Friday, September 29, 2006

Savage smears gays; defends child molesters

From Media Matters...

Transcripts:

From the September 27 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: Washington Times employee arrested in sting, just popped up. Metropolitan police today charged the director of human resources [chuckle] at The Washington Times with one count of trying to entice a minor on the Internet. Randall Casseday, 53, was arrested at 9:45 p.m. yesterday with where police said he had arranged to meet a 13-year-old girl. He had actually exchanged Internet messages and photographs with a male police officer posing as a girl. Well, OK, great. I actually think he should get a reward that it wasn't with a boy. I actually was thrilled to see it was only a girl. I'm not saying it was good that he did it. But don't get me wrong, I was stunned that it was with a girl. I mean, there is still a normal pervert out there. It's hard to believe. There are still normal perverts? It's shocking.

[...]

SAVAGE: I think it's a very dangerous trend. Not only the obsession with child molestation, which is an obsession, by the way, with the American media right now because they don't have the guts to take on radical Islam so they make a big deal out of child molestation. It's like a new hysteria. It's the new witch hunt. Going after child molesters today is the equivalent of witch hunts in Pilgrim times. Everyone is suspected of being a witch or a child molester because -- well, many different reasons.

From the September 26 edition of The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: The entire left wing is governed by the hedonists, and the hedonists are the most unforgiving element in American society, and it transcends both parties, it transcends all races. The hedonists run everything, and the hedonists put their hedonism above all other things.
CALLER: OK. Well --

SAVAGE: That's how I see it. [Caller], I honestly do see it that way, and I've decided to not use the word "gay" anymore. Instead I'm using the word "hedonist" because I think it more aptly describes what I'm trying to say because the lifestyle of the homosexual and the lifestyle of a heterosexual hedonist is almost the same. So therefore, I would say the hedonist and hedonism is a better description of what I'm trying to get at with regard to why I'm hated in the media.
CALLER: That would -- that makes sense.

[...]

SAVAGE: How do you explain children -- how do you explain children who have leukemia who suffer a horrible death and then die at 6 in a back ward, and no one ever sees them because the gay community won't let you see the children dying? They only let you see the gays, who tell you that their disease is the only disease that's permissible to be shown in the media. I mean, AIDS is a horrible disease, but it isn't the only disease.

AUDIO / LINK: Savage lauds Wash. Times employee allegedly soliciting girl for sex as a "normal pervert" who "should get a reward that it wasn't a boy"

Witch hunt?
-Mr. Joseph

Trent Lott Proves He is Racist Yet Again...

"Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me."
-Trent Lott

From Think Progress...

SUMMARY:
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), who famously suggested the U.S. wouldn’t have “all these problems” had Strom Thurmond been elected President, said today that the religious differences among Iraqis makes the conflict very difficult for him to understand:

“It’s hard for Americans, all of us, including me, to understand what’s wrong with these people,” he said. “Why do they kill people of other religions because of religion? Why do they hate the Israeli’s and despise their right to exist? Why do they hate each other? Why do Sunnis kill Shiites? How do they tell the difference? They all look the same to me."

Speaking shortly after a meeting with President Bush and Vice President Cheney, Lott added that Iraq wasn’t among the White House’s priorities.

“No, none of that,” Lott told reporters after the session when asked if the Iraq war was discussed. “You’re [the media] the only ones who obsess on that. We don’t and the real people out in the real world don’t for the most part."

LINK: Lott On Iraq: ‘Why Do Sunnis Kill Shiites? … They All Look The Same To Me’

-Mr. Joseph

Thursday, September 28, 2006

Sen. Boxer, former DNC chair McAuliffe rip on "fair and balanced" Fox

Media Matters recorded this brilliantly...

From the September 26 edition of Fox News Live:

BOXER: The Iraqi people have to step up to the plate and they have to defend their own country just as we did. And the American people want them to do it. The thing is we want them to succeed but they have to want to succeed as much as we want them to.

SKINNER: Well, Senator, President Bush would probably say he does have indications that they certainly do want to succeed. Thanks so much, Senator Barbara Boxer.

BOXER: Well, we all want to succeed -- it's our policy -- and I think our policy is not helping matters at all.

SKINNER: OK, well, as you know, the president said this morning the offense is not going to make us less safe -- disagreement with you -- we appreciate your perspective today.

BOXER: I hear that you agree with the president. I'm not surprised, OK.

SKINNER: We're just trying to bring both sides -- Senator Barbara Boxer of California.

BOXER: Oh, you're fair and balanced. Thank you very much.

SKINNER: Thank you very much. Indeed, we are.

From the September 26 edition of The Big Story with John Gibson:

GIBSON: Did the Clinton administration do more than the Bush administration to fight terror? Let's ask former DNC chair Terry McAulliffe. He served as head of the Democratic Party during the Clinton years. Now Terry, I've got a $20 bet here with the floor director that you are not going to be on the Democratic talking points and start this by attacking Fox News or Fox reporters. Do I win?

McAULIFFE: Oh, you know I love Fox News -- fair and balanced! Come on, I can't get on it enough!

GIBSON: All right. Good.

