Corporate Liberalism

'Bubbles' Brzezinski Picks a Favorite Founding Father: Lincoln
By Mike Sargent | January 14, 2010 | 4:56 PM EST
Via Ed Morrisey at HotAir.com, we find out what you get when you cross a liberal, with a blonde, and a person of Polish heritage: Mika "Bubbles" Brzezinski.

Coming back from commercial this morning at the MSNBC Clown Kingdom, the bump-in video clip was one of Sarah Palin’s interview with Glenn Beck.  Palin stated that it took all of the Founders to come up with the Constitution, but that George Washington (as the leader) would necessarily rise to the top.

Mika Brzezinski took the lead-in rather hard:
Tucker Carlson Set to Launch 'Daily Caller' Journalism Site
By Lachlan Markay | January 8, 2010 | 1:58 PM EST
"Not in sync with the current program" is how former CNN host Tucker Carlson describes his new website, the Daily Caller, which is scheduled to launch Monday. Designed as a conservative answer to the Huffington Post, the Daily Caller will do what few center-right blogs have attempted: report hard news.

Carlson and his partner, former Dick Cheney aide Neil Patel, have raised $3 million in startup capital for the site, according to the Washington Independent. That impressive sum is enough to keep the Daily Caller operating for about a year. The site will employ a reporting staff or 21 in its Washington, D.C. office.

With Andrew Breitbart's Big Journalism, which launched earlier this week, Carlson hopes to be on the cutting edge of a new effort on the right to circumvent major media outlets--and overcome the significant obstacles to conservative news of traditional media outlets.
Conservative Obamacare Foes Hit by WaPo Over Funding, Liberal Groups Get Free Pass
By Christine Hall | January 7, 2010 | 3:56 PM EST

<p>Washington Post reporter Dan Eggen scored a front page hit on...wait for it...conservative advocacy groups that oppose Obamacare. (See <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/06/AR201001... for Health-Care Interest Groups Often Fuzzy</a>.) Eggen is scandalized that (big) business interests want to fund groups that oppose President Obama's plans to socialize insurance in the U.S. Eggen singles out a handful of non-leftists groups and complains about &quot;opaque financing&quot; and &quot;hidden support from insurers, drugmakers [and] unions.&quot; </p><p>The second part of Eggen's report similarly blasts left-of-center groups that take corporate money to support Obamacare. Yeah, right. Actually, Eggen expends just one paragraph mentioning that liberal groups might be &quot;beholden to labor unions and liberal foundations with deep pockets.&quot; No serious discussion of the fact that industry lobbyists have been a huge backer of Obamacare - or, specific provisions thereof. (See, for example, DC Examiner author and columnist Timothy P. Carney's <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Once-Obama_s-target_-lobbyist... this week on PhRMA's influence</a> within the Obama administration and, <a href="http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Whi... week, on another major trade association, America's Health Insurance Plans</a>.) </p><p>Isn't it curious that Eggen omits entirely any examination of what corporate interests fund left-wing groups?</p>

Beck's Gold Endorsements Frenzy Leftists, Gore's Conflict of Interest Not So Much
By Lachlan Markay | December 18, 2009 | 1:19 PM EST
From the New York Times to the Colbert Report, liberal media commentators have had a field day bashing Glenn Beck for his purported conflict of interest in encouraging his viewers to invest in gold without disclosing that he has endorsed gold distributors.

Yet few of these pundits have even mentioned Al Gore's monumental conflict of interest--which could have far greater consequences for Americans than Beck's gold promotions--in touting global warming hysteria while establishing his own green technology empire.

NewsBusters has consistently argued that Gore plays up the dangers of global warming to line his own pockets. His investments in green energy firms could pay enormous dividends if the United States adopts the draconian cuts to carbon emissions he has advocated--and Congress included in the environmental tax known as cap and trade passed by the House last summer.
Seasons Greetings from the Media: The 'Atrocity' of Palin and Lieberman
By Clay Waters | December 17, 2009 | 5:39 PM EST

What’s on the mind of media types this Christmas season? Obama’s “great” speeches and the “atrocity” of Sarah Palin and Sen.

