Pundit Review

PunditReview.com

2005-09-30T10:26:00.000-04:00

Thanks to LaShawn Barber, The Language Artist and Michael at Elegant Webscapes, we now have a smoking, all-new blog at PunditReview.com

We love the new site and highly recommend working with The Language Artist if you want to take your blog to the next level.

Check us out and if you like what you see, link to us at PunditReview.com

Thanks.

Instapundit

2005-09-26T17:07:00.000-04:00

Pundit Review Radio welcomed the one and only Glenn Reynolds, aka Instapundit last evening. As you would expect, he was a great guest and provided his unique insight on a number of issues from the NY Times online strategy to Porkbusters to SCOTUS issues and the overall impact of blogs on the MSM. Enjoy.

Instapundit on Pundit Review Radio

2005-09-23T06:29:00.000-04:00

Have you ever wanted to ask Instapundit a question? Here's your chance. Glenn Reynolds will be our guest this Sunday evening on Pundit Review Radio.

We will be talking to Glenn about the fast moving PorkBusters campaign that he and NZBear have been pushing. Can bloggers really influence Congress to cut the fat? We'll see. We will also cover a ton of other blog/new media/old media topics.

Glenn is the most influencial blogger out there and we are excited to have him on the show. Don't miss it.

When: Sunday night, 9pm est
Where: Streaming live at WRKO
Contact Info: Call us toll free at 877-469-4322

About Pundit Review Radio
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin & Gregg give voice to the work of the most influencial thought leaders in the new media/citizen journalist movement. This unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening at 9pm EST on AM680 WRKO, Boston's Talk Leader.

New and improved show open

2005-09-21T09:32:00.000-04:00

Pundit Review Radio's show intro has been tweaked (aka improved), by our awesome producers, Bernie & Tom. What an asset these guys have been to our show! Do you like it?

Ann Althouse on Pundit Review Radio

2005-09-20T16:11:00.000-04:00

Ann Althouse joined Pundit Review Radio to discuss the changing face of the Supreme Court and a host of other legal/constitutional issues. It was an action packed hour! We covered everything from the Roberts hearings, the next SCOTUS nominee, the Kelo decision to gay marraige. We will definitely be having Ann back on the show. Check out Ann's in-show doodle of her innaugural Pundit Review Radio appearence. Enjoy.

The Must See TV Event of the Year

2005-09-13T13:25:00.000-04:00

Hitchens
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

British MP George Galloway and Christopher Hitchens Will Be Dabating the Iraq War tomorrow. You can find out how to listen here.

You remember the loathsome George Galloway don't you? He is one of Saddam's great defenders. He is a friend to every despot and terrorist you can imagine. He's kind of like Jimmy Carter lite.

Hitchens is ready to rumble and I cannot wait to see and hear this!

If Don King were promoting this (and he should be), what would he bill this fight as...

The Drunk versus the Punk? Your suggestions are welcome...

Of course he did

2005-09-12T23:16:00.000-04:00

Of course he did
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

We usually don't have much use for Washington Post White House correspondent Dana Milbank, but let's give him credit for getting off this line today,

A Day of Firsts, Overshadowed

By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, September 13, 2005; A07

Yesterday's opening of the John Roberts confirmation hearings was a time for historic firsts.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) made 49 first-person
references in a 10-minute statement that was, ostensibly, not about himself.

Enough Said.

Remembering 9-11 on Pundit Review Radio

2005-09-12T14:09:00.000-04:00

Last evening, on the 4th anniversary of September 11, Pundit Review Radio took a look back at that terrible day, remembered how we felt and then took a look ahead to where we are today, what we've accomplished and what we have done wrong in the war on terror. We also examined the rise of the new media since 9-11 and the impact that they have had on politics and the media.

Not Good Enough

2005-09-09T22:33:00.000-04:00

The Business Roundtable launched the Partnership for Disaster Relief to advance the private sector’s role in disaster preparedness when a natural disaster occurs.

“The U.S. business community’s overwhelming response to this unimaginable disaster follows the lessons learned after last December’s devastating tsunami. Our members and humanitarian partners experienced firsthand the essential role private sector support plays in disaster relief; but we also learned that business support must be a coordinated effort to be most effective.” Hank McKinnell, Chairman of Business Roundtable and Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc.

Hey, they raised $145 million from their member companies. That's great, right. I don't think so.

How about Pfizer?
Revenue: $53 Billion
Cash on hand: $14 Billion
Donation: $2 million

Who benefits from this disaster more than Exxon? How much did they give?
Revenue: $296 Billion
Cash on hand: $25 Billion
Donation: $7 million

Procter & Gamble
Revenue: $56 Billion
Cash on hand: $8 Billion
Donation: $1.25 million

American Express
Revenue: $29 Billion
Cash on hand: $10 Billion
Donation: $1 million

Boeing
Revenue: $54 Billion
Cash on hand: $5 Billion
Donation: $1 million

The full list of Roundtable companies is here.

I don't know, call me unimpressed. This seems to me like the average person offering a cup of coffee. This is not about evil big business. It is about getting alligator arms when people need you to dig deep. They could do more, much more.

Sandy Berger and Dan Rather: One year later

2005-09-09T21:08:00.000-04:00

Clinton National Security Advisor Sandy Burglar walked yesterday and was fined $50,000 for committing a serious felony that would have landed anyone else in prison for years.

So what did Sandy Burglar do? Let's go right to the man himself,

In the course of reviewing over several days thousands of pages of documents on behalf of the Clinton administration in connection with requests by the September 11 commission, I inadvertently took a few documents from the Archives. When I was informed by the Archives that there were documents missing, I immediately returned everything I had except for a few documents that I apparently had accidentally discarded.

What does it say about a guy who was National Security Advisor if he could,

A: stuff classified documents down his pants
B: "accidentally discard" documents that were important enough to shove down his pants.

I only wish this outrageous breach of national security got the same kind of attention as Kanye West's pretzel logic.

The fact is, this story has been underplayed since day one. In August 2004 on the CBS Evening News, Dan Rather introduced the scandal this way:

Sandy Berger, who was national security adviser under President Clinton, stepped aside today as an adviser to Sen. John Kerry. CBS' John Roberts reports this was triggered by a carefully orchestrated leak about Berger, and the timing of it appears to be no coincidence.

It seems the old newsman was missing the story entirely. He'd be missing a lot more than that in a few weeks. One year ago today Rather made a fatal mistake, the infamous 60 Minute II Bush National Guard story. 'Buckhead' from Free Republic, Scott Johnson from Powerline, Bill from INDCJounal, and Charles Johnson from Little Green Footballs were leading the citizen journalist charge.

The fallout ended Rather's career. Blogs made it happen.

