'Donald trump on DaTechGuy's reporting "…It's nonsense nobody reports that, but you do that's why I like you"
…and the iman in questions instructions are followed by islam worldwide”
“When defending Islam and the nation of Muslim believers via martyrdom acts, this (suicide attacks) is not only permitted, it’s a duty,”
then I guess Islam will go out with a bang.
One of the things that has enabled the conservative blogosphere and Fox news has been the refusal of the MSM to cover stories that might portray a democrat in an unfavorable light.
The Monica Lewinsky case made Matt Drudge because Newsweek when given the chance to cover a story with every element that would attract readers; Sex, Power intrigue, declined.
The same thing happened with the John Edwards story. The MSM continued to ignore it until the National Enquirer caught him with the lady in a hotel.
Consider: If Newsweek does it’s job, how much smaller is Matt Drudge? Does he inspire others? Does an Andrew Breitbart who worked with Drudge get his start?
Let’s say you are a hard left person; what would you today give to have neutralized Matt Drudge and all those who would follow him?
And consider 2000. Do you think an incumbent Al Gore would have lost to George Bush? I think not.
Consider myself and the Weiner business. If the MSM reports do I end up with an Op-ed in the NY Post, or the Lars Larson radio and Fox TV gigs? Would I even get the Instalanche if the MSM makes the points that I did first?
Which brings me to Joe Scarborough again.
This morning I stated that this was an important show for Joe Scarborough. There is a definite connection between the show and Weiner but Joe Scarborough is very familiar with Twitter and would understand the potential problems with Rep. Weiner’s story.
Yet his own dismissal of Andrew Breitbart and association with people such as Joan Walsh of Salon who railed about the Weiner business being all about conservatives attacking teenage girls, and the Huffington Post who confined the story to the NY section, transformed any confrontation with Weiner from simple reporting to act of courage. It would be standing against the people he hangs with at parties and events. It is the type of thing that would make the “no labels” crowd uncomfortable.
Confronted with this choice, #weinergate was not covered in any segment, and his name was mentioned only in passing about “hacking” in general. It didn’t even make the “news you can’t use” segment. (Can you imagine this happening if the congressman in question was Paul Ryan?). No coverage of the lawyering up, no coverage of the alleged hacker offering to submit to investigations and no coverage of Rep Weiner choosing to not answer questions. Nothing.
Normally there would be no damage as only Fox would cover the story and their niche market would never hear about it. Unfortunately for Joe and Company CNN decided no act in a very atypical way for an MSM network.
Congressman Weiner was, to the surprise of even Andrew Breitbart, confronted by a CNN apparently deciding this was a job they would not outsource to Fox (when you are in 3rd place you apparently try harder). The result was classic TV.
The media stars of the left were since the movie all the president’s men, brought up on drams of such confrontations all their lives. All those dreams involved Republicans, but lo and behold when a democrat is the subject it’s still great TV. CNN reporters will look at this and say: Why not me?
This is a disaster for MSNBC. Any MSNBC host this evening who wants to report on this has to show the CNN clip and the left of center viewers who would refuse to turn to FOX to see the story have no such qualms about watching CNN.
Tomorrow morning when this clip is shown on Morning Joe viewers will be wondering why they didn’t hear about this issue on the show. They will remember how many times Congressman Weiner has appeared on the show and will be amazed that they are hearing about this after the fact.
This is an embarrassment and a self-inflicted wound to the credibility of his show.
Why do I care? Two reasons:
1. Morning Joe is the only show on MSNBC that has the possibility of the entry of conservative opinions into their audience. Its fall would likely cause its replacement with a totally liberal show appealing the MBNBC’s niche Market.
2. I genuinely like these people. I’ve met Willie on one occasion and Mike Barnicle on several, they are nice regular guys. The type you would have a beer with and could talk straight with. I suspect Joe and Mika are too. Any parent who sees how Mika reacts around children or sees how she treats her father on the air can’t help but like her. Plus Joe once paid me a complement that was passed on through a 3rd party that was very important to me at the time and an American of Sicilian origin doesn’t forget a favor.
