Conservative Politicians Will Try To Use President Obama As Weapon

According to an article in POLITICO, Republicans are attempting to use President Obama as a weapon in the upcoming 2010 elections against Democratic rivals.

This strategy is no big secret. In fact, this is merely Republicans being slow to the punch with a strategy Democrats used (successfully) against George W. Bush during the previous eight years. But, this is more than just the politics of President Obama at play. Many of these political haters had already solidified their feelings for Barack Obama before he was even elected president. Make no mistake about it: the racial angle is difficult to ignore. From a pure political standpoint, it is the gift that keeps on giving for the most hardcore of conservatives. This is not about health care, budget deficits or wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (all of which were problems long before Barack Obama was elected president a little less than 14 months ago). Face it, a significant number of were (and still are) quite a bit uncomfortable with a black president. This secret strategy, from far-right conservatives, seeks to exploit that feeling (on top of the usual politics that are to be expected with any president).

This strategy helps fire up that highly conservative base by plastering images of President Obama all across TV sets and print publications.

There are other factors. Included in the other factors is payback. Republicans and conservatives seethed as they felt President Bush was attacked over and over again (he was attacked quite a bit) in the twilight of his presidency. Like a football game, the hardcore Republicans and conservatives were on defense against a juggernaut of an offensive attack strengthened by the momentum of the game. Now, they have the ball and they are on offense. The right wing now has the ball, but it has little game plan (beyond anger and fear).

Anger and fear will not win elections and will not help Republicans as this country increasingly becomes multicultural.

Check out this comment from the POLITICO article:

“For candidates who are running in Republican gubernatorial primaries, it would be a mistake not to contrast their ideology vis-à-vis the president,” said Brad Todd, a GOP ad man who is a veteran of governor’s races. “We are begging for a national election. It will benefit Republicans in every race where that nationalized dynamic is in place.”

Again, this is the old strategy used against the second President Bush. In general, this national strategy will not work as President Obama still enjoys pretty strong ratings. But, in some isolated pockets of the country, such a strategy will work effectively (as it did during the election of 2008). Many pockets of this country still exist where the men and women continue to hate Barack Obama (some even more so) as they did the minute he became the Democrat frontrunner in the primary in 2008.

POLITICO:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/31128.html

Mary Matlin Proves To Be A Dishonest Hypocrite On CNN

There are some things that are so ridiculous that they defy basic logic. Normally, this happens on Fox News, but CNN shows that it is not immune to stupidity and the unwillingness to strongly challenge borderline insane comments. Conservative commentator and strategist Mary Matalin was on CNN with John King (appearing along with her husband, Democratic strategist James Carville) and made the following inexplicable, head-scratching comment:

MATALIN: I was there, we inherited a recession from President Clinton and we inherited the most tragic attack on our own soil in our nation’s history. And President Bush dealt with it and within a year of his presidency within a comparable time, unemployment was at 5 percent.

You can check the Think Progress story for the obvious responses that easily shred Matalin’s ridiculous comments.

Here is one thing that caught my attention (as you will see in the short video clip). On the one hand she is whining about President Obama bashing President George W. Bush, but then turns right around and blames President Clinton (for the recession and the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001) to excuse President Bush.

It just shows how much of a hypocrite Mary Matalin is and how little credibility she has to speak on important issues. Yet, CNN brings her back time and time again and almost never challenges her with any kind of strength.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/12/27/matalin-inherited-terror/

Another Example Of Far-Right Lunacy Relative To U.S. Failure To Get Olympics As Conservatives Cheer

Conservatives have been gleefully applauding the failure of the United States and the U.S. Olympic Committee to bring the 2016 Olympic Games to U.S. soil. They’ve been cheering against our country. Here is an example from far-right commentator Bill Kristol (predictably on Fox News Sunday) who had that familiar grin on his face as he attempted to attack President Obama’s work to try and assist the USOC in bringing the games to the United States of America.

KRISTOL: There are so many ironies in this. By Barack Obama’s view of the world, he should have been rooting for Brazil to get the Olympics. South America has never gotten them, Brazil has never gotten them. It is a rising power, it would help Brazil. We don’t need the Olympics, we have had them a million times. Our economy doesn’t need the boost of the Olympics (he said with sarcasm). And then [Obama] in a sort of George W. Bush like way goes and tries to bully the International Olympic Committee… ‘Come walk with us. I’m here for America.’

More from the conservative commentator:

KRISTOL: Come walk with us. I’m here for America. Can you imagine if some Republican — if Bush had done this and we hadn’t gotten it? Typical Bush heavy-handedness, cowboy unilateralist, hegemonic imperialist action. Obama falls into that trap and they went for it. I must say you couldn’t help be amused by it.

Ah, but if the president had rooted for Brazil he would have, once again, been called anti-American.

World leaders often lobby for the Olympics.

Imagine if liberals had been cheering had G.W. Bush (who didn’t have to worry about his citizenship being questioned or being labeled by so many as anti-American, a hater of America and so on) gone and tried to secure the Olympics for the U.S. and failed. Liberals would be called anti-American, haters of America and so on.