In the earliest days of this evolving scandal, Scott Johnson from Powerline came on
Pundit Review Radio and broke the entire incident down for us starting with his intial post, The Sixty First Minute.

Listen to the interview here.

Photoblogging Katrina

2005-09-09T15:17:00.000-04:00

Check out this photo blog from a New Orleans resident. There are a lot of great pictures in here, and this person aptly describes what happened, from the approach of the storm, to the apparent luck of New Orleans to miss the worst Katrina had to offer to the realization a day or so later, that they weren't so lucky at all. This is well worth your time.

Hat tip: Andrew Sullivan

Beltway Blogroll on Pundit Review Radio

2005-09-08T07:51:00.000-04:00

This week we interviewed National Journal's Danny Glover, the editor of Beltway Blogroll, an excellent new blog that looks at the growing number of policy blogs shaping Washington debates.

Why did National Journal decide to start a blog? What impact are blogs are having on policy debates on Capitol Hill? What issues have blogs had an impact on? What issues they did they miss an opportunity to make an impact? What's the most surprising thing you've learned since starting Beltway Blogroll?

Those are just a few of the areas we covered. We hope to have Danny back as the SCOTUS debates heat up in the next few weeks.

Hollywood's funniest production in years...

2005-09-04T23:18:00.000-04:00

Our favorite crusading poseur is back with some Oscar-worthy unintentional comedy.

Sean Penn's rescue bid sinks

EFFORTS by Hollywood actor Sean Penn to aid New Orleans victims stranded by
Hurricane Katrina foundered badly overnight, when the boat he was piloting to
launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak.Penn had planned to rescue children
waylaid by Katrina's flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the
bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.

The actor, known for his political activism, was seen wearing what
appeared to be a white flak jacket and frantically bailing water out of the
sinking vessel with a red plastic cup.

With the boat loaded with members of Penn's entourage, including a personal
photographer, one bystander taunted the actor: "How are you going to get any
people in that thing?"

Enjoy the whole article. Every word of it.

National Journal's Beltway Blogroll on Pundit Review Radio

2005-09-02T08:56:00.000-04:00

Pundit Review Radio
Sunday, 9pm est
Boston's Talk Station WRKO
Streaming Live!
Toll free at 877-469-4322

This Sunday evening we will be interviewing National Journal's Danny Glover, the editor of Beltway Blogroll, a new blog that looks at the growing number of policy blogs shaping Washington debates.

Danny launched his blog with a great post titled, The Power of the Blog,

The blog days of Campaign 2004 are over now, but this year the technology
that transformed the political scene is taking root in the wonky world of
Washington. Web logs are quickly becoming a more visible and influential policy
weapon.

About Pundit Review Radio
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week Kevin & Gregg give voice to the work of the most influencial thought leaders in the new media/citizen journalist movement. This unique show brings the best of the blogs to your radio every Sunday evening at 9pm on Boston's Talk Leader WRKO.

Michael Yon featured in Boston Herald

2005-09-01T07:41:00.000-04:00

In the wake of an in-studio appearance on Pundit Review Radio, Boston Herald business reporter and blogger Jay Fitzgerald has written an excellent column about Michael Yon's amazing reporting from Iraq.

One Blogger Cuts Through Fog Of War

A former Special Forces soldier is becoming an online media sensation with
his vivid and sometimes brutal blog accounts and photos of the daily battles,
patrols and raids conducted by U.S. troops fighting terrorists in Iraq.

Michael Yon, 41, a Florida native who now calls Massachusetts his ``home
base,'' set off for Iraq earlier this year – paying his own way – in an effort
to find out and convey exactly what's going on in the war-torn
country.

What Yon has seen – and reported – is shocking and mesmerizing to many
readers of his blog (michaelyon.blogspot.com).

Read the whole article!

Bleg for Katrina Relief

2005-08-31T17:24:00.000-04:00

Hugh Hewitt wrote yesterday, "perhaps the bloggers could agree to set a day for a unified blog beg"

Instapundit took him up on it.

So tomorrow blogs everywhere will be asking readers to contribute to some reputable charity of their choice.

NZBear has set up a Hurricane Katrina: Blog for Relief Day page with links to bloggers recommended charities and information on how to contact them.

Leadership vs. Political Opportunists

2005-08-31T09:48:00.000-04:00

When I heard news that the Bush administration was releasing the Strategic Petroleum Reserves I had a couple of different reactions. The first was, good. Now is the time when it is needed most. Suppy has been disrupted heavily in the Gulf and this is a prudent decision all the way around.

The other thing I thought of was how all the political opportunists in the Democrat Party have been calling for use of the Strategic Reserves since oil rose above $34 per barrel. Releasing the reserves at that point would only be strategic for their political ambitions. The security of the country is a mere afterthought to these people.

They were predicting economic catastrophe to the American consumer with $40/barrel oil. What does it say about their understanding of the economy when we have a GDP growth rate just under 4%, the best in the industrialized world? And this is during the time when oil has risen from $40 to $70 per barrel. They are either clueless, political opportunists, or both.

The Strategic Reserves are simply a political weapon to Democrats. Has been for a long time.

Flash back to the 2000 election,

Al Gore, September 21, 2000 (Cost of a barrel of oil, $34)

"We ought to start with several releases of five million barrels each, and assuming that is successful, we should continue with these swaps in an effort to stabilize the price of oil at lower levels and help consumers."

Bush's reply,

The reserve, Bush said, "is an insurance policy meant for sudden disruptions of the oil supply or for war. It should not be used for short-term political gain ... at the expense of national security."

How prescient is that? That is the difference between leadership and political opportunists.

May,2004 (Cost of a gallon of gas, $2.00)

"These out-of-control prices are burning a hole in Americans' wallets," said Senator Schumer. "They are putting at risk the economic recovery and the administration insists on throwing fuel on the fire [making the situation worse]. So what are we doing? We are calling on the president to use our one ace in the hole [perfect solution]. The one way we can stop OPEC [Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] and big oil from raising prices through the roof and that is by releasing some oil from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve."

May 2004 (Cost of a barrel, $42)

Half a dozen Senate Democrats plan to call on Bush today to begin releasing as many as 60 million barrels of oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

These people cannot be trusted to leadership positions in government. Their first priority is to achieve power. They have demonstrated time and again that they cannot make tough, unpopular decisions. They just don't have the stomach (ie: courage) to go against short-term public opinion.

Where would we be if they got their wish?

Jay Fitzgerald of the Boston Herald In Studio

2005-08-29T20:46:00.000-04:00

Jay Fitzgerald of Boston Herald joined us in-studio for a lively discussion about blogs, media bias and the coverage of the war. It was great to hear from an "old media" veteran, especially when he talked about Michael Yon and the reporting he has been doing from Mosul.