It is painful to watch them do this to their show. I hope they in the future take these words of Robert Stacy McCain to heart:
This story is what we call “news.” No matter how unseemly or inconsequential the story may superficially appear to be, it is entirely legitimate and potentially significant, and it is therefore a dereliction of journalistic duty to ignore or dismiss it.
My appearance on Fox 25 tomorrow precludes me from seeing tomorrow’s show, I sure hope they take what I said to heart but frankly I’m not sanguine.
Update: Poor Joe & Co. John Stewart was all over this. I’d bet real money the only clip they will play if any is the “it’s too big to be him” stuff.
Boy you have one Op/ed in the NY post and suddenly you are the center of attention.
Tonight I’ll be on the Lars Larson show tonight at 7:20 P.M. EST
And tomorrow I will be on FOX 25 at about 8:30.
and yes I’ll be bringing Cannoli from Joyce’s Pies in Leominster.
UPDATE: BTW Lars show plays with a 1 hour delay in NE on AM 1490 in New Hampshire or you can listen live here.
…you never thought you’d see the Sox in first place on the last day in May did you?
Hey when Tim Wakefield is in the rotation good thing happen.
On Saturday as my post Any old Twit(erer) understands what Weiner’s number mean was driving my traffic to the best day since I moved from the old blog I got an e-mail from the NY Post asking if I would be interested in submitting an opinion piece for their paper on Weinergate.
It Ran today. A peek:
In the New York of the late 1800s, Boss Tweed famously complained about Thomas Nast cartoons: Though many immigrants in the city couldn’t read, even the illiterate could understand “those damn pictures.” Rep. Anthony Weiner and his staff now face a similar problem.
Read the Whole thing
Update: Rush Limbaugh linked to the Post Article today. I think that rates an OMG!
It looks like Pakistan, is becoming an unhealthy place for Christians:
“Landowners and extremists are actively involved against the Christian minority in Punjab,” he told AsiaNews. “Most attacks happen in the central part of the province.” The government, he said, should “take charge of the situation and defend the minority.”
As additional evidence of the prevailing atmosphere of violence, a story came to light involving a 29-year-old Christian woman who was abducted by a Muslim co-worker, roughed up, drugged and gang-raped.
Afshan Sabir is a factory worker and a mother of three. She was assaulted over night on 27 March in an unspecified area near Gojra. When she woke up, she sought help in a state of disorientation. She later tried to file a complaint with the local police station. However, instead of helping the woman, police officers helped the rapists cover their tracks..
and it’s not a unique it appears Monday’s Gospel is in action in Egypt:
The pattern of anti-Christian violence has grown far worse since the bombing of a Coptic church at the beginning of this year. The Salafi and Muslim Brotherhood have taken advantage of the situation since the collapse of the Mubarak regime to persecute Christians with little fear of being held accountable for their actions.
The reason for the anti-Christian riot at St. Mary and St. Abraham Church is simple: The church is recognizably Christian on account of its dome and cross, and in keeping with the long-standing Muslim system of “dhimmitude,” such a public display of the faith of a subjugated religious minority is deemed to be intolerable. In short, what the howling mobs in the street are demanding is that Christians would be “put in their place.”
In northern Nigeria, deadly religious violence occurs with regularity, killing hundreds at a time. Christians in Ethiopia have seen the destruction of 57 churches; thousands of Christians have been displaced, and some have been killed. In Sudan, the government has waged a decades-old war against Christians in southern part of the country. In Egypt, radicals now use the façade of democratic reforms to ramp up their continuing war against Coptic Christians, while the army looks the other way. Christians have lived in Iraq for 1,800 years, but recent violence threatens their very existence as a community. In Pakistan, religious violence and anti-blasphemy laws are used to suppress Christians, while prominent Christian politicians and their defenders are assassinated. In India, religious radicals attack Christian converts, while courts and political assemblies take away their rights. Religious violence against Christians occurs with depressing regularity in Indonesia, while the Chinese government cracks down on Christian churches, especially those that have chosen not to register with the communist government. In many countries around the world, anti-Christian activists have hijacked political processes to codify severe discrimination against Christians, making it illegal to convert to Christianity, while encouraging conversions from Christianity.
If you were to read carefully in the media, it would be easy to compile a much longer list of outrages; many other incidents are never covered in the Western press. There is certainly enough evidence to suggest that there are organized campaigns of terror and death against Christians in Africa and Asia.
