Rusty Weiss

The Culture of Life: It's Wrong to View Abortion as a Convenience - Like I Once Did
By Rusty Weiss | October 21, 2010 | 7:12 PM EDT

Cute Baby

In a powerful speech a couple of weeks ago, Sarah Palin framed the upcoming election using an issue sometimes relegated to the backburner during turbulent economic times – abortion.  According to Palin, the elections boil down to candidates who favor a ‘culture of life’, and those who promote a ‘culture of death’.

There are several arguments made by those supporting legalized abortion, the health of mother and child, and cases of rape and incest being what resonates with most.  Polling suggests that a very low percentage of abortions are performed for these extreme reasons.  Problems arise mostly in those who view abortion as a matter of social and economic convenience.  Herein lies a fundamental flaw with the pro-choice argument; a struggle to acknowledge the fact that a human life begins at conception, and that same life is not an inconvenience but rather, a necessity. 

This has been a concept that I, myself, once struggled with.  A little over nine years ago, on September 11th, 2001, that personal struggle ended.  For most, 9/11 has a singular tragic meaning related to the events we endured as a nation.  For one man, it also served as an awakening; a transformation from a liberal ‘culture of death’ mentality, to a conservative embracement of life.

Is CNN Reaching Out to Conservatives for Publicity?
By Rusty Weiss | April 8, 2010 | 1:23 AM EDT
In what is generally being interpreted by most as a surprise move, CNN has recently decided to cover the Tea Party movement from an angle foreign to most in the main stream media - combating stereotypes that are heavily promoted by liberals. 

There is no doubt that the piece by Shannon Travis, Reporter's notebook: What really happens at Tea Party rallies, deserves credit for being one of the first to offer fair coverage of the Tea Party movement outside of Fox News.  NewsBusters has seen the value in such reporting from CNN.  As Matthew Balan reported yesterday evening, "Travis's article is a welcome breath of fresh air, especially when you consider that it was former CNN correspondent Susan Roesgen who lashed out at an early point against the Tea Party movement a year ago in April 2009."

That comparison alone raises some questions, however.  How does a network which featured the Roesgen debacle, suddenly find respect for the movement?  How does the organization whose award-winning journalists refer to the people as ‘tea baggers', seek to dispel the degrading stereotypes propagated in the media?  And how does a network, who just over a week ago minimized a Nevada Tea Party Event of roughly 20,000 people, by speculating that ‘at least dozens' were in attendance, suddenly believe the movement to be legitimate and important?

Most importantly, is the network actively seeking a shift to more fair and balanced coverage, or are they seeking the admiration of conservatives driving the ratings of Fox News?  Michelle Malkin for one is skeptical, calling it a desperate move for a ‘ratings-starved CNN'. 

The curiosity of the CNN shift has only been exacerbated by the network's desire to have the story covered by conservative writers.

(Explanation after the jump...)

Jim Pinkerton: 'Hats Off To Rusty Weiss At NewsBusters'
By Noel Sheppard | December 16, 2009 | 1:51 PM EST

NewsBuster Rusty Weiss was praised on Saturday by "Fox News Watch" regular Jim Pinkerton.

The program began with host Jon Scott talking about President Obama's declining poll numbers, and how White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs spun them last week claiming, "I don't put a lot of stake in, never have in the EKG that is the daily Gallup trend." 

Scott then passed the baton to Pinkerton who marvelously said, "[H]ats off to Rusty Weiss at NewsBusters who pointed out that back in February, when the Gallup poll showed enormous support for the stimulus package, the same guy, Robert Gibbs, was delighted to flap that as proof for what a great policy he had" (video embedded below the fold with partial transcript):