Jay is a blogger himself. He has maintained a favorite of ours, HubBlog, for more than three years now. He also runs the Herald's Econoblog.

Enjoy.

Michael Yon Live From Mosul

2005-08-29T20:00:00.000-04:00

We enjoyed a special double feature on Pundit Review Radio this weekend. Boston Herald business reporter Jay Fitzgerald joined us live in studio. Here is what Jay had to say on his personal blog, HubBlog,

Michael Yon rules the blogoshere -- and airwaves: Local blogger sensation Michael Yon will be tentatively on WRKO tomorrow night along with yours truly, 9 p.m.. He gets to talk about his incredible blogging from Iraq. I get to talk about, er, my blogging from Beacon Hill. Hmmm. ... I'm psyched just to talk to the guy.

He was psyched and so were we. Last time Michael was on the show people lined-up to say thank you.

This week we focused on the issues at hand.

Where are we in Iraq?
Are our strategies and tactics working?
What is the state of the Iraqi Security Forces and the insurgency?
How are we treated by the Iraqi's?
What do the troops think of the anti-war left as represented by the crowd in Crawford?

You don't want to miss Michael's audible reaction when he heard a quote from Cindy Sheehan!

You wont find this kind of analysis anywhere else.

Pundit Review Radio
WRKO, Boston's Talk Station, AM 680
Sunday's 9pm
Streaming Live and toll free 877.469.4322

The business of blogs

2005-08-27T20:42:00.000-04:00

Sunday night at 9pm est on Pundit Review Radio we will take a look at the impact blogs are having on corporate America. You can stream the show live.

Our guest for the first half hour will be Jay Fitgerald, business writer for the Boston Herald and the man behind the Herlad's business blog, Econoblog. Jay also maintains a personal blog at HubBlog.

How are companies using blogs to communicate with consumers? And how are consumers using blogs to communicate with corporations.

Here are a few corporate blogging resources...

The Corporate Blog List

CEO's who blog

Information Week
Look Who's Blogging: How five executives got blog religion and are using it to their professional and personal advantage.

Of course, we'll also talk about the impact that blogs are having on the media and politics.

Michael Yon Brings It...again

2005-08-25T18:06:00.000-04:00

I know you have heard alot about Michael Yon on this blog lately. The reason is simple. The Iraq War is at a critical juncture, especially when it comes to support here at home. Michael is the single best source of information about what is actually happening on the ground.

Please take a minute and read his latest dispatch. Check out the amazing, riveting, scary combat photos of our soldiers in action.

Words cannot do justice to the kind of first hand, life-threatening reporting Michael Yon is doing in Iraq. Please read his blog and support his work by clicking on the Support The Dispatches button.

Pundit Review Radio Update
Once again we will be speaking to Michael Yon on Sunday evening at 9pm EST on Pundit Review Radio. You can stream the show live and call us toll free at 877-469-4322. If you missed his previous visit with us, you can listen to it here.

We will continue to bring Michael Yon to your radio because people need to hear what he has to say. It's that simple.

In a special double feature, we will also be speaking with Boston Herald business writer Jay Fitzgerald. Jay is an old media guy who "gets it". He runs the Herald's business blog, Econoblog and also maintains a personal blog, Hubblog.

Check it out, Sunday night at 9pm est!

Is anyone happy with The New York Times?

2005-08-25T09:09:00.000-04:00

Could the 'paper of record' actually be worse under editor Bill Keller than it was under Jayson Blair enabler Howell Raines? It sure seems like it lately.

We all know by now that when it comes to opinion editorials, the New York Times has ZERO credibility. After all, they continue to publish Paul Krugman's distortions and outright lies. Check out his latest, one his most blatent yet,

Two different news media consortiums reviewed Florida's ballots; both found
that a full manual recount would have given the election to Mr. Gore.

This one is so easily debunked, it makes you wonder if Krugman is getting lazy, or simply losing his mind. Our go-to-guy for all things Krugman, Don Luskin, had this to say in a post titled, The Truth Counts,

Krugman's lie was especially loathsome considering that his own newspaper
-- the New York Times -- was a member of one of the media consortiums to review
the election results. But will the Times run a correction, at least concerning
Krugman's blatant factual misrepresentations about the Miami Herald/USA Today
consortium's results? As of this writing, I've heard nothing in response to my
query about it to "public editor" Byron Calame. I'm not holding my breath.
There's no way the New York Times is going to interrupt its most effective
evangelist when he's in the middle of a fire-and-brimstone sermon about the
Angry Left's cherished creation-myth.

Luskin also points us to this open letter from Instutional Shareholder Services head John Connolly. His gripe with the New York Times? It's business page and the unfair, innaccurate reporting of Gretchen Morgenson.

And now Mark Cuban, the brash billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks is complaining about another Times business reporter. Cuban lays it all out, including his e-mail exchange with the Times reporter, on his excellent blog, Blog Maverick.

Anatomy of a New York Times Article

I responded to what I hoped would be an interesting discussion about the merits
of a company based on a referral from someone I respected, from a newspaper I
respected.Instead, the article was more a personal attack than a representation
of our email exchange. Furthermore, even after the above exchange, the author
preferred to quote the press release saying why I wouldn’t vote for the deal
rather than our email exchange.

Too little too late?

2005-08-24T20:29:00.000-04:00

Bush Strengthens Defense of Iraq Policy in Latest Speech

By ELISABETH BUMILLER

NAMPA, Idaho, Aug. 24 - President Bush told thousands of National Guard members and their families today that an immediate withdrawal of American troops from Iraq and the broader Middle East would only embolden terrorists and make the United States and its allies more vulnerable to attack.

Defending his administration's military stance for the third day in a row, he presented another tough, if implicit, rebuttal to war critics like Cindy Sheehan, the mother of an American soldier slain in Iraq who has demanded to see the president in a monthlong protest outside his Texas ranch. Mr. Bush said that "as long as I'm the president, we will stay, we will fight and we will win the war on terror."

The president said that withdrawing troops now from Iraq and the Middle East, "as some have called for," would "only embolden the terrorists and create a staging ground to launch more attacks against America and free nations." Ms. Sheehan and her supporters have called only for a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, not the Middle East generally.

Is it too little too late? Given the momentum in the media, and the low threshold for success that the terrorists have, I'm not optimistic about turning public opinion around. It is truly mind boggling that allegedly serious people are actually talking about withdrawal in the middle of the fight. We couldn't possibly do anything worse.

Our current situation is infuriating, especially when put in perspective with what we have accomplished and where we are today in Iraq. Sure, the MSM has to take some blame for their agenda driven, relentlessly slanted and negative coverage. But President Bush deserves the lion's share of blame for letting it get to this point. He has the ability to go over their heads and communicate directly with the peeps, but he hasn't done it forcefully, or often enough.

