On the Topic of Media Bias…

To any rational observer, there is no disputing the notion that the US Media is overwhelmingly in the tank for the reelection of Dear Leader.  One needs to look no further than the press coverage over the past week in regard to the tragic murder of our Ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stephens (or more to the point – lack of actual coverage of the event and the skewing of its true provocation) to see that the media is doing everything in its power to create the narrative that Mitt Romney is unfit for the Presidency.  Even the editors at Fox News, the supposed last bastion of objective journalism, cannot control their impulses to covertly editorialize their reporting as they are STILL tagging (my in-eloquent moniker for the banner they put below the main screen) the unrest in the Middle East as a reaction to a ridiculous video few have seen.

Given the lack of effort it takes to identify such bias, it is distressing to me when our side goes the extra mile by drumming up charges of bias in cases which it simply does not exist.

Case in point:  This weekend, Peter Hamby, CNN political correspondent covering the Romney campaign, set prominent conservative thought leaders’ torches ablaze with the following tweet:

Wisconsin officially a battleground: President Barack Obama going to Milwaukee next weekend > https://t.co/Cgab8RYU

— Peter Hamby (@PeterHamby) September 13, 2012

Now, you’ll most likely see immediately what riled up the hornet’s nest.  The link for the supporting evidence to his assertion that Wisconsin is now officially a battle ground state is a link to a “contribution page” for the Obama Campaign.

All weekend long I bore witness to conservative pundits excoriating Hamby.  Most were in the same vein as Noel Sheppard of NewsBusters fame:

CNN Reporter Sends Obama Donation Link to Twitter Followers http://t.co/eQDJdBBR @peterhamby @kazport

— Noel Sheppard (@NoelSheppard) September 16, 2012

… Relatively straight forward and frankly, factual. (He did, afterall tweet out a link to a donation page.)

However some went a little bit further (this one was repeated several times):

@peterhamby supports #warcriminal @BarackObama @PeterHambyCNN must be a racist who likes killing brown ppl all over the world with #drones

— Truth Squad.TV (@TruthSquadTV) September 16, 2012

My initial reaction after seeing this go wild in my Timeline was to jump aboard the bandwagon and start sharpening my pitchfork.  I then saw a tweet from noted conservative and minor Twitter celeb, Todd Kincannon:

https://twitter.com/ToddKincannon/status/247389530909458432

This sparked a back and forth conversation between Kincannon and myself in which I questioned why he thought that Hamby’s link didn’t smack of bias.  He responded that he knows Hamby personally and the he is “not that guy.”  I took a second to go through Hamby’s timeline and actually read the tweet again.  It dawned on me that I was guilty of doing exactly what  I hate about leftists.  I willingly gave in to conventional wisdom without thinking for myself.  I jumped to the conclusion that because the link was to Obama’s fundraising webpage, it automatically meant that Hamby was promoting Obama’s campaign.

In fact, Hamby was doing what any good reporter does.  He was breaking a story… an important one at that.

Hamby was first to note that Obama is spending time, money and political capital in a state in which he shouldn’t have to spend any.  In order to support his hypothesis that Wisconsin is back in play for Romney, he used the best evidence available: a page from Obama’s campaign listing the date and time of the fundraiser.

As of today, the vilification of Hamby continues.  It is also starting to turn ugly against those who break with the hive-mind mentality and start to look at this non-story objectively.  Most notably, Erick Erickson from Redstate.com is the latest to come to Hamby’s defense.  Erickson, a noted conservative, who happens to also be a commentator for CNN, is someone you would think would warrant a listen.  Unfortunately, not in this case.  Michelle Malkin (who I generally respect greatly) runs a site called Twitchy.com, which is a tweet aggregator (and, in this case, aggravator) for the Right.  By listing Erickson’s tweets juxtaposed with an assortment of tweets from a variety of “Twitter users”, Twitchy crafts a narrative that Hamby is somehow conspiring to promote Barack Obama’s fundraiser in Wisconsin.  Twitchy claims that because the words “in play” are not said on the donation page, that there is no merit to the story and Hamby is drawing attention to the link in order to drum up support for Obama.  Tacitly, they also are questioning Erickson’s integrity with the implication that he is shilling for his co-worker at CNN:

Today, CNN contributor Erick Erickson defended his colleague Peter Hamby, who tweeted a link to a Barack Obama donation page last week.  Erickson tweeted a link to the same Obama donation page that Hamby tweeted, claiming that the page shows “Obama admits suddenly WI is in play.”

