Media Blog on National Review Online

Media Blog on National Review Online http://media.nationalreview.com Media Blog en-us © National Review Online 2009. All Rights Reserved webmaster@nationalreview.com (NRO Webmaster) Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:29:59 -0500 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:29:59 -0500 NRO RSS Generator v1.0 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 5 http://www2.nationalreview.com/images/nro_rsslogo.jpg Media Blog on National Review Online http://media.nationalreview.com 144 80 National Review Online Tweet of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2JkNjVmZGRmNDFiZWNiZDRiODFhNzNmMDBlZDRlNTk= A likely story -- it's just "research." <a href="http://twitter.com/contessabrewer/status/5978849984">MSDNC's Contessa Brewer</a>: <blockquote> Searching for Levi Johnston pics for a segment with Dylan, but thinking that landing on Playgirl.com at work gets me in trouble with HR. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2JkNjVmZGRmNDFiZWNiZDRiODFhNzNmMDBlZDRlNTk= Mon, 23 Nov 2009 11:04:40 -0400 More from SNL -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGUwYTQwZWVjODlkNjA1MzkyOTRhNDc0OGUyYzE3Mzg= Palin-Beck 2012! From the mind of Keith Olbermann: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/FiWgXUuWX-s&feature" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/FiWgXUuWX-s&feature"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGUwYTQwZWVjODlkNjA1MzkyOTRhNDc0OGUyYzE3Mzg= Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:38:25 -0400 SNL Smacks President Obama -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjViNTE5Zjc5ZWY1ZTFkOWQ4NTg4NGFiYjA4MGE1MTQ= Hilarious. If only the MSM would ask questions this hard: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="384" height="283" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="id" value="W4727a250e66f97234b094f863ee269c9" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="src" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b094f863ee269c9/4741e3c5156499a7/8c9512d1/-cpid/1a3043b2ad5dc52" /><embed id="W4727a250e66f97234b094f863ee269c9" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="384" height="283" src="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b094f863ee269c9/4741e3c5156499a7/8c9512d1/-cpid/1a3043b2ad5dc52" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjViNTE5Zjc5ZWY1ZTFkOWQ4NTg4NGFiYjA4MGE1MTQ= Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:36:19 -0400 AP devotes 52 times as much manpower looking for Sarah Palin faults as to health care -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTgwMzk5MjIzOTM5OTY4NmFiYzZkNTcwNzMxNmNhYzI= Now this is what they call “accountability journalism”. An <a href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gm81TTE7a0EUL9JlzVML1dnH2N2gD9C2A7E80" target="_blank">Associated Press dispatch</a>, written by Erica Werner and Richard Alonso-Zaldivar, compares the House and Senate Obama health-care bills. James Taranto <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/best_of_the_web_today.html" target="_blank">compares</a> this to the AP’s dispatch earlier this week that “fact checked” Sarah Palin’s new book: Number of AP reporters assigned to story: • ObamaCare bills: 2 • Palin book: 11 Number of pages in document being covered: • ObamaCare bills: 4,064 • Palin book: 432 Number of pages per AP reporter: • ObamaCare bill: 2,032 • Palin book: 39.3 So on a per-page basis, the AP devoted 52 times as much manpower to the memoir of a former Republican governor as to a piece of legislation that will cost trillions of dollars and affect tens or hundreds of millions of lives. <a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MTExYmYyYmQwMjFhNzU1YTE1MmQ3N2E1MmQ1OTI2OTI=" target="_blank">Why can’t Sarah just behave! </a> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTgwMzk5MjIzOTM5OTY4NmFiYzZkNTcwNzMxNmNhYzI= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:42:55 -0400 Why Can't I Just Eat My Waffle Turkey? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzZmNDBjYjRlZTFiN2Y1NjU3OGJjNTQwYjIzYmM0MTc= President Obama's Thanksgiving Day PSA on the importance of exercise: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/tXsoDx9s0j0&feature" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/tXsoDx9s0j0&feature"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzZmNDBjYjRlZTFiN2Y1NjU3OGJjNTQwYjIzYmM0MTc= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:42:02 -0400 ABC's Flawed CIA 'Black Site' Report -- By: Guy Benson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Guy Benson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjA1NDU3NWUwNDQ4OWJmNjA4NjZkZjM0ODBiNzhhYjY= Yesterday, ABC News tried -- and largely failed -- to put a dent in the news cycle by <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-secret-prison-found/story?id=9115978">breathlessly reporting </a>a four-year-old scoop about secret CIA facilities in Eastern Europe. In short: After 9/11, the CIA converted an old Lithuanian horseback-riding academy into a so-called "black site" prison where high-value terrorists were detained and interrogated. The Lithuanian government reportedly agreed to the facility after a 2002 visit from President Bush, during which he pledged American support for Lithuania's inclusion in NATO. (Hey, a mutually beneficial, meaningful accord achieved by an American president on an overseas trip. Go figure.) When the existence of a network of similar covert facilities became public in 2005, the Lithuanian prison was shut down. ABC played a <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866">significant role</a> in breaking the story at the time, exposing three US allies that had agreed to host the CIA prisons: Lithuania, Romania, and Poland. Despite the fact that the controversial sites have been shuttered for years, ABC can't stop flogging the smoldering remains of the story. They're apparently determined to share every last, classified detail of the abandoned program. The CIA has called ABC's pursuit of the story "irresponsible." One might add "gratuitous" in describing yesterday's report. Setting aside ABC's questionable news judgment (does their "new" information actually constitute news?), its biased selection and placement of quotes further taints the final product. In the online version of the story, correspondents Matthew Cole and Brian Ross quote 'human rights activist' John Sifton in the third paragraph--representing the very first quote of the entire piece. Sifton indignantly expresses outrageous outrage that a US intelligence service was, at one time, treating terrorists rudely. He laments the sleep deprivation and "forced standing" techniques that the hardened jihadists were forced to endure. And just in case Sifton's position was remotely unclear, Cole and Ross quote him again at the end of the story, giving him the last, agitated word: <blockquote> "It obviously took a lot of effort to keep [the prison] secret," said John Sifton, whose firm One World Research investigates human rights abuses. "There's a reason this stuff gets kept secret." "It's an embarrassment, and a crime." </blockquote> Much to the reporters' disappointment, I doubt the story will elicit much more than shrugs from average Americans. Most citizens understand that keeping the country safe isn't always a pretty business, and a majority is willing to tolerate <a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODdiNzU2MDBlMWMyODAwNzAwOWU5ZWJlN2E2MzlmMzY=">occasional unpleasantness</a> if it means protecting American lives. ABC's investigative unit sometimes does solid work, reporting stories that are ignored by other MSM outlets. Yesterday, however, they missed the mark. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjA1NDU3NWUwNDQ4OWJmNjA4NjZkZjM0ODBiNzhhYjY= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:41:34 -0400 Mayor Daley Talks About Oprah -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzJjYmU1ZDlmNGUzNDQ1ZTI1ZTA3YWQxMzk2YmNiMDQ= Daley<a href="http://cbs2chicago.com/local/Daley.Oprah.2.1323533.html"> blames the media </a>for Oprah's decision: <blockquote> The mayor says it was the flap over the show's season opener on Michigan Avenue in September that may have helped set Oprah's travel plans in stone. There was criticism about shutting down the Magnificent Mile for days for the taping. She reimbursed the city for costs related to the closure. "That became a big rhubarb in the Chicago press -- beat up Oprah," Daley told reporters. "So you keep kicking people, people will leave, simple as that." Pressed about whether the media really caused Oprah to flee, Daley added: "I'm just saying that when someone's doing something like that, most cities would love it. … It's just amazing. I don't know why it became so controversial." Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper joked on todays CBS 2 Morning News: "I think he's officially lost his mind. I think Richie has gone over the deep end." </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzJjYmU1ZDlmNGUzNDQ1ZTI1ZTA3YWQxMzk2YmNiMDQ= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 13:12:05 -0400 Prediction: Oprah Not Going into Politics -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWJjOTA1M2M4NTNmOWViN2EwMzc5N2YzNmQ2YTdhYWI= Why dump her show? <blockquote> <a href="http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/oprah-promising-cable-show-smaller-intending-to-move-operations-from-chicago-to-la-its-freezing-here-and-i-have-a-mansion-in-montecito-that-i-havent-been-able-to-enjoy/">"Why would anybody stay in Chicago? It's freezing here, and I have a mansion in Montecito that I haven't been able to enjoy."</a> </blockquote> If she's going to keep telling the truth like that, she'll never be able to run for public office. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWJjOTA1M2M4NTNmOWViN2EwMzc5N2YzNmQ2YTdhYWI= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:54:44 -0400 More ACORN Videos -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NmQ3NDA0NjkzYjdmOTdhYzM3NmRkMTEwNTBkN2RhN2M= The latest videos from the Los Angeles ACORN office <a href="http://biggovernment.com/2009/11/19/the-la-story-part-iv-program-for-torture-victims/">here</a>. And <a href="http://biggovernment.com/2009/11/20/breitbart-to-ag-holder-investigate-acorn-or-well-release-more-tapes-just-before-2010-election/">Andrew Breitbart issues a challenge</a> to AG Holder: Investigate ACORN now, or we'll release the rest of the videos right before the 2010 election. Gird your loins, Dems. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NmQ3NDA0NjkzYjdmOTdhYzM3NmRkMTEwNTBkN2RhN2M= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:16:01 -0400 Lou Dobbs on The Daily Show -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGE4ZjZmNGUzOWYwOWUzYTQ5Y2IxZGZlZDYxMjcwZDk= <table style="background-color: #f5f5f5; font: 11px arial; height: 353px; color: #333;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="360"> <tbody> <tr style="background-color:#e5e5e5" valign="middle"> <td style="padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;"><a style="color:#333; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com" target="_blank">The Daily Show With Jon Stewart</a></td> <td style="padding:2px 5px 0px 5px; text-align:right; font-weight:bold;">Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c</td> </tr> <tr style="height: 14px;" valign="middle"> <td style="padding:2px 1px 0px 5px;" colspan="2">Exclusive - Lou Dobbs Extended Interview Pt. 1<a></a></td> </tr> <tr style="background-color: #353535; height: 14px;" valign="middle"> <td style="text-align: right; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 5px; width: 360px; padding-right: 5px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 2px;" colspan="2"><a style="color:#96deff; text-decoration:none; font-weight:bold;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/" target="_blank">www.thedailyshow.com</a></td> </tr> <tr valign="middle"> <td style="padding:0px;" colspan="2"> <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="360" height="301" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="bgcolor" value="#000000" /> <param name="flashvars" value="autoPlay=false" /> <param name="src" value="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:255844" /> <param name="wmode" value="window" /> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="360" height="301" src="http://media.mtvnservices.com/mgid:cms:item:comedycentral.com:255844" flashvars="autoPlay=false" bgcolor="#000000" wmode="window" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> </object> </td> </tr> <tr style="height: 18px;" valign="middle"> <td style="padding:0px;" colspan="2"> <table style="text-align: center; margin: 0px; height: 100%;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="100%"> <tbody> <tr valign="middle"> <td style="width: 33%; padding: 3px;"><a style="font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes" target="_blank">Daily Show Full Episodes</a></td> <td style="width: 33%; padding: 3px;"><a style="font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;" href="http://www.indecisionforever.com" target="_blank">Political Humor</a></td> <td style="width: 33%; padding: 3px;"><a style="font:10px arial; color:#333; text-decoration:none;" href="http://www.thedailyshow.com/videos/tag/health" target="_blank">Health Care Crisis</a></td> </tr> </tbody> </table> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGE4ZjZmNGUzOWYwOWUzYTQ5Y2IxZGZlZDYxMjcwZDk= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:15:34 -0400 The GOP's Long Espoused Socialism? -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTdkNzhmNjgyN2NjMWU0N2Q3YjU4ZThlMzhmYmE2YWE= At the top of my Google News today was this confusing headline from the <a href="http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20091120_Health-care_historian__GOP_opposing_ideas_it_long_espoused.html">Philadelphia Inquirer</a>: "Health-care historian: GOP opposing ideas it long espoused." What? If Republicans "long espoused" government-run health care, Ted Kennedy would have nationalized medicine a long, long time ago. The "historian" of the headline was Princeton professor Paul Starr, a co-founder of the liberal magazine The American Prospect. Stacey Burling's story began: <blockquote> In the past, most opposition to changing health care came from health-care interest groups: doctors, insurance companies, drug companies. This time, it's different. There has been considerable grumbling from the medical establishment, but the approach Democrats are taking "doesn't really threaten any of those groups," said Paul Starr, a Princeton University professor who won a Pulitzer Prize for his book on the history of health care: The Social Transformation of American Medicine. He later was involved in the creation of the Clinton health plan. That's the only indiction the Inquirer gives that perhaps Starr isn't the best expert on Republican history. As usual, the liberals are nostalgic for the high tides of intellectual dominance for ultraliberalism, and we're taken back to Truman and Nixon: There was a time when many of the changes included in the House and Senate health bills would have been considered Republican or at least bipartisan ideas, Starr said. In the days of Harry S. Truman, he said, Democrats favored a single-payer system. The current approach is closer to what President Nixon proposed before Watergate sidelined his plans. He called for universal coverage through a combination of government and employer-based insurance. </blockquote> Even if Nixon had ever proposed a Pelosi-pleasing "public option," the "long espoused" headline is still a clunker. Other liberals have concluded Ted Kennedy would have never surrendered to Nixon on health care, like Greg Sargent: <a title="Permanent Link to Kennedy Historians: It’s False To Conclude Kennedy Would Have Ditched Public Option For Compromise" rel="bookmark" href="http://theplumline.whorunsgov.com/bipartisanship/kennedy-historians-its-false-to-conclude-kennedy-would-have-ditched-public-option-for-compromise/">Kennedy Historians: It’s False To Conclude Kennedy Would Have Ditched Public Option For Compromise</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTdkNzhmNjgyN2NjMWU0N2Q3YjU4ZThlMzhmYmE2YWE= Fri, 20 Nov 2009 06:10:57 -0400 An Advertising Campaign Waiting to Be Born -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWUxMjM5ZDIwM2ZhZWQ0MzcxN2EwNmI3YjkyMjU1MGI= Fred Schwarz point out <a href="http://www.tennessean.com/article/20091118/BUSINESS01/911180400/-1/NLETTER03?source=nletter-news">this story</a>: <blockquote> An international crackdown on the use of endangered woods from the world's rain forests to make musical instruments bubbled over to Music City on Tuesday with a federal raid on <a href="http://www2.gibson.com/Gibson.aspx">Gibson Guitar</a>'s manufacturing plant, but no arrests. </blockquote> I see a rock-n-roll advertising campaign in the works: Outlaw Play Gibsons. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWUxMjM5ZDIwM2ZhZWQ0MzcxN2EwNmI3YjkyMjU1MGI= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:02:08 -0400 License to Hate -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjI5MmM5MmYwNGJmNzkyYzVkNjM3MDM1N2VhODhiNTc= Have you ever noticed how many of Cary Tennis's advice columns are directed to progressives who simply <a href="http://salon.com/life/since_you_asked/2009/11/17/atheism/index.html">cannot abide being around people</a> <a href="http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2009/11/04/attorney_in_the_next_office/index.html">who do not share their opinions</a>? <a href="http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2009/10/07/brother/index.html">I've noticed</a>. This does not surprise me; consider the very personal vituperation directed at, say, Sarah Palin. Williamson's Political Axiom No. 1: Liberalism is a license to hate. (Good luck to <a href="http://www.salon.com/life/since_you_asked/2009/11/19/diagnosis/index.html">Mr. Tennis</a>. Godspeed.) <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjI5MmM5MmYwNGJmNzkyYzVkNjM3MDM1N2VhODhiNTc= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:23:34 -0400 KSM 'Entitled' to Exploit Trial to Slam America? -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGU0YmVmYjRhODA4MjYzNDMwNDIyOWZhMzAyN2FhZmM= During the Bush years, government officials who wanted to prosecute and/or kill terrorists were portrayed as ideological radicals. During the Obama years, government officials (and the journalists who support them) want to give the self-proclaimed mastermind of 9/11 his "shot," and he's "entitled" to put on a circus and put the U.S. government on trial. No one seems to ask: and that will improve our reputation in the eyes of "the world"? These exchanges on Sunday's This Week with Rahm Emanuel's Phone Buddy should stand out: <blockquote> David Brooks: We do know something about his character. There have been front-page stories in the "Washington Post" and "The New York Times" the last two days describing a narcissistic personality, who likes to make a big show of himself and who wants the big show, whose written long memos expressing himself and the message he wants to say to the world.... David Corn: But Moussaoui did the same thing at his trial. It was a circus-like atmosphere. He gave speeches. He was his own attorney then he wasn't his own attorney. I don't see why their considerations should come into our considerations. We should make decisions based on what we think is right and best. And if they want to try to exploit that, well give them the shot but at the end of the day, it's about our values, not about his values.... Bob Woodward: But the symbolism could be very important by saying, look we let the narcissistic personalities get justice in the country. And I think there's a good chance he will really get justice and let's not be concerned that he's going to exploit it for his purposes, people on trial, are entitled to do that. </blockquote> We need 30-second ads for bigfoot journalists, so one can end (add announcer voice here): "Bob Woodward said the mastermind of 9/11 was 'entitled' to exploit the judicial system and put the U.S. government on trial just blocks from the crater that was the World Trade Center." <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGU0YmVmYjRhODA4MjYzNDMwNDIyOWZhMzAyN2FhZmM= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:06:34 -0400 Palin Kids vs. Kerry Kids -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTBjOTNkODRlOGNjOTZiYWVlYWE2OTM4YjRlYjY3M2U= Imagine the MSM reaction if <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/19/kerrys-daughter-arrested-suspicion-dui-los-angeles/?test=latestnews">this</a> were Bristol in the news. . . <div class="bodytext smalltext"> <blockquote> Sen. John Kerry's daughter was arrested Thursday morning in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence, police said. Alexandra Forbes Kerry was arrested and then released on $5,000 bail, Los Angeles Police Department officer Norma Eisenman told Fox News. Police are not releasing any other details on the incident at this point. She is the eldest daughter of the Massachusetts senator and former Democratic presidential nominee. </blockquote> </div> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTBjOTNkODRlOGNjOTZiYWVlYWE2OTM4YjRlYjY3M2U= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:26:14 -0400 Commander-In-Chief to Troops: 'You Guys Make A Pretty Good Photo-Op' -- By: Guy Benson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Guy Benson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2U4OWMyNDQ3OTY1NzQ5OWI1NDQ4MjVmMzE5NGMwMDQ= Yes, he <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/19/AR2009111900904_pf.html">actually said it</a>. The president capped off his grand photo opportunity by issuing some "applause lines" about military pay increases. Then he was spirited away -- off to conduct presidential business. Oh, but not to rush into any Afghanistan troop level decisions, as the headline of the Post story makes clear. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2U4OWMyNDQ3OTY1NzQ5OWI1NDQ4MjVmMzE5NGMwMDQ= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:25:31 -0400 Headlines That Makes You Click -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTg0NzAwODM4MmUwNGE0M2UyNmViYmY5MGU4Y2E1ZDY= AP: <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091119/ap_on_re_af/af_congo_plane_in_lava;_ylt=AlDSozBLNjOlkkiPbG7lkhms0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTM4bmtmZWVhBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMDkxMTE5L2FmX2NvbmdvX3BsYW5lX2luX2xhdmEEY3BvcwM4BHBvcwM1BHB0A2hvbWVfY29rZQRzZWMDeW5faGVhZGxpbmVfbGlzdARzbGsDcGxhbmVtaXNzZXNy">Plane misses runway in east Congo, landing in lava</a> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTg0NzAwODM4MmUwNGE0M2UyNmViYmY5MGU4Y2E1ZDY= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:24:29 -0400 Obama's Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTZmMTk2MWQ1Mzg4ZTAzYTk1M2Y0ZGU3ZDc1MTY5MGQ= From The Onion: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="480" height="430" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /> <param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="src" value="http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/onn_embed/embedded_player.swf?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theonion.com%2Fcontent%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FOBAMA_TELEPROMPTER_ARTICLE_11_12.jpg&videoid=99262&title=Obama's%20Home%20Teleprompter%20Malfunctions%20During%20Family%20Dinner" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="480" height="430" src="http://www.theonion.com/content/themes/common/assets/onn_embed/embedded_player.swf?image=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theonion.com%2Fcontent%2Ffiles%2Fimages%2FOBAMA_TELEPROMPTER_ARTICLE_11_12.jpg&videoid=99262&title=Obama's%20Home%20Teleprompter%20Malfunctions%20During%20Family%20Dinner" wmode="transparent" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed> </object> <a href="http://www.theonion.com/content/video/obamas_home_teleprompter?utm_source=videoembed"> </a> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTZmMTk2MWQ1Mzg4ZTAzYTk1M2Y0ZGU3ZDc1MTY5MGQ= Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:32 -0400 Does Sarah Palin Boost Ratings? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTExNWQyNmYzOTBlM2MwNmUxMGZjYTU4MDcwMzRjMmM= You betcha! <blockquote> <h3 class="entry-header"><a href="http://www.thrfeed.com/2009/11/sarah-palin-oprah-ratings-.html">Sarah Palin gives Oprah biggest audience in two years</a></h3> </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTExNWQyNmYzOTBlM2MwNmUxMGZjYTU4MDcwMzRjMmM= Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:20:07 -0400 Liberal media start to criticize Obama's "kowtowing" to dictators -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTcwY2RlMTBmNGE1NjU5MzRlMjBlMjZiMjAxOTA1MjI= It seems that the liberal press really are -- finally -- beginning to take note that <a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTI4OTkzZWJhN2RjZjhmMjhlM2I0Y2Y5ZTQwOTYwMWQ=" target="_blank">Nobel Peace Prize winner</a> Barack Obama cares much less about human rights and press freedoms than George W. Bush did as president. The New York Times begins its <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/18/world/asia/18china.html?ref=todayspaper" target="_blank">news report</a> today on the president trip’s to China: <blockquote> Whether by White House design or Chinese insistence, President Obama has steered clear of public meetings with Chinese liberals, free press advocates and even average Chinese during his first visit to China, showing a deference to the Chinese leadership’s aversions to such interactions that is unusual for a visiting American president. Mr. Obama held a “town hall” meeting with students on Monday. But the students were carefully vetted and prepped for the event by the government, participants said. And the Chinese authorities, wielding a practiced mix of censorship and diplomatic pressure, succeeded in limiting Mr. Obama’s exposure to a point where a third of some 40 Beijing university students interviewed Tuesday were unaware that he had just met in Shanghai with their peers. Some students who were aware cast him in terms rarely applied to American leaders, like “rather humble” and “bland.” </blockquote> <img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ZcSdLDML7KYmRM:http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/obama-china.jpg" alt="" width="124" height="87" /> And on the other side of the Atlantic, the left-liberal Independent (of London) begins its <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/obama-bends-knee-to-chinese-might-1822421.html" target="_blank">news report</a> this morning: <blockquote> America used to take pride in speaking softly and carrying a big stick, but in China Barack Obama has had to speak softly and keep any stick he might feel like flourishing well out of sight. Boxed in by ceremony, with any hint of controversy airbrushed out of his remarks by the regime’s censors, with press conference questions banned and his interlocutors ruthlessly screened, he has struggled to get his message across. </blockquote> <img src="http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:cCoZCdlNzXd8CM:http://edition.cnn.com/video/world/2009/11/15/chang.china.obama.anticipation.cnn.640x360.jpg" alt="" width="137" height="77" /> And yesterday the British paper The Financial Times, which has been as strongly supportive of Obama in recent years as it has been derisory about President Bush, also <a href=" http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/43f061c8-d2e9-11de-af63-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=9511df10-6d6b-11da-a4df-0000779e2340.html" target="_blank">criticized</a> Obama: <blockquote> It is right and proper that the US acknowledge the rising significance of China. Mr Obama’s assurances that China’s rise need not be a threat were spot on. But by the same token, US accommodation can be taken too far. Contrary to common perception, China’s huge holdings of US treasuries are not a sign of great strength. They are evidence of how dependent Chinese growth has been on the US consumer. Equally, any idea that China, with an economy less than a third the size of the US and a GDP per capita roughly the same as Angola’s, can somehow save the world is ludicrous. Mr Obama is right to show respect to China. He need not - and must not - kowtow.” </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTcwY2RlMTBmNGE1NjU5MzRlMjBlMjZiMjAxOTA1MjI= Wed, 18 Nov 2009 09:53:25 -0400 There Is No Tent Big Enough, Ma'am -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2JhNzdmNmI4MGZmM2UzODg4MDlhN2M5MDM3ODRjYzY= Best news of the day comes from Tracey Specter, daughter-in-law of Arlen and head of the Republican committee in my third adopted home town of Lower Merion, Pa.: <blockquote> I am stepping down as Chair of our Committee and, pursuant to our by-laws, Vice Chair Jim Clark will become chair and serve out my term, which ends after the Primary 2010. Although I will remain an active Republican, I plan to work to re-elect my father-in-law, Arlen Specter. I want to thank you for your involvement and support of our Republican organization while I was Chair these past 5 ½ years (and during my 20 years in this organization). In many ways RCLMN has become my extended family. I am very proud ofour [sic] accomplishments and that we continue to be a cohesive, pro-active group that embraces the "big tent" idea, welcoming and inclusive of all Republicans. We have worked efficiently and successfully during a difficult time in our party to elect Republicans, while building and significantly increasing our base of involved Republicans. I am especially proud of our Statement of Principals [sic] (<a href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102832496429&s=198&e=001_jl3UY3pu4ZAfDDsWvSJgrpqGEBXlr6ZFwE0M7UoQIO5N9ZavvlWNVAbZh3TZ-i1HBgpo_oMXiGEzBPauabNOaiPSAQ87CICd4JffGClKD5bCF-rUFKDg1-n5rGJ20j7Uwh5XObrVYw=" target="_blank">http://www.lowermerionvote.org/aboutus.html</a> ), which was adopted by Montgomery County Republican County [sic], and other Republican Committees throughout The Commonwealth. </blockquote> And read that Statement of "Principals" if you get a chance. It's a masterpiece of illiteracy. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2JhNzdmNmI4MGZmM2UzODg4MDlhN2M5MDM3ODRjYzY= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:41:51 -0400 Here's a Shocker: -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODc3YzEzMGVlNzIwOTA0MTM3ZjYyODA3NWRlMDBiYTM= <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9C1FCDG2&show_article=1">Newspaper unions mobbed up? Really? No</a>! <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODc3YzEzMGVlNzIwOTA0MTM3ZjYyODA3NWRlMDBiYTM= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 19:33:16 -0400 "Oh I forgot, the Jews have all the oil" -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDg2MjQxZWFkODdmNDllOGJiYWIyNWZjNmNlMTI2ODc= Following up my post on Sunday (<a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjdlNzNmNTViMmIxMWQyZmVhNWUwZGMyN2FjNjI0MmE=" target="_blank">There is no effective pro-Israel lobby in Britain</a>), and having now watched the program in question, I wonder whether the directors of Britain’s well-regarded Channel 4 television, or the program-makers, have read -- or even care about -- the European Union’s working definition of anti-Semitism, part of which <a href="http://www.european-forum-on-antisemitism.org/working-definition-of-antisemitism/english/" target="_blank">reads</a>: <blockquote> Making mendacious, dehumanizing, demonizing, or stereotypical allegations about Jews as such or the power of Jews as collective - such as, especially but not exclusively, the myth about a world Jewish conspiracy or of Jews controlling the media, economy, government or other societal institutions. </blockquote> The program -- which may leave many viewers with the impression that Britain’s 290,000 Jews somehow control the rest of the British population of 62,000,000 -- has been widely plugged by neo-Nazi and left-wing anti-Semitic groups. Do the program-makers care? Apparently not. The hour-long documentary didn’t even mention (apart from one minor and insignificant reference in passing) the numerous pro-Arab and pro-Palestinian organizations in the U.K., the activities of which help explain why hostility to Israel among Britain’s media and political elites is so much stronger than in many other countries. They are, of course, an integral part of the story. Among those omitted were the CAABU (Council for Arab-British Understanding), the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Arab Media Watch, the Muslim Council of Britain, Hizb ut-Tahrir, the International Solidarity Campaign, the Stop the War Coalition, and numerous other anti-Israel campaigners among parliamentary groups, trades unions, and student movements. Oh, and then there are the twenty-odd Arab embassies (including the Palestinian Authority's) in London churning out stuff. To paraphrase a quip by Melanie Phillips today, “Oh, I forgot, the Jews have all the oil.” <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDg2MjQxZWFkODdmNDllOGJiYWIyNWZjNmNlMTI2ODc= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 14:04:09 -0400 More of that MSNBC Pressure on Dems -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2JmMmM4OGUxYTUzZDcyZDdjZTEyOWI2ZGZkNWY2NDM= I'm watching MSNBC's Dr. Nancy Snyderman interview Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown on Obamacare, and here's how she ended the interview: <blockquote> "Senator Sherrod Brown, Ohio is lucky to have you." </blockquote> Oh, and how lucky America is to have MSNBC to hold Democrats accountable. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2JmMmM4OGUxYTUzZDcyZDdjZTEyOWI2ZGZkNWY2NDM= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:30:25 -0400 Maybe It Was Dull -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTAzZDVlYmI1MTE4M2ExNjMyMWVhZjFjYzE3OGQyZTU= <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/16/AR2009111601477.html?hpid=sec-business">Washington's gay newspaper, The Blade, is no more.