ABC News plays pitchman for President Obama's Healthcare program

While I find some of the objections to the Healthcare plan by the right to be a bit silly. This one bugs me:

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE

Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care — a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special — ‘Prescription for America’ — originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

The Director of Communications at the White House Office of Health Reform is Linda Douglass, who worked as a reporter for ABC News from 1998-2006.

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

via DRUDGE REPORT: ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA 2009®.

Of course and rightfully so, the RNC is not amused:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC’s astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party’s views to those of the President’s to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party’s opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee

Chief of Staff

Well, ABC was having none of that; they responded:

June 16, 2009

Mr. Ken McKay
Chief of Staff
Republican National Committee
310 First Street SE
Washington, D.C. 20003

Dear Mr. McKay:

I am in receipt of your letter of June 15, 2009 and wanted to respond to a number of false premises you raise regarding our ongoing and upcoming coverage of health care.

I hope we can all agree that a robust debate of health care issues and potential policies is in order.

To that end, ABC News announced plans to broadcast a primetime hour from the White House devoted to exploring and probing the President’s position and the giving voice to questions and criticisms of that position. We hope that any American concerned about health care will find our efforts to be informative, fair and civil.

Second, ABC News prides itself on covering all sides of important issues and asking direct questions of all newsmakers — of all political persuasions — even when others have taken a more partisan approach and even in the face of criticism from extremes on both ends of the political spectrum. ABC News is looking for the most thoughtful and diverse voices on this issue. ABC News alone will select those who will be in the audience asking questions of the president. Like any programs we broadcast, ABC News will have complete editorial control. To suggest otherwise is quite unfair to both our journalists and our audience.

Third, there already has been extensive coverage of the upcoming health care debates, on ABC and elsewhere, and there will be much, much more. Indeed, we’ve already had many critics of the President’s health care proposals on the air – and that’s before a real plan has even been put before the country.

In the end, no one watching, listening to, or reading ABC News will lack for an understanding of all sides of these important questions.

Thank you for your interest.

Kerry Smith
SVP, ABC News

We are getting closer and closer to European socialism and closer to State-run media by the day. What’s next? Death squads for the those who oppose?

Sure looks like it.

Others on the case: Weekly Standard, Riehl World View, TVNewser, Doug Ross, Michelle Malkin, , Brutally Honest, Hot Air, The Other McCain, The Sundries Shack, ,  MacsmindBlue Crab Boulevard, , Flopping Aces, Patterico’s Pontifications, Right Wing Nut House, Townhall.com, Right Wing News, and This ain’t Hell …

On Olbermann

Bill Anderson over at Lew Rockwell’s Blog asks the following:

Not long ago, some libertarians were hailing Keith Olbermann because he attacked George W. Bush (correctly) and his wars.  Today, we do not see Olbermann complaining about these wars, now that his people are in the White House.  Unfortunately, we libertarians are learning a hard lesson once again; the Left is not anti-war.  Instead, the Left is against war when leftists believe that wars consume too many resources that could be used in the government’s war against peaceful, private exachange.  However, we see that today, Obama’s government is engaged in war both at home and abroad.  Olbermann is a big supporter (as is Michael Moore).

Bill, that’s because Olbermann is kind of green when it comes to politics. The dude is a sportscaster for Christ’s sake. What do you expect?

Has Olbermann uttered one word against Obama’s war?

Well, if you consider the heavy sighing and hand wringing that he’s now doing; as a word against the Obama Administration and the war that now belongs to them. Yes, He has. But seriously; Olbermann is quite the partisan. To her credit, Rachel Maddow is not. But Keith? Oh Yes, quite partisan. To his credit, Olbermann did his fair share of screaming about Bush Administration’s Wilsonian foreign policies. But now that the Obama Administration is in there. It’s a whole other ball game at MSNBC HQ. I mean, Tucker Carlson even left. What does that tell you?

I don’t thing so

Uh, you mean, I don’t think so? 😉 😛 😀

Is Murdoch unloading the Weekly Standard?

That’s what they’re saying:

News Corp. is near a deal to sell its right-wing political magazine, the Weekly Standard, to conservative media mogul Philip Anschutz, according to people familiar with the situation.

Launched in 1995 and edited by William Kristol and Fred Barnes, the Weekly Standard has been a pet political project for News Corp. chief Rupert Murdoch. While its circulation, according to the magazine’s website is only 83,000 (it hasn’t been audited by the Audit Bureau of Circulation since 1996), it reaches the upper echelon of Capitol Hill insiders and gave the media mogul cache among the Washington elite.