But Twitter users didn’t see anything of the sort. It’s just a boilerplate Obama-Biden donation page inviting supporters to attend a reception with Obama in Milwaukee: ”Please join President Barack Obama for a reception with supporters like you in Milwaukee.”

Nowhere on the page does Obama state that Wisconsin is “in play.”

Twitchy concludes their post by saying they will leave it to the reader to decide, while at the same time making it clear where they stand:

We’ll leave it up to readers to decide about Erickson’s claim the the Milwaukee fundraiser amounts to a newsworthy, tacit admission by Obama that “Wisconsin is in play.” Obama has had fund-raising receptions in many states, such as Washington, Oregon, California, and Maryland, that are not considered battleground states.

Ultimately, I don’t think it necessarily presents the best optics when a reporter tweets out a fundraising page for a candidate – whether that candidate be conservative or liberal.  But when it comes to alleging bias, the question must be begged,  ‘What is to gain from the alleged offense?’  In this case, can anyone honestly state that Hamby was attempting to lure people in so they could donate money to the Obama campaign?  Is there anyone who would come across that tweet, click on it, and then say, “Hey!  I’m convinced.  I’m giving all I have to Barack Obama!”?  The answer is, ‘No.’  That simply isn’t going to happen.

The bottom line is that there is no bias here.  If you don’t believe me, look for yourself.  Do your homework on Peter Hamby.  If you read his entire Timeline, you will see that he is fairminded.  I have no idea what his politics are, as he does not wear them on his sleeve.  That is actually a good thing. Like Brett Baier, Jake Tapper, Carl Cameron and the like, he reports the news factually, with a minimal amount of editorialization.  Like them as well, he is always looking for a new angle to bring to the ever evolving reporting landscape, often times countering the conventional wisdom of both the Left and the Right.

Having exhaustively analyzed this situation, I can objectively state that Peter Hamby’s “offense”  is not nearly as egregious as witnessing our side commit the same crime which we see all too often from the Left: the hysterical construction of strawmen.

There’s no place like home! There’s no place like home! (UPDATED!)

Yes.  I am furiously clicking together the heels of my ruby red slippers (okay… green, badly worn, Crocs – but you get the point.)  We need to figure someway out of this parallel, bizzaro world that we find ourselves in and desperate times require desperate measures.

The heretofore unfathomable, unconscionable and unbelievable directive coming down from on high that has my panties all up in a wad is here.  To steal a page from F*** You Penguin,  Ho. Lee. SHIT!

Wambdi Wicasa, a Benedictine Father who co-founded The Blue Cloud Abbey in Marvin, South Dakota wrote:

A CONTRACT is an agreement made in suspicion. The parties do not trust each other, and they set “limits” to their own responsibility. A COVENANT is an agreement made in trust. The parties love each other and put no limits on their own responsibility.

Historically, the agreement with our service men and women has been one made in trust.  We have loved the persons who have boldly stood up and answered the call to defend our nation and consequently we have put no limits on our responsibility to taking care of them when they are unfortunate enough to need it.   The very notion that the men and women who have been injured on the field of battle, defending this country and our liberties are now not worthy of the finest, cost-free medical care that we can provide, is not only counterintuitive to our COVENANT,  it is frankly immoral and should be intollerable.  However, instead of taking the junior level bureacrat that came up with this horrific little gem out back and beating the ever living crap out of them for even giving voice to such an idea, the White House responded, “Hey! Now that sounds like an idea we can get behind!”

Oh, did I forget to mention that this is all in the works as a means to save a whopping $500M a year?  “What are we going to do with the money?” you ask.  Excellent question!  The bottom line is we need the cash.  Even though is seems like a small amount in relation to things like the $170 BILLLLLLLION we have already chucked into the raging bonfire formerly known as AIG, we have pressing needs that need to be met.  In fact, that $500M will knock out over half of the $900M that we pledged to the Palestinian Authority to rebuild the West Bank after they received the ass-beating that was due to them for lobbing rockets into Jerusalem.

