Mediaite

Kirsten Powers: ‘Obviously There Is A Bias’ In Media Not Covering Catholic Insurance Lawsuits

Frances Martel — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:33:27 +0000

The struggle between the federal government and the Catholic Church in whether the latter should be required to purchase insurance for its employees including birth control coverage continues, as 43 Catholic institutions have sued the White House over the issue. On Fox News today, Kirsten Powers and Gretchen Hamel debated the struggle between women’s rights and religious freedom and, in particular, the media’s reaction to the public discourse, and its comparative silence on the lawsuits when indicated to Powers that “obviously there is a bias.”

Powers did not agree with the Church’s position to not provide health insurance coverage in this specific instance, describing it as “church overreach” to intrude into the services a doctor provides to an employee, but explained that she understood the Church’s position. “I think they are acting in good faith– I don’t think this is some anti-woman campaign; they really feel this is infringement on their beliefs,” she told host Juliet Huddy. More importantly, she added, the Church likely sees the issue as a “slippery slope” that will lead to the government intruding on other issues aside from birth control.

Hamel found it “highly ironic” that religious freedom was at issue on Memorial Day, a day to celebrate those who protect our freedoms. She didn’t see the overreach issue with the Church, but with the government. “We have a government that is continuously governing and telling people what they should do and they are spending more.” Huddy then asked about the lawsuits against the White House coming from Catholic institutions. “Obviously there is a bias behind because when it came to covering this from the perspective of covering this as a war on women… it was pretty startling how much time they spent on it,” Powers argued. She noted there appeared also to not be “a lot of interest in understanding where the church is coming from” on the part of the media.

The segment via Fox News below:

Ed Rendell On Pressure To Stop Romney From Campaigning With Trump: ‘I Don’t Think Voters Care’

Frances Martel — Mon, 28 May 2012 14:05:34 +0000

Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell appeared on MSNBC this morning to weigh in on the Democrats’ campaign against Mitt Romney, after expressing some discomfort with the tone of attacks on the Republican nominee related to his time working in private equity. He told host Thomas Roberts today that he did consider questioning his time at Bain Capital a “proper line of attack,” though, on the Donald Trump front, he didn’t expect many voters to care about his campaigning with the reality TV star.

“I think it’s a proper line of attack, it’s appropriate,” Rendell said of the Bain attacks, as “it’s been the whole reason Romney says he should be president.” He thought it was both appropriate to look at his success record and “the type of value system” his actions represented. Asked whether attacks on Bain “could alienate business-minded independents,” Rendell said he thought it possible. “Calling Mitt Romney a vampire, that’s inappropriate,” he noted, “just like when Rick Perry called it vulture capitalism.”

Roberts also asked about Romney’s relationship with Donald Trump, replaying George Will‘s comments from yesterday morning attacking Trump as a “bloviating ignoramus.” “Bloviating ignoramus is spectacular! Only George Will,” Rendell praised. He did not mind Trump being around, however. “I don’t think voters care about that stuff… candidates appear with a whole different slew of people.” Ultimately, he concluded, “nobody is going to vote for or against Romney because he appears with Donald Trump.”

The segment via MSNBC below:

Trump Strikes Back At ‘Dumbest Political Commentator Of All Time’ George Will

Frances Martel — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:36:27 +0000

It is a pretty safe bet that at any given time a feud will be simmering below the surface of any two public figures ready to pop– the surprise often ends up being who these figures are. The latest media feud no one could reasonably have expected to erupt is the product of some comments on ABC’s This Week, where George Will dismissed Donald Trump as a “bloviating ignoramus” and advised Mitt Romney to stay away from one of his more prominent donors. Not surprisingly, these comments didn’t sit well with Trump.

In between yesterday morning and today, alas, Trump has not been able to find any TV time. Luckily, the real estate magnate and reality show hair had this to say on Twitter:

This bodes well for those who enjoy media feuds– if Will is somehow in Trump’s rhetorical crosshairs, one expects he’ll be asked about the comments on TV soon, and respond in kind.

Veep Recap: To Everyone’s Horror, The Veep Is Pregnant

Sarah Devlin — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:22:54 +0000

This episode opens with Vice President Selina Meyer at an anti-obesity event, where she has gathered, with the heads of a couple of grocery store chains, at the Baltimore Orioles’ stadium to eat organic produce and listen to Dan try out his “it’s food-nomenal” line on everybody in the room. We see that the tagline for this campaign is “Get Moving!”, an obvious nod to Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” The only difference is that Obama is way better at mustering enthusiasm for the cause than Selina. Since this is Veep,, everyone’s misery must be compounded, which is how we get a conversation between Amy and Selina in which Selina expresses concern that she is pregnant.

Is that even possible, Amy wonders, a sentiment that will be repeated later in the episode, making Selina snap that she’s not that old. She still has to make it through the event, which is further complicated by a gas leak that traps everyone in the stadium. That’s not the only leak there is to worry about, however — despite being asked to keep the pregnancy bombshell in their “circle of two” by Selina, Amy gets Gary and Mike involved, including sending Gary to the drugstore to pick up a billion pregnancy tests, when all he wants is to be in a picture with the Orioles team to impress his withholding father.

The press is an ongoing problem in this episode — first there’s a lipreading photographer who Selina believes has figured out that she’s with child, and it’s not long before other reporters get involved. They follow her to her next event at an elementary school, and while she believes they’re chasing the pregnancy story, the issue is somewhat more banal. There’s a brewing scandal about a Secret Service agent Selina had reassigned after he visibly reacted to one too many conversations, which is now being rebranded as “being fired for smiling.”

Selina and Amy agree that she’s politically finished if she’s pregnant, and that she would have to keep the baby unless (this is where the show really goes to a dark place) she somehow ends up on a “special vacation to Mexico,” but there might be another way out of this. Selina calls her boyfriend Ted and tells him that she may be pregnant, that the story has been leaked, and that they’re definitely going to have to get married. She calls Sue to find a believable date on her calendar six weeks in the past, when they can say that Ted proposed. And of course, this might all be for naught. It’s possible she’s not pregnant after all.

Those hopes are quickly dashed when, in a scene that darkly (perhaps inappropriately, but that is the show’s M.O.) mocks George W. Bush being informed of the 9/11 attacks while listening to children read “My Pet Goat” in a classroom, Gary whispers to Selina “You are very very pregnant,” and the camera lingers on her frozen face while the oblivious kids in the room serenade her. I didn’t think the show would go for a positive test result, although it could turn out to be a false alarm. After all, we see Gary working on the tests in the school’s bathroom, squirting eyedropper-fuls of pee onto each test (and some into his eye) haphazardly. We’ll have to wait until next week to know for sure, and to see if Selina’s hapless team is any better at keeping a lid on the story. In the meantime, you can see a preview for next week’s episode, “Full Disclosure,” below via HBO:

Ep. 7: Full Disclosure – Preview

Police Want To Question Justin Bieber Over Assault Allegation, TMZ Reports

James Crugnale — Mon, 28 May 2012 04:11:47 +0000

According to TMZ, pop star Justin Bieber may be a suspect in a criminal battery case. Detectives are seeking out Bieber, Selena Gomez and any other witnesses to an alleged altercation between the singer and a photographer.

According to TMZ’s sources:

Justin was in Calabasas, where he lives, just after noon Sunday at a mall called The Commons. A paparazzo attempted to take Justin’s picture and, according to law enforcement, some sort of physical altercation erupted between Justin and the camera guy.

