Ooo! - Laura Ingraham gets testy

Hat tip to Crooks & Liars for finding this one on the Web.

It's of conservative personality Laura Ingraham trying to rein in her frustration during the early days of her ill-fated show on Faux News Channel, Just In With Laura Ingraham. Okay, I'll admit, it's only mildly amusing, and nothing compared to Bill O'Reilly's now infamous, "We'll do it live!" expletive-laden temper tantrum. And I guess I have to give her credit for "Jesus God in Heaven!" line - I know I would have been much more, ahem, "colorful."

Anyway, just guessing, but perhaps this is why her show on Fox lasted about as long as The Half Hour News Hour the blue M&Ms at Rush Limbaugh's house.

Anything about Ingraham grabs my attention because of her past misdeeds, specifically urging her largely Republican listeners to clog a Democratic Party hotline during the '04 election, which was set up for voters to voice complaints about voter suppression and irregularities. This is also the same Ingraham who regularly boasts about having "gone to Iraq," which consisted of about seven days in the comfy confines of the Green Zone and being spoon-fed reports from the military about how great things were. I guess that's her definition of "progress" in that godforsaken country. (Yet another example of how our "free press" has failed us - real, genuine reporting from Iraq that isn't spun to death by the Pentagon is a rare animal indeed; we hear, read and see what they want us to, and little more, at least from the American press.)

Anyway, much, much more in a bit - I'm gathering up plenty of video and articles from the past few days - I've got plenty on my mind. Back in a bit.

NBC's Mitchell leads attack against Clark

I'm getting awfully tired of the pseudo-scandal about General Wesley Clark's comments regarding John McCain, so I promise I won't keep posting about it, but an exchange on TV yesterday got my dander up, and I'm not good at letting things go when I'm angry (at least in the political world).

I had a very difficult time watching the above exchange between NBC's Andrea Mitchell and General Wesley Clark. Listening to Mitchell huff and sign at Clark's explanation, you would think she's working for Faux News now. Nope, I checked, she's still at NBC.

First off, Gen. Clark has been saying the same thing over and over and over again since his appearance last Sunday on Face the Nation, and yet his rightful, common-sense explanation has been falling on deaf ears, including Mitchell's, ever since. He was simply answering the question as it was phrased to him by Bob Schieffer. Of course, just about every major news network cuts out the part of the footage where Schieffer is questioning Clark when re-running over and over and over what Clark said. Once that happens, viola - you have Clark questioning John McCain's military service, out of context, and in perfect context for McCain's cheerleaders in the corporate media like Andrea Mitchell.

Mitchell also accused Clark of being part of a coordinated attack on John McCain's military record. Hmm, just wondering, where in the hell was all this outrage in the corporate media during the summer and fall of 2004, when the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth (SBVT) were dragging John Kerry's name through the mud? They sat on their hands and said nothing. More on the Swift Boaters in a bit.

Here's a few selected excerpts from the exchange between Mitchell and Clarke:

Andrea: Well, let me point out that some of the critics from the Republican side have pointed out that there seems to be an organized campaign and whether or not you played into this that also on Sunday a liberal blogger...on Americablog wrote...

First of all there's a factual issue because no one has proved that to my satisfaction that John McCain ever did any propaganda for the enemy...

He was an extraordinary man...

With all that boot licking, I'm surprised that Mitchell isn't wearing a McCain '08 button.

The blog Mitchell mentions, Americablog, had this to say (as quoted on screen by her):

Honestly, besides being tortured, what did McCain do to excel in the military?... Getting shot down, tortured, and then doing propaganda for the enemy is not command experience.

Honestly, except for the propaganda part (see below), I totally agree with it. This is 2008 - being a POW for 5 1/2 years, while tragic and admirable on McCain's part for having the intestinal fortitude to survive it, does not alone qualify someone to be president.

It's also worth noting that Mitchell isn't technically correct (or as she would call it, a "factual error") about McCain's imprisonment at the hands of the North Vietnamese. He was used as a propaganda tool, at least at first. From U.S. News & World Report in 1973 (and posted online earlier this year):

After four days, McCain made an anti-American propaganda "confession." He has always felt that his statement was dishonorable, but as he would later write, "I had learned what we all learned over there: Every man has his breaking point. I had reached mine."

I cannot even begin to comprehend what McCain went through, and I'm not denigrating whatsoever what he did to stop the beatings. However, my point here is that Mitchell ought not get carried away with her McCain cheer leading (I know, fat chance), and she ought to get her facts straight. Since she is masquerading as a journalist, she could at least act like one.