</a> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTAzZDVlYmI1MTE4M2ExNjMyMWVhZjFjYzE3OGQyZTU= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 12:16:05 -0400 Fox News Wins -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2Q2NmYwYWExNDg5OGZjOGVhY2VkNWM2ZTRkMWFlNzA= <a href="http://twitter.com/MajoratWH/status/5794144226">Major Garrett tweets</a>: <blockquote> I will interview POTUS on camera Wed am here in Beijing. 4 other networks will too. 10 mins per. Many had asked. Can say now. </blockquote> <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/fnc/major_garrett_among_white_house_correspondents_to_interview_pres_obama_today_143379.asp">TV Newser reports</a> it will air tonight at 9:20. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2Q2NmYwYWExNDg5OGZjOGVhY2VkNWM2ZTRkMWFlNzA= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:50:24 -0400 You've Got Mail Journalism Jobs -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mjk5OTk4NjYwNTQ0MjU1YjYyZjgwYTkyNDZmNWY0NzA= <a href="http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/10/24/tim-armstrongs-secret-project-is-to-turn-aol-into-a-low-cost-content-machine/">AOL has 3,000 journalists on the payroll</a>. And counting. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mjk5OTk4NjYwNTQ0MjU1YjYyZjgwYTkyNDZmNWY0NzA= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:50:01 -0400 Today's Laugh-Out-Loud Moment -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTM2ZGExMjIzY2RhOGU4NjZjY2RlZDZhNDBlYmFiZDU= Headline from yesterday's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/16/business/media/16msnbc.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print">New York Times</a>: <blockquote> MSNBC Presses Obama on Campaign Promises </blockquote> It gets better: <blockquote> If <a title="More articles about Barack Obama." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/barack_obama/index.html?inline=nyt-per">President Obama</a> happened to glance at “The <a title="More articles about Rachel Maddow." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/rachel_maddow/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Rachel Maddow</a> Show” last Monday, he might have winced. Ms. Maddow pretended to celebrate the passage of a health care overhaul bill in the House, calling it “potentially a huge generational win for the <a title="More articles about Democratic Party" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/d/democratic_party/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Democratic Party</a>” — but then halted the triumphant music and called it an “electoral defeat.” The Stupak amendment, she said, was “the biggest restriction on abortion rights in a generation.” Then she wondered aloud about the consequences for Democrats “if they don’t get women or anybody who’s pro-choice to ever vote for them again.” She returned to the subject the next four evenings in a row. This is how it looks to have a television network pressuring President Obama from the left. While much attention has been paid to the feud between the Fox News Channel and the White House, the Obama administration is now facing criticism of a different sort from Ms. Maddow, <a title="More articles about Keith Olbermann." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/o/keith_olbermann/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Keith Olbermann</a> and other progressive hosts on MSNBC, who are using their nightly news-and-views-casts to measure what she calls “the distance between Obama’s rhetoric and his actions.” While they may agree with much of what Mr. Obama says, they have pressed him to keep his campaign promises about health care, civil liberties and other issues. </blockquote> Really? From the intro to <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33967725/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/">Maddow's program on Friday</a>: <blockquote> RACHEL MADDOW, HOST: And thank you at home for staying with us for the next hour. Listen, we have been getting used to lots of news breaking on Fridays over the last few months. But even for a Friday, this was a doozy of a news day today. The alleged mastermind of 9/11 and four other suspects will finally be brought to justice in the United States. Could the legacy of the Bush-Cheney torture programs make it less likely that these suspects will be convicted? Senator Sheldon Whitehouse and Michael Isikoff will join us at the top. </blockquote> And from <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33967784/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/">Olbermann</a>: <blockquote> LAWRENCE O‘DONNELL, GUEST HOST (voice-over): Which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? The masterminds of the most deadly and destructive attack on American soil will finally meet the full force of this country‘s justice system. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ERIC HOLDER, ATTORNEY GENERAL: These were extraordinary crimes, and so we will seek maximum penalties. (END VIDEO CLIP) O‘DONNELL: But for the GOP, the extraordinary crimes of 9/11 are cause for extraordinary fear, as the “party of no” turns into the “party of no confidence” in the Constitution. </blockquote> Yeah, keep that "pressure" on Obama. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NTM2ZGExMjIzY2RhOGU4NjZjY2RlZDZhNDBlYmFiZDU= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:49:16 -0400 Hannah Giles, Rock Star -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGU3ODVhNTZjNzc4ODBkYmQyOGU1OTY3MGNiOTZjMDk= <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-young-conservatives15-2009nov15,0,1837509.story">Here's a good write-up </a>of Hannah Giles's speech to students at UC Santa Barbara. An excerpt: <blockquote> Reporting from Santa Barbara - Hannah Giles was in the middle of her guerrilla warfare lecture this weekend at the young conservatives leadership conference when a man in the audience interrupted her. "We love you!" he cried out. The crowd erupted in applause and whistles. "Aw," Giles said into the microphone. "I love you guys too." At age 20, Giles is a rock star of conservative activism. She shot onto the national scene in September after posing as a prostitute at ACORN offices around the country, where she secretly videotaped employees who appeared to give her advice on tax evasion, human smuggling and child prostitution. Outrage over the recordings led Congress to cut federal funding for the community organizing group. Giles credits the Young America's Foundation -- the group that put on the conference -- with inspiring much of her political action. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGU3ODVhNTZjNzc4ODBkYmQyOGU1OTY3MGNiOTZjMDk= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:46:52 -0400 Fox News: Fair And Balanced? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjYwMDk5MjQ4YTE0NWRjNTRhZjM4MWRmMDlmODkzMDc= A new survey says, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/2009/11/14/fox-news-barack-obama-media-opinions-contributors-s-robert-lichter.html">yes</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjYwMDk5MjQ4YTE0NWRjNTRhZjM4MWRmMDlmODkzMDc= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:14:24 -0400 Quentin Tarantino and Carbon Footprints -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTM2OWIyYmY5YzIzMTZkNDJkZTRjZmM4NjE0MzBlM2E= The latest edition of Time has a list of the 50 Best Inventions of the Year. In addition to the Fashion Robot and the Edible Race Car, the "Planet of the Year" magazine lists <a href="http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1934027_1934003_1933957,00.html">The Personal Carbon Footprint</a>: <blockquote> Negotiations over carbon emissions resemble the end of a Quentin Tarantino film, when everyone has a gun pointed at everyone else and no one can make a move. Rich nations (like the U.S.) need to make the first cuts, but they won't until developing nations (like China) do — and vice versa. Researchers from Princeton University suggest working on the individual level instead. It's the well-off people of the world — in Indiana or India — who are responsible for most carbon emissions. A strategy focused on rich individuals instead of rich countries might just get us out of this. </blockquote> That fad is being promoted in Britain, as the <a href="http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=18686">National Center for Policy Analysis</a> reports. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTM2OWIyYmY5YzIzMTZkNDJkZTRjZmM4NjE0MzBlM2E= Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:07:56 -0400 Michael Ramirez on Obama's Bow -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDk1ZTNjMDAwY2Q5MzhiYTgxNzk3MTUzZGRjNjQyOTY= <a href="http://www.investors.com/NewsAndAnalysis/PhotoPopup.aspx?id=512640">Investor's Business Daily</a>: <img id="__mce_tmp" src="http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2009/11/16/ce72bc28ef73012b569830d73829984b.jpg" alt="" /> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDk1ZTNjMDAwY2Q5MzhiYTgxNzk3MTUzZGRjNjQyOTY= Mon, 16 Nov 2009 21:12:42 -0400 While Obama's Town-Hall Was Being Censored ... -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Njg1Y2Y0NjFjNDY3YTgzMWVhYzNhZWU2YmJiOGJmYjc= ... elsewhere in China, Obama's hosts were worried about <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20091116/wl_asia_afp/chinausdiplomacymediacnn">offending the president's delicate sensibilities</a>: <blockquote> A CNN correspondent said Monday she was detained byChinese security guards in Shanghai for two hours for displaying a T-shirt on camera depicting US President Barack Obama as Mao Zedong. Emily Chang, a Beijing-based correspondent for the US television network, said in a blog post on CNN.com that she hunted down the shirt after hearing they had been banned amid fears they "may offend the American president." </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Njg1Y2Y0NjFjNDY3YTgzMWVhYzNhZWU2YmJiOGJmYjc= Mon, 16 Nov 2009 20:30:07 -0400 SNL Goes After Obamacare Concessions -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjMwMzBkYWZhZjMxNDRiYmEyNDJiMzkyYzJlMWE1ZTE= I assume a CNN fact-check will be forthcoming. Funny stuff: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="384" height="283" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="id" value="W4727a250e66f97234b00a55bea20e17c" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="src" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b00a55bea20e17c/4affed8550845450/53ef27c2/-cpid/bd09c0e4919ca457" /><embed id="W4727a250e66f97234b00a55bea20e17c" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="384" height="283" src="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4b00a55bea20e17c/4affed8550845450/53ef27c2/-cpid/bd09c0e4919ca457" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjMwMzBkYWZhZjMxNDRiYmEyNDJiMzkyYzJlMWE1ZTE= Sun, 15 Nov 2009 20:17:32 -0400 Huffington: Immune to Irony -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mjg3YWJkYmQ4M2MzNzA1YzA5YWJjYmVmMWJiNTNjZmY= The Huffington Post has a newish feature called "Celebrity Skin." Yes, it is exactly what it sounds like it is. Question for Mrs. Huff: Now that you're publishing a website with content that is very near to softcore porn, a site that includes content about Sarah Palin ("You Betcha She's Doggone Cute," and no, I'm not going to link it), on a scale of one to ten, how bad a word choice would you say "<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/sunday-roundup_b_357951.html">overexposed</a>" is in this column? <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Mjg3YWJkYmQ4M2MzNzA1YzA5YWJjYmVmMWJiNTNjZmY= Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:59:24 -0400 There Is No Effective Pro-Israel Lobby in Britain -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjdlNzNmNTViMmIxMWQyZmVhNWUwZGMyN2FjNjI0MmE= Tomorrow evening, Britain’s Channel 4 will broadcast a one-hour documentary, called Inside Britain’s Israel Lobby hosted by Daily Mail journalist Peter Oborne, a well-known critic of Israel and America. The preview of the program on the website of Channel 4 (a channel which is more highly revered among many in Britain’s intelligentsia than even the BBC, despite it having invited Holocaust-denier <a href="http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/000997.html" target="_blank">Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to deliver its annual Christmas message</a> last December 25) reads: <blockquote> Dispatches investigates one of the most powerful and influential political lobbies in Britain, which is working in support of the interests of the State of Israel. Despite wielding great influence among the highest realms of British politics and media, little is known about the individuals and groups which collectively are known as the pro-Israel lobby. Political commentator Peter Oborne sets out to establish who they are, how they are funded, how they work and what influence they have, from the key groups to the wealthy individuals who help bankroll the lobbying. He investigates how accountable, transparent and open to scrutiny the lobby is, particularly in regard to its funding and financial support of MPs. The pro-Israel lobby aims to shape the debate about Britain’s relationship with Israel and future foreign policies relating to it. Oborne examines how the lobby operates from within parliament and the tactics it employs behind the scenes when engaging with print and broadcast media. </blockquote> If only. Whereas there is a pro-Israel lobby with some influence in the U.S. (though not the kind of influence ascribed to it by anti-Semites), contrary to what Channel 4 and others think, there is no effective pro-Israel lobby in Britain. The complete lack of any effective pro-Israel lobby in Britain (as opposed to well-organized anti-Israel groups) helps explain why some of the coverage of Israel in the British media is among the worst in the world, and sometimes rivals the Iranian and Egyptian media for its sheer nastiness. It also explains why Britain failed to back Israel last week at the U.N. General Assembly vote on the Goldstone report on Israeli war crimes, while other democracies -- including the U.S., Italy, Germany, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Ukraine, Macedonia, and the Czech Republic -- voted with Israel. NEO-NAZI WEBSITES PROMOTE CHANNEL 4 PROGRAM Interestingly, the makers of the program contacted the Community Security Trust (CST) for interview. The CST has got nothing to do with lobbying for Israel. It coordinates security activities with the British police to protect Jewish schools, synagogues, and other institutions from attack. Physical attacks on British Jews are running at near-record postwar highs. Per capita, British Jews have in the last couple of years been attacked more than any other religious or ethnic minority in Britain. The makers of Channel 4’s program, Hardcash Productions, wrote last week to the CST’s chairman to inform him that they “will be looking at a number of groups and leading individuals who collectively make up the pro-Israel lobby, including the Community Security Trust,” and to ask him for an interview. When one looks at the advance wording about the program that Channel 4 has placed on its website, it is hard not to conclude that they have been influenced by the many virulent anti-Zionist conspiracy theories spread around the web. Already the readers’ comments on the Channel 4 website contains many anti-Semitic notions about secretive all-powerful Jewish conspiracies “to undermine Britain and the human race.” “The agents of a foreign power embedded at all levels of our government and politics need flushing out,” writes one reader. Predictably, the program is being promoted on the Internet message board of the far-right British National party and various neo-Nazi websites. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjdlNzNmNTViMmIxMWQyZmVhNWUwZGMyN2FjNjI0MmE= Sun, 15 Nov 2009 16:59:07 -0400 Obama Stands Tall for America -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTZlODg1MzAzZjdiMDg3NTM4ZGM2ZWY1MjVmMzhhZTg= President Obama vs. the rest of the world in greeting the Emperor of Japan. More evidence that the president really understands foreign policy and has the top advisors helping him. At least we now know it wasn't only Saudi despot King Abdullah to whom Obama bows down. (A little photo fun courtesy of our friends at HotAirPundit.blogspot.com.) Prime Minister Vladimir Putin: <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8xQJ-3I5I/AAAAAAAAEcE/dlwfnqTZlcc/s400/cannon3.JPG" alt="" width="400" height="300" /> Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8xQtW5QiI/AAAAAAAAEcU/AyRLN8HK4RQ/s400/cannon1.JPG" alt="" width="400" height="277" /> The King of Morocco: <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8xQjyiPGI/AAAAAAAAEcM/U_nJRZ4R1HU/s400/cannon2.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="294" /> The Prime Minister of Slovenia: <img src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8w8VQy0fI/AAAAAAAAEbc/pTsJmlr_MJY/s400/cannon8.