Now that Murdoch owns the Wall Street Journal, however, whose conservative editorial page wields a much bigger political stick, he may no longer really need the Weekly Standard, which preaches much the same message, but to a considerably smaller audience. Murdoch’s own political views seem to have swung more toward the center over the last few years, and that, too, might be a factor in his decision to sell.

Or, to be blunt, News Corp., as the prospects for print media shrink, may be reviewing all its assets and deciding what stays and what goes. Using that rationale, holding on to what we suspect is a money-losing magazine doesn’t make much sense.Anschutz

A spokeswoman for News Corp. declined to comment. A spokeman for Anschutz could not be immediately reached.

via News Corp. in talks to unload Weekly Standard to Anschutz | Company Town | Los Angeles Times.

I personally attempted to contact the Weekly Standard for a comment. I got the voice mail system there. I also left a message for Jack Horner, who is the Director for corporate affairs at News Corporation ; maybe I will get lucky and Jack will actually e-mail back with a comment. An exclusive on this story would be nice.  I will post, if and when I do get a response to the inquiry.

More to come, possibly.

Stay classy David Letterman

Another little gem being served up by HotAir.com, is this little gem from the most unfunny so-called comedian in America.

As expected the Conservative Blogosphere is absolutely livid about this; and rightly so. Hell, there’s even a Conservative-turned-Liberal Blogger who is a bit pissed about Letterman’s performance as well:

You know, I have no idea what the hell David Letterman is thinking or what he thinks he is accomplishing with crap like this, but this was inexcusable. He should be ashamed of himself.

And I’m not trying to sound like some politically correct scold, and I have no problem with comedians being comedians. There are lots of reasons to dislike Sarah Palin, there are lots of reasons to not be impressed with her leadership, her beliefs, or, well, anything about her, but when you start with the “slutty” crap, or are making jokes about her daughter getting “knocked up,” you’ve crossed a line. I have no problem attacking Palin for her idiotic proposals and all the stupid things she has said, but this just is the kind of nonsense that is no good for anyone.

Maybe I’m over-reacting, and I know I’m not always perfect, but I’m really losing my patience and tolerance for this kind of stuff. There was no place for this kind of stuff with Hillary and Chelsea, there is no room for it with Michelle and their kids, and the same standard should apply for Sarah Palin and her kids. Hell, it should apply to all women. – John Cole @ Balloon Juice

Let me be the first to say that, not only do I wholeheartedly agree with Cole; I also commend him for having the guts to stand up and say, “Wait a Minute!” on this little issue here. Hats off to you John, you’re one hell of a good man for doing this.

Not only was this a classless attack on Palin, everyone is assuming Palin’s oldest daughter went with her to the ballgame. It was not her, it was her 14 year old daughter Willow that went with her to the Ballgame. Not smart David, Not smart at all. When your own fellow Liberal Democrats are calling you on stupid joke; an apology is order. expect to see that here in the next few days.

Jim Treacher also states the obvious:

I realize I’m just an inbred backwoods moron who can’t abide by any criticism of Sarah Palin whatsoever, but is this really the precedent we want to set for our politicians and their families?

After all, Samson Obama, one of the president’s many half-brothers, isn’t allowed in the UK because he tried to assault a 13-year-old girl. Are we to impose the Letterman standard there? Is it okay to make a joke like this?

“How come the First Family never invites Uncle Samson to visit? Because whenever Sasha and Malia sit on his knee, it takes six Secret Service guys to pry them off!”

Or how about this?

“Joe Biden keeps saying he’s not really sure where all that stimulus money is going. In other news, Ashley Biden’s coke dealer just bought Luxembourg.”

Hey, I didn’t say they were good jokes. But are they really worse than what Letterman just got away with on national TV? If so, why?

Good point, good point indeed.

Memeornadum has the Roundup of other Blogs covering the story.

Update: Thanks to Memeornadum for the pull!

Liberal Writer Tommy Christopher fired by AOL

I don’t always agree with Tommy Christopher. But this here is just pure B.S.:

AOL News has been bending over backwards lately to make sure that the do not cover the controversy surrounding Playboy.com writer Guy Cimbalo’s vile attack on conservative women. AOL News has taken some drastic steps to censor any mention, let alone criticism, of Playboy’s screed. They have deleted posts about the article, banned contributors from mentioning it, and even fired one of their liberal writers over it.

The fact that banning reporters from, well, reporting is so contrary to the purpose of a news organization it really is puzzling. It seems to be in direct contrast to their commitment to “traditional journalistic values”.

