FCC Proposes Putting Monitors in Newrooms Across United States. POSSIBLY UNRELATED STORY- USA Plunges to 46th in Press Freedom in Reporters Without Borders Index

Under the auspices a pilot program called 'Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs', the Federal Communications Comission announced a pilot program to insert federal monitors into newsrooms throughout the country.

The stated purpose of this program is to help the agency better understand how reporters and editors select news stories for publication. The Multi-Market Study of Critical Information Needs is supposedly voluntary. However, an FCC commissioner warned in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed that the survey would be detrimental to press freedoms and ultimately lead to the government dictating to news outlets which stories get coverage and which ones will never see the light of day.

The purpose of the CIN, according to the FCC, is to ferret out information from television and radio broadcasters about "the process by which stories are selected" and how often stations cover "critical information needs," along with "perceived station bias" and "perceived responsiveness to underserved populations."

How does the FCC plan to dig up all that information? First, the agency selected eight categories of "critical information" such as the "environment" and "economic opportunities," that it believes local newscasters should cover. It plans to ask station managers, news directors, journalists, television anchors and on-air reporters to tell the government about their "news philosophy" and how the station ensures that the community gets critical information.

This is not the first time the agency has meddled in news coverage. Before Critical Information Needs, there was the FCC's now-defunct Fairness Doctrine, which began in 1949 and required equal time for contrasting viewpoints on controversial issues. Though the Fairness Doctrine ostensibly aimed to increase the diversity of thought on the airwaves, many stations simply chose to ignore controversial topics altogether, rather than air unwanted content that might cause listeners to change the channel.

The Fairness Doctrine was controversial and led to lawsuits throughout the 1960s and '70s that argued it infringed upon the freedom of the press. The FCC finally stopped enforcing the policy in 1987, acknowledging that it did not serve the public interest. In 2011 the agency officially took it off the books. But the demise of the Fairness Doctrine has not deterred proponents of newsroom policing, and the CIN study is a first step down the same dangerous path.

The 'survey' was reportedly the brainchild of FCC official Mignon Clyburn- daughter of Democrat congressman and Fairness Doctrine supporter Jim Clyburn. In the wake of the 2011 Tuscon shooting that killed six and injured 14- including then-congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords- Clyburn blamed conservative talk radio on Jared Loughner's murder spree and called for the reintroduction of the Fairness Doctorine [even though Loughner was determined to be an irate loner who was fixated on Giffords before the advent of the Tea Party- NANESB!].

Since FOX News and conservative talk radio are one of the few media outlets host pundits and media personalities openly critical of President Obama's policies, the proposed FCC guidelines seem designed more for stifling their editorial process as opposed to MSNBC, which is a de-facto TV network for the ruling Democrat party

The news comes around the same time the advocacy group Reporters Without Borders released an index that listed the United States as 46th- between Romania and Haiti- for press freedom. Previously, the Reporters Without Borders survey had listed the United States as 13th overall in press freedom.

However, in May 2013 it was learned that the Department of Justice had seized phone records from the AP in addition to wiretapping Fox News reporter James Rosen and seizing his parent's phone records.

UPDATE- Heading into the weekend, reports were circulating that the FCC was revising or backing away altogether from their proposed Critical Information Needs survey.

Old Gray Lady Takes A Bath: New York Times Sells Boston Globe to Red Sox Owner John Henry

Business and Red Sox principal owner John Henry has entered into an agreement to buy New England's largest newspaper from the New York Times[NYSE: NYT] for $70 million.

The impending purchase from The New York Times Co. marks Henry's "first foray into the financially unsettled world of the news media," the Globe said Saturday. The deal will give Henry the 141-year-old newspaper, its websites and affiliated companies, it said.

The Times announced in February it was putting the Globe and related assets up for sale four years after calling off a previous attempt to sell it. The company's CEO said at the time selling the Globe would help the company focus attention on The New York Times brand.

Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy confirmed the planned sale of the Globe and other media properties to Henry.

The Times said the all-cash sale, expected to close in 30 to 60 days, includes BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Telegram.com, the direct mail marketing company Globe Direct and the company's 49 percent interest in Metro Boston, a free daily newspaper for commuters.

The New York Times purchased the newspaper from the family of Globe co-founder Charles Taylor in 1993 for a total of $1 billion- effectively making New England's largest daily newspaper a wholly owned subsidiary of the Times. The sale to Henry represents a loss of approximately $930 million.

Other potential suitors included western Massachusetts TV station owner John Gormally, Los Angeles-based private equity group Revolution Capital and Phoenix, AZ-based Najafi Cos., which also owns the NBA's Phoenix Suns.

Readership and subscriptions had been flagging in recent years- to the point where the Times threatened to shut down the newspaper in 2009 after the unions representing the paper vetoed $10 million in pay cuts. However, the publication won praise for their in-depth coverage of the April 15th Boston Marathon bombings and the manhunt that led to the death of Tamerlan Tsarnaev and capture of his younger brother Dzhokhar Tsarnaev in Watertown, MA.

Perhaps the best known Globe alumni is Hall of Fame baseball writer and frequent ESPN guest Peter Gammons. The sale of the Globe to Henry has also raised conflict-of-interest concerns over sports coverage- although coverage of the team by most New England media outlets has been mostly positive since Herny's group acquired primary ownership of the Red Sox in 2002.

Former Congressman and New York City Mayoral Candidate Anthony Weiner Admits to Sending More Sexually Explicit Texts After Resignation

If you're a writer for one of the late-night TV talk shows, there's just not other way to put this: Anthony Weiner is simply the gift that keeps on giving.

It was two years ago that then-Congressman Anthony Weiner had resigned in disgrace after admitting to sending lewd photographs of himself to women on social networking sites like twitter and then lying about it to a media that seemed ready to give him the benefit of the doubt. The announcement took place shortly after conservative blogger and publisher Andrew Breitbart co-opted Weiner's press conference.

