Liberal Cable Channel MSNBC Uses Smear Campaign To Bring Down Competitor
ANTI-HANNITY INSANITY
NBC Outlet Runs With Discredited Charges Against Fox Rival
With another programming day built around widely-discredited charges against a key cable rival, MSNBC has become Get Sean TV. Never mind low ratings, if the smears can be repeated often enough, perhaps they'll catch on elsewhere.
From libtalker Ed Schultz's program Tuesday evening, many of the debunked claims are dishonestly repeated:
ED SCHULTZ: And more on Sean Hannity's alleged bogus charity. That's coming up tonight.
Plus, the people accusing Sean Hannity of cheating his charity, they are not backing down. They say the alleged scam is far bigger than originally reported. One of them will join me later on in the show.
Up next, the latest on Hannity's charity scandal. Stay with us.
Finally tonight on "The Ed Show," it's been 12 days since Sean Hannity hasn't answered the questions about possible fraud and misuse of funds from his charity. He may have to answer to the IRS and Federal Trade Commission.
Hannity claims all the proceeds from his prime concerts go to a scholarship fund for the children of fallen troops. Look at these numbers. In 2009, two freedom concerts brought in more than $1 million. There have been more than 18 concerts since 2003. Assuming each of those 18 concerts say, brought in a half a million dollars, the Freedom Alliance should have raised a total of $9 million for the cause.
Other night at the Talkers Convention Hannity said they had $15 million in the bank. Except for the tax forms the Freedom Alliance reports it only five million to the scholarship fund. So Hannity's charity efforts brought in $9 million, but only five million doled out, which makes me ask, where's the rest of the money? The millions of dollars? Why is it sitting in the bank?
A blogger reported that Hannity's personal expenses in each concert, around each concert, are about $200,000 per event. For private jets, hotel suites and luxury cars. Folks at the center for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington are also asking where is the money going?
Melanie, are these normal expenses for most groups like this, most organizations like this?
GUEST MELANIE SLOAN: No, their expense ratio is way out of proportion. That's why the American Institute of Philanthropy has given them an F or D since 2006 on the way they spend their money. They have very high problematic -- they put things like fund-raising in a programatic cost.
I think it's important here the concerts are actually put on by a group called Premiere Marketing, a for-profit entity. They're the ones who collect the money and give some small portion of those proceeds to the Freedom Alliance for the college scholarships. We don't know how much money. In 2007 it was reported it was $4 a ticket.
We haven't seen any kind of numbers since that time. Whatever it is it's some tiny amount. Most of money goes to premiere marketing, a for-profit company. That, by the way, is run by dwayne ward who runs the premiere speakers bureau which so happens to have oliver north, freedom alliance's chairman and sean hannity as clients.
What would they be doing with $15 million in the bank?
They say they're saving it in a trust fund because there are so many kids of wounded veterans that aren't college age yet and want to grow the money.
SCHULTZ: Okay. That is normal with some charities that are out there. We'll have more on this story again tomorrow night. Thanks.
But Schultz must know that the blogger's allegations regarding Hannity's supposed "personal expenses" were never substantiated. In fact, those expenditures were actually related to costs incurred for transportation and lodging for performing artists at the concerts.
Also key: many of the children who will benefit from scholarships are still quite young, hence the need to save and invest much of funds that have been raised.
Perhaps the most outrageous smear is the assertion that Hannity has somehow avoided answering questions about the Freedom Alliance, when in fact he has simply deferred to the organization's lengthy refutation of the charges. What more is there to say?
The bottom line: Schultz and MSNBC aren't interested in the truth, only in perpetuating a disgusting smear campaign against a key cable rival.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Now that Hannity finds himself in a similar situation, falsely accused of misrepresenting a charity's expenditures (which helps the children of troops), it will be interesting to see how he might go about implementing a similarly successful strategy.
And from there, a "progressive" organization announced yesterday it was filing federal complaints against Hannity and the Freedom Alliance, the charity in question.
That had hotheaded MSNBC libtalker Dylan Ratigan salivating at the opportunity to promote the smear campaign during yesterday's program. Ratigan even used a "Busted" graphic image to introduce the segment:
RATIGAN (4.50 Monday 29 March 2010): Up next, a series of charity concerts organized by Fox News' Sean Hannity hitting a sour note.
[Here's] Hannity himself explaining the charity's mission:
These guys have kids. The purpose is all of the money that we make we put in a scholarship fund for the children of these slain heroes.
A noble cause, no doubt. It's simply not the case, according to the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
They have now filed -- that's a funny title for that town. Any way, they filed complaints with both the Federal Trade Commission and the IRS claiming we will never know if every penny goes to the kids.
The complaint alleges that illegal and deceptive marketing practices by suggesting that all money generated by ticket sales for the freedom concerts he sponsors each summer goes to scholarships for children of killed and wounded service members.