The evidence is stacking up quite high that AOL News fired liberal writer Tommy Christopher today due to his repeated attempts to get coverage of the Playboy attack list on AOL’s Politics Daily. Christopher had first attempted to post this criticism of Playboy’s sick list the day it was published on their website. However, he was surprised to find that shortly after putting his article on Politics Daily it was deleted by an editor.

His surprise stemmed from the fact that in his two years of writing for the site not one other post had ever been deleted by an editor.

via Liberal Writer Fired By AOL News For Reporting Vile Playboy List | NewsBusters.org.

If and when I do happen to go over and listen to Ed Morrissey’s Show, I sometimes listen to Ed & Tommy Christopher. Christopher is one of the more rational liberals out there.  This is just further example of the liberal intolerance that I have blogged about before. It also goes further than this; there are corporate ties here that might explain Tommy’s firing.

Anyway, it was quite the shock to Tommy and he is looking for donations. Click here to go to his blog, and click here to check out his twitter feed.

I personally want to wish Tommy all the best and hopefully He will be able to pick up a new writing gig in short order.

Gents, I do believe it is time to drop the Playboy subscriptions and the AOL subscriptions. I mean surly there must be better masturbation material and faster Internet out there, right?

Others: Townhall.com, Hot Air, Michelle Malkin, media lizzy & friends, Daily Dose, Don Surber, Flopping Aces, Riehl World View and five feet of fury.

Video: O’Reilly Versus Olbermann on the Tiller Murder

It is not everyday that I get to do something of this nature. As you all know there was a murder of an abortion doctor in Kansas yesterday. As I said last night, I do not support this sort of extremist nonsense.  As neither does any other sort of sane thinking American; Conservative or Liberal, or anything else in between.

These videos, I believe are a text book example of the dogmatic positions that have infested the Liberal and Conservative factions of the political debate in this  country.

First off, here’s Bill O. condemning the attacks, and all the while denying the fact, that the killer might have actually watched his show:

Notice that there is no “Hey, We’re sorry that the man is dead.” or anything of that sort, just an arrogant bristle at his critics that accuse him of having at least some sort of culpability; even if it is simply being a messenger boy for the traditionalists.  

Next up, we have the poster child for the far left, the man; whom I thought was a legit answer to Wilsonian, Neo-Conservative Foreign Policy of George W. Bush. Whom also magically transformed himself, after the election of President Barack Obama; into a political hack and a defender of the throne, of sorts, to the new Liberal President.  What follows is nothing more than a Left Wing smear of the Conservatives, of all stripes and flavors:

As a libertarian-minded, Paleo-Conservative; I find both of these men equally disturbing.  First off; any broadcaster and political opinion maker who favors “quarantining” anyone’s freedom of speech, is as far as I am concerned not better than the soviet communists of old. That goes well beyond just being a Liberal Democrat; that is basically being a far left wing Liberal Fascist. This sort of nonsense is NOT, I repeat, NOT what the founders of the Democratic Party of old would have wanted.

Further more; I find Bill O’Reilly’s arrogance to be absolutely sickening. A man was just gunned down in the lobby of his own god damned Church for Christ’s sake; and the best this idiot Irish piece of shit can do, is smirk and bristle when someone points out the obvious about the far right and their tendency towards a fascist position of individual rights and freedoms of women?  It is no damned wonder that ALL of the old media is tanking like a leaking boat! 🙄

While I am quite sympathetic to the right to life cause. I cannot and will not endorse a policy that I feel to be border-line Nazi Fascist in nature. This is one of the main sticking points between me and the G.O.P.; I believe that Abortion and ANY laws pertaining to it, should be on a STATE level and NOT on a Federal level. How these Republicans can talk limited Government out of one side of their mouth and then want to have Federal Government regulation on something is now and should always be the choice of the individual, is nothing short of an equal with Hitler’s Nazi Germany. There is no such thing as big Government Conservatism. You are either a big Government type or a small limited Government person, you cannot be both.

While I am on the soapbox here, let me say a few other things that are radar here. I notice that today that there was a shooting of couple of our American Soldiers, by some Negro Muslim convert. I notice the Liberal Blogs are not exactly running this one up a flag pole, now are they? No! You know why? Because the Radical Muslims and possibly all Muslims in general share the same trait as the Liberals in this Country, and that’s a hatred of this Country’s Christian values and our Military.