Since then, Weiner and his allies in the Democrat party who thought his political prospects could be salvaged began rehabilitating his image, with an emphasis on his wife- former Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin. His former District- NY-9- went Republican in a special election before it was redistricted out of existence. Less than two years later, Weiner's name kept coming up as a potential candidate for Mayor of New York- as though the original Weiner-gate had never taken place to begin with.

After a couple of fairly puffball interviews where Weiner contritely claimed he had learned his lesson and was going to a better husband and father from here on out, the Weiner for Mayor talk moved beyond punchlines and double entendre and into reality. However, the rollout of the Weiner for Mayor Campaign website was not without problems after Pittsburgh's skyline was used on the page instead of New York City's.

However, texts and images between Weiner and an unidentified woman surfaced this week on a tabloid blog called The Dirty. During a press conference on Tuesday, he admitted that not only were the pictures of him, but that the images and explicit texts were sent to the woman after his resignation and a number of sympathetic interviews where he swore he was a changed man.

The woman claims on the blog that she first started talking online with Weiner in July 2012 and it became intense by August 2012, when he offered to find a Chicago condo where they could meet up.

She also alleges that they had phone sex and that they exchanged nude photos of each other. She claims she received photos from Weiner of his penis sent from a Yahoo email account under the “Carlos Danger” name. The purported image was later posted on TheDirty.com.

Weiner released a written statement on Tuesday afternoon, which he read again at the press conference,admitting to additional raunchy conversations.

The unidentified woman, who approached The Dirty with Weiner's raunchy correspondence, said that the disgraced pol had offered her a job at Politico if she deleted the pictures and texts that he sent.

So far, Weiner has steadfastly maintained that he isn't dropping out of the mayoral race.

White House Staff Clashes With Veteran Washington Post Reporter Bob Woodward

Interesting how liberals claim to be all about "speaking truth to power" right up until the liberals are the ones in power.

Bob Woodward, the Washington Post investigative journalist who (along with colleague Carl Bernstein) was credited with bringing down the Nixon Administration over the Watergate break-in and cover-up, claims that he's been harassed by senior White House officials over the upcoming sequester deadline. Mr. Woodward, a Washington Post editor who detailed the 2011 deal that led to the imminent spending cuts in his book "The Price of Politics," has said the Obama administration shifted its position by insisting that new tax revenue be part of any agreement to replace the cuts.

President Barack Obama's demand for new revenue is a central reason the two political parties haven't come to agreement on a strategy for replacing the cuts.

The dispute has drawn media attention in large part due to Mr. Woodward's status as one of the nation's best-known journalists, and because he said the White House pushed back aggressively when he questioned the administration's statement about the cuts.

Mr. Woodward has said Gene Sperling, the president's National Economic Council director, went too far by suggesting the journalist would "regret" reporting that the president had changed his position. "It makes me very uncomfortable to have the White House telling reporters you're going to 'regret' doing something that you believe in," Mr. Woodward said on CNN. "It's Mickey Mouse."

Hardly anybody's idea of a right-wing firebrand and bomb-thrower, Woodward has been a vocal critic of Obama's lack of leadership during the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations with the Republican-held House of Representatives, accusing the Administration of "moving the goalposts" on the terms of any budget or continuing resolution deal.

Woodward said he spoke out because he felt certain that this conduct from was limited to him and was likely used to control the conduct and writing of much younger and inexperienced journalists

Woodward is not alone- on Thursday, former Clinton aide and Washington Times columnist Lanny Davis said in a radio interview on WMAL that a senior White House official called his editor at the Times and threatened to revoke the White House press credentials of reporters from the newspaper if Davis continued writing columns critical of the President [pretty interesting considering that Davis' criticisms of this Administration has been much more mild and subdued compared to Woodward's- NANESB!].

To hardly anybody's surprise, Barack Obama's media cheerleaders have decided that despite his distinguished career, Woodward clearly didn't know what he was talking about and was in the wrong.

This would not be the first time the Obama Administration has attempted to deny access to reporters or media outlets that they deem hostile. In May 2011, the White House Press Office denied the Boston Herald access to a Massachusetts fundraiser after the newspaper published an op-ed on the economy and misery index authored by eventual Republican challenger Mitt Romney. A month prior, the White House had allegedly threatened to exclude the San Francisco Chronicle from covering any presidential events in the newspaper's coverage area after a Chronicle reporter videotaped a group of women who demanded the release of Wikileaks suspect Bradley Manning interrupting one of the President's speeches at a Bay Area fundraiser. During the 2008 campaign, Obama also had reporters from three newspapers that endorsed Sen John McCain kicked out of his campaign's press pool, claiming there was no longer any room for them on the campaign's aircraft. Yet shortly after the reporters from the Washington Post, Dallas Morning News and New York Post were kicked off, the campaign reportedly made room for reporters from Ebony and Essence magazines.

Report: Syrian Forces Prepping Nerve Agent For Use Against Rebels, Civilians

Forces loyal to the regime of Syrian president Bashr Al-Assad have begun preparing chemical weapons for possible use against rebel-held positions throughout the country, according to reports from NBC and FOX news late Wednesday.

The reports cite an unnamed US Intelligence official who said that the precursor chemicals for the nerve agent sarin had been prepared and were ready to be deployed should Al-Assad give the order. Once mixed, the sarin would have to be used within 60 days before becoming inert.

Sarin attacks the respitory system and causes convulsions, nausea and resiptory failure- the chemical agent was used on the Tokyo subway system in a terrorist attack carried out by the Japanese doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo in 1995. Thirteen people were killed in that attack.

Syria has never overtly acknowledged having a chemical warfare program of their own, but military and intelligence officials believe the Assad regime has the Middle East's most prolific stockpile of chemical munitions. Some maintain that Syria developed their own chemical weapons independently while others believe Saddam Hussein was able to safely transfer large portions of his WMD inventory to Syria prior to the outbreak of the 2003 Iraq war [the two are not mutually exclusive- the Assad regime could've used a fairly small quantity of Iraqi WMD's as the foundation of their own chemical warfare program- NANESB!].