The group actually gave 12% of its revenue to the children of fallen soldiers while spending more than 150 grand on travel expenses. The list goes on. The Freedom Alliance says their financial records not only meet but exceed charity standards. What the heck. You come up with a good cause.
Give 10% or 15% away and keep the rest for yourself. What do I know? Who knows what happens to the rest of it? Not going to the kids, apparently.
But as we had reported nearly two weeks ago, the Freedom Alliance has easily refuted the charges, making it clear this is nothing more than a targeted political attack against a key opponent.
But that won't stop careless MSNBC rats from scurrying about in an excited state.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Rosie O'Donnell: Geometry Can Be Used To Prove Need For ObamaCare
AXIS OF STUPIDITY
Rosie Uses New Math To Justify ObamaCare
With liberalism built primarily around feel-good emotionalism, what happens when one of its staunchest defenders attempts to use logic to defend a position?
The results can be downright hilarious.
Below, watch (from Friday's satellite radio program) as Rosie O'Donnell lays out the "reasons" for ObamaCare, using geometry to "prove" her point:
O'DONNELL (9:01): I love geometry because [it has] the givens, and I think this would help the world.When you do a geometry problem, it's like, 'Given: A equals 90 degrees' [or] 'Given: Lines C and D are parallel'.
With[in] the givens, you have to prove your point, and I think if we could agree on the givens in our society, like, 'It is a given that every human being in this country deserves health care'.
When there's a given, you can't change [it]. It's not whether or not we should[provide health care]. It's a given.
Next up: Rosie's new hotline for kids who need help with their homework!
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Libtalker Calls For Deaths Of Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O'Reilly
LIBTALKER: TIME TO DIE
Limbaugh, O'Reilly, Beck Targeted By Hate Rhetoric
While mainstream conservative talk hosts are under fire for supposedly inciting (since generally debunked) "violence" against congressional Democrats, it's worth noting that liberal talk radio has used recent events to ramp up the rhetoric to levels previously unheard.
From yesterday's Mike Malloy Show, here's a rant one can expect to see ignored by CNN, MSNBC, the New York Times and Washington Post:
MALLOY (31:30): It took these filthy Republicans about 48 hours- 72 hours to come up with the 'oh, yeah, well, you know, we're getting bad phone calls too, yes we are.
And then this John Boner, this John Boner [sic] these guys created this. they created this atmosphere, they did it because Limbaugh and Beck told them to!
MALLOY (36:25):Well, keep it up boys, just keep it up, um except for one thing: you rat bastards are going to cause another Murrah federal building explosion, you are. And then - what is Beck - maybe at that point Beck will do the honorable thing and blow his brains out.
Maybe at that point, Limbaugh will do the honorable thing and just gobble up enough - enough Viagra that he becomes absolutely rigid and keels over dead.
Maybe then O'Reilly will just drink a vat of the poison he spews out on America every night and choke to death! Because that's what's gonna to happen, that's what they are pushing these right-wing, nut case, fringe, militia jerk-wads to doing!
If our mainstream media friends would like additional examples of hate coming from the left's airwaves, additional examples are coming in every day. It's like clockwork.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
MSNBC's Schultz: Time For A Government Takeover Of Talk Radio
VIVA HUGO!
Libtalker: Time For Socialism In Broadcasting
*** CAUGHT ON TAPE EXCLUSIVE *** Feeling emboldened by the Democratic Party's success in imposing ObamaCare on the American public, lefties are already looking for the next hot issue to shove down our throats. For MSNBC libtalker Ed Schultz, it's the airwaves that should next be subjected to a socialist government takeover.
From Caracas, Hugo Chavez sends his best wishes.
After all, how is it fair that Rush Limbaugh has over 600 stations, while Big Eddie's affiliates can be counted on one hand? Here's what he told radio listeners earlier this week:
SCHULTZ (30:58, initially responding to caller claiming "virtual war" between Dems and GOP): It is a cultural war that's taking place in America, you're exactly right. And it's being played out over the airwaves of America. And I hope the Democrats now turn to the Fairness Doctrine.
It's time now for the Democrats to consider the Fairness Doctrine when you've got Rush Limbaugh out there saying, it's, we've got to defeat these bastards. He is now openly admitting that he is going to work against and campaign against the Republican, against the Democratic Party and campaign against Obama, and he is motivating people with the microphone and he's electioneering. Keep on talking, Rushsky! Hell, maybe I'll get on 600 stations too, or how many you own or whatever.
The fact is, look, it's not a level playing field when it comes to the audio culture of the country. Ownership has its privileges. When you own, I will be honest, if I owned 500 stations, the drugster wouldn't be on any of 'em. And that's just where it's at right now. But maybe we have reached the point where the Congress needs to equal it out. Equal out the audience.