The photog called 911, and when cops arrived Justin and GF Selina Gomez had already split.

The photog complained of pain to his upper torso, an ambulance was summoned and he was taken to a local hospital where he was examined and released a short time later.

The photog filed a police report naming Justin as the culprit. Cops are investigating the incident as a misdemeanor battery.

(h/t TMZ)

Chris Matthews: Will White Women Make Or Break The Election This Year?

Josh Feldman — Mon, 28 May 2012 00:29:37 +0000

No matter how much everyone would love this election to be about fun little controversies, the bottom line is the economy will be a major factor in deciding whether Barack Obama or Mitt Romney will win in November. Chris Matthews talked about the economy with his panel today, but also brought up a group that hasn’t been talked about much since the days of the War on Women (2012-2012). Given a recent poll showing a vast majority of white women are concerned about their children’s futures, Matthews asked if they would help decide this election for either candidate.

Matthews thought the two candidates were going at it just a bit too hard when the election isn’t for another five months. National Journal‘s Major Garrett said that the earlier the Obama campaign can rebut Romney’s claim to be an economic “Mr. Fix-it,” the better for them, because right now Romney has the advantage “both rhetorically and structurally.” Matthews found it odd that Obama’s one line now seems to be “I’m the only guy you got, the other guy’s not qualified,” since it doesn’t exactly inspire enthusiasm.

After watching Obama go after Romney’s ties to Bain Capital, New York Times writer Helene Cooper observed that the president’s “best bet” is to keep branding Romney as a “heartless private equality” businessman who destroyed jobs. Of course, Matthews and Cooper both noted that Cory Booker‘s comments last week sort of “threw a monkey wrench” into the campaign.

Of course, the economy does have a human impact, and assuming we can pigeonhole groups without question here, white women, one of the most vied-for demographics in the campaign, are overwhelmingly concerned about the economy. AP reporter Kasie Hunt said that Romney is trying to reach these voters by assuring them he is a “safe and competent” alternative in these volatile economic times.

Matthews and TIME columnist Joe Klein found Romney’s “community organizer” hit against Obama amusing because it’s such an old attack, but more seriously, Klein argued the reason Romney’s business experience isn’t a shining beacon of capitalism is because it was all about “short-term” solutions and “maximizing shareholder value.” Garrett added that if framed in the right way, it could sound “predatory” and the Obama campaign could easily ask “Do you want a predator as your president?”

And, not for nothing, but if the stuff about Obama being an illegal Kenyan immigrant doesn’t die down, we could have some serious Alien v. Predator undertones this year.

Watch the full segment below, courtesy of NBC:

Meghan McCain Proves That Mediaite Writer I Questioned Was Right: She Is A ‘Bully’

Dan Abrams — Sun, 27 May 2012 23:29:09 +0000

John McCain‘s daughter Meghan is upset at Mediaite. I characterize her in that intentionally demeaning way, as the daughter of the Arizona senator, in response to her angry denunciation of two columns on “Dan Abrams‘ Mediaite.” Yes, I own the site, and proudly so, but that attention-grabbing reference was obviously an intentional insult to the actual writers (particularly since it’s well known that I do not edit the site). Well, it worked. And now I am rattled enough to take my Memorial day Sunday to respond in kind.

McCain published a story today on The Daily Beast today entitled “Cut It Out Internet Bullies,” where she responds to attacks on her that followed an appearance on Al Sharpton‘s PoliticsNation show. On the program, she said “many people in the Republican party treat me like I’m a freak. . .if you’re not an extreme conservative in this party you are not given respect.” But attacking the Republican party ain’t nothing compared with what seemed like a dig at right wing blog royalty, saying she could not “understand the popularity of Michelle Malkin and Andrew Breitbart, who exacerbate people’s fears.”

When I first read her comments about the party, I thought she was probably right that the extreme wing despises her moderate views and willingness to call out those near the fringe, particularly considering her pedigree and national platform. I have long admired that in her, and those few like her, on both sides of the political aisle. The much-maligned middle is regularly blasted by the extremes that seem to dominate the national debate, and Mediaite is regularly on the receiving end of those venomous partisan attacks from both sides’ extremes.

That day, Mediaite‘s Frances Martel wrote a piece entitled Meghan McCain Takes Dig At Breitbart On Al Sharpton, Claims GOP Treats Her Like A ‘Mutant’, wherein she argued that while “much of what is stated in this clip merits reflection,” she felt it distasteful to invoke recently deceased blogger Andrew Breitbart as the example of what is wrong with the party:

“Doesn’t Breitbart deserve an emoticon of respect at this time, less than three months removed from his death? Couldn’t the name of almost any conservative blogger work in the paradigm she presented, given that she argues they all hate her?”

The following day on TheJaneDough.com, my site on women in business and politics, writer Laura Donovan took the exact opposite position in Meghan McCain Did Not ‘Smear’ Breitbart, So Leave Her Alone. She wrote:

“You could argue it was politically incorrect of her to utter anything but kind words about a man who is no longer around to defend himself, but as everybody knows, Breitbart has armies of people who are still here to do that for him, and the notion that no one should ever speak disparagingly of a deceased individual is ridiculous.”

McCain retweeted that story, and it was promoted on Mediaite for the better part of the day as one of its top five stories.

Then later in the day, Noah Rothman, Mediaite’s in-house conservative, took on McCain from a slightly different vantage point. “Meghan McCain Looks For Fight, Finds Many, Now Wants Sympathy” was the headline. Rothman took the position that “McCain has often made herself out to be a victim of close-minded conservatives who simply reject her for her less-than-dogmatic policy preferences. But McCain forgets that she has made a career of being a contrarian – her vehicle for getting air time consists almost entirely of starting fights with Republican pundits and lawmakers.” He went on to cite numerous examples of critiques McCain had offered of the biggest names in the right-wing blogosphere, and most of the Republican candidates for President. He also characterized her as a “bully.”

When I read Rothman’s piece, I actually said to him, “I don’t know that I agree with you, but really interesting piece.”

I didn’t completely agree primarily because I admired McCain’s willingness to challenge the powers that be on the far right. His characterization of her as a “bully” was, I thought, unfair, since presenting a moderate’s view of the Grand Old Party was nothing to discourage. Mediaite’s liberal writer and White House Correspondent, Tommy Christopher, who has defended McCain in the past, then took to Twitter to slam Rothman, calling his piece “garbage” and taunting Rothman in defense of McCain. I even jokingly tweeted: “Is it sadistic that I kind of love that @mediaite’s @tommyxtopher is taking on @mediaite’s @noah_c_rothman on twitter?”

So it was against this backdrop that McCain, who professes an appreciation of moderation, published her piece today in The Daily Beast, which begins by citing vile and sexist comments made about her. Then, the rhetorical kill:

“That’s only a small sampling, but you get the idea. You would think that by now, having gone through a presidential election with my father in 2008, I would be numb to this kind of name-calling. But I’m not. It hurts, it rattles me, it (understandably) concerns my mother, and it keeps me up at night. In a single day, Dan Abrams’ Mediaite found it necessary to post two full columns about me, questioning my career and suggesting I’m a problem for the Republican Party. By the way, each of the “columnists” behind these posts also vomited up a series of nasty Twitter posts following their columns. And they are supposed to be professionals.”

She goes on to say in a section highlighted on her story “It’s no secret that the blogosphere is more vicious on women than it is on men.”

