Showing posts with label MSM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MSM. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Our Legacy Media Thought Experiment for the Day

Prior to his State of the Union address, President Obama went to lunch with five of his most trusted public relations advisers.

President Obama met with several top news personalities and pundits on Tuesday before his State of the Union Address.

Per a White House pool report, the president met with the group for lunch at the White House this afternoon.

Among the figures reported to be meeting with the president were:

• CNN's Wolf Blitzer
• ABC's Diane Sawyer
• ABC's George Stephanopoulos
• NBC's Brian Williams
• MSNBC's Chris Matthews

...The president has been known to meet with journalists occasionally for informal chats. The discussions are typically off the record, meaning that the content of Tuesday's discussion will likely remain unknown.

Here's our thought experiment for the day:

Imagine that just before the State of the Union in 2006, when Iraq was reaching a boiling point, President Bush went to a private lunch with Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Mark Levin, Charles Krauthammer and Hugh Hewitt. The topics of their discussion were off the record, meaning that they were not disclosed to legacy media.

I want you to predict how many outraged New York Times op-eds would result. How many Special Comments and Worst Person in the World bile-duct secretions by Strap-On would be produced as a consequence. And how many deranged Vanity Fair conspiracy nuts would become employed in the aftermath.

My over-under for the total is 45.


Hat tip and Image (slightly modified from original): Weasel Zippers.

Monday, January 24, 2011

The 10 Most Deranged Newsweek Covers of All-Time (Plus: This Week's Entry Breaks Into the Coveted Top Ten!)

Last summer Newsweek Magazine was sold for the tidy sum of precisely one dollar. Moonbattery alerts us to exhibit 9,360 proving that the buyer overpaid.

Check out the Newsweek cover exploiting the Tucson Massacre... (below, top left). Back in reality, Jared Loughner's favorite video features a wacko burning an American flag [and t]here is zero reason to ascribe any patriotic motives to Jared Loughner whatsoever. But Newsweek isn't about to let the truth stand in the way of the media establishment's narrative. Wrapping the killer in an American flag is sure to push the desired impression into the heads of people who aren't really paying attention and don't know what's going on... For the rest of us, the pernicious liars comprising the "mainstream" media no longer pass the laugh test.

Yes, you evil flag-wavers are to blame for the Tucson shootings, dontcha know? You and Sarah Palin, that is.

In the pantheon of derangement, Newsweek's carved out quite a niche for itself. Which is why the Topeka AutoTrader sells more copies each week.


Sunday, January 23, 2011

This Week With Christiane Amanpour -- in 90 Seconds

Don't have the time or masochistic tendencies required to watch Christiane's "news" show? Not to worry, dear reader. Biff Spackle's high-speed transcription skills allow you to read the synopsis in a little under 90 seconds.

AMANPOUR: Can you guess the president's new theme for 2011? Hint: it's the same as his old theme. With us to discuss the new theme are three senators who have decided not to run for reelection because of their principles and the fact that they'd get their asses kicked, but mostly because they'd have gotten their asses kicked.

But first, let's find out what's driving Obama's dramatically improved poll numbers.

AXELROD: We promised that the economy would recover and we delivered. Check out the unemployment numbers, chumps!

GERGEN: He benefited from the Tucson shootings and his magnificent speech in the tragic aftermath. I believe he needs more shootings on a regular basis to keep the momentum going on his poll numbers.

TAPPER: This is the new, business-friendly Obama, who believes in capitalism so long as it's centrally managed in Washington.

GIBBS: A polygraph? Why would you want me to take a polygraph?

AMANPOUR: Now, three senators who chose not to run for reelection in 2012. What do you think about the claims of a renewed bipartisanship and how it relates to President Obama's State of the Union address?

LIEBERMAN: Well, he's proved he's a centrist now and his speech will showcase his new, grayer hair. He looks far more distinguished and moderate. And civil.

HUTCHISON: If I had a dime for every regulation this president has proposed, I'd be a billionaire. If he's a centrist, I'm a lock to win against a truly conservative GOP candidate.

CONRAD: Look, it's all about jobs. Just like 2010 and 2009. Jobs. J-O-B-S. Christiane, look -- over there -- it's a greenhouse gas!

AMANPOUR: Everywhere I go around this country, whether it's the Upper East Side or the Upper West Side, people want moderation and civility. You three are all about to get booted, I mean you're all retiring, yet you have a reputation for being so moderate and, some would say, wishy-washy. What's really motivating your departure?

