’t much that “was agreed there,” despite Pershing’s posing, as Max revealed in his Sunday submission (bold is mine): Analysis: Climate talks stumble from Page 1 The new climate change treaty under negotiation for the past 2 1/2 years begins with a brief document called “A Shared Vision.” The problem is, there isn’t one. The latest round of talks that concluded Friday showed that the 194 negotiating countries have failed to even define a common target or method for curbing greenhouse gases – just one example of the ongoing divide among rich and poor nations. Talks began in 2007, with the aim of wrapping up a deal in Copenhagen last December. But that didn’t happen, despite the presence of 120 heads of state or government. It ended instead with a three-page statement of intentions brokered by President Barack Obama. Though less than expected, the Copenhagen Accord scored some breakthroughs. It boiled down the core elements of a deal to 12 carefully worded paragraphs, and it inscribed hard-fought compromises by the main protagonists, the U.S. and China. Details were to be filled in by the next major conference in Cancun, Mexico, starting in November. But the accord was never formally adopted. … The paper was merely “noted” by the conference, stripping it of any legal force. Now, much of the Copenhagen deal has been thrown open again. As readers can see, Mr. Max couldn’t stay consistent in his musings even in the space of five paragraphs. In the third paragraph above, he notes that a deal “didn’t happen.” But in the seventh, he says that “the Copenhagen deal has been thrown open again,” as if a deal really was done. What transpired in Copenhagen was not a “deal.” If “the paper” had no “legal force” and could only be “‘noted” by the conference,” it really didn’t rise even to the level of what most of us would consider a “memorandum of understanding.” In other words, there really never has been a “deal.” Then again, for journalists in “The Climate Zone” who have had years of practice presumptively insisting that human-caused global warming is settled science, when it’s not — not even the “warming” part, as one leading advocate admitted in one of the ClimateGate e-mails — making the leap from “no deal” to “deal” hardly causes them to break a sweat. Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com .

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Copenhagen Dashed: AP Reports Lament That Bonn Talks ‘Slip Backward’ and ‘Stumble’

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Boy Scouts Boo Obama video

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

Boy Scouts boo President Barack Obama, or at least his video — they were expecting the real thing. Video of Boy Scouts booing a message from our leader at a convention. But were they actually booing because they love Obama so much? YouTube detectives: On the case! So, here is the video of the Boy Scouts at their annual Jamboree in Virginia: A Conservative blogger says “it doesn#39;t appear that Obama#39;s pre-recorded message was warmly received that day.” But, you will see that an urgen

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Local DC ABC Reporter Suspended — For Conservative Bias?

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

Long-time DC TV news anchor Doug McKelway has been suspended by local ABC affiliate WJLA-TV (owned by Allbritton Communications, the same people who own the paper and website Politico) after a standup report last month from a liberal cap-and-trade rally trying to capitalize on the BP oil spill. “According to several of McKelway’s colleagues,” reported Paul Farhi in The Washington Post , “the newsman’s reporting may have lapsed into partisan territory when he commented live on the air about the oil industry’s influence in Washington, particularly its contributions to Democratic politicians and legislators ” — which must have included bigtime BP recipient Barack Obama. Don’t question the Democrats from a liberal protest!  Then came trouble: “The episode led to a meeting between McKelway and Bill Lord, WJLA’s station manager and news director, that featured sharp exchanges between them,” anonymous WJLA sources told the Post. They insisted the issue wasn’t the lines about Democrats, but about “insubordination.” But how is it not about conservative bias if that’s what put him on the hot seat with the boss? The Post added: McKelway has been cryptic when discussing his status with WJLA. In a posting on his Facebook page Thursday, McKelway wrote, “I’ve gotten so many emails and messages of concern about my employment situation. I wish I could say more!!! I don’t know if I’ll be back on the air, but I can tell you that life is very good. I’ve got a beautiful wife who’s telling me to stick to principle.” When asked late last month by morning radio host Elliot Segal if he had been fired, McKelway said, “All I can say is, I got a great lawyer.” He also said “I like contrarian things.” It’s also possible WJLA is still angry about McKelway’s really feisty interview with radical gay “outing” activist Mike Rogers on the local NewsChannel 8 (also an Allbritton station), which outraged gay leftists. (Notice McKelway calls out Barney Frank in the video .) At one point, McKelway told his guest: “I’d take you outside and give you a punch across the face….I think you’re hurting innocent people.” A day later, McKelway was unrepentant on the air, telling viewers, “An apology? Mike Rogers, you’re not getting one. You understand that? Because you’re a bully and you hurt innocent people, and you’re doing great harm to your movement, the gay rights movement, by doing what you’re doing.” McKelway has been with Channel 7 since 2001, and has long co-hosted WJLA’s “Good Morning Washington” newscast. He’s married to Susan Ferrechio, who’s also been a reporter for the Miami Herald, Congressional Quarterly, The Washington Times, and currently The Washington Examiner.  Of course, the Post had to lead with how “Veteran TV newsman Doug McKelway may have said too much — not to viewers but to his boss.” It’s just as plausible that McKelway simply “said too much” by saying a discouraging word about Democrats. The Post account also had to whitewash a rally by Greenpeace, Code Pink, and MoveOn.org , among other groups, as merely a “rally by religious and environmental groups to protest BP’s response to the oil spill and to advocate for legislation favoring renewable energy resources.” The lefties clearly planned to bother politicians who took BP contributions: “Following the rally, delegations of activists visited the offices of some of the lawmakers who have taken in the most in campaign contributions from BP during the 2008 and 2010 election cycles.”  Allbritton and WJLA ought to be questioned if it’s possible for a reporter in Barack Obama’s Washington to mention on air that President Obama’s a major recipient of BP cash without getting chewed out in the newsroom.