And as today’s gospel says it, it’s is being done in the name of God
Groups such as the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Al-Qaida in Iraq, the Taliban in Pakistan and Hindu fundamentalists in India (among others) openly admit their actions against Christian populations.
Lets see that Gospel verse again:
the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you. John 16:2b-4a
Let’s play a game, if the religions were reversed, if the Christians were the persecutors and Muslims and Hindus were the victims how many specials would we have already seen on ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN and MSNBC about the intolerance of Christians worldwide? How many Time and Newsweek covers would be dedicated to the “Blood of Christ”?
The truth is the systematic murder and persecutions of Christians worldwide is a story that the MSM has no interest in covering. Those on the left are too invested in the idea of Western Civilization in general and Christianity in particular as a curse and oppressor of the world.
Because it will be the first regular show since the Anthony Weiner stuff came out.
Why will it be significant? Well as I said a couple of days ago, Joe Scarborough knows and understands Twitter, there is no possibility that he will not understand the significance of Congressman Weiner interesting choices when it comes to people to follow.
Why do I know this, well as an experiment I decided to go through Joe’s follow list. He follows 392 people and of the entire list there is only a single person that seemed out-of-place, and on further observation it appears that person was also followed by several significant people and groups so I’m just assuming I don’t know her.
In other words from his own pattern of following it is clear that Joe follows the normal pattern of famous people. It is inconceivable to me that he would not find the combination of:
1. odd following pattern,
2. Backing off from the “hacking” claim,
3. the “victim” Lawyering up while the alleged “hacker” offers full co-operation and asked for an investigation
…questionable at the very least, and it would be even odder for Mika to pooh pooh this either.
I’m scheduling this post for 5:45 a.m. so it will be up just before Morning Joe begins. Last week we discovered that the Ed Schultz business was not significant on a show concerning women’s empowerment. Today we will see what is stronger on the Morning Joe set; friendship or Journalistic skepticism. Believe it or not, I’m thinking the latter.
Update: It’s looking like I’m a sucker, so far. As of 6:38 “hacking” was joked about it passing when talking about other stories (“lots of hacking this weekend”). Apparently when it comes to the MSM this is a pattern:
The Huffington Post has finally posted something about this weekend’s evolving #Weinergate Story – but not on the national page, but buried in the much less read New York section.
Well they are late and put it on the NY page but it’s not like they spiked the story over the weekend or something…oh wait:
HuffPost Could Have Run The Story Two Days Ago & Chose Not To
This is the part that HuffPost won’t be thrilled with but I mention it because I think it proves some real bias going on…
After months of not blogging at Huffington Post because of their treatment of Andrew Breitbart, I decided this story was juicy / big enough that I wanted to get it out to the HuffPost audience. After all, Huffington Post had been great about publishing my John Edwards pieces.
So I submitted an article that I thought was good – my Would Your Spouse Buy It? article with an added introduction paragraph to explain the story…and note the date…
After all why would an online blog that wants to get eyeballs want to cover a story involving a national rising political figure in the democratic party and a possible connection rather young women, doesn’t sound like something that would drive traffic to me, does it?
Meanwhile Joe Scarborough proves me wrong as #weinergate doesn’t even make the “news you can’t use” segment.
Update 2: Morning Joe might have taken a pass but the NY Post has an opinion piece by a fellow who I hear is a big fan of the show.
Here are a few of photos from Fitchburg’s Memorial day 
The Mayor was wearing a stylish raincoat:
But the real stars were of course the vets
And the new Bricks that we’ve mentioned before. This one is my Father:
And an Uncle
there was a medal of Honor winner
and others
All donated:
You can still buy bricks to honor family members who served, but if you are outside of Fitchburg and want to do something for our troops No Sheepies has a suggestion
…and then decide not to comment.
After all isn’t this what everyone does?
A spokesman for Rep. Anthony Weiner, New York Democrat, told The Daily Caller the Congressman’s team has “retained counsel” and is exploring the “proper next steps” after his official Twitter account posted a picture of a man’s erect penis underneath gray boxer shorts. The internet-driven scandal has come to be known online as “#Weinergate,” a pun on the Congressman’s last name.