LIEBERMAN: People no longer trust the Ouija board that I use to make my decisions. Every decision is grounded in what the Ouija demon spirits tell me -- and for the voter, that's just not good enough any more.

CONRAD: Everyone's mad about government spending, TARP in particular. But, look, TARP was Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fault... Bush's fa--

AMANPOUR: But Democrats all supported TARP too...

CONRAD: I have to use the bathroom, may I be excused?

AMANPOUR: Certainly. Now, Senator Hutchison, you're super, super conservative, yet the Tea Party opposes you. How can these right-wing lunatics have achieved this popular support?

HUTCHISON: Two words: Sarah Palin. She's evil. Perhaps even the spawn of Satan. She must be stopped. And the Tea Party must be stopped. She's their leader. Did you ever see V? Can you imagine? Sarah Palin beating Barack Obama? What would happen to our country then? How could we ever return to the insane levels of spending and cronyism if someone like her were elec--

AMANPOUR: That's all the time we have, Senators -- thank you very much -- and best of luck in your new professions serving fast food or checking oil at JiffyLube.


Idea: Moonbat Patriot.

Civility, Saudi Arabian-style: Storekeeper sentenced to 25 lashes for insulting a customer

Here's how 'civility' is handled in Saudi Arabia:

A local Arabic newspaper reported on Sunday that an Asian shopkeeper observed a Saudi customer casually reading a newspaper he had plucked from the newsstand with no intention of buying it. Upset that the man was "stealing" the news of the day, the shopkeeper called him a hayawan - "beast" in Arabic.

Upset about the shopkeeper's slander, the Saudi man filed a complaint with the local court and a judge meted out the lashing sentence. Maybe the next time this happens the shopkeeper should consider a more accurate description for a person who reads a newspaper with no intention of buying it: Bakheel, aka "stingy person.

Is this endgame any different than Al Sharpton's efforts to regulate speech with which he disagrees by having it labeled 'hateful'?


Friday, January 21, 2011

Oh, the Humanity: Media Matters Narrator Keith Olbermann Departs MSNBC--George Soros, John Podesta Hardest Hit

That didn't take long. As our enterprising cub reporter Biff Spackle predicted a few days ago, Keith Olbermann got a pink slip from MSNBC's new owner. The termination notice reads, in part, "Don't let the door hit you on the...":

Cable host Keith Olbermann and news channel MSNBC abruptly parted ways on Friday night, as the network announced it had agreed to end his contract and the last installment of his show would air that evening.

The surprise announcement strips MSNBC of its most-watched evening anchor after an increasingly tempestuous relationship, coming less than three months after the network briefly suspended the fiery host.

"MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors," the network said in an emailed statement just before the end of Mr. Olbermann's Friday program. Commentator Keith Olbermann signed off his msnbc cable television show Friday night after nearly eight years... "Msnbc and Keith Olbermann have ended our contract," Phil Griffin, president of msnbc, said Friday... "Msnbc thanks Keith for his integral role in msnbc's success and we wish him well in his future endeavors," Griffin said.

The network reports that the 8pm slot will be filled with reruns of Top Chef -- alternating with airport radar -- until further notice.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Memeorandum. Thanks!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

The Battle Next Time: a Brief History of the Alinsky-inspired Tactics of Media Matters, John Podesta and Legacy Media

The specious claim that Sarah Palin and the Tea Party were somehow linked to the Tucson massacre was a professional, coordinated hit job -- that 'just happened' to get picked up and marketed by the mainstream media.

As I have documented, that false connection started with bloggers at DailyKos and Think Progress using Twitter to push the issue into the mainstream media within hours of the shooting with the help of their followers

The ruthless efficiency with which the left-wing blogosphere tied Palin to the shooting, and the success of their efforts in equating Palin with mass murder, is a lesson we should not forget.

The Democrats and their mainstream media supporters were put back on their heels in 2010, and are regrouping. And if regrouping requires falsely accusing a major Republican figure of complicity in mass murder, and then amplifying that false accusation for several days in the face of contrary evidence until a substantial portion of the population believes it, they will do it.

But it did not stop with the accusation.  When Palin tried to defend herself she was savaged again in the mainstream media.

It wasn't the first time this has happened; and it certainly won't be the last.