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Local DC ABC Reporter Suspended — For Conservative Bias?

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CBS’s Blackstone: Immigration Debate ‘Boiling Over,’ ‘Often-Angry’

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

In a report on Arizona’s immigration law for CBS’s Sunday Morning, correspondent John Blackstone declared: “In the heat of the Arizona summer, America’s long-simmering immigration debate is boiling over.” He portrayed it as the latest wave of anti-immigrant sentiment: “The often-angry debate….whether yet another influx of outsiders can be accepted into a nation of immigrants.”   At the top of the program, the Early Show’s Harry Smith, filling in for host Charles Osgood, teased Blackstone’s report this way: “‘The New Colossus’ is the name of the Emma Lazarus poem about the Statue of Liberty, the poem that speaks of a ‘golden door’ for immigrants to America. S.B.1070 is the name of the Arizona law that critics say betrays that promise , but which supporters say is necessitated by a tide of illegal immigration.” As Blackstone introduced his report later, a series of newspaper headlines flashed on screen: “Ariz. immigration law creates rift; Obama Blasts Arizona Law; Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration.” He then profiled one illegal immigrant: “…the immigration debate…means everything to 23-year-old Hermann. He’s an undocumented immigrant we met at a church gathering….The current atmosphere leaves Hermann nervous but eager to tell his story.” A clip was played of Hermann fretting: “For eight years, I’ve been in the shadows, you know. It’s been to a point where you’re almost paranoid, walking around.” Blackstone touted Hermann’s accomplishments: “He went to high school and then college…The day of his college graduation, he was awarded not one degree, but two…And the speaker that day was President Obama.” Blackstone added: “It’s often said illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes. Hermann does pay taxes and showed me his returns.” Later in the story, after describing the “often-angry debate” over the issue, Blackstone observed: “In Arizona, fears that the state is being overrun by those who won’t wait and that the border is out of control don’t match reality, says Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano.” A clip was played of Napolitano: “There are more than twice as many border patrol agents at the border than just a few years ago. There’s more technology. There’s more infrastructure. There’s more air cover and there’s more every day on the way.” As she listed each border security effort, CBS was helpful enough to provide corresponding video footage to bolster her case. Blackstone continued: “Despite a perception that illegal immigrants are causing a crime wave, the FBI says violent crime near the border has actually fallen in the past decade….The Department of Homeland Security estimates the number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. dropped from 11.6 million in January 2008, to 10.8 million in January 2009.” Napolitano claimed: “…the numbers are all going in the right direction.” Nearing the end of his report, Blackstone did some lobbying for a particular piece of immigration legislation: “Many young undocumented immigrants, like Hermann, have their hopes pinned on the Dream Act – legislation first introduced in 2001 that has stalled in Congress. It would award residency to many brought here as children, younger than 16, who have graduated from high school. Hermann sees the Dream Act as his chance to make a life in the country where he studied, works, and pays taxes.” Here is a full transcript of the August 8 segment: 9:00AM TEASE HARRY SMITH: ‘The New Colossus’ is the name of the Emma Lazarus poem about the Statue of Liberty, the poem that speaks of a ‘golden door’ for immigrants to America. S.B.1070 is the name of the Arizona law that critics say betrays that promise, but which supporters say is necessitated by a tide of illegal immigration. The heated debate is almost certain to end up before the Supreme Court. John Blackstone will report our cover story. JOHN BLACKSTONE: Each year, some 700,000 people from around the world are sworn in as American citizens. The controversy in Arizona and elsewhere is about the 500,000 or so who come in illegally each year. Hermann is one of them. Just you being here, you’re breaking the law. HERMANN: Absolutely. And – and the thing is that it’s an outdated law. JOHN BLACKSTONE: The immigration debate in Arizona and across the country, later on Sunday Morning. 