Western Diplomats warned that the Syrian military using chemical weapons would provoke a more direct involvement from the USA and NATO. The warnings on Syria's chemical weapons comes as fighting rages in the suburbs of Damascus- Syrian rebels had reportedly advanced close to Damascus' International Airport only to be hammered by airstrikes, heavy artillery and rockets. The fighting, which has raged since March of 2011, has at times spilled over into neighboring nations like Turkey and Lebanon.

OTHER SYRIAN NEWS- President Bashr Al-Assad's former press liason, 22 year old Sheherazad “Sherry” Jaafari, is reportedly studying at the New School for Social Research New York despite being accepted to the more prestigous Columbia University earlier this year.

Students at Columbia, along with exiled Syrians, had urged that Columbia rescind Jaafari's admission due to her previous work as a spokeswoman for the Al-Assad regime. Jaafari declined to enroll at Columbia, claiming she didn't want to be harrassed due to her work with Al-Assad.

The raven-tressed Muslima is the daughter of Al-Assad's UN Envoy and also attempted to use her high profile position in the regime and contacts with western reporters to land a job at a western news agency. Earlier this year, ABC News' Barbara Walters admitted to contacting colleagues at CNN to reccomend they hire Jaafari. Walters also contacted a former ABC chief who was a lecturer at Columbia to give Jaafari 'special' consideration for enrollment into the journalism school.

The requests by Jaafari came after Al Assad was interviewed by Walters in December 2011. However, a series of e-mail correspondence between Jaafari and Al-Assad that was released by hackers at Anonymous showed that she had coached Al-Assad on how best to manipulate American public opinion while minimizing the ongoing fighting that had killed an estimated 4000 Syrians by that point [including comparing the regime's crackdown to American law enforcement agencies attempting to break up the Occupy Wall Street encampments- NANESB!].

Walters would not be the only US Media figure duped by somebody from the Assad regime. Obama fundraiser and Vogue editor Anna Wintour published a piece favorably covering Syrian First Lady Asma Al-Assad and Syria under the Assad regime and ruling Ba'ath Party in February 2011.

Bloomberg news has reported that Wintour is interested in becoming the American ambassador to England during the second Obama term.

CNN Founder Ted Turner: High Suicide Rate Among US Servicemen in Afghanistan is "Good"

Between 'Superstorm Sandy', the closing week of the 2012 election and the White House's deceptive narrative on the 9/11 terrorist attacks in Benghazi unrabelling, i though this short but rather telling snippet of video from CNN last week seems to have been lost in the shuffle.

In an interview with his own network's Piers Morgan, the TV show host pointed out to Mr Turner that the rate of suicides among American soldiers in Afghanistan was actually higher than combat-related casualties.

This is what billionaire media mogul Ted Turner had to say in response:



If you notice around the 9 second mark, after Morgan asks "Shocking, isn't it?" he begins to say "No, I think it's ter-" before apparently correcting himself and saying "I think its good" before spouting some touchey-feeley New Age crapola about how people are inherently hard wired to be compassionate and helpful to one another.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Turner issued an 'apology' through a spokesman shortly afterwards.

During my recent interview on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, I inadvertently used the word "good" when asked for my thoughts on the increasing rate of suicide among U.S. military soldiers in the Middle East. It was certainly not my intent to imply that suicide is "good." Rather, I was implying that it is good that the public is more aware of these tragedies and is more averse to war and war-related fatalities.

My message has always been one of peace, I believe that we're born programmed to love and help each other, not to kill or hurt each other. I strongly support our U.S. troops and would never intentionally say anything to harm the brave men and women serving our country. I deeply apologize for any misunderstanding caused by this comment

I'm really not sure what I could possibly write to follow this up, other than I've gone from pitying CNN in their race to the bottom of the ratings heap to openly despising them.

New York Daily News Celebrates Puerto Rican Day Parade by Running Ad Showing Cuban Flag

I may be late to mark the occasion of New York's Puerto Rico Day Parade, but at least I got the flag correct, damn it!

It seems as though the Daily News ended up screwing the vexilogical pooch in a print ad they ran to promote their float in this year's Puerto Rican Day Parade.
Although the float featured New York Giants (and former UMASS Minuteman) Wide Receiver Victor Cruz, the ad that the Daily News ran prominently featured an unfurled Cuban flag.


I do believe the only proper reaction to this monumental gaffe is what the kids are calling "facepalm" these days. Although similar in terms of layout, the Puerto Rican flag features a single white star on a blue sideways triangle against a background of red and white stripes while the Cuban flag features a red triangle against a backdrop of blue and white stripes. Interestingly, the similarities between the two flags' design was no accident. With both Cuba and Puerto Rico still under Spanish rule in the mid-19th century, the flags were designed by exiled revolutionaries from both islands who were living in New York at the time.

After the United States annexed Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Philippines and Guam from Spain in the Spanish American War, Cuba declared its independence in 1902, adopting their current flag. However, Puerto Rico's status since then has been much more ambiguous with sentiment ranging from full fledged independence to becoming America's 51st state. Since the 1950s, the status quo of a Commonwealth whose residents are considered American citizens [thus freely travelling between the continental USA and Puerto Rico- NANESB!] but cannot vote in federal elections has been maintained.

Puerto Rican flags done oh-so-right

As far as flag-centered gaffes goes, this would be akin to showing an Italian flag in a print ad highlighting a St Patrick's day parade float. With the 2010 Census putting the number of Puerto Ricans in New York City at more than 723,000 (still the largest latino group in the five boroughs).

I mean seriously....how hard would it have been for a designer or editor to take maybe two minutes out of their schedule and make sure they were using the proper flag in the ad?

Conservative Blogger, Pundit, Author, Entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart Dead at Age 43

Internet publisher and founder of the 'Big' series of conservative websites Andrew Breitbart died of apparent natural causes early Thursday morning.