Olbermann’s Conniption: 'There is No Liberal Media'; Insists Corporate Ownership Absolves Media of 'Liberal' Designation
By Jeff Poor | December 15, 2009 | 2:24 AM EST

Perhaps there is something obstructing the view overlooking Rockefeller Plaza, where MSNBC broadcasts "Countdown" nightly because the show's host, Keith Olbermann fails to see the existence of a news media with a liberal bias.

On MSNBC's Dec. 14 broadcast of "Countdown," Olbermann came to the defense of NBC's "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" executive producer and noted left-winger Dick Wolf. The Dec. 9 episode of Wolf's program featured a killer who targeted the children of illegal immigrants and in that episode, one of the characters, played by John Larroquette, blamed conservatives "like Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck" for inciting violence against immigrants. That prompted O'Reilly on Dec. 10, the next broadcast of the Fox News Channel's "The O'Reilly Factor," to fire back at Wolf.

And that led Olbermann to respond to O'Reilly, five days later, which deteriorated into Olbermann making the seemingly laughable assertion there is no such thing as the liberal media. Olbermann began his tirade by attacking Andrew Breitbart, who is launching a Web site called "Big Journalism," which will take on "the Democratic-media complex."

On Law & Order's Persistent Leftward Lurch
By Michael Moriarty | December 14, 2009 | 1:45 PM EST

<p><i><b>Managing Editor's Note</b>: The following is a reprint of Michael Moriarty's <a href="http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/mmoriarty/2009/12/14/the-increasingly-... target="_blank">original December 14 post to Big Hollywood</a>. Moriarty, you may recall, played a prosecutor in the first few seasons of the long-running NBC drama &quot;Law and Order.&quot;</i></p><p>Well, I think I’ve been fairly calm and forgiving of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098844/" bluelink="yes">&quot;Law and Order&quot;</a> for about fifteen years. Living outside of the U.S. has certainly helped in more ways than one. Out of sight, out of mind. &quot;Law and Order&quot; has, for years, been just a press of the remote away from non-existence.</p> <p>However, recent events have &quot;Law and Order&quot; just begging for my reassessment. I hardly expected my old television series to be the clown act that leads the American viewing audience into an increasingly predictable pile of hard left propaganda.</p> <p>Why?</p>

For Conservatives Online, Plenty of Commentary But Not Enough News
By Lachlan Markay | December 13, 2009 | 3:54 PM EST
A number of the conservative movement's prominent online figures are battling to be the right's equivalent of Talking Points Memo or Huffington Post--political organizations that report hard news. Many believe that to truly harness the power of the Web, political organizations must report their own news, rather than comment on reporitng from traditional outlets.

"The left needs Daily Kos, but they also need the Huffington Post," Politics Daily columnist Matt Lewis told Politico. He praised the roles of activists and opinion commentators on the right such as Red State's Erick Erickson, but noted that the conservatives have not yet matched the left's capability for original reporting.

Though HuffPo, TPM, and other politcally stilted but journalism-oriented sites, liberals "have the ability to amplify stories into the mainstream media conversation," according to Politico. Conservatives have a large void to fill when it comes to producing original content, rather than solely commenting on what is already out there. There are conservative sites providing original reporting, but there are so far no center-right equivalents to the left's powerhouse online news operations.
Prior to Release, 'Brothers' Director Blames American People For Anti-war Movie's Flop
By John Nolte | November 30, 2009 | 12:40 PM EST

<p><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2009/11/29/PKUS1ALEO... target="_blank"><img src="http://media.eyeblast.org/newsbusters/static/2009/11/sheridan_jim.jpg" alt="Director Jim Sheridan, photographed by Lorey Sebastian for SFGate.com | NewsBusters.org " vspace="3" width="340" align="right" border="0" height="226" hspace="3" /></a>The budget for &quot;Brothers,&quot; <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/27/PKUS1ALEOQ.D... director Jim Sheridan, is $25 million</a>, which probably doesn’t include marketing for promotion and … well, tell me again how Hollywood is driven by profit and not ideology? We’re a month away from 2010 so it’s hard to argue “Brothers” went into production before everyone was well aware that <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0891527/" bluelink="yes">every</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0478134/" bluelink="yes">single</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0804522/" bluelink="yes">war</a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0937237/" bluelink="yes"> film</a> <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0763840/" bluelink="yes">flopped </a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0489281/" bluelink="yes">miserably</a>. </p><p>But who does the snob Sheridan choose to blame in advance should his war-themed film flop? Not his own bonehead decision to jump into a genre with a 100% failure rate, not the investors who dove in with him … no, he blames <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/11/29/PKUS1ALEOQ.D... The American People</a>:  </p> <blockquote>