The Left Fears Sarah Palin Like No Other GOP Candidate


If Palin were, as some on the right tell us, a "joke" of a candidate, it hardly explains the desperation with which the professional propagandists -- ranging from John Podesta's Center for American Progress to Markos Moulitsas -- attack her.

On 2 September 2008, I reported on an information warfare operation launched against the McCain-Palin campaign. Just hours after John McCain had selected Sarah Palin as his VP candidate, proxies for candidate Obama launched a massive astroturfing operation.

The same lengthy message -- reportedly authored by a feminist in Alaska -- was posted in hundreds of discussion boards across the Internet in a matter of hours. This type of operation, of course, would have required a significant amount of work -- prepping messages and creating pre-positioned sock-puppet accounts.

Later that same month, The Jawa Report noted that several federal election laws appeared to have been broken in a series of similar incidents and implicated David Axelrod (who else?) in the morass. Dan Riehl offered a powerful executive summary of the research.

Extensive research was conducted by the Jawa Report to determine the source of smears directed toward Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. Those smears included false allegations that she belonged to a secessionist political party and that she has radical anti-American views.

Our research suggests that a subdivision of one of the largest public relations firms in the world most likely started and promulgated rumors about Sarah Palin that were known to be false. These rumors were spread in a surreptitious manner to avoid exposure.

It is also likely that the PR firm was paid by outside sources to run the smear campaign. While not conclusive, evidence suggests a link to the Barack Obama campaign...

Riehl described a set of too-good-to-be-true coincidences that tied Obama adviser David Axelrod to the anti-Palin smears. How very odd and uncharacteristic for a man of Axelrod's high ethical standards!

Republicans Must Be Ready for the Next Attack


Republicans must effectively prepare for the next rounds of these Hugo Chavez-style propaganda campaigns.

• Pre-position responses to the inevitable series of lies ("They're at it again") with plenty of attribution to their 'Greatest Hits'...

• Target the instigators -- the Soros-run Media Matters, John Podesta's rank Think Progress operation and the Daily Komm -- and expose the evidence that links the agitprop directly to legacy media...

• Work with the center-right blogosphere to expose the truth behind their Alinsky-ite tactics: notify folks like Instapundit, Michelle Malkin, Hot Air, and the like to promote truth, justice and The American Way...

The good news is that each time their lies are exposed, legacy media weakens itself further. At some point in the not-too-distant future, their credibility will be precisely that of Media Matters, which is to say: zero.


Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Comcastic! New Owner Shakes Up MSNBC's Lineup

NBC has a new owner: the cable giant Comcast. With new ownership comes a dramatic revamp of the network's money-losing news operation, the flagship for which is MSNBC (or "MSLSD", which are the call letters it prefers).

In order to discover the inner workings of the revamp, Cub Reporter Biff Spackle decided to hack into Comcast's super-secret Gmail account. But you didn't hear that from me.

What he found will rock your world: Comcast's new lineup for MSNBC will position the channel to the right of Fox News. Check out the all-new lineup of shows on MSNBC:

1PM (Reality) Fear Factor: Iran -- contestants Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell and Sean Penn are subjected to the Mullahs' harsh brand of justice after being captured 'spying' in Tehran

2PM (Gameshow) Presidential Jeopardy -- computer simulation pits Republicans Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan against Democrats Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama on topics ranging from the free market to the Bill of Rights

3PM (Comedy) Flipper -- relive John Kerry's hilarious policy shifts as he desperately tries to salvage his 2004 presidential campaign

4PM (Drama) Bolton's Heroes -- the former ambassador desperately tries to prevent the last neuron from escaping Jimmy Carter's brain

5PM (Education) After-school Special: Socialism--The Slow Road to Genocide

6PM (News) Conservative News Hour (guests: Michelle Bachmann, Jim DeMint, Mike Pence)

7PM (Documentary) Bewitched: Washington -- host Michelle Malkin attempts to conduct an exorcism of Nancy Pelosi

8PM (News) The Mark Levin Show (panelists wired with Invisible Fence collars: Bill Maher, Chris Matthews, Keith Olbermann, and Joy Behar)

9PM (Reality) The Palins, episode 3, President Palin's family moves into the White House

10PM (History) American Foundations - July, 1776 - the colonies risk everything to declare their separation from England's oppressive rule

11PM (News) The 11 O'Clock Newt - Host Newt Gingrich opines on the day's events

12AM (Documentary) The Reagan Legacy, episode 73, October 1980

1AM (Reality) Punk'd - Host Ashton Kutscher sets up a hilarious prank in which Harry Reid is permanently committed to an insane asylum