Wait a second!  Couldn’t the money we are taking from our veterans go to support Hamas, the reigning terrorist group party in control of the West Bank?  NO!  Definitely not:

…The official added that the aid would not go to Hamas. The U.S. recognizes the West Bank-based government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and has no formal contacts with the Islamic militant group Hamas, which runs a separate Palestinian administration in the Gaza Strip.  Money often is funneled into Gaza through international organizations such as the United Nations, or through Abbas’ government, which deposits it directly into Gazans’ bank accounts.

Whew! That was close!

…OHHHHHHHHHHHH CRAP!

On Tuesday, Abbas said a new national unity government that includes rival Hamas must be in place and internationally recognized as part of managing humanitarian aid for Gaza and elsewhere.  Reconciliation talks are scheduled to begin in Egypt on Wednesday between Hamas and Abbas’ Fatah movement.

Ho. Lee. Shit., indeed.

Excellent stuff on this abounds around the Web, however one that is particularly striking is here.  Thanks AoSHQ.

<UPDATE>

John “How are you holding up (Senators Kerry and Obama)?“ Stewart thinks this is a crock of shit too:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

<UPDATE, UPDATE>

Kabuki Backpedal Theater…

Scene opens on a flustered Robert Gibbs in the White House Press Briefing Room in mid response: “…Uh, did we say, ‘…make them pay for their benefits?’  What we meant to say was, ‘make them ‘gay’ for their benefits!’  I mean they are going to love their FREE benefits soooo much, they will be gay for them.  Shame on you for misunderstanding us.”

Spendulus!

 Submit foolish humans! SUBMIT!

Barack Hussein Obama is not a misguided yet well intentioned left-leaning moderate.  He is not a pragmatic, well-spoken, amateur statesman who is finding his way.  He is a deceitful, conniving, ill-intentioned fear-monger who is doing everything he can to establish a permanent ideological, economic and cultural lurch to the left… There I said it.  Wow!  That feels good.  

He’s not taking his time either… In less than 60 days, we have witnessed the largest ingress of government control into the free markets in modern history.  By the words relayed to us from the mighty tele-prompter we have been informed that we are ending the War on Terror as we know it because it is high-time we Americans learn how bad we make the rest of the world feel when we mistreat the poor, misunderstood, freedom fighters in Gitmo whom we have unjustly hung by their scrotums (Is the sarcasm thick enough?  If not, please let me know.  I delight in lathering it on.)  Through the power of Executive Order, we have seen the return of pro-death policies such as the lifting of the Mexico City policy and the return of Embryonic Stem-Cell Research.  (With the latter, our Mighty Instiller of Fear has once again opened up the door to human cloning… only for “research purposes” mind you (yeah, right!) Eugenics, here we come!   Wouldn’t Margaret Sanger be proud? Maybe we can get rid of that pesky self-reliance, liberty seeking gene?)  

Through all of this we have been told to sit back and not question what the man and his cronies are up to because he has a mandate to lead and we must give him time and opportunity to do so.  When other duly elected leaders such as the Minority leadership in Congress questioned him on the wisdom of the Spendulus Package, they were told to sit down and shut up.  When noted liberal and respected financial guru, Jim Cramer (who is a vocal advocate of most of Obama’s policies) questioned the sanity of Obama’s choices to raise taxes on business and investment while the stock market is crumbling, he was cast to the street and ridiculed by Bobby Gibbs (wasn’t he a Bee-Gee?) as a nut-job that has a “small audience”.  All the while, his Urukai are brazenly boasting that they are leveraging this economic crisis to their advantage to ramrod their predetermined agenda up our collective asses. (Link to an EXCELLENT op.ed. by Jonah here. )

Given the vast amount of deceit, hypocrisy, acrimony and pure bullshit that is spewing forth from the administration on a daily basis, we think that this is the perfect time to launch the newest page at The Disloyal Opposition: 

“The Little Red Book of Chairman Obama”.  