From the September 26 edition of Tucker:

CARLSON: It's interesting to see, since I covered Clinton, as you know, and you, for all of those years, it's interesting to see the attacking machine cranked up again. I notice you all are trying to paint Chris Wallace as some kind of -- over at Fox -- as some sort of right-wing lunatic.
You're aware of the fact that Chris Wallace, I don't think, is a right-winger, for one thing, but for another, you know, he had [Defense Secretary] Donald Rumsfeld on his show -- and I'm not here to defend Fox; I'm just telling the truth -- and he gave Rumsfeld a hard time about 9-11, too.

Why is it that every time someone calls the Clinton people to account they, all of a sudden, start screaming, "You're a right-winger! You're part of the conspiracy against us!" Why can't you evaluate criticism on its own terms? Why do you need to name-call?

McAULIFFE: I know Chris Wallace. I have appeared on the Fox Sunday show many times with Chris Wallace. Let me be crystal clear, Roger Ailes pays his paycheck, he is a tool for the Republican Party, and that's fine. I still go on his show --

CARLSON: You know what?

McAULIFFE: -- I still like Chris, but he is what he is, and now, let's not deceive ourselves.

CARLSON: That's just -- that's just -- you know what? That's just total -- that's just
McCarthyism. That's so low. It's --

McAULIFFE: Oh, it's McCarthyism?

CARLSON: Yes, it is. It's --

McCAULIFFE: You bet it is. You got the bow tie on too tight today, Tucker.

CARLSON: It's embarrassing, actually. It's embarrassing. I'm serious, Terry. Why can't you just evaluate --

McAULIFFE: Your bow tie's on too tight.

CARLSON: Why can't you just evaluate -- evaluate -- I'm not even wearing a bow tie, man.

McAULIFFE: You're not? Oh, you're out in California now, taking your little dance stuff, you know, so you're not wearing the bow tie anymore?

CARLSON: Look, if somebody -- look, if somebody says something, why not just say, "You know what? That's either reasonable, it's unreasonable, and here is why." Why is it always a personal attack against the motives of the person asking the question? Why is that your style? Why? That's what children do. You're not a child.

McAULIFFE: Tucker, you must be from outer space or you're out in California taking some hallucinogenic drugs. You're telling me about Fox? From the day Bill Clinton became president, it was one accusation after another; all some little two-bit thing after -- so please, don't talk to me about Fox and Bill Clinton. You have no credibility even saying it, and if you want to go back and look at the history of Fox when Bill Clinton was president of the United States -- they are a tool of the Republican Party, which is fine. I still go on their show.

CARLSON: OK. OK.

McCAULIFFE: I love to go on their show -- fair and balanced.

CARLSON: I'm not -- I'm not - I'm not going to defend -- look, I'm not here to defend Fox.
McAULIFFE: But it is what it is. Don't kid yourself.

CARLSON: I'm merely here to attack you. Now, let me -- let me just suggest that this is --

McAULIFFE: Oh, come on, Tucker.

VIDEO / LINK: Sen. Boxer, former DNC chair McAuliffe on "fair and balanced" Fox

-Mr. Joseph

Olberman "Looks Back" on Bush's first months

Crooks and Liars caught this bit from Countdown...

ROUGH TRANSCRIPT:

Olbermann: The political debate still raging over Mr. Clinton’s remarks in a Fox News interview Sunday has overshadowed the debate Mr. Clinton suggested the nation ought to have… a discussion of what steps the Bush administration took to get Osama bin Laden or destroy al Qaeda before September 11th.

Yesterday, Mr. Bush declined to address Mr. Clinton’s remarks, saying we’ve already had the "look-back this" and "look-back that."

But if we are to look forward with any clarity, it is important to know the facts about where we have been, and how we got where we are.

Mr. Clinton is not in office.

Mr. Bush is.

His policies determine how the U.S. fights al Qaeda, so it is important that we understand how he has done so in the past.

Comparing the two presidents is valid, and necessary–to illuminate the capacities of the office.

Mr. Clinton said it plainly — he failed to get bin Laden.

Mr. Bush has acknowledged no failures.

VIDEO: Keith Olbermann takes a “look back” at Bush’s first months in office leading up to 9/11

LINK: Keith Olbermann takes a “look back” at Bush’s first months in office leading up to 9/11

At least MSNBC has ONE responsible journalist. That is more than FOX can say.
-Mr. Joseph

Bill O'Reilly smears Think Progress and Media Matters

Think Progress notes that O'Reilly smeared them and Media Matters in his interview with Paul Begala and James Carville. Newshounds notes that O'Reilly smeared them as well...

From Think Progress...

Transcripts:

O’REILLY: This is ridiculous. There were legitimate questions. Wallace grills Rumsfeld. I grilled Rumsfeld. And come on.

CARVILLE: First of all, I don’t think that FOX has been fair to Bill Clinton. I like you. I like Chris Wallace. I like Sean Hannity. I don’t think in any way, shape or form that…

O’REILLY: Give me an example of unfairness.

CARVILLE: You know, just like Bill Clinton said, you never asked him — how many times was Rice on that show?

BEGALA: Twenty-three.

CARVILLE: How many times was Rumsfeld on that show?

BEGALA: Nine.

O’REILLY: What are you talking about?

CARVILLE: Chris Wallace’s show.

BEGALA: Chris Wallace, this is what the President said…

O’REILLY: Does this come from Media Matters? Is that where this comes from?

BEGALA: They’re a great website. Do you ever read them?

CARVILLE: They’re totally documented.

O’REILLY: Hired guns.

