The Week: Conservatives Should ‘Regret’ New York Times’ $$ Troubles?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Francis Wilkinson, executive editor of The Week news magazine, seems to think that The New York Times is a model of restraint with a centrist editorial policy and that conservatives should be afraid of the day when the Old Gray Lady publishes its last sheet. My guess: if your eyebrow could be raised any higher at this claim, it’d become a toupee.

In a somewhat contradictory piece headlined “Will GOP regret attacks on The Times?,” Wilkinson by turns says that The New York Times has on one hand allowed the Bush administration to program its content while on the other hand says that the paper exhibits “bedrock liberal assumptions that define the paper.” How it can be both is hard to understand, but Wilkinson seems to think it’s possible.

The central point of the piece, though, sets up a sort of straw man that is then knocked down by saying that The New York Times is a model of journalistic restraint that will be sorely missed by conservatives when the paper is buried to be replaced by Internet based “news” outlets like The Huffington Post and Talking Points Memo. Even so, this piece is not without merit.

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The Week: Conservatives Should ‘Regret’ New York Times’ $$ Troubles?”


Palin Campaign Clothes Complaint dismissed: Little Coverage in Old Media

-By Warner Todd Huston

Remember how everyone in the Old Media delighted in lambasting Governor Sarah Palin when the GOP bought all those clothes for her use during the McCain campaign? Remember how it was reported as nearly a foregone conclusion that these purchases must have somehow been illegal? It was even bigger news when the left-wing group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the GOP. The whole thing was the talk of the Old Media, as you may recall.

Well, as of May 15, the FEC ruled that there was no ethics violation and the clothing spending was deemed legal. One would think that this news concluding the story would make as big of a splash with the Old Media as the beginning of the tale did. Naturally, crickets have been heard throughout the media establishment as little notice has been paid to this story.

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Palin Campaign Clothes Complaint dismissed: Little Coverage in Old Media”


Tapper Thumper: Is Obama ‘Preventing Actual Reporters’ From Covering White House?

-By Warner Todd Huston

On May 20, ABC’s Jake Tapper asked a few salient questions about coverage of an April 27 incident at the White House basketball court, a sort of event after the event that the White House press corps was barred from covering. Tapper wondered then why the president barred the press but it later became clear that Team Obama was creating its own little media report “complete with cuts, interviews, and chyrons identifying who’s speaking.”

Tapper subtly warned that the president’s penchant for controlling the message smacks of an Obama Ministry of Propaganda styled effort that excludes “actual reporters” from covering the White House and leaves the country with faux news that is free of any “uncomfortable questions” asked by probing journalists.

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Tapper Thumper: Is Obama ‘Preventing Actual Reporters’ From Covering White House?”


Time’s Joe Klein Says People in Wheelchairs Can’t ‘See’ the World?

-By Warner Todd Huston

On May 20, Politico had an interesting little treatment of columnist Charles Krauthammer crowning him as the most important conservative columnist of the day. A brief overview of his life and his emergence as the most reliable voice against Obamaism served as the main subject for the piece, but a few quotes on Mr. Krauthammer made by other columnists added a sense of how respected Krauthammer is to scribe Ben Smith’s piece. All the quotes were complimentary but shockingly, in one of those quotes, lefty Time columnist Joe Klein seemed to hint that a person in a wheelchair was incapable of really understanding enough of the world to make for a worthy columnist.

For those unaware, Charles Krauthammer has been confined to a wheelchair for several decades after he was injured in a swimming accident as a young man.

Can you imagine? In this day and age, saying that a person in a wheelchair is incapable of really understanding the world because they can’t easily get out there themselves because of their disability? And, how does a lefty columnist get away with saying this? Will no one scold Klein for his conceit that because he has two working legs that this fact somehow automatically makes him better qualified to opine as a columnist than a wheelchair bound Krauthammer?

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Time’s Joe Klein Says People in Wheelchairs Can’t ‘See’ the World?”


NYTimes Tax Hike Advocacy: Calf. Voters ‘Reject Solvent State’?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Wow. Just wow. If this New York Times headline isn’t an act of advocacy for higher taxes in California, what is? With its May 20 coverage of the vote for California’s tax hiking ballot measures, the Times plainly scolds fed-up voters for rejecting them with a headline that pointedly says: “Calif. Voters Reject Measures to Keep State Solvent.”