It’s interesting that now President Obama now is being called a bully (and conservatives now are even throwing G.W. Bush under the bus as they’ve decided to eat one of their own).

Clearly President Obama was trying to do something that would have been great for the U.S. to bring people to our great country and show that we can put on a first-class Olympics (as we’ve done in the past). President Obama has been working to rebuild the bridges destroyed during the previous administration that left the U.S. isolated and disliked around the world. President Obama, showing that relationships were partnerships appealed to our neighbors in the world and showed them that the U.S. has been great, but not perfect and that other nations are great in their own ways, but not perfect. For that, the president was slammed with idiotic accusations such as charging him with going on an “apology tour” (a favorite of right-wing nuts).

Now, Kristol is accusing the president (who went over to try and show the greatness of America) of trying to be a bully. It’s laughable.

When conservatives see President fighting for America they call him a bully and when they see him as not fighting for America that basically label him anti-American.

Kristol has let his right-wing bias drive him nutty.

Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/04/bill-kristol-revels-in-ol_n_309011.html

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/10/04/kristol-obama-olympics/

White House Takes On Conservative Misinformation Coming From Fox News, Glenn Beck

The White House’s blog is taking on misinformation being put out on Fox News by the likes of Glenn Beck. As many of you know the far right has been going nuts about President Obama and others working hard to bring the 2016 Olympics to the United States of America. Anyone else remember some of these same Republicans criticizing the president for going overseas on so-called “apology” tours? President Obama is fighting for the U.S. to have the Olympics and many conservatives are fighting against bringing the Olympics to their own country. Where is the patriotism in these right wingers that makes them not want to work hard to bring the Olympics to the U.S. and showcase the greatness of our country? Are these conservatives now, all of a sudden, haters of America (so bitter they would rather see the Olympic games go to pretty much any other country)?

 

When President George W. Bush was in office this would have been deemed anti-American by conservatives.

 

From The White House blog:

Last night Fox News continued its disregard for the facts in an attempt to smear the Administration’s efforts to win the Olympics for the United States. In the past, hosting the Olympics has been a source of pride and unity for the country, but once again Fox News’ Glenn Beck program has shown that nothing is worthy of respect if it can be used as part of a partisan attack to boost ratings.

 

RHETORIC:          BECK SAID VANCOUVER LOST $1 BILLION WHEN IT “HAD THE OLYMPICS.”   Glenn Beck said, “Vancouver lost, how much was it? they lost a billion dollars when they had the Olympics.”  [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY:              VANCOUVER’S OLYMPICS WILL NOT TAKE PLACE UNTIL 2010.   Vancouver will host the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games from February 12 – 28, 2010 and March 12-21, 2010, respectively. [Vancouver2010.com, accessed 9/29/09]

 

RHETORIC:          CHICAGO IS CLOSING THE GOVERNMENT SEVERAL DAYS A WEEK BECAUSE THEY CANNOT AFFORD TO BE OPEN. Beck’s guest Caddell said, “Chicago is closing the government several days a week because they cannot afford to be open. They are going to go and reward — this is the biggest scandal.” [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY:              CHICAGO HAS HAD ONE REDUCED-SERVICE DAY IN 2009, AND WILL HAVE TWO MORE ON THE FRIDAY AFTER THANKSGIVING AND ON CHRISTMAS EVE.  On August 17, 2009, CBS Chicago reported, “If you planned to check out a library book, visit a city clinic or have your garbage picked up on Monday, you’re out of luck.   The City of Chicago is basically closed for business on Aug. 17, a reduced-service day in which most city employees are off without pay. City Hall, public libraries, health clinics and most city offices will be closed.  Emergency service providers including police, firefighters and paramedics are working at full strength, but most services not directly related to public safety, including street sweeping, will not be provided.  That also includes garbage pickup. Residents who receive regular collection on Mondays should expect trash to be picked up on Tuesday. Some other customers may experience a one-day delay as collectors catch up.  As part of the 2009 budget, three reduced-service days were planned for 2009, days which are unpaid for all affected employees — the Friday after Thanksgiving; Christmas Eve; and New Year’s Eve. The City Council recently approved moving the reduced-service day planned for New Year’s Eve to Monday.  The 2009 budget anticipates saving $8.3 million due to the reduced-service days.   In addition to reduced service days, all non-union employees were asked to take a series of furlough days and unpaid holidays, and most non-sworn union employees agreed to similar unpaid time off.” [CBS Chicago, 8/17/09]

 

RHETORIC: VALERIE JARRETT WILL BENEFIT FINANCIALLY. Beck asked, “Is it possible that she is going to benefit if the Olympics come to Chicago?” Caddell responded, “Well, that’s the word. She has certainly had a lot of dealings going on in real estate.” [Transcript, Glenn Beck Show, 9/29/09]

 

REALITY: UPON ENTERING GOVERNMENT, VALERIE JARRETT DIVESTED ALL HER REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT HOLDINGS EXCEPT FOR A SINGLE INVESTMENT THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE OLYMPIC BID. Valerie Jarrett divested all her investment real estate holdings upon entering government except for a single real estate holding that she was unable to sell. This single real estate investment has been determined by White House Counsel and the independent Office of Government Ethics to present no conflict of interest in performing her duties as a White House advisor.  It has nothing to do with the Olympic bid.