So here we are today with public support crumbling while the situation on the ground is far better than people realize. When I hear talk of withdrawal, one has to wonder if people truly understand the consequences of success?

David Frum has some good advice,

...alternatively, the president could have skipped the good news and delivered a blood, sweat, toils, and tears speech: Yes things are hard, harder in fact than expected, but the stakes remain enormous - and here is why we must win, and why I am determined to fight this thing through to victory. That would be powerful too.

Michael Barone read Frum's piece,

This is a direct slap not only at the president, but also at his speechwriters, and from a former colleague who served in the speechwriting office in 2001 and 2002. Frum argues that Bush makes the same case over and over again, and does not flesh it out with arresting details and enlightening narrative.

Then he educates on FDR's fireside chats. Awesome stuff.

Yes, Bush has done a terrible job of communicating with the public about the war. People want to support it but it is difficult when all they hear is negative. What happened to the guy with the bullhorn? And it is not just the executive branch that is losing the information war. Michael Yon tells of the military's difficulty communicating their success.

Given all of these challenges, will the American public stay the course?

Pundit Review Radio: What is going on with Air America?

2005-08-22T11:01:00.000-04:00

Last night on Pundit Review Radio we did a little compare and contrast. We took a look at two stories that are related only by their place on the MSM's agenda.

One story fits the agenda perfectly, so they cover it relentlessly. In this case we are talking about Cindy Sheheen. The second story doesn't fit the MSM agenda so they choose to ignore it. We are of course speaking about the Air America financial scandal that has been kept alive only by the outstanding blog journalism of The Radio Equalizer Brian Maloney and Michelle Malkin.

While discussing Sheehen, we talked at length about Patterico's LA Times Op-Ed that was publsihed on Sunday. In it, Patterico described the litanty of ways in which the Times has misled their readers on this story.

While discussing Air America, we went to the man himself, Brian Maloney and got the details directly from him. A special bonus, Brian was able to break the news on our show that Michael Graham of ABC Radio in Washington DC was fired for alleged anti-Islamic comments.

If you've been wondering what is going on with Air America, here is your chance to find out.

Information Wars

2005-08-21T07:34:00.000-04:00

One thing has become clear in the month of August. While we continue to win on the ground in Iraq, we are losing the information war at home. On Pundit Review Radio last weekend, the incomparable Michael Yon's told us that the troops in Mosul have better morale than those of us here in the states. That is so scary, so sad, so dangerous.

Yon expalins what is happening...

Proximity Delays

For example, our soldiers capture or kill top terror figures in Mosul routinely. Sometimes in stunning operations that display split-second timing. The "higher ups" often say, almost reflexively, that they don't want the enemy to know about these kills or captures.

Sounds reasonable. But whether soldiers sleek through dark allies with silenced weapons, slipping over walls with padded ladders, snatching sleeping terrorists from their beds before they can fully waken; or, whether they engage in a gunfight at a busy intersection and drag terrorists from behind the wheels of their cars--these are not anonymous men. Families notice when daddy's gone missing.

If we aren't keeping it secret from the enemy--and we can't keep it secret from them--who do we protect by keeping quiet? These are not illegal operations. These are examples of the effectiveness of our forces. In Mosul alone there are daily events where the Coalition gets things right, that I never write about.

The "proximity delay" seems to be bi-directional. The higher-ups also seem to have a disconnect with what the media eventually does with Coalition successes. I kept silent for days on the Zarqawi-letter dispatch, ready to post what was probably the single most important piece of insider information to drop into our hands in quite some time. I requested clearance several times per day, each time being asked to hold back. I complied.

But then, without even giving the leaders at Deuce Four a head's up, a typically entralling military press release went out to major, mainstream, media outlets. We all learned of it on CNN. The Zarqawi-letter story was almost unrecognizable. Because, in the hands of a network that hasn't had a body in the field in Mosul long enough to get their bearings, the best the media could do is paraphrase the military press release. So what should have been a front page banner headline story ended up buried on page 6.

A major reason for the feeling around here that the public is turning against this war has been the Cindy Sheehan phenomenon in Crawford. Patterico, another recent guest on Pundit Review Radio, has an Op-Ed in today's LA Times taking a look at the paper's coverage. It shows once agan how MSM organizations can omit information central to the story and distort everything that follows. It also shows how woefully uninformed people can be if they rely on only the agenda driven MSM for news. Good for Patterico for calling them on it (again), and good for the LA Times for puplishing a beatdown of themselves in their paper.

Peacenik paper fawns over antiwar mom

in its apparent zeal to portray Sheehan as the Rosa Parks of the antiwar movement, the Los Angeles Times has omitted facts and perspectives that might undercut her message or explain the president's reluctance to meet with her again.

For example, The Times uncritically reported Sheehan's claim that the president had behaved callously in a June 2004 meeting with her and her husband, refusing to look at pictures of Casey or listen to stories about him. The Times claimed without qualification that Sheehan "came away from that meeting dissatisfied and angry."

But the article failed to mention that Sheehan had previously described Bush as sincere and sympathetic in the meeting.

Of that trip, Sheehan said: "That was the gift the president gave us, the gift of happiness, of being together." In the 11 articles and columns about Sheehan that The Times had run on its news pages as of Friday, there is no hint of her previous praise for the president.

Nor would you learn that Casey Sheehan reenlisted after the war started. And only The Times' April 2004 obituary for the 24-year-old Army specialist noted that he bravely volunteered for the rescue mission in which he was killed by terrorists.

Rational people can disagree whether the war in Iraq is justified. But a newspaper's job is to report all relevant facts and present different perspectives, not just those that suit one particular viewpoint.

By that measure, The Times has woefully failed its readers with its one-sided coverage of the Cindy Sheehan story.

RadioEqualizer Brian Maloney on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-18T10:49:00.000-04:00

RadioEqualizeronFranken
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Brian Maloney, the man behind one of the most popular blogs on the Internet, The Radio Equalizer, will be our guest Sunday evening at 9pm est on Pundit Review Radio.

You can listen live at WRKO and call us toll free at 877-469-4322.

Brian has been breaking news on a regular basis on the Air America financial scandal, demonstrating once again how blogs can keep a story alive and drive coverage of it in the MSM. We'll talk about that, and lots of other things like the media obsession with Cindy Sheehan and popular support for the war in Iraq. Don't miss it!

Newsflash to clueless liberals: We already knew this

2005-08-17T12:19:00.000-04:00

Mike McNaughton
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

So I head to The Huffington Post to see what the Hollywood crazies are up to. What I found was shocking, completely unexpected. It was a level headed, balanced analysis of President Bush and his treatment of our soldiers.