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="294" /> The President of South Korea: <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8xP9eSMeI/AAAAAAAAEb8/t86UtBYVvRk/s400/cannon4.JPG" alt="" width="400" height="333" /> The President of Kazakhstan: <img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8xPrnmbcI/AAAAAAAAEb0/FfCqG7-zbn4/s400/cannon5" alt="" width="319" height="400" /> The Prime Minister of India: <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8w8iZsUsI/AAAAAAAAEbs/x3BajFGGJLQ/s400/cannon6.JPG" alt="" width="400" height="302" /> Dick Cheney: <img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8w8bcQAdI/AAAAAAAAEbk/6ki5cfuilr4/s400/cannon7.jpg" alt="" width="262" height="400" /> And then yesterday, President Obama... <img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_r1AxIJszWSA/Sv8w8Jhi-OI/AAAAAAAAEbU/TmurIBpFcio/s400/cannon9.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="286" /> More here on “<a href="http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/11/obamas_botched_bow.html" target="_blank">Obama’s botched bow</a>” from Thomas Lifson, who has lived in Japan and taught East Asian Studies at Harvard, and counseled many hundreds of American, European, and Middle Eastern executives on how to work and negotiate with the Japanese. Obama, he says, should not only not have bowed, but in doing so the president violated the fundamental precept of Japanese bowing: No touching while bowing under any circumstances. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTZlODg1MzAzZjdiMDg3NTM4ZGM2ZWY1MjVmMzhhZTg= Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:00:10 -0400 Dobbs Quits: The Left Loves a Good Purge -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzJiMDUxY2ZiOTE4ZmUzZDA2NGFkMjBiMzRkNDI1N2Q= So Lou Dobbs up and quit CNN last night. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/business/media/12dobbs.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1258059716-svjOBqIhm+WpCr4Nxg0z7A">Brian Stelter and Bill Carter</a> explained the split’s genesis in The New York Times: "Months ago the president of CNN/U.S., Jonathan Klein, offered a choice to Lou Dobbs ... [he] could vent his opinions on radio and anchor an objective newscast on television, or he could leave CNN." Stelter and Carter didn't get to interview Klein, but he should be asked: Does anyone else at CNN or Headline News suffer from such a condition? Would CNN Worldwide president Jim Walton threaten Joy Behar that she can be opinionated on The View during the day, but she has to do an "objective" show on HLN at night? Would they threaten Rick Sanchez to stop being so pro-Latino on CNN, or threaten Soledad O'Brien for being "opinionated" in the "Latino in America" documentaries? This ultimatum reeks of Jon Klein's wanting to satisfy the leftists running the "Drop Dobbs" campaign, just as he bowed to Jon Stewart and dumped Crossfire (and Tucker Carlson). CNN now has no host that is would in any way be confused for a conservative. The <a href="http://mediamatters.org/blog/200911120019">Drop Dobbs "Fairness Doctrine" types on the left </a>are crowing that their crusade for "honest media" has triumphed. CNN is trying to spin this as a move to the hard-news middle. Picking John King for that hour is a pretty decent way to sell that spin. But that only works if you buy that CNN is the hard-news middle all the time, which is laughable. Larry King was tougher on a beauty queen last night than any CNN personality has ever been on Barack Obama. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NzJiMDUxY2ZiOTE4ZmUzZDA2NGFkMjBiMzRkNDI1N2Q= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:44:05 -0400 Veterans Day at Arlington -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjVmODQ0ZThiZmI3YjBhNmQ2NzI5NjgxNDQzMDJjMWE= Some <a href="http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/ns_20091112_8922.php">great pictures </a>over at National Journal. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjVmODQ0ZThiZmI3YjBhNmQ2NzI5NjgxNDQzMDJjMWE= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:42:41 -0400 Best NR Cover Ever? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjA2MzM3MWI0MTdkOGFiMGViNzdiNjM0MDIxODEwYzg= <img id="__mce_tmp" src="http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2009/11/13/2f98442ca2049668f80ea95a429f8cb0.jpg" alt="" /> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjA2MzM3MWI0MTdkOGFiMGViNzdiNjM0MDIxODEwYzg= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 16:42:25 -0400 About Those Right Wing Extremists Who Killed the Census Worker in Kentucky -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2QxNjcxYTUwOTIwOTFmNzI2MmE2NTM0ZTVjYmMzOTY= The new focus of the investigation is a <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,574849,00.html?test=latestnews">manipulated suicide </a>for the insurance money. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2QxNjcxYTUwOTIwOTFmNzI2MmE2NTM0ZTVjYmMzOTY= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:54:21 -0400 Dobbs 2012? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjM5YWRmYzY2MjZiN2YzZmY1YzY1ZTM4YzEzMjBiYjk= <a href="http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45&aid=173480">Romenesko</a>: <blockquote> <a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/joe_conason/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2009/11/12/lou_dobbs">Joe Conason </a>believes Lou Dobbs has ambitions to run for president, and "could mount a formidable campaign drawing upon the same resentful remnant that Republicans hope to mobilize in 2012. Except that he probably won't be running as a Republican." <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/opinion/13fri3.html?ref=opinion">NYT editorial:</a> Dobbs' show "has long been a nesting ground for untruths and conspiracy theories." <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/business/media/13cnn.html?ref=todayspaper">"We need you in the Senate, Lou," a caller tells Dobbs</a> <a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-et-onthemedia13-2009nov13,0,7001072,full.column">CNN may be planting the seeds of its resurrection</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/12/AR2009111210797.html">Dobbs had it with CNN's attempts to tone him down</a> <a href="http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/11/13/cnn_doubling_down_on_straight_news/">Dobbs became the living embodiment of Howard Beale</a> </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjM5YWRmYzY2MjZiN2YzZmY1YzY1ZTM4YzEzMjBiYjk= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:53:59 -0400 Re: Welcome to the Party, Pal -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmU5OGQ4NmQwOThiZGY2ODU0NDMyMGZhNTJiZGYzYTk= <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/NYT-Dishonestly-Distances-Biden-From-Alleged-Corruption-69909322.html">Here's</a> a good post by Mark Hemingway over at this new gig at the D.C. Examiner on the New York Times and its white-wash of <a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDUyNjJhMzlmZDJkNjdlZDc5ODRlMzA4ZjdmMjJhMmY=">Biden's connections to Peter Galbraith</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmU5OGQ4NmQwOThiZGY2ODU0NDMyMGZhNTJiZGYzYTk= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 10:52:52 -0400 Current TV's Failed Business Model -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWE0ZWE0MGM2MmYwZGVkZTgzMDVlMmMwNTc3MjJiZDU= <a href="http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-ct-current12-2009nov12,0,6721489.story">This</a> serves as a cautionary tale on following Al Gore's ideas: <blockquote> When Al Gore unveiled his youth-oriented cable TV network, he said his ambition was to connect "the Internet generation with television" by creating a channel that would be made up mostly of short-form content supplied by its audience. After more than four years trying to establish itself as a 21st century channel by and for the people, Current TV announced Wednesday that it was canceling three shows and letting go nearly a quarter of its staff -- 80 employees -- as a part of a shift toward more traditional programming. David Neuman, the programming president, also stepped down. Current TV's retrenchment shows the difficulty of grafting the freewheeling culture and sensibilities that have thrived over the Internet onto established mediums like television, where viewers often expect slickly produced programs and big-name personalities. At the same time, just as advertisers have shied from supporting websites that feature amateur video, so too they appear no more willing to support user-generated content on TV. "As much as you might want to change the world, sometimes there is not that much you can change -- particularly when you are dealing with the world of television," said Brent Poer, managing director of the West Coast offices of MediaVest, an ad-buying firm that represents such clients as AAA and Wal-Mart. "This was a little too radical from the get-go." </blockquote> "This was a little too radical from the get-go" should be Al Gore's motto for his environmental policies, too. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YWE0ZWE0MGM2MmYwZGVkZTgzMDVlMmMwNTc3MjJiZDU= Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:45:33 -0400 The FHA Is the New Subprime -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjRmMmZhZDcxYTdiMTMyYzBiODA4YWY5MjAzNDIxNDU= An interesting piece in the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/13/business/economy/13fha.html?partner=rss&emc=rss">New York Times today:</a> <blockquote> The <a title="More articles about the Federal Housing Administration." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/f/federal_housing_administration/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Federal Housing Administration</a> said Thursday that its cash reserves had dwindled significantly in the last year as housing prices slumped and many of its borrowers defaulted on their mortgages. Still, government housing officials stressed that the agency, which insures loans made by private lenders, would not need a direct bailout. “Even if we were to go below zero, if the reserves were to become negative, there is no extraordinary action that Congress or anyone else needs to take,” the secretary of Housing and Urban Development, <a title="More articles about Shaun Donovan." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/shaun_donovan/index.html?inline=nyt-per">Shaun Donovan</a>, said at a Washington press conference. </blockquote> Setting aside the metaphysical question of whether a "reserve" with a negative number in front of it still is a reserve, the most interesting words here are "direct bailout." That leaves the door wide open for all sorts of other action. Who could have seen this coming? Oh, yeah -- I did, in May: <blockquote> But really, who’s backing million-dollar mortgages any more? Oddly enough, the FHA - meaning taxpayers -- is getting close. W. C. Varones, a San Diego-based investment manager who blogs at agoravox.com, reports that generous FHA down-payment terms mean that an investor could pick up a $700,000 house, finance $697,000 through the FHA for 5 percent on a 30-year mortgage, and only pay a 1.75 percent FHA fee in exchange. Paying 3.5 percent down under FHA terms, rather than 20 percent down through a conventional bank mortgage, “translates into a $12,000 fee and $300/month in exchange for keeping your extra $115,000 in cash,” he writes. “Plus, you can roll the fee and the points into the loan, so it’s not cash out of pocket.” His conclusion: “FHA is the new subprime. … And the sucker is not a sleazy outfit like Countrywide. It’s the FHA. That means you, the taxpayer.” If there’s any doubt that the FHA is staggering in Fannie and Freddie’s footsteps into the subprime woods, take a look at their default rates: One in ten FHA-backed mortgages written in the first quarter of 2008 have gone bad already, with borrowers missing at least two consecutive monthly payments, the Wall Street Journal reports. Some 12.3 percent of the 2007 FHA loans were “seriously delinquent” by February of 2009, with 4 percent going to foreclosure or bankruptcy. It gets ugly when you drill down to particular FHA lenders. Strategic Mortgage of Columbus, Mo., has a 12.1 percent FHA default rate, and the president of the firm sounds like the Rev. Jeremiah Wright when he defends his practices, explaining to the Columbus Post -Dispatch that his competitors “made FHA loans to rich, white people in the suburbs; they’re not servicing the same communities I’m servicing.” One has to wonder what sort of community Great Country Mortgage Bankers of Florida was servicing: Their default rate hit nearly 70 percent before the FHA was embarrassed enough to shut them down. And FHA has been bringing these eccentric business practices to an ever-larger market: With default rates rising, FHA’s loan volume has grown 400 percent since 2007, and its market share is now more than 30 percent. And FHA has expanded beyond housing; in April, the agency put together a three-quarters-of-a-billion-dollar deal to build a hospital in Trenton, N.J., the largest single transaction in FHA history. They’ve also gotten into the “reverse mortgage” business, writing loans against the value of elderly people’s houses and taking the property in lieu of payment after the borrowers die. The stimulus bill cleared the way for FHA to greatly expand its portfolio of reverse mortgages of up to $625,500 in most of the country, and even higher in Hawaii, Alaska, and the Virgin Islands. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjRmMmZhZDcxYTdiMTMyYzBiODA4YWY5MjAzNDIxNDU= Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:58:40 -0400 End of the Decade, Perhaps -- By: Fred Schwarz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Fred Schwarz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTBjNzQxZmJhODBjNzdkNmRiYzg5YmRjMzUzNjEzOWM= What keeps Mike Potemra awake at night? The Ditty Bops, judging from this <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzEzN2E0YmEyNTVhZmY0N2Y5ZDkxMTA5ZTdjNmI5YjA=">graveyard-shift Corner item</a>. Mike’s post makes reference to “decade’s end,” and in combination with <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmJjM2UyNTcyNzk4NWVjYjZhN2I5NWFlMmRjZThiMzM=">his previous one</a>, in which he discusses being of a certain age, it reminds me that I am about to undergo my fifth experience with a fierce debate that has plagued philosophers for centuries: When does a decade end? Back in December 1969, I was barely old enough to follow with bewilderment the back-and-forth on the New York Times letters page over whether the decade (a) was about to end or (b) would not be over until the end of 1970. In a reaction that the Times letters page has elicited many times since, I couldn’t understand why grown-ups were getting so worked up over such a trivial thing. We all know the basis of the dispute. The 1-to-0 crowd says that under the calendar we have imposed retroactively, the first decade A.D. begins with the year 1 (regardless of when Christ was actually born), and therefore we must continue the same pattern. Thus, every decade starts with a 1 year and ends with a 0 year. Under this system Mike is jumping the gun, because the current decade won’t be over until the end of 2010. The 0-to-9 crowd responds that we usually refer to decades as “the fifties,” “the sixties,” and so forth. Since the 1960s (considered as a calendar decade, not a cultural/political epoch) began at the start of 1960 and finished at the end of 1969, and since it makes no sense to have “the 1960s” and “the decade” offset from each other by a year, for the sake of consistency, we should adopt a uniform 0-to-9 convention. As I wrote <a href="http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/ah/1999/8/1999_8_94.shtml">here</a> years ago (scroll down to the shaded area), this controversy has been raging in the American press at least since John Adams was president, and was vigorously renewed in McKinley’s day (for what it's worth, Pope Leo XIII endorsed the 1-to-0 interpretation). 0-to-9 proponents sometimes concede that the decade “technically” or “officially” begins with a 1 year, but in my view, unless you accept Leo XIII’s authority, there’s no “technically” or “officially” about it. A decade begins or ends whenever you want it to, and one system is as right or wrong as another. I realize that, as somebody who makes a living moving commas around, I sound silly accusing anyone else of being pedantic, and I may come across as a professional fusspot trying to shoo away the amateurs. But I do believe the two camps can be reconciled. Consider this: The lengths of a day and a year might seem to be unalterably fixed by nature, but in fact they are not. Every year we have one day of 25 hours and one of 23, and every fourth year is one day longer than the rest (not to mention <a href="http://www.cslib.org/CalendarChange.htm">1752</a>, which had <a href="http://www.hcidata.info/cgi-bin/calendar.cgi?year=1752&sun-mon=m">only 355 days</a>, and <a href="http://www.cornwall-opc.org/Resc/calendar_change.php">1751</a>, which in England had <a href="http://www.webexhibits.org/calendars/year-text-British.html">just 282</a>). So if the length of a day, a month, and a year can vary, why not the length of a decade? Why not define the first decade A.D. to be nine years long, ending in the year 9, and follow the natural 0-to-9 pattern from then on? That way, both sides can have their cake and eat it too, and the other side’s cake as well. Many problems large and small could be resolved as easily as this one -- if each side would only admit that the matter is open to debate, and deny itself the pleasure of correcting the other side. But as we have seen repeatedly, on questions much more important than this, that’s a mighty big if. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTBjNzQxZmJhODBjNzdkNmRiYzg5YmRjMzUzNjEzOWM= Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:54:16 -0400 Sean Hannity Apologizes to Jon Stewart -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDk1OGZmZWNhMGI0MWI1MTkwOGQ3NmIwNjQ5OTQ1OTA= Wonder what the Left will make of this? <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/-0bzYL2kAiU&feature" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/-0bzYL2kAiU&feature"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDk1OGZmZWNhMGI0MWI1MTkwOGQ3NmIwNjQ5OTQ1OTA= Thu, 12 Nov 2009 13:52:50 -0400 Welcome to the Party, Pal -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDUyNjJhMzlmZDJkNjdlZDc5ODRlMzA4ZjdmMjJhMmY= There's a big "scoop" in today's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/12/world/middleeast/12galbraith.html?src=twt&twt=nytimes">New York Times on Peter Galbraith</a>, a former adviser to Senators Kerry and Biden, and a shady oil deal in Kurdistan that could reap Galbraith millions. Corner readers, however, know all about it from <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTRhYjdjYTllNzNjZmQ4YWU5ZDdmNGJkYjAwOTZiMmQ=">this</a>, <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTYwOWE2NmJlYTdhM2IxNzNjYzAzYjk5Nzg1ZDc3ZDg=">this</a>, <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjM2NDYxMzU0Y2UxZjU2ZjQzM2M3MDZjZGU0ZWIxMGM=">this</a>, <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDFjMmI0ZTE3NWVhNzM3NTVmNDNlZjdlMTM4NzZlODI=">this</a>, <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDI2MGIyN2FiZmZmNGEyNDAyZDE2ZGFjZDFmN2ViZGI=">this</a>, <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTQ1YzEwMzBlZWM0MzU3NTZjNzYyMWViNmJiOTI0NjQ=">this</a>, <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWFjMGQ4NzliZjVlMTNmYzc1ODc1MjNlNTU3NzE0ZjU=">this</a>, and <a href="http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjRjNjI4ZWYyYjc1YzA1OGYxNjExMzlkYzY1NGQ0ZTU=">this</a> post. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDUyNjJhMzlmZDJkNjdlZDc5ODRlMzA4ZjdmMjJhMmY= Thu, 12 Nov 2009 11:14:05 -0400 John King to Replace Lou Dobbs at 7 p.m. -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGMwY2NjNDJmZGE4ZDVlMmU3M2M2Njc1ODBmMGQxZTk= <a href="http://twitter.com/HowardKurtz/status/5650223033">So says Howard Kurtz</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGMwY2NjNDJmZGE4ZDVlMmU3M2M2Njc1ODBmMGQxZTk= Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:37:14 -0400 Happy Veterans Day -- By: Edward John Craig webmaster@nationalreview.com (Edward John Craig) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2E4OWQxMGIyZTg5NjE5OTM4NWQ5ZGI0OGQ0ZWZjNDM= I flip on the TV to American Movie Classics (which is no Turner Classic, but not bad, generally) to see what they have on for Veterans Day. Kelly's Heroes -- about American GIs in WWII going rogue in order to steal Nazi gold -- followed by First Blood -- about Vietnam vet John Rambo going postal in the Pacific Northwest. What's next? Dances with Wolves? <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=N2E4OWQxMGIyZTg5NjE5OTM4NWQ5ZGI0OGQ0ZWZjNDM= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:00:32 -0400 Re: Fox News Fact-Check Sarah Palin -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTBjODI1ZDk5ZmE4YWNlMTY4YTEzNWZjMzg5Njg2NDc= <a href="http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/notes/sarah-palin/coin-controversy/172092968434">Sarah Palin </a>responds to those taking issue with what she said about <a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTk4ZjE5Yjk4YWVlNWIzOTExZmQ5NTQ3NDVmMDAwZmQ=">"In God We Trust" on the new coins</a>: <blockquote> It is stunning to read and hear about this “coin controversy.” At a recent speech in Milwaukee I discussed the troubling fact that we too often move God to the side in our public life, and gave as an example the shift of the words “In God We Trust” to the edge of the dollar coin. My comments were not about this President or this Congress - this change predated them. I was merely making a point about a disturbing trend in our country, after which I moved on to discuss some encouraging trends. People who try to read more into such straightforward comments are working hard to find a controversy where there is none. - Sarah Palin </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTBjODI1ZDk5ZmE4YWNlMTY4YTEzNWZjMzg5Njg2NDc= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:43:40 -0400 Tweet of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OThmYTU0YTkwNTRiNTI1ZjA3ZjdhNjM0ZTAzZTM1YWU= Heh. <a href="http://twitter.com/ricksanchezcnn/status/5634154006">CNN's Rick Sanchez </a>is busting on his employer's miserable ratings: <blockquote> cnn wins again yesterday at three, that's two in a row. it's a start huh? lol </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OThmYTU0YTkwNTRiNTI1ZjA3ZjdhNjM0ZTAzZTM1YWU= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:15:09 -0400 Lou Dobbs ... -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGJiY2NhZjk1MDQyYzkwMDFlZGJkZWNmYzI1MDc1MjY= ... i<a href="http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/11/lou-dobbs-to-depart-cnn/">s leaving CNN</a>. No details yet on where he's going. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MGJiY2NhZjk1MDQyYzkwMDFlZGJkZWNmYzI1MDc1MjY= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:54:12 -0400 Fox Wins -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDQxMzFkZDYyOTI5NmU4NGNlNTg3ZmI0Mjg3MmFmZjE= <a href="http://drudgereport.com/">Drudge</a>: <blockquote> <div id="drudgeTopHeadlines"><tt>Obama Grants FOXNEWS Interview -- Day After Anita Dunn Steps Down... MORE... DRUDGE has learned, Major Garrett will conduct interview in China next week...</tt></div> </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDQxMzFkZDYyOTI5NmU4NGNlNTg3ZmI0Mjg3MmFmZjE= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:12:20 -0400 Obviously the Work of Rapacious, Short-Sighted ... -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDkzZGZmM2ZiZjUxMWU3MzQ3NGVlNzMzY2EwNzcyNTI= <a href="http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.d353e4dc67c0377ef5c85b689bf5e81d.4e1&show_article=1">.. heartless media tycoons driven by greed.</a> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MDkzZGZmM2ZiZjUxMWU3MzQ3NGVlNzMzY2EwNzcyNTI= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:10:16 -0400 Winner of BBC quiz show thinks Israeli secret service is called 'al-Qaeda' -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MWNmOTc3MDgxZmEwYTI5M2FkY2FiNTc4OTE0MzdjMDk= My friend, the British political commentator <a href="http://www.robinshepherdonline.com/winner-of-bbc-general-knowledge-show-believes-israeli-secret-intelligence-service-is-called-al-qaeda/" target="_blank">Robin Shepherd</a> points out that the winner of the BBC’s leading general knowledge quiz show, “The Weakest Link,” yesterday answered the question “What is the name of Israel’s most prominent secret intelligence service” by saying “al-Qaeda.” Even the notoriously humorless presenter of the show, Anne Robinson, could not avoid smirking in disbelief at the answer. The contestant went on to win the show, which airs daily before the BBC’s much watched 6 p.m. news (which itself is <a href="http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/BBC.htm" target="_blank">hardly</a> <a href="http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/BBCDiscoversTerrorism.html" target="_blank">accurate</a> when it comes to reporting on Israel). This would be a purely funny anecdote if it weren’t for the fact that there are so many anti-Semitic conspiracy theorists out there who really do believe the ridiculous and vicious notion that Israel was responsible for the 9/11 attacks. For the record, Israelis were, per capita, one of the greatest victims of the attacks on the Twin Towers, and the Jewish state of Israel is of course one of the prime targets of al-Qaeda-inspired Muslim fundamentalist violence. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MWNmOTc3MDgxZmEwYTI5M2FkY2FiNTc4OTE0MzdjMDk= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:59:44 -0400 Trashy Team Obama Looked Clean -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWVjYWYzNTE2ZDA2ODY1MWE5MDJjMDYwMDc5NmYwMzE= In all the gauzy coverage of the Obama ascendancy ("campaign" is too plebian for this idealist's rise to power), reporters suggested that if, Obama had a weakness, it was that he was too much of a softy, too nice, too civil, and his team too unlikely to defend itself in the nasty give-and-take of talk radio and TV. <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/1109/A_haircut_tip.html?showall">Ben Smith of Politico</a> reports that Obama campaign manager David Plouffe is now letting the real mangy cat out of the bag: <blockquote> Obama's campaign had a particularly capable opposition research shop, a source of tips to many reporters, not all of them on policy. And Plouffe, in passing, outs the campaign as the source of <a href="http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0407/The_Hairs_Still_Perfect.html">a brief item</a> I did in April 2007 off an Edwards campaign expenditure — probably driving as much traffic, chatter and grief as anything that short I've ever written. "We did much less of this [opposition research] than other campaigns did," Plouffe writes a bit self-servingly, "but there were times we indulged — it was our researchers who found John Edwards's infamous $400 hair cut expenditures." It's maddening when people assume political reporting is driven by opposition research when you've actually dug up something yourself, but in this case, I'm in no position to contradict Plouffe's account. It's also worth noting, when the pianos start falling on Mitt Romney, that a top Obama researcher, Shauna Daly, is now the DNC's research chief. </blockquote> If Team Obama was dishing on John Edwards at the salon, it makes you wonder if they were tipping reporters to the more scandalous Edwards stories to come. Why are learning this -- from Plouffe -- this late? <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWVjYWYzNTE2ZDA2ODY1MWE5MDJjMDYwMDc5NmYwMzE= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:00:44 -0400 Fox News Fact-Checks Sarah Palin -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTk4ZjE5Yjk4YWVlNWIzOTExZmQ5NTQ3NDVmMDAwZmQ= <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/change-we-can-believe-in-fox-news-shoots-down-palins-coin-theory/">On Palin's implication</a> that President Obama has moved "In God We Trust" to the edge of $1 coins: It was actually done by a Republican Congress under President Bush. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTk4ZjE5Yjk4YWVlNWIzOTExZmQ5NTQ3NDVmMDAwZmQ= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:08:59 -0400 What, You Mean Supply And Demand Matter? -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmY5MDFiMWVkZTJkNjA3OTFjYTFkNjNkMTYxYzFkZTI= Before you hit the link, guess which market-fundamentalist, Chicago-school, Friedman-worshipping right-winger wrote <a href="http://salon.com/news/opinion/camille_paglia/2009/11/10/pelosi/index.html">these sentences</a>: <blockquote> Massively expanding the number of healthcare consumers without making due provision for the production of more healthcare providers means that we're hurtling toward a staggering logjam of de facto rationing. Steel yourself for the deafening screams from the careerist professional class of limousine liberals when they get stranded for hours in the jammed, jostling anterooms of doctors' offices. They'll probably try to hire Caribbean nannies as ringers to do the waiting for them. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmY5MDFiMWVkZTJkNjA3OTFjYTFkNjNkMTYxYzFkZTI= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:54:19 -0400 Katie Couric's Berlin Wall Greeting Card -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDBhMGU0MjBlNTU1NWFjNTdmOTA2Y2E5MTkzZmJlMTg= Like many media elites, CBS anchor <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/11/09/couricandco/entry5593759.shtml">Katie Couric</a> doesn't see the fall of the Berlin Wall as a triumph for democracy, freedom, and Western civilization. Germany was more like a pair of twins raised apart: <blockquote> The two sides of the wall were like twins who had been separated...and raised in very different environments. To the west, colorful graffiti art, tourists walking up and touching it. To the east, stark white concrete...and armed guards. But the faces on either side were the same. </blockquote> Couric's trite little commentary read like someone was trying to write a Hallmark greeting card rather than a political or historical analysis: <blockquote> It would take months for the wall to be demolished...and years for the former soviet republics to build new governments. But for those reunited with lost brothers, parents and cousins on the other side...it only took a moment to realize no one could build a wall around their hearts. </blockquote> This is hardly a way for Couric to build an image of gravitas. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDBhMGU0MjBlNTU1NWFjNTdmOTA2Y2E5MTkzZmJlMTg= Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:55:19 -0400 The White House vs. the New York Times -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWM1NzUwM2FiZmIxM2RkOTFiNmRmMDI5NWZkYTM1Y2Q= First they went after Fox News. Now Obama's OMB director, Peter Orszag, is not happy with <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/policy/10cost.html?ref=politics">this New York Times story </a>on economists and Democrats who dare question Obamacare's cost-saving projections: <blockquote> <div class="post-info">Posted by OMB Director Peter Orszag on November 10, 2009 at 02:00 PM EST </div> Every two weeks or so, there seems to be <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/health/policy/10cost.html?ref=politics">a story</a> ringing the alarm bells over the fiscal dimension of health reform. As I've said time and again, the President is committed to signing a health reform bill that is deficit neutral in the first decade - and deficit reducing thereafter. The legislation under consideration in the Senate and the bill passed Saturday by the House both meet these tests. But health reform effort must go beyond simply being deficit neutral over the first decade and deficit reducing thereafter; it must also begin the process of transforming the health care system so that it delivers better care, not just more care. Building the health care system of the future requires information technology; cutting-edge research into what works and what doesn’t; incentives for doctors and hospitals to focus on the quality of care; prevention and wellness; and a process that allows policy to adapt flexibly to changes in the health care marketplace over time. The House and Senate versions of reform share a variety of measures that will help create this health care system of the future, which will help to contain health care cost growth while also providing Americans with higher quality care. In addition to historic investments in health information technology, research into what works and what doesn't, and prevention and wellness investments that were included in the Recovery Act, some of the key provisions under consideration in the health reform bills include: <ul> <li>Changing the way we pay hospitals, to discourage mistakes and unnecessary readmissions.</li> <li>Creating incentives in the payment system to reward quality of care rather than just the quantity of procedures.</li> <li>Giving physicians incentives to collaborate in the coordination of patient care.</li> <li>Investing in research into what works and what doesn’t in health care.</li> <li>Reducing hospital-acquired infections and other avoidable health-center acquired conditions through rigorous reporting and transparency.</li> <li>Imposing a fee on insurance companies offering high-premium plans — which would create a strong incentive for more efficient plans that would help reduce the growth of premiums.</li> <li>Establishing a Medicare commission — which would develop and submit proposals to Congress aimed at extending the solvency of Medicare, slowing Medicare cost growth, and improving the quality of care delivered to Medicare beneficiaries.