 It’s nice to see more and more people stepping up to combat this blatant  misinformation being spread all over the place (not to mention the ridiculous and unfair attacks on the good people of Chicago).

 

The White House Blog:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Reality-Check-Turning-a-Point-of-Pride-into-a-Moment-of-Shame/

Richard Prince Blogs About ABC Legitimizing Radical Michelle Malkin

I know far-right blogger Michelle Malkin has a book coming out, but ABC providing her a platform to help her sell books on a panel with far more credible individuals is puzzling at best and indefensible at worst. Was it because she was selling a book and making the media rounds to drum up publicity for the shots she is taking at the Obama Administration? Like some other bloggers, I too found it almost shocking to see her on ANC’s “This Week” trying to talk politics with George Stephanopoulus, Cynthia Tucker, Al Hunt and Gerald Seib. In that group, the almost irrationally-partisan Malkin sticks out like a sore thumb just hit by a hammer.

Here isRichard Prince’s take on Michelle Malkin in a blog titled: ABC’s “This Week” Legitimizes Michelle Malkin:

It’s been 10 years since Michelle Malkin, then a Seattle Times editorial writer and columnist, disparaged Unity ’99 in her column, saying, “I am not a brown jelly bean. . . . For better or worse, I want readers to know me for my ideas, ideology and idiosyncrasies — not for my Filipino heritage. This is why, after more than a half-dozen years in the newspaper business, I refuse to join race-based organizations such as the Asian-American Journalists Association.”

Malkin moved to Washington and wrote such works as “In Defense of Internment: The Case for “Racial Profiling” in World War II and the War on Terror” (2004)

By and large, however, Malkin was considered a rather fringe, Ann Coulter-type character — until Sunday, when she was invited to share the reporter’s roundtable of ABC’s “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos, with mainstream veterans Cynthia Tucker, Al Hunt and Gerald Seib.

It was her first time. “She’s a provocative conservative voice with a new book,” ABC spokeswoman Emily Lenzner explained to Journal-isms.

“There’s no shortage of wingnuts out there, so why would George Stephanopoulos invite on someone too crazy for even Bill O’Reilly?” John Amato asked on his Crooks and Liars blog.

“Only people with a Malkin brain would believe and push across the notion that Americans would rather collect three hundred dollars a week on unemployment insurance rather than get a job that supplies benefits and pays a salary,” as Malkin did on “This Week.”

“The Huffington Post adds:

“‘Everybody just sort of looked at Malkin, like she was INSANE, and George Stephanopoulos very politely said, ‘Uhm . . . I don’t know if I follow that.’ To which Malkin replied: ‘BUT IT WAS A CLINTON ECONOMIST, BLARGLE!’ Stephanopoulos was still a bit dumbfounded, wondering why anyone in their right mind would take unemployment benefits ‘when a job was available.’”

Certainly she is a provocative voice with a new book, but is this where the bar is set to earn a spot on a show that is supposed to be as prestigious as ABC’s “This Week” is nowadays (selling a book and coming across as provocative)?

To some extent, she tried to hide her partisanship (or at least turn down the volume on it), but it was apparently too difficult for her.

Crooks and Liars gives an example of how obsessed she has become with attacking the Obama Administration (in an interview she did on Fox News with another right-wing extremist, Sean Hannity):

Especially the complete and utter loss of perspective:

HANNITY: Now that you’ve done all this research — and I’ll let the audience, because you really, with great specificity and detail, go into the corruption — how corrupt is this administration compared to others?

MALKIN: Well, I think you have to judge them by their rhetoric. And if you look at the gap between the rhetoric and the reality, this has to be one of the corrupt, most corrupt administrations in recent memory.

Hmmm. I dunno about you, but when I look at the levels of corruption within an administration, I look for actual things like, you know, corruption. Things like Halliburton and Enron.

Apparently, Malkin has a short memory for presidential administration scandals.

I wonder if Malkin will measure Dick Cheney’s rhetoric against the reality of Bush Administration scandals.

Remember these words from Cheney:

We can restore the ideals of honesty and honor that must be a part of our national life, if our children are to thrive. When I look at the administration now in Washington, I am dismayed by opportunities squandered. Saddened by what might have been, but never was. These have been years of prosperity in our land, but little purpose in the White House. Bill Clinton vowed not long ago to hold onto power “until the last hour of the last day.” That is his right. But, my friends, that last hour is coming. That last day is near. The wheel has turned. And it is time. It is time for them to go.

George W. Bush will repair what has been damaged. He is a man without pretense and without cynicism. A man of principle, a man of honor. On the first hour of the first day he will restore decency and integrity to the Oval Office. He will show us that national leaders can be true to their word and that they can get things done by reaching across the partisan aisle, and working with political opponents in good faith and common purpose. I know he’ll do these things, because for the last five years I’ve watched him do them in Texas.