BEGALA: Actually, that didn’t. That came from the Center from American Progress, ThinkProgress.

O’REILLY: These far left web sites you guys take this information off, these are paid to smear people they disagree with. Do your own research.

VIDEO / LINK: TP: O’Reilly Blasts Think Progress As ‘Hired Guns’ Who Are ‘Paid to Smear People’

LINK: NH: O'Reilly Calls Begala and Carville Propagandists For Claiming Fox Treated Clinton Unfairly

-Mr. Joseph

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Falwell Compares Hillary Clinton to "Lucifer"

From Think Progress and Media Matters.

TRNSCRIPT:
LIZ MARLANTES (ABC general assignment correspondent): Senator Hillary Clinton has long been a favorite Republican boogeyman. So it's no surprise that at a summit this weekend for religious conservatives, the Reverend Jerry Falwell offered up some red meat. "I hope she's the candidate," Falwell said, "because nothing will energize my constituency like Hillary Clinton." He added, "If Lucifer ran, he wouldn't." Today, Falwell said the comments were tongue-in-cheek. But his larger point about the Republican Party's need to energize religious conservatives is hardly a joke. In 2004, strong turnout by Christian voters inflamed over gay marriage helped push George W. Bush over the top in key states. This year, there are signs some of that enthusiasm is waning.

VIDEO / LINK: MM: ABC provided no Clinton response to Falwell's "Lucifer" comparison

TRANSCRIPT:
MSNBC: Any comparison to the devil, especially coming on the heels — of course, your comments are being compared to those of Hugo Chavez. He is the president of Venezuela, and I’m sure you saw it last week –

FALWELL: I did indeed.

MSNBC: — when he was addressing the U.N. Assembly, he called President Bush the devil in his speech. That made a lot of people very, very angry.

FALWELL: It made me angry too.

MSNBC: Is there any reason people should be are angry at you for what you said about Senator Clinton?

FALWELL: What I said about Senator Clinton is a true fact. She will energize religious conservatives about all others. Nobody who with a fair mind, open mind heard what you just played did not know that I was speaking tongue in cheek about Lucifer running because there’s no way that Lucifer’s going to run.



MSNBC: Do you believe you were disrespectful?

FALWELL: I do not...

MSNBC: Do I take this to mean that you’re not going to be apologizing to Senator Clinton?

FALWELL: No, I’ll be saying it over and over again.

VIDEO / LINK: TP: Falwell Refuses To Apologize For Lucifer Attack, Swears To Repeat It ‘Over And Over Again’

-Mr. Joseph

Monday, September 25, 2006

Clinton vs. FOX News

Think Progress and Crooks and Liars did great pieces on this, so I have to give them all the credit...

LINK: C&L: FOX News Saying “Clinton Gets Crazed”

VIDEO: C%L: FOX News Saying “Clinton Gets Crazed”

LINK: C&L: Fox Clinton Interview - Part 1 - Osama bin Laden

VIDEO: C&L: Fox Clinton Interview - Part 1 - Osama bin Laden

VIDEO / LINK: TP: Clinton Sets The Record Straight On Terrorism, Smacks Down Fox News

LINK: TP: FULL TRANSCRIPT: Clinton Takes On Fox News

TRANSCRIPT HIGHLIGHTS:
Wallace repeats Path to 9/11 misinformation, Clinton fights back:
WALLACE: When we announced that you were going to be on Fox News Sunday, I got a lot of email from viewers, and I got to say I was surprised most of them wanted me to ask you this question. Why didn’t you do more to put Bin Laden and al Qaeda out of business when you were President? There’s a new book out which I suspect you’ve read called the Looming Tower. And it talks about how the fact that when you pulled troops out of Somalia in 1993, Bin Laden said “I have seen the frailty and the weakness and the cowardice of US troops.” Then there was the bombing of the embassies in Africa and the attack on the USS Cole.

CLINTON: OK...

WALLACE: …may I just finish the question sir. And after the attack, the book says, Bin Laden separated his leaders because he expected an attack and there was no response. I understand that hindsight is 20/20.

CLINTON: No let’s talk about…

WALLACE: …but the question is why didn’t you do more, connect the dots and put them out of business?

CLINTON: OK, let’s talk about it. I will answer all of those things on the merits but I want to talk about the context of which this arises. I’m being asked this on the FOX network…ABC just had a right wing conservative on the Path to 9/11 falsely claim that it was based on the 9/11 Commission report with three things asserted against me that are directly contradicted by the 9/11 Commission report. I think it’s very interesting that all the conservative Republicans who now say that I didn’t do enough, claimed that I was obsessed with Bin Laden. All of President Bush’s neocons claimed that I was too obsessed with finding Bin Laden when they didn’t have a single meeting about Bin Laden for the nine months after I left office. All the right wingers who now say that I didn’t do enough said that I did too much. Same people.

Clinton takes on Fox News bias:
WALLACE: Do you think you did enough sir?

CLINTON: No, because I didn’t get him.

WALLACE: Right…

CLINTON: But at least I tried. That’s the difference in me and some, including all the right wingers who are attacking me now. They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try and they didn’t…I tried. So I tried and failed. When I failed I left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy and the best guy in the country, Dick Clarke… So you did FOX’s bidding on this show. You did you nice little conservative hit job on me. But what I want to know..