Really? The Times thinks California’s voters want a state headed into bankruptcy, that they voted for insolvency? The paper is strangely furious that voters rejected tax hikes, but I hate to break this to the New York rag: voters did not “reject measures” to keep the state “solvent.” What voters did was reject wild tax hikes that would only lead to more corruption and profligate spending. The voters weren’t fooled and knew that these measures would not lead to any long-term solution to the state’s budget woes. If the state house in Sacramento had done its job properly and proposed a sensible budget in the first place, Californians would be happy to vote for it I am sure.

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NYTimes Tax Hike Advocacy: Calf. Voters ‘Reject Solvent State’?”


WaPo Website Merges Photos of Gays With Mormon Church Fire Story

-By Warner Todd Huston

A 60-year-old Mormon Church in Massachusetts burned to the ground on Sunday, May 17. A story about the incident appeared in the Washington Post that same day. It’s an AP entry discussing the fire that chased worshippers out of the building in a panic on Sunday. But it is accompanied by a rather odd choice of images. Is it a photo of the fire-damaged church? Perhaps it is a snap of frightened churchgoers or a resolute minister vowing to rebuild? Well, none of those really.

The odd choice of photos accompanying the story of a fire at a Mormon Church is one of gay couples that “brought a lawsuit” over gay marriage in Massachusetts.

One might wonder what the heck a photo of gays has to do with a church burning down? The answer seems to be that the Washington Post doesn’t seem to think there is any time that isn’t suitable to attack the Mormon Church over its opposition to gay marriage. Yes, the Post turned this simple story of a fire into an excuse to play politics.

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WaPo Website Merges Photos of Gays With Mormon Church Fire Story”


More Media Malpractice: You Thought I was Joking About Gary Sinise, Didn’t You?

-By Warner Todd Huston

I hate to pull an “I told you so,” but… well, I told you so. Remember a few days ago when I showed how an unsubstantiated rumor becomes political “fact” in the Old Media? I reported that CNNs Peter Hamby found one woman that wondered if actor Gary Sinise might make a great GOP candidate and based an entirely fictional run for office on that wild conjecture. Also you’ll recall that at the end of my piece I said that it won’t be long until this one person’s rumination will suddenly turn into the “fact” that Gary Sinise is running for president. You may have laughed at that. But now I present to you this I told you so moment.

CBS channel 2 in Chicago gave us a May 13 report titled “‘CSI: NY’ Star Rumored To Be Eyeing White House.” I kid you not.

You might ask upon what basis this CBS report claimed that Gary Sinise is now running for president in 2012? Was it an interview with Sinise? How about a statement by any group representing Sinise? How about some statements from a PAC or fundraising group or other draft Sinise effort? Nope, none of those. It was the same ONE person that CNN’s Hamby used for his false claim that Sinise is a sudden candidate for office.

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More Media Malpractice: You Thought I was Joking About Gary Sinise, Didn’t You?”


Obama Says He’s Spock Then Misuses English Language

-By Warner Todd Huston

Remember how the left always asserted that George W. Bush was stupid? Remember how they were so thrilled to have the Obammessiah that spoke so well, a president that was perpetually the smartest man in the room? Well, after the many stammering TelePrompter free stump debacles during the campaign, many began to doubt this claim of his superior intelligence. Certainly by itself this is no big deal. But added with the whole here is another small dent in the perception of Obama’s overrated superiority.

Newsweek conducted a Q and A with the president at the end of which appears a few questions concerning his recent choices of entertainment. During the Q and A The One admitted he watched the reboot of Star Trek in the White House movie theater claiming that everyone was saying he was Spock. But two other things he said clanged badly: one arrogant and the other somewhat ignorant.

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Obama Says He’s Spock Then Misuses English Language”


More Old Media Hypocrisy on Palin’s Book Deal

-By Warner Todd Huston

On his MSNBC show Hardball for May 13, Chris Matthews gleefully attacked Goveror Sarah Palin for hiring a ghostwriter for her upcoming book deal. In like fashion, Mark Silva of the Chicago Tribune’s The Swamp Blog has also gotten into Laugh-at-Palin’s-book mode so you can bet that this will be the scoff du jour among the left-media. But, the thing that proves the Old Media’s hypocrisy and partisanship is this “collaborator” angle. The media are going nuts that Palin is working with what is essentially a ghostwriter — though an upfront one, not a hidden one — and acting as if this is somehow unusual. But it simply is not.