Breitbart was walking near his house in the Brentwood neighborhood shortly after midnight Thursday when he collapsed, his father-in-law Orson Bean said.

Someone saw him fall and called paramedics, who tried to revive him. They rushed him to the emergency room at UCLA Medical Center, Bean said. Breitbart had suffered heart problems a year earlier, but Bean said he could not pinpoint what happened.

Breitbart was a prolific commentator who founded several websites devoted to covering politics, entertainment and everything in-between. Earlier in his career, he worked for the Drudge Report before breaking off to start his own outlets -- including Big Government, Big Hollywood and Breitbart.tv.

Perhaps Breitbart's best known for upstaging Congressman Anthony Weiner's press conference in June 2011 and demanding an apology from the Congressman shortly before the Brooklyn Democrat adressed the media, confessing to sending sexually explicit mesages via Twitter from his office and fabricating a story about his account being hacked. Weiner would resign within a few weeks and his heavily Democrat district went to Republican Bob Turner in a September 2011 special election.



Breitbart was also a prolific user of Twitter- sometimes retweeting hate-mail and death threats as often as he used the social network to promote the newest articles on his own 'Big' websites. Unsuprisingly, the hate-tweets directed at him continued when news of his death broke.

While not as big a follower of the Breitbart family of websites as other bloggers, I actually did hear a live interview with him on the Hugh Hewitt radio show what turned out to be a few hours before his death. Besides fielding questions about an ongoing dispute between him and Current TV's Keith Olberman and Simon Schuster, Breitbart also defended his taste for early 80's alternative music when pressed by the host.

Breitbart typically displays the following quote on his 'Big' websites.

"I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and -- famously -- I enjoy making enemies. Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I've lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I've gained hundreds, thousands -- who knows? -- of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night,"

Breitbart also authored a number of books books including Hollywood, Interrupted and Righteous Indignation- the above quote appearing in the latter. Reportedly, Breitbart had recently completed a follow-up to Righteous Indignation.

Standing Up: A Tale of Two Riots and Steps Merchants Took To Protect Their Businesses

It seems almost inevitable that this month's rioting and looting in London would draw comparisons to the 1992 Los Angeles riots.

To be fair, there are some very valid comparisons to be made. One could argue that in both instances, an evaporating police presence and hypersensitivity to the perception of police brutality only served to fuel the rioters brazen aggression in the early going.

Before the first pane of glass was broken in Tottenham, it seemed as though enablers such as Ken Livingstone were prepared to make any number of excuses for the socioeconomic reasons leading up to the unrest while very conveniently ignoring the more immediate consequences of the rioters widespread looting, arson and assaults [one wonders if these same politicians would have such a forgiving outlook if it was their home or business that was picked clean by looters and firebombed- NANESB!].

Growing up in Western New England, I saw televised coverage of the LA riots unfolding pretty close to real time, including the brutal, unprovoked and near-fatal beating of truck driver Reginald Denny.

At the time, I couldn't help but wonder how much further things would spiral out of control. But in the second day of the LA riots, I saw something that was strangely reassuring. Abandoned by the LAPD and with the California National Guard still at least a day away from showing up, Korean merchants armed with pistols, rifles and shotguns began fortifying their shops and exchanging gunfire with approaching looters and roving gang members.

Not surprisingly, the gun-phobic Northeastern press was aghast and horrified at the armed Korean 'vigilantes' defending their livelihoods taking the law into their own hands. A contemporary account from the New York Times reads:

One of the most gripping and, increasingly, controversial television images of the violence was a scene of two Korean merchants firing pistols repeatedly from a military stance. The image seemed to speak of race war, and of vigilantes taking the law into their own hands.

I'll admit that I found it fascinating but not for the inflammatory and just plain wrong reasons the New York Times cited. Having grown up in a fairly liberal state, I was told that keeping a firearm for self-defense was a fallacy and if I did so, I was far more likely to injure or kill a member of the household than an intruder. Yet that particularly dubious statistic unravelled pretty quickly for all the world to see on live TV.

From the looks of it, there were two clear choices of what to do in such a dire situation. Find yourself at the mercy of unchecked thugs and criminals like Reginald Denny and others found themselves, or protect yourself, your business and your family by taking up arms like the Koreans did. Granted some businesses were lost to arson and looting, but by day two of the riots the armed merchants made it clear that rioters bound and determined to burn or loot their businesses would pay a heavy toll.


Fast forward nearly 20 years and on the other side of the Atlantic, the closest thing you have to the defiant Koreans fending off a murderous, rampaging mob are Turkish and Kurdish shopkeepers armed with baseball bats, knives and pool cues greeting the looters in England. Granted it had the desired effect this time around, but one has to wonder what the presence of even an old Lee-Enfield .303 rifle or over-under shotgun might've done to disperse the marauding crowd.

However, the United Kingdom has among the strictest gun control laws in the world- something many gun control advocates were hoping the USA would emulate some day. Yet since the UK's 1997 prohibition on private ownership of handguns, crime has only increased.

Even more problematic, without any debate or consultation the legal standard for what constitutes self-defense in England, hinging on a magistrate or prosecutor's definition of 'reasonable force' ex post facto. Yet many Britons feel that the people who have been engaging in a week-long spree of arson, assault and robbery will get off with a light sentence- if they're ever caught.

For all the complaints about America's supposedly lax gun laws, I'll take my chances with that versus a disarmed society where you're on your own once the police decide they can no longer protect you.

Weinerpalooza Update- Embattled Congressman Steps Down: Whiny Progressives, Late Night Talk Show Joke Writers Hardest Hit

In what could only be described as the most bizarre press conference since the June 7th presser, New York Democrat congressman Anthony Wiener announced his resignation amid jeers and taunts of "Goodbye, Pervert!".

The announcement comes after mounting pressure from Democrats over the weekend and more embarrassing pictures of the Congressman surfaced.