Of course, Mitchell wasn't done yet. She brought up the now infamous MoveOn ad and implied that it was linked to McCain's military service, which is an outright lie, period. At that point, Clark seemed to have had enough:

Mitchell: Now, I know that John McCain...

Clark: Andrea, that [the MoveOn ad] doesn't say anything about his military career. That asks about John McCain's judgment and I think that's a very legitimate issue...

Damn right McCain's judgment about Iraq is a legitimate issue. The "General Betray Us" ad said nothing about McCain's military career, period. End of story. But, that doesn't stop people like Mitchell from trying to make the connection anyway.

Paul Waldman at HuffPo discusses the fact that McCain has successfully exploited his POW status for years with the willing help of his many fawning admirers in the media:

But to understand why the press is reacting with such outrage [about Clark's comments], you have to understand what they've been saying about McCain for the last decade.

There's a myth out there that the McCain campaign and the media have cooperated to create. It says that John McCain is reluctant to exploit his Vietnam POW story for political advantage, so modest and full of integrity is he. We've seen this repeated again and again, not just by McCain and his supporters but by reporters who ought to know better.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

From the first time he ran for Congress in 1982 up to the present day, McCain has made his POW story the centerpiece of his entire political career. The key moment of that 1982 campaign was when he responded to his opponent's (absolutely true) accusation that McCain was a carpetbagger by saying, "As a matter of fact, when I think about it now, the place I lived longest in my life was Hanoi." At every point since, it has been the deft use of this tool that has brought McCain renewed attention or won him a key victory.

Here's another terrific example of media blowhards devouring a Big Mac [from 3/5/08, when Bush and McCain appeared at a press conference where W endorsed him] From Digby:

Brian Williams: You know what I thought was unsaid — they took their position Chris, we're seeing the replay — they end up in this spot and the sun is coming is just from the side and there in the shadow is John McCain's buckled, concave shoulder. It's a part of his body the suit doesn't fill out because of his war injuries. Again you wouldn't spot it unless you knew to look for it. He doesn't give the same full chested profile as the president standing next to him. Talk about a warrior.

I mean, is Williams serious, or is this a Saturday Night Live news sketch?

This is what I'm getting at - the media's insatiable lust for McCain is downright revolting, and I'm not even talking about Faux News (that's a given).

Here's a terrific round-up from TPM of the McCain love and Clark bashing over the past year days...

The most despicable part of the round-up above (and the most despicable person) comes from none other than Oliver North, who should still be in jail for his misdeeds during the Iran-Contra Scandal:

I think General Clark's comments are small and petty, just like the man himself.

Really? General Clark, small and petty? I guess that's what one gets called these days when having the temerity to question whether the media favorite darling candidate has the qualifications to be president. I mean, Clark only served his country for over 37 years in uniform, and that's a helluva lot longer than North did. If anybody is small and petty (and I would add simple minded), it's North himself.

I also was pretty amused to hear Laura Ingraham threaten one of her guests, telling him that he "won't on the show again" if he doesn't be quiet. I also was highly amused about Juan Williams of Faux News accusing Barack Obama of doing something right out of "Karl Rove's playbook." Wait, Rove has been a Faux News hero (and current employee) for over eight years, and now State TV is admitting to us that Rove's tactics are a bad thing? I'm thoroughly confused.

I have to repeat it one more time - where was this outrage in the media in '04 during the Kerry Swift boating? Nowhere to be found, because the corporate media badly wanted and eventually received another Bush term.

Just another reason we have to be so grateful for the greedy, selfish corporations that give us our garbage corporate media.

h/t Crooks & Liars for the video & links

Olbermann on war crimes by W's cabal

This one's a little old, but it still merits a mention. Just under a few weeks ago, Keith Olbermann unleashed a tirade against the Bush administration for its conduct in Iraq. After thinking about it, Olbermann clarified his remarks backed up his proverbial bus, and ran over Bush and his war-making cabal again, calling some of them (including Bush, and presumably, Dick Cheney) "cold blooded killers." I won't apologize for agreeing with him.

Bush and many in his cabinet (but not all, as Olbermann rightfully points out) almost certainly deserve to be tried for war crimes. It's a pretty sticky issue that many would take offense to - so be it. But, any American who can possibly even try to evaluate and analyze the War in Iraq objectively would almost certainly come to the conclusion that if Bush were the leader of another country, invading a neighbor, the U.S. would most likely be up in arms, beating the drums of righteous indignation, calling for a war crimes trial. Oh wait, haven't we already done that? Slobodan Milošević and Saddam Hussein are two recent examples that come to mind, specifically Hussein's invasion of Kuwait, an invasion we went to war over. Desert Storm was a farce in many (but not all) ways. We certainly weren't liberating a democracy, that's for sure. But, I digress.

