Open Thread: The Wisconsin Walkout

Wisconsin State Senate Democrats on Thursday decided they no longer approved of the democratic process, and fled the state in an effort to deny the legislature a quorum. The stunt was an effort to derail a measure that would prohibit public employee unions from collective bargianing and force those employees to pay into their own pension and benefit plans. Lawmakers initially fled to a resort…
NB Staff
February 18th, 2011 9:54 AM

Rosie O'Donnell Will Introduce 'Chaz' Bono Film on Oprah's Network

Rosie O'Donnell appeared on the Joy Behar show on Thursday night touting how the first documentary that Rosie will be promoting on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) is "Becoming Chaz," a documentary about Chastity Bono's trans-gender journey into "Chaz." Rosie also promoted it on Access Hollywood. Naturally, Rosie said 'he's a very brave guy" and Joy thought it was very nice: BEHAR: Now, you…
Tim Graham
February 18th, 2011 8:51 AM

Disgusted Helen Thomas: I Automatically Assumed Obama Was Black, There

Jeff Poor at the Daily Caller isolated the latest rant from former UPI White House correspondent Helen Thomas. On Wednesday night's Joy Behar show on CNN Headline News, Thomas said Obama is a coward, not a liberal, which was disappointing, since she thought "because he was black, I thought he would automatically be" liberal, or in other words, have an "empathy for all the blacks." BEHAR:…
Tim Graham
February 18th, 2011 8:27 AM

Responsible Adults Cannot Ignore These Numbers

I knew we were in for real budgetary trouble with Obama, but his recent statements on the subject make me wonder whether he is so brainwashed with liberal ideology as to be divorced from reality — or worse. Based on his tireless rhetoric, it would appear that he thinks — contrary to all evidence, including the failure of his $868 billion stimulus package to create jobs — that even more…
David Limbaugh
February 18th, 2011 4:00 AM

Nets Champion Wisconsin Public Employees ‘Rising Up’ in ‘Mutiny

ABC on Thursday night championed a “mutiny in America” by public employees in Wisconsin whom NBC’s Brian Williams trumpeted for “rising up and saying no to some of the most extreme cuts in the nation.” ABC’s Diane Sawyer teased: “Tonight on World News, a mutiny in America. Public workers take to the streets as governors try to cut their pay and perks.” Sawyer framed coverage from the grievance…
Brent Baker
February 18th, 2011 2:14 AM

Pa. Judge Whose Fate Is In Hands of Jury Not Tagged As Dem -- For Two

The fate of former Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Judge Mark Ciavarella is in the hands of a jury tonight. After an initial media slip-up that occurred and was quickly "corrected" when he and a fellow judge were indicted two years ago ("Un-Name That Party" proof here), Ciavarella's party affiliation (Democrat, natch) has gone virtually unmentioned. One such non-party-identifying example (…
Tom Blumer
February 18th, 2011 12:39 AM

Ann Coulter Tells Lawrence O'Donnell: 'Sean Hannity Knows More Than Yo

Conservative author Ann Coulter returned to MSNBC Thursday to spar with admittedly socialist commentator Lawrence O'Donnell. At the end of a highly-entertaining segment dealing with Coulter's previously expressed support for New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ann marvelously told her host after he besmirched Fox News's Sean Hannity, "He knows more than you - you’re a Democrat" (video follows…
Noel Sheppard
February 17th, 2011 11:26 PM

In Wis. Standoff, AP Reporter Claims Pending Legislation Would 'End Co

The Associated Press's Scott Bauer opened his report ("Wis. lawmakers flee state to block anti-union bill") from Madison, Wisconsin today by completely misrepresenting the nature of the legislation involved in the current standoff: Faced with a near-certain Republican victory that would end a half-century of collective bargaining for public workers, Wisconsin Democrats retaliated with the…
Tom Blumer
February 17th, 2011 10:14 PM

Ridiculous Bias in Boston Globe Hit Piece on Barney Frank Opponent

If you need any more evidence of the blatant animus that a mainstream newspaper like the Boston Globe can have for conservative Republicans, here you go. Compare the following: Sean Bielat was the Republican challenger to Rep. Barney Frank in the 4th Congressional District in Massachusetts last November. While spending ten months to run for the seat, he paid himself a salary of $10,000…
Dave Pierre
February 17th, 2011 9:30 PM

ABC's Banfield on CNN: 'I'm Not Going to Cast Aspersions' on Rosen

On Wednesday's AC360 on CNN, ABC's Ashleigh Banfield punted on Nir Rosen's offensive Tweets against CBS's Lara Logan and tried to explain them away: "We're using a lot of electronics to get information out as fast as we can nowadays before we can really digest the ramifications of what we say...And so, I'm certainly not going to cast aspersions on Mr. Rosen. Let he who is without sin cast the…
Matthew Balan
February 17th, 2011 6:27 PM

It's the Deficits That Are Draconian, Not Their Cuts

After the riots in Athens, the Greek authorities decided to enact new laws to deal with their obvious problems. The new laws, which treat rich and poor alike for the first time, have been seen has harsh. The name of the legislator who wrote the laws is a man called Draco. The date is believed to be 621 B.C. And more than 2,600 years later, the adjectival form of his name — draconian — is still…
Tony Blankley
February 17th, 2011 6:04 PM

Fox News Highlights Nazi, Hitler Signs in Wisconsin Pension Debate, Ne

The network morning shows on Thursday failed to find any controversy in union protests from Wisconsin, ignoring the signs comparing Scott Walker, the state's Republican governor, to the Taliban, the Nazis and Hitler. Fox News, on the other hand, highlighted the attacks on "Mullah Walker." Wisconsin radio talk show host Vicki McKenna appeared on Your World With Neil Cavuto to discuss the…
Scott Whitlock
February 17th, 2011 6:01 PM

Multiculturalism Has Failed

Now the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has joined the chorus. The other day, he said, "My answer is clearly yes, it is a failure." The "it" was multiculturalism, and he was on French national television. In pronouncing multiculturalism defunct, the French president joins German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Australia's former prime minister John Howard, Spain's former premier Jose Maria Aznar…
R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr.
February 17th, 2011 5:59 PM

Smoke, Mirrors, and Obama's Budget

On the home page of the Office of Management and Budget website, President Obama is quoted: "Rather than fight the same tired battles that have dominated Washington for decades, it's time to try something new." If only he would, but the president's proposed $3.7 trillion budget is more of the same: taxing and spending for which liberal Democrats are known and "cuts" as in Pell Grants and home…
Cal Thomas
February 17th, 2011 4:55 PM