George W. Bush came to the governor’s office with a clear view of what he wanted to achieve. He said he would bring higher standards to public schools, and he has. Walk into those schools today, and you will see children with better scores, classrooms with better discipline and teachers with better pay.

Uh, right.

What say you Michelle Malkin?  … <crickets>

How about the gap between that rhetoric and these scandals (to name a few):

Halliburton‘s Corruption
Iraq’s Decline
Weapons of mass destruction
Mission Accomplished
Abu Ghraib Prison Torture
CIAPre-9/11 Intelligence Failures
HHS Deceptive Ad Campaign
HHS Scully Scandal
Government-wide Accounting Problems 
Real Costs of the Iraq War

Bill O’Reilly Brings On John Ziegler To Talk About Sarah Palin

Bill O’Reilly returned to the plantation (also known as The O’Reilly Factor) and hosted the far-right John Ziegler to discussSarah Palin’s decision to resign as governor of Alaska. The problem is … O’Reilly, a definite right winger posing as an impartial talk show host, clearly was not up front about John Ziegler’s very strong pro-Palin, blind-rage bias. O’Reilly seemed to try and portray Ziegler as some random radio talk show host who happened to have an opinion about Sarah Palin.

By the way, he just had Karl Rove (one of George W Bush’s right-hand men) on the show with no balance and he is bringing on Mary K. Ham and Juan Williams to probably try and portray President Obama as bankrupting the country.

Bill O’Reilly is definitely back and sitting comfortably to the far right of the political mainstream.

This Is Why President Obama Was Wise To Be Careful In His Words About Iran

Protesters in Iran largely have been put down by the government in an aggressive and violent fashion in the wake of a highly-controversial and disputed election that it appears will keep Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in his position as president of Iran. Many on the far right of the political spectrum wanted President Obama to speak out strongly against the government of Iran for the election results and to support the protesters. President Obama did express support for the rights of the protesters to express their views (contrary to what you will repeatedly hear from those on the right who see virtually nothing positive in our president). President Obama was wise not to make an irrational move and entangle the United States too deeply in an Iranian affair (as much as many people were angry by the disputed election results and the way the protesters were put down). A rush to judgement by President Obama would have made it even easier for Ahmadinejad to demonize the U.S. even more and rile up those who still dislike or hate the U.S. due to the policies of previous administrations (most notably the George W. Bush presidency).

TEHRAN (Reuters) – President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad accused Barack Obama on Thursday of behaving like his predecessor toward Iran and said there was not much point in talking to Washington unless the U.S. president apologized.

(EDITORS’ NOTE: Reuters and other foreign media are subject to Iranian restrictions on their ability to report, film or take pictures in Tehran.)

Obama said on Tuesday he was “appalled and outraged” by a post-election crackdown and Washington withdrew invitations to Iranian diplomats to attend Independence Day celebrations on July 4 — stalling efforts to improve ties with Tehran.

“Mr Obama made a mistake to say those things … our question is why he fell into this trap and said things that previously (former president George W.) Bush used to say,” the semi-official Fars News Agencyquoted Ahmadinejad as saying.

“Do you want to speak with this tone? If that is your stance then what is left to talk about … I hope you avoid interfering in Iran’s affairs and express your regret in a way that the Iranian nation is informed of it,” he said.

You can see that Ahmadinejad is trying to turn the comments from President Obama into a distraction from what is taking place on the streets in Iran and what took place during the election. That, I believe, is precisely what President Obama saw coming from some in the Iranian government.

Yahoo News/Reuters:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090625/wl_nm/us_iran_election

Greg Gutfeld Needs To Wake Up

Right or wrong, a current presidential administration generally blames the previous administration for problems they inherited. In the case of President Obama, he has probably been too nice about the problems he inherited from the previous administration. For example, some officials in the administration of George W. Bush blamed President Bill Clinton’s administration for 9/11. To me, that is laughable since Bush was inaugurated in January and the terrorist attacks happened on Sept. 11, 2001 (and there had been warnings, during Bush’s young administration, about Osama bin Laden).

That leads me to this from a column blog written by Greg Gutfeld:

So in a talk before a local business group, former President George W. Bush finally responded to all the mud thrown at him the previous five months. In the speech, Bush defended his policies regarding enhanced interrogation and rejected the idea of government-run health care. And to top it off, he said the new White House dog sucks.

Well, that dog part isn’t true, but it doesn’t matter. Because I already know how this is going to be played by the media – a group who takes any criticism toward Obama as a personal insult. After all, Obama isn’t just the man. He’s their man. I’m sure right now, Chris Matthews is taking an extra dose of meds to control the “thrill.”

I don’t have any problems with the way President Bush has been critical or expressing his disagreement with President Obama. I think President Bush has been respectful in his disagreement and I find no fault with that. I do find fault with a hack like Vice President Dick Cheney and his approach to trashing President Obama. Cheney’s post-White House behavior is beneath the dignity typically displayed by former presidents and vice presidents.

But, then again, Cheney is at least being consistent.

I think Bo Obama is cool.