SCHULTZ (32:51): Just keep in mind, there aren't any poor people with microphones.
SCHULTZ (33:56): And so, I think that, you know, hell, if we're going to be socialist, let's be socialist all across the board.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Libtalker: US Supreme Court 'Might Call Obama The N-Word'
MINDING THE STORE
With Crazy Rant, Fill-In Libtalker Upstages Regular Host
Here's a question for any talk host taking time off: who's minding the store?
Available fill-in talent often ranges from boring and unlistenable to dangerously over-the-top. Ed Schultz's regular sub, Norman Goldman, is in the latter camp, often sounding simply deranged and mean-spirited.
This passage, however, may actually win the prize for hate-mongering as Goldman wonders aloud whether a majority of the US Supreme Court would call Obama the N-word:
NORMAN GOLDMAN (32:06): The best argument that I can see coming from the opponents of health insurance reform, the best argument is, is that the mandate is unconstitutional.
The mandate's unconstitutional, their argument is, is that it is not, quote, 'regulating interstate commerce to force people to do business with private insurance companies.'
That's their best argument and they may win. Because five members of the Supreme Court don't like Mr Obama. And they'd be happy to rub his nose in the mud.
They might even call him the N-word. You never know.
As Goldman is better connected to the left than some might suspect, is he revealing his party's next strategy, a concentrated campaign of harassment against US Supreme Court justices?
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Barney Frank: ObamaCare Opponents Just Like Bullies Who Drive Teens To Suicide
BARNEY'S BULLIES
Frank Reminds Us: He Wrote The Book On Sleazy Rhetoric
While the state-run media work overtime portraying Republicans as "losing ugly" on ObamaCare, along comes Barney Frank to show them how it's really done! Sore Winner Syndrome (SWS) is alive and well on the left.
After all, the Massachusetts Democrat pretty much wrote the book on dubious rhetorical associations, though this may prove a fresh low even for him. During last night's Rachel Maddow Show, Frank linked opponents of socialized medicine and Republicans to schoolyard bullies who drive teens to suicide.
FRANK (11:32): In Massachusetts, they just passed a very good bill, unanimous, Democrats and Republicans, to try and prevent junior high school kids and high school kids from being bullied, from the name-calling, etc., and that's going on in a lot of places in the country. We've had suicides from young people who have been bullied. What do they see, though, if they watch television over the weekend, adults doing the same kind of bullying and Republican leaders cheering on the bullies.
FRANK (12:12): My partner, Jim, and I were walking from, and I say, we walked from the (garbled) House office building to another, there was a great deal of shouting, you know, waving of fists and signs and people sort of getting very close and yelling and a number of the comments were homophobic.
The bottom line: Democrats can complain about protests as much as they like, but Americans are far more concerned with figuring out how to pay for this trillion-dollar boondoggle.
As for Frank, unless a credible Republican enters the race (not a perennial candidate with criminal convictions), he is safe in November.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
In a further sign of increasing division within the black community, callers are continuing to use Al Sharpton's radio program to criticize Barack Obama.
With Al having abandoned street-level protests in favor of Beltway establishment elitism, the exchanges are becoming increasingly awkward. While he plays defense, listeners vent their frustrations.
Even his fill-ins are feeling the heat: during Friday's show, substitute host / longtime Sharpton crony Charlie King used White House talking points to rebut unhappy listeners and defend the Reverend himself:
DERRICK IN CHICAGO (32:26): We all felt that sense of pride in self the night in Grant Park when Barack Obama became the first black president, but I once was quoted saying it’s not about a black president solely. It’s about what's going to be done for our people. At the rate he’s going, if you had to be perfectly candid my friend, you would agree that he probably on pace to be the first black, or the first president period regardless of what ethnicity group to totally, virtually abandon his own people.
DERRICK (45:54): I’m critical of Rev. Sharpton because that’s an about face. I mean he’s become this world figure now and it seems like the bigger he gets the more; the Bible lets us know you judge one’s greatness by how they treat the least of thee. So, to give us all this gibberish on his radio show every day and then here’s an opportunity for him to deal with the issues.
Don’t go in no private meeting with Barack Obama and so-called civil rights leaders and come out of there and now all of a sudden…
[King interrupts]
CHARLIE KING: Well, hey Derrick, let me flip it to you the other way, you’ve got folks who aren’t meeting with the President of the United States who aren’t coming up with an agenda. I asked you what Obama should be doing.
I’ll tell you that what I think you know President Obama should be doing is to make sure that we have in our community, health care and I think he’s doing that with this Bill. It’s the first step. And I think with the jobs program, he is beginning to do that as well and when it comes to education, I think he’s taking care of our schools. So, I’m giving you some concrete examples.