9:09AM SEGMENT HARRY SMITH: S.B.1070 is the controversial Arizona immigration law that a federal judge found partially unconstitutional last month. As the appeal of that decision works its way toward the Supreme Court, the argument in the court of public opinion goes on as well. Our cover story is reported by John Blackstone. JOHN BLACKSTONE: In the heat of the Arizona summer, America’s long-simmering immigration debate is boiling over. CROWD PROTESTING IMMIGRATION LAW: Si se puede! Si se puede! [ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINE: Ariz. immigration law creates rift] BLACKSTONE: While protestors take to the streets, the state and federal governments are fighting in court over who can write and enforce immigration law. [ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINE: Obama Blasts Arizona Law] UNIDENTIFIED MAN A: We will not comply. UNIDENTIFIED MAN B: We will enforce the law. BLACKSTONE: When Arizona’s Governor Jan Brewer signed the state’s tough new immigration law in April, she said it was needed because of Washington’s failures. [ON-SCREEN GRAPHIC OF NEWSPAPER HEADLINE: Arizona Enacts Stringent Law on Immigration] She was angered by the court decision, that temporarily at least, blocked major parts of the measure. JAN BREWER: Now they’ve got this temporary injunction, they need to step up, the feds do, and do the job that they have the responsibility to do for the people of America, and for the people of Arizona. JANET NAPOLITANO: All allegiance and fidelity. BLACKSTONE: Former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano now has responsibility for securing the border as secretary of Homeland Security. NAPOLITANO: There’s frustration out there. I think there’s a misconception that securing the border means sealing the border and anyone who’s been on the border knows that that’s just a physical impossibility among other things. You don’t seal the border but you secure the border. BLACKSTONE: Securing the border was Harold Beasley’s job for more than three decades. Now retired in Arizona, the current battle has him talking about putting on his uniform again. HAROLD BEASLEY: Why don’t you give it a try? Bring me out of retirement and give me 200 Border Patrol agents and I’ll show you how many people I can deport in a couple of months. You know, it’s – it’s – it’s – it’s a hard job, but you can do it. [CROWD PROTESTING IMMIGRATION LAW] BLACKSTONE: If the immigration debate means a lot to Harold Beasley, it means everything to 23-year-old Hermann. He’s an undocumented immigrant we met at a church gathering. He was brought here by his family when he was 15. HERMANN: And I completely fell in love with the country. I – I felt, you know, there’s so many opportunities. There’s so many things you can do here. I want to stay. I want to, you know, be someone. I want to go to school, be the best I can be. BEASLEY: I see people in my hometown of Phoenix, Arizona now demonstrating, carrying signs, saying that I owe them something. I owe them rights. I owe them, you know, welfare. I owe them this and I owe them that. BLACKSTONE: The estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants in Arizona cost the state about $900 million dollars a year for education, health care, and incarceration, according to Arizona officials. And at a time when unemployment in Arizona is 9.6%, there are fears undocumented workers are taking jobs Americans should have. UNIDENTIFIED MAN C: We are America! Get over it! [SPLIT SCREEN: On Left: Protestor sign reading ‘Land of the Free! Really?’; On Right: Police officer in riot gear]   BLACKSTONE: The current atmosphere leaves Hermann nervous but eager to tell his story. HERMANN: For eight years, I’ve been in the shadows, you know. It’s been to a point where you’re almost paranoid, walking around. But I think this is – it’s now or never, you know. You got to say what you got to say. BLACKSTONE: Hermann’s family came from Venezuela on tourist visas but never left. He went to high school and then college. HERMANN: And I worked full time while I was at school, almost 40 hours. Actually, my senior year, all throughout the – the year, I worked at nights, delivering newspapers. BLACKSTONE: The day of his college graduation, he was awarded not one degree, but two. HERMANN: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Magna Cum Laude. And that’s my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Magna Cum Laude as well. BLACKSTONE: And the speaker that day was President Obama. BARACK OBAMA: We need young people like you to step up. We need your daring. We need your enthusiasm. We need your energy. We need your imagination. HERMANN: If there was a pathway for me to become legalized even right now, I would do it, I would do it. BLACKSTONE: It’s often said illegal immigrants don’t pay taxes. Hermann does pay taxes and showed me his returns. He doesn’t