Big Hollywood:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/06/18/daily-gut-bush-speaks/

Fox News Host Steve Doocy Continues Attacks On President Obama

Steve Doocy, of Fox News, is back on the attack against President Obama. This time, however, ABC is the pawn caught in the middle of the controversy. ABC has tremendous access to President Obama for a big interview it apparently will air. Doocy called ABC the “All Barack Channel.” Like several other hypocrites at Fox, Doocy has the nerve (I was going to say audacity) to criticize ABC for its coverage of President Obama after Fox had tremendous access of President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

Doocy has a history of smearing the president (or, is it just a bias?). He was a part of a false report advanced by numerous conservatives (including many on Fox News) that said President Obama attended a Muslim school, a madrassa. Normally, I would not spend much time fussing over a false report, but this one seems to have been driven by an ideological bias against Barack Obama (when he was a candidate for the presidency).

WOLF BLITZER: CNN did what any serious news organization is supposed to do in this kind of a situation. We actually conducted an exclusive first-hand investigation inside Indonesia to check oout the school that Barack Obama attended as a little 6-year-old boy.

Here is the transcript from Media Matters:

From the January 19, 2007, edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends First:

DOOCY: When people find out this stuff, they’re going to go, “Why didn’t anybody ever mention that that man right there was raised as — spent the first decade of his life, raised by his Muslim father — as a Muslim and was educated in a madrassa?”

KILMEADE: Yeah, is that a problem? Evidently, when he was a little kid, he went over to Indonesia and went to a madrassa. He — in his two best-selling books, he doesn’t really mention this in detail, says, you know, I went to — mostly raised secular but went to a Muslim school, went to a Catholic school, and then a little bit later on, he would become a Christian, almost like a born-again Christian. But Barack Obama had a father born in Kenya who was a Muslim.

[...]

DOOCY: Is it ancient history or do you think madrassa matters? Josh joins us from Colorado. Good morning to you, Josh.

CALLER: What’s up?

DOOCY: What do you think?

CALLER: I think that, ultimately, this will probably be one of the main reasons he’s not elected.

DOOCY: Just the fact that his father was a Muslim, he was raised as a Muslim for awhile, and went to a madrassa school in Jakarta?

CALLER: Right. I mean, where — you’d think that could possibly give him, you know, better insight on the enemy, maybe he doesn’t really consider terrorists the enemy.

DOOCY: All right, Josh.

KILMEADE: Well, we’ll see about that. Yeah, Josh says that. Larry from Tennessee, where do you weigh in?

[...]

CALLER: Hi, good morning. Yes, I think it does matter. The fact that he omitted it must mean that he feels that somebody is going to have an opinion, and President Bush certainly comes under scrutiny, so why shouldn’t he?

KILMEADE: Well, he didn’t admit it. I mean, that’s the issue is that –

CARLSON: Well, she said he didn’t.

KILMEADE: Yeah, says he didn’t come out, and say, look, I was — was over in Indonesia for five years was — or roughly five years, went to a madrassa. And there is some reports that Wahhabism was the curriculum there –

DOOCY: Yeah.

KILMEADE: — which is a problem because they start with “We hate America” and work their way back from there.

DOOCY: Well, the way it was framed in one of his biographies, he said quote, “I was sent first,” this is in Indonesia, “to a Catholic school and then to a predominantly Muslim school.” He doesn’t say, “I went to a madrassa, where they taught Wahhabism.” He simply says, “I went to a predominantly Muslim school.”

From the January 19, 2007, edition of Fox News’ Fox & Friends:

DOOCY: And in today’s Insight Magazine, which is a publication of The Washington Times, they talk about how Barack Obama, raised as a Muslim by his stepfather, also who was a Muslim, eventually an atheist, in Jakarta, Indonesia. And, you know, what have we heard about — coming out of the madrassa schools over in Indonesia? This is huge.

KILMEADE: It’s big about his background. It’s also interesting. He had two best-selling biographies. It did not come up — was not directly addressed. He also — they also found out that some of the characters in his biographies are composite characters, which he did not say up front. And if you think that Barack Obama is under some scrutiny now, just picture what’s going to be happening if he continues to lead over in Iowa and in New Hampshire, like he’s doing in two of the polls.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200701300007

The Boston Channel:
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/politics/10836367/detail.html

Fox News Hypocrisy Over ABC’s Coverage Of President Obama

Fox News has spent most of this week crying about the coverage President Obama is getting from the media (I know, that’s not exactly breaking news). This is the same network that had practically a direct line to the White House (and tremendous access to President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney) … not too unlike the Batphone that allowed Batman and Commissioner Gordon to stay in direct contact.

Here is the summary of a Media Matters story:

SUMMARY: Fox News hosts and guests have criticized a scheduled ABC exclusive broadcast from the White House, but they failed to mention the extraordinary access Fox News had to President Bush and other officials, using those opportunities to lob softball questions and provide a platform for Bush administration talking points.

Media Matters has displayed some examples of the very positive treatment Bush and Cheney received from Fox News during their tenure.