Suddenly, she is lumping me and my site in with the disgusting and sexist attacks made against her, even though there was nothing remotely personal or sexist about the pieces on Mediaite (and of course she ignores The Jane Dough’s piece and Christopher’s defenses of her).

But she is also flat-out lying when she writes that they then “vomited up a series of nasty Twitter posts following their columns.” Below, I have attached all the tweets from Martel, Donovan, Rothman and Christopher about this as they occurred. While Donovan and Christopher celebrate and defend her, Rothman is simply defending his piece. The only remotely personal line was when Martel questioned Rothman’s line, “Let me be clear, conservatives who underestimate her intelligence do not get it.”

McCain would also have a hard time explaining her claim that they questioned her career and suggested she is a “problem for the Republican party.” That is, however, a nice and easy way of avoiding the specific critiques and instead, as Rothman argued, allows her to play the victim card, again. Meghan McCain has every right to be upset about the way some treat her, but that does not entitle her to simply invent controversies.

I rarely step in to the squabbles that often envelop Mediaite and its writers, but when someone with McCain’s profile decides to insult, attack, and, most importantly, totally mischaracterize my writers – and by her phrasing, me – I feel compelled to call her out for what she apparently is, a “bully,” and based on the title of her piece, a hypocrite too.

Mediaite’s Noah Rothman’s Tweets:

@tommyxtopher I blame her for starting those fights that I mention in column, not fighting back. Big difference.

— Noah Rothman (@noah_c_rothman) May 25, 2012

@tommyxtopher you say I defend attacks on her. I don’t. @McCainBlogette pulls no punches – all should be responsible for their statements.

— Noah Rothman (@noah_c_rothman) May 25, 2012

Mediaite’s Frances Martel’s Tweets:

I agree only that Meghan McCain does not deserve to be spoken of in public– ever bit.ly/MNk9Ep

— Frances Martel (@francesmartel) May 25, 2012

@LauraDonovanUA THAT I agree with, but those people overreact to everything. She really could’ve chosen her words better though (as always)

— Frances Martel (@francesmartel) May 25, 2012

Eh? MT @clayaiken Need to get in touch w you @McCainBlogette You can DM me b/c I follow you. Have a few questions. Thanks!

— Frances Martel (@francesmartel) May 25, 2012

Other than overestimating her intelligence, @noah_c_rothman hits it out of the park bit.ly/KTOHzF

— Frances Martel (@francesmartel) May 25, 2012

The Jane Dough’s Laura Donovan’s Tweets:

. @McCainBlogette Did Not ‘Smear’ Breitbart, So Leave Her Alone thejanedough.com/meghan-mccain-…

— Laura Donovan (@LauraDonovanUA) May 25, 2012

@tommyxtopher @noah_c_rothman the way people are treating her is totally inappropriate. I don’t know Noah’s opinion on the matter yet.

— Laura Donovan (@LauraDonovanUA) May 25, 2012

Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher’s Tweets:

Agree 100% with @LauraDonovanUA thejanedough.com/meghan-mccain-… 0% with @noah_c_rothman. @McCainBlogette doesn’t”look” to be verbally assaulted.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

FTR, @McCainBlogette is beautiful inside and out, and has better political instincts than any 5 Breitbart.com bloggers.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

If you don’t like what @McCainBlogette says, @noah_c_rothman, make a better argument, don’t defend vicious personal attacks.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

I apologize to @McCainBlogette for this unmitigated garbage mediaite.com/online/meghan-… Doing your job is not “looking” for sexual harassment

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

I apologize to @McCainBlogette for this garbage mediaite.com/online/meghan-… responding to a cowardly attack is not “making yourself a victim”

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

I do too, but I heart Meg more. And this is just wrong. RT @LauraDonovanUA: @tommyxtopher Thank you, Tommy! I still heart @noah_c_rothman

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

I defy anyone who actually knew @andrewbreitbart to tell me he would approve of this treatment of @McCainBlogette thejanedough.com/meghan-mccain-…

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

@noah_c_rothman you equate political criticism to vicious personal attacks, you blame her for fighting back.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

@noah_c_rothman you have some dangerous victim-blaming attitudes about bullying.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

@noah_c_rothman @McCainBlogette “started a fight” by heroically pushing back on body-shaming? I have never been prouder of anyone.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

@noah_c_rothman You say @McCainBlogette “attacked” Malkin…by responding to an attack by Malkin? You’ve rigged this game pretty badly.

— Tommy Christopher (@tommyxtopher) May 25, 2012

ABC’s Jake Tapper To Leon Panetta: Are You ‘Uncomfortable’ About Obama Politicizing Bin Laden Death?

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 21:00:53 +0000

ABC’s This Week aired today an exclusive interview between Jake Tapper and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta. Panetta talked about Iran and Yemen, among other important subjects, but Tapper brought up the presidential campaign and how the death of Osama bin Laden is being used as a political football by the president’s team. Tapper asked Panetta if the attempts to suggest Mitt Romney would not have made the same call on the bin Laden raid made him feel “uncomfortable.”

Tapper first brought up an upcoming movie about bin Laden by Hurt Locker director Kathryn Bigelow and asked Panetta how much intelligence agencies shared with the filmmakers. Panetta assured Tapper that “nothing inappropriate was shared,” explaining how they get requests every so often from the entertainment industry.

Of course, Tapper then turned from the fictional portrayal of the bin Laden raid to the real thing. He tried to get Panetta to wade into the political by bringing up how President Obama has been using the death of bin Laden in campaign ads, and he asked the defense secretary if he feels “uncomfortable” about the president’s team politicizing such an important moment in the history of national security.

Panetta recalled the moment of truth last year a “very special” one for the intelligence community, and said everyone regardless of political bent should be “proud” of the military for carrying out the mission. Tapper pressed him on the politicization of the mission, and Panetta only said that he “hope[s] Republicans and Democrats both would be justly proud of what was accomplished.”

Watch the video below, courtesy of ABC:

Candy Crowley To DNC’s Wasserman Schultz: If Obama Is Doing So Well, Why Are The Polls So Close?

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 19:42:45 +0000

DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz appeared on CNN’s State of the Union today to tout President Obama‘s economic record and make the case for his reelection. Host Candy Crowley brought up recent polls showing Obama dead-even with Mitt Romney on the economy, and asked Wasserman-Schultz if Obama is doing so well with the economy and job creation, why isn’t he well ahead of Romney in the polls?

47 percent of those surveyed said Romney would do a better job handling the economy as opposed to 46 percent for Obama, while Obama only gets a three percent advantage over Romney on the question of who would be better for job creation. Crowley used these numbers to ask Wasserman-Schultz exactly what advantage Democrats think they have in this year’s elections.

“If you have done such a great job as Democrats, if this president has done such a great job of bringing us back from the precipice, why is it a dead heat that they think that Obama [sic, Romney] would do as much for jobs as the president?”

Wasserman-Schultz said this election was always expected to be a close one, and argued that despite all the progress that’s been made, the president himself is still dissatisfied that not enough progress has been made. Crowley suggested the polls indicate people don’t think the past four years have been much of a success. Wasserman-Schultz insisted that Americans are generally divided pretty evenly during election years, but made sure to contrast Obama’s looking forward with Romney being someone who “wants to take us back to the policies that got us into the worst economic crisis in the first place.”

Crowley brought up another recent poll in Florida, Wasserman-Schultz’s home state, that Romney leads Obama in the key state by a six-percent margin. Wasserman-Schultz dismissed the poll as a “snapshot” and said there have been polls showing Obama ahead of Romney and others showing them dead even.

