Republicans lost their minds a long, long time ago, and their frustrations have manifested itself in many ways. On CNN, a panel was assembled to talk about Thursday night’s Republican slug-fest, and a Republican on the panel had to admit that Republicans and the Republican party “have gone bat shit!”
Radio host Scottie Nell Hughes was visibly aggravated by Thursday’s GOP debate that saw candidates Donald Trump, Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz standing on the stage yelling at each other while CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer stood helplessly by.
Saying Rubio had pledged to not attack Trump, Hughes was dismayed by the change in tactics by the Florida senator during the debate.
“In 24 hours we see the most rabid frothing politician that I’ve seen yet,” she explained. “Spewing nothing but lies from him that night.”
Asked ” What does that do to the party?” Hughes went off on a rant that found her swearing on live TV — which she realized seconds after her outburst as the other guests laughed.
“It absolutely destroys our party,” she exclaimed. “I think both of those politicians — Governor Christie and Senator Graham are right. We have gone bat shit.”
Republican presidential candidate, Carly Fiorina – remember her? She’s one of the borderline floor scrubbers in the Republican polls – is trying to punch upwards, waaaay upwards, trying to hit Ted Cruz – one of the top Republican leaders in the polls. I don’t know why Cruz and Trump are at the top of the Republican list, but they are and Carly has her eyes set on Cruz.
In an interview with CNN’s Dana Bash, Carly placed Cruz squarely in her cross-hairs. When asked if Ted Cruz “would doom the Republicans’ chances in November” because he was responsible to shut down the government, Carly answered that Cruz did what he thought was politically beneficial for him in the government shutdown. And in her answer, Carly dropped the nugget that Obamacare was repealed.
NOTE: Obamacare was not repeal!
“Ted Cruz is just like any other politician,” Fiorina said. “He says one thing in Manhattan, he says another thing in Iowa.”
“He says whatever he needs to say to get elected, and then he’s going to do as he pleases… I think the American people are tired of the political class that promises much and delivers much of the same.”
I don’t know what to say about CNN anymore. Recently, because of the nonsense from Don Lemon, an online petition was circulated demanding his firing. Now, after the horrible ISIS attacks in Paris, two CNN anchors asked a Muslim why that community didn’t know or report the attack before it happened!
“Why is it that no one within the Muslim community there in France knew what these guys were up to?” asked CNN anchor John Vause as he interviewed Yasser Louati, a representative for the Collective Against Islamophobia in France. “Because it seems to me that this was a pretty big plan. Surely someone beyond the seven guys who’ve been killed over the last 48 hours would have to have known something and that was probably within the Muslim community but yet no one said anything.”
“Sir, the Muslim community has nothing to do with these guys,” Louati replied, “Nothing. We cannot justify ourselves for the actions of someone who just claims to be Muslim. Our secret services knew about these guys and, again, just like during the January attacks, it turns out they were all on a black list somewhere somehow on a desk. So right now we can’t take responsibility for anything.”
But the anchor and his co-anchor refused that argument and the conversation, no, the accusation continued for almost six minutes as the anchors insisted that someone in the Muslim community should have known and reported the planned ISIS attack.
The petition was started by Jamell Henderson from Brooklyn NY. In it, Mr. Henderson stated that “Don Lemon has consistently antagonized and defamed the characteristics of African-Americans on the national scale.” Mr. Henderson used multiple examples to make his point, listing Lemon’s coverage of the Trayvon Martin murder, “the holding of the ‘N’ word sign before the national audience to disrespecting the Mayor of Baltimore.”
But it was Lemon’s coverage and comments on the recent events in South Carolina where a teenage school girl was attacked and dragged by a school resource officer, that prompted Mr. Henderson to get this petition started.
But what concerns me is that Lemon has repeatedly failed to fulfill his responsibility to remain objective and unbiased in his work. As a news anchor, Mr. Lemon’s job is to present the facts to the public, but time and time again, he has presented his opinion as fact—even when that opinion is contradicted by reality and common sense. That’s unacceptable for a journalist.