Here is a sample that involves Bill O’Reilly:

• On the October 16, 17, and 18, 2006, editions of The O’Reilly Factor, host Bill O’Reilly airedportions of his October 16 interview with Bush, which consisted of such “tough questions” as whether Hillary Clinton is “soft on terrorism,” whether “the anti-Bush press” is responsible for popular opposition to the war, and whether Bush was aware that critics “are trying to destroy you.” O’Reilly also asked Bush, “[Y]ou work hard, right?” In his introduction to the October 16 interview segment, O’Reilly stated that “[b]ecause every presidential interview is finite,” he would concentrate on “what is happening now.” Absent from the interview, O’Reilly stated, would be any questions that “look back,” because, “What good does it do to rehash WMDs?” According to the on-screen text, “Looking back doesn’t do anybody any good.”

Here is a more general Fox News sample:

• On October 13, 2007, Fox News aired “Dick Cheney: No Retreat,” which was described as “an exclusive interview” with Cheney and teased as “a rare glimpse into the life of the vice president.”

Here is a sample involving Brett Baier:

• On February 2 and February 3, 2008, Fox News aired a documentary titled “George W. Bush: Fighting to the Finish,” after, as Fox itself described, “FOX News’ Bret Baier was granted unprecedented access by George W. Bush as the president begins the final year of his extraordinarily consequential tenure.”

Greg Gutfeld Is Mostly Right Except For One Thing …

I pulled this excerpt out of a blog posted at Big Hollywood by Greg Gutfeld:

Having said all that, Letterman still makes me sad. He’s an old, rich man relegated to choosing easy targets for cheap laughs. He has an entire bumbling administration to poke fun of – along with a conference room full of writers to do it for him- and he goes after the daughter of an Alaskan mayor. Letterman was a god in the eighties – now he’s just a mere, sad mortal driven by fumbling bitterness. And that makes me sad for him – and for those who never saw how truly great he once was.

Greg, Sarah Palin makes herself an easy target.

For comedians, she is kind of like a political gold mine.

The American people just retired the bumbling administration (when G.W. Bush and Dick Cheney left town) that got us into wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, presided during the 9/11 terrorist attacks, soiled respect for the United States of America around the world, ran up gigantic deficits, blew a budget surplus, did virtually nothing to stop the housing and mortgage foreclosure crisis, did next to nothing to stop or slow down one of the worst economic situations since The Great Depression and on and on it goes.

Big Hollywood:
http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/ggutfeld/2009/06/11/daily-gut-lettermans-obsession-with-sarah-palin/#more-158034

UPDATE: Here is another perspective on Greg Gutfeld’s nasty slam of the brave and courageous Canadian military: http://www.joeydevilla.com/2009/03/21/how-to-lose-friends-and-alienate-allies/

More On Extremism From Jon Voight

Actor Jon Voight, with an Academy-award performance as a knowledgeable political activist, showed his extremism with his own words at a Republican hateraiser fundraiser.

VOIGHT: My most pressing concern at this hour is the safety of Israel.I think Obama has no idea that Israel was built on the blood and sweat of the Jewish people.Every blade of grass, every tree, has been a successful effort because the Jewish people understanding they would have a safe homeland forever. He could not possibly understand this or he would know that the Jewish people are tried time and time again to give the Palestinians land and bring a peaceful solution. But every attempt, every attempt, was returned with violence. The Palestinians used Gaza to attack Israel. As far as I’m concerned, their only agenda is to wipe Israel off the Earth. And he reprimands the Israeli people, Obama. Like he’s a professor and they’re the school children. I was embarrassed to watch his press conference with the great war hero, Benjamin Netanyahu, who has helped keep his country safe for many years. Obama sat there with complete arrogance that he is the new American power, that he is able to dictate what he thinks is best for Israel. So how worried are we supposed to be now? Was I hearing things when he said that Iran might have the right to nuclear power? Are we supposed to be sitting and waiting, watching for the possibility of a new Holocaust? Who’s going to take the responsibility to keep Ameri — Israel safe?

I’ll tell you why this really scares the hell out of me. Because everything Obama has recommended has turned out to be disasterous.His so-called stimulus package and his budgets will leave our grandchildren with great burdens and great debts. The government is now owning car companies and banks and we’re losing job after job. Our unemployment rate is an astronomic 9.4. And of course they send out Joe Biden, one of the great double-talkers of our time, to tell us the unemployment rate is getting better. The government wants to run health care and tell people what doctors they can see. How much they can make. What cars to drive. And they’re killing off the entrepreneurs who are the backbone of our economy. It’s no wonder that the Russian newspaper Pravda, the former house organ for the former Soviet Communist regime, has said the American descent into Marxism is happening with breath-taking speed.We can blame Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Chris Dodd, George Soros, David Axelrod and their ilk for the downfall of this country. It saddens me greatly to think we were the great power for good in the world. We as Americans knew America to be strong. And we were the liberators of the entire world. We are becoming a weak nation. Obama really thinks that he is a soft-spoken Julius Ceaser. He thinks he’s going to conquer the world with his soft-spoken sweet talk. And really thinks he’s going to bring all the enemies of the world into a little playground where they’ll swing each other back and forth. We and we alone are the right frame of mind to free this nation from this Obama oppression.