The Consoling President

When the White House called my wife, they said she wasn't allowed to tell even my other son or daughter that we were invited to meet the President. They didn't want the press to know, and said the President didn't want the press to know. If it would have leaked out, we would not have had the meeting."
Which is telling. It belies the complaints of those who think the President has somehow politicized the situation regarding those who have died in Iraq.

It may be 'telling' to a liberal elitist but to those of us who rely on the new media and milblogs for information about this war, the fact the President Bush truly cares about the troops is anything but news. WE HAVE KNOWN THIS FOR YEARS. Liberals like to repeat cute slogans, regardless of their veracity, until they become a mantra.

"He lied us into war"
"It's a war for oil"
"He uses the troops as props"

There are dozens of these lazy, intellectually dishonest slogans that are treated as gospel by the left. So a few are waking up slowly to the fact that one of their core beliefs about this president is demonstrably false. I suppose that is progress, but it is still quite pathetic.

Most certainly, the author doesn't read milblogs like Blackfive. Otherwise, he would have known about this.

Obviously, he has never seen this picture or heard this story,

While recuperating at Walter Reed, Sgt. McNaughton was honored to receive a
visit from President Bush. One of the subjects of common interest they discussed
was running, and the President extended an invitation to Sgt. McNaughton to come
running with him once he was up and about. The President's invitation posed
something of a dilemma for Sgt. McNaughton: "He said give him a call and we'll
go running. How are you supposed to just call the president?" Fortunately, Sgt.
McNaughton's doctor at Walter Reed was also a doctor for the President, and the
two men were able to keep in touch through her. In April 2004, Sgt. McNaughton
and his family made the trip to Washington, and — true to his word — the
President went for a run with him.

And he most certainy never saw this story,

Lynn Faulkner, his daughter, Ashley, and their neighbor, Linda Prince, eagerly waited to shake the president's hand Tuesday at the Golden Lamb Inn. He worked the line at a steady campaign pace, smiling, nodding and signing autographs until Prince spoke:
"This girl lost her mom in the World Trade Center on 9-11." Bush stopped and turned back.
"He changed from being the leader of the free world to being a father, a husband and a man," Faulkner said. "He looked right at her and said, 'How are you doing?' He reached out with his hand and pulled her into his chest."
"I could hear her say, 'I'm OK,' " he said. "That's more emotion than she has shown in 21/2 years. Then he said, 'I can see you have a father who loves you very much.' "
"And I said, 'I do, Mr. President, but I miss her mother every day.' It was a special moment."

Click here to see an amazing photo of this special moment.

Maybe this elitist still reads Newsweak, even they have begun to 'get it'

It is too bad that these liberal know it alls are so ignorant of the facts, relating to President Bush, his genuine concern for the troops and the overall situation in Iraq. It makes me angry, even if they are starting to see the truth.

Michael Yon Interview

2005-08-15T14:36:00.000-04:00

America lined up to thank Michael Yon last night on Pundit Review Radio. What an outpouring of support for the great work he does, bringing us vivid, well-written and compelling reporting from his base in Mosul.

We heard from fathers and wives of servicemen serving in Michael's unit, and we heard from regular people who just wanted to say thank you to Michael for his brave and always balanced reporting. The respect and admiration for Michael was real and it was very moving.

Hopefully, people were moved enough to financially support his work, as we are all the beneficiaries of it. Visit his blog and hit the Support The Dispatches button, if you are able.

We took calls from Hawaii, Alaska, Texas, Pennsylvania, New York, Alabama, Washington and California. Not bad for a Boston-based show! Simply put, word got out and America lined up to say thank you to this generation's Ernie Pyle.

We were glad to help make that happen. Michael will be back with us from Mosul in the very near future.

Remember, you can check out Kevin & Gregg on Pundit Review Radio every Sunday evening at 9pm at WRKO where we will be giving voice to the new media. Each week we will bring you interiews with leaders in the citizen journalist movement, people like Michael Yon who you will hear no where else but Pundit Review Radio. Thanks.

More Michael Yon on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-12T10:19:00.000-04:00

Michael Yon's reporting is THE most compelling coming out of Iraq and it is our honor to bring his fresh insight and analysis to WRKO.

People here in the US are woefully ignorant of the situation in Iraq and Michael will bring it to us, the good, the bad and the ugly. We are not looking for Pollyanna BS saying everything is great. We just want perspective in our coverage. Nobody provides that like Michael Yon.

Michael will be on live from Mosul, Iraq this Sunday evening at 9pm EST. You can stream the show live at WRKO and you can call us toll-free with questions at 877-469-4322.

Check our post on Michael titled Revaluing The Yon

About Pundit Review Radio

Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. Each week we highlight the work of the most influencial bloggers and citizen journalists on Boston's talk leader, WRKO. Recent guests have included Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine, Don Luskin of PoorandStupid, James Taranto, Hugh Hewitt, Scott Johnson from Powerline, LaShawn Barber, Patterico, Blackfive and Matt Margolis from Blogs for Bush. Let your readers know about our show and check us out!

Patterico on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-11T08:46:00.000-04:00

Patterico joined us recently on Pundit Review Radio to discuss his excellent blog, Patterico's Pontifications, as well as some issues near and dear to his heart, like his favorite newspaper, the LA Times. We also discussed the SCOTUS nomination, media bias and other new media issues. Check it out!

Blackfive on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-09T17:17:00.000-04:00

Milblogger Blackfive joined us recently on Pundit Review Radio to discuss milblogs, Iraq, the media and the general war on terror. Do listen to this one, you won't want to miss the story that drove Matt to start Blackfive!

Jeff Jarvis on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-08T12:13:00.000-04:00

Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine joined us recently on Pundit Review Radio to discuss a variety of blogging, new media/old media issues.

Don Luskin on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-08T11:54:00.000-04:00

Old friend Don Luskin of Poor and Stupid joined us recently on Pundit Review Radio to discuss a variety of political and economic issues.

Matt Margolis on Pundit Review Radio

2005-08-08T11:30:00.000-04:00

We are babystepping our way towards full podcasts after each show.

Thanks for your patience.

Here is our interview with Blogs for Bush founder Matt Margolis.

Michael Yon on Pundit Review Radio this Sunday

2005-08-05T14:44:00.000-04:00

What an honor to have milblogger Michael Yon on Pundit Review Radio this Sunday evening at 9pm EST. He will be joining us live from Mosul, Iraq.

You can stream the show live at WRKO and you can call us toll-free with questions at 877-469-4322.

Have you been reading Michael's dispatches from Iraq?

You should be. Michael Yon is a former Special Forces soldier who is now over in Iraq, on his own dime, as a journalist. He is living in Mosul and doing some of the most amazing reporting of anyone covering the war. As milblogger Blackfive told us recently on Pundit Review Radio, Michael's reporting brings the good, the bad and the ugly, as it is happening.

