WaPo Skips Common's White House Poem Line That 'God Watches' and Was

Washington Post reporter Dan Zak was assigned the story of the rapper Common’s performance at the White House on Wednesday night, and he not only buried the lead – he completely ignored it. I don’t mean that he failed to quote any of the controversial rap/poetry lyrics about “Burn a Bush” or hailing convicted cop-killers Assata Shakur and Mumia Abu-Jamal. He did fail to do that. No, the more…
Tim Graham
May 12th, 2011 4:40 PM

In NY-26, Jack Davis Scuffles With Cameraman, and AP IDs Him As a 'Tea

Can someone call himself a Tea Party candidate even though he has no visible support from local Tea Party groups and has been asked by one of them not to run? The Associated Press's Carolyn Thompson apparently thinks so. Thompson's 3:03 p.m. report (saved here for future reference, fair use and discussion purposes) makes no mention of congressional candidate Jack Davis's lack of Tea Party…
Tom Blumer
May 12th, 2011 4:34 PM

CBS Gives Obama Over 26 Minutes to Lecture on the Economy

CBS gave President Obama over 26 and a half minutes to answer 12 questions related to the economy during a town hall aired on Thursday's Early Show. Obama got six uninterrupted minutes to answer one question about Medicare during the hour-long event. Host Erica Hill wondered how the Democrat could "change the mind-set from things are tough to things are turning around" with the economy. Hill…
Matthew Balan
May 12th, 2011 4:24 PM

Time's Grunwald: Florida 'Insane' to Have Rejected High-Speed Rail; Pr

According to Time's Michael Grunwald, it was insane for Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) to reject $2.4 billion for a Tampa-Orlando high-speed rail project. And yet in the same Swampland blog post he confessed that a similar high-speed rail project going forward in California is dubious at best and that Scott's rejection of the pork project means that the money is now broken up to aid rail…
Ken Shepherd
May 12th, 2011 4:23 PM

NBC Welcomes Gingrich to 2012 Race By Playing Up 'Political Hurdle' of

Teasing a story on former House Speaker Newt Gingrich entering the presidential race at the top of Thursday's NBC Today, co-host Meredith Vieira proclaimed: "Political hurdle. Newt Gingrich launches his run for the White House, but will his two divorces and an admitted affair during his time as House speaker hurt his chances of becoming president?" Later, fellow co-host Matt Lauer introduced…
Kyle Drennen
May 12th, 2011 4:00 PM

Keeping Hope Alive for Real

Robert Woodson would probably wince if you called him a "community organizer." That's because for the last 30 years as president of the Center for Neighborhood Enterprise, he has not spent time organizing the poor around ineffective government programs and other addictions he has been helping them become self-sufficient. "You can't learn anything by studying failure," he says. "If you want to…
Cal Thomas
May 12th, 2011 3:51 PM

CNBC Anchor's 11-Year-Old Daughter Celebrates Capitalism in New Book

In a moment of respite from its typically liberal proclivities, MSNBC's "Morning Joe" tuned in to "Squawk Box" on May 12 to chat with the 11-year-old daughter of a CNBC anchor who co-authored a book about "defending our kids from the liberal assault on capitalism." "Although I am an environmentalist, in this argument I support the business side," wrote Blake Kernen, daughter of CNBC's Joe…
Alex Fitzsimmons
May 12th, 2011 3:44 PM

NYT Lauds Obama's 'Deliberate, Almost Scholarly, Approach' to His Midd

Obama’s "deliberate, almost scholarly" approach to foreign policy may be obtaining mixed results at best, but New York Times reporter Mark Landler trumpeted the White House line that the killing of Osama bin Laden would enable Obama to "reset" American policy in the Arab world: "Obama Seeks Reset in Arab World – Speech Likely to Put Bin Laden’s Death in Context of Uprisings." After years of…
Clay Waters
May 12th, 2011 12:16 PM

ABC's Jake Tapper: Rapper Who Called for Burning George W. Bush 'Is N

According to Good Morning America reporter Jake Tapper, a rapper who called for the burning of George W. Bush "is not particularly controversial." The artist, known as Common, has repeatedly defended cop killers such as Mumia Abu-Jamal and appeared at a White House poetry event, Wednesday.
Scott Whitlock
May 12th, 2011 12:03 PM

NYT Respects Catholic College's Lefty Attack on Boehner, But Obama Abo

Speaker John Boehner will deliver the commencement address at the Catholic University of America on Saturday, inspiring a letter of protest from Catholic professors claiming the Republican budget resolution for 2012 "will hurt the poor, the elderly and the vulnerable, and that he therefore has failed to uphold basic Catholic moral teachings." New York Times religion reporter Laurie Goodstein…
Clay Waters
May 12th, 2011 11:17 AM

Global Warming Rap: 'Yo...We're Climate Scientists

An Australian television program has decided to advance the global warming myth by creating and airing a rap video called "I'm A Climate Scientist." For some reason, "Hungry Beast" felt it was necessary to include vulgarity to make its point (video follows with vulgarity-laden lyrics and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
May 12th, 2011 10:17 AM

Open Thread: Ron Paul Claims OBL Killing Was Unnecessary and Possibly

The eccentric Texas libertarian is up to his usual antics, this time speaking out against the US operation that killed Osama bin Laden. According to Politico, the congressman - a contender for the Republican presidential nomination - said the operation "absolutely was not necessary," and that "respect for the rule of law and world law and international law" should apparently preclude any such…
NB Staff
May 12th, 2011 9:14 AM

Barnicle: Newt 'A Delusional Loser

Mike Barnicle has greeted Newt Gingrich's announcement of his presidential candidacy with a sneer, calling the former Speaker of the House "a delusional loser."  The former Kennedy-clan retainer and Boston Globe columnist seasoned his sneer with snobbery, launching an ignorant attack on Gingrich's educational background. Barnicle spewed his bile on today's Morning Joe. View video after…
Mark Finkelstein
May 12th, 2011 8:05 AM

Chris Matthews Asks Ron Reagan 'Did Your Father Really Believe Cutting

Chris Matthews Wednesday actually asked Ron Reagan, "Did [your father] really believe if you lowered the tax rates the government made more money?" Frankly, I'm not sure which was more absurd - the question or the answer (video follows with transcript and commentary):
Noel Sheppard
May 12th, 2011 1:19 AM