DAMN, I'M GOOD! It's All About Al, So Why Was He Hired?
With no incentive to reform his dubious behavior, why exactly should Al Sharpton change his ways? Why pretend to be anything other than a self-promoting charlatan?
Because there's always someone waiting to reward the so-called civil rights leader for his antics, an increasingly emboldened reverend now brazenly admits his stunts are all about looking to "MAKE the news".
As a partisan activist, there's nothing unusual about his new assertions, many political operatives suffer from excessively high self-esteem. But how does this fit with with cable talk? Sharpton matches MSNBC's ideology, but that's where the similarities end.
From his syndicated radio show earlier this week, watch as the reverend conveniently whitewashes his career history / body count (Tawana, Freddy's Fashion Mart, etc) in favor of ridiculous boasting:
AL SHARPTON: I try to try my best always when we involved in a case whether it is any case from Jena 6 to Imus when we first came on the air on the radio. We fought Jena 6, Imus, Katrina all the way through Sean Bell.
Every case we try to have long standing activism to change something rather than just deal with news flashes. You know I tell people all the time I don’t cover the news, we make the news and we try to make history if we can from the news of the day.
Making news is one thing, but how about credibility and even ratings? Those are harder to manufacture.
Given the Texas governor's clear agreement with our "progressive" friends on more than one issue, they're looking especially silly at the moment.
Widely derided by conservatives, Perry's debate performance last week has libs in a pickle: should they really continue to trash a guy who adamantly supports in-state tuition rates for illegal aliens? His response would have fit right in at MSNBC.
In recent days, libtalkers have carefully maneuvered around this minefield, offering praise where they concur, but ramping up the personal smear factor to preserve precious "progressive" street cred. We wouldn't want to upset the collective! After all, he's still an eeeeeeevil Republican!
Filling in for Randi Rhodes, here's how lefty author/editor David Sirota handled it:
DAVID SIROTA (RANDI RHODES SHOW - FRIDAY 23 SEPT 2011 HOUR ONE 03:24): I'm not feeling all that sweet about agreeing with Rick Perry, who increasingly is behaving like a psychopath, but I guess if a stopwatch is right twice a day I guess Rick Perry is right once in a while.
[...]
SIROTA (50:06): Rick Santorum I think is a - is a political psychopath!!! Not to put too fine a point on it - this is a guy who likens homosexuality to bestiality. This guy is way, way out there. He is on the Taliban wing of the Republican Party. So I think he really believes that. But I wonder how many Americans believe that.
Yes, ALL of our political opponents are "psychopaths", isn't that convenient?
Exclusive: Rush Limbaugh Reacts To Gary Johnson's Debate Joke
ONE BUSY SHOVEL Rush: Mr Show AND Debate Prep?
If it places an overlooked presidential candidate on the political radar screen, does it matter that his "debate-winning" joke was lifted from a radio talk show?
After Gary Johnson's (via AP, shown at right) laugh-inducing "shovel-ready" gag at Thursday's forum boosted his sagging fortunes, a mini-media firestorm erupted over its source.
That's because it's almost a carbon-copy of a line heard on Rush Limbaugh's show earlier that same day. Filling in for Limbaugh today, Mark Steyn noted the striking similarity.
But that wasn't good enough for your Radio Equalizer: we wanted to know what the Talk Titan himself felt about the matter. Was he upset about it?
So, with apologies up front for disturbing him on his day off, we tracked down El Rushbo and got his quick reaction:
EQ: What's your reaction to Gary Johnson use of your line last night? There's such a media frenzy about it (ABC: "it stinks of a stolen line"), did it bother you, or did you find it funny?
RUSH LIMBAUGH: Bother me? Is the first time I’ve been copied or ripped off? LOL… This happens every day in the media. I guess I’ve now become show prep for the GOP debates, too.
EQ: Is it more like imitation = flattery, or something you shrug your shoulders over?
RUSH: Shrug.
Somehow, we doubt this will be the last time Rush-related content ends up in a GOP presidential debate, especially given Johnson's success yesterday in Florida.
DEFLECT-O-MATIC Libs Crank Up Blame-Shifting Machine, Race Card
Spending much of the week voicing rage (!!!!!!) and anger (!!!!!!) over the execution of Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis, libtalkers have had their Deflect-O-matic machines set to full power. Draining the grid even more was Al Sharpton, who in recent days has hardly discussed anything else.
Along with guests including MSNBC's Melissa Harris-Perry, Sharpton played the race card as only he can, shifting blame away from the cop-killing Davis. Harris-Perry devoted her time to finding the real killers, at least in theory.
The frequent Rachel Maddow Show fill-in host wondered if a jury would be so quick to convict Rush Limbaugh if he were to kill a cop.