I’m disappointed that someone I used to look up to now is someone that I have trouble respecting as a journalist. Please join me in calling on CNN to remove Mr. Lemon from his role at the network.
In his Sunday interview with Jeb Bush, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked the questions every sensible American wonders about. In other words, Jake Tapper acted like a real reporter and asked real questions of Jeb, who is consistent about one thing – the false claim that his brother kept us safe on September 11th.
In the lead up to Jeb’s introduction to the program, Tapper mentioned the criticisms Donald Trump has hauled against George Bush in reference to his failure on September 11th. Tapper asked Jeb to respond to Trump’s accusations.
“My brother responded to a crisis and united the country, he organized our country and he kept us safe. And there’s no denying that. And the great majority of Americans believe that. And I don’t know why he keeps bringing this up.”
Maybe because September 11th happened on your brother’s watch. But back to the interview.
Tapper then asked Jeb if he is being bias on the issue because George Bush is his brother.
“Does anybody actually blame my brother for the attacks on 9/11? If they do, they’re totally marginalized in our society. It’s what he did afterwards that mattered, and I’m proud of him. And so are a bunch of other people.”
“Obviously al Qaeda was responsible for the terrorist attacks of 9/11,” the CNN host pressed. “But how do you respond to critics who ask if your brother and his administration bear no responsibility at all, how do you then make the jump that President Obama and Secretary Clinton are responsible for what happened at Benghazi?”
Bush stammered in response: “Well, I — the question on Benghazi, which we will now finally get the truth to, is was the place secure? They had a responsibility at the Department of State to have proper security.”
“And how was the response in the aftermath of the attack?” he continued. “Was there a chance that these four American lives could have been saved? That’s what the investigation is about, it’s not a political issue… Were we doing the job of protecting our embassies and our consulates, and during the period, those hours after the attacks started, could they have been saved?”
“That’s kind of proving the point of the critics,” Tapper noted. “You don’t want you brother to bear responsibility for 9/11 — and I understand that argument and al Qaeda is responsible — but why are the terrorists not the ones that are responsible for these attacks in Libya?”
“They are!” Bush replied. “But if the ambassador was asking for additional security and they didn’t get it, that’s a proper point. And if it’s proven that the security was adequate compared to other embassies, then fine, we’ll move on.”
Stewart took on just about everyone who hyped the recent blizzard out of proportion, but he had a special word or two or three for CNN’ and Don Lemon, as Lemon climbed into a vehicle he called “the blizzardmobile” and ventured out on the streets of New York after authorities made clear that “non-essential” and “non emergency” vehicles must stay off the roads.
Candy Crowley, a staple at CNN is packing up and leaving the network after working with there for 27 years. CNN president Jeff Zucker announced in a memo to staff on Friday.
“[I]t is with mixed emotions, that I wanted to let you know that Candy has let us know that she has made the decision to move on, so she can embark on the next chapter of her already prolific career,” Zucker wrote. “As difficult as it is for us to imagine CNN without Candy, we know that she comes to this decision thoughtfully, and she has our full support.”
Zucker did not mention who would replace Crowley on State of the Union, the network’s Sunday public affairs program. The network will be keeping the show, a spokesperson confirmed
Jay Carney, the former Press Secretary for President Obama made his debut on CNN as a political commentator last night, after the president’s address on deaking with the ISIL threat
Sam Feist, CNN’s Washington bureau chief said in a statement.
“Jay’s unique experience as both a journalist and a White House press secretary make him an invaluable voice for the network as we cover the final two years of the Obama Administration and look ahead to the coming campaigns.
“We’re fortunate to have Jay on our air tonight to provide analysis and insight surrounding the President’s address to the nation.”
In his own statement, Carney said that he was “thrilled to be joining CNN at a time when there is so much happening in the nation and the world.”
On the ground in Ferguson Missouri, CNN’s Jake Tapper became irate! Not at the protesters, who, for the most part were peacefully following the new set of protesting rules set on them by the Ferguson Police Department. No Tappa was upset with the Ferguson Police and the obvious response their actions had on these peaceful protesters.