Watch the video below, courtesy of CNN:

Happy Memorial Day! 7 Celebrity Chefs Who Served In The Military

Mediaite Staff — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:53:38 +0000

Read the rest of this entry »

Sign Of The Zombie Apocalypse? Naked Man Shot While Eating Someone’s Face Off In Miami

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 18:06:40 +0000

I’m trying to think of a non-disgusting way to present this story, but even with just the barest of details this thing makes me want to upchuck. So just be warned before you read the details of this rather weird police story. Because a naked man in Miami was evidently shot by police while in the process of chewing another man’s face off, so this isn’t exactly a light story.

The Miami Herald gives perhaps a little too much detail into the circumstances surrounding the assault and shooting

According to police sources, a road ranger saw a naked man chewing on another man’s face and shouted on his loud speaker for him to back away.Meanwhile, a woman also saw the incident and flagged down a police officer who was in the area.

The officer, who has not been identified, approached and, seeing what was happening, also ordered the naked man to back away. When he continued the assault, the officer shot him, police sources said. The attacker failed to stop after being shot, forcing the officer to continue firing. Witnesses said they heard at least a half dozen shots.

This caused a bit of a traffic jam, which was unfortunate as people were driving to South Beach this weekend for Urban Beach Week. I can only assume this may be the worst start to Urban Beach Week in history. Police are now saying that the naked attacker was likely suffering from “cocaine psychosis,” a rather unpleasant mental condition brought on by drug use.

George Will Savages Trump: He’s A ‘Bloviating Ignoramus’ With A ‘Very Low’ IQ

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:44:32 +0000

After fading in and out of our lives like a seasonal illness for which there is no cure, Donald Trump is back in the news once again as a reinvigorated birther with wild claims about President Obama‘s origins. Of course, this story wouldn’t be much of interest except for the fact that Mitt Romney is currently offering donors a chance to dine with the billionaire through his campaign. George Will, frankly, has had enough of Trumpmania, bashing the tycoon as a “bloviating ignoramus” with no net benefit to Romney’s campaign.

Jake Tapper asked Will why Romney, who most certainly wants to be taken as a serious candidate, would ally himself with someone as out there as Trump is. Will did not mince words, though he did mince Trump quite a bit.

“I do not understand the cost-benefit here. The costs are clear. The benefits, what voter’s going to vote for him because he’s seen with Donald Trump? The cost of appearing with this bloviating ignoramus is obvious, it seems to me. Donald Trump is redundant evidence that if your net worth is high enough, your IQ can be very low and you can still intrude into American politics.”

Oh, snap, crack, and sizzle.

Fox Business Network anchor Liz Claman said that the Romney campaign should really be looking at a cost-benefit analysis of whether Trump helps them get votes or not. Tapper and the panel couldn’t help finding it amusing that the Trump dinner came on the heels of a similar dinner offered by the Obama campaign with George Clooney.

Watch the smackdown below, courtesy of ABC:

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes Feels ‘Uncomfortable’ Calling Fallen Soldiers ‘Heroes’

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 17:30:21 +0000

It’s Memorial Day weekend, and while many may be marking this occasion as a time for barbecuing with the family, it’s also an important time to reflect on the sacrifice of those who lost their lives serving the country. We like to remember them as heroes, men and women who risk everything to protect their fellow citizens, but on MSNBC today, Chris Hayes admitted he feels “uncomfortable” about doing that, suggesting the “hero” label gives us more rhetorical reasons to continue the wars.

Hayes observed that in much casual conversation about war and fallen soldiers, talk of heroism often comes up, and he doesn’t necessarily think that’s a good thing.

“I feel… uncomfortable, about the word because it seems to me that it is so rhetorically proximate to justifications for more war. Um, and, I don’t want to obviously desecrate or disrespect memory of anyone that’s fallen, and obviously there are individual circumstances in which there is genuine, tremendous heroism, you know, hail of gunfire, rescuing fellow soldiers, and things like that. But it seems to me that we marshal this word in a way that is problematic. But maybe I’m wrong about that.”

Columnist John McWhorter agreed with Hayes’ discomfort because the word “hero” and others like it can be used as “argumentational strategies” whether we are consciously aware of that or not. Hayes did acknowledge the other side of the argument, namely that there is no mandatory conscription and service is purely voluntary, therefore all those who choose to sign up and take heavy risks are heroes in their own right.

Michelle Goldberg, columnist for The Daily Beast, argued that the reason “hero” comes across as a loaded word is that it implies “they died in the pursuit of a worthy endeavor.” But see, I don’t think that’s the case. I’m sure there are many people who would disagree with U.S. military interventionist policy who recognize that the troops are just people following orders and doing their jobs under difficult circumstances. As fellow panelist Liliana Segura noted, people can certainly make the obvious distinction between the policy and the troops.

There’s nothing wrong with remembering the fallen as heroes. I can’t imagine the kind of courage it takes to voluntarily take a position with the understanding that you could die at any moment.

Watch the video below, courtesy of MSNBC:

h/t NewsBusters

Bravo’s Andy Cohen Tells CNN About The Time He Was ‘Freeballing’ With Cybill Shepherd

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 16:52:05 +0000

Bravo executive and TV show host Andy Cohen sat down with Howard Kurtz on CNN’s Reliable Sources today to talk about a part of his career that stands in stark contrast to his reality show-loving self today: journalism. Yes, that Andy Cohen used to be a producer at CBS News working on serious news stories before hitching his wagon to Bravo. He opened up about the ten years he spent at CBS as well as some fun anecdotes about his time at both the news network and Bravo, including some particularly salacious celebrity stories.

Kurtz told Cohen that after reading his new book Most Talkative, he didn’t get the sense that Cohen was ever really that interested in hard news. He brought up an anecdote from the book where Cohen was with Tammy Faye Baker in Palm Springs when he got a call from his bosses asking him to cover storms in California, and he actually declined. Cohen said that every time he heard his beeper going off (remember, this was the 90s), he “felt like it was an imposition on my person.”

In one part of his book, Cohen refers to himself as a “lying weasel coward.” This was only meant, according to Cohen, in reference to an instance when he was sitting down in the Oprah Winfrey audience and he got a call from CBS about a bomb going off in Oklahoma City. Well, Cohen didn’t exactly have the best response to that, as he admitted in retrospect.

“I’m not proud to say this, okay, but my first reaction was ‘It doesn’t sound like a big deal.’ And then, Bill Owens, who is now the senior guy at 60 Minutes, said to me, ‘Andy, I’m going to dial back. Take your Oprah, you know, blinders off, here’s what’s happening.’”

He said he needed time to process what had happened before he was able to accept it and head to Oklahoma City to cover it.

Kurtz immediately fast-forwarded to Cohen’s Bravo career, and asked him to share a “salacious” story about Cybill Shepherd trying to pitch a show to the network. Cohen said Shepherd, a former actress, was pitching a docuseries about her and her “crazy” best friend. He recalls that during a meeting with the two women, they decided it was so hot in the room they needed to take their shirts off. Cohen joked that at the time, it didn’t seem like “their GayDars were pinging,” but he took off his shirt as well.

Then the ladies decided they should all take their pants off. Cohen told Kurtz that he was going commando at the time and didn’t really feel comfortable doing that. Ultimately, he didn’t pick up their show.

Finally, Kurtz asked Cohen about all the Real Housewives programming he’s greenlit, and how he was initially nervous at how the stars of the first installment in the franchise, The Real Housewives of Orange County, would receive it. Cohen was surprised to hear that it got a positive reception from the women.