WALLACE: Now wait a minute sir…

CLINTON:…

WALLACE: I asked a question. You don’t think that’s a legitimate question?

CLINTON: It was a perfectly legitimate question but I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked this question of. I want to know how many people in the Bush administration you asked: Why didn’t you do anything about the Cole? I want to know how many you asked: Why did you fire Dick Clarke? I want to know…

WALLACE: We asked…

CLINTON:…

WALLACE: Do you ever watch Fox News Sunday sir?

CLINTON: I don’t believe you ask them that.

WALLACE: We ask plenty of questions of…

CLINTON: You didn’t ask that did you? Tell the truth.

WALLACE: About the USS Cole?

CLINTON: Tell the truth.

WALLACE: I…with Iraq and Afghanistan there’s plenty of stuff to ask.

CLINTON: Did you ever ask that? You set this meeting up because you were going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers because Rupert Murdoch is going to get a lot of criticism from your viewers for supporting my work on climate change. And you came here under false pretenses and said that you’d spend half the time talking about…

WALLACE: [laughs]

CLINTON: You said you’d spend half the time talking about what we did out there to raise $7 billion dollars plus over three days from 215 different commitments. And you don’t care.

Clinton on his priorities and the Bush administration priorities:
CLINTON: What did I do? I worked hard to try and kill him. I authorized a finding for the CIA to kill him. We contracted with people to kill him. I got closer to killing him than anybody has gotten since. And if I were still president we’d have more than 20,000 troops there trying to kill him. Now I never criticized President Bush and I don’t think this is useful. But you know we do have a government that thinks Afghanistan is 1/7 as important as Iraq. And you ask me about terror and Al Qaeda with that sort of dismissive theme when all you have to do is read Richard Clarke’s book to look at what we did in a comprehensive systematic way to try to protect the country against terror. And you’ve got that little smirk on your face. It looks like you’re so clever…

WALLACE: [Laughs]

CLINTON: I had responsibility for trying to protect this country. I tried and I failed to get Bin Laden. I regret it but I did try. And I did everything I thought I responsibly could. The entire military was against sending special forces into Afghanistan and refueling by helicopter and no one thought we could do it otherwise…We could not get the CIA and the FBI to certify that Al Qaeda was responsible while I was President. Until I left office. And yet I get asked about this all the time and they had three times as much time to get him as I did and no one ever asks them about this. I think that’s strange.

Full Transcript here...
LINK: Fox News Sunday, Interview With President Bill Clinton, 9/22/06

Way to take it to them, Big Dog!
-Mr. Joseph

UPDATE: I found the YouTube video clips!



LINK: Part 1 of 3



LINK: Part 2 of 3



LINK: Part 3 of 3

Friday, September 22, 2006

JOB APPROVAL of PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH

From SurveyUSA...

Highest Average: Utah -- Approve: 59% - Disapprove: 38%

Lowest Average: Rhode Island -- Approve: 23% - Disapprove: 75%

Local Average: Wisconsin -- Approve: 39% - Disapprove: 59%


National Average: Approve: 39% - Disapprove: 59%

LINK: JOB APPROVAL / PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH

-Mr. Joseph

SCHWARZENEGGER GIVES UP HUMMERS!

From ContactMusic News...

ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER has ditched his beloved $950,000 (GBP500,000) fleet of Hummer cars in a bid to save the environment. The TERMINATOR star-turned-California governor is devoted to the sport utility vehicles for their "precision". He was the first person to own one of cars in 1992 after persuading manufacturers to make them for non-army purposes. But Hummers emit three times more carbon dioxide than a regular car - and after the State of California announced it was suing carmakers Toyota, Nissan, Ford, Honda, Chrysler and General Motors over greenhouse gas emissions, Schwarzenegger felt it was prudent to make the change. Eco-aware campaigner AL GORE confirms, "Arnie has given up his Hummers."

LINK: SCHWARZENEGGER GIVES UP HUMMERS

Well, that is good news...
-Mr. Joseph

Thursday, September 21, 2006

The 4th Annual Stupidity Awards

2006 World Stupidity Award Winners

THE DUMBEST MOMENT OF THE YEAR

1) Zinedine Zidane head butts Marco Materazzi in the World Cup final and is ejected.
2) Vice President Dick Cheney shoots friend
3) Britney Spears speeds with her baby’s head close to steering wheel
4) Danish Newspaper Jyllands-Posten publishes the controversial Mohammed cartoons
5) Protesters violently demonstrate against the Danish Mohammed cartoons

STUPIDEST MAN OF THE YEAR

1) Donald Thompson – District Judge – a.k.a. Oklahoma Penis Pump Judge. The judge operated a powerful penis pump underneath his robes during at least three trials while court was in session (two of which were murder trials). Convicted June 29, 2006 on four counts of felony indecent exposure.
2) Michael Brown - former director of FEMA
3) Kim Jong Il - North Korean dictator
4) Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - President of Iran
5) Dick Cheney - Vice President of the United States

Great website...

-Mr. Joseph

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Vice President Donald Rumsfeld: It Almost Happened

From Is That Legal?

In mid-August of 1974, Gerald Ford had to name a Vice President. His search narrowed to three finalists.

One was the man who got the job: Nelson Rockefeller.

Another was the man who badly wanted it: George H.W. Bush.

<>Do you know who the third finalist was?

Donald Rumsfeld.

