frankhagan.com

Hate Speech

Frank — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:06:07 +0000

The Daily Caller continues its expose of the media’s suicide pact, as found in the archives of the Journolist. Sarah Spitz, a “producer for NPR affiliate KCRW for the show Left, Right & Center” spewed what can only be considered a craven, despicable and immoral fantasy about watching Rush Limbaugh suffering a heart attack: In a post to the list-serv Journolist, an online meeting place for liberal journalists, Spitz wrote that she would “Laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out” as Limbaugh writhed in torment. In boasting that she would gleefully watch a man die in front of her eyes, Spitz seemed to shock even herself. “I never knew I had this much hate in me,” she wrote. “But he deserves it.” Spitz’s hatred for Limbaugh seems intemperate, even imbalanced. On Journolist, where conservatives are regarded not as opponents but as enemies, it barely raised an eyebrow. Her vile hatred now laid bare, Spitz doesn’t deny writing it, but issues this lame apology: I made poorly considered remarks about Rush Limbaugh to what I believed was a private email discussion group from my personal email account. As a publicist, I realize more than anyone that is [...]

The Death of Journalism

Frank — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:39:57 +0000

The dead tree media is dying. Newspapers and weekly news magazines are wasting away before our eyes. Network broadcast news suffers from steeply declining ratings. It appears to be a natural death, like the death of buggy whip makers succumbing to the steady march of technology. But it is not what it appears. The Daily Caller broke the news that Journolist, a private email list of several hundred journalists and academic professionals, conspired to frame the news to support Barack Obama. Their discussions reveal a deep-seated hatred of conservatives, the then-current administration, and, yes, America itself. Chris Hayes of The Nation wrote about his outrage at ABC News. ABC was reporting on the racist, anti-American diatribes of Obama Pastor Wright, and Hayes thought it unseemly: “Our country disappears people. It tortures people. It has the blood of as many as one million Iraqi civilians — men, women, children, the infirmed — on its hands. You’ll forgive me if I just can’t quite dredge up the requisite amount of outrage over Barack Obama’s pastor,” Hayes wrote. Hayes urged his colleagues – especially the straight news reporters who were charged with covering the campaign in a neutral way – to bury the [...]

PlayOn: Fail

Frank — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:50:16 +0000

PlayOn is a “new media” company purporting to provide the means to stream on-line content from your PC to your living room XBox, PSP, Wii or media PC. For the most part, it works fine, most of the time, providing access to Hulu, CBS, and other online content providers. The problem with PlayOn: their clumsy attempts to “monetize” the product. Right after buying a one-time “lifetime license”, they announced a “Premium Product” that would have a yearly subscription fee. Early adopters felt betrayed, and PlayOn reacted by announcing a “special price” for the first year of the subscription for those customers. At $4.95, it seemed like a reasonable compromise. Even though it still seemed like a broken promise, it was a $5 broken promise. I clicked through to subscribe, and found the final insult. The annual fee, to increase to approximately $20 a year after the introductory rate, has to be purchased with a auto-renewal option on your credit card. This means in order to cancel the service you have to proactively remember your renewal date and act before the date arrives. I suspect PlayOn is banking — literally — on subscribers neglecting to be that proactive. Sorry, PlayOn. You [...]

Feedburner Added

Frank — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:32:58 +0000

We have added Feedburner to process our feeds. If you experience any problems, please let me know!

Regulatory Insanity

Frank — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 16:09:10 +0000

Sometimes, a local event can illustrate the problem of state and federal regulations run amok. The local newspaper in Ventura, CA, The Star, has a column by Colleen Carson that recounts a chain of events when a residential house painter spilled some paint inside his van: A while later, he came outside to get something from his van and froze in his tracks. Before his eyes were two firetrucks, each staffed by three firefighters, including paramedic and hazardous-materials specialists. There were two city of Oxnard code compliance officers. A Harbor Patrol vessel had been dispatched. A California Department of Fish and Game warden also responded. The scene was short only moon suits and a hovering helicopter. In all, 13 public officials arrived on the scene. California has strict laws governing the type of paint that can be sold. The painter was using the proper paint. It was low “VOC”, water based latex paint. The painter followed the procedures he learned in obtaining his contractor’s license, mopping up the spilled paint with rags he saved to dispose of properly. But some of the paint had dripped onto the driveway, so he mopped that up and then washed the residue off with [...]