In homage to Chairman Mao and LBJ, two of Obama’s apparent mentors, TLRB will be our little cozy place on the Web where we can document Dear Leader’s pearls of wisdom (read – steaming piles of crap) for all of the world to see.  We look forward to your contributions to TLRB, however there will be strict guidelines.  We want the page to be an authoritative account of Obama and his administration in THEIR OWN WORDS, especially when their words can be juxtaposed and contrasted with reality (e.g. Obama’s promise to eliminate earmarks line by line in budgets while being transparent in all things as opposed to him signing the pork laden budget bill yesterday behind closed doors.) 

For now, if you would like to suggest content for TLRB, please leave comments on TLRB‘s page (link / tab above).  Soon we will have an email setup for submissions.  If we approve the submission (i.e. We can validate its authenticity and it provides value in drawing attention to Obama’s corruption, hypocrisy and lies) we will post it to TLRB‘s page.  

Let the fun begin.

Where to begin?

First – on the minute chance that anyone is still checking in periodically, let me apologize for my protracted absence.  As Louis wrote, life sometimes gets in the way and in my case that has especially been so.  My mother suffered a major stroke a little less than a month ago.  The past few weeks have been spent focusing on her care and transitioning her back home.  Thankfully, she is recovering nicely.  With continued rehabilitation, time and prayers, we expect her to make a full recovery.  

That being said, even if this crisis hadn’t happened, I cannot confidently state that I would have (or for that matter – could have) amassed enough energy, concentration, heart and fervor to blog much anyway.  The simple truth is that I am discouraged, disheartened, distraught, disincentivized and pretty much any other “dis” word that you could think of by the course that our country is finding itself on.  This frame of mind is not conducive to being creative, articulate and inspired.  Regardless, I am compelled to force myself into a renewed habit of putting my thoughts to “paper” in the hope that maybe something good, productive, inspiring and insightful might come of it.  So here we go…

As it has been so long and so much has transpired since my last post, I thought it would be best to compartmentalize my thoughts into several different posts over the next few days.

Today’s Topic: Rush Limbaugh

Rush has been targeted by the left and the media (sorry – redundant) as an evil ignoramus who is hell bent on the destruction of America by publicly wishing Dear Leader his worst.  By taking Rush’s comments that he wants Obama to fail out of context, the smear campaign (orchestrated by no less than the White House itself) is in full effect.  This obfuscation serves two purposes.  First it diverts the attention of the unwashed, inherently headline focused, masses to this kerfuffle while the Obama Administration sells our country to the lowest bidding foreign power.  Second, it distracts the Conservative Movement and the Republican Party (unfortunately there is a major difference between the two these days) from focusing in on and combating the common enemy of Big-Government Liberalism, and redirects attention to a futile and counterproductive in-fight where such “principled” spokesmen as HRIC (Head RINO in Charge) Steele and Newt “Wow! Thanks for the food. Can I now bite your hand” Gingrich lambast Rush as being incendiary and out of bounds. (Warning – both links are to HuffPost… You may need hot shower and extreme eye scrub once you visit… At the very least, wipe your feet before coming back in 😉 ) 

Disclaimer – I am not a Ditto-head.  I used to be a devotee of the man, however I must admit that I have not paid much attention to him as of late (“late” being the past 10 years or so).  It is not that I think him irrelevant, it is that I personally do not care for his self-aggrandizement.  I perceive it as buffoonish.  That being said (Sorry – I use that phrase a lot), the man is correct.  Obama’s policies (which are as far left as this country has ever witnessed) need to fail.  For if they succeed, we will no longer enjoy the liberties and opportunities that this nation has provided to us.  Every aspect of Obama’s agenda – uncontrolled and misdirected spending and inconceivable tax hikes during a recession, horrific policies on abortion, ESCR, and other life issues, ad hoc / half-baked policies regarding Gitmo and the War on Terror that will put our nation in grave danger and the eminent nationalization of health care system – drives us further down the path of European Socialist Democracy.  I too hope that our Lecturer in Chief fails.  I pray that he fails MISERABLY.  His policies must not stand and his administration must not succeed.