(Source: Barry Werth, 31 Days: The Crisis That Gave Us the Government We Have Today (New York: Nan A. Talese, 2006).)

Scary.

-Mr. Joseph

Monday, September 18, 2006

Bruce Willis is no Die-Hard for the GOP

From the New York Daily News...

Here's the article...
Things must be pretty dire for the Republicans if even Bruce Willis is bailing on them. The 51-year-old movie star seemed desperate to put daylight between himself and the GOP when I caught up with him the other night at a Milk Studios show of his pal Lucy Liu's oil paintings.

"Please write this," said Willis, who has voiced support for the war in Iraq and appeared at the White House with President Bush. "I'm always being accused of being a Hollywood Republican — but I'm not!"

Done.

But why was Demi Moore's ex — who's also always being accused of dating lovely young actresses — wearing a gold wedding band on his left ring-finger?

"This is the only place where it fits," Willis joked, explaining that the ring was a gift from eldest daughter, Rumer. "It's to remind us of the bond between us."

While partygoers bid on his "Lucky Number Slevin" co-star's artwork — with the proceeds going to UNICEF and the Ritz-Carlton Community Footprints Fund — Willis defended his bipartisan bona fides.

"I have just as many Democratic ideas as Republican ones," he insisted. "If they could build three fewer bombs every month and give the money to foster care, that would be great."

He said departing Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) has been trying to help get federal money for foster care, Willis' pet issue. "This is not something for the private sector to solve. This is a problem for the federal government."

As for disgraced former House Majority leader Tom DeLay, a foster-care ally who's facing criminal corruption charges, Willis joked: "He needs somebody to adopt him!"

Willis said he's a single guy, but that he'd consider adopting a child if he wasn't flying solo. "I would need somebody else in my life. I wouldn't want to just have a child and a nanny."

LINK: Bruce Willis is no Die-Hard for the GOP

Thank God, I like some of Bruce Willis' movies...

-Mr. Joseph

Bush hosts right-wing radio talk show hosts at White House.

From Think Progress ...

The guest list included Sean Hannity, Neal Boortz, Michael Medved, Laura Ingraham, and Mike Gallagher. (Rush Limbaugh was unable to attend.) Friday’s off-the-record talk, set for 30 minutes, ended up lasting 90 minutes, where Bush told his guests that the war on terror has to be about right versus wrong, “because if it’s about Christianity versus Islam, we’ll lose.” He also showed them the pistol Saddam Hussein had when he was captured.

LINK: Bush Hosts Right-Wing Radio Talk Show Hosts at White House

Yuck.
-Mr. Joseph

Jesus Was a Liberal

To go along with Liberals Like Christ Website, here is another "Jesus was a Liberal" website...

It's called "Jesus Was a Liberal".

http://www.myjesuswasaliberal.com/

Read the book, check out the website.

Enjoy,
-Mr. Joseph

Friday, September 15, 2006

Savage: U.S. Senate "more vicious...specifically because women have been injected into" it

Media Matters again documented this...

From the September 12 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

TRANSCRIPTS:
SAVAGE: You're listening to The Savage Nation. You're listening to [Jane]
"Barbarella" Fonda, who's created a new radio network for women. Here is a girl
who's learned nothing in 30 to 40 years, in the last 30 to 40 years. Here's and
idiot who says that because 85 percent of general managers in radio are men,
women don't listen. And she says in order to know how to program for your
audience, you need to put women in there.

I think I've heard this before. Weren't we told before Barbara Boxer
became a U.S. senator, before Dianne Feinstein became a U.S. senator, before
Hillary Clinton became a U.S. senator, that when women became senators, we'd
have a kinder, gentler Senate, a more compassionate Senate? Well, I think the
results are quite clear. The Senate is not kinder and gentler or more
compassionate. In fact, it's more vicious and more histrionic than ever,
specifically because women have been injected into the Senate.
AUDIO / LINK: Savage: U.S. Senate "more vicious and more histrionic than ever, specifically because women have been injected into" it

Michael Savage is disgusting.

-Mr. Joseph

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Ann Richards: Rest in Peace


"Former Gov. Ann Richards, the witty and flamboyant Democrat who went from homemaker to national political celebrity, died Wednesday night after a battle with cancer, a family spokeswoman said. She was 73."

...

"Ms. Richards died, surrounded by her four children, of complications from the esophageal cancer, the Associated Press reported."

LINK: Forbes.com: Ex-Texas Gov. Ann Richards Dies

LINK: Think Progress: Former Texas Gov. Ann Richards (D) has died.

LINK: Crooks and Liars: Ann Richards, Rest In Peace

LINK: NY Times: Ann Richards, Ex-Governor of Texas, Dies at 73

May she Rest in Peace...

-Mr. Joseph

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Capitol "Domes"


This is a hilarious piece from RadarOnline.com!

"Creepy comb-overs. Macabre toupees. Misadventures in gel. (And that's just the women.) Radar investigates the eight worst trends in congressional coifs."

(Contiues...)

LINK: Capitol Domes

-Mr. Joseph

Mother of Missing Boy Commits Suicide; Nancy Grace to Blame?


Kudos to Matt Drudge for finding this...

From Breitbart.com...

Two weeks after telling police that her son had been snatched from his crib, Melinda Duckett found herself reeling in an interview with TV's famously prosecutorial Nancy Grace. Before it was over, Grace was pounding her desk and loudly demanding to know: "Where were you? Why aren't you telling us where you were that day?"