Exotic Dancer, Porn Star Ginger Lee and Congressional Facebook Friend Ginger Lee

Heading into the weekend, Congressman Weiner's office said that the representative would 'seek treatment' while taking a leave of absence [didn't know that being an insufferable douchebag was a treatable condition- NANESB!] but hinted that he was going to stay and fight to keep his job- even if he wound up stripped of his committee assignments by other Congressional Dems.

It was also revealed that one of Rep. Wiener's Facebook Friends- porn starlet Ginger Lee- that the Congressman asked her to lie and attempted to coach her on questions she'd likely face from the media.

Honestly, I'm not sure how I should feel about this. I think alot of people (myself included) knew Congressman Weiner was a vindictive, loathsome, petty, loudmouth little douchewaffle who was not above using his office to go after those he didn't like long before pictures of him feeling himself up in the Congressional gym or in drag began circulating online. While I am glad to see him go, I feel that it's never too late for those in the MSM (who coddled and encouraged Weiner in his most petulant moments) to rehabilitate his image or give him the opportunity to land on his feet like Elliot Spitzer.

And whether he stayed or went, the sad fact is that the media and Democrats are able to successfully deflect attention from other, far more serious issues before them with the Weiner sideshow- issues that clearly show a failure of leadership on a number of levels. You don't think the Justice Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms knowingly allowing weapons to fall into the hands of Mexican cartels is a bigger story than a New York Congresscritter sticking his iPhone down his trousers and hitting 'SEND'?

But the reactions of his supporters (who at first insisted the charges against the Congressman were fabricated) has been something to behold.

Plus there is also tremendous benefit in having him around as the face of the Democrats heading into the 2012 elections. Think about it- you wouldn't want this guy anywhere near your 17 year old daughter or niece, but somehow he can be trusted to vote on legislation that could very well affect many aspects of our day to day lives?

I would say 'Good Riddance, Weiner'. However, the progressives- particularly in the media- seem to have this ingrained tendency to reward such conduct. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Weiner lands on his feet at some point in the not too distant future with his own show on MSNBC or Al Gore's Current network.

CNN Talking Head And Self Proclaimed Obama Foreign Policy Advisor: Founding Fathers, Constitution & American Exceptionalism Overrated

Last month, former Newsweek editor and current CNN talking head Fareed Zakaria had boasted that he had been advising President Obama on foreign policy matters concerning the Middle East.

One could be forgiven if one thought Zakaria's claims were mere bluster or hot air in an attempt to establish some credibility among peers in the media.

However, one look at this interview and I'm wholly convinced.

Note the derision and condescension directed at America's founding in Zakaria's smug monotone. After viewing that brief clip, I'm almost certain that not only is Zakaria advising President Obama on a number of domestic policy issues.

Although I'm just a lowly blogger and Zakaria is a highly-respected intellectual (who served as editor of a magazine that sold for $1), I would like to challenge Zakaria to find me what countries out there we're supposed to be learning from.

The European Union is an even bigger basketcase than the USA as far as finances and sovereign debt is concerned, with more productive countries like Germany and Holland having to bail out pseudo-welfare states like Spain or Greece.

While economic forces to be reckoned with, half the countries in the BRIC (Brazil/Russia/India/China) axis have an inglorious history of citizens being murdered by the millions in the last century- by their own governments, no less. While post-Apartheid South Africa didn't bring the full-fledged race war that so many had feared, high crime and the staggering murder rate has led to a massive 'brain drain' as sought-after professionals both black and white leave for more secure locales.

But like I said, as an intellectual Zakaria probably has an answer all lined up...perhaps even one of the aforementioned countries that he might view as a flawed gem. But I have one question for the naturalized citizen of America- and to be fair, it's the same question I ask of other American who hold similar views as he does: Why stay in America if you want it so badly to be like other countries?

Long Olberdue: MSNBC Announces Termination of Olberman's Contract, Cancellation of Show

Apparently the last episode of Countdown w/Kieth Olberman was on Friday night.

MSNBC issued a statement that it had ended its contract with the controversial host, with no further explanation. Olbermann hosted the network's most popular show, but his combative liberal opinions often made him a target of critics. Olbermann did not explain why he was leaving.

"MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors," the network said.

A spokesman said Phil Griffin, MSNBC's president, would not comment on Olbermann's exit.

So in other words, Keith Olberman is out of a job [I know it's not nice to laugh at others' misfortunes, but what can I say? -NANESB!]. Maybe President Obama can pull some strings and arrange for him to get one of those 'Green Collar Jobs' his party has been promising the public for the last two years. Or maybe the White House can appoint him to the new position of 'Civility Czar'.

As for MSNBC, no word on whether or not Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik will be filling in Olberman's timeslot. Apparently Olberman's program was the top rated in the MSNBC lineup, but having the best ratings on MSNBC is a little like having the most Zimbabwean Dollars in Zimbabwe.

I actually have mixed feelings about this- while at first blush, an consistently dishonest obnoxious sociopathic blowhard of Olberman's caliber being off the air would seem like a good thing, it was also beneficial to have him out there screeching away like a little shit-flinging monkey every night as the face of the disturbed and unhinged American left.

Comcast has yet to announce any long-term plans regarding Olberman's replacement, let alone the future direction of MSNBC- and by extension the future of progressive hosts like Ed Shultz, Rachel Maddow or Chris 'Tingles' Matthews.

But with that in mind, I can't get this ditty out of my head for some reason:

FCC Approves Comcast-NBC Deal

Federal regulators have approved a deal this week in which cable giant Comcast [NASDAQ: CMCSA] acquired a 51% stake of NBC Universal from General Electric [NYSE: GE].

In a 4-1 vote on Tuesday, the FCC determined that the deal, which creates a company with a combined 16.7 million broadband subscribers and 23 million cable customers, is in the nation’s public interest, seeing it complies with certain conditions.
The conditions, among other things, are intended to ensure that the nation’s largest cable provider share NBC programming, such as MSNBC and USA Network, with cable, satellite and Internet rivals. They are meant to stop the conglomerate from trampling competition, which could ultimately lead to an increase in prices for customers, according to the Department of Justice.