</li> </ul> As we approach the final stages of this health reform process, we have on the table a robust set of options that represent some of the most auspicious reforms we can take to transform our health care system and rein in health care cost growth. But don’t take my word for it. A bipartisan group of experts recently <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/blog/09/10/13/BendingtheCurveinMoreWaysThanOne/#TB_inline?height=220&width=370&inlineId=tb_external&linkId=2">wrote</a> that health reform legislation under discussion "offers many promising ideas to improve the overall performance of the U.S. health care system. In addition to steps that would reduce the number of Americans without insurance coverage, the plan includes ways to slow long-term spending growth while building the high-value health care system our nation urgently needs." Or read what a group of some of the most prominent health care and budget experts wrote in an <a href="http://images2.americanprogress.org/Press/economists%20urge%20passage%20HR%203962.pdf">open letter (pdf)</a> released last week. As we go through the rest of the process, the Administration will remain focused on ensuring that reform is fiscally responsible and helps to build the health care system of the future. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWM1NzUwM2FiZmIxM2RkOTFiNmRmMDI5NWZkYTM1Y2Q= Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:27:54 -0400 Headline of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTM5ZTk5MjMyOWUxZmI5Njc2YTIzMWE0YTIxYWFmOGQ= What is wrong with California? <blockquote> <a href="http://www.mercurynews.com/bay-area-news/ci_13748276?source=rss&nclick_check=1">Rapist who left 6-year-old victim in frozen field to be paroled</a> </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTM5ZTk5MjMyOWUxZmI5Njc2YTIzMWE0YTIxYWFmOGQ= Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:25:21 -0400 Late Night TV Change To Believe In? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGQ1ODdhNTI4Zjc0YjVjYjgzZGM3YjY1ZDg2MjQwMzA= <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory?id=9048041">A review of George Lopez's new TBS late-night show</a>: <blockquote> LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - TBS made TV history on Monday with the premiere of "Lopez Tonight," a late-night talkfest with a Chicano host. And just in case you didn't realize it, George Lopez hit you over the head with that information roughly every 90 seconds. The new nightly show recognizes the changing demos of the U.S. population, a point Lopez punctuated with opening night guests Eva Longoria Parker, NBA star Kobe Bryant and music legend Carlos Santana (along with a near-cameo appearance by Ellen DeGeneres in bed clothes). Ethnicity is the be all and end all in most of Lopez's standup material -- and the bulk of Monday night's opening monologue -- but it threatens to choke the life out of his talk show. It's one thing to have a diverse guest list and quite another to hail every guest appearance as a testimonial to the concept. "This is what America looks like," he proclaimed, vowing he will be "making late night different and bringing change to late night TV." While the goal in itself is commendable, for the show to succeed it will need to do more than proclaim itself a Rainbow Coalition. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGQ1ODdhNTI4Zjc0YjVjYjgzZGM3YjY1ZDg2MjQwMzA= Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:27:21 -0400 The White House vs. CBS News -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjMwN2E2NjM5Yzc2MWViN2IyOTYzOGRhODExNjQ5OTQ= Contrary to the reporting of <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/09/world/main5592551.shtml">CBS</a>, President Obama is still dithering on <a href="http://twitter.com/markknoller/status/5575272599">what to do regarding Afghanistan</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjMwN2E2NjM5Yzc2MWViN2IyOTYzOGRhODExNjQ5OTQ= Tue, 10 Nov 2009 11:22:43 -0400 Tweet of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDhlYThkZjEzNGQzOWUwNjk0ZjdiOTUwZmVkMzcyMTk= <a href="http://twitter.com/rachelsklar/status/5579468806">Rachel Sklar</a> of Mediaite vs. Rick Sanchez of CNN: <blockquote> What, exactly, do you think is DONE in an abortion? RT @<a class="tweet-url username" href="http://twitter.com/ricksanchezcnn">ricksanchezcnn</a>: am i wrong, aren't abortion and health care two different issues. </blockquote> I don't know, Rachel. Why don't you tell us what's done in an abortion. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDhlYThkZjEzNGQzOWUwNjk0ZjdiOTUwZmVkMzcyMTk= Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:25:06 -0400 The First Twitter Sitcom -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzFiMTQ1YzE0MDllNDhmOWUyZmVkMmIxOWU5ZGRiZjI= <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/twitter-gets-first-tv-deal-courtesy-of-sht-my-dad-says/">CBS</a> has signed the creator of "S*** My Dad Says" to a television deal. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YzFiMTQ1YzE0MDllNDhmOWUyZmVkMmIxOWU5ZGRiZjI= Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:19:44 -0400 Jayson Blair on Race and Merit -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTAyNzRlZmU0YmQzYjI1NjE0YzYzMGEzMDlkYzk0NWE= <a href="http://www.aim.org/on-target-blog/the-world-according-to-jayson-blair/">Daniel Glover of Accuracy in Media</a> attended the "ethics" lecture of disgraced New York Times fabricator Jayson Blair at Washington and Lee University over the weekend. Of the finds he listed, I thought these were the most interesting. First, that race wasn't much of a factor in his journalistic rise and fall: <blockquote> Blair rejected the notion that his story should have any bearing on the future of other black journalists or efforts to achieve "diversity" in American newsrooms. "When you look at the facts of the case, I think race played very little role in either my rise or my fall. The people who have commented and said that it did, not only are they uninformed, they weren't ever close to the situation." Blair said his qualifications were "far above" any of those his age when he was hired. "And if you look at my fall, it has to do with my personal failings and nothing to do with my race. ... It's just a silly argument that to me is not even worth engaging in. The type of people who are gonna go and run with that, I'm not gonna ever change their minds." </blockquote> That's pretty weird for a guy who titled his Times-bashing memoir Burning Down My Master's House. (See the <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/waters200404070825.asp">Clay Waters review for NRO</a> on Blair dragging minorities in for grievances to pad the narrative.) Blair also thought there was nothing wrong with climbing the corporate ladder with aggressive networking: <blockquote> He also downplayed the suggestion that he advanced professionally because of his personal connections rather than his skills. "Journalism, like any other profession, involves networking and relationships and other things like that....That's just a natural part of any business, and I don't think it's necessarily incongruent with meritocracy. The idea that somebody would be your advocate doesn't bother me." </blockquote> How Blair thinks his ascent was a natural phenonomenon of "meritocracy" -- even as he made up people, places, and quotes -- shows that perhaps his humility hasn't quite fully arrived yet. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YTAyNzRlZmU0YmQzYjI1NjE0YzYzMGEzMDlkYzk0NWE= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:19:04 -0400 Because It's the Annversary of the Wall Falling and All -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjdjOGRlNDMyYzBiZjdjZjFlNzUwM2I3M2Y0NWI4M2M= David Hasselhoff, freedom fighter: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/NxAd2sHtMf0" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/NxAd2sHtMf0"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjdjOGRlNDMyYzBiZjdjZjFlNzUwM2I3M2Y0NWI4M2M= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:48:18 -0400 Andrew Sullivan's 'Toilet Browser' Book -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2Q5MmZiNTA5YjlmMDJmMjBmMWQwM2YzZGU4MDhlYjM= <a href="http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2009/11/announcing-the-view-from-your-window.html">His words</a>, not mine. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2Q5MmZiNTA5YjlmMDJmMjBmMWQwM2YzZGU4MDhlYjM= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:11:10 -0400 Another U-Haul Voter? -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGE4NTNlMjhmYzU3YTg1NWEyNmFkZWEyYmUxOWVhMTM= Really interesting <a href="http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/one_new_york_small_business_tax_1UsI1RrqCvrJxUtPI4CnvO">story in today's New York Post</a>. How bad is the tax burden in New York City? This bad: <blockquote> On top of the city and state payroll tax, Social Security and Medicare [small-business owner John Logue] pays for employees, Logue said the city also hits him with a slew of permit fees. He recently had to pay $50 to obtain a certificate to collect sales taxes for the city and the state. In the past, it was free. He also pays the city to have a restaurant certificate, an exhaust-system permit and an illuminated-sign permit. Logue said his [government-issued] water bills have also increased by nearly 50 percent in the last three years. Currently, he pays $1,600 every three months to the city. “I’m getting to the point where I’m thinking about leaving New York,” he said. </blockquote> Writing about California's troubles in National Review, I noted: <blockquote> If you want to know where the future is headed, look where the people are going. And if you want to know where the people are going, check with U-Haul. Here’s an interesting indicator, first noted by the legendary economist Arthur Laffer: Renting a 26-foot U-Haul truck to go from Austin to San Francisco this July would cost you about $900. </blockquote> <blockquote> Renting the same truck to go from San Francisco to Austin? About $3,000. In the great balance of supply and demand, California has a large supply of people who are demanding to move to Texas. There’s a reason for this. </blockquote> Renting a 26-foot U-Haul to move from Austin to New York City in the first week of January will cost you $911. From New York City to Austin: $2,251. I'm finding this metric useful. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZGE4NTNlMjhmYzU3YTg1NWEyNmFkZWEyYmUxOWVhMTM= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:55:25 -0400 Wanda Sykes Debuts Her New Fox Talk Show -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODgwOWYxMzAyOTQ2MDUxN2ZiNzQ2MThhMDhiMDQ0YjY= <a href="http://tabacco.blog-city.com/humorist_wanda_sykes_sets_obama_critics_straight_on_the_w.htm">Hilarious</a>! <blockquote> “Can someone explain something to me? Cause I passed out the other night — I mean, I went to sleep — when I woke up, people were mad at Obama! And I thought, ‘Did I miss something?’ Did Obama start two illegal wars? Did he fly over a flood zone and just wave? Did he torture detainees in a secret prison? Did he start illegally tapping phones? Did he alienate the world and squander a budget surplus? Because if he did any of that, we need to impeach that jackass! He’s only been in office ten months, so what exactly has Obama done to piss everybody off? Nothing! People are going crazy calling him a Fascist. These people don’t even know what a Fascist is! When you say things like, ‘We’re gonna vote that Fascist out of office!’, you really sound dumb! When was the last time a Fascist got voted out of office! They usually stick around.” </blockquote> What's the over/under before Fox cancels the show? I'll go with by December 1. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODgwOWYxMzAyOTQ2MDUxN2ZiNzQ2MThhMDhiMDQ0YjY= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:30:34 -0400 Hasan Tried to Contact al-Qaeda? -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjM1NzVlODBlODJhZTQxYTk3OTU0MjExNDU4ZmQ4Mjk= It's Brian "I<a href="http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDZiYzcxODNkODllMjhiNzY1ZDMyZTZjZmU0MDk3N2M=">n the Mix</a>" Ross reporting, <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/m/screen?id=9030873">so take it with the proverbial grain of salt</a>: <blockquote> U.S. intelligence agencies were aware months ago that Army Major Nidal Hasan was attempting to make contact with people associated with al Qaeda, two American officials briefed on classified material in the case told ABC News. It is not known whether the intelligence agencies informed the Army that one of its officers was seeking to connect with suspected al Qaeda figures, the officials said. One senior lawmaker said the CIA had, so far, refused to brief the intelligence committees on what, if any, knowledge they had about Hasan's efforts. CIA director Leon Panetta and the Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, have been asked by Congress "to preserve" all documents and intelligence files that relate to Hasan, according to the lawmaker. On Sunday, Senator Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) called for an investigation into whether the Army missed signs as to whether Hasan was an Islamic extremist. "If Hasan was showing signs, saying to people that he had become an Islamist extremist, the U.S. Army has to have a zero tolerance," Lieberman told Fox News Sunday. Investigators want to know if Hasan maintained contact with a radical mosque leader from Virginia, Anwar al Awlaki, who now lives in Yemen and runs a web site that promotes jihad around the world against the U.S. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjM1NzVlODBlODJhZTQxYTk3OTU0MjExNDU4ZmQ4Mjk= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:28:46 -0400 GE Closer to Selling NBC Universal -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmEzNjBjY2NiMzMyYzRkNWMzMTI1MjYxMWM2MTUwZTQ= <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33779153/ns/business-media_biz/">Reuters</a>: <blockquote> NEW YORK - General Electric Co. and Comcast Corp have agreed on a valuation of around $30 billion for a joint venture between NBC Universal and Comcast, ironing out what has been a key obstacle in talks so far, a source familiar with the matter said on Sunday. The resolution of that issue brings the parties one step closer to an agreement, but French media conglomerate Vivendi, which owns 20 percent of NBC Universal, has not yet agreed to a deal, the source said. The source spoke on condition of anonymity because details of the discussions have not been made public. GE, which owns 80 percent of NBC Universal, declined comment, as did Comcast. Vivendi was not immediately available for comment. The two sides have been in talks to reach a deal that would give Comcast a 51 percent stake in the NBC Universal venture. Advisers had also been trying to draft governance and exit provisions for GE's 49 percent stake that would be palatable to both sides, sources had told Reuters previously. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmEzNjBjY2NiMzMyYzRkNWMzMTI1MjYxMWM2MTUwZTQ= Mon, 09 Nov 2009 10:13:12 -0400 SNL Spoofs Fox News -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODhhYTAzNTk2NTI2NDQzMWZhNGUzMWRlZWEwNzUwMGE= I guess SNL thinks this will put them back on President Obama's good side: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="384" height="283" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="id" value="W4727a250e66f97234af73aad9f38d486" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="src" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4af73aad9f38d486/4741e3c5156499a7/9cebcad3/-cpid/5afee5205ebee70d" /><embed id="W4727a250e66f97234af73aad9f38d486" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="384" height="283" src="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4af73aad9f38d486/4741e3c5156499a7/9cebcad3/-cpid/5afee5205ebee70d" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ODhhYTAzNTk2NTI2NDQzMWZhNGUzMWRlZWEwNzUwMGE= Sun, 08 Nov 2009 19:24:53 -0400 I Don't Want a Fatwa on my Head -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWEyMzI3YWMwNmNhYjhhYjA4ZWU2ZThlZmZkMjRiODg= <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/movies/08gray.