Anyway, it's important to note that neither Olbermann nor probably the overwhelming majority of liberals (including me) lump our troops under the statement or thoughts behind his label "cold blooded killers." Olbermann in the footage above rightly classifies them as the heroes they truly are, and on this Memorial Day, it's worth mentioning again that we can and must give them the resources they will need, for the rest of their lives, to confront, combat and conquer the physical and emotional obstacles that await them once they return home from battle.

This administration and those who support it make great sport of constantly repeating, over and over, the slogan of this war by many on the home front: Support the Troops. Well, Supporting the Troops is going to take a lot more than putting a ribbon on your car in the coming years. Yet, thus far, this administration has done little more than just that for returning troops, and for many troops in the field, some of whom have had to go without adequate body armor, etc.

At the end of his Special Comment, Olbermann takes one final swipe at two of his critics by saying, "Laura Ingraham and Mark Levin, why do you hate our troops?" I don't know what he's specifically referring to there, but that's bound to stoke the flames of partisan bickering in the weeks and months to come, which will surprise no one. But, in the end, Olbermann is spot on for calling out this administration for its massive, criminal negligence in not giving our troops what they need.

Olbermann truly is a voice in the wilderness - an island of reality in a sea of diarrhea that passes for what many call our "free press," which should be called what it really is - our corporate media. Frankly, it's a miracle that NBC lets him air his show at all. Make no mistake - it's only because there's money to be made, not because of his political views.

Laura Ingraham has ego to burn

This is a pretty telling piece of audio, courtesy of Jesus' General, of conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham getting all out of sorts because a guest had the temerity to have never heard her show. Listen to the audio, and you be the judge. Ingraham has a point that a guest should prepare to be on a show, but seriously, get over it.

My favorite part is after the interview is over, during a commercial break, as Ingraham is still raging to her sycophants in the studio:

"...First all, don't piss off [Emphasis Hers] one of the biggest talk show hosts in the United States!"

Ingraham's over-inflated opinion of herself is downright nauseating. She seriously needs to get over yourself. Keep in mind that this is the same Laura Ingraham who spends lots of time talking, writing and bitching about "Hollywood liberals" and their self-important lifestyles and opinions. Practice what you preach, Laura.

A quick aside - I love how in the YouTube clip above, she slowly changes color. Well done, Jesus' General - I love it. It would have been better if she grew horns and fangs as the clip progressed, though. Maybe next time - one thing we know for sure - with Ingraham, there will be more opportunities.

I'd actually love to hear the inside scoop about how this audio hit the Internet in the first place. I have no proof of this, of course, but it's probably from a closet liberal who works on her show who is sick of her rantings and ego. Here's hoping this audio bugs the living daylights out of her.

For those of you unfamiliar with Ingraham and her anti-democracy views, I take great joy in reminding people how she encouraged her listeners to flood the Democratic National Committee's phone lines on election day in 2006, which were set up to field complaints about voting irregularities, suppression tactics, polling place problems, etc. One used to be able to read about this unseemly incident on her Wikipedia entry, but of course that's been scrubbed clean, no doubt by either her or the sheeple who listen to her. That's okay though - you can read and hear about her '06 election day antics Here (for the audio) and Here.

I hear complaints from conservatives I know all the time about liberal talk show and TV hosts, and also the so-called liberal "bias" in the mainstream media. Funny though - I never hear liberals advocating jamming the RNC phone lines, or anything of the like, on election day. Democrats try to win elections, not throw them. For a party that supposedly wants to bring Democracy to any country with lots of oil the world, it certainly has a way of suppressing true democracy at home. But, I digress.

Thanks for keeping it real, Laura, and showing the world on a consistent basis how you feel about yourself, and democracy.

h/t Crooks & Liars and Think Progress, in my view, two of the very best liberal blogs on the Internet. If you're not reading them every day, you should be.

Thoughts on Gore's Nobel Prize

One of the saddest things about the political discourse in this country, specifically from the right, is its inability to even acknowledge the accomplishments of its opponents in any meaningful, respectful way.

For instance, my first thought when I heard that Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize was, "I wonder what the scum on the right will do to try and smear Gore with this time." You may recall that after Gore's movie on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth, won Oscars and received international accolades, the radical right, the very next day, came after Gore for his electric bill. (And I'm sure it was a total coincidence that the attacks occurred less than 24 hours after the Academy Awards, right?) Also, never mind the fact that the organization that went after Gore is completely funded by right-wing blowhards. (Amazing how little press that received.) Anyway, more on Gore's electric bill Here.