Watch the video below, courtesy of CNN:

Rudy Giuliani: I Only Contrasted Romney’s Economic Record With My ‘Far Superior’ One

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 16:17:54 +0000

During Rudy Giuliani‘s appearance on CNN’s State of the Union this morning, Candy Crowley confronted the 2008 Republican presidential candidate about his past criticisms of current presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney on health care and his economic record. Giuliani argued that he was only contrasting Romney’s record with his own, and said that unlike Romney’s business experience, President Obama was just a “community organizer” and state senator in his earlier life.

Crowley reminded Giuliani that in the past, he criticized Romney for his economic record when he was the governor of Massachusetts, and given that the same line of attack is being used by the Democrats and Obama campaign now against Romney, Crowley had Giuliani jump into Romney defense mode to stick up for his former rival’s record.

Giuliani explained that when he was criticizing Romney’s economic record, he was only doing it in contrast with his own “far superior” record in New York. But Giuliani made sure to clarify that Romney’s business experience gives him the edge this time around against President Obama. He touted the work he did with Romney on the 2002 Winter Olypmics, and contrasted Romney’s previous experience with Obama’s.

“This is man unlike President Obama, who had virtually no success before he– just a community organizer, state senate, never really had a payroll to meet or any responsibilities.”

The “community organizer” line is one not unfamiliar to Giuliani, as he used it rather dismissively during his speech at the 2008 Republican National Convention.

Watch the video below, courtesy of CNN:

Newport Beach Bills Obama Campaign $35,000 For Campaign Stop Expenses

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 15:00:01 +0000

An affluent beach town in Southern California recently sent President Obama a bill for $35,000 following a February campaign stop where the president attended a big fundraiser. The city manager of Newport Beach explained that because of how much money was needed to pay for extra police protection and the fact that it was a campaign event and not “official presidential business,” he wanted to treat the event like any other private one.

The New York Daily News details the circumstances of Obama’s campaign stop and the rather hefty sum the city says they owe.

Obama visited Newport’s Corona del Mar neighborhood to hold a breakfast with wealthy donors, one of several stops during a fundraising trip through the Golden State.

The campaign charged donors $2,500 a head to attend, and as much as $35,000 for a meet-and-greet, Corona del Mar Today reported.

The town’s revenue office sent the invoice to Obama’s campaign office in Chicago May 10. It’s due June 9.

The campaign has not commented on the bill.

It’s also worth noting that Newport Beach is a rather conservative town, with Republicans outnumbering Democrats by a 3 to 1 ratio.

h/t NY Daily News

Study: Since GOP Primaries Ended, Slim Majority Of Campaign Ads Have Been Positive

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 14:16:38 +0000

Earlier this year, the Campaign Media Analysis Group found that this presidential campaign has been one of the most negative in years. But just a few weeks after Rick Santorum dropped out and Mitt Romney switched to general election mode, another study by the same group finds that by an incredibly narrow margin, the majority of campaign ads aired since have been positive. Yes, in spite of all the negative campaigning that has gone on already, the Campaign Media Analysis Group found that since April 10, the day Santorum dropped out, 51 percent of all broadcast TV spots for presidential campaign ads have been positive.

This news came over the weekend courtesy of CNN. Previous numbers found that roughly 70 percent of presidential campaign ads that aired during the primary season were negative. Here’s what the vice president of the analysis group told CNN:

“We may look back in November and see that 2012 was the most negative campaign ever, but thus far, that’s not the case. Since the Republican primary dust settled, the early phase of the general election air war has been marked by a basically even tonal split.”

Remember, this is a general election race so far that has been marked with attack ads over bin Laden and private equity and anything else you can think of. One political scientist who appears to be at odds with the CMAG’s findings said that we are currently “entering the World War III of attack ads.”

Report: Italian TV Starlet Dressed As Obama At Berlusconi ‘Bunga Bunga’ Party

Josh Feldman — Sun, 27 May 2012 13:29:20 +0000

In case you’ve forgotten about the former prime minister of Italy, the trial over his sexual and ethical misconduct is still going on. One recent detail that’s come to light involves a television startlet, Marysthell Polanco, who attended many of Berlusconi’s “bunga bunga” parties. On one occasion, she told the court, she even masqueraded as Barack Obama to make Berlusconi laugh.

Polanco got the courtroom laughing as she explained how she used to dress up at Italian prosecutor Ilda Boccassini, who, according to the Telegraph, “has led many of the cases against Mr. Berlusconi.” And it was as she recounted the stories of her masquerades that Polanco revealed she dressed at one point as the U.S. president.

“The evenings were all about entertainment. We were in the basement of the house. It was used as a nightclub by his [Berlusconi's] children.

“My role was just to make him laugh, so one evening I dressed as (Ilda) Boccassini. I put on a red toga and similar glasses that she wears. On another evening I wore an Obama mask. It was just to make him laugh and have fun.”

h/t POLITICO

Breitbart.com Blogger And Romney Campaign Invitee Tells Joan Walsh To ‘Suck It’

Tommy Christopher — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:15:52 +0000

On Saturday afternoon, Salon.com editor-at-large and MSNBC contributor Joan Walsh had an attack leveled against her that was every bit as vile as the one launched at conservative columnist S.E. Cupp earlier this week, only this sexually-charged swipe wasn’t made by a known pornographer. It was made by a Brietbart.com blogger who was hand-selected by the Romney campaign to attend a secret meeting with the candidate a few weeks ago.

According to several attendees of the meeting, and other published reports, Breitbart.com’s Dan Riehl was among the bloggers who were invited to attend a secret meeting with presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney a few weeks ago, a decision that Riehl’s attack on Joan Walsh casts serious doubt on. Here’s what Riehl tweeted today:

I don’t mind Joan Walsh getting low, but if she’s going to open her mouth, wish she’d do something I might actually enjoy for once!

Responding to another user who said “It’ll never happen,” Riehl replied “@misslexi9162 I know, but one can always fantasize, right? LOL”

He continued:

I think I may have just discovered the most polite way of telling Joan Walsh to suck on this. lol

&, please, no indignant protestations of any alleged sexist attack. The woman is a pox, not a woman as ive evr considered sum1 2 B 1

While Riehl’s attack has prompted little outrage from his fellow conservatives (his Breitbart.com editors have declined to comment thus far), liberal blogs have taken notice quickly, and attempted to exploit the Romney connection. The blog Little Green Footballs has already dubbed Riehl a “Romney blogger,” which might seem unfair if Riehl didn’t have a long history of this sort of thing.

The Romney campaign could not have known that Dan Riehl was going to make this particular attack on Joan Walsh, but Riehl’s history includes sexist attacks on Meghan McCain, publishing photos of a rival blogger’s 4 year-old niece under the headline “Is Jeff Poor A Pedophile?,” and publishing another article wondering, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid‘s wife lay in the hospital after a serious car accident, ”Isn’t It Time To Euthanize Reid’s Wife?”

This isn’t even his first foray into speculative oral sex fiction. Riehl previously targeted The Daily Caller‘s Tucker Carlson with his fellatio fantasies, publishing an article entitled “Breaking: Tucker Carlson To Give Head On Pennsylvania Avenue.”

Riehl isn’t the only political bomb-thrower invited to that secret meeting by the Romney campaign, but he’s probably the greatest indication of their poor judgment. If President Obama attended a secret meeting with someone like Dan Riehl, it’s a near-certainty Riehl’s Breitbart.com superiors would have something to say about it.