(Contiues)...

LINK: Mother of Missing Boy Commits Suicide

-Mr. Joseph

Bad News: Air America To Declare Bankruptcy

I can't say I'm surprised...

From Think Progress...

Air America Radio will announce a major restructuring on Friday, which is expected to include a bankruptcy filing, three independent sources have told ThinkProgress.

Air America could remain on the air under the deal, but significant personnel changes are already in the works. Sources say five Air America employees were laid off yesterday and were told there would be no severance without capital infusion or bankruptcy. Also, Air America has ended its relationship with host Jerry Springer.

The right wing is sure to seize on Air America’s financial woes as a sign that progressive talk radio is unpopular. In fact, Air America succeeded at creating something that didn’t exist: the progressive talk radio format. That format is now established and strong and will continue with or without Air America. Indeed, many of the country’s most successful and widely-syndicated progressive talk hosts — Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller, for instance — aren’t even associated with Air America.

Radio giant Clear Channel is so committed to progressive talk radio that, this week, it will announce a partnership with the Center for American Progress and MSS Inc. to conduct a nationwide search for the next Progressive Talk Radio Star.

LINK: EXCLUSIVE: Air America To Declare Bankruptcy, But Progressive Radio Remains Strong

-Mr. Joseph

Greenstone launches all-women radio talk network

From Reuters...

By Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Greenstone Media, a radio company whose founders include social activist Gloria Steinem and actress Jane Fonda, has launched an all-women, all-talk network across the United States.

Steinem said the network, which is run by women, aims to provide an alternative to current radio talk, which she describes as "very argumentative, quite hostile, and very much male-dominated."

This network "has a different spirit. It has more community. It's more about information, about humor, about respect for different points of view and not constant arguing," Steinem told Reuters in an interview.

But Greenstone also hopes to attract male listeners.

"We do have male voices on the network. It's much better to have a mixture of voices," said Susan Ness, chief executive officer of Greenstone, which got its name from a children's book by Alice Walker, author of "The Color Purple".

The network's broadcasts have aired since July in selected stations, such as on WIIN in Jackson, Mississippi, WXCT in Hartford, Connecticut, a station in Flint, Michigan, and is launching a broadcast in Albany, New York. It is trying to partner with some satellite radio outfits.

"We expect that people will be able to also get us on mobile phones, cable radio, I-pods and every distribution vehicle," said Ness.

Steinem pointed out that the idea of an all-women network stemmed from a company survey showing an 18 percent decrease in female listeners over the past seven years.

"Women are really fleeing from AM talk radio and now FM music because people get their music in different ways. So there's an enormous window of opportunity, and we're diving in," she said.

Currently, the network does nine hours of programming daily, which should increase shortly to 12.

LINK: Greenstone launches all-women radio talk network

I hope this goes better than Air America.

-Mr. Joseph

Monday, September 11, 2006

Classic Clip: Michael Savage Wishes AIDS on Caller

This resulted in his firing from MSNBC...



LINK: Michael Savage Wishes AIDS on Caller

Nice guy, huh?

-Mr. Joseph

Matt Drudge

Love him or hate him, you have to admit Matt Drudge is influential. I give him a lot of credit for his journalism. I know that his conservative bias effects his news sometimes, but I think the man is a decent journalist. I recently added "THE DRUDGE REPORT" to my favorites list.

The DRUDGE REPORT

Media Matters' Profile of Matt Drudge

Crooks and Liars' Profile of Matt Drudge

Wikipedia's Profile of Matt Drudge

Time Magazine on Matt Drudge

-Mr. Joseph

"Al Gore Says He Hasn't Ruled Out 2nd Run"

Actually, he hasn't ruled out a 3rd Run, as Matt Drudge pointed out.

From My Way News ...

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) - Former Vice President Al Gore said Sunday he hadn't rule out making a second bid for the White House, though he said it was unlikely.

Gore spoke to reporters in Sydney, where he was promoting the local premiere of his documentary on global warming.

"I haven't completely ruled out running for president again in the future but I don't expect to," Gore said before the Sunday night premiere of "An Inconvenient Truth."

"I offer the explanation not as an effort to be coy or clever. It's just the internal shifting of gears after being in politics almost 30 years. I hate to grind the gears," he added.

Gore, who lost the presidency to President Bush in 2000 in disputed circumstances, said there was no doubt the impact of global warming would be best addressed through the power of the presidency, but making a documentary was second best.

Gore's renewed popularity and movie tours across the United States have spurred speculation of a White House run in 2008. He has previously repeatedly denied such intentions.

The documentary, which Gore narrates, is critical of the United States and Australia for refusing to adopt the Kyoto Protocol for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Prime Minister John Howard, a friend and ally of Bush, said he would not meet Gore during his Australian visit and would not heed his advice to sign up to Kyoto.

"I don't take policy advice from films," Howard told reporters.

LINK: Al Gore Says He Hasn't Ruled Out 2nd Run

-Mr. Joseph

Friday, September 08, 2006

Politicians Gone Wild: 2006 Campaign Edition

This is from Political Humor - I give them credit for this, it is hilarious!

My personal favorite video is this one of Katherine Harris showing off her best "assets" while she flirts with Sean Hannity.



