Pennsylvania Sen. Arlen Specter, a Republican who soon could be fighting his own party, does not seem to have a whole lot of faith in still relatively new RNC chairman Michael Steele (can you blame him?). Below is an interview (documented by Think Progress) Specter had with a Pennsylvania-based radio show “The Morning News with Nancy and Kevin.”
NANCY: Where do you stand with him [Limbaugh]?
SPECTER: Nancy, I think it’s a free country and we ought to let Rush Limbaugh express himself. I think that when the White House attacks him, they’re making a mistake for a couple of reasons. One reason is he’s got a right to say what he likes. And when you get into a fight with the White House, it elevates the guy who’s fighting with the White House.
KEVIN: Absolutely. What a mistake.
SPECTER: And National Chairman Steele, well he’s said so many contradictory things I wouldn’t pay a whole lot of attention to him.
“The ship be sinkin’” is a quote made famous by former NBA All-Star player Michael Ray Richardson. It sure seems to describe the Republican Party and Michael Steele’s brief tenure as RNC chairman.
Conservative Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, of The O’Reilly Factor, is worried about the changing power structure in the country, according to a Media Matters for America report:
O’REILLY: OK, I think it’s a small part, but I think it’s there. On the other side, you have people who hate America, and they hate it because it’s run primarily by white, Christian men. Let me repeat that. America is run primarily by white, Christian men, and there is a segment of our population who hates that, despises that power structure. So they, under the guise of being compassionate, want to flood the country with foreign nationals, unlimited, unlimited, to change the complexion — pardon the pun — of America. Now, that’s hatred, too. It’s a different kind of hatred, but it’s hatred and best exemplified by The New York Times, which today says in its editorial, quote: “Those who want [the immigration] bill to be better are horribly conflicted by it. Their emotions still seem vastly overmatched by the ferocity of the opposition from the restrictionist right, with talk radio lighting up over ‘amnesty,’ callers spitting out the words with all the hate they can pour into it,” unquote.
This is part of his anti-immigration, xenophobic mindset.
More from BillO:
Now, this is a theme of The New York Times, that if you oppose the immigration bill that you hate Latinos. Now, there’s a segment that does, but most oppose it on policy. They just think it’s bad policy, rewarding bad behavior. Bad policy. But The New York Times, which is an open border, OK, let-everybody-in concern — that’s what they want, because they want a totally different power structure in America.
Number one, they realize that 40 million new citizens — and that’s, you know, probably the estimate that if you let all the illegal immigrants and all their extended families come here, which is what The New York Times want, would wipe out the two-party system. You’d only have a Democratic party, because new immigrants are probably gonna break 3-to-1 Democrat, and that’s what The New York Times wants. But more than that, they want to change the white, Christian male power structure. That’s what they want.
So, Big Bill is worried about the loss of power for old white males in the country, he is worried about people of color coming into the country from Mexico and he is worried about them breaking “3-to-1 Democrat” when they get here. He also uses his opportunities to get in his obligatory shots at The New YorkTimes. Has Bill heard the Michael Jackson songs “Heal The World” and “Black and White” once or twice? It will be OK, Bill. The United States of America is a true cultural crock pot. Maybe if we’re all the same color then racism would cease to exist. But, the we would all have a color. The Republicans would probably have no one in their party (if their current makeup is indicative of anything).
As if the Detroit City Council did not have enough issues on its plate. Now, it appears that the Council is not pleased that comedian Jay Leno is coming to perform in the Detroit area. The displeasure is because Leno is performing at The Palace in Auburn Hills (in the suburbs of Detroit). I’m sure the Council realizes that the Detroit Pistons play professional basketball in The Palace. But, that is not the real point. Leno is making a performance as part of his ”Jay’s Comedy Stimulus Plan,” as reported by the Detroit News.
That leads me to this from the Detroit News article:
Jay Leno’s comic relief gesture is coming under scrutiny by the Detroit City Council. One day after the NBC comedian announced a free April 7 show at The Palace of Auburn Hills for the unemployed, Councilwoman Martha Reeves questioned why it’s in the suburbs, rather than Ford Field. Council President Monica Conyers designated Reeves, a singer and entertainer herself, as the point person to lobby Leno to move the show to within city limits.
So much for building bridges between the city and the suburbs. The garbage coming from both the city and the suburbs continue to cripple critical relations that does great harm to the region. Who cares if he is at The Palace, at Ford Field or wherever? The point is that Leno is coming and trying to do something good (a free show open to unemployed people) for an area he has long been fond of. This criticism is misguided and unhelpful.
Republican Sen. Bob Bennett (R-UT) probably didn’t expect much of a puff interview going on Fox News, even though it is the network conservatives trust. The anger management-challenged Megyn Kelly (who blurs the line of journalistic integrity between hard news and opinion by spouting her conservative B.S. one minute and then “objectively” interviewing people the next). Kelly, who has a bit of a history losing her temper/composure and becoming combative during interviews when she is not getting her conservative way (ask Bill Burton, a spokesman for President Barack Obama), tried to punk Sen. Bennett, who calmly and with dignity schooled Kelly (who was blatantly advocating the hardcore right’s phony-outrage, anti-earmark obsession) on how processes work in politics in Washington D.C.He also warmed up the school bus a little more and took her to school when she tried to invoke the name of bitter presidential campaign loser Sen. John McCain. If Megyn kelly would turn the volume down on her voice and show professionalism, you might hear crickets chirping in her head.
Sandy Gholston