Indeed, if the Romney campaign had even thought to ask one of the more reputable conservative journalists they invited to that meeting, they could have avoided it turning into the fiasco it became.

The right hasn’t been entirely silent on the matter. To their mild credit, Michelle Malkin‘s Twitchy.com staff byline offered a grudging rebuke of Riehl:

Walsh is vile and we can understand being infuriated by her remarks. We were as well.

But the disgusting sexualization and dehumanization that Michelle Malkin wrote about in her “4 stages of conservative female abuse” are always wrong, whether the target is S.E. Cupp, Nikki Haley, Sarah Palin, or a liberal like Joan Walsh.

I agree with that last part, but I would also add that there is an extra dimension to attacks like Riehl’s, and Flynt’s attack on S.E. Cupp, and the attacks by Playboy Magazine on conservative women that landed me on this site in the first place. The combination of a sexual “fantasy” with unmasked hostility carries with it an inherent lack of consent that carries these attacks beyond objectification, beyond dehumanization, and into violation.

The 12 Worst Mitt Romney Gaffes Caught On Tape

James Crugnale — Sat, 26 May 2012 23:11:54 +0000

On Friday, presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney revealed to the Wall Street Journal‘s Peggy Noonan that his campaign gaffes will “haunt” him in the run up to the election. He acknowledged his own mistakes “make me want to kick myself in the seat of my pants,” and “cause me to try and be a little more careful in what I say.” Romney added, “I’ve had a couple of those during the campaign, which have haunted me a little bit, but I’m sure before this is over will haunt me a lot.”

Romney lamented most about his line about liking being “able to fire people.” “I have to think not only about what I say in a full sentence but what I say in a phrase.” In the current media environment, “you will be taken out of context, you’ll be clipped, and you’ll be battered with things you said.” He says it is interesting that “the media always says, ‘Gosh, we just want you to be spontaneous,’ but at the same time if you say anything in the wrong order, you’re gonna be sorry!”

Throughout this election season, Mediaite has compiled a pretty comprehensive dossier of many of Romney’s most controversial moments thus far.

Check them out below:

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Corporations Are People, My Friend While speaking at the Iowa State Fair, Romney explained in order to make entitlement programs work, you had to “raise taxes on people.” “Corporations!” shouted a protester. Romney shot back, "Corporations are people, my friend." Watch:

I Like Being Able To Fire People In January, Romney said he liked being able to "fire people" who didn't provide adequate business services. These comments have followed Romney throughout the campaign. He specifically cited this statement as something that would "haunt" him come election time. Watch:

I'm Not Concerned About The Very Poor In an interview, Romney told CNN's Soledad O’Brien that he was “not concerned about the very poor." This statement hurled Romney's campaign into chaos and he immediately went into damage control, telling Sean Hannity, “I wish I wouldn’t have said it that way." Watch:

10,000 Bucks? During one of the debates, Rick Perry said Romney was in favor of individual mandates. "You know what, you've raised that before, Rick. and you're wrong," a testy Romney replied. "Rick, I'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet?" Watch:

These Cookies ‘Came From The Local 7-Eleven’ Joking with voters at a Pennsylvania campaign stop in April, Romney criticized a plate of cookies from the Bethel Bakery, saying “I’m not sure about these cookies, they don’t look like you made them. Did you make those? No, they came from the local 7-Eleven or whatever.” So begat "cookie-gate", which temporarily dominated the news cycle. Watch:

'The Trees Are The Right Height' In Michigan “A little history—I was born and raised here. I love the state. It seems right here. Trees are the right height," Romney said to supporters in Michigan. Much to Romney's chagrin, the quote went viral and many late-night comics poked fun at his love of Michigan's right-sized trees. Watch:

My Wife Drives A Couple Of Cadillacs While giving an economic policy address in Michigan, Romney divulged that his wife drove a couple Cadillacs, which drew some scrutiny. "...Ann drives a couple of Cadillacs.” Watch:

I Look Forward To Occasional Vacations In France At a press conference in April, Romney gushed about France, saying he looked "forward to occasional vacations again in such a beautiful place." “That’ll win ‘em over in Scranton,” later joked MSNBC host Joe Scarborough. Watch:

I Have Some Great Friends That Are NASCAR Team Owners On the campaign trail, Romney was asked by an AP reporter if he followed racing. “Not as closely as some of the most ardent fans, but I have some great friends who are NASCAR team owners,” Romney responded. The DNC hammered Romney as out-of-touch about this remark. Watch:

I'm Also Unemployed On the campaign trail, Romney listened to a group of unemployed Floridians explain the struggles of finding work. “I should tell my story,” Romney replied. “I’m also unemployed.” Watch:

I Wondered If I Was Going To Get A Pink Slip At a campaign event in New Hampshire in January, Romney claimed he knew what it was like to be worried about being fired, which drew scrutiny. “I know what it’s like to worry whether you’re going to get fired," Romney said. Watch:

‘I’ll Take A Lot Of Credit’ For Auto Industry Recovery Despite writing a New York Times op-ed in 2008 saying "let Detroit go bankrupt," Romney said in May that he would "take a lot of credit for the fact that this industry's come back." Watch:

GOProud Founders Defend Andrew Breitbart’s Pro-Gay Legacy In Response To Meghan McCain

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 22:14:02 +0000

MSNBC contributor Meghan McCain didn’t have the smoothest ending to her week on Thursday when visiting Al Sharpton‘s PoliticsNation and wondering aloud, during a discussion about offensive right-wing extremism and intolerance for pro-gay stances, why Andrew Breitbart had so large a following. As McCain predicted, she received a number of vitriolic reactions, but the majority regarding her comments on Breitbart were from those offended she would attack a man in death who was mostly socially liberal and prided himself on his support for gay rights. Yesterday, Republican gay and straight ally group GOProud released a statement lauding Breitbart’s contributions to the gay community and condemning her comments.

GOProud co-founders Christopher Barron and Jimmy LaSalvia released a joint statement condemning McCain’s comments, thanking Breitbart for his support “when GOProud was just getting started and under intense fire from anti-gay forces within the conservative movement” and asserting that he “did more for gay people… than Meghan McCain could ever dream of”:

“Meghan McCain should be absolutely ashamed of herself. She went on a liberal network with a liberal host and demonized Andrew Breitbart. During his life, Andrew Breitbart did more for gay people, and showed more political courage on behalf of gay people, than Meghan McCain could ever dream of. [...]

“Andrew Breitbart wasn’t an ‘extremist’ – he was a committed conservative. Andrew didn’t engage in ‘hate’ politics – indeed he stood up to hate. Andrew didn’t play on people’s fears – quite the contrary, Andrew inspired tens of thousands of conservatives who had been bullied by the left for years to stand up and fight like hell for what they believed in.

The release concludes declaring McCain has, “as usual,” lost this fight, condemning the fact that “she picked a fight this time with a man who isn’t even alive to defend himself.”

Al Sharpton: Right Wing ‘Act[s] As Though Some Wiping Out Of People Is All Right’

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 21:47:16 +0000

Al Sharpton‘s radio show, Keepin’ It Real, got into some muddy waters last week talking about the American right. In response to a caller upset at Sean Hannity for “talking about the President like he’s nobody” and for “talk[ing] about Hitler” when “you massacred millions of Indians,” Sharpton accused the “right wing” of “acting like… some wiping out of people is okay.”