I don’t claim to be a law expert if I had a client that wanted advice on what to do if someone hacked my account, the legal conversation I would have would be in two sentences:
“Call the police, that will be $1000.”
Now I’m sure that Mr. Weiner’s counsel not being a fool is going to allow Rep Weiner to pay him big bucks for as long as possible, but rep Weiner’s decision to go this route is going to mean something else to even non-twitter familiar people. It certainly drew a reaction from Stacy McCain.
There are direct questions that Rep Weiner has chosen not to answer at this point. He retaining of a lawyer means that no answers will be forthcoming. This certainly does not bode well in terms of appearances and a media savvy congressman would know this.
One must conclude that given the choice of :
OR
B: Taking actions that would cause reasonable people to conclude he is hiding something.
…Congressman Weiner has decided the less damaging action to his future ambitions is the later.
There is every possibility that Anthony Weiner will come out of this with a whole skin so to speak, but this latest action means that it will come at a cost in the minds of voters , apparently he is counting on the MSM to cover this with the same due diligence that they give any potential scandal that doesn’t involve a republican.
Update: Not to worry Anthony, you have Charles Johnson in your corner. That must bring a sigh of relief. Particularly when you are dealing with some masterful snark from Ace of Spades HQ:
…perhaps I’m being too hard on Congressman Weiner. I mean every PSA I’ve ever seen about crimes always urges people that if you are the victim of a crime or see one committed you should immediately call the cops retain counsel to help you consider your options.
I bet the idiot who illegally accessed Palin’s emails wishes he’d picked on Weiner instead. She called the cops but apparently Weiner is more forgiving of being violated.
Yup Rep Weiner is much too sophisticated to merely go after the “hacker” in court like that hick Sarah Palin did.
Update 2: A report on CNN showed Weiner in person claiming it was a hacker and pooh poohing it. That’s important. Strangely enough nobody at CNN thought to ask why the lady in question was being followed by Weiner. As for the continued “distraction” business, I remember hearing something like that back in the late 90’s from another democratic pol who loved the camera.
Update 3: Two days Two instalanches, and I suspect tomorrow will be even bigger!
I so didn’t want to wake up typing, I have things to do, Herman Cain is just 2 hours away in New Hampshire, the wife and kids have the day off and I still don’t know where in NE Sarah Palin is going to be and I have two sample ads to write for a potential customer of the radio show.
Not to mention normal Memorial Day stuff.
And yet the Weiner case continues to beckon with developments that are not at all favorable to our friends on the left. So here I am back at the keyboard after mass trying to get an update in before the Memorial Day observance.
The young lady in question put out a statement yesterday that you will find at the New York Daily News, in it she makes some charges concerning a person on Twitter “harassed” her:
The account that these tweets were sent from was familiar to me; this person had harassed me many times after the Congressman followed me on Twitter a month or so ago. Since I had dealt with this person and his cohorts before I assumed that the tweet and the picture were their latest attempts at defaming the Congressman and harassing his supporters.
This will be read by the tens of thousands who read that paper.
What will likely not be read by those same tens of thousands are two tweets she put out last night saying:
1. I never said or implied that the alleged “stalker” was behind the tweet
2. I never once speculated about the alleged hacking.
Say WHAT? This is Bill Clinton grade: “it depends on the meaning of the what the word ‘is’ is” style.
It would seem to me the statement’s purpose was not to deal with unanswered questions but to get the “I’m being harassed by the right” theme out so the left can follow-up with nonsense like this from Joan Walsh:
It’s about @AndrewBreitbart and insane bloggers savaging a 21 year old girl.
Apparently the media not able to contain the story has decided their narrative is going to be about evil right wingers harassing a poor innocent 21-year-old journalism student.
PLEASE!
This narrative is designed to do one thing: to take the spotlight off of the suddenly silent Anthony Weiner and to avoid asking Ms. Cordova some specific questions such as:
1. Did you at any time send or relieve Direct Messages with Congressman Weiner via Twitter or any software used to access Twitter?
2. Did anyone from the Congressman’s office contact you at any time between the time the tweet became known and the release of your statement.
3. Did you exchange direct messages with Tommy Christopher of Mediate before the release of your statement, and if so what was the nature of said messages?