“I want to show you this, okay? To give you an idea of what’s going on. The protesters have moved all the way down there… they’re all the way down there. Nobody is threatening anything. Nobody is doing anything. None of the stores here that I can see are being looted. There is no violence.
Now I want you to look at what is going on in Ferguson, Missouri, in downtown America, okay? These are armed police, with — not machine guns — semi-automatic rifles, with batons, with shields, many of them dressed for combat. Now why they’re doing this? I don’t know. Because there is no threat going on here. None that merits this. There is none, okay? Absolutely there have been looters, absolutely over the last nine days there’s been violence, but there is nothing going on on this street right now that merits this scene out of Bagram. Nothing.
So if people wonder why the people of Ferguson, Missouri are so upset, this is part of the reason. What is this? This doesn’t make any sense.”
It might be summer, but the education know-nothings are clearly not at the beach. The latest case-in-point is former CNN correspondent Campbell Brown’s incredibly uninformed comments on teacher tenure that, unfortunately, millions of people saw and didn’t stick around for the fact-checking. Her musings come on the heels of a California decision in which a judge ruled that tenure is unconstitutional because it deprives some students of a quality education. There is another case against tenure in New York States and I will assume that many other states will soon join in. It is true that there are some teachers who should not be in classrooms because they are ineffective or burned out, but depriving teachers of a due process right and subjecting them to firing because of issues unrelated to their job performance is the height of irresponsibility.
In Campbell Brown’s case, she quotes the popular half-truth that the teacher is far and away the most important factor in a child’s success, and that if all classrooms had effective teachers, then all students would learn. I suppose we could read this as a compliment for great teachers, but I also read it for the folly of what it implies.
What she and other education know-nothings are essentially saying here is that an effective teacher can overcome poverty, child abuse, hunger, malnutrition, unemployment, dysfunctional and nonfunctional families, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, developmental disabilities, ADHD, the autism spectrum, lack of sleep, entitled parents and students, and general ennui and make productive citizens out of every child. This is what teachers see in their classrooms and every one of these factors, or a combination of many of them, is a distraction or an impediment to learning. If effective teachers could negate them and educate children in spite of them, then we also need to elect teachers to Congress and the Presidency because the country clearly needs them.
The truth is that teachers do overcome these obstacles, but not at the pace that society needs in order to help all students. What then happens, and the education know-nothings are quick with the response, the teachers, whose students do not perform well on the latest misuse of data, the teacher evaluation metrics, are labeled incompetent and worthy of firing. Since tenure is in the way, getting rid of it is the know-nothing’s illogical retort.
The proper response would be for those with microphones and cameras to focus their attention on providing living conditions in all communities that allow for jobs with livable wages, responsive public services, adequate public health care, affordable housing, enrichment opportunities for the children, and safe neighborhoods. Those teachers who work in such communities know why their students are more prepared than others. It’s not rocket science, but it is science; and we know how the right wing feels about science.
To further the folly of their arguments, though, the know-nothings have managed to institute teacher evaluation systems throughout the land that will do everything except provide for a valid measure of an effective teacher. They’ve made testing the default activity in schools when there is little research to support a system based on such testing. And for those teachers who don’t teach a testable subject, there’s the SGO, or Student Growth Objective. But now those measures are under review because, surprise, SGOs don’t provide for a valid measure either.
In New Jersey, teachers who have questioned the testing/SGO folly are finally being heard. Tests, which were going to count for 30% of a teacher’s evaluation, will now only count as 10% for the coming school year, and SGO’s will be under scrutiny for how they are used for evaluation. Neither measure has been shown to predict or confirm a teacher’s effectiveness, and putting them under a microscope should confirm that. Of course, with Governor Christie now running for president, the chances of further reform are nonexistent, but perhaps in a few years things will change. Still, many otherwise qualified teachers will be affected by the evaluation system. That’s the shame of it all.