Few politicians that have books published under their name ever themselves put pen to paper. Politicians are generally not writers and it is completely common that they hire actual writers to do the heavy lifting of composing their book. But here is both Matthews and Silva acting as if Palin is the only one ever to do it.

Heck, sometimes politicians never even read the book that bears their name just allowing their name to be affixed to the cover and letting it go at that. Barry Goldwater, for instance, is famous for having hinted that he never read the famous book that bears his name. The Conscience of a Conservative was actually ghostwritten by Brent Bozell, Jr., father of L. Brent Bozell III currently of the Media Research Center.

Regardless of the truth, however, this Tribune hack really takes the cake. Here is how Mark Silva starts off his rant:

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More Old Media Hypocrisy on Palin’s Book Deal”


Time Gets Taken By Fake McCain Adviser Unmasked Months Ago

-By Warner Todd Huston

Recently I have been messing around with Twitter, the social media site of the day (shameless plug: see me as warnerthuston on Twitter). So, checking out some of the Old Media to see what they were saying about Twitter, I ran across Time Magazine’s attempt to seem cool with the Twitterers, er Twitterists, er Twits, er whatever they are called. Time was following some “Tweets From a Washington Dinner” and I found something amusing there. Time, you see, added the Tweet from a guy claiming to be a John McCain adviser that was outed as a fraud months ago; Martin Eisenstadt.

You will recall that this fake Martin Eisenstadt was the same nonexistent fellow that fooled the media for weeks into thinking he was part of the McCain campaign for president. This Martin Eisenstadt even pretended to be a “Senior Fellow of the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy.” But it was finally revealed that this Martin Eisenstadt was really a liberal named Eitan Gorlin. But it didn’t come to light before he was quoted by several Old Media news outlets as a legitimate McCain adviser.

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Time Gets Taken By Fake McCain Adviser Unmasked Months Ago”


Media Malpractice: How One Person’s Say So Becomes ‘Fact’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Ever wonder how political “facts” become facts? How does a story go from a mere unsubstantiated report to universal truth? Often, it happens with a catchy headline in a report that states as “fact” a claim made by one person even though no one else has been seen backing up the claim. Such may be the case with a recent story on actor Gary Sinise becoming “the savior of the GOP.”

Peter Hamby of CNN has decided to make Gary Sinise the new golden boy of the Republican Party. It has all the elements of a good tale: A Handsome actor, politically astute and well known for being active is suddenly the “new” face of the party to which he belongs, a man about to save the whole darn shootin’ match with his star power. It’s a political success story sure to gain big headlines… except for the fact that it basically isn’t true.

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Media Malpractice: How One Person’s Say So Becomes ‘Fact’”


APs Cheney Analysis: We Read His Mind And Decided What He Really Means

-By Warner Todd Huston

Did you know that former vice president Dick Cheney is speaking out only because he is trying to protect his legacy? Well just in case you wondered about it Steven Hurst for the Associated Press wants to assure that he has read Cheney’s mind and it’s all settled. This is what passes for “analysis” at the AP.

The AP has also decided that Cheney speaking out causes “chagrin” in a GOP trying to “rebuild the tattered party.” Additionally, he AP throws out that much bandied liberal canard that Cheney is dishonoring “protocol” by speaking out because, you see, former chief executives always remain silent about presidents that follow them. Right Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Al Gore? Riiiight?

Oh, and one more thing: did you know that Cheney was “unpopular”? Well, just in case you forgot, the AP kindly reminds you. After reading this anti-Cheney attack piece, one wonders if the AP is now just letting White House flacks write its copy for it. It probably saves the AP some time, anyway.