4. Who if anyone aided in the drafting, editing and presentation of your prepared statement, was a lawyer consulted
Tell me Ms. Walsh would you consider those questions “savaging” anyone?
And incidentally, do you have any questions for the congressman as Stacy McCain explains:
I think if you were keenly observant, you might have noticed something curious over the weekend: The normally loquacious @RepWeiner didn’t have a damned thing to say about this whole “hacking” incident, except a couple of vague jokes.
Does it not strike you as odd, Ms. Walsh, that the New York congressman — who has never been known to be averse to TV cameras — did not rush into a studio, or call a press conference, to rebut the accusation that he had Tweeted photos of his tumescence to a 21-year-old?
So the loquacious congressman says nothing, while his spokesman issues denials and, after 36 “anxiety-filled” hours, we get a confusing statement from the self-described “fan” of Weiner to whom the notorious photo was addressed.
There is something wrong with this story, Ms. Walsh. And what’s wrong has nothing to do with Andrew Breitbart.
Lee Stranahan follows up with two examples of simple questions that Joan Walsh has not asked:
1. Why did Rep. Weiner, who only follows 200 people, choose to follow 21 year old college student Gennette Cordova?
2. And how exactly did he come to follow her?
Ms. Walsh, may I point out that Andrew Breitbart was not following the young lady on Twitter but a certain congressman in a district 2900 miles from her was. I don’t claim to be a professional journalist but it would seem to me that any reporter whose goal is the truth of this matter rather than defending a congressman beloved by the left would be asking questions. Andrew Breitbart is not the story here no matter how much you or the Daily Kos crowd wish it to be so.
Meanwhile as paid reports cry “Breitbart” and unleash the dogs of indignation Ace of Spades contacted the alleged “harasser” who answered direct questions posed to him (I also contacted him asking to speak to him by phone last night, he choose not to speak by phone and I choose not to ask my questions via the net).
Have you been contacted by any law enforcement officers or agents whatsoever?
His answer:
No one. Nada. I keep saying bring it on. I have nothing to hide. Not my IP nothing to hide at all.
No one from law enforcement contacted Detective Colby Hall’s number one suspect in the hacking case of the decade? No one? No one at all?
Excuse Me?
Additionally the gentleman in question has offered to hand over anything an investigator might want concerning this. Ace again:
Isn’t it odd that Weiner and the Comely Coed are not calling the police, while the man the left has all-but-accused as being behind this is the only one who wants a police investigation?
It apparently isn’t odd if you are Joan Walsh or Colby Hall of Mediate. Apparently Ace has demonstrated reporting is one of those jobs American reporters don’t want to do .
Oh and Joan, Colby in case you missed it Bryan Preston notes another Coincidence that a reporter might choose to ask about
It was just a coincidence that Rep. Anthony Weiner had spent much of Friday on twitter (where he could tweet publicly as well as direct message, of course) laying in wait for a supposed Clarence Thomas docu-dump; and it was a coincidence that Weiner happened to see the allegedly criminal tweet, and was able to delete the tweet in question within minutes of it going off into the wild, even though he allegedly had nothing to do with sending that tweet in the first place. He’s a regular Twitter Batman.
Think about it; a “hack” of Congressman Weiner’s accounts DURING THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND that has the potential to damage his reputation takes place just as he just happens to be sitting there ready to delete the offending tweet and picture.
What a lucky guy!
Oh one last thing, take a look at this story from CBS. Here is the headline:
Now a person seeing that headline would naturally assume that CBS asked Rep Weiner and he denied it. Unfortunately that’s not what the story says:
(CBS/AP)
NEW YORK — A lewd photograph of a crotch sent from the Twitter account of U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner is just “a distraction” perpetrated by a hacker, his spokesman said Sunday.
Dave Arnold told The Associated Press in an email that the tweet, directed at a woman, was “a distraction” from the married New York Democrat’s “important work representing his constituents.”
So it’s a distraction? I have a question:
Has anybody in the Media spoken directly to Congressman Weiner on the record concerning this matter?
The most interesting part of this story is going to be the MSM spin, but at least they can use it as an excuse to ignore Sarah Palin.