I really really really hate writing about the ongoing, never ending, never will end, “crisis” in the middle east. We have so many problems here at home that need fixing yet we, or should I say they (the mainstream media) push those troubles aside whenever something violent happens in that area of the world cause..well..violence gets dicks hard I guess.
This is also the reason why the murders on both sides of the conflict will continue. Both sides are excited by the blood shed. Both sides cheer when little children on the opposing side are killed. They all love it now. They love the violence and the retribution and the killings. They all get off on it now, the rebels, the establishment, the politicians, the suicide bombers, all of them. It’s a cycle they have grown used to and it’s why the USA should have no involvement at all. None. Zero.
OK I got that out of my system. The issue now is with NBC news and their removal of a pretty good reporter, Ayman Mohyeldin, from the Gaza strip. Mohyeldin had reported on the killing of four young boys who were playing on the beach by the Israeli military. He said he had just been playing with these boys shortly before they were murdered. Yes they were MURDERED, not merely KILLED.
NBC claims he was pulled because of “security concerns” but that doesn’t jive because they soon placed Richard Engel into the same position. Also these reporters are constantly in harms way, every single minute of every single day, so it’s obvious NBC is lying. The question is why? Why pull Mohyeldin? And why lie about it?
It’s no secret that there are many Jews in this country who are, for some strange reason, blindly sympathetic to Israel. Some of them have been to Israel but most of them have not. I’m always confused as to why they care so much. And if so why not relocate to Israel and join the fight? I’m half Jewish and half Italian. Yes I know I’m combining a religion with a nationality but that’s how we do it in New York so get over it. Many Jews consider me to be totally Jewish since it’s my mother’s side that is Jewish. However I have no connection to Israel at all, never been there. I have been to Italy just once. If Italy were to get into a conflict with a neighboring country I would have no vested interest in it at all. I would choose to look at it from a totally objective point of view. Mostly I just hate war and conflict and would hope it would all end quickly.
The problem we have in this country is that too many people see the Israel-Palestine conflict from an extremely biased point of view. They overwhelmingly support Israel. That is simply a fact. It’s also a fact that there are more Jews in important positions of power in our mainstream media than Palestinians. No this isn’t a stupid anti-Semitic “Jews run the world” paranoia rant, it’s simply fact. Therefore it’s obvious that some of those people and those who might answer to them don’t like it when Israelis are shown in a negative light. They will give the Palestinians some sympathy but just enough to try and keep people like myself off their backs, their hearts really aren’t in it.
Oh I really hate writing about this shit. I know liberals are mixed on this issue. Maybe some of you have been wondering what my beliefs were. But now we have this chicken shit move by NBC news. They have been known to slant to the left but that didn’t matter in this case. In these matters it rarely does. There are people with money who live in this country who don’t want to see Israelis look like murderers. But some of them ARE murderers as are some Palestinians. I have always seen the Israelis as the big rich bullies with the expensive weapons and the Palestinians as the kids who are fighting back anyway they can. Sometimes their ways are horrific and grotesque. Both sides see little reason to come to an agreement because the killing and the revenge and the never ending cycle of this shit seems so normal and feels so right to them now.
What we CAN control in this country is how we cover this conflict. What NBC did was just simply wrong just as it would be wrong to pull a reporter for covering the Palestinians killing Israeli children. That hasn’t happened though..has it?
This is why the mainstream media in the USA sucks. Money as with everything else in this Capitalism on steroids society, rules all. It trumps good reporting, it trumps fair reporting, it trumps right over wrong. This is why we can’t get “fair and balanced” news anymore. There is always an executive who is shitting in his or her pants over that one call they might get from a rich, angry advertiser.
So Ayman Mohyeldin gets pulled from doing his job. A job he does well.
Personally, I think it was all done to promote her new book. A regular interview gets no publicity. But storming off set gets everyone, including me, talking about you.
In this interview with Joan Rivers on CNN, the comedian was a little too serious and she tried to defend herself against… nothing.
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