Also according to the deal, Comcast will have to offer online video distributors the same package of broadcast and cable channels as it sells to traditional video programming distributors.

This deal effectively makes Comcast the parent company of MSNBC, which as any cursory glance at the ratings will tell you, was likely kept around by the benevolnce towards the networks leftist 'personalities' by GE CEO Jeffery Immelt. It will be interesting to see if this deal in any way changes the arrangement (and God-awful business model) between MSNBC and its parent company.

6 Killed, Congresswoman Giffords Critically Wounded in Arizona Shooting

A gunman opened fire at a town hall style meeting hosted by Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords (D- AZ; 8th district) outside a Tuscon-area Safeway grocery store, shooting 19 people on Saturday before being subdued and having his pistol wrestled away by bystanders.

A Federal Judge, a US Marshall, one of Gifford's aides and a 9 year old child were reportedly among those killed in the shooting. Early media reports had erroneously said that Giffords was one of the fatalities, but doctors at the University of Arizona Medical Center in Tuscon said that the Congresswoman was responsive and is expected to recover from a gunshot wound to the head.

The gunman, believed to be 22 year old Jared Loughner, shouted something before opening fire on Giffords and the crowd. He was reportedly wrestled to the ground and subdued by bystanders after he started shooting.

Loughner left a farewell message on his MySpace page and left YouTube videos that consisted of white text on a black background saying that an individual could start their own language or circulate their own currency before ending with 'My Thoughts- Jared Lee Loughner' [Milblogger JR Salzman was able to post some of the videos at his place- NANESB!]. According to police, a preliminary investigations indicates that Loughner acted alone.

Already, the MSM and progressive blogosphere are showing their concern for Gifford's well-being by attempting to single-handedly pin the shootings on Sarah Palin and the Tea Party, even though Giffords is one of the more conservative House Democrats to win re-election in 2010. In fact, the Daily Kos felt it necessary to delete a diary entry marked 'My Congresswoman [Giffords] is DEAD to me' posted about 48 hours before the shooting that was captured elsewhere for posterity.

Obama Press Secretary Robert Gibbs Announces He's Stepping Down to Reprise Role of PC in 'I'm a Mac and I'm a PC' Ads

Gibbs (left) Before Being Appointed White House Press Secretary, extolled the joys of being a featureless and underperforming PC

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs announced that he would be stepping down next month to purse opportunities outside the White House and possibly reprise his role as the stuffy and businesslike PC in Apple's minimalist but popular 'Get a Mac' series of advertisements.

Transitioning from Obama Administration Press Secretary to seemingly earnest spokesman for an underwhelming product that promises little and delivers even less should be a fairly smooth transition, one advertising expert told Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Gibbs began at the White House in January 2009, while the popular Apple commercials only ran for another year. It is thought that Gibbs will reunite with his younger, more casual and hip counterpart, Mac, when the ads resume at some indeterminate point in time.

Death Panels Revisited? Obama Administration Revives Controversial 'End Of Life' Provision via Regulation

Not surprisingly, this was announced on Christmas Eve when the overwhelming majority of Americans were otherwise preoccupied.

WASHINGTON — When a proposal to encourage end-of-life planning touched off a political storm over “death panels,” Democrats dropped it from legislation to overhaul the health care system. But the Obama administration will achieve the same goal by regulation, starting Jan. 1.

Under the new policy, outlined in a Medicare regulation, the government will pay doctors who advise patients on options for end-of-life care, which may include advance directives to forgo aggressive life-sustaining treatment.

Congressional supporters of the new policy, though pleased, have kept quiet. They fear provoking another furor like the one in 2009 when Republicans seized on the idea of end-of-life counseling to argue that the Democrats’ bill would allow the government to cut off care for the critically ill. [snip]

Mr. Blumenauer, the author of the original end-of-life proposal, praised the rule as “a step in the right direction.”

“It will give people more control over the care they receive,” Mr. Blumenauer said in an interview. “It means that doctors and patients can have these conversations in the normal course of business, as part of our health care routine, not as something put off until we are forced to do it.”

After learning of the administration’s decision, [Congressman] Blumenauer’s office celebrated “a quiet victory,” but urged supporters not to crow about it.

“While we are very happy with the result, we won’t be shouting it from the rooftops because we aren’t out of the woods yet,” Mr. Blumenauer’s office said in an e-mail in early November to people working with him on the issue. “This regulation could be modified or reversed, especially if Republican leaders try to use this small provision to perpetuate the ‘death panel’ myth.”

I can't help but wonder if these death panels are so 'mythical', according to Congressman Blumenauer [D-OR, 3rd District], then why was it kept out of the original legislation, only to be snuck in later on via regulation when they figured nobody else was looking? Moreover, why are Blumenauer and others urging supporters to keep quiet about it instead of 'shouting from the rooftops'?

Elsewhere, the incoming House Energy and Commerce chairman Fred Upton [R-MI, 6th District] announced that the House will schedule a vote on repealing 0bamacare before President Obama's state-of-the-union address later on this month. Although the vote would be largely symbolic and almost certain to be vetoed by the President, Upton and other Republicans said they would plan on defunding or rolling back key provisions (the 1099 requirement for small businesses, the individual purchase mandate or the 'Stupak Amendment' regarding language in the bill on abortion) of 0bamacare.

This Week's Word on the Democrats Word A Week Calendar: 'Firewall'

And the media seems to have picked up on it as well:

Smoke on the Firewall for Senate Dems?

As one of the hottest summers on record begins easing into fall, the political heat has yet to subside. And that has Senate Democrats sweating states they once thought they had made in the shade.

Democrats knew they had trouble in states where their elected incumbents had resigned (Illinois, Delaware, Colorado), retired (Indiana, North Dakota) or lost the primary (Pennsylvania). They knew they had two more incumbents staggering under terrible poll numbers (Nevada, Arkansas).