2AM (Reality) Pimp My RINO - Lindsey Graham visits the garage for a makeover

3AM (Drama) Fetal Forensics with Andrew Sullivan

4AM (Exercise) Celebrity Fit Club 12: Jeff Goldstein uses Michael Moore as a living heavy bag to attempt to get the director to lose weight (episode name: 'Pound the Stupid Out o' Ya')

5AM (Documentary) Understanding the Constitution - Heritage Foundation hosts a discussion of private property rights, free markets and the wonders of capitalism -- John Locke, Adam Smith and Milton Friedman [Repeat]

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Aftermath of Tucson Shooting Reveals Big Gaps in the Identification and Treatment of Delusional Children. But Enough About David Gregory.

There are roughly 300 million Americans who don't watch Meet the Press and who wouldn't know its host -- David Gregory -- from Oprah's plumber. Truth be told, Oprah's plumber probably has a higher Q-rating. But I digress.

The ludicrous Mr. Gregory, whose idea of empaneling a 'conservative' on his show involves speed-dialing Davids Frum and Brooks, beclowned himself in spectacular fashion this Sunday past. Let's listen in.

MR. GREGORY: ...out of the madness of Arizona, is this the moment when civility makes a comeback in politics? Is this the game changer in political attitudes that 9/11 was to our attitudes about security? Our special roundtable examines those questions and more, including the pattern of political attack and counterattack in the wake of the shootings... With us this morning, the Reverend Al Sharpton --

Whoa, whoa, whoa -- stop the tape.

Seriously? Al Sharpton? So the man who helped fan the racial tensions that killed eight innocent people in New York is NBC's 'civility expert'? Just wanted to level-set here...

MR. GREGORY: ...I do want to ask about political discourse and where this conversation should go. Ron Brownstein writes in his column in the National Journal this week, a column that's entitled "Apocalypse Always." And here's a point that he makes in conclusion of the piece: "When political arguments are routinely framed as threats to America's fundamental character, the odds rise that the most disturbed among us will be tempted to resist the governing agenda by any means necessary."

Is that the real problem, Senator Coburn? Is a description of political discourse and political disagreement as being apocalyptic, having such huge consequence for the direction of the country?

Okay, it's been a whole week, Mr. Gregory.

Since the attack, we've confirmed that the Jared Loughner was a nut -- stark raving bonkers -- with, if anything, a left-leaning political background. So we know that 'political arguments' -- especially as they unfairly tarred Sarah Palin and the Tea Party -- had absolutely nothing to do with Loughner's delusions.

As for Mr. Gregory's condition one can only speculate.

I reject the premise of this ridiculous man, his ridiculous show and the entire notion of a 'civility expert' named Al Sharpton.

Mr. Gregory, in the words of Don Surber: bite me.

Now you know why NBC's ratings trail the Alfalfa Channel and re-runs of F-Troop.


Hat tip: Mark Levin.

Monday, January 17, 2011

Scoop: I reveal the 'secret financiers' behind the Tea Party before the shocking exposé by RawStory and John Podesta!

The troubled crackpots at RawStory appear to have quite the journalistic coup. They claim that the progressive media will, at the end of the month, reveal the "secretive billionaire family that finances the so-called Tea party movement."

Gee, and all this time I thought the Tea Party was a grass-roots movement inspired -- in part -- by an on-air diatribe by CNBC's Rick Santelli.

Actually I'm going to scoop the leftists -- who seem to have forgotten about George Soros, Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, various former and current Goldman Sachs partners and a myriad other mega-rich Democrat Party backers -- and reveal the real financiers of the Tea Party.

It's all of these guys:

If you needed further proof that the Left is delusional -- and I'm certain you don't -- RawStory's 'scoop' should seal the deal.


Related: Jennifer Rubin exposes the race card lies of ThinkProgress, "owned by the Center for American Progress (run by John Podesta)". But I'm sure that's just another grass-roots organization of patriotic Americans.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin and The Tatler. Thanks!

'Civility' -- Just Another Word for Hudna

According to Wikipedia, the word Hudna "(هدنة) is an Arabic term meaning a temporary 'truce' or 'armistice'."

A more pragmatic definition paints a Hudna as not only a temporary truce but also a method of deception used by radical Muslims to install a false sense of security among opponents. All terms and conditions of a Hudna are optional for the radicals, with their duration in effect "only as long as the Muslims need them to be."