LINK: Politicians Gone Wild: 2006 Campaign Edition

-Mr. Joseph

Savage advocated "militarization of our children" to respond to terror threat

Holy Christ. Savage is nuts. Thanks to Media Matters for this clip...

Anyway, here is the link and transcripts...

TRANSCRIPTS:
From the September 6 broadcast of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:
SAVAGE: Now all of a sudden, Bush is hammering Islamofascism again. Well, OK, great. Well, why doesn't he tell the people it's real, they're here, they're liable to trigger them off, and I want you to understand that we may call upon you to defend yourselves? So I want every able-bodied man and woman who is licensed to carry a firearm or who knows how to use a weapon, I want you to organize in your neighborhood. We don't want you to commit violence, but we want you to learn how to create a homeland defense system in this country. What would be wrong with that vision, Jose?
CALLER: Nothing wrong with that vision. Our enemies right now are preparing for war every day. We live in America.
SAVAGE: Right.
CALLER: Why the hell do we --
SAVAGE: Right. We live in America, and we're teaching our sons how to kick a ball instead of how to fire a gun. Tell me who's gonna win. They're training their sons to use an AK-47, and we're teaching our sons how to swing a baseball bat. Tell me who wins that fight.
CALLER: You got it. And I --
SAVAGE: Thank you. I have nothing against baseball, but the times don't call for an obsession with sports. They call for a militarization of our children. And I've said this before.

AUDIO / LINK: Savage advocated "militarization of our children" to respond to terror threat

-Mr. Joseph

Fred Phelps goes after Stewart and Colbert: “Mockery”

Crooks and Liars struck gold with this one...




LINK: Evil Reverend Fred Phelps Diatribe Against Stewart/Colbert

LINK: C&L: Fred Phelps goes after Stewart and Colbert: “Mockery”

-Mr. Joseph

Thursday, September 07, 2006

Rocky Statue to Return to Museum



From Seatlepi.com...

PHILADELPHIA -- Rocky Balboa - or more specifically, a statue of the Hollywood palooka, boxing gloves raised in triumph - is being restored to a spot outside the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the winner by a split decision in a bout between fine art and pop culture...

Read the Rest of the Article here: Rocky statue is being returned to museum

-Mr. Joseph

Wednesday, September 06, 2006

"Weekly" Column #2: "The O'Rivalry Factor"

"The O'Rivalry Factor" by Joseph Kay
Bill O'Reilly of FOX News's "The O'Reilly Factor" and Westwood One's "The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly" has always claimed to stick up for "the folks" and to do what (at least he thought) was right. He's a noteworthy journalist with plenty of years experience. However, he has quite a few people who don't take too kindly to him.

Al Franken said his name should be "O'Lie-lly". Keith Olberman constantly awards him the "Worst Person in the World" on his show, Countdown. Media Matters for America named him the "2004 Misinformer of the Year". Peter Hart wrote a book called "The Oh Really? Factor". Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer wrote a book called "Sweet Jesus, I HATE Bill O'Reilly" and operate the website SweetJesusIHateBillOreilly.com.

So why would so many left-leaning citizens have such a beef with the self proclaimed "centrist", O'Reilly?

They all have their reasons. Al Franken says that he is a "bully" and a "liar". David Brock, the President of Media Matters for America, accused O'Reilly for being a "coward". And Keith Olberman probably does not appreciate O'Reilly's significantly higher viewer ratings during the time slot they share. No matter what, I think it is time to analyze every feud here and try to make sense of it all. Does O'Reilly deserve this abuse? Or are the "liberal elites" out to get him?

To start, the feud with Al Franken began first. In 2003, Al Franken wrote his book, "Lies! And the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right". In this book, he dedicated and entire chapter to Bill O'Reilly and included a very unflattering picture of O'Reilly on the cover. Franken ripped O'Reilly on points like O'Reilly was irresponsible in naming a Polk Award a Peabody, the fact that O'Reilly was, at one time, a registered Republican, the fact that O'Reilly had been misleading about where he grew up, amoung other things. He took O'Reilly to town and did a good job of it. O'Reilly, apparently, didn't appreciate it. On a BookTV Conference, both O'Reilly and Franken appeared to talk about their books. According to Franken, before the show, O'Reilly yelled at both Franken and Franken's editor regarding the unflattering photo of him on Franken's book cover. Franken claims that was the reason why the photo stayed. Franken then got up and gave his speech. When O'Reilly stood up to give his speech he started by accusing Franken for speaking for "35" minutes (Franken spoke for about 20) and started to play down Franken's accusations. Franken tried to interrupt, but O'Reilly refused to let him by saying, "Hey, shut up! You had your thirty-five minutes! SHUT UP!" Franken then stated that "this isn't your show, Bill". According to the transcripts, O'Reilly then spend a good amount of time bashing Franken and saying that he did not "attack" people. (He had, before, called Franken an "idiot".) Ever since that confrontation, O'Reilly refuses to talk about it and he refers to Franken as "Stuart Smalley" (A Franken SNL character). Even more surprising, he convinced FOX News to sue Al Franken for using their "Fair and Balanced" slogan. Needless to say, the lawsuit was thrown out of court.

Was O'Reilly justified in his actions? Or did he overreact? In my opinion, being in the public eye and being as outspoken as O'Reilly, there will be a lot of abuse directed at you and you have to be able to deal with it professionally. I do not believe this was the case. O'Reilly should have taken the abuse from Franken and he would of came out at least looking respectable.