Check our post on Michael titled Revaluing The Yon

Please check out us out Sunday evening to get a unique, first person perspective as to what is really going on in Iraq.

About Pundit Review Radio
Pundit Review Radio is where the old media meets the new. We give voice to the new media. Each week we highlight the work of the most influencial bloggers and citizen journalists on Boston's largest talk station, WRKO. Recent guests have included Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine, Don Luskin of PoorandStupid, James Taranto, Hugh Hewitt, Scott Johnson from Powerline, LaShawn Barber, Patterico, Blackfive and Matt Margolis from Blogs for Bush. Let your readers know about our show and check us out!

New York Slimes and their liberal friends

2005-08-05T07:47:00.000-04:00

When it comes to Chelsea Clinton, it was hands off for the New York Slimes,

New York Slimes, December 3, 2000

From the beginning, Bill and Hillary Clinton made it clear that they wanted their only child to enjoy as normal an upbringing as possible. And to an extraordinary degree, journalists and the general public conformed with their wishes.

For years, this peculiar arrangement made sense. When her father took office, Chelsea was 12 years old, frizzy-haired, freckled and with a mouthful of braces. She looked vulnerable and was treated accordingly.

When reporters requested interviews with her, or even information about her, says Neel Lattimore, the first lady's former press secretary, "I had the feeling they were kind of sheepish about it, kind of apologetic, like, 'My editor asked me to do this, and I know the answer is no.' "(Which it always was.) Indeed, so solid was the consensus on leaving Chelsea alone that when People magazine published a highly complimentary cover article about how gracefully she seemed to be weathering the impeachment scandal, Geraldo Rivera was among the chorus of indignant voices. "I'm glad it's their story," he harrumphed, "not mine."

The consensus on Chelsea has held for both virtuous and less virtuous reasons. After all, nearly everybody who has kept her secrets found some sort of pride or self-satisfaction in doing so. Washington reporters, for example, are still patting themselves on the back for shielding Chelsea. But they have done so not only out of a decent inclination to protect a young person who never asked to be famous but also out of the sense that self-restraint might earn them something: access to her parents, perhaps.

When it comes to SCOTUS nominee John Roberts, his adopted kids, who are 5 and 4, they are fair game?,

The TIMES has investigative reporter Glen Justice hot on the case to investigate the status of adoption records of Judge Roberts two young children, Josie age 5 and Jack age 4, a top source reveals. Judge Roberts and his wife Jane adopted the children when they each were infants. Both children were adopted from Latin America.

A TIMES insider claims the look into the adoption papers are part of the paper's "standard background check."

Previously the WASHINGTON POST Style section had published a story criticizing the outfits Mrs. Roberts had them wear at the announcement ceremony.

One top Washington official with knowledge of the NEW YORK TIMES action
declared: "Trying to pry into the lives of the Roberts? family like this is despicable. Children's lives should be off limits. The TIMES is putting politics over fundamental decency.? One top Republican official when told of the situation was incredulous. "This can't possibly be true?"

The vile left should stick with insinuating that Roberts is a closeted gay because he did pro bono work on a case supporting gay rights. I thought liberals are in favor of gay rights? Why don't they applaud Roberst for this work? Because they can use it to smear him, that's why. They use it to insinuate that he is gay, in a cheap, tawdry and transparent effort to rile the conservative base. It is the same slimy tactic used by both John Edwards and John Kerry in the past campaign with regard to Dick Cheney's daughter, who IS gay. At least Roberts is an adult and can defend himself from these vile scum.

Roberts Donated Help To Gay Rights Case

WASHINGTON — Supreme Court nominee John G. Roberts Jr. worked behind the
scenes for gay rights activists, and his legal expertise helped them persuade the Supreme Court to issue a landmark 1996 ruling protecting people from discrimination because of their sexual orientation.

Liberal blog BlueMassGroup,

What to make of this? Is Roberts a clandestine agent of the dreaded
"homosexual agenda"? Is he, in fact, secretly gay? (Perhaps that would explain his son's controversial pastel clothing?)

I suppose the refreshing thing about this is how unashamed some liberals are about sliming a good and decent man. Indepundit linked to this, a poster named Geso on The Daily Kos, who sure is proud of himself,

That's my justification for conducting a one man smear campaign on a conservative justice- besides, spreading the rumor that he's gay wouldn't piss off anyone I respect, which makes the rumor that much more entertaining.

I need to go take a shower now.

Thanking the drug companies

2005-08-02T22:23:00.000-04:00

If you follow blogs, you know that Instapundit and Andrew Sullivan have agreed on very little lately. It took the wonderdul people from Pfizer and Bristol Myers to bring them together. Can peace in the middle east be far behind?

Glenn Reynolds, Instapundit
August 2

INSTAWIFE UPDATE: The Insta-Wife saw her cardiologist today, and they did an EKG and downloaded the information from her ICD, which records its own EKG readings whenever her heart rhythms are funny. Turns out there wasn't much recorded, because her heart rhythms are much, much better. That didn't surprise me, because she's been feeling much better, too. That's not because of the ICD. It will shock her heart out of a dangerous rhythm, or pace it out of one before shocking if it can, which is great, but that's only after things go wrong. It's because of the Tikosyn -- a powerful and hard-to-prescribe anti-arrhythmic -- which is dangerous enough in some people that you have to be hospitalized when you start it, but which has worked wonderfully for her, and without noticeable side effects after the first couple of weeks. The drug has been a godsend for her, and I want to thank the folks at Pfizer for coming up with it. People are always bashing drug companies, but as I've written before, they do a lot more to improve people's lives than most of the critics have ever done, or ever will do.

Glenn Reynolds, MSNBC
August 4

Color me unimpressed with the claims of this critic of the pharmaceutical industry. I'm supposed to be shocked that drug companies use celebrity spokespeople, or that they make drugs to improve the function of people who aren't deathly ill? That's not a problem, that's progress.

The pharmaceutical industry isn't beyond criticism, of course. But I find most of the criticism rather strained, and all of the critics far too slow to give the industry the credit it deserves for the tremendous good it does.

Andrew Sullivan, Daily Dish
July 1

Got new data this week about my virus. You may recall that I went back on meds
because my viral load, after three years of stability at around 20,000 copies
per mililiter of my blood, went to 60,000 and then 140,000. After ten days of
medication, it came down to 1,500. By now, it should be zero. The drugs are
amazing and I barely notice them at all any more the side effects are so minor.
I guess I should add that these not atypical results show that although basic
scientific research must be funded by government, the "evil" pharmaceutical
companies are, in fact, among the most beneficent organizations in the history
of mankind and their research in the last couple of decades will one day be
recognized as the revolution it truly is. Yes, they're motivated by profits.
Duh. That's the genius of capitalism - to harness human improvement to the
always-reliable yoke of human greed. Long may those companies prosper. I owe
them literally my life.

