Latest Blogs

Woody Guthrie was an American original who wrote some enduring music and did a lot to publicize the plight of the people of the Dust Bowl.  There's just one little inconvenient truth about Guthrie: he ran in Communist circles.  Though it's reported that he never officially joined the party, he's quoted as saying that the "the best thing that I did in 1936 was to sign up with the Communist Party…

For the past six weeks combined, actual jobless claims filed nationwide have been virtually the same as the were during the six comparable weeks in early 2012. You wouldn't know that from Christopher Rugaber's coverage at the Associated Press of the Department of Labor's unemployment claims report released yesterday. Rugaber, who described last month's jobs report showing the unemployment…

In response to Politico’s “Puppet Master” take on Obama and his stiff-arming of the White House press corps, former White House reporter Matthew Cooper penned a piece for The Atlantic titled “Is Obama Too Mean to the Media, or Are Reporters Just Whiny? It’s mostly the latter.” Cooper quoted from the Politico piece, that “Obama is a master at limiting, shaping and manipulating media coverage…

After overwrought pressure from the usual gay "anti-defamation" lobbyists, the Associated Press has caved in and made another new statement approving the use of "his husband" and "her wife" in news stories. as if they've taken a stand for neutrality, instead of rewriting the gender dictionary.  "Victory!" was the headline on several gay websites as AP issued a new entry in its AP Stylebook…

On Friday, the now all-digital Newsweek marked Benedict XVI's impending departure from the papacy by turning to British writer Tim Parks, who took the opportunity to air his grievances against the current pontiff's predecessor, John Paul II. Parks bemoaned "how reactionary and old-fashioned" the Polish-born bishop of Rome was for daring to believe in Catholic devotions and in divine providence…

Update (15:50 EST, Feb. 22): Twitchy reports Amanpour deleted the tweet and subsequently insisted her birthday wish was ironic. "[W]hat do you get for the serial human rights abuser who has everything?" the folks at Twitchy snarked today reacting to this tweet by CNN anchor Christiane Amanpour: "Happy Birthday, President Mugabe: http://on.cnn.com/VQ4kTK #Zimbabwe" But wait, it gets better…

So, I take it that Lisa De Moraes didn’t go through her paper’s archives before she penned today's TV column in which she re-wrote history regarding Conan O’Brien's turn as emcee for the White House Correspondents Association dinner in April 1995. Yesterday it was announced that the late-night comedian would return this year as the master of ceremonies. De Moraes suggested the O'Brien bombed…

Marcus Davis, a Houston, Texas-based restaurant owner, defends murals of Barack Obama painted on the exterior of his establishment with an AR-15. Even though he is aware of this, Martin Bashir - one of MSNBC's most vocal gun control advocates - praised the proprietor of The Breakfast Klub during a lengthy interview Thursday (video follows with transcribed highlights and commentary):

CNN's getting more love from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as prime-time host Anderson Cooper will be honored at the organization's upcoming Media Awards for his work as an "openly gay media professional" in "promoting equality." Cooper's not being honored as a journalist, but as an advocate. "Anderson Cooper has long been an advocate for the LGBT community," the…

Freelance journalist Helaine Olen appeared on The Daily Show Wednesday night to promote her new book Pound Foolish, in which she attacks the financial planning industry as a group of snake oil salesmen. The show didn’t have enough time to air the full conversation, so viewers had to go online to www.thedailyshow.com to hear Olen’s proposed solution for de-emphasizing the importance of investing…

On her 1 p.m. et hour MSNBC show on Thursday, host Andrea Mitchell mounted her high horse in condemning Republican senators who questioned defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagel about his connection to what turned out to be a fake organization: "Without even checking the factual basis for their questions....You can ask anything and create a sound bite, and then people pick it up in social media…

The Hollywood types love a good class warfare story. A new Sony Pictures film set to release on Aug. 9, 2013, is no exception. “Elysium” starring Matt Damon and Jodie Foster, is set far into the future, where “Sometime in the future, the class divide of the 1% grows so intense that the richest of the rich decide to build their own colony in space - the titular Elysium - where poor people are…

While many pro-gun control voices are hailing Vice President Joe Biden's advice about using a double-barreled shotgun over an AR-15 for home defense, the folks at Reason.com explain that good ol' Joe's counsel on discharging a weapon happens to well, advocate breaking laws against the public discharge of a gun. J.D. Tuccille of Reason's Hit and Run blog explains:

Hey, did you know that Ed Schultz used to work as a TV meteorologist? They finally let him go after one too many references to racist cloud patterns. Yes, I'm kidding, but it's not hard to envision this actually happening. When it comes to gratuitous references to race, Schultz is unrivaled -- except for all those other liberals inclined to do likewise. (audio clips after page break)