Aspen Abandons Obama

Frank — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:08:06 +0000

Michael Baron is attending the Aspen Ideas Festival, an annual event that “is a conversation-packed exploration of some of the most important ideas and pressing issues we face”. I’m sure the event if full of serious people making serious faces at serious topics. And probably a bore-fest. But Baron is surprised by what he is hearing: I note that enthusiasm for Barack Obama and his administration seems to be conspicuously missing. Lloyd Grove has a pungent account in The Daily Beast titled “The Elite turn against Obama,” based on speeches by Niall Ferguson and my former boss at U.S. News Mort Zuckerman on economic policy. Grove’s article in The Daily Beast is searing. Some quotes: “The real problem we have,” Mort Zuckerman said, “are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.” [...] “We are, without question, in a period of decline, particularly in the business world,” Zuckerman said. “The real problem we have…are some of the worst economic policies in place today that, in my judgment, go directly against the long-term interests of this country.” “If you’re asking if the United States is about to [...]

Kill the Forward Button

Frank — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 17:51:23 +0000

Of all the modern plagues, the “Forward” button is one of the most vexing. It combines the worst attributes of chain letters and small town gossip with advanced technology, allowing dissemination of nonsense and lies at a speed heretofore unknown. The creators of the email standard added the function reluctantly, but they tried to warn us. The “FW:” notation in the subject line is shorthand for the Latin phrase “Fractitus Withinus“, or “Crap Enclosed”. We all have the family member who likes to “keep in touch”, and believes that is not accomplished by writing a personal note, but by clicking a button in an email reader to mindlessly send garbage our way. It is a practice made all the more despicable by the appearance of good intentions. It would be one thing if the “forward” actually represented the views of the automaton clicking the forward button. But the forwarder usually falls back on the first defense of scoundrels and hypocrites: “Oh, I don’t agree with it, I just thought it was interesting!” No, it wasn’t interesting. It was, pick one, scandalous, libelous, a damnable lie or horrendously mistaken. And yes, you do agree with it, because you published it under [...]

Pursuit of Happiness

Frank — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 18:50:56 +0000

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness Those principles in America’s founding document did not seem revolutionary to Americans. Indeed, the words rang with the peal of familiarity, borne of the shared experience of over a hundred years of independent thought and self government. The one phrase that enhanced the statement was “Pursuit of Happiness”. Many of us today are not sure what that means, but I’m convinced the Americans in 1776 knew. Just a month before, Article I of the Virginia Bill of Rights stated: That all men are by nature equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights, of which, when they enter into a state of society, they cannot by any compact deprive or divest their posterity; namely the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. Neither Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration, nor George Mason in the Virginia Bill of Rights were expressing revolutionary ideals. Those were familiar themes to the new Americans. While the [...]

The Afghan Shuffle

Frank — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 15:05:04 +0000

President Obama appears to be able to suffer any insult to his country, with the limitless ability to respond to sharp criticism of America with quick apologies for the faults of his countrymen. But as Robert Gibbs tells us, he is “furious” when personally criticized by a general or his staff. Hot Air reports that Obama’s popularity rating in California, one of the most reliable of the blue states, has fallen below 50%. A floundering war in Afghanistan (still!), Guantanamo alive and kicking (still!) and his professorial attitude toward the BP oil spill have the left demoralized. Some are calling for Obama to adopt the Bush Attitude (although they use terms like “kick butt” rather than “emulate Bush”.) I think the left is too hard on Obama. Poor Barack. His only self-described management skill was running a “pretty good campaign”. He is still learning the job, and unlike Clinton, Carter, or FDR, he’s a legislator at heart. Legislators make lousy managers, and the President is Manager in Chief. Perhaps another blue ribbon commission can be formed to determine what on the job training courses we can give the boy President. General McChrystal is out, having done the unspeakable. No, not [...]

Dana on the Tea Party

Frank — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 15:57:21 +0000

Dana the Magnificent, aka Dana Loesch, is one of the new faces on the political scene, and a leader in the nascent Tea Party movement. Prior to the demonization of dissent by the left, Dana was best known as a “mommie blogger” with wit, wisdom and a realistic outlook. She suffered the slings and arrows of intense hate from the left after expressing her political views, and now has settled into her role with calm determination. There was a time I was afraid she would hang up her blogging pen, but she survived the onslaught and soldiers on. While I’m more of a libertarian Republican, and not a member per se of a tea party, I’m more than happy with the movement itself. Not because I agree with everything everyone in that diverse movement says, but because of what Dana the Magnificent has identified: Not only has this movement affected Democrat primaries (embattled Reid? Moderate Lincoln?) and dragged them back to center but now we’ve also co-opted K Street. Yes. We did it. No one except for perhaps a group at which I’ve thrown some daggers at previously sits down at a table and does anything they don’t want to [...]