Previously, we've tracked this growing phenomenon here and here.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Libtalker Attacks Michele Bachmann: 'She's A Freaking Dwarf'
BACHMANN OVERDRIVE
Left's Attacks On MN Congresswoman Increasingly Personal
It's no secret the left has long despised Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, but the most recent attacks on the Minnesota Republican have become increasingly personal.
What's moved "progressives" into overdrive? It's more than her assertive, charismatic and unwavering nature: Bachmann's ability to rally the troops on issues like ObamaCare is a serious threat to the Obamist left.
RHODES (09:56): And in comes Michele Bachmann and I almost didn't recognize her. Here's the deal; check this out, she's a freaking dwarf! I'm so serious. You know it's always something with those girls, she's a dwarf!
She's maybe four foot eleven, I swear to God, and maybe, maybe she weighs eighty pounds. She's a dwarf, she's got a Napoleon complex, that's what going on with that! And she - first, she comes and she makes a beeline over to me and Shepherd and she goes 'hello my name is Michele Bachmann and I'm a member of Congress and I really haven't met you yet, so I just wanted to introduce myself. You're Shepherd Smith aren't you?' And Shepherd goes, who are you?
Hey Randi, isn'tJaneane Garofalo also about that size? Does that make her a "freaking dwarf" with a "Napoleon complex"? She's every bit as strong-willed as Bachmann, if not considerably more so.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Hannity-Backed Foundation Fires Back Against Blogger's Accusations
BLOWBACK
Hannity-Backed Foundation Refutes Blogger's Allegations
An incendiary article from a conservative blogger is being strongly refuted today by its target, a charitable foundation backed by talker Sean Hannity of the Fox News Channel.
Posted yesterday by Debbie Schlussel at her site, the piece accuses Hannity of perpetuating "a giant con" in promoting his annual Freedom Concerts, which benefit the Freedom Alliance. At issue are both the group's expenses and subsequent charitable contributions, which Schlussel believes are questionable.
Schlussel's work was quickly picked upand hyped by a number of left-wing websites including the Huffington Post (headline: Hannity Freedom Concerts a 'Scam,' Blogger Says), Media Matters and dozens of others.
From her piece, which utilizes at least one unnamed source:
In fact, less than 20%–and in two recent years, less than 7% and 4%, respectively–of the money raised by Freedom Alliance went to these causes, while millions of dollars went to expenses, including consultants and apparently to ferry the Hannity posse of family and friends in high style. And, despite Hannity’s statements to the contrary on his nationally syndicated radio show, few of the children of fallen soldiers got more than $1,000-$2,000, with apparently none getting more than $6,000, while Freedom Alliance appears to have spent tens of thousands of dollars for private planes. Moreover, despite written assurances to donors that all money raised would go directly to scholarships for kids of the fallen heroes and not to expenses, has begun charging expenses of nearly $500,000 to give out just over $800,000 in scholarships.
In February 2009, a well-known conservative writer sent me this, about a friend at FOX News:
The guy went on to tell me about Hannity’s “Freedom Concerts,” which are staged across the country with the proceeds going to children of slain soldiers. Of course, as the guy tells it, there’d be a lot more money every concert to go to the cause if Hannity didn’t demand–and get–use of a Gulfstream 5 plane to fly him and his family/entourage to the concerts; a “fleet” (that’s the word the guy used) of either Cadillac or Lincoln SUVs for him and his family/entourage; and several suites at really expensive hotels for him and his family/entourage. The promoter apparently values Hannity’s star demands at well over $200,000 per event. The source says he heard that Oliver North pulled Hannity aside at one of the concerts and told him that this had to stop. But that may mean that, from now on, Hannity has to fly on a G4 instead of a G5, gets only a few luxury SUVs, and two or three suites.
North is the founder and honorary chairman of Freedom Alliance.
I began investigating these claims, and lo and behold, I discovered that Freedom Alliance gives very little money to the children of slain troops to pay for college and even less to wounded troops. The stories of injuries to troops and how much Freedom Alliance gives them–$200 for a soldier from a poor neighborhood who lost three limbs–is heartbreaking. Soldiers with traumatic brain injuries, severe wounds to the face from disfiguring burns and explosions, and multiple amputations got $1,000 or less, with only a handful of exceptions.
Unfortunately, Schlussel doesn't provide any documentation for the assertion that Freedom Alliance claimed in writing that 100 percent of donated funds would go to scholarships, so we don't know if it's true.
Schlussel's characterizations and assertions need to be taken with more than a grain of salt -- they require an entire salt lick, at least. But her numbers seem to check out. If her assertions that Hannity has made false claims in raising money for the charity are also true, that would be scandalous.
Editors at The New York Times and the Washington Post have said in recent months that their papers need to do a better job of picking up on stories right-wing web sites are pushing. Schlussel's investigation into Hannity and Freedom Alliance would seem like a good place for the Post and Times to do some digging -- unless, of course, they only intend to follow up on conservative attacks on liberals.