CNN-mity: Tensions With Dobbs Were Evident Many Years Ago
By Tom Blumer | November 12, 2009 | 10:46 AM EST
lou-dobbsLou Dobbs has resigned from CNN, and his final show aired last night. The departure is reportedly on amicable terms.

That said, this is a good time to recall that Dobbs and his employer were at very visible loggerheads a decade ago. In fact, yesterday's move by Dobbs is not his first resignation from the network. Here is Brent Baker's June 9, 1999 CyberAlert item describing what happened:

Lou Dobbs gone from CNN. Forced out by CNN President Rick Kaplan, or just frustrated by him? In a surprise announcement at the end of Tuesday’s The World Today, anchor Jim Moret informed viewers:

"And finally tonight, farewell to a colleague. Lou Dobbs, President of CNNfn and anchor of Moneyline, is resigning to launch a new Internet venture. Dobbs said he is ‘grateful to Ted Turner and CNN News Group Chairman Tom Johnson for the opportunity to have helped build CNN and cnn.com into a first-class television news and interactive institution.’ Lou Dobbs had been with CNN since its inception 19 years ago. He will start up space.com, a Web site for news, entertainment and educational content about space."

No mention of Kaplan and an on-air dispute the two had a couple of weeks ago about whether to carry live a Clinton speech may explain why. As Clay Waters of Bridge News first informed me, the May 25 Page Six column in the New York Post revealed:

Donny Deutsch Blasts White House on MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' for Fox Feud
By Mike Sargent | October 19, 2009 | 4:00 PM EDT
Donny Deutsch said something on MSNBC's Morning Joe that was worth listening to.

I'll give you a moment to scrape your jaw off the floor.

Donny Deutsch, in addition to being a former CNBC host, is also a former advertising executive.  So when the following exchange takes place, you know he's actually speaking from some experience:
JOE SCARBOROUGH: Donny Deutsch, when I was running for office, in Congress, as a challenger I prayed every day the person that was thirty points ahead of me in the polls would bring up my name. When I became the incumbent, my challenger could have burned down my house - and I mean it - I would have never mentioned his name.

DONNY DEUTSCH: Marketing 101.

SCARBOROUGH: Why are they doing this?

DEUTSCH: I am shocked.  Here you have, it's the analogy of - you have Morning Joe, it's a big, serious show.  And let's say there was a little public access guy in, somewhere in Des Moines calling you out, and you calling him back.  They are elevating Fox. Think about this.  It's the President of the United States, the commander of the free world, versus a television network with a couple million viewers. It's a ratings bonanza.  It's insane - they should just be dismissive and laugh at them.
CNN's Sanchez Apologizes for Running Fake Limbaugh Quote
By NB Staff | October 16, 2009 | 10:13 AM EDT

<p><img src="http://media.eyeblast.org/newsbusters/static/2009/10/2009-10-12-CNN-NR-L... vspace="3" width="208" align="right" border="0" height="156" hspace="3" />Yesterday CNN's Rick Sanchez was<a href="/blogs/tim-graham/2009/10/15/cnn-anchor-rick-sanchez-assembling-pile-retractions" target="_blank"> set to go on air</a> and issue an apology for <a href="/blogs/matthew-balan/2009/10/12/cnns-rick-sanchez-features-dubious-limbaugh-slavery-quote" target="_blank">running an unverified quote</a> attributed to Rush Limbaugh. Breaking news of the now-infamous &quot;balloon boy&quot; intervened, and Sanchez was unable to deliver his apology. </p><p>It came to the attention of the NewsBusters staff that Sanchez plans on issuing a correction today on-air, reading  the following statement:</p><blockquote>