Teddy K. Bashes Bush, JFK (again)

2005-08-01T20:53:00.000-04:00

Bolton in Recess Appointment

WASHINGTON – By sidestepping the Senate and naming controversial nuclear-arms diplomat John Bolton as ambassador to the United Nations during a congressional recess, President Bush has thrilled the Republican Party's right while stymieing moderates of both parties holding out for a more conciliatory choice.
The appointment ends nearly five months of political battling and stalemate over a nomination that the president insisted was "the right man at the right time" for the key diplomatic post. By appointing Mr. Bolton, Mr. Bush sends to the UN a longtime stinging critic of the international organization just as the United States is pressing for significant reforms in how the UN works.

Leading Domestic Insurgent Ted Kennedy had this to say in a statement,

The abuse of power and the cloak of secrecy from the White House continues. It's bad enough that the administration stonewalled the Senate by refusing to disclose documents highly relevant to the Bolton nomination. It's even worse for the administration to abuse the recess appointment power by making the appointment while Congress is in this five-week recess. It's a devious maneuver that evades the constitutional requirement of Senate consent and only further darkens the cloud over Mr. Bolton's credibility at the U.N.

Once again, more over-the-top, fact-free rhetoric from that paragon of virtue, Ted Kennedy. This penchent for partisan flamethrowing often leaves Teddy at odds with his late brother JFK. After all, JFK rightly used recess appointments when he was president,

President John F. Kennedy appointed Thurgood Marshall to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in October 1961, getting around opposition from Southern senators. Their resistance had weakened by the following September, and the Senate approved him 54-16.

So did Bill Clinton, 140 times. Strange, but I couldn't find a single quote from Teddy denouncing him.

JFK was also wise enough to understand that tax cuts created an environment for economic growth. Teddy screams with all his might that tax cuts are for the rich at the expense of the poor.

W. James Antle of Enter Stage Right reminds us,

While President Kennedy is an icon of modern American liberalism on a par with Franklin D. Roosevelt, he did not always take positions that would endear him with today's Ben and Jerry-munching left. He was a proponent of increased defense spending and an aggressive anti-communist stance during the Cold War. His friends in the Senate included Joe McCarthy, who he did not vote to censure, and Barry Goldwater. And he proposed what was at the time the biggest tax cut in history.

What was his tax policy? Bruce Bartlett explains,

President Kennedy's Taxation Task Force... This was a group of outside economists and tax experts recruited by Kennedy aide Theodore Sorenson after the 1960 election. It was this group that first suggested that Kennedy support creation of an Investment Tax Credit, which he did in 1962, and an across the board reduction in tax rates, which he did in 1963. The proposal Kennedy put forward on January 24, 1963 would have cut the top individual income tax rate from 91 percent to 65 percent, and reduced the maximum capital gains tax from 25 percent to 19.5 percent.

That's right, I said Jeff Jarvis

2005-07-29T19:47:00.000-04:00

We are really looking forward to having Jeff Jarvis on Pundit Review Radio this Sunday evening at 9pm. Why? For insight and analysis like this,

Milking the old cash cow

As in the case of TV Guide, change will finally come, but only when it is inevitable, and perhaps when it is too late.

: And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a picture of what life is like in many other big media companies today. That is what is happening on shrinking newspapers, and in shrinking broadcast and even cable networks, and in many a shrinking magazines.

The cash cowherds run the farm, change is resisted, strategic bravery is rarely seen. Why? They still make a lot of money. Yes, but they aren’t growing, not in real terms.
And, worse, the world has changed in this decade in profound ways. There is an entirely new medium competing for attention and dollars. This new medium has devalued what you thought was your core asset — your stranglehold on distribution, your size — and made them into burdens rather than advantages. Your customers, once just a mass, can now talk back and complain. And, most important, in a world where small is the new big, a million small competitors are now enabled to chomp away at your audience, your franchise, your brand, your business, your cash.

Other media companies should look at TV Guide’s saga as instructive
and predictive: What happened to the magazine that once sold more copies every year than any other magazine can happen to you.

TV Guide is the cow in the coal mine.

and this,

Waaa Waaa Waaa

Michael Kinsley is whining that the internet doesn’t operate the way he wants it to operate and so he’s taking his marbles and going home. Or something like that.
He’s just acting like the old-media guy he is, wanting to control the medium as they all do. But, of course, that misses the essential point of the internet. It can’t be controled.
The New York Times reports today that Kinsley is going to take some other, unnamed job at the LA Times, this coming only two days after he wrote a column whining about the web and after Dan Gillmor issued him a proper lashing for that. Waaaa:
The nasty parts of the Web are where people are doing what the Founding Surfers intended: expressing themselves and forming communities. Why is the tone of conversation on the Internet, especially about politics, so much lower than in the material world?
This from a guy who spent years on Crossfire — the very show that did to political discourse what Jerry Springer did to daylight?

Pundit Review Radio: This week's guest, Jeff Jarvis

2005-07-29T07:40:00.000-04:00

Who:

Pundit Review Radio, a show dedicated to bringing the most insightful thought leaders in the new media to the radio.

When:

Sunday Evening, 9pm est

Where:

WRKO, Boston's Talk Leader. Streaming live! Call us with a question at 877-469-4322

Why:

This week we will be speaking to Jeff Jarvis of Buzz Machine. Jeff is one of the sharpest minds in the blogsphere. His site was recently named by Forbes as one of the best media-focused blogs.

Buzz Machine Review In Forbes

Jeff Jarvis brings to his blog a long resume in the brick-and-mortar world of mainstream media journalism: former TV critic for TV Guide and People, creator of Entertainment Weekly, Sunday editor and associate publisher of the NY Daily News, columnist on the San Francisco Examiner. Now Jarvis devotes his time to working in and testing new media and to speaking out, thoughtfully and personally, about old and new journalism trends and ethics. Posts range from 1,100-word essays on how feeds and aggregators are the new "dynamic architecture" of the Internet to commentary on Bush's new Supreme Court nominee: "To make their legal legacies last longer, presidents will be drafting justices the way they draft basketball players, out of high school. Better yet: Junior high, when they're still virgins and haven't inhaled."

Don't let the conversational tone fool you--this is thoughtful, intelligent
insider stuff.

Let's Just Call It Like It Is

2005-07-28T22:38:00.000-04:00

mannyloser
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

July 14, 2005

"Bostonist was watching the Red Sox play the Texas Rangers a little window popped up on the computer - an Instant Message from our buddy, saying, "Holy crap, Manny's wearing Oakley Thump glasses in the outfield." "Excuse me?" said Bostonist. "Yeah dude, you know those Oakleys that have the built-in mp3 player? Manny's got those on!" Bostonist's pal replied."