When Democrats began promoting 'civility' after their libelous accusations linking a deranged Leftist mass-murderer (who despised George W. Bush) with the Tea Party, I immediately recognized a Hudna.

After a historic shellacking in the midterm elections, Democrats want to promote 'civility' in the form of a truce that will allow them to regroup.

In the words of Don Surber: bite me.

For a decade, from the election of Bush 43 forward, the Left has lied and cheated as it tried to return to power. Al Gore made a mockery out of the American electoral system by being a spoilsport over Florida, which Bush indeed won... Dan Rather forged a document to try to derail Bush’s re-election... After voting to support the war to get by the 2002 election, many Democrats quickly soured on the war. The profane protests were cheered by liberals [and once] in power, liberals were the opposite of gracious.

For two years now, I have been called ignorant, racist, angry and violent by the left. The very foul-mouthed protesters of Bush dare to now label my words as “hate speech.”

...screw [them and their] civil discourse.

I don’t want to hear it.

I have been screamed at for 10 years.

I feel the same way.

But not precisely because I'm angry, although I am angry at their destructive, catatonically stupid policies.

But because this is a hudna, plain as day. And I, for one, refuse to allow them to regroup or claim some sort of moral high ground when it is they who are immoral, dishonest and disrespectful.

It is they who are the cult, far from the mainstream, who have as their stated aim the destruction of the American system. And this 'civility' truce will last only as long as is convenient; for you can rest assured their hysterical, unhinged attacks will resume at the earliest window of political opportunity.


Sunday, January 16, 2011

Understanding Leftism In One Photograph

The accompanying photograph illustrates a theme that Mark Levin articulated on the eve of the 2008 presidential election and which Michelle Malkin highlighted in 'The Allure of the Charismatic Demagogue'.

There is a cult-like atmosphere around Barack Obama, which his campaign has carefully and successfully fabricated, which concerns me. The messiah complex. Fainting audience members at rallies. Special Obama flags and an Obama presidential seal. A graphic with the portrayal of the globe and Obama’s name on it, which adorns everything from Obama’s plane to his street literature. Young school children singing songs praising Obama. Teenagers wearing camouflage outfits and marching in military order chanting Obama’s name and the professions he is going to open to them. An Obama world tour, culminating in a speech in Berlin where Obama proclaims we are all citizens of the world. I dare say, this is ominous stuff...

...Obama’s entire campaign is built on class warfare and human envy. The “change” he peddles is not new. We’ve seen it before. It is change that diminishes individual liberty for the soft authoritarianism of socialism. It is a populist appeal that disguises government mandated wealth redistribution as tax cuts for the middle class, falsely blames capitalism for the social policies and government corruption (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac) that led to the current turmoil in our financial markets, fuels contempt for commerce and trade by stigmatizing those who run successful small and large businesses, and exploits human imperfection as a justification for a massive expansion of centralized government...

How prescient he was.

Fortunately, the majority of Americans are decidedly un-drone-like, as opposed to the nincompoop pictured above (the one on the right). The 2010 elections demonstrated that legacy media's agenda can be defeated. We must continue to block the socialist agenda in 2012 if we are to save this Republic from the strangling embrace of a charismatic demagogue.


Hat tip: Brad.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Extremist Rhetoric: the Political Cartoon That Touched Off The Civil War

Heated rhetoric indeed -- and certain to incite violence.

In this political cartoon, a Union officer (unidentified) swings a club labeled "Union" in defense against a many-headed serpent labeled "Secession"...

The serpent's heads are: Floyd, Pickens, Beauregard, Twiggs, Davis, Stephens, and Toombs, all leaders of the Southern secession movement and the resulting Confederacy. "

-- Civil War Treasures, New York Historical Society [Digital ID nhnycw/aj aj08074]

If only we had implemented the Left's plans -- and restricted political speech -- the entire Civil War could have been averted.


Top Ten Things We Can't Say Anymore

Dan from New York:

According to the Dept. of Homeland Security the following words, phrases and idioms are henceforth verboten:

1. Target audience

2. The movie bombed

3. I have a question. “Shoot!”

4. Attack ad

5. He shot his big mouth off

6. Over my dead body!

7. Annie get your gun

8. Bullets over Broadway

9. Killer app

10. I almost died laughing

Graphic guidelines to follow.