From Sharpton's syndicated radio program earlier this week:
MELISSA HARRIS-PERRY (49:55): We know that race has a huge impact on the likelihood of someone ending up on death row. And again more evidence of why it’s appalling why it is unacceptable and also look we don’t have to ask whether or not what if Rush Limbaugh committed this crime. Yu could ask what if Casey Anthony committed this crime. What if a you know um beautiful young white woman stood accused of killing someone and although there was no physical evidence, there was a great deal of circumstantial evidence? We have the answer to that. That beautiful young woman (Casey Anthony) went free.
Does she really believe jurors would vote to acquit Limbaugh in these circumstances? And isn't it funny how liberals who oppose the death penalty look the other way when their commentators call for his assassination?
And is Harris-Perry ignorant enough to believe whites are happy with the Anthony verdict? How then does she explain Casey having gone into hiding?
Of course, we may be reading too much into this- perhaps it was just a weak excuse to smear Limbaugh by associating him with an alleged child killer.
LEFTY LIP-SERVICE Libs Apparently Can't Get Past A Woman's Looks
Hey, when a key "progressive" figure spends much of her time lecturing others on the need to take female candidates and business managers seriously, wouldn't it also be reasonable to show that same respect to those who have the guts to step into the ring?
Yes, Michele Bachmann IS a Republican, which of course means our lefty friends can throw their selective rules right out the window.
But why in the world has Internet Empress Arianna Huffington chosen to focus on the Minnesota congresswoman's appearance?
The results are just plain weird, watch below:
ARIANNA HUFFINGTON (2:21): As Michele Bachmann said, [Perry is] a kind of poster child for crony capitalism. It was really great to hear these words, 'crony capitalism,' coming out of Michele Bachmann's beautifully lipsticked lips.
We did a search on "beautifully lipsticked-lips" which returns a mere two results on Google. In one, the term is used in a clearly pornographic context.
Is there any job in broadcasting more miserable than co-hosting a talk show with Ron Reagan? The most recent edition of Both Sides Now With Huffington and Matalin pretty much puts any debate to rest.
With Arianna busy sacking bloggers and anyone else who dares to challenge Her Majesty, there's little time for the talk show (though she will supposedly return next week), leaving conservative Mary Matalin to deal with various liberal fill-in co-hosts, including Reagan.
Though Matalin's got plenty of experience debating lefty Dems (at home?), Reagan's combination of arrogance, foolish assertions and parochial Seattle-style "progressive" politics make for a truly grating presentation.
Watch and snicker as Ron claims MSNBC is a truth-based cable outlet, unlike its competition:
RON REAGAN (12:56) [after co-host Mary Matalin mentions GOP Congress is even less popular than Obama]: And why do you think that is?
MARY MATALIN: 'Cause they've been demonized...
REAGAN: We don't even have our own network that does nothing but demonisation.
MATALIN: Oh, really? What do you call MSNBC?
REAGAN: A news network that actually has some fealty to the truth, unlike Fox News, which is a propaganda outfit.
Of course, Reagan might care to mention his vested interest in plugging MSNBC, given his frequent appearances on the "Truth" channel.
Libtalk producers were in a mad rush yesterday to book fire-breathing union thug Jimmy Hoffa Jr yesterday, but out of solidarity rather than outrage.
Hoffa's incendiary remarks were then duly spun by hosts eager to pin his call to violence on Fox News rather than the man himself.
If the union leader's guilty of anything in their book, it's by stating out loud what normally would be planned in secret.
Meanwhile, conservatives including Rush Limbaugh pressed Obama to repudiate Hoffa's violent anti-conservative rhetoric while the president played dumb.
In perhaps his most candid moment across a number of libtalk radio appearances, Hoffa doubled-down, telling dedicated Obamist Bill Press "I would say it again" before reverting to decidedly softer partisan talking points clearly concocted to save Junior's political skin.
From the Bill Press Show:
JIM HOFFA (1:08:18): I gave a vent to what everybody feels, the frustration that workers feel because of the war on workers and what they've done, the attack that they have made on the American Labor Movement, the workers everywhere in Wisconsin and Ohio, and you know what? I would say it again.
And we should be saying more things like that to motivate people to go to the polls and basically change this coefficient that we have right now that's wrong because the Tea Party is obstructing everything from Washington to Ohio to Wisconsin to Michigan to Missouri, and enough's enough.
Interestingly, "progressives" aren't all on the same page regarding Hoffa. While some in the establishment media ignore the comments, others play the "doctored audio" card and still more find ways to point fingers at political enemies.
Since he's now said he WILL say it again, how will our lefty friends respond?
Because there's always someone waiting to reward the so-called civil rights leader for his antics, an increasingly emboldened reverend now brazenly admits his stunts are all about looking to "MAKE the news".
Because there's always someone waiting to reward the so-called civil rights leader for his antics, an increasingly emboldened reverend now brazenly admits his stunts are all about looking to "MAKE the news".
