National Review

Bozell & Graham Column: The Domestic Violence Blacklist
By Brent Bozell | and By Tim Graham | November 1, 2014 | 7:55 AM EDT

The "No More" TV advertisement blitz against domestic violence by professional athletes is obnoxious and reeks of political correctness. Exactly why does the public need to be indoctrinated about this, as if the audience for "Monday Night Football" is to blame? It's another reason to stop watching this sport.

But there is another reason to be opposed to this clearly political pressure campaign. In the current atmosphere, where even accusations of abuse are toxic public relations, what happens when a pro is falsely accused?

Amanda Marcotte: Right-Wingers Are Promoting Revenge Against the Nerds
By Tom Johnson | August 3, 2014 | 10:38 PM EDT

A specter is haunting conservatives, suggests Amanda Marcotte –- the specter of nerdiness. In a Wednesday article for AlterNet, Marcotte blasted the right’s supposed resentment of "things like evidence, rationality, and empiricism," as expressed in forums such as a recent National Review cover story critical of what its writer called America’s "extraordinarily puffed-up 'nerd' culture." In other words, black males whom conservatives dislike apparently include not just Barack Obama but also Steve Urkel.

Marcotte believes that the right has targeted nerds because their ideas "are a direct threat to the corporate and religious authorities who rightfully fear that evidence and reason could hurt [right-wingers’] profits and their hold on power." From Marcotte’s piece (emphasis added):

'Hardball' Host Matthews Ignores Leaked Michelle Nunn Campaign Strategy Memo
By Ken Shepherd | July 28, 2014 | 9:50 PM EDT

This morning the National Review's Eliana Johnson published  jaw-dropping scoop about a Democratic strategy memo for Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Michelle Nunn, daughter of the former Peach State Democrat Sam Nunn. Among other juicy tidbits, Johnson relayed how "The campaign’s finance plan draws attention to the 'tremendous financial opportunity' in the Jewish community and identifies Jews as key fundraisers. It notes, however, that 'Michelle’s position on Israel will largely determine the level of support here.'"

So surely MSNBC's consummate political junkie Chris Matthews devoted significant attention to the development on tonight's Hardball, right? Not a chance, and this despite him devoting a full segment to handicapping the 2014 Senate races with Nia-Malika Henderson of the Washington Post and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report.

Press Virtually Ignores Cuellar's Hits at Obama's 'Bizarre' Actions, White House Blowback
By Tom Blumer | July 10, 2014 | 12:44 AM EDT

At the Politico Wednesday afternoon, Jonathan Topaz covered Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar's sharp criticism of President Barack Obama's failure to visit the nation's southern border, or for that matter any of the detention centers set up for "Unaccompanied Alien Children" (the Department of Homeland Security's term).

The Politico is where many stories the rest of the establishment press would rather not cover go to die; they then appear to say, "Well, the Politico covered it, so we don't have to." During the Reagan, Bush 41 and Bush 43 presidencies, the press went with saturation coverage of Republicans who criticized a president from their party. The degree of coverage in Cuellar's situation is quite the opposite, even though, as we shall see, the White House has contacted him in an attempt to convince him to shut up.

Blogger: Liberals Dominate the Culture Because They Put Entertainment Before Politics
By Tom Johnson | July 6, 2014 | 10:14 PM EDT

Would right-wingers like a larger presence in mainstream news and entertainment media, or would they rather grumble about the MSM’s liberal bias while patronizing conservative media outlets? To American Prospect blogger Paul Waldman, it’s clear that the second is correct.

Waldman’s peg for his Wednesday post was a National Review piece by editor and publisher Adam Bellow on the need for a conservative counterculture that would produce novels, movies, music, and so on. Apropos of Bellow’s comment that it’s too bad righties have “hived ourselves off into our own politicized media bubble,” Waldman snipes that conservatives want very much to stay inside said bubble, even though it leaves them prone to “all kinds of pathological beliefs and behaviors.”

Press Won't Connect End of Jobless Benefits With Faster Job Growth; Krauthammer Does
By Tom Blumer | July 6, 2014 | 9:45 PM EDT

Fox News contributor and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer made a very interesting and logical correlation Friday. The press has predictably failed to make the connection or even to relay Krauthammer's point, simply because it leads to the default assumption that conservatives were right on an important economic issue.

To be clear, the point Krauthammer and National Review Online's Robert Stein made on Thursday isn't directly provable. But the fact that an acceleration in job growth and a significant reduction in the unemployment rate have occurred in the six months since extended unemployment benefits expired is hard to explain away as some kind of lucky coincidence — especially given the endless blather of "weather" excuses the press and the administration have made about the economy in general since early this year. Video and a transcript follow the jump.

LAT's Paul Whitefield: Make Bush and Cheney Try to Fix Iraq Mess They Created
By Tom Blumer | June 15, 2014 | 11:48 PM EDT

Paul Whitefield "is a 30-year veteran of the Los Angeles Times who is copy chief of the editorial pages and a writer/scold for the Opinion L.A. blog." He also has a serious but far from unique case of Bush (and Cheney) Derangement Syndrome and an extraordinary ignorance of the history of last decade's war in Iraq, which included a victory in 2008 the U.S. press, with rare exceptions, refused to recognize.