You know all of this self-righteous indignation would be ironic if the hypocrisy wasn’t so blatant… Just a few months ago, it was considered patriotic to denigrate our President.  In fact, the vitriolic spew leveled at President Bush was championed as the pinnacle of free speech and political discourse.  An entire cottage industry of t-shirts, bumper-stickers, placards and the like was born.  Cafe Press and other similar sites were churning out orders for the “Somewhere in Texas a Village is Missing its Idiot”, “When Clinton Lied, No One Died” and who could ever forget the dandy: “Bush, Pull Out Like your Daddy Should Have!” sticker? The principle stoker of this fire, James “Cletus” Carville, moments before the first plane hit the World Trade Center, himself stated that he hoped Bush would fail.  These same idiots are now crying foul that the most consistent and principled voice of modern conservatism disagrees with the most Liberal President ever?!??  Not to fear though.  I am sure that the above the fold, front page exposé on the hypocrisy of this whole episode is imminent.  Can someone check the New York Times Sunday edition for me?

Tomorrow’s Topic: Spendulus!

Popcorn… Get your Popcorn!

This is sooo much fun.  

Watch, the Head Spokes-Douche, Robert Gibbs (I mean c’mon…  Where in the hell did they find this guy?!!?  He makes Scott McClellan look like a modern day Emerson), as he gets bent over the podium by his presumed Comrade in the Media,  Jack Trapper, while trying to brush off an amazing feat of actual journalistic inquiry:

“Oh you want to dismiss my question, do you?  How about I shove an embarrassing, yet chewy, little stat up your ass illustrating the lack of support for your Generalamisimo’s stimulusless bill, dickhead?!!?”

I like mine buttered with light salt.  How do you take yours?

H/T Ace

I Support the President!

This is priceless . . . .

As someone who did not vote for President Obama, I don’t want to be lumped in with the haters, so here is a list of examples showing just how much I support our President:

1. I support him as much as Code Pink supports our troops.
2. I support him as much as N.O.W. supports Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
3. I support him as much as the Hollywood community supported Theo Van Gogh.
4. I support him as much as Nancy Pelosi supports the Catholic Church’s teachings on life.
5. I support him as much as Al Gore supports cutting down on his personal carbon footprint to save the world.
6. I support him as much as John Edwards supports The National Enquirer’s right to publish pictures of his girlfriend and baby.
7. I support him as much as Western gay rights groups support Mehdi Kazemi.
8. I support him as much as the Castro brothers support Oscar Biscet’s right to free speech.
9. I support him as much as Ted Kennedy supports renewable wind energy off the coast of his summer mansion.
10. I support him as much as Bill Clinton supports Hillary’s ambitions for higher office.
11. I support him as much as the National Education Association supports the rights of students and parents to get a quality education over the security of a teacher’s job.
12. I support him just as much as he supports the right of a baby who survives an abortion to not spend its only living moments waiting to die in a storage room.

I hope that clears everything up. Now could someone please tell what time the oceans are going to start receding because I’d really hate to miss that one.

The Disloyal Opposition urges you to listen to Rush.  Now more than ever.

H/T Babalu

I’ve got a pocketful of Kryptonite!

Taxes, Spending, and the Chicago Way!

Oh, brother.  <sigh>

If Obama is Superman, DLO vows to be Lex Luther and Kryptonite all rolled into one.  Well, two.

We Conservatives have our Superman, too.  Of course, I’m talking about Ronald Reagan.  Along with Russell Kirk (the intellectual founder), William F. Buckley (the Conservative Movement patron saint), Conservatives anointed Reagan as the Word Made Flesh.  However, unlike Super O, it took actual accomplishments and deeds for this to happen.  Reagan had a record of achievement and a bedrock of time-tested principles to back up his rhetoric.  And while Reagan had his devoted followers since his famous Goldwater speech, he didn’t become our Superman until what he espoused bore fruit, namely, renewed pride in American exceptionalism and America’s inherent goodness (shining city on a hill), the 80’s economic boom (Morning in America), and defeating Communism (Evil Empire to the ash heap of history), just to name a few.

It remains to be seen with Obama what his principles are and how far he’ll go to defend them, let alone place them into action.  A person’s accomplishments in life, professional and personal, provide the best method to measure what one believes and are guideposts to future actions.  Unfortunately, Obama’s thin resume, other than writing two books and winning the presidency, does not give us much guidance as to what he actually believes and will do.  On Tuesday and over the next four years, I guess we’ll see.

Until Obama actually does something other than give a pretty sounding speech, any dreams of a Liberal Superman are just a bunch of feel good words.