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APs Cheney Analysis: We Read His Mind And Decided What He Really Means”


Palin Haters NOW Mad at Juneau Tourism, Outrage Over Little Piper’s Lemonade Stand

-By Warner Todd Huston

Palin hater with cocaine conviction goes after Piper Palin

Tourism has recently been up a little in Juneau, Alaska. More folks than ever have been interested in taking bus tours through Alaska’s capitol city with a major attraction being the Alaska State House where Governor Sarah Palin goes about her daily work. In fact, the tours have been gaining in popularity since before John McCain asked the governor along for his run for the White House. The bus tours are so popular that adorable little Piper has even set up a lemonade stand to sell tourists a glass of lemony goodness to quench their thirst for something wet as well as something cute.

And Palin haters in Alaska are livid. They want the bus tours stopped and little Piper’s stand razed to the ground. Palin Derangement Syndrome strikes again. It’s an ugly, ugly thing, this PDS.

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Palin Haters NOW Mad at Juneau Tourism, Outrage Over Little Piper’s Lemonade Stand”


Obama to Cut Slain Officer’s Benefits in Half

-By Warner Todd Huston

In a fit of hypocrisy sure to outrage, just as Attorney General Eric Holder makes ready to attend a ceremony to honor fallen police officers, the Obama administration is proposing to cut almost in half a program that provides benefits to the future families left behind.

So much for the more loving, more caring president “we’ve been waiting for.” So, wouldn’t you think the Old Media would be braying at the hypocrisy here? Wouldn’t you rather think that the Old Media would be up in arms about this one? Isn’t this typically the type of story that would get them motivated to get their high dudgeon on? Guess not because it is nearly invisible in the media today.

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Obama to Cut Slain Officer’s Benefits in Half”


A Little Article in a Little Paper that is One Big Hit!

-By Warner Todd Huston

Elizabeth Sauls is a writer for the Beaufort Observer of Beaufort, North Carolina. It’s a little paper in a little town — area population around 50,000 — so it’s just the sort of town that New Yorkers or Chicagoans like to scoff at. But, Elizabeth Sauls wrote a piece that everyone should read.

Headlined, “Presidential Sleight of Hand Keeps Reporter Befuddled,” Sauls lays out with just the right amount of sarcasm, the lies, contradictions, misdirections, and un-American policies that Obama has haplessly stumbled into these last 100 days.

Presented as a letter to her “boss” Sauls is devastating in her critical attitude against all the lies of this president.
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A Little Article in a Little Paper that is One Big Hit!”


Newsweek Compares Bush Era as Star Wars to Obama’s as Star Trek

-By Warner Todd Huston

Naturally all Bush’s folks are the Evil Characters

In a transparently unhinged and partisan hit job against several Bush administration officials, Newsweek thought it would be amusing to compare the Bush era and the Obama era by analogizing them with Star Wars and Star Trek respectively. Naturally Newsweek’s Bush Derangement Syndrome was given full throated expression — phasers set to kill not to stun — as the Bush administration officials were noted as representing one or the other of the evil Star Wars characters while all the Obama officials were compared to the good guys in Star Trek. What we get is the typical Old Media talking point: Bush evil/ Obama good.

Out of the 9 Star Wars characters used on the SW side to explain the Bush era, only 5 are conceivably a good guy. The rest are all the SW bad guys. But even that isn’t as it would seem on its face. It’s so bad that even when Newsweek uses any of the ostensible good guy characters from Star Wars, their caption tends to undercut the good nature of the character when coupled with a Bush official. For instance, we all know that the happy and fun character of C-3PO is a beloved Star Wars character, but in Newsweek’s hands the venerable, loyal robot becomes former Bush Spokesman Ari Fleischer. Why is C-3PO like Fleisher? Why because he’s “obsequious” and “glabrous,” of course. Hardly flattering.

It gets worse. On the Star Trek side only one of the 9 Star Trek characters used for Obama era figures is a Star Trek bad guy. Evil Klingon Commander Kor becomes… wait for it… Rush Limbaugh! That’s right, the only bad guy on Newsweek’s Obama side is Limbaugh. Every other Obama era official is compared to a Star Trek good guy and lionized in the caption.

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Newsweek Compares Bush Era as Star Wars to Obama’s as Star Trek”


Detroit Free Press: Obama Ushers in Era of Oppression of Free Speech?