A caller on Friday’s edition of Keeping It Real with Al Sharpton called in with two comments for the MSNBC host– the first about “this Hannity character” who is “out of control” and other similar figures. “They talk about Hitler, Mr. Sharpton. Who are you to talk? You massacred millions of Indians and millions of slaves? Who are you to talk about Hitler like Hitler was such a– yes, he was a terrible man,” the caller tells Sharpton. His second comment is a recommendation to Sharpton to hire a bodyguard and keep safe.

In response to the caller, Sharpton tried to clarify the caller’s comments. “I think what the caller was saying, if I understood right, is that you can’t choose one massacre of people or mass destruction or mass murder of people over others,” he explained. “What Hitler did, as you said, was horrific, but what was done to Native Americans was horrific, and to others was horrific.” He clarified that “I don’t think we have to compare the two” and he did not think the caller was “comparing Hannity and Hitler,” but the message was, “how are you going to talk about some and excuse others? You have to condemn it all because mass murder is wrong.”

“It seems like they act as though, some wiping out of people– some of the right-wing– is all right,” Sharpton continues, asserting that “it’s not all right to do to any innocent people… what was done in Hitler’s Germany or what was done to Native Americans is not justifiable.” What follows is a pronoun minefield, where the comparisons are held prisoner by grammar. His guest for the day, New York Amsterdam News publisher Elinor Tatum then chimes in, saying that “what is similar to Hitler’s Germany is that Hitler did not believe those people to be human.” She is clearly comparing Hitler’s Germany to something. To what? Her next sentence is:

“They believed them to be subhuman and that’s, I think, the same thing we think people are thinking here is that you know why would they even care about them because they’re not human. And that’s how we’re being looked at and that’s what the scariest part of this whole thing is.”

Those who have tried to make sense of the segment have given it a noble effort, but to little avail. For one, most posts referring to the statements exclude the comments of the caller, which are pivotal to understanding the conversation (you can listen to the caller in the clip below). Some assert that Sharpton says in this clip that “Republicans are ready to kill African-Americans.” That’s not quite right, as he himself does not say anything about African-Americans. What Sharpton says in response to the caller is that he does believe that some on the right are comfortable with “some wiping out of people”– or at least speak like it when the uphold the Holocaust as worse than the killing of people in the Americans. He states they are equally unjustifiable. What Tatum is talking about is anyone’s guess, though the pronoun “we’re” in “that’s how we’re being looked at” (ie “not human) could reasonably be interpreted as “African-Americans.” But Sharpton says nothing in this vein.

Then there is the interpretation: “Republicans See Blacks Like Hitler Saw Jews.” This is closer, in that it seems to be the most reasonable interpretation of what Tatum is saying. But those comments came out of left field in the context of the commenter and Sharpton’s comments.

It appears that the clearest interpretation of what Sharpton is saying here is that people like Hannity tacitly approve of the massacre of slaves and Native Americans by upholding the Holocaust as something more heinous– a completely insane and irresponsible implication to make, prompted by a completely insane and irresponsible set of comments from a commenter. There is no justifying that implication. But it is a completely different point than the one many are trying to pin on Sharpton: that right-wingers are essentially Nazis in spirit. He says nothing of the sort (whether Tatum does is certainly debatable). In fact, he seems to be accusing the right of quite the opposite: bashing Hitler too much at the expense of other victimized peoples.

A difficult clip to parse, but an uncomfortable one nonetheless. Listen to the audio below:

[h/t]

Oops. Serious Wardrobe Malfunction At Cannes

Mediaite Staff — Sat, 26 May 2012 19:35:52 +0000

Read the rest of this entry »

Fox News Panel: In Booker Case, ‘Chris Matthews Was The Disciplinarian Of The Democratic Party’

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 19:17:10 +0000

The attacks on Mitt Romney over his time at Bain Capital and his vast wealth have been paramount in the news this week, and on Fox News Watch today, the panel began the debate with Newark Mayor Cory Booker‘s comments last Sunday that the Obama campaign’s fixation on Bain was “nauseating,” and the subsequent “hostage tape” he made qualifying his remarks. While the entire situation was strange to most panelists, Judith Miller pointed out that the most bizarre thing for her was Chris Matthews‘ reaction, which made him the Party’s “disciplinarian.”

Miller laughed at the apology video, noting that the media had nicknamed it a “hostage video,” and turned to the comments in the media in reaction to that. “I just found it so bizarre that the person who chastised him was a member of the media,” she noted, adding that, apparently, “Chris Matthews waas the disciplinarian of the Democratic Party” for being the one to call his comments “sabotage.” While it hurt Booker with the Party, Miller thought that, “to independents, it was music to our ears.” Cal Thomas coined his own version of the opposite of Politifact’s “Pinocchio” ratings and gave Booker “three Diogenes’ Lamps” for telling the truth, praising him for “cut[ting] through all of the media hype and the spin,” which is “incredibly refreshing.”

The panel then turned to the question of whether criticizing President Obama for his relationship to Rev. Jeremiah Wright and, conversely, Romney’s time at Bain. Miller seemed to believe both were fair game, and Ellen Ratner added that the media went far less hard on John Kerry for his wealth; Thomas making the same point about Warren Buffett and arguing that “it’s about what position you take, not how much money you have.”

The segment via Fox News below:

Fox News Guest: NAACP Supports Minimum Wage Laws That ‘Disproportionately Harm Black Workers’

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 18:18:18 +0000

With the recent news that the NAACP supports President Obama’s call for same-sex marriage as a civil right, Fox News’ Kelly Wright asked Wall Street Journal editorial board member Jason Riley to help parse the decision. The NAACP, he concluded, “primarily promotes Democratic interests” and not black ones, she argued, including hurting the community by supporting minimum wage.

Wright noted that there were “serious questions about if their membership feels the same way,” and Riley agreed that there were many members who did not, but “Democrats are concerned the black support for Obama will not be what it was in 2008.” Answering why the NAACP would jump into the same-sex marriage fray, Riley argued that it was, in essence, “done on behalf of Democrats.” Thought it was particularly running against those “members of the NAACP who tend to be older churchgoing folk that are most opposed to gay marriage.”

Riley aded that “the NAACP, for the past 30, 40 years, have been primarily promoted Democratic interests,” “whether you’re talking about education or the economy and jobs.” He cited the opposition to school choice as once example, and minimum wage laws as the other, despite “study after study show[ing] disproportionately harm black workers.”

The segment via Fox News below:

Red Eye Panel On Obama’s Pot Past: He’s Evolved On Gay Marriage But Devolved On Marijuana

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 17:32:23 +0000

With an upcoming biography of President Barack Obama on it way, new details about his life as a youth are slowly emerging, including the detail of how he would “intercept” marijuana cigarettes going about a circle of friends and take an extra puff when it wasn’t his turn. “He was a fan of taking other people’s stuff?” Red Eye‘s Andy Levy, hosting last night, quipped. “Thank God he grew out of that phase!”

Except for Levy, the panel seemed to agree that the stories of the President having fun were “one more thing that makes him look cool,” as Tom Shillue put it (Levy disagreed because he allegedly took more hits than were allotted him). After a requisite Tim Tebow “interception” joke from Bill Schulz, panelist (!) Greg Gutfeld hopped in to make a serious point: that the story proved “the background of our world leaders are inching closer to our own.” He also made the point that the President was “a socialist who should be impeached,” but only because the show was being broadcast in the Hannity studio.