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print">Director Roland Emmerich </a>describes how he decided what to destory in his latest film 2012: <blockquote> Occasionally realism looked a little too boring. Data models, for example, told artists that their mile-high tsunami would take several minutes to roll over the Himalayas. The artists needed it to happen in 10 seconds. Not lost on Mr. Emmerich was the potential outrage from showing realistic disasters hitting California, a state plagued by wildfires and earthquakes, or toppling city towers in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Still, he pressed ahead with annihilation as usual: “If I cannot destroy a big high-rise anymore, because terrorists blew up two of the most famous ones, the twin towers, what does this say about our world?” He razed Rio de Janeiro; Rome; California; Washington, D.C.; Tibet; Las Vegas; Yellowstone National Park; and more but decided against destroying Islamic symbols. “My co-writer, Harald” Kloser, “said, ‘I’m not writing this to get a fatwa on my head,’ ” Mr. Emmerich said. “We have Jesus falling apart in all kinds of forms. The <a title="More articles about the Roman Catholic Church." href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/r/roman_catholic_church/index.html?inline=nyt-org">Vatican</a> falls on people’s heads, and we can do that because we’re a free, Western society, but if there would be, like, Mecca destroyed, there would be an outrage. And so you don’t do it. At the end of the thing it’s entertainment.” </blockquote> Got that? Watching Californians die or the Vatican fall is "entertaining" and not an "outrage." <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OWEyMzI3YWMwNmNhYjhhYjA4ZWU2ZThlZmZkMjRiODg= Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:25:55 -0400 Republicans for Obama Are Also Republicans for ... -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmUyMzBmNGE2ODc4MWIwOTc1OWY0YmZiNTE5YTQ3MDU= ... <a href="http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20091108_Head_Strong__Here_s_a_hard_truth_for_the_hard_right.html">Scozzafava</a>. Surprise. Michael Smerconish writing in the Philadelphia Inquirer: <blockquote> But rather than listen to those local leaders, who thought a mixed-bag state legislator best reflected the sprawling Northeastern district, many on the right backed a third-party ideologue better suited for a House race in Alabama. They would rather lose than support an ideologically impure fellow Republican. </blockquote> I'm a fan of Smerconish's radio show, but, for Pete's sake, it is seems to me that it's a little close on the heels of his endorsement of Barack Obama for Smerconish to be lecturing the Republican party about what it needs. (How about fewer Obama supporters?) Smerconish cites Scozzafava's support for John McCain as evidence of her not-a-liberal bona fides, but all that really shows is that she may be marginally less liberal than Michael Smerconish. Not exactly a ringing endorsement from the conservative point of view. And he adds: <blockquote> Unfortunately ... a reliably Republican district was handed over to the real liberals. </blockquote> You'd think a guy with a long-term relationship with Arlen Specter would appreciate that you can represent a "reliably Republican" constituency and still be a "real liberal" -- and that moderate, non-ideological types don't necessarily pull in the votes of suburban pro-choice types: John McCain couldn't even secure the vote of Michael Smerconish. But, speaking of moderates, how did those McCain and Specter gambits work out for everybody? A few more smart moves like those and the GOP may as well go the way of the Whigs. I've noted several times that almost every prominent Republican who backed Obama was pro-choice. I don't think that's a single-issue answer to the question of why some found Obama attractive, but I do think it is a reminder that conservatism is not a public-policy checklist, but a disposition, a way of looking at the world. People who aren't with you on abortion aren't really with you at all -- it's an outstanding cultural indicator. Sure, there are people like Smerconish and Rudy Giuliani who share some goals with conservatives -- don't spend all the money, kick the stuffing out of terrorists, hang Mumia Abu Jamal -- but most people of normal judgment and good intentions would be sympathetic to those goals. They aren't the stuff that a civilization is made of, and civilization is what conservatives are trying to conserve. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmUyMzBmNGE2ODc4MWIwOTc1OWY0YmZiNTE5YTQ3MDU= Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:23:06 -0400 In Contrast to Obama's Visit to Dover . . . -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDgxZTVmM2ZkYTU3OTFkMWQ3NTRlYzhkNDNmNzk2MmI= <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2009/11/george-w-bush-laura-bush-fort-hood-nidal-malik-hasan.html">Los Angeles Times</a>: <blockquote> Last night former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura made a secret visit to the devastated military families at Fort Hood. The Bushes instructed the mourning military base's commander that they wanted no publicity. With their Secret Service detail, Bush and his wife made the 30 mile trip unannounced from their ranch near Crawford, Texas Friday evening. <a href="http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/11/07/george-w-bush-secretly-visits-fort-hood-victims/" target="_blank">Fox News broke news</a> of the visit this afternoon. Other sources said the former first couple spent about two hours meeting with family and soldiers, talking quietly and at times hugging them as they did in private at other times of crisis such as post-9/11. Most presidents come to feel a genuine respect and affection for the people they lead as commander-in-chief and sometimes the affection is reciprocated. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDgxZTVmM2ZkYTU3OTFkMWQ3NTRlYzhkNDNmNzk2MmI= Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:30:44 -0400 Guess Who's Coming to Lunch -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Zjc5NGYwM2UyODY5NDVkYmZiYmE4ZjVhNjQzM2MwMzQ= President Obama had lunch with a bunch of reporters on Friday, <a href="http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/11/lunching-with-the-pundits.html">including Mara Liasson of Fox News</a>. Prediction: Obama and senior advisers will all appear with Chris Wallace, O'Reilly and Hannity before November 2010. Hat Tip: @Cubachi <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Zjc5NGYwM2UyODY5NDVkYmZiYmE4ZjVhNjQzM2MwMzQ= Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:33:49 -0400 America's the bad guy. This I know, because my TV told me so -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2Y4MDBmZmM0Mjc3MDg3OTg5NmU3NjI1NWU4NzVjYjQ= Barry Rubin writes: <blockquote> My teenage daughter watches the “Bones” series and described the latest program to me. An American soldier who had served in Iraq is found dead in the United States. FBI agents discover he was in a battle where U.S. soldiers had stormed a house and one of his friends was killed by Iraqis posing as civilians before the Americans wiped them out. Of course, you know what happens. The soldier killed in the house really died from friendly fire; the rest of the soldiers murdered all the Iraqis in cold blood and planted guns on them. She hasn’t seen the end yet but I can guess that one of the other murderous American soldiers who’d been there had also finished his enlistment, returned to America, and killed the second soldier to shut him up. I feel sorry for American veterans, soldiers, and their families who must put up with anti-American slanders from rich American show business types who live in luxury, feel smug, and never do anything for their country but bash it. This is also the kind of thing that brings us to a world where Libya, Iran, and Sudan condemn Israel for alleged war crimes as part of the Western intelligentsia cheers. </blockquote> <blockquote> Might such an incident have happened? Yes, but I doubt if there are one hundred other shows presenting the heroic and decent acts of U.S. soldiers there and elsewhere, the kind of ratio that probably prevails... </blockquote> (You can read the whole piece <a href="http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2009/11/understanding-ft-hood-attack-americas.html">here</a>.) <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Y2Y4MDBmZmM0Mjc3MDg3OTg5NmU3NjI1NWU4NzVjYjQ= Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:28:52 -0400 Quote of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Yzc1ODhkNzJjMWQ1NDg3MmY5NDg5YjQ0MWNkNjViZDk= Robert Gibbs: <blockquote> Imagine just a few years ago had somebody walked around with images of Hitler. </blockquote> Yes. Imagine if someone had compared Bush to Hitler. Shocking. Mary Katharine Ham has the <a href="http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2009/11/gibbs_can_you_imagine_if_5_yea_1.asp">links</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Yzc1ODhkNzJjMWQ1NDg3MmY5NDg5YjQ0MWNkNjViZDk= Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:27:02 -0400 Barney Frank's Keen Eye For Crime -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGIyN2MxYmU2M2YwZTI0N2NmM2U5YjdkZmViYWM4NDQ= <a href="http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/barney-frank-present-during-marijuana-bust">You gotta love his excuse</a>: <blockquote> FOX25 has learned that Congressman Barney Frank was present during a marijuana arrest at James Ready's home in Ogunquit, Maine. Ready is well-known for his relationship with Congressman Frank. According to a police report, police charged Ready with marijuana possession, cultivation and use of drug paraphernalia in August of 2007. Ready admitted to civil possession and paid a fine. The remaining charges were dismissed in 2008. Sources tell FOX25 that when Frank was questioned he told police that he did not live in the house and that he only smoked cigars. Congressman Frank tells FOX25 that he was surprised and disappointed with what police found. He also tells us that he wouldn't recognize a marijuana plant if he saw one because he is, "not a great outdoorsman," and ,"wouldn't recognize most plants." </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NGIyN2MxYmU2M2YwZTI0N2NmM2U5YjdkZmViYWM4NDQ= Sat, 07 Nov 2009 10:51:40 -0400 Oops -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWNhNDg4MjJlODBjOGRlODc0NjU0Mjk4OTVlM2ZjMTE= Tim Graham wearing the <a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tim-graham/2009/11/07/bugler-plays-revile-ap-mangles-fort-hood-flag-photo-caption">Newsbusters cap</a>: <blockquote> Bugler Plays 'Revile'? AP Mangles Fort Hood Flag Photo Caption </blockquote> And elsewhere on the<a href="http://newsbusters.org/blogs/mike-bates/2009/11/06/obama-gives-shout-out-congressional-medal-honor-winner-who-isnt"> NB</a>: <blockquote> Obama Gives Shout Out to 'Congressional Medal of Honor Winner' Who Isn't </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWNhNDg4MjJlODBjOGRlODc0NjU0Mjk4OTVlM2ZjMTE= Sat, 07 Nov 2009 09:41:56 -0400 A Cold War Cluelessness Collection -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTc4MTFlY2ExY2U2YTcxOTAzYzUzZGY4MmY0NTYxNWI= As NRO <a href="http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=YTUwN2I3OWQxNTIwZGE0OGZkZTdiYWFkOGIzY2RiODI=&w=MA==">remembers the fall of the Berlin Wall and who's forgetting it</a>, Rich Noyes and Scott Whitlock of the Media Research Center dove into the musty archives of television news reporting over the last 20 years, remembering how obtuse our liberal media were to the mortal threat and crushing oppression of global communism. The special report is titled <a href="http://www.mrc.org/specialreports/2009/BetterOffRed/ExecSum.aspx">Better Off Red? </a>and the examples are a little stunning. Before the Berlin Wall fell in 1987, Dan Rather couldn't find a desire for liberty anywhere in the USSR: "Despite what many Americans think, most Soviets do not yearn for capitalism or Western-style democracy." When the wall fell, liberal journalists dismissed the Cold War threat as historically insignificant. "Gorbachev is helping the West by showing that the Soviet threat isn’t what it used to be, and what’s more, that it never was," Time’s Strobe Talbott (later to become a top State Department bureaucrat under Bill Clinton) in a January 1, 1990 piece. Some even sneered that history was slipping backwards as the desire for democracy peacefully crumbled the Soviet empire: "Yes, somehow, Soviet citizens are freer these days — freer to kill one another, freer to hate Jews," CBS morning anchor Harry Smith deplored in 1990: "Doing away with totalitarianism and adding a dash of democracy seems an unlikely cure for all that ails the Soviet system." This report is a compendium of liberal foolishness, bad judgment, and emotional outbursts -- and it's a nice lesson for conservatives who weren't old enough to marvel at the power of Ronald Reagan's idealism as it washed across a continent. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZTc4MTFlY2ExY2U2YTcxOTAzYzUzZGY4MmY0NTYxNWI= Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:08:13 -0400 Tweet of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzRhZTEyMDNjMzM0MGZkNjFkMDhjMjI5ZWE2YTFlNDU= Does Hooters really think this was a good idea? From the Austin American-Statesman's <a href="http://twitter.com/FtHoodShootings/status/5486542349">Ft. Hood Twitter feed</a>: <blockquote> RT @<a class="tweet-url username" href="http://twitter.com/kdhnews">kdhnews</a> Sgt. Maj. Jamie Posten just asked a sergeant to escort 3 'Hooters Girls' from media area - says were commercializing incident. </blockquote> An apology from corporate is in order. And fast. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzRhZTEyMDNjMzM0MGZkNjFkMDhjMjI5ZWE2YTFlNDU= Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:27:36 -0400 Don't Go On Fox News. . .Or Else -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWJkMDJiN2FjNDM5YjExZjljYjNhOTg5MGVkNDc1YzY= <a href="http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/11/white_house_fox_offlimits_stra.html">So says Democratic analyst Pat Caddell</a>: <blockquote> White House Communications Director Anita Dunn said Thursday night that she had checked with colleagues who "deal with TV issues'' and they had not told people to avoid Fox. On the contrary, they had urged people to appear on the network, Dunn wrote in an email. But Patrick Caddell, a Fox News contributor and a former pollster for Democratic President Jimmy Carter, said he has spoken to Democratic consultants who have been told by the White House to avoid appearances on Fox. He declined to give their names. Caddell said he had not gotten that message himself from the White House. "They know better than to tell me anything like that,'' he said. Caddell added: "I have heard that they've done that to others in not too subtle ways. I find it appalling. When the White House gets in the business of suppressing dissent and comment, particularly from its own party, it hurts itself.'' </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZWJkMDJiN2FjNDM5YjExZjljYjNhOTg5MGVkNDc1YzY= Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:21:11 -0400 He wouldn't be the first doctor to commit mass murder -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmUxN2JiOTMzMzBjYzhjZmVhZDZlZjY0ZjYwZWU3MWY= Some commentators on television are expressing amazement that the army major, Nidal Malik Hasan, suspected of <a href="http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/11/05/texas.fort.hood.shootings/index.html " target="_blank">murdering 12 and wounding 31</a> at Fort Hood in Texas today was a doctor of many years standing. It is too early to tell whether this is an act of domestic terrorism but if it is we should not be surprised that the shooter was a doctor. As I happened to write earlier this week, doctors have a long history of playing keys roles in terrorist movements. Among them, Al-Qaeda’s number 2 and (terror) operations chief, Egyptian-born Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is a qualified surgeon; Dr. Abd al-Aziz Rantissi the mastermind behind Hamas suicide bombings; and Dr. George Habash, the leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), the instigator of many airline hijackings in the late 1960s and 1970s, and responsible for the deaths of dozens of passengers. Scroll down <a href="http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/001067.html" target="_blank">to items 4 (and 3) here</a> for more details of these cases. There have been many other examples too, including several Palestinian suicide bombers and the British Muslim doctors who carried out an attempted suicide attack at Glasgow airport in Scotland two years ago. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmUxN2JiOTMzMzBjYzhjZmVhZDZlZjY0ZjYwZWU3MWY= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:51:33 -0400 Fort Hood Shooting -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Yzk3Yzg2MGExZjZiMDQwOGVkNWFmMjI4NmU2ZDMwY2Y= Unfortunately, the Fort Hood environs has seen this sort of thing <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Hennard">before</a>. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=Yzk3Yzg2MGExZjZiMDQwOGVkNWFmMjI4NmU2ZDMwY2Y= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:11:10 -0400 Fort Hood Shooting: The Left's Take -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjBiZjc3YjI3YzM1YTJlNWYwY2RjNGE2ZTg5NjhmNjQ= It is unfair to use an unmoderated comments section to tar the site that hosts it, I think, so while I wouldn't argue that this gives us any insight into what the folks at Salon.com think, it does seem to me representative of a certain habit of thought on the Left. (Using the word "thought" loosely.) In the wake of the Fort Hood shootings, one regular Salon commentor wrote: <blockquote> The Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld nazification of the United States military -- turning it into nothing more than a worldwide force for unmotivated aggressive war -- leads to the murder of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis/Pakistanis/Afghanis (and many, many more of those to come) -- and this clown Benjamin asks why? Because there were no towelheads around to mass murder, that's why. </blockquote> I'm guessing that <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/WN/soldiers-killed-fort-hood-shooting/story?id=9007938">Major Malik Nadal Hasan</a> was not the kind of guy who was looking for "towelheads" to murder. Just a hunch. But, of course, it's Bush's fault, and our troops are Nazis. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjBiZjc3YjI3YzM1YTJlNWYwY2RjNGE2ZTg5NjhmNjQ= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:51:25 -0400 Mark Levin in D.C. -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmNiMzU4OTE0MDAwOTA0MjJkYjhiZWE0YzUyYmE2YWI= Kinda funny. The American flag at the anti-Pelosicare rally falls over and Mark takes it from there (the "that" he's referring to is a copy of the Pelosicare bill): <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="425" height="350" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="src" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/03xG9VacVoI&feature" /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350" src="http://www.youtube.com/v/03xG9VacVoI&feature"></embed> </object> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MmNiMzU4OTE0MDAwOTA0MjJkYjhiZWE0YzUyYmE2YWI= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:43:52 -0400 Heckuva Job -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjAyYzg2MGZjYWU5ZTgyOWU4ODg1NDE4MWVhZTk4ZDg= The optics of this won't be good for Team Obama. <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/nov2009/db2009112_606442.htm">Business Week reports</a>: <blockquote> Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, and other large city employers have started receiving small quantities of swine flu vaccine for high-risk employees </blockquote> Maybe Timmy is just protecting our bailout investments? <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MjAyYzg2MGZjYWU5ZTgyOWU4ODg1NDE4MWVhZTk4ZDg= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:43:21 -0400 William Shatner Reads Levi Johnston's Tweets -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmE3NTBlM2MyNzkzYjY3M2EyMTY4ZDkxNDBjYTkyOTY= Hilarious: <object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" width="384" height="283" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0"> <param name="id" value="W4727a250e66f97234af3499150eb1877" /> <param name="wmode" value="transparent" /> <param name="allowNetworking" value="all" /> <param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /> <param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /> <param name="src" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4af3499150eb1877/4af344b44c11f963/623ea65a/-cpid/2727460f20ce7b7" /><embed id="W4727a250e66f97234af3499150eb1877" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="384" height="283" src="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/4727a250e66f9723/4af3499150eb1877/4af344b44c11f963/623ea65a/-cpid/2727460f20ce7b7" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" allownetworking="all" wmode="transparent"></embed> </object> Johnston's attorney, however, <a href="http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/05/levi-says-tonight-show-shat-on-him/">says the Tweets are not Johnston's </a>and is demanding NBC pull the above video. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZmE3NTBlM2MyNzkzYjY3M2EyMTY4ZDkxNDBjYTkyOTY= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:57:15 -0400 Obama Salutes -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWU3OWMxY2JjNjg1Mjg3NDZhOTIzMDBlNmJhMGNhOTM= Those photos of President Obama saluting as caskets are brought into Dover reminded me of this <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/14/opinion/a-senseless-salute.html">column by John Lukacs</a>, which made a lot of conservatives I know very angry when it was published. I wonder if they will feel different about it now? <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWU3OWMxY2JjNjg1Mjg3NDZhOTIzMDBlNmJhMGNhOTM= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:59:51 -0400 Helping out the Milbloggers for a Worthy Cause -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjQ2OGY3OTgwOTczYThjMGUwY2E2NmEyNGVhMmJkYzg= Longtime reader and milblogger Boston Maggie sends <a href="http://bostonmaggie.blogspot.com/2009/10/project-valour-it-fundraiser-begins.html">this</a> along regarding the<a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it"> "Project Valour" </a>fund-raiser for our wounded veterans. Navy is a little behind the Air Force, Army, and Marines, and could use a little help if you are so inclined. Go Navy! <blockquote> <a href="http://bostonmaggie.blogspot.com/2009/10/project-valour-it-fundraiser-begins.html">Project Valour-IT Fundraiser Begins</a> </blockquote> <blockquote> <div class="post-body entry-content">This page will stay on top until November 11, 2009 and new stuff will post below. Are you onboard? First off, if you are a blogger who comes here, you should be on <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=join-navy-team">#TeamNavy</a>. Once you are added to the Blogroll, you should automatically be directed to <a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=navy-codes">the page that lets you add a widget</a>. If you have any technical difficulties with the widget, email me, I've got people. And despite what <a href="http://steeljawscribe.com/2009/10/26/valour-it-fundraiser-2009-edition-underway">SJS</a> says....they are not chained in the hull of a ship. Next, do you have a Twitter account? You can add a <a href="http://twibbon.com/join/Valour-IT-2">#Valour-IT Twibbon </a>to your avatar to show support. Then please retweet #Valour-IT tweets and use the hashtag. Ok, maybe you don't have a blog....but I bet you have a FaceBook account. That's great too! If you go to<a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=navy-codes"> this page</a>, select the FaceBook icon and fill in your FB info. It will post to your Facebook. We also have an<a href="http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=valour-it&init=quick#/event.php?eid=118026381170&ref=ss"> event page on FaceBook</a>, go and RSVP. There is an official <a href="http://valour-it.blogspot.com/">Valour-IT blog </a>and of course, everything you could ever want to know is on their<a href="http://soldiersangels.org/index.php?page=project-valour-it"> webpage</a>. So you've looked at everything above and you've decided that you are not comfortable with clicking through to donate online.....no problem, here's the mailing info Soldiers Angels 1792 E. Washington Blvd Pasadena, CA 91104 I would simply request that you mark your check as being for #TeamNavy. OK, that was all the technical stuff. There will be posts below where I write about the accomplishments of the charity, post testimonials from Valour-IT technology recipients and link to other bloggers' Valour-IT posts. We have until November 11, 2009 to raise a pile of money to help bring this technology to our wounded military......raise awareness of the whole Project Valour-IT (it runs year round)......and to beat the snot out of the Army Team.</div> </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZjQ2OGY3OTgwOTczYThjMGUwY2E2NmEyNGVhMmJkYzg= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:56:45 -0400 The Budding Bromance Between Keith Olbermann and Sean Hannity -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWIxODJkNjc4MTBjMmZmMzc3NTMyNDNiOGI4MzBjMDA= How cute: <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/online/playing-hooky-keith-olbermann-goes-to-world-series-instead-of-hosting-countdown/">Mediaite has the adorable picture </a>of Keith Olbermann taking a picture of Sean Hannity taking a picture of Keith Olbermann at last night's World Series game. Hannity taped his show and then went to the game, Olbermann skipped out entirely, leaving the chair to Lawrence O'Donnell. But if all it takes is a Yankees World Series game to get Olbermann out of the studio, here's to November baseball and the Yankees in the big game in 2010 and 2012. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWIxODJkNjc4MTBjMmZmMzc3NTMyNDNiOGI4MzBjMDA= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:55:31 -0400 Golem -- By: Kevin D. Williamson webmaster@nationalreview.com (Kevin D. Williamson) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTA0ZmJjYjFiYTY4MDJkNTliOGM0NTk2M2VkMmU0OGU= I'm not sure if this is better or worse than Ben Franklin in a toga, but I like the headline: <a href="http://www.tnr.com/blog/the-plank/tall-bronze-and-hideous">Tall, Bronze, and Hideous</a>: <img id="__mce_tmp" src="http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2009/11/05/f094cbf08d7b8ee01d7bc1190e9e8a4d.jpg" alt="" /> Oh, the dreadful realism! One of the worst things about the Nineties was Bill Clinton and his single-buttoned jackets. (And that damned digital watch he wore with his suits.) Give this to Barack Obama: When he dresses up as JFK, he more or less gets it right. James Gardner, formerly of the (Weep! Gnash!) much-missed New York Sun, writes: <blockquote> [Clinton's] palpable unease was surely as much a question of aesthetics as a protestation of modesty. For the sculpture really is lousy. Though ultimately based on the ancient Prima Porta statue of Augustus Caesar, it can be more immediately traced back to those superhuman man-tractors representing the likes of Lenin, Brezhnev, and Ceauşescu that littered the Soviet Block [sic] in times gone by. </blockquote> An important discovery: We have finally found out what it takes to embarrass Bill Clinton. Well done, Pristina! <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTA0ZmJjYjFiYTY4MDJkNTliOGM0NTk2M2VkMmU0OGU= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:20:25 -0400 Even the Ratherisms Sound Desperate -- By: Tim Graham webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tim Graham) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmFkMTA4NDE5OTYxYmM2OWI3MmY2MGJjMDhiZjk0ZjM= Time TV writer James Poniewozik tweeted that Dan Rather still has his collection of "wild-ass election similes," but I'd say this routine is just sad. Rather's perpetually upset that he's not breaking in on the CBS set as the news breaks out. Dissing all your colleagues means the cutesiness gets overpowered by the bitterness. <a href="http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1109/29129.html">Michael Calderone and Daniel Libit report</a>: <blockquote> "So much of what passed for political coverage last night was like watching a manure spreader in a windstorm,” Rather told POLITICO. “Much of it was just a constant stream of highly partisan political message points. Thoughtful analysis was as rare as a golden-fronted bowerbird." </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YmFkMTA4NDE5OTYxYmM2OWI3MmY2MGJjMDhiZjk0ZjM= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:48:58 -0400 More on Olbermann -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2NhNWVmOGM1ZDEwNWUxYTBiZjJiNTUxNGMwMjYyMmI= <a href="http://www.mediaite.com/tv/the-curious-case-of-cable-news-election-coverage/">Mediaite</a> is reporting that Keith Olbermann was visiting his dad in the hospital, which explains why he wasn't there at 10 p.m. But they also ask: Why didn't one of MSDNC's other anchors take over rather than go to a repeat? <blockquote> On MSNBC the program began with Olbermann tossing to Lawrence O’Donnell, who seemed to share anchoring duties with Chris Matthews. At first. Around 10:15pmET, there was a commercial break, and the repeat 8pmET Countdown kicked in. It aired the rest of the hour. We hear Olbermann was visiting his dad in the hospital, which accounted for his absence. But that doesn’t answer why O’Donnell or Matthews didn’t fill in during the prime results hour. In the MSNBC release Monday, it was listed as a live edition of Countdown. </blockquote> <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=M2NhNWVmOGM1ZDEwNWUxYTBiZjJiNTUxNGMwMjYyMmI= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:47:58 -0400 Tweet of the Day -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTM1YTEyNGYxZGZhNWE4NGMwNGQ0ZDczODBlOWE4ZDE= <a href="http://twitter.com/rolandsmartin/status/5442243206">CNN's Roland Martin</a>: <blockquote> Glenn Beck had an appendectomy today. He must have blown a gasket after Hoffman lost the NY-23. Keep crying, Glenn! <a class="tweet-url web" rel="nofollow" href="http://bit.ly/2EDHUB" target="_blank">http://bit.ly/2EDHUB</a> </blockquote> LOL!* *Martin engages in near-criminal overuse of "LOL" on his Twitter feed. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=OTM1YTEyNGYxZGZhNWE4NGMwNGQ0ZDczODBlOWE4ZDE= Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:47:17 -0400 Ahmadinejad appoints leading Holocaust denier as new official in charge of the press -- By: Tom Gross webmaster@nationalreview.com (Tom Gross) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDFjNmQxZTNmMDlhZDRjMDM1ZTE2MGYwMGNmZDQwZjA= Not only did Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, today say that negotiating with the United States would be a “naive and perverted” thing to do (Khamenei revealed President Obama has approached him several times through oral and written messages which he has not replied to). Not only did Israeli commandos today intercept a ship carrying hundreds of tons of Iranian weapons intended for Hezbollah in Lebanon – the biggest ever seizure of arms on their way from Iran to its client terrorist militia, Hezbollah, which Iran plans to use as one element in its attempt to wipe the Jewish state off the map (BBC story and video <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8341737.stm" target="_blank">here</a>). Not only did Iran brutalize pro-democracy demonstrators once again on the streets of major Iranian cities today (there are several videos if you scroll down here from <a href="http://observers.france24.com/en/content/20091104-first-images-tehran-clashes-anti-american-demonstrations-30-anniversary" target="_blank">France 24</a>, and a report here by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/2009/11/091104_og_video_aban_pckg.shtml" target="_blank">BBC Persian</a>). But in addition Iran has appointed as its new deputy culture minister, in charge of media and communications, Mohammad-Ali Ramin, who previously served as President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s top advisor on Holocaust matters and is known as “the brain” behind the president’s strategy of Holocaust denial. Ramin hasn’t just repeatedly said that Jews invented the Holocaust, he has also said (sounding quite like Hitler) that “everyone knows Jews are filthy people who have spread lethal disease throughout history.” In his new post as official in charge of communications and the press, Ramin will be able to influence Iran’s media agenda, as his boss continues the rush to acquire nuclear weapons despite a phony deal that Barack Obama and other western powers seem to have been suckered into by the Iranian regime. <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NDFjNmQxZTNmMDlhZDRjMDM1ZTE2MGYwMGNmZDQwZjA= Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:48:13 -0400 MSDNC Explains the Abscence of Keith Olbermann -- By: Greg Pollowitz webmaster@nationalreview.com (Greg Pollowitz) http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjI3ODBkYzY0MDZkNDQ0NWFiODlmZTRkYzc5YmJjYjI= Jim posted <a href="http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MzA1MTE4ZWJlMDM0YmYyMjNlZWVjYmUzODdiMDM4NGE=">earlier</a> on MSDNC's absence at 10 p.m. with further election coverage. <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/politics/late_races_with_earlyending_coverage_142224.asp">TV Newser </a>-- kind of -- has the answer: <blockquote> Rather than running a full, live "Countdown," <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/Lawrence-ODonnell-profile.html">Lawrence O'Donnell</a> broke in with a 20-minute update on the latest election results. Afterward, MSNBC finished the replay of <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/Keith-Olbermann-profile.html">Keith Olbermann</a>'s 8pmET broadcast. With the exception of one segment, all of <a href="http://www.mediabistro.com/Rachel-Maddow-profile.html">Rachel Maddow</a>'s subsequent 11pmET program was live, as was 12amET's "Hardball." An MSNBC spokesperson tells TVNewser, "MSNBC was live with what needed to be live and provided coverage of all the results as they came in." </blockquote> Not really a good explanation. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33620351/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/">This</a> is how Olbermann finished his 8 p.m. broadcast: <blockquote> OLBERMANN: That‘s COUNTDOWN for this the 2,378th day since the previous president declared mission accomplish in Iraq. Lawrence O‘Donnell and I will be back with the latest on the votes in New York 23rd, Virginia and New Jersey at 10:00 Eastern, 7:00 Pacific. Until then, I‘m Keith Olbermann, good night and good luck. Now with the latest on tonight‘s votes, and Maine‘s bid to become the first state to vote to uphold same sex marriage, ladies and gentlemen, here is Rachel Maddow. Good evening, Rachel. </blockquote> I wonder whe he scooted early? <hr width=100% size=2> http://media.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NjI3ODBkYzY0MDZkNDQ0NWFiODlmZTRkYzc5YmJjYjI= Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:32:32 -0400