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like it is just starting to dawn on some lefties that Obama is ushering in an era of oppression of free speech. So it seems for Laura Varon Brown of the Detroit Free Press, at least. Oh, she isn’t saying that Obama himself is trampling on free speech, but she is starting to understand that the left’s penchant for political correctness is serving the function as a sort of self-imposed oppression no matter what Obama says. It’s getting so bad, according to Brown, that any criticism of Obama is treated as akin to treason… at least it is in the “circles” she runs in, anyway.

Brown can count herself in the same boat as the late-night comedy shows that are finding that any criticism of The One is verboten to their left-wing audiences. Even the supposedly unshakable Bill Maher, who congratulates himself on his bravery for taking on the establishment, has found that he’s had to shy from criticizing Obama. These people are seeing that attacking “The Man” is not so funny when it is their man in the crosshairs. Suddenly such folks have a new-found respect for the office and a more circumspect behavior toward the president is now du jour.

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Detroit Free Press: Obama Ushers in Era of Oppression of Free Speech?”


CNN/Oprah.com: Calls Sudden Lesbian Syndrome a ‘New’ Trend Without Any Proof

-By Warner Todd Huston

Oprah.com and CNN have decided that there is a growing “new” trend in American sexual relations. The two Internet giants have teamed up and have decided that increasingly “women are leaving men for other women.” Shocking news, I know. Only one little problem. Oprah.com has no proof for any such proclamation.

After the shocking headline and the first three paragraphs proclaiming a new lesbian revolution in America today, though, the piece admits that there are no real statistics to prove the thesis. The whole claim is merely based on the anecdotal stories of the “experts” that Oprah.com dug up to substantiate the tale.

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CNN/Oprah.com: Calls Sudden Lesbian Syndrome a ‘New’ Trend Without Any Proof”


UPI Coming to Joe Biden’s Rescue

-By Warner Todd Huston

As expected, Joe Biden is fast becoming the clown prince of Washington D.C. His never ending case of athlete’s mouth resulting from his penchant for sticking his foot between his chompers is something that should be no surprise to any long-time Biden watcher. But, amusingly, UPI tries to re-center the Biden story, rescuing him from ridicule, to discuss the supposedly important things that President Obama has entrusted to the vice president.

In “Biden soldiers on amid comedic jabs,” we find UPI trying to tell us of all the important, important stuff our gabby VP is in charge of. But even the UPI can’t hide the fact that these things that Obama put Biden “in charge” of are nothing more than meaningless make-work programs.

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UPI Coming to Joe Biden’s Rescue”


I’m On CNN/Live today after noon

-By Warner Todd Huston

CNN dropped me a line and they’ve asked me to appear once again on their noon time (eastern time) “Blogger Bunch” segment on CNN/Live over on the Net side of the operation.

That either means the last time I was on I made the conservative side look like idiots and they want a repeat of that…. or I did OK last time! Ha, ha.

Well, whatever the case, we are going to discuss Eric Cantor’s new National Council for a New America effort that he launched to have a “discussion” with the American people and begin to fix the GOP.

It usually starts after noon but before 1:00, depending on when they get to it. So, tune it, won’t you?


New Yorker: Obama a Better Churchill than Churchill? (Or Bush)

-By Warner Todd Huston

Amy Davidson of the New Yorker should take up bowling or gardening because history doesn’t seem to be her thang, if you will. In the aftermath of Barack Obama’s own false historical reference, made during a Wednesday press conference, of famed WWII era English Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Davidson jumped to her keyboard to further garble history with an April 30 blog post on her Close Read blog at the New Yorker website.

On Wednesday, Obama made a reference to an “article” he was reading “the other day” wherein he discovered that during WWII Prime Minister Winston Churchill supposedly said “We don’t torture.” (Transcript of Obama’s remarks)The following morning, Davisdon praised Obama for his sentiment and waxed envious over the “very good” article from which Obama gleaned the tale.

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New Yorker: Obama a Better Churchill than Churchill? (Or Bush)”


Palin Derangement Syndrome Engulfs Baltimore Sun’s TV Guy

-By Warner Todd Huston

Baltimore Sun TV critic David Zurawik should check into a clinic somewhere to have his delicate mental balance checked. Maybe they might have some nice medication he can take to temper his Palin Derangement Syndrome? His is so bad he can’t even write about a little reality TV show without indulging unnecessary vitriol and hate.