…and one more here, before I finish this rather cranky blog post, another thing that I saw that burned my damned balls with this little gem by noted Neo-Conservative Blogger Ed Morrissey, on the Tiller Murder:

The murder of George Tiller at his church is a heinous crime, without any sense or justice. Regardless of how one feels about George Tiller’s profession, his murderer is nothing more than a domestic terroristsomeone attempting to impose by force a policy that one cannot get in place through democratic means. Tiller’s killer is no better than William Ayers, Kathleen Soliah, and Eric Rudolph, people who attempted to use violence for their extremist ends. Those who value life know that murder is the antithesis of the pro-life movement.

That stupid idiotic nonsense up there that I bolded, italicized and underlined up there. Could have been written by John Podhartz or Bill Kristol, both noted Neo-Conservatives. The cold, hard, sober fact is that this Scott Roeder is nothing more than a cold blooded killer; who was a part of a far right wing, anti-Governmental underground group, he is NOT a jihadist. I, quite frankly, wish that Ed Morrissey would pull his rather pointed head out his ass long enough to realize that. This drivel comes from the same place that says that Israel has never, ever, committed any acts of “Terrorism” themselves and the CIVILIANS (not Hamas or Hezbollah) of Palestine and more specifically Gaza; got exactly what was coming to them. 

A textbook example of why I believe that Liberals hate America

Because of stuff like this here….

Video via Gateway Pundit:

We use the phrase, gave their lives. But they didn’t give their lives, there lives were taken from them
There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity – war.
The goal of war is to cause death to other people.
Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good of course its for ourselves, the living
If this is not a classic example of Anti-American Liberal sentiment, I do not know what is. Honestly, I would never figured Andy Rooney to be like this at all. I would expect this sort of tripe from say, Rosie O’Donnell, Bill Ayes, Jeremiah Wright;  But not this guy. Guess you cannot judge a book by its cover.
Others Reporting: Examiner, Scared Monkeys

Terrorist plot to blow up Jewish Synagogues in the Bronx thwarted

This news broke last night, but I was not in any mood to write about it.

Video Report, showing NY’s Mayor Bloomberg:

Four men were arrested Wednesday night in what the authorities said was a plot to bomb two synagogues in the Bronx and shoot down military planes at an Air National Guard base in Newburgh, N.Y.

The men, all of whom live in Newburgh, about 60 miles north of New York City, were arrested around 9 p.m. after planting what they believed to be bombs in cars outside the Riverdale Temple and the nearby Riverdale Jewish Center, officials said. But the men did not know the bombs, obtained with the help of an informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, were fake.

The arrests capped what officials described as a “painstaking investigation” that began in June 2008 involving an F.B.I. agent who had been told by a federal informant of the men’s desire to attack targets in America. As part of the plot, the men intended to fire Stinger missiles at military aircraft at the base, which is at Stewart International Airport, officials said.

“This latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement. The mayor was expected to appear at 6:45 a.m. Thursday at the Riverdale Jewish Center morning services, joined by Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly.

The charges against the four men represent some of the most significant allegations of domestic terrorism in some time, and come months into a new presidential administration, as President Obama grapples with the question of how to handle detainees at the Guantánamo Bay camp in Cuba.

Rabbi Jonathan I. Rosenblatt, the senior rabbi at the Riverdale Jewish Center, a modern Orthodox congregation, said the police informed him on Wednesday evening that his synagogue was a target of the plot, as well as the Riverdale Temple, a Reform synagogue that is a short distance away, on Independence Avenue. The two buildings are about six blocks apart, each with a brick facade. Outside the synagogues on Wednesday night, the streets were eerily quiet.

Rabbi Rosenblatt said in a phone interview that he took the news with “shock, surprise — a sense of disbelief that something which is supposed to belong to the world of front pages and the evening news had invaded the quiet world of our synagogue.”

via 4 Accused of Bombing Plot at Bronx Synagogues – NYTimes.com.

Of course, the Neo-Conservative Blogs are all over this one. A couple of things to point out:

  1. There’s no proof at all, that these guys were connected to any sort of formal terrorist group
  2. They never were able to obtain any sort of real weapons

So, what we have here is a group of wanna-be’s who got caught. This is what, the second time? The first was the much hyped Fort Dix plot; which turned out to be a great deal of nothing. I am sure that the Conservative media and blogs are going to hype this for all it is worth. The liberal-controlled media; hopefully, will take a more reasoned approach to the situation and report the facts, and shy away from the hype.