have a Social Security number; but the IRS gives undocumented workers a special taxpayer number, information that is not shared with immigration authorities. HERMANN: It’s funny how the system works. You know, they – they won’t give you that chance to work but they do want you to pay those taxes. BLACKSTONE: The often-angry debate here in Arizona reflects a discussion that’s been going on through much of America’s history. The country’s dilemma is whether yet another influx of outsiders can be accepted into a nation of immigrants. Each year, about 700,000 people raise their hands to be sworn in as American citizens. Getting into America legally isn’t quick or easy. Mumtaz Shamsee, from Pakistan, became an American citizen last month. MUMTAZ SHAMSEE: The whole process, since the day I arrived till the day I took my oath, is almost 19 years. BLACKSTONE: He came here first on a student visa. Then, after graduating as a computer engineer, he got a temporary work visa, and eventually citizenship. SHAMSEE: I feel like I earned my citizenship because the rule is if you are on work visa, H1, and you get laid off, you have to find another job or you are illegal, your status is illegal. You’re supposed to leave the country. BLACKSTONE: Fortunately for him, his skills were in demand in Silicon Valley so he could stay. Many other prospective immigrants have to wait patiently in their home countries. SUSAN CURDA: There has to be a visa number available, and sometimes that actually can take several years. BLACKSTONE: Susan Curda of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services says to come here legally most immigrants need either a job offer or an immediate family member already living here. Then get in line. CURDA: The countries that have the most people wanting to come to the United States, the wait’s going to be longer. BLACKSTONE: In Arizona, fears that the state is being overrun by those who won’t wait and that the border is out of control don’t match reality, says Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano. NAPOLITANO: There are more than twice as many border patrol agents at the border than just a few years ago. There’s more technology. There’s more infrastructure. There’s more air cover and there’s more every day on the way. [ON-SCREEN: Footage of Border Patrol efforts as Napolitano lists them] BLACKSTONE: Despite a perception that illegal immigrants are causing a crime wave, the FBI says violent crime near the border has actually fallen in the past decade: in Phoenix down 10%, in San Diego down 17%, in El Paso, Texas, down 36%. In fact, illegal immigration as a whole is actually declining, although the poor economy may have as much to do with that as improved border security. The Department of Homeland Security estimates the number of undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. dropped from 11.6 million in January 2008, to 10.8 million in January 2009. NAPOLITANO: Even as that has been going on and the numbers are all going in the right direction and – and all the rest, I think there’s a realization, particularly in border states, that the underlying immigration law needs to be updated, needs to be reformed. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN A: It’s a fight for the Dream Act- BLACKSTONE: Many young undocumented immigrants, like Hermann, have their hopes pinned on the Dream Act – legislation first introduced in 2001 that has stalled in Congress. It would award residency to many brought here as children, younger than 16, who have graduated from high school. Hermann sees the Dream Act as his chance to make a life in the country where he studied, works, and pays taxes. HERMANN: This is my home. I – I do feel like I’m an American. You know, I have a great love, a great respect for this country. I’ve always had it. BLACKSTONE: But Hermann’s wish to live here legally is one shared by millions around the world. CROWD: And to the Republic for which it stands- BLACKSTONE: Many immigrants think coming to America is like winning a lottery. And that’s exactly how Paras and Davita Upadhyay from Nepal got here. They were winners of the State Department’s Diversity Visa Lottery, which awards 55,000 visas a year to people in countries that send few immigrants to America. DAVITA UPADHYAY: He was all excited, yeah. It was exciting. We were not expecting that. PARAS UPDHYAY: Yeah, we were not expecting that. UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN B: Raise your right hands. BLACKSTONE: More people want to come to the United States than to anywhere else and that is a challenge of immigration reform. Among all those who dream of becoming American, how do we choose who to accept?

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