And let’s give thanks to all the great people like Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, William Bennett, Glenn Beck, Hugh Hewitt, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Dennis Miller, Dick Morris, Ann Coulter, John Kasich, Michael Steele, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich, Thomas Sowell, Victor Davis Hanson, Shelby Steele, Charles Krauthammer, Michelle Malkin, Fred Barnes and so many others.Let’s give thanks to them for not giving up and staying the course to bring an end to this false prophet Obama.

These are the same old and tired Republican talking points that failed in the election of 2008, are failing now and will fail in the future. The Republicans had power and did little good with the power they had. President Bush and Vice President Cheney left us with mammoth debt, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, opinions of the United States of America at an all-time low worldwide, a collapsing economy, a housing crisis, no health care reform and more. The American people rejected the Republican brand and this pilot-less ship continues to fly toward political oblivion. We can thank Voight for one thing (to partially make up for the lackluster movie Anaconda he gave us): identifying all the right-wing nuts (in the last paragraph).

At least in Anaconda, we had Jennifer Lopez.

In his speech, Jon Voight gave us nothing positive to appreciate.

Well, Sen. Mitch McConnell appreciated it. That should tell you something about him.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/09/mcconnell-voight-enjoyed/

NEWS FLASH: Rush Limbaugh Is Misguided On President Obama

President Barack Obama pisses away more integrity than Rush Limbaugh has in his entire body.

Still, that has not stopped Limbaugh, the right-wing nut, from once again trying to smear the president of the United States of America and our commander in chief.

LIMBAUGH: The man cannot tell the truth; he has to dump on predecessors.

What’s wrong with him dumping on his predecessors (assuming that is true)? After all, the previous administration dumped on us for eight years and left the current administration to clean up the mess.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200906080033

Did Bush and Cheney Punk Out On Handling the GM Mess?

Former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney (who personally is on the Save-My-Legacy tour) had an opportunity to deal with the crisis General Motors is now in, but may not have had the guts to do what needed to be done.

The Dick Cheney Save-My-Legacy tour scheduled a recent stop with Fox News to go On The Recordwith increasingly conservative host Greta Van Susteren.

CHENEY: Well, I thought that, eventually, the right outcome was going to be bankruptcy. … And the president decided that he did not want to be the one who pulled the plug just before he left office.

VAN SUSTEREN: Why?

CHENEY: Well, I think he felt, you know, these are big issues and he wouldn’t be there through the process of managing it, but in effect, would have sort of pulled the plug on GM and that was one of the first crises the new administration would have to deal with. So he put together a package that tided GM over until the new administration had a chance to look at it, decide what they wanted to do.

VAN SUSTEREN: But it’s cost us billions to get — I mean, you know —

CHENEY: It has. … And now the government owns a big chunk of General Motors. That bothers me. I don’t like having government own those kinds of major financial enterprises. I think it’s — it does damage to our long-term economic prospects when we get government involved in making those kinds of decisions.

In other words: Bush-Cheney punked out to avoid another stain on its already-tarnished legacy.

Said former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum:

SANTORUM: President Bush blew it. You know, he went out and convinced the Congress to give him a bunch of money to save the financial sector and then decided to take a little piece of that and give it to General Motors and Chrysler. Why? He punted. He basically said, I don’t want this failure to be on my watch. I want to let Obama deal with it.And we all knew at the time that letting Obama deal with it means the government’s going to come in and run the show, and that’s exactly what’s happened.

What is even more sad is how Cheney wanted nothing to do with solving the problem with GM and the auto industry in genera. Then he says, “And now the government owns a big chunk of General Motors. That bothers me.”

It doesn’t bother you nearly as much as things you and your administration were responsible for during the prior eight years. Perhaps if Cheney and Bush had the guts to deal with these issues earlier then we would not be in the mess we’re in right now.

It’s easy to criticize someone else for missing the last big shot. But, it’s shameful to do so when you passed the ball because you were too much of a coward to actually take it.

Check out the entire Think Progress story. It’s some compelling stuff.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/06/03/cheney-bush-gm/

Is Fox Nation Showing Fear Of A Black President?

Far-right nuts are continuing to advance the bogus, hate-driven conspiracy theory that President Obama has not produced a valid birth certificate. A generation from now, people will be laughing at how bigots tried to advance a ridiculous notion that President Obama did not produce a valid birth certificate – in spite of strong evidence to the contrary. President Obama, since the beginning of the campaign that landed him in the White House as the first black president in the history of the United States, has been fighting these hateful smears from the far left conspiracy nuts … many of whom have found a new home on the far-right Web site Fox Nation.

Check this out from Media Matters (which has documented the attacks and much of the evidence that refutes the attacks):

A May 28 headline on The Fox Nation – Fox News’ purportedly bias-freewebsite – asked: “Should Obama Release Birth Certificate? Or Is This Old News?” But contrary to The Fox Nation’s question, the Obama campaign released a copy of President Obama’s birth certificate, posting it on the campaign’s Fight the Smears website. It also reportedly provided the original document to FactCheck.org, whose staff concluded in an August 21, 2008, post that it “meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship.” The Hawaii Department of Health also repeatedly confirmed that the birth certificate on record with the state is valid and proves that he was born in the state of Hawaii.