But the Freedom Alliance itself is taking strong exception to her allegations. From a statement released moments ago:
March 18, 2010
Dear Friends of Freedom Alliance:
This week, false and malicious allegations about Freedom Alliance were posted on the Internet and we want to address them with you. We don’t know the motivation for these vicious smears, but we will not allow them to go unanswered.
First, we want to thank you for your support and assure you that Freedom Alliance’s record of financial stewardship and programmatic achievements not only meets, but exceeds standards of program efficiency set by most charity evaluators. We are extraordinarily proud of our work at Freedom Alliance and stand by our efforts 100 percent.
False Accusations
1. The blog posting accuses our friend Sean Hannity of personally benefiting from Freedom Alliance. This is FALSE. Freedom Alliance has never provided planes, hotels, cars, limos, or anything else to Sean. Sean gets nothing from Freedom Alliance except our gratitude for his personal generosity and for all he has done to help the troops and our organization. We have never had to ask Sean for anything, he always generously offers his help before we have a chance to ask him. But to be clear Sean pays for all his own transportation, hotels, and all related expenses for himself and his family and friends and staff, which over the years has added up to tens of thousands of dollars. He does not use any Freedom Alliance Funds or Concert funds in any way, period.
2. Sean Hannity has contributed $100,000 to the Wounded Warriors Foundation, over $200,000 to the Freedom Alliance, and over tens of thousands of dollars to other military charities and individuals. We only make this information public because of the outrageous slander against him. Sean has no management or operational involvement in, or control over, Freedom Alliance. He has been a selfless patriot in his efforts to raise funds for the education of children of armed services personnel.
3. The blog posting accuses Freedom Alliance of spending less than 20% of money raised on program activities. This is FALSE. Listed below are the amounts that Freedom Alliance spent for each of the past three years and the categories on which they were spent. The figures are taken from our Federal Form 990 which is filed with the Internal Revenue Service and posted on our web site and audited by an independent auditor using Generally Accepted Accounting Principles. This financial record not only meets, but exceeds standards of program efficiency set by most charity evaluators.
4. In 2008, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $6,745,717. Of that:
• • •
79 percent ($5,317,970) was spent on Program Activities 14 percent ($945,950) was spent on Fundraising 7 percent ($481,797) was spent on ManagementIn 2007, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $7,461,350. Of that:
• 81.5 percent ($6,084,474) was spent on Program Activities • 13.5 percent ($1,011,501) was spent on Fundraising • 5 percent ($365,375) was spent on Management
In 2006, Freedom Alliance spent a total of $7,064,839. Of that:
• 77 percent ($5,434,538) was spent on Program Activities • 18.5 percent ($1,308,414) was spent on Fundraising • 4.5 percent ($321,887) was spent on Management
5. The blog posting accuses Freedom Alliance of spending money intended for student scholarships on other expenses. This is FALSE. Freedom Alliance has distributed $3.4 million in Scholarships and created a Scholarship Trust Fund with the additional money that we have raised for that program. That fund now contains $15 million, over $10 million of which has been raised by Hannity and the concerts. Our scholarship program is managed with the understanding that it will be needed for at least the next 20 years as there are children who will ultimately receive a scholarship who are now only a few years old. As indicated on our Federal Form 990, these funds are restricted and used only for future scholarships.
6. Our Scholarship Fund is one of four programs operated by Freedom Alliance. Supporters may donate to a specific program or for general operating purposes. In 2008, Freedom Alliance received $2.1 million in scholarship donations. The same year, we awarded $802,250 in scholarships and applied $1.3 million to our Scholarship Trust Fund. The funds donated by Sean Hannity directly -- or through the proceeds of the Freedom Concerts -- and the support of thousands of Americans are used for these purposes:
• Freedom Alliance Scholarship Fund: Providing scholarships to those whose parents have been killed or severely injured in their service to our Country. There is now over $15 million in the scholarship fund for the students as they come of age.
• Support our Troops: Many events each year are planned and executed by our staff to show appreciate and provide special opportunities for those actively serving in the military.
• Leadership Academy: A program for high school students in which they are encouraged and trained to serve their country.
These programs would not be possible without the support of Mr. Hannity and many others.
We are proud of our work and numerous accomplishments. We are grateful to our supporters whose voluntary contributions make it possible and we thank you.
While it is discouraging to have our record misrepresented in such a malicious way, our work is important and, with your support, it will continue.
Respectfully,
Thomas P. Kilgannon
Oliver L. North - President Founder & Honorary Chairman Freedom Alliance
22570 Markey Court, Suite 240 Dulles, Virginia 20166 (703) 444-7940
If there wasreally something to this, wouldn't the left have uncovered it long ago?