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Left's New Reichstag

Now that MSNBC has unleashed an unprecedented assault on civility, I think it's safe to say that the aftermath of the Tucson attacks represents the Left's new Reichstag.

After all, the media and the Democrat Party have conspired -- like the Nazis who orchestrated the arson at the Reichstag -- to blame unwitting innocents for a crime with which they had absolutely no connection.

And the Democrats' information warfare campaign occurred with such rapidity and at such scale that one would think Journolist was still in operation.

Perhaps to mark the 2,000th member joining the Facebook group 'I hate it when I wake up and Sarah Palin is still alive', the former governor of Alaska issued a statement today that read, in part:

Vigorous and spirited public debates during elections are among our most cherished traditions. And after the election, we shake hands and get back to work, and often both sides find common ground back in D.C. and elsewhere. If you don’t like a person’s vision for the country, you’re free to debate that vision. If you don’t like their ideas, you’re free to propose better ideas. But, especially within hours of a tragedy unfolding, journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.

There are those who claim political rhetoric is to blame for the despicable act of this deranged, apparently apolitical criminal. And they claim political debate has somehow gotten more heated just recently. But when was it less heated? Back in those “calm days” when political figures literally settled their differences with dueling pistols?

As could easily have been predicted, the scripted reaction from many on the left was a knee-jerk, hateful response.

Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Democrat of Florida, who is a close friend of Ms. Giffords, issued a statement condemning her use of the phrase “blood libel.” ... “Palin’s comments either show a complete ignorance of history, or blatant anti-Semitism,” said Jonathan Beeton, Ms. Wasserman Shultz’s spokesman. “Either way, it shows an appalling lack of sensitivity given Representative Giffords’s faith and the events of the past week.”…

Jeremy Ben-Ami, president of a pro-Israel group called J Street, said that “when Governor Palin learns that many Jews are pained by and take offense at the use of the term, we are sure that she will choose to retract her comment, apologize and make a less inflammatory choice of words.”

Yes, it appears that after being libeled, Palin made the fundamental mistake of saying so.

The people who falsely and maliciously accused Sarah Palin of inciting Jared Loughner to murder now are criticizing Palin for using the term "blood libel." ... Matthew Yglesias of Think Progress [Ed: who I believe prefers his titular title, 'The World's Dumbest Blogger'], who was responsible along with Markos Molitsas of DailyKos for spreading the connection between the Palin electoral target map and the shooting, smugly asserts that Palin just can't take criticism

There's just one little problem.

Of Course It's a Blood Libel -- and the Left's 'Big Lie' Tactics Smack of Nazism Too


Two elements of Nazi propaganda involved 'blood libel' and 'the big lie', both of which were used to paint Jews, Catholics, gypsies, homosexuals and other 'undesirables' as evil outcasts without whom society would be better off.

Put simply, Sarah Palin got it right. Falsely accusing someone of shedding blood is the very definition of a blood libel.

At Conservatives For Palin, Sheya writes:

Ever since I was two years old, I was told stories of Jewish persecution and blood libels. I was told how the Jews were accused for using the blood of Christian children to bake matzoh bread. I was told the stories of how whenever there was a murder in town the Jews were blamed for it. Whatever the scenario, the chain of events were the same. The Jews were accused of a murder, followed by calls for their deaths, followed by riots and then killings of all the Jews. At all time when the Jews spoke up and defended themselves, they were told to sit down and shut up and further killings took place just for that reason alone.

After the horrific killings in Tucson this Saturday and the finger-pointing at Governor Palin begun, I was mad and I was angry. Not that I’m not used to seeing irrational criticism thrown at Governor Palin, I’m used to seeing that by now and frankly I have come to expect it. But this time it was different; this time it felt as if all those stories I was told as a kid were coming to life. A heartless murderer shot and killed innocent victims. Governor Palin, who is hated just because she exists, was blamed, and that was followed by a flood of calls for her death on Twitter and Facebook. If this isn’t a blood libel than nothing is.

And no less a macher than Alan Dershowitz agrees that the governor's use of the term is accurate and appropriate.

No, the goals of the Left are to use this Reichstag moment to crush two more of our rights.

The First Amendment - "Lawmakers consider new curbs on incendiary speech"

The Second Amendment - "Violent talk blocks sane gun laws"

I'll net it out: Democrats wanted to use this moment to shred more of the Constitution. It's their new Reichstag fire.