It’s interesting that critic Zurawik gets so filled with hate in such a short space. In fact, the tiny four paragraph “review” spends more time name calling and attacking Governor Palin than it does in discussing the TV show on which she is about to appear; TLC’s American Chopper.

Certainly professor Zurawik’s contribution to society is above reproach, of course. Long known to be the bastion of American intellectualism and culture, TV has always been considered one of our most important institutions. So, Zurawik’s work as a critic is sure to have the sort of cultural staying power as that of the great philosophers, I am sure. And his review of Palin’s appearance on American Chopper is sure to remain a standout example of the sort of tour de force work he’s long been known for.

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Palin Derangement Syndrome Engulfs Baltimore Sun’s TV Guy”

Today Show Feature: ‘There’s No Such Thing as Virginity’

-By Warner Todd Huston

Jessica Valenti, founder of the vaguely pornographic sounding Feministing.com, has decided that there is no such thing as virginity in America’s young girls and the Today Show is entirely pleased with itself to give her a national TV venue from which to say so. Never mind how silly it all sounds.

On April 22 Valenti and Today pushed the idea that sexually active girls should not be thought of as a problem, that an expectation of virginity is harmful, and that religion is a baneful influence on young women today. Valenti says that if young men can have their sexual exploits given a wink and a nod, then so should the sexual activity of young girls.

Naturally, being a good left-wing, feminist, Valenti draws all the wrong conclusions and advocates all the worst solutions to address the real problems in American society. Just as naturally, NBC gives a legitimate stage for her absurd proclamations and ill-thought-out prescriptions.

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NYTimes Sends American Tourists to One of England’s Most Dangerous Areas for ‘Hip’ Vacation

-By Warner Todd Huston

One would think that The New York Times is purposefully putting American’s in harm’s way with its latest travel section vacation suggestion. If it isn’t doing it on purpose, it certainly is acting almost criminally negligent over its reader’s safety abroad. Back on March 22, the Times suggested that Americans vacation in Deptford, one of England’s most dangerous, crime infested areas. And why would the Times want to send Americans into such a seedy and dangerous place? Because it’s “hip,” man. What else?

The suggestion by the NYTimes for American tourists to visit Deptford brought all manners of jaw-dropping, guffaws from the British press this week. The disbelief is thick over there because Deptford has some of the highest crimes stats in the country — the tenth most violent according to Britain’s Home Office — and Britons simply cannot fathom why The New York Times would willingly send Americans unawares into the heart of such violence and crime.

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NYTimes Sends American Tourists to One of England’s Most Dangerous Areas for ‘Hip’ Vacation”


I was on CNN.com Today

-By Warner Todd Huston

Well, I had an interesting afternoon. Got a call from CNN that they needed a second righty blogger for their 12:30 Blogger’s Call segment on their livestream CNN.com show. (I know, enemy territory, right? Ha, ha)

So, they called me at about 10:45 and I had a little time to get my video and audio all set up before I went live with them. It was a segment with four bloggers (two rightys, two leftys) and we talked with anchors Reggie and Mam about Obama’s first 100 days.

We were all asked to grade Obama. Of course, I gave him a “D.” My chief complaint was how badly he’s bungled foreign policy by giving Chavez such a great propaganda moment at our expense and his cockup with the Brits. I also said his socialist policies are going to be bad for the long run. Etc., etc.

I don’t think there is video of it as it was all live, but I had a good time and look forward to being called back sometime in the future.


Shocker: Obama Staffers Attend Secret Dinners With Lefty Media

-By Warner Todd Huston

The Washington Post’s Howard Kurtz has let the cat out of the bag in the Post’s April 27 issue about a regularly scheduled secret media dinner attended by some of the top left-wing journalists in the country. But it isn’t just the lefty scribblers that have attended these secret, off-the-record dinners for these gatherings have each featured a guest. Rahm Emanuel, Sec. of the Treasury Tim Geithner, and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke have all recently had their chance to schmooze the press and guide them with the spin desired by the White House.

So, not only does Obama’s Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel have secret daily phone calls with which to program the media’s coverage of the White House, now it is revealed that Emanuel and other Obama staffers have been attending secret dinners to help the press “understand” what the White House wants reported? As Kurtz says, it all sounds “rather cozy,” doesn’t it?