Clueless Paul, in a Thursday post, claimed that what has happened recently in Iraq proves (italics are his) that "the invasion ... in 2003 wasn’t a very good idea" Admitting that "I don’t know how these things keep sneaking up on us" (I can help you with that, Paul), he petulantly wrote: "Send Mr. (George W.) Bush and Mr. (Dick) Cheney over there and let them try to negotiate a solution," because "they’re the ones who created this mess in the first place." Well no, Paul. Excerpts from Whitefield's work, followed by a pointed riposte from a National Review op-ed, follow the jump (bolds are mine throughout this post):

Debbie Wasserman Schultz: ‘Senseless’ and ‘Wrong’ to Punish Men Who Slip Women Abortion Pills
By Tom Blumer | May 16, 2014 | 10:08 AM EDT

Did you catch the story about those conservative Republican male chauvinist pig politicians in Florida who think that it was a waste of time to pass a bill which would make it a crime for a guy to secretly administer an abortion-inducing drug to a spouse or partner he impregnated? How utterly outrageous ... Wait a minute ... It was Democratic National Committee Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz who said that? C'mon, that's not possible. What? There's audio of her saying that on a Florida public radio station? Get outta here. If that were true, the press would be printing and broadcasting stories on her outrageous statement 24/7 ... wouldn't they?

Well, no. The audio of Wasserman Schultz can be found here at WFSU in Tallahassee. Excerpts from the related report by Sascha Kordner follow the jump:

WaPo Editors Insert Error Into National Review Writer's Submission, Then Let Others Rip Him
By Tom Blumer | May 13, 2014 | 9:58 AM EDT

File this under "Epic Fails: Layers of Editors." National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru submitted a requested column to the Washington Post’s Outlook section. After several rounds of mutually agreed-upon edits, the geniuses at WaPo made a final change without consulting Ponnuru. That change inserted erroneous information into what had been an otherwise clean column. The Post then published two letters to the editor criticizing Ponnuru for the error WaPo had created. That caused Ponnuru to demand a correction, which he ultimately received. Amazon.com CEO and WaPo owner Jeff Bezos really needs to take a hard look at the leftist koolaid-drinking Keystone Cops operation for which he massively overpaid. Otherwise, the default assumption will be that he's fine with the completely unacceptable status quo.

Excerpts from Ponnuru's retelling of the story follow the jump (HT Twitchy):

Death Panel? Mass General Reportedly 'Has Had a Unilateral Do Not Resuscitate Policy Since 2006'
By Tom Blumer | May 12, 2014 | 9:30 PM EDT

Early this morning, award-winning author and bioethicist Wesley Smith posted at National Review on a Sunday Medical Futility blog entry. That entry previewed a presentation scheduled to occur on morning of Sunday, May 18, the third day of the American Thoracic Society International Conference in San Diego.

The topic: "Unilateral Do-Not-Attempt Resuscitation Orders In A Large Academic Hospital." These are situations where "clinicians withhold advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the event of cardiopulmonary arrest despite objections of patients or their surrogates." The presenters indicate that "The ethics committee at Massachusetts General Hospital has had a unilateral DNR policy since 2006." Patients allowed to die against their or their surrogates' will is news, right? Let's see if anyone in the press cares. (So far: No.) A full description of the presentation, relevant background, and Smith's reaction follow the jump.

Jonah Goldberg: Media Herd Stampedes To Expose 'True, Feral Nature of Conservatives'
By Tim Graham | April 25, 2014 | 1:20 PM EDT

In his “Happy Warrior” column in the April 21 National Review, Jonah Goldberg reports on how “Press Shows Bias.” In this case, it’s the case of California state Sen. Leland Yee, whose remarkable attempts to smuggle guns and even missile-launchers went mostly ignored in the national media.

The most notable omitter was CNN, which tweeted it covers state officials “just about never.” (On April 11, CNN anchor Jake Tapper proved the exception to the rule: “This week, Yee pleaded not guilty to charges that are stunning in their reach and, if true, hypocrisy.” A full report by Jason Carroll followed.)  Goldberg’s column mocked the old cliche of covering “man bites dog” stories:

Media Ignore César Chávez’s Opposition to Illegal Immigration, Racial Advocacy
By Sean Long | March 27, 2014 | 1:45 PM EDT

Rather than dismissing his contrary views as sour grapes, the media simply ignore César Chávez’s opinions that stray from liberal orthodoxy.

Chávez was a 1960s and 70s union leader who promoted unionization and Californian farm workers’ strikes. The farm workers of the time were predominantly Latino. He is particularly famous for the Delano grape strike: a five-year strike and boycott against Californian grapes. Liberals seized on this boycott, as well as several high profile hunger strikes, to promote Chávez as a symbol of immigrant and Latino rights.