Again, why should people let evidence get in the way of a good smear? How many previous presidents have had this kind of scrutiny over a birth certificate? Anyone who thinks our president and our commander-in-chief is not a citizen is questioning our U.S. government. Isn’t that anti-American? It seems like any time people questioned the government, when George W. Bush was president, they were labeled as “anti-American” or “unpatriotic” or something else negative.

Media Matters:
http://mediamatters.org/research/200905280018

More Right-Wing Attacks On Sonia Sotomayor

Are you ready for some more attacks on Sonia Sotomayor, who has been nominated by President Barack Obama for the U.S. Supreme Court? Next up on the attack (as documented by Think Progress) is right-winger Curt Levey.

Here is what Think Progress has:

This morning on WTOP, Curt Levey, executive director of the right-wing Committee for Justice, compared Sotomayor to Harriet Miers:

I would point you to the Harriet Miers nomination under the second President Bush. She was also many people felt and intellectual lightweight, picked because she was a woman, people felt. And even though Republicans controlled the senate, she ultimately had to withdraw. And that could happen here. This is someone who clearly was picked because she’s a woman and Hispanic, not because she was the best qualified. I could certainly see red and purple state Democrats gawking at it and she may very well have to withdraw her nomination.

So, Sotomayor (implicitly) is being attacked as an intellectual lightweight. Levey is asserting that she essentially has no qualification for the high court beyond the fact that she is a woman and is Hispanic. Wow, you would not want to prejudge someone, huh?

This is typical of the kind of attacks we can expect from the right wing. Sonia Sotomayor seems to be a lot tougher than these right-wingers think.

By the way, did anyone think Clarence Thomas was the most qualified or best pick for the U.S. Supreme Court? I doubt very many people considered Thomas the most qualified.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/26/sotomayor-lightweight/

Newt Gingrich On Nancy Pelosi: Pot Meet Kettle

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, who in many circles is more lowly thought of than former President George W. Bush, is flapping his gums again. Gingrich, who has had his own public struggles, is on the attack against current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

This is from Think Progress:

“I think she has lied to the House, and I think that the House has an absolute obligation to open an inquiry, and I hope there will be a resolution to investigate her. And I think this is a big deal. I don’t think the Speaker of the House can lie to the country on national security matters,” Gingrich said.

He continued: “I think this is the most despicable, dishonest and vicious political effort I’ve seen in my lifetime.” “She is a trivial politician, viciously using partisanship for the narrowest of purposes, and she dishonors the Congress by her behavior.”

I am not the biggest Nancy Pelosi fan, but the ethically-challenged Gingrich has a lot of nerve bashing anyone for being a trivial politician, using partisanship for the narrowest purposes and dishonoring Congress. Apparently there are no mirrors in the Gingrich household. It just goes to show the arrogance of someone like Newt Gingrich.

Next, O.J. Simpson and Chris Brown will be condemning people committing domestic violence.

Think Progress:
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/05/15/gingrich-pelosi-vitriol/

More Evidence Newt Gingrich Lives On the Far, FAR Right Of The Political Spectrum

I was amused to read this about Fox News host Greta Van Susteren hosting fellow conservative Newt Gingrich (disguised as an analyst for the network conservatives love). Read as Crybaby Gingrich just loses his mind in trying to portray President Barack Obama as some kind of extremist dictator in retaliation because Fox News correspondent Major Garrett did not have an opportunity to ask a question at a recent presidential news conference (even though Garrett has had a lot of access to Obama during and since the campaign).Why should Fox care anyway? Fox did not think the press conference was important enough to be broadcast on the Fox broadcast channel did not want to pick it up so it could slap Obama in the face and sell some ads for regular programming to make some money.

VAN SUSTEREN: Well, you know, Fox News Channel got, quote, punished – Fox News Channel didn’t get a question the other night – Major Garrett, our White House correspondent – because the Fox broadcast, not the Fox News Channel, but the Fox broadcast decided not to air the press conference.

GINGRICH: Right. Which should tell all of you about the abuse of power inherent in this administration. They now control General Motors, they basically control Chrysler, they control Citibank, they control AIG, and they are prepared to punish people.

I think that’s very dangerous, to have a president who thinks he should get up in the morning and punish Americans. You know, appease foreigners, bow to the Saudi king, embrace the Venezuelan dictator, and punish Americans? I think that’s a very dangerous attitude.

More fearmongering from an increasingly desperate Republican party trying to paint Obama as being anti-American and as sympathizing with dictators. Not all people of color get along and love each other, although that is what Fox wants you to think when analysts like Gingrich get on there and continue to blow out of proportion brief meetings that Obama has had with some leaders of other countries that some people don’t like. Coming off of some of the things that happened during the administration of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, it’s laughable for Gingrich to make such a statement. The best thing the Republicans could ever do for the Democrats would be to nominate an out-of-touch extremist like Newt Gingrich for president in 2012 or at any other time in history.

Crooks and Liars:
http://crooksandliars.com/david-neiwert/gingrich-obama-wants-get-morning-and