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Shocker: Obama Staffers Attend Secret Dinners With Lefty Media”


Pianist Cancels All U.S. Concerts Over Foreign Policy

-By Warner Todd Huston

I respect Polish concert pianist Krystian Zimmerman’s moxie. Oh, he hasn’t a clue what he is talking about, but he has the courage of his convictions at least, which is more than I can say for all those wild-eyed, half-informed, hypocrites in the American entertainment industry.

You see, a few days ago, pianist Zimmerman announced in the middle of a concert that he would no longer be playing concerts in the U.S. because he is against U.S. foreign policy. If you truly want to know this loon’s political complaints, there is a long, pointless and boring story about it in the L.A. Times on April 28.

Me, I couldn’t care less about this half-wit’s gripes. But I do applaud him for having the backbone to do something about it. He will forgo his money, cancel his concerts and leave this country. I say good for him. It’s about time one of these pampered “stars” in the entertainment industry finally has the stones to live up to the blather.

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Pianist Cancels All U.S. Concerts Over Foreign Policy”


WaPost: Slams Older Workers as ‘Lumbering,’ Less Talented

-By Warner Todd Huston

Looks like Washington Post Editorial Page Editor Fred Hiatt sort of put his foot in his mouth — or his pen as the case may be — in an April 27 editorial where he as much as called America’s older workers “lumbering” and less talented than “younger, nimbler” employees. In a nation that has one of its largest blocks of citizens in the “older” category, those over 40, it seems like Hiatt just insulted the largest number of Americans. Not the best way to sell newspapers, eh?

In his headlined “600,000 Bad Hires? Making Federal Jobs Cool Once Again,” Hiatt seems to be urging The One to come to the rescue of the jobs market. Well, not real jobs, but government jobs, anyway.

Here is how he jabs workers over 40.

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WaPost: Slams Older Workers as ‘Lumbering,’ Less Talented”


Chavez’ Penn, Or How Santa Monica High Should Hang Its Penn in Shame

-By Warner Todd Huston

Someone needs to sue Santa Monica High School for education malpractice on behalf of the ill-educated Sean Penn. I mean, the man is nearly illiterate and he certainly has no grasp on history, philosophy, or statecraft. But his wacko left-wing inanities aside, it is his illiteracy that seems the most lamentable. Oh, it isn’t Rosie O’Donnell illiterate, hers is a special class of insensibility all by itself, but Penn’s brand is proof of the lowest quality of education. I mean the man can barely put two words together sensibly much less exhibit a grasp of grammar and syntax. It really is a crime how badly he’s been educated.

Take for instance his latest Huffington Post blathering where he seems to be saying that all we need to win the day in international relations is to give a “smile.” Aside from being childishly simplistic in concept, it has some of the worst word usage and syntax I’ve seen for a long time in what is supposed to be a leader of opinion (again, Rosie aside).

Now, I don’t claim to be the king of grammar, myself. But, if I had millions of dollars as he does I’d at least be smart enough to hire an editor so that I don’t end up looking like a complete moron. Unfortunately, I am one of the po’folk, so I have to muddle through as best as I can.

His wind up is amusing for its utter lack of introspection.

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Chavez’ Penn, Or How Santa Monica High Should Hang Its Penn in Shame”


About Dick Cheney: How the Old Media Creates a False Attack

-By Warner Todd Huston

The newest false meme invented by the Old Media is this claim that ex-presidents and ex-vice presidents have some sort of “tradition of silence” where it concerns commenting on those that take residence in the White House after they leave. The reason the Old Media is pushing this false claim is because Dick Cheney has been commenting on Obama’s security mistakes and the Old Media wants to scold Cheney for his efforts to get the truth to the people.

Certainly it is true that some ex-chief executives have maintained silence after they left office. Still, it isn’t really true that there has been any long tradition of staying silent out of some sort of respect for the new president. But, no matter how many past presidents/vice presidents have remained quiet, the one glaring exception to that so-called tradition is the vp just before Cheney: Al Gore. And this man has been absent in the Media’s attack on Cheney.

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About Dick Cheney: How the Old Media Creates a False Attack”