But even if all eight of these seats were to be lost, and even if they were to capture no new seats from the GOP, the Democrats reasoned they could still hold the majority.

That "firewall theory" was based on the belief that the rest of the majority's current 59 seats would remain in the hands of Democrats or affiliated independents.

But now there's smoke sighted along the firewall as well. Recent polls in California, Washington and Wisconsin show three more Democratic veterans, all first elected in 1992, are tied, trailing or only slightly ahead of their Republican challengers

It isn't just the Senate that the 'Firewall' phrase is being applied to, either. House Democrats in competitive districts appear to be scattering whenever President Obama is in town while the DCCC is trying to figure out who's campaign can be salvaged.

Democrats Trying to Build Firewall Around Strongest Cadidates

Races that are believed to have particularly vulnerable Democrats include those of newcomers who won Republican seats during the last two pro-Democratic election cycles -- like Betsey Markey of Colorado, Tom Perriello of Virginia, Mary Jo Kilroy of Ohio and Frank Kratovil Jr. of Maryland -- as well as more senior members, like John Spratt of South Carolina and Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota, according to the Times.

I suspect there are a few more names on that list as well- the Democrats problems clearly are more widespread than a five or six competitive districts.

Also worth noting, the non-partisan Charlie Cook Political Report last week made 17 updates to House, Senate and Gubenetorial elections. ALL 17 were in favor of the GOP:

•WYOMING Governor: Likely Republican to Solid Republican (9/02/10)
•TENNESSEE Governor: Lean Republican to Likely Republican (9/02/10)
•PENNSYLVANIA Governor: Toss Up to Lean Republican (9/02/10)
•OREGON Governor: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (9/02/10)
•WEST VIRGINIA Senate: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (9/02/10)
•OHIO Senate: Toss Up to Lean Republican (9/02/10)
•ARKANSAS Senate: Toss Up to Lean Republican (9/02/10)
•WISCONSIN District 8: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (9/02/10)
•WASHINGTON District 2: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (9/02/10)
•TEXAS District 23: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (9/02/10)
•NORTH CAROLINA District 11: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (9/02/10)
•MICHIGAN District 9: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (9/02/10)
•ILLINOIS District 17: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (9/02/10)
•FLORIDA District 22: Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat (9/02/10)
•COLORADO District 3: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (9/02/10)
•ARIZONA District 5: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (9/02/10)
•ARIZONA District 1: Lean Democrat to Toss Up (9/02/10)

An Inconvenient Truth: Armed Right Wing, Bigoted, Hate-Mongering Tea Partier Storms Discovery Channel HQ, Takes Hostages

[The only reason I didn't go with the headline Gun-Wielding EcoTerrorist Demands Human Population Reduced, Montgomery County SWAT Team Obliges apparently was already taken by the Daily Caller- NANESB!]

Just days after Sarah Palin and Glen Beck's neo-fascist rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. (which apparently drew 12 people and 299,990 looky-loos passing by the Mall, according to NBC), a deranged right-wing teabagging gunman stormed into the nearby headquarters of the Discovery Channel in Silver Spring, MD brandishing a pistol and metal canisters and took hostages in an attempt to get the network to change their programming to shows that suited his ideological outlook.

Only the gunman's ideological outlook is already subject to some spinning by the mainstream media and the left half of the blogosphere.

43 year old James J Lee posted a lengthy online screed decrying Discovery Channel's programming for "encouraging the birth of more parasitic human infants" and "encouraging war" before arriving at the network's Maryland headquarters on Wednesday [you'd think that he wouldn't mind the war programming so much, since that would reduce the population in some way shape or form- NANESB!]. The eco-terrorist got his wish in a roundabout way when Montgomery County Police SWAT officers moved in and shot Lee dead after he pointed his gun at one of the hostages. All three hostages were able to escape unharmed and a bomb disposal unit was called in to detonate an device Lee was wearing (one device appeared to go off when he was shot).

However, even a cursory examination of Lee's screed indicates that it's not exactly chock full of right-wing shibboleths.

...war must be halted. Not because it’s morally wrong, but because of the catastrophic environmental damage modern weapons cause to other creatures

Shoot....I thought us right wingers loved war and violence.

Civilization must be exposed for the filth it is. That, and all its disgusting religious-cultural roots and greed. Broadcast this message until the pollution in the planet is reversed and the human population goes down! This is your obligation. If you think it isn’t, then get hell off the planet

Wait a second....if civilization needs to be done away with for good, how exactly do you plan on broadcasting anything? Part of Lee's demands included Discovery airing more shows that mirrored his disdain for humanity and 'Apply solutions'.

While it might be tempting to dismiss Lee as a lone crank, the so-called news outlets weren't as quick to dismiss the Pentagon shooter or Texas kamikaze pilot Joseph Stack as lone cranks and desperately were attempting to tie them to the Tea Party, talk radio or other participants in the vast right wing conspiracy. Instead, Lee's hysterical alarmism regarding overpopulation and global warming seems eerily reminiscent of the global warming hysteria surrounding the leadup to last year's Copenhagen climate change conference. It was also reported that Lee was in part inspired by Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. To be blunt, there probably more concrete evidence to tie Lee to the popular and mainstream global warming alarmists and overbearing envirnonmentalists as there is Robert Stack to the Tea Party.

Lee, reportedly from San Diego, CA, was arrested in 2008 on charges of trespass and disorderly conduct in front of the Discovery Channel's headquarters where the threw thousands of dollars in cash up in the air.

Chelsea Clinton 's New York Wedding Carries Estimated Pricetag of $2 to $5 Million

You know, I was content to let this slide up until I heard a 'serious' network correspondent giving an update over the radio from Rhinebeck, NY like some breathless E! red-carpet reporter before some insipid awards show on Saturday night.