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Al Sharpton Uses Radio Show To Fight Back Against WSJ Piece
THE SELL-OUT
Sharpton Defensive Over Charges He's Too Cozy With Obama
For many Americans, the controversy must seem puzzling: a public flap over Al Sharpton's increasingly-visible role as Defender-in-Chief of Barack Obama. Weren't they always close?
Most likely, the answer is yes, but Obama campaigned as a mainstream figure who supposedly wasn't taking orders from Jesse Jackson, Sharpton and other inflammatory, polarizing individuals. Until African-American callers began to use the Reverend's program to air grievances with the president, little attention was paid to this downplayed relationship.
So whose side is Sharpton taking, that of Washington's elite establishment, or street-level activists elsewhere who've long formed the backbone of his political support base?
Here's Sharpton's defensive on-air response to the Journal piece:
SHARPTON (12:57): I woke up this morning, the Wall Street Journal has a front page story about me and the President saying I’m his new friend, that I’ve been defending him against some attacks from some blacks and I thought it was interesting.
I have said that we need to solve our problems and not expect the President to advocate to himself for us. We’ve got to do that, which we have done with our meetings with him and the Congressional Black Caucus and all.
And it’s interesting to me that some people don’t understand that to try and make the President do certain things will only benefit the right wing who wants to get the President and us.
Clearly, Sharpton's learning the hard way that one can't have it both ways: accepting a new role as elitist insider with special White House access means leaving past allies behind.
The bigger question: did Al sell out his friends further back than anyone might believe in exchange for upward mobility in Washington? Finally, will supporters buy his defense, or has the brand been tarnished?
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Rosie Prefers Taxpayer-Funded Abortion As Cheaper Alternative To Living
ROSIE THE EXTERMINATOR
Why Let Children Live When Disposal Is Cheaper?
Who knew Rosie O'Donnell was so concerned about public spending?
During her satellite libtalk program yesterday, O'Donnell made clear why taxpayer-funded abortions are necessary (as part of the ObamaCare bill): to avoid wasting money on "half a million" children in foster care, all apparently "unwanted".
Here's a partial transcript and clip with more context:
JANETTE BARBER (executive producer) (sarcastically) (1:44:29): Church and state has really, really been separated.
O'DONNELL: So sad, and it's so scary, but we can pay for all of the unwanted kids and the half-million of them in foster care.
I'm for a woman's right to choose. I'm not so sure that I would be able to choose that, but I'm for a woman's right to choose.
BARBER: That's what it's about. It's not about making anybody do something that they don't feel is morally right for them. It's about choice.
To really capture the soulless, callous and cold-hearted nature of O'Donnell's comments, try listening to her words several times. Only at that point does Rosie's cruelty truly become clear.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Talk about a stubborn mule: three years after her televised 9-11 conspiracy theories misled the public, Rosie O'Donnell is at it again. Without the benefit of The View to espouse her thoroughly-debunked nonsense, Rosie is taking up an increasing amount of radio airtime on her satellite program to push the agenda.
O'DONNELL (54:19) (after Barbara Walters has described Ventura's claim that 9/11 was an inside job as 'a terrible accusation'): Is that such a terrible accusation? I don't know.
JANETTE BARBER (executive producer): You have to look at the truth! Remember that guy [Richard] Clarke? He wrote [that] in January [2001], before 9/11 they were talking about war in Iraq.
O'DONNELL: There was a whole lot of meetings where people said there needed to be a Pearl Harbor-like incident to rally the support of the Americans. Those are facts you can look up.
BARBER (56:39): It's perfectly patriotic to say, 'I think our government is a liar. I think our government did it [i.e., 9/11]. We are supposed to own our government.
O'DONNELL: What I think I'm trying to put out is [that] you're allowed to say [that] the official story defies the laws of physics.
We're also allowed to say that O'Donnell knows a lot less about physics than the folks at Popular Mechanics. Stop beating a dead horse, Rosie.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Rush Limbaugh Propels Forgotten Composer To Number One In Music
THERE'S WALDO!
Dead Since 1977, Argentine Composer Rockets Up The Charts
As a long-forgotten Argentine composer rocketed up today's music charts, the power of talk radio was once again underscored.
All it took was the airing of a brief selection during Rush Limbaugh's radio program yesterday (and a subsequent mention today) to propel Waldo de los Rios into first place at Amazon, ahead of new releases by Jimi Hendrix and Sade.
Previously, de los Rios works were ranked 130,000 or lower and most titles aren't even in print, forcing his label to "rush" a fresh pressing for the sake of Limbaugh listeners.
De los Rios took his own life in 1977 and his work has attracted little attention since, but retains a cult following. He's best remembered for fusing together classics and pop music, soundtracks and some film work.