Do not misunderstand me here. I personally believe that the war on terrorism, as George W. Bush rightfully called it, is quite real. However, I have a hard time believing that this group of bumbling idiots were a part of it formally. If anything, these guys were a group of morons who could not even make a pipe bomb; much less a damn bomb capable of causing any sort of real damage.

As to why they did it. These guys were upset about our involvement in Afghanistan. We can expect to see this sort of a thing, as that War progresses. Now the idiots on the far liberal left will try and say that this is why we should leave Afghanistan. Which any sane, rational person knows is foolish. We should not leave until Osama and his henchmen are dead and Al-Qaeda is formally defeated. Some say this is impossible. I believe nothing is impossible, if it is done correctly. The far left likes to bring up that Russia tried to fight a war in this region and ended up pulling out. I say; apples and oranges. Different kind of a war, and the Russians did not have nearly the Military that we have and the technology that we have today.

The good thing about all this is, that this terrorist cell was broken up and these idiots are going to jail. Thanks to the fine work of our men at the F.B.I. Good show guys, keep up the good work.

Update: …and then there’s the Libertarian conspiracy theorist angle. No wonder the Republicans think that most libertarians are kooks.

HEH!: Liberal Columnist rips off Liberal Blogger

Gee, I wonder; would this be the 21 century equilivant of “Dog eat Dog?” 😛 or Dog Bites man…. or Dog something… 😀

Oh, it’s funny and you know it! 🙄

It seems that Liberal Columnist ripped off a Liberal Blogger. Talking Points Memo reports:

Maureen Dowd in today’s NY Times:

“More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when the Bush crowd was looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/opinion/17dowd.html?_r=1

Uh-oh.....
Uh-oh.....

(click image for bigger pic)

TPM’s Josh Marshall on Thurs:

“More and more the timeline is raising the question of why, if the torture was to prevent terrorist attacks, it seemed to happen mainly during the period when we were looking for what was essentially political information to justify the invasion of Iraq.”

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2009/05/bubbling.php

Doh!
D'oh!

(click image for bigger pic)

All Dowd did was change “we were” to “the Bush crowd was”.

Now, I’m all for cutting & pasting. As a blogger I do it all the time, but I always give credit.

So, if this isn’t outright plagiarism by a top NY Times Editorialist, than I’m a happily married, straight man with 4 kids, 2 dogs, a lovely 2nd wife of 15 years with a girl half my age on the side.

Which I assure you all, I am not.

Josh has a valid point. When we bloggers use content from other sites, or we copy something, we ALWAYS; well unless someone’s being an prick or something like that, credit the original source and link to that source article. Like I did this piece. What Dowd did was totally unprofessional and just plain rude. Of course, when called on it; Dowd is in full backward cat crawl mode:

New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd, in an email to Huffington Post, admits that a paragraph in her Sunday column was lifted from Talking Points Memo editor Josh Marshall’s blog last Thursday.

Dowd claims that she never read his blog last week but was told the line by a friend of hers. In a follow-up email, she forwarded her desire to apologize to Marshall, writing that had she known, she would have gladly credited Marshall.

josh is right. I didn’t read his blog last week, and didn’t have any idea he had made that point until you informed me just now. i was talking to a friend of mine Friday about what I was writing who suggested I make this point, expressing it in a cogent — and I assumed spontaneous — way and I wanted to weave the idea into my column. but, clearly, my friend must have read josh marshall without mentioning that to me. we’re fixing it on the web, to give josh credit, and will include a note, as well as a formal correction tomorrow.

Oh Yeah, the old “I got it from a Friend” line…. Josh chimes in here:

Indeed. Dowd got busted and now she’s trying to walk it back. She’ll be either fired or will take vacation till the heat blows over…. or at wost, end up as lackey over at MSNBC with the rest of the Plagiarizing idiots. (You know who I mean… I hope.)

Boy. Take a break from Blogging and all the cool stuff happens. Wow! 😮

Others on both sides of the political asle blogging about this one: HotAir, NewsBusters.org, Townhall.com, TBogg, theblogprof, skippy the bush kangaroo, Shakesville, Hullabaloo, The TrogloPundit, Crooks and Liars, RedState, the nytpicker, PoliBlog,Grasping Reality …, At-Largely, Roger Ailes, The Other McCain, TalkLeft, Hullabaloo, The Sundries Shack, Balloon Juice, Tim Blair and Lawyers, Guns and Money,Pajamas Media, Redhot,Don Surber, Daily Kos, Founding Bloggers, The Greenroom, ATTACKERMAN, Campaign Silo, JustOneMinute and Commentary