While Chelsea Clinton's wedding to Marc Mevinsky could be considered newsworthy, the hype building up to it seemed to smack of a desperate attempt to try and present it as some sort of a 'Royal Wedding' for the USA.

More to the point, early estimates had put the cost of the wedding at roughly $2 million while others have the price tag as high as $5 million.




Then-first daughter Jenna Bush's May 2008 wedding ran a price tag of roughly $100,000- Granted the costs were brought down considerably by having the ceremony at Bush's Crawford, TX ranch.

Meanwhile, the Rhinbeck, NY estate- the Astor Court- abutting the Hudson River where the wedding took place was rented out at $500,000, multiple catering companies were hired with an estimated tab of $750,000, another $250,000 in floral arrangements were used along with $100,000 worth of lighting and $100,000 between the videographers, entertainment and photographers hired. Another estimated $475,000 went towards rehearsals, planning and embroidered invitations and at least $80,000 towards security and other miscellaneous expense according to ABC News.

This flurry of activity leading up to the wedding most likely provided some short term economic benefit to the Dutchess County town of Rhinebeck- ironically most of it coming from people who routinely sneer at the concept of 'trickle down economics'- in an otherwise down economy.

Of course, my pointing this out will somehow be interpreted as me not wishing the bride and groom well or still harboring a grudge against Bill Clinton.

However, doing so would be an intellectually dishonest and lazy way of deflecting attention away from the fact that the mother of the bride (and our current Secretary of State) had said not even a month ago in Kiev:

One of the problems in societies around the world today is that too much of the productivity of the economies are going to too few. Too few people, the political and economic elite, are realizing the vast majority of benefits from economic activity

I don't begrudge the Clintons for wanting their only daughter's wedding day to be something special. But you have to wonder what sort of disconnect is involved when the mother and father of the bride used class warfare and class envy as their bread and butter for the last 30 years, portraying themselves as the working class people's only champions in Washington DC and held a bash this extravagant while the national unemployment rate is hovering around 10%.

And after looking at the price tag of this weekend's wedding, I still have to wonder who Hillary had in mind when she was lamenting over the undue influence and wealth of the political and economic elite.

What Media Bias? Reporters, Academics Coordinated Favorable Coverage of Candidate Obama on Online Bulletin Board

How many times have you heard this: "Oh, you silly paranoid right-wing stooge. There's no such thing as media bias. If there is any, it would be to the right since the networks are owned by corporations....!"

Yet despite the reassurances of the most condescending and disingenuous partisan hacks, it almost seemed like reporters from numerous media outlets were getting together to coordinate their coverage in a manner that would put liberal politicians or policies in the best possible light.

This month, The Daily Caller has been releasing the archives of an online bulletin board frequented by reporters, columnists and academics called Journo List.

I had first heard of Journo List fairly recently and wasn't too surprised to learn that former Washington Post columnist Dan Wiegel was a member after his lame defense of belligerent and grabby North Carolina Democrat Bob Etheridge (NC-2). Wiegel was hired by the WaPo to cover conservative media and the Tea Party in April, but according to many, Weigel's coverage betrayed a personal animosity towards the right in general from the onset.

Turned out that was just the beginning. Shortly after Weigel's departure from the WaPo, more information about Journo-List, it's members and their contents came to light such as this gem from Spencer Ackerman, then of the Washington Independent when the Jeremiah Wright story broke during the 2008 campaign:

I do not endorse a Popular Front, nor do I think you need to. It’s not necessary to jump to Wright-qua-Wright’s defense. What is necessary is to raise the cost on the right of going after the left. In other words, find a rightwinger’s [sic] and smash it through a plate-glass window. Take a snapshot of the bleeding mess and send it out in a Christmas card to let the right know that it needs to live in a state of constant fear. Obviously I mean this rhetorically.

And I think this threads the needle. If the right forces us all to either defend Wright or tear him down, no matter what we choose, we lose the game they’ve put upon us. Instead, take one of them — Fred Barnes, Karl Rove, who cares — and call them racists. Ask: why do they have such a deep-seated problem with a black politician who unites the country? What lurks behind those problems? This makes *them* sputter with rage, which in turn leads to overreaction and self-destruction.

First of all, I highly doubt Spencer Ackerman could smash anything through a dollhouse window rhetorically, let alone a plate glass window.

With that said.....casually slinging around accusations of racism for short-term political gain.....gosh golly gee- why does that sound so familiar?

The Journo-List gang also coordinated their best line of attack against Sarah Palin once she was nominated to be John McCain's running mate at the GOP convention and celebrated like their team had won the Superbowl on election night.

LAURA ROZEN: People we no longer have to listen to: would it be unwise to start a thread of people we are grateful we no longer have to listen to? If not, I’ll start off: Michael Rubin.

MICHAEL COHEN, NEW AMERICA FOUNDATION: Mark Penn and Bob Shrum. Anyone who uses the expression “Real America.” We should send there ass to Gitmo!

JESSE TAYLOR, PANDAGON.NET: Michael Barone? Please?

LAURA ROZEN: Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich (afraid it’s not true), Drill Here Drill Now, And David Addington, John Yoo, we’ll see you in court?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, THE NEW YORKER: As a side note, does anyone know what prompted Michael Barone to go insane?

MATT DUSS: LEDEEN.

SPENCER ACKERMAN: Let’s just throw Ledeen against a wall. Or, pace Dr. Alterman, throw him through a plate glass window. I’ll bet a little spot of violence would shut him right the fuck up, as with most bullies.

JOE KLEIN, TIME: Pete Wehner…these sort of things always end badly.

ERIC ALTERMAN, AUTHOR, WHAT LIBERAL MEDIA: Fucking Nascar retards…

For alot of us, the only new and novel aspect of this is that the participating 'journalists' left an electronic record with their names attached to it instead of maintaining a veneer of objectivity or plausible deniability. The snide, condescending, venomous contempt for anybody to their right (which would basically be no less than half the country) on the journo-listers part is nothing new, however.