The ends justify the means for this sorry lot. And if stepping over the victims of Tucson in their rush to destroy our freedoms is the price, it's one they're more than willing to pay.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin and Memeorandum. Thanks!

The eerie similarities between Tea Party conservatives and Jared Lee Loughner

As Left Coast Rebel observes, there are way too many similarities for the connection to be a mere coincidence...

I can guaran-damn-tee Sheriff Barney Fife Dupnik has this chart on his office wall.


'On this solemn occasion, we remember those who were lost and pray for the wounded, while wearing our 100% cotton souvenir collectible T-shirts'

Everything he touches turns to crap. And you know of whom I speak.

President Obama used to preach that there was no “Red America” and no “Blue America,” just one America.

But tonight at the memorial for the Tucson massacre victims, it will be a sea of blue as the White House unveils the “Together We Thrive” logo and slogan.

Yes, the Tucson massacre is being branded...

...Can’t the Democrat political stage managers give it a break just once?

The answer is... eh, no.

Though I suppose we ought to be grateful that they seem to have forgotten the styrofoam Grecian columns.


Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Oh. No. He. Didn't. Chris Matthews blames the Tucson shootings on... the strident tone of Mark Levin's voice

Not that you needed more proof that Chris Matthews has lost all command of his faculties, but tonight's diatribe should confirm what we all knew. The Tingle-Master -- which is the term he prefers, I hear -- assailed constitutional attorney and radio host Mark Levin this evening in what must be an all-time record for IQ mismatch. I liken it to a toy poodle attempting to mount Marmaduke.

Chris Matthews, joined by two liberal talk radio hosts on Tuesday's Hardball, essentially blamed...Mark Levin for creating the climate of hate that led to the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords as the envious MSNBC host proclaimed: "People like Mark Levin...every time you listen to them are furious, furious at the left with anger that's just builds and builds in their voice and by the time they go to commercial, they're just in some rage, every night, with ugly talk....They must have an audience. I looked at the numbers today. They have big audiences! And I guess that's the question. Why and is it ever going to stop if it keeps working?"

E. Steven Collins, another Philly area talker, sided with Arizona Sheriff Clarence Dupnik who attacked Rush Limbaugh, as he hailed: "The sheriff is Tucson was absolutely right...It does impact people who may have a mental problem or may not" and added that there was a "direct relationship" with Sarah Palin putting crosshairs on her Web site over Giffords' district and the loss of a life of "that little girl who went down to meet the congressperson."

Levin is a man who is passionate about what he believes. Since he was a teenager he has revered the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the rule of law, all of which combine to protect the civil society and the precious country that liberals take for granted.

Levin served for eight years in the Reagan administration including stints in the Department of Justice and the Department of the Interior. Today, in addition to his talk show host duties, he provides pro bono legal services as president of Landmark Legal Foundation.

Furthermore, Levin is a man who explicitly decries violence and brooks no such talk on his show.

He is a man who, on a nightly basis, discusses history, philosophy, logic and reason. Listen to one of his shows and there is a good chance you will hear him recite accounts of the first Tea Party of 1773, Paul Revere's ride, or the historic passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Levin often opines on the Framers' intent for the Constitution's Commerce clause, based upon his extensive readings of the Federalist Papers. He has described the founders' reliance upon Montesquieu's separation of powers, John Locke's concepts of natural, God-granted rights, the power of the free market as expressed through Adam Smith's 'invisible hand', and de Tocqueville's immortal Democracy in America.

Therefore Chris Matthews has discarded -- or worse, never bothered to listen to -- the content of Levin's commentary and instead assails the tone of his voice.

Yes, you heard me: MSNBC's Chris Matthews is attacking the tone of Mark Levin's voice.

Which describes, in a sentence, the depths to which the modern Left has descended.

For it is they who market divisive and destructive rhetoric. It is they that advocate lawless behavior. And it is they who reject the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Which is why they grabbed this opportunity by the throat: to suppress the free speech of those with whom they disagree.


Paul Krugman's Dissociative State

The psychopathology of serial murder: a theory of violence:

Children who do not have the power to control the mistreatment they suffer create a new reality that they can escape to. This new reality becomes their fantasy that they have total control of and becomes part of their daily existence. In this fantasy world their emotional development is guided and maintained...