Reacting to the sales surge (Serie de Oro, a 2003 re-release of his work, did not reach number one until after today's program), Limbaugh himself expressed amazement:
RUSH: You know, this really is amazing. I very seldom am impressed by anything I do. I've become used to it. But this, this that's happened here with Waldo de los Rios at Amazon is mind-boggling. Now, listen to this been played Waldo de los Rios, Mozart Symphony 40 G minor yesterday, right after the third hour of the program began. I played it because people asked me what I was playing the air violin to here on the Dittocam.
So yesterday at the time we played Waldo de los Rios on Amazon, the CD that we played the song from ranked in 136,000th place. At the moment, Waldo de los Rios is in 31st place. He is up 439,000%. With that song being played one time yesterday, mentioned by me one time on this program. In addition to that, Waldo de los Rios is now number one on Amazon in the Classical Music Imports Latin Music category. After playing the song one time through the flamethrower setting of our Aphex MK-2020, hot dog compressor. I mean, up 486,000%. Stunning! And they sit there and they talk about Oprah.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Folks, this is incredible here what's happening with Waldo de los Rios. Yesterday I played Mozart symphony 40 G minor one time. Yesterday the CD containing the tune at Amazon was in 136,705th place. Twenty minutes ago it was in 31st place. Right now it's at 19th place. It is up 719,400%.
Now, you gotta figure here, Waldo de los Rios passed away to the great conductor's pit in 1977. He's gotta have family. His record company, "What the hell is happening here?" And, in fact, there are three Waldo de los Rios CDs that are number one, two, and three at Amazon's Movers & Shakers in music, all categories, after playing that tune one time. And now people that didn't hear it yesterday: "Well, what is it?" Pot it up, Brian. I got it playing behind me right now, here's a little sample of it. We're going to play it out of my computer from iTunes so let 'er rip. Right at the top here, from the beginning -- no, it's the end. The end sounds like the beginning. Hear that compression, suck up that beginning.
Consider this another reminder of the power of talk radio's audience. When sales departments claim they can't sell controversial programming because of advertiser fears, it's simply an excuse for poor performance. A devoted listenership supports its favorite hosts financially.
This also obliterates the assertions of a Boston station that recently lost the rights to Limbaugh's program, only to claim in the press it was their own idea to "cancel" him. That outlet was built around its airing of Rush and will struggle to survive without him.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Saving Beck so far is the unwillingness of many key conservatives to condemn Beck for fear of a backlash from his fans. Will that pattern soon end? Yesterday's debacle certainly opened the door.
Just as important is whether our state-run media friends who've spent so much time creating the image of Beck as conservative ringleader will now work to bring him down and hope for accompanying damage to the movement.
Massa had come on Fox to out-Beck Glenn Beck. Armed with the very same weapons — a deep sense of victimhood, outrage at the powers that be and remarkable personal candor — the Representative delivered a dizzying confessional. He admitted to sexless groping and tickling of his staff, sending inappropriate text messages and otherwise failing to behave like a Congressman should, all as he made his case that his fellow Democrats had really gone after him because of his previous no vote on health care reform. "I can't fight this. I can't fight cancer," Massa announced, in a classic stream-of-consciousness ramble. "I can't fight the White House. I can't fight the Democratic Party." (See TIME's cover story "Mad Man: Is Glenn Beck Bad for America?")
Beck, who is used to controlling the gravitational force of victimhood around him, kept interrupting to point out that he was a bigger target of even greater forces than Massa. "I have two unauthorized biographies coming out against me in the spring," Beck said at one point. Minutes later, Beck went even further. "Do you realize my family is at stake?" he said. "You've got a little scandal with your children in college. I've got one for all time now, because I am not going to resign. I'm not going to back down. I have come to a place where I believe at some point the system will destroy me."
But Beck could not compete with the oddity of the sympathy card Massa kept pulling. He appeared frustrated that Massa wasn't revealing any more sinister plots afoot in the nation's capital, and he got visibly annoyed when Massa tried to take some measure of responsibility for his actions and attempted to walk back some of his more heated rhetoric against White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
And to make things worse, when Massa turned from discussing his own woes to the machinations of Washington, he offered ideas that have no place in Fox News's tightly regulated framework. Massa suggested that Beck and other Americans demand "campaign finance reform" to curb the corruption on Capitol Hill. Beck, who has called such proposals a "huge mistake," put his hand over his mouth, as if he were holding back an upset stomach. Massa, who has opposed Obama's health reform because it is not liberal enough, told Beck that he should stop calling people names like "socialist" and "communist." "You can be a progressive and be a fiscal conservative," Massa then explained, as Beck lost control of his own program.
[...]