Anyway, it didn't take me long to find out if the right would come after Gore once more following his Peace Prize win.

The most notable feckless rhetoric came from OxyContin spokesman Rush Limbaugh, who whined on his radio show Friday after Gore won it (from The Politico:

"So now 'Algore' will join Yasir Arafat among the list of noble Nobel peace laureates," Rush Limbaugh said with much sarcasm at the top of his broadcast today. The Norwegian committee, Limbaugh said, has "rendered themselves a pure, 100 percent joke."

Citing Arafat, the former Palestinian leader, and former President Jimmy Carter's award in 2002, Limbaugh added that "The Nobel committee has lost all credibility since long before they awarded this award to 'Algore.'"

I love it - yet another institution responsible for recognizing a prominent Democrat who really wants to drive positive change in the world that gets vilified by right-wing blowhards. People like Limbaugh can't handle the truth - that Gore has done more to promote goodwill and positive change around the world in the past year than Bush has done since he was appointed president.

However, Limbaugh isn't the only one who can't handle success and recognition of a liberal. Laura Ingraham had this to say about Gore's win (again, from the Politico):

"I confess, I have been in a bit of a funk after learning of the Gore/Nobel news," conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham said in an e-mail. "I really thought Cindy Sheehan should have been recognized."

Yea, considering Sheehan might not have been a bad idea. I know this - Gore and Sheehan both deserve a great deal more recognition for promoting peace and progress in humanity than anyone, anyone, in the Bush administration.

Of course, Limbaugh had a few suggestions of people who should be considered for the award. His suggestion? "I call on Albert Arnold 'Algore' to redirect his Nobel Peace Prize to genuine agents of peace."

Rush had an idea of who that could be - Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. troops in Iraq. "If there has ever been an engine of peace, it’s the United States military," Limbaugh said.

Limbaugh must be bucking for a comedy act with that comment. Surely a career in comedy would last longer than his career at ESPN, which lasted about as long as a Twinkie on his breakfast table. Our military during the Bush presidency has wrought more death and destruction than arguably any other military on Earth. I don't fault the military specifically, because they are doing what they are told, but to even suggest that our military and its leaders should be awarded the Peace Prize makes Limbaugh fit for a straight jacket. Limbaugh may have been saying that quote tongue in cheek, but with him, is it out of the question that he wasn't?

And by the way - that Nobel Peace Prize? If war criminal Dr. Henry Kissinger could win it, just about anyone is fair game. I'd rate his winning it a few levels above Gore winning it on the outrage scale.

MSNBC bids Imus adieu

Look at that punim. Don Imus has reason to be cranky today. Yesterday, he was abruptly fired by MSNBC, ending an 11-year relationship with the network. The fate of his radio program is still in question. For now, CBS is maintaining that he'll be suspended without pay for two weeks. So far, that's the extent of his punishment.

I'm already tired of this story, to be honest, but I'd be remiss to leave out a few things. First, a good parody...



Stephen never disappoints.



Michael Smerconish brings up some interesting points here - he is right that people in our society walk around just waiting to be offended, but he's way off base with regard to the Rutgers women's basketball team. Words DO have meaning, and consequences. Yes, he was looking for a cheap laugh, by using racially hateful and insensitive comments.

Smerconish is normally a conservative I respect and listen to, because of his noted lack of hateful comments; he's level-headed and reasonable. But, he's got the Imus case all wrong.



I'm anticipating that this will be the first and last time in my life that I will agree with Laura Ingraham about anything, but I give her credit for reacting the way she did in this clip. The footage runs out, but evidently, she didn't return for the next segment.

It's hard to overstate how much I despise the insipid Hannity, and the footage above is precisely why the likes of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson getting involved in this controversy clouds this issue. It gives conservative jackals fodder for the hypocrisy cannon, and distracts from what Imus said or what this whole story is about in the first place.

These two morons have a history of making highly racial and insensitive remarks themselves, so for them to come to the "aid" of Rutgers basketball players is absurd, and the height of hypocrisy.

What annoys me even more is the fact that Repubes are trying to make political hay out of the Imus remarks, when they really should keep their mouths shut. Take a look at this footage...



Terry Jeffrey, editor-at-large of Human Events magazine, probably says the most idiotic and contradictory statements I've heard on television in quite a long time.

"Don Imus represents the decline in standards in American broadcasting"?!? Surly you jest, Mr. Jeffrey.