“Obama has apparently evolved on gay marriage but devolved when it comes to all things marijuana,” Schulz argued, and while he did see Levy’s logic in the President’s predilection for taking other people’s marijuana in an untimely way, “I would take a guy who bogarts a joint over one physically assaulting a gay kid any day of the week.” Panelist Nikki Glaser thought the story was great though, and confessed she had reason to identify with the President’s past.

“Isn’t it the hypocrisy here?” Levy asked, to which Shillue replied, “yeah, he should lay off that!” without any particular further comment. Gutfeld recalled the argument Penn Jillette made earlier this week, that the President would never have been able to rise to the presidency had the laws he currently enforces been used against him.

The segment via Fox News below:

Maher: Cory Booker Condemned Obama’s Bain Ads Because He Needs ‘Rich People To Subsidize His City’

Josh Feldman — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:49:25 +0000

Newark Mayor Cory Booker has been in the spotlight all week after his comment on Meet the Press that the Obama campaign’s attacks on Bain Capital and private equity are “nauseating.” Bill Maher made it clear he disagrees with what Booker said, but claimed that Booker may have only done it because he didn’t want to anger rich people in order to get their money to help his city. He sympathized with Booker, saying he knows the mayor needs to “kiss the asses of the rich people on Wall Street.”

Maher first explained that he admires the mayor and calls him a great example for what a civil servant should be. But he still found a problem in Booker’s comments because, he argued, venture capitalists aren’t exactly “on the side of the little guy” and so there’s no really big deal about the Obama campaign targeting Romney’s ties to the industry in ads.

New York Times columnist Paul Krugman put it charitably by saying that while all private equity people “are not evil,” the changes in this sector since the 1980s have been “a lot for the worse,” and found it disturbing that anyone would condemn such criticisms as anti-American. Maher joked that he’s helping pay for the Obama campaign’s ads, which he noted are featuring, in some cases, average Americans railing against businessmen like Romney.

Maher did provide a possible reason for why Booker said what he did: he doesn’t want to make an enemy out of the rich.

“Cory Booker, the mayor of Newark, has to beg rich people to subsidize his city. Mark Zuckerberg gave 140 million dollars… to the Newark school system because we now have to beg rich people for money, otherwise known as feudalism… I’m not defending what Cory Booker said, I’m saying I understand why he has to kiss the asses of the rich people on Wall Street because there’s no other way to keep his city afloat.”

Watch the video below, courtesy of HBO:

Maddow Challenges Romney’s Use Of Trump While He Insists Obama Is A ‘Kenyan Usurper’

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:45:30 +0000

Donald Trump is many things, but in the political world, he has made his recent name on being a birther. This argued Rachel Maddow last night, giving him credit for being a great asset to Mitt Romney’s campaign but questioning the morality of having a birther be a great asset to one’s campaign. What to do, Maddow asked, when “the single best known household name to speak up” for you also thinks the President is a “Kenyan Usurper”?

“Whatever it is Donald Trump does for Mitt Romney, it seems to be working and Romney seems to think he needs it,” Maddow noted on her program Friday night, which is great for Romney except for the fact that “Donald Trump is not letting the birther thing go.” She went through the various ways Trump was helping the campaign, from offering himself up for dinner with a donor to going to and hosting fundraisers. She noted Romney’s campaign is standing by the decision to have Trump at a fundraiser, and wondered what the right thing to do for Romney would be.

“Nobody can be responsible for the views of all their supporters,” Maddow noted, arguing that if you, the viewer, had wacky beliefs and also liked Romney, that wasn’t really his problem. “But Donald Trump is not you– he is a prominent part of the Romney campaign.” Romney, she concluded, was “raising money off of Donald Trump… while Donald Trump is simultaneously preaching that President Obama is secretly not really the President,” and those two facts are not severable.

The segment via MSNBC below:

Michelle Obama Scheduled To Be At Beyoncé’s Comeback Concert Tonight

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 16:04:41 +0000

Memorial Day weekend is a time to kick back and get out of the house a bit, and that goes for the First Lady as well as the rest of us. First Lady Michelle Obama, who recently admitted she wouldn’t mind being Beyoncé right about now, is expected to visit Atlantic City, New Jersey today to watch her return to the stage since having her daughter Blue Ivy.

Beyoncé’s performance tonight marks the opening of a new venue in Atlantic City, Revel, and the news of the First Lady’s visit came from an NBC story about the locale:

Some of Revel’s boutique shops are now open as part of the grand opening. Governor Chris Christie is expected to be at Revel on Saturday night. Michelle Obama is also expected to be in attendance for Beyonce’s show on Saturday night.

The First Lady and Chris Christie? Doesn’t get much more bipartisanly star-studded than that. Luckily for the First Lady, Christie isn’t know to be as, er, dynamic at concerts as he is at town halls.

[Photo via]

Mediaite Confessional: I Was The New Jersey Hacker Mayor’s Campaign Manager

Frances Martel — Sat, 26 May 2012 15:49:40 +0000

There it is, just as I imagined it. The gaudy Impact font, the gaping look of disbelief on his face; The Jersey Journal. It might be close to every day that Hudson County’s legendary corruption rag puts a local public official in handcuffs on its cover, but not every day is that official your old boss– one whose arrest you predicted in August 2009, to a city’s worth of chuckles.

While the nation sat transfixed on the so-called career-ending gaffes of wildly popular Newark Mayor Cory Booker, West New York Mayor Felix Roque—for whom I served as campaign manager from December 2008 to August 2009— was committing the career-ending “gaffe” of getting busted by the FBI. This alone would not be news. It is a rite of passage for Hudson County mayors to host an undercover FBI agent armed with an irresistible sack of hard cash in Town Hall during your first week in office. Most mayors wait a few months before clenching their trembling fists over the bribes or make their underlings do the sordid work. A select few never take the money. Former Hoboken mayor Peter Cammarano eagerly stepped into the obvious mousetrap his first week in office, or so the jury decided.

To his credit, Roque has yet to get caught accepting literal moneybags in exchange for favors. Instead, he was arrested for allegedly hacking into the website of an opponent attempting to put into motion a recall vote against him, and allegedly threatening those who established the website. The mayor and his son appeared in court clad in undershirts, and Roque told the FBI that he “would not have a problem with serving time in jail because he would work out and read while there.”

Seeing your former boss on Politico, in an article linked to on Drudge—or in the New York Times, in an article linked to at Gizmodo— is not what anyone should call a victory. Without a well-oiled campaign machine (of which I was, unfortunately, a part), no one would have bought into this area doctor’s capacity to run a local government. On the other hand, my last words as campaign manager so many years ago were “you’re going to end up in jail if you keep acting like this,” so the news isn’t exactly unexpected.

Fresh out of college, I helped organize a recall against then-Mayor Sal Vega, a nefarious character who had raised property taxes to make up for lost state money. A key reason for the financial woes? He had challenged the incumbent state senator for his seat and lost, not only spending many months partially ignoring his job as mayor, but leaving the state of West New York’s representation in the New Jersey Legislature hanging in the balance. Vega was a mess and an easy target, the sort of politician who once managed to insult Cuban political prisoners, American war veterans, and the entire children’s population of West New York in one day (he tried to cancel their respective parades, as revenge on his political enemies). It was not difficult to convince the 45,000 residents of West New York that things couldn’t be worse under any alternative, including this random doctor who, having gotten bored with his office job, decided it was time to move into Town Hall.

NEXT PAGE: The Recall Campaign That Turned Dr. Roque Into Mayor Roque