The next feud was with MSNBC host of Countdown, Keith Olberman. O'Reilly and Olberman share a time slot and compete very blatanly. Olberman names O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World" and, in response O'Reilly put a petition up on his website to get Olberman off the air. Olberman made great fun of this and had his entire staff sign it. When O'Reilly's sexual harassment scandal broke, Olberman celebrated it by poking fun at O'Reilly and still does it today. Last March, O’Reilly dropped a caller from his live radio show, seemingly for mentioning Olbermann's name. O'Reilly accused the caller of being part of a larger group of individuals which had been calling O'Reilly with the sole purpose of mentioning Olbermann. The caller said "I like to listen to you during the day. I think Keith Olbermann..." when O'Reilly cut in, responding to "Mike" as follows:

"We have your own phone number and we're going to turn it over to Fox security and you'll be getting a little visit. [...] When you call us, ladies and gentlemen, just so you know, we do have your phone number, and if you say anything untoward, obscene or anything like that, FOX security then will contact your local authorities and you will be held accountable. Fair?"

Not so fair - Olberman pointed out that Westwood One broadcasts "The Radio Factor" (not FOX News) and it is illegal for O'Reilly to even do what he threatened. Olberman also has nicknamed O'Reilly, "The Giant Head". O'Reilly's only response to most of this is just something along the lines of "Nobody watches MSNBC". This is not true, FOX News' ratings are down 28% from this time last year while MSNBC's ratings are up 8%.

So who is right? Personally, I think O'Reilly's taking this too seriously. They are competitors and Olberman is making fun of it. However, this clearly demonstrates that O'Reilly doesn't like to compete. Unless he wins.

Media Matters for America is a website dedicated to disproving "conservative misinformation" in the news. O'Reilly has become one their favorite targets. They awarded him the "2004 Misinformer of the Year". Media Matters also points out...

"O'Reilly frequently denounces 'cowards' who refuse to face him on-air, saying, for example, 'If you attack someone publicly, as these men did to me, you have an obligation to face the person you are smearing. If you don't, you are a coward.' But O'Reilly has repeatedly attacked Media Matters while refusing Media Matters President and CEO David Brock's request to appear on The O'Reilly Factor."

That is a very good point. O'Reilly responds to them much like he responds to Franken. He name calls. He has called Media Matters "dishonest", a "far left smear website", "loony", "oppressive", "smear merchants", "paid assassins", "morons", "despicable weasels", and "a creepy, little, left wing outfit".

I analyzed the Media Matters site and I can't say O'Reilly is justified. Media Matters is very good about quoting everything in context and pointing out "conservative misinformation". Of all the feuds, Bill O'Reilly loses the most to these guys.

Media Matters is not the only site like this. Newshounds.us, Fauxnews.com, FauxNewsChannel.com, FAIR.org, and even Oreilly-sucks.com are all websites dedicated to the the FOX News Channel's conservative bias. They are all very good about documenting this. Robert Greenwald came out with a film called "OUTFOXED: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism". O'Reilly was one of the targets in that film. I do not believe he has commented on it. Featured on that documentary was Jeremy Glick who was know for O'Reilly's most notorious interview. I'm not going to recite those transcripts again because we all know them (if not Google "Jeremy Glick").

Now, the most recent feud (as of now) is not so much of a feud as it is an attack. Joseph Minton Amann and Tom Breuer wrote a book "Sweet Jesus, I HATE Bill O'Reilly" and operate a website of that domain. They have done pretty damn good about calling out O'Reilly's conservative bias and they are arguably the funniest of O'Reilly's rivals. Almost daily, they update their website to rip on O'Reilly. Although O'Reilly has not commented on them yet (as far as I know), this will be a very interesting feud to watch as time goes on.

So, in conclusion, the bottom line is that O'Reilly has many rivals and enemies -- that is fine, most media people do. However, I give little credit to O'Reilly for how he deals with these people. He claims to take a high road, but he calls them worse names then they him. If O'Reilly would meet with these people and try to settle things, he would gain much respect. But he won't, so he doesn't. And I guess that that truly is "The O'Rivalry Factor".

-Joseph Kay

Max Cleland: “I Don’t Agree with a Damn Thing the Attorney General Said”

From Crooks and Liars...

Wolf Blitzer had an interview with Alberto Gonzales a little bit ago, which we won’t pain you with. Gonzales beat his drum right along the Whitehouse talking points and kept insisting that Iraq was a major front in the war on terror, as well as downplayed the importance of actually capturing Osama. Following the interview, Max Cleland came on to give his rebuttal:

Transcript:
BLITZER: Do you agree with the attorney general as far as his assessment of the importance or lack thereof, if you will, of Osama bin Laden overall in terms of the war on terror?

MAX CLELAND (D), FORMER GEORGIA SENATOR: I don’t agree with a damn thing the attorney general said. It is al Qaeda, stupid. It is Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre that must be killed or captured, period. If we don’t have high government officials in Washington who understand that, we need new high government officials.

VIDEO: Cleland on the Attorney General

LINK: Max Cleland: “I Don’t Agree with a Damn Thing the Attorney General Said”
(More Transcript is available)

Good ole' Max Cleland!

-Mr. Joseph