But in Massa, Beck found a sort of liberal doppelgänger, a mesmerizing train wreck of a man who was impossible to undercut in the classic fashion. To many conservative allies of Beck, it probably didn't come as too much of a surprise. In recent days, prominent Republicans like Bill Kristol had expressly warned Beck and others about coming to Massa's defense just because he was alleging dirty tricks by the Obama White House. "We shouldn't get into the business of being pro-Massa just because we are anti–health care," Kristol said on Monday on Fox. The ruling talk-radio king, Rush Limbaugh, spent much of Tuesday making clear that he would not be tied to Massa, after spending much of Monday praising Massa's revelations about Democratic Party politics. "Anybody who embraces this guy is in big trouble," Limbaugh said.
[...]
But Beck, who thrives on publicity stunts and controversy, could not resist engaging with Massa. On Tuesday morning, during his radio show, Beck compared the Democrat to both a mobster wanting to testify against John Gotti and a potential Soviet spy wanting to "cross over to our side." The conservative blogger Michelle Malkin called into the show to tell Beck he was making a mistake. "This guy deserves 60 minutes of our time, really?" Malkin asked.
Beck would not budge. But as those 60 minutes came to an end on Tuesday afternoon, the rabble-rouser seemed to recognize that he had fallen into a trap. The Beck big top has room for only one carnival barker at a time. "I think I have wasted your time," Beck said, staring into the camera at an audience he once spent weeks telling about fanciful FEMA prison camps. "I think this is the first time I have wasted an hour of your time."
For the sake of the movement, key conservative leaders must break their silence and openly denounce Beck's distracting sideshow now before Beck is able to undercut gains in November's election.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
Libtalker Malloy Accuses 'Glenn Beck Fan' Of Pentagon Shootings
SMEAR FRONTLOADING
Lefties Master The Baseless Preemptive Attack
After years of refining their technique, lefties seem to have mastered the art of the preemptive smear. Now, political opponents are instantly to blame for virtually any tragedy that might befall the innocent, anytime and anywhere.
Although he had no connection to Bedell or the incident, lefties worked quickly to bring Glenn Beck into the mix. Sloppily, HBO's Bill Maher said he wished Beck had been killed at the Pentagon, while longtime libtalker Mike Malloy claimed the shooter was one of Glenn's fans:
MALLOY (04:01): So, a shooting at the Pentagon, uh, a Glenn Beck fan who obviously went beserk and decided to kill police officers at the, at the Pentagon and didn't succeed; at least neither officer is dead yet.
Um, and the perpetrator apparently is not dead yet either, so maybe they can, uh, when they fix him up, they can waterboard him a bit and find out what it was that Glenn Beck said that made him decide to open fire, uh, near the entrance of the Pentagon.
Jesus, God, Glenn, you better back off, seriously. You're pushing the nut cases in this country to the max. Well, that's what you're trying to do, never mind.
Of course, once the details have emerged and it becomes clear they're wrong, apologies are almost never offered. That's why frontloading smears has proven so effective: they're rarely held accountable when the truth is revealed.
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
For "progressive" Democrats who can't imagine anything standing between them and endless spending opportunities, Senator Jim Bunning's lone crusade to turn the lights out on their wild party can only mean insanity on the Kentucky Republican's part.
MADDOW (00:56 in segment on Maddow MSNBC site titled "Paygo principle missing in Bunning's record"): It is not possible to report accurately on what's been a very bizarre term of events in the Senate without also explaining that Sen. Bunning has a history of bizarre behavior, behavior that's not just politically strong-willed, that's not just him having extreme opinions on issues, but rather we mean literally strange behavior.
To the point where even his hometown newspaper has at times questioned his mental fitness, saying 'Is his increasing belligerence an indication of something worse? Has [he] drifted into territory that indicates a serious health concern?'
Sure, intellectual honesty is a bit much to ask of Maddow, but why does she leave herself so easily vulnerable to such criticism?
Amazon orders originating with clicks here benefit The Radio Equalizer's ongoing operations. Your PayPal contributions keep this site humming along. Thanks!
That's about the only way to explain MSNBC's new obsession with bringing down Sean Hannity at all costs. Yesterday, we covered Dylan Ratigan's liberal use of sloppy "reporting" in a particularly sleazy segment, but the latest example seems even more blatant.
That's about the only way to explain MSNBC's new obsession with bringing down Sean Hannity at all costs. Yesterday, we covered Dylan Ratigan's liberal use of sloppy "reporting" in a particularly sleazy segment, but the latest example seems even more blatant.Finally tonight on "The Ed Show," it's been 12 days since Sean Hannity hasn't answered the questions about possible fraud and misuse of funds from his charity. He may have to answer to the IRS and Federal Trade Commission.
GUEST MELANIE SLOAN: No, their expense ratio is way out of proportion. That's why the American Institute of Philanthropy has given them an F or D since 2006 on the way they spend their money. They have very high problematic -- they put things like fund-raising in a programatic cost.