Apparently Jeffrey's never heard broadcasts of Matt Drudge, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Tom DeLay, etc.? Talk about selective outrage. I'm choking on righteous indignation. Jeffrey almost (almost!) sounds like the right's idiotic answer to this whole mess vis à vis Sharpton and Jackson on the left.

As Keith Olbermann rightfully pointed out tonight on his show, where's the outrage over the "racist right's" comments. A recent sampling:

• Rush Limbaugh calling Barack Obama [and Halle Berry] "Halfrican American"

• Michael Savage saying the Voting Rights Act means "a chad in every crackhouse"

• Neil Boortz saying Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), an African-American Congresswoman, "looks like a ghetto slut"

• How about former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay comparing Democrats to Nazis? (Scroll down a few messages and you'll hear audio of it.)

These are just a few examples. I don't have enough time or energy to cite them all, but that's a pretty good "worst of" list.

Jeffrey winds up this clip with a breathtaking bomb:

"I think this type of programming underestimates the intelligence for the potential audience it has."

I'll remember that the next time I hear Rush Limbaugh comparing Democrats who oppose funding a destructive, idiotic war to Stalin, while Vice President Dick Cheney plays the role of Ed McMahon, nodding in agreement and braying like a donkey. (I blogged about this last weekend.)

By the way, and I know I've mentioned this before, but when you have five minutes to kill, drop by the Human Events Website - it really is a kick.

Here's a press conference that the Rutgers Womens Basketball Team held yesterday...



Elegantly said, and well put. It will be very interesting to hear what comes of the meeting between Imus and the team. I give those girls a lot of credit for even agreeing to meet with him; it's going to be a pretty uncomfortable meeting all around, but mostly for Imus. It should be.



Here's Al Sharpton on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. I agree with just about everything Sharpton is says, but it's tough to get past the messenger. He's got such a checkered past, it's tough to look past his credibility problem. But, he's right about Imus.

I'll say it one more time, and then I'm movin' on, because I've had enough of this story already, but I hate it that Sharpton's even involved in this matter, because it's just fodder for the right's cannon of hate and intolerance.

I find it profoundly sad that Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are spokesmen for African-Americans today in any capacity. Seriously, it undermines the issue whenever these two idiots show up and preen before the cameras and sound as if they've never done anything wrong in their lives.

Anyway, one down, one to go - time for Imus to go from CBS, too, but I'm not holding my breath.

I do wonder, getting back to Terry Jeffrey's comments, if this will be another excuse for Republicans to try and arrogantly push their morality on the rest of us. The FCC has done it before, and they'll undoubtedly try again. I really hope this isn't another Janet Jackson moment.

More McCain, just because it's fun

Turns out what I wrote last night was wrong about Senator Judas John McCain's walk through a Baghdad market.

Last night, I wrote:
It's pretty brave of McCain go to strolling through a downtown Baghdad market with 100 soldiers and three helicopters overhead.

As it turns out, here's the accurate count of McCain's entourage:
100 American soldiers
3 Blackhawk helicopters
2 Apache gunships overhead

Like I wrote last night - the cost of a photo-op sickens me. Today, Daily Kos has a brilliant piece about McCain's "walk" around a Baghdad market. McCain is utterly shameless. Hey, whatever it takes to get your campaign photo-op, eh, J-Boy?

According to Michael Ware, there's no truth to the rumor that he taunted McCain at yesterday's press conference. Ware, a CNN war correspondent who's been in Iraq for years, very publicly beat down McCain on television last week after McCain's faux contention that Baghdad was so much safer.

This morning on CNN, Ware discussed the rumor:



Pretty funny that McCain ended the press conference when Ware tried to ask a question. Maybe McCain was afraid of getting Punk'd again.

I have to add this one - I found it on YouTube just a little bit ago when I was looking for something else. It's Laura Ingraham, the ultra-right wing commentator, speaking about Ware last week...



If Ingraham spent 10 minutes watching Fox News, she'd hear blatant GOP cheerleading lots of straight reporting, and no editorializing. Now that's journalism.

I've heard of hating liberals, but wow

Just in case you haven't heard - this is quite a story. What some sickos will do in the name of politics. And I thought I got a little passionate about my politics sometimes.

I'll offer this - the rants of conservative talking heads like Michelle Malkin, Laura Ingraham and Ann Coulter do nothing to add to the political discourse in this country, and I dare say they prompt some people to act this way.

If you preach and screech intolerance and hatred 24-7, sooner or later you're bound to get through to some nut case.