...According to Garrison (1996), "the child becomes sociopathic because the normal development of the concepts of right and wrong and empathy towards others is retarded because of the child's emotional and social development occurs within his self-centered fantasies. A person can do no wrong in his own world and the pain of others is of no consequence when the purpose of the fantasy world is to satisfy the needs of one person"...

...Boundaries between fantasy and reality are lost and fantasies turn to dominance, control, sexual conquest, and violence, eventually leading to murder. Fantasy can lead to the first step in the process of a dissociative state, which, in the words of Stephen Giannangelo, "allows the serial killer to leave the stream of consciousness for what is, to him, a better place."

The author must be mistaken: I saw no mention of Sarah Palin or the Tea Party.


Monday, January 10, 2011

Validating Aspects of 'The Cholla Jumps' Backstory

Within hours of the shootings in Tucson, Pima County Sheriff Clarence Dupnik made the questionable decision to appear on as many national television programs as possible. In each appearance, he made the rather bizarre assertion that talk radio, the Republican Party or other dark forces motivated young Loughner to commit mass murder. These statements were completely unfounded and Dupnik admitted as much when pressed.

Furthermore Dupnik actually confessed that Loughner had made prior death threats against a person who was not Rep. Giffords.

What the The Cholla Jumps site is alleging – and which has not yet been confirmed- is the following:

Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County.

The question is, is this true?  We don’t know – yet – but it’s certainly plausible

Indeed. And we can validate elements of the back-story to help determine veracity. Consider this claim from the Cholla story: "Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation."

This appears to be a true statement.

Her name is listed in several places around the web as affiliated with Pima County.

Amy was married to Randy Loughner in 1986.

Who is Randy Lee Loughner?

An unconfirmed report describes him as also affiliated with local government, working in -- of all places -- "Child Protective Services."

The question arises, in part because of the sheriff's odd behavior: did the fact that one or both parents worked in local government allow them to "pull strings" to protect a troubled child?

Karl Denninger thinks that is a distinct possibility.

What's your response to this Mr. Dupnik?  A bit of truth comes out, eh?  Exactly how many felonies did you decline to investigate and prosecute?   Are you going to slink away from the white-hot light of truth or will you "man up" and admit that your scurrilous allegations were disseminated simply to try to save your own hide from the entirely-appropriate wrath at the ballot box that is certain to ensue come next election?

The suspect didn't just post one threat on an Internet forum and there wasn't "just one" incident - it's alleged here that he made multiple death threats against the staff of the college he was ejected from, radio personalities and local bloggers.

Each and every one of those threats was an offense and had just one of them been prosecuted it would have resulted in the suspect being blacklisted in the NICS database - and thus he would not have been able to buy the gun he shot the people in Tuscon with.

And before you go off on this guy and his blog being some sort of nut, here's the credentials from his page:

James Kelley is a native of Tucson, born here in 1961. A Navy veteran, he graduated twice from the Defense Language Institute in Monterey CA majoring in Albanian and Persian-Farsi. He was a Balkan area, Middle East North Africa, Southwest Asia, and Gulf Area analyst for the Naval Security Group and the National Security Agency. He received his Bachelor of Science in Sociology from the University of the State of New York, Albany. Since leaving the service he has worked as a premium cruise line representative, telecommunications specialist, real estate broker, and as a substitute teacher in local school districts... Presently, Mr. Kelley is a contributing columnist for the Arizona News-Telegraph and the Executive Director of SocialNetworkingWatchdog.Org, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to educating youth and seniors on personal security while using social networking.

Does Arizona have a recall process for so-called "elected officials" who behave like this and refuse to accept responsibility for their conduct - including but not limited to blaming others for their own failures that result in the death of innocent people?  How about some sort of impeachment procedure?  If you don't, you need both - right now.

Best-a-luck in the next election Sheriff.  You're gonna need it.

Perhaps some "professional journalists" could actually "investigate" this matter if they could take time away from inventing new lies about Sarah Palin.


Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!

Don't be Deniers, Right-Wingers: the Tea-Truthers are Exposing Hidden Ties Between the Tea Party, Sarah Palin and the Illuminati

Paul Krugman and Markos Moulitsas (spelling off? do I care?) are charter members of the Tea-Truth™ movement, which has its mission the exposure of the nefarious relationship between Sarah Palin, the Tea Party and the Rosicrucians.

These men and others -- the Tea-Truthers as they are known -- are dedicated to the principled, ethical investigation of all things Tea Party.

Because we simply must stop the vitriol, hatred and uninformed commentary. We must do it for the children.