July 29, 2005

Ramirez's Annual Rite: Asking for a Trade

By MURRAY CHASS

FIRST, before we explore the possibility that the Red Sox might trade Manny Ramirez in the next few days, perhaps to the Mets, let's pause for a moment and feel sorry for Manny. He makes $20 million a year - that's the No. 20 with six zeroes attached - for playing baseball in Boston, and he's tired and uncomfortable.

He was so tired he declined to play Wednesday afternoon against Tampa Bay despite a shortage of players because of injuries. He's so uncomfortable in Boston because fans love him so much he has lost his privacy, so he has begun his annual exercise of asking the Red Sox to trade him.

Last October I wrote a column questioning his refusal to donate a few thousand dollars to the baseball team at his high school, George Washington in Upper Manhattan, and some readers excoriated me for suggesting he was wrong for not helping the players on the team that was so integral to his career and wealth.

Those readers had a right to their opinion, but I wonder how they or other Red Sox fans feel now that Ramirez has demonstrated disrespect for his teammates by refusing to play when they needed him, and worse, has asked out in the middle of a division race that could determine the team's ability to get back to the World Series to defend its championship. How should one characterize Ramirez for deserting a ship whose sails are full of wind?

He's Right, Let's Just Call It Like It Is

Manny Ramirez is a petulant, immature coward.

He is a disgrace, to himself, his family, the Red Sox and every major league player.

Here is a guy who was playing in Cleveland and chose to come to Boston as a free agent. He didn't have to come here. He was getting his, somewhere. It's not like Boston wasn't a baseball crazy town already when he got here. Eight years and $160 million gets you a guy who refuses to play. Just plain says no. And gets paid $123,456.79 for doing it. When he gets in in the 10th inning, he dogs it? Uh, no, that is not acceptable. For a fan, a teammate or the organization.

As Sinatra would say, the Sox have F-U money this season. They will never experience a feeling of goodwill like they have right now.

Make an example of him. Punish him. Do whatever you can under the collective bargaining agreement. It's probably not nearly enough to make some people happy (me), but do at least that much. Make a statement that enough is enough. It's one thing to sulk, be a whiner, listen to MP3's or hang out in the Green Monster during the game. It's another entirely if you show such a reckles disregard for the team. Get rid of him today. For nothing if you have to.

Hat Tip:

“We all knew there would come a day that, Manny being Manny, he’d clam up and ask to be left alone, that he’d find himself a little hiding place in the clubhouse, a place that would be off limits to the knights of the keyboard.”

Steve Buckley, Boston Herald
March 2001

Air America's Dirty Money

2005-07-27T21:38:00.000-04:00

Brian Maloney of The Radio Equalizer has the goods on the developing story involving Air America, the liberal talk network.

Media Cover-Up, Bronx Community Programs Nearly Shut

What happens when the mainstream media, after years of seething over conservative talk radio's success, discover its alternative got diverted public funds, earmarked instead for inner-city youth and seniors?

The answer, with one key exception: they pretend it didn't happen.

Yes, only because of a New York Daily News tidbit do we know that Bronx-based Gloria Wise Boys and Girls Club nearly shut down major programs recently, because almost $500,000 in governmental grant money was instead diverted to Air America's liberal radio network.

The Radio Equalizer has tons of new links and updates, check it out.

Revaluing the Yon

2005-07-27T11:23:00.000-04:00

Michael Yon that is. Have you been reading his dispatches from Iraq? You should be. Michael Yon is a former Special Forces soldier who is now over in Iraq, on his own dime, as a journalist. He is living in Mosul and doing some of the most amazing reporting of anyone covering the war.

As milblogger Blackfive told us recently on Pundit Review Radio, Michael's reporting brings the good, the bad and the ugly, as it is happening.

Do yourself a favor and read his blog. Support his work through Paypal, if you can. Get an agenda-free, balanced perspective of what is happening in Iraq. I guarentee that you will have a different perspective of what we are doing and how well we are doing it.

What are you missing? Here is a snippet from his most recent dispatch,

The enemy in Iraq does not appear to be weakening; if anything, they are becoming smarter, more complicated and deadlier. But this does not mean they are winning; to imply that getting smarter and deadlier equates to winning, is fallacious. Most accounts of the situation in Iraq focus on enemy "successes" (if success is re-defined as annihiliation of civility), while redacting the increasing viability and strength of the Iraqi government, which clearly is outpacing the insurgency.

Cascades

There is a pattern of cascades in counterguerrilla combat operations. In this kind of warfare, information drives maneuvers, and a single capture of a key person frequently cascades into a shower of raids and captures, each pregnant with the next storm.

The Libyan, like so many "jihadists" who come to Iraq itching for action in the holy war, found himself treated as exspendable bomb casing. He started confessing everything. In fact, he had no sooner sat down at the table in the detention facility here on base than he had filled three pages with detailed handwritten confessions. The Libyan had crossed the border from Syria into Iraq on foot, intent on fighting a holy war, as an infantryman engaged in direct combat with American soldiers. He did not want to be a martyr, merely a jihadist. He did not want to die in Iraq. His Iraqis "hosts" had threatened to kill him if he refused to wear and detonate the explosive vest while mingling into a crowd of Iraqi police. But the Libyan did not like that plan and was angry at the Iraqis who were trying to force a holy jihadist to become an unwilling bomb, and he was telling everything. Another cascade.

And don't miss Glen Reynolds, aka Instapundit, interview Michael Yon over at Tech Central Staton.

GR: What are you trying to accomplish with your reporting? What will the final result be? A book?

MY: I am chronicling my observations of this war over an extended period. My independence is important on many levels. I am beholden to no agency and I don't need to produce copy on a deadline. So I can write about what I am seeing and take time to do so properly. Journalists of many sorts fly through here for short times, and there are a handful of semi-permanent reporters from a few majors such as CNN and Time. Some of these are good and serious folks, but I think they are hobbled by working for agencies and are not free to roam and follow their instincts. Being completely independent allows freedom to roam the battle field from North to South, from Iran to Syria, and to describe without filters what I see. The events in Iraq are singularly critical to the futures of billions of people. Given that such incredible events are taking place, and that I am committed to being here as long as I still have unanswered questions....definitely, I will write a book.

Emotional rollercoaster in two clicks

2005-07-22T14:32:00.000-04:00

So I'm reading the Boston Herald online during lunch and I come across this story that puts a smile on my face,

Dunkin' hero drops thief without dripping coffee

"I got my coffee and didn't even realize what was going on until I noticed a
guy behind the counter who didn't look like he worked there,'' said Merry, 21,
of Beverly. Merry realized that a man behind the counter was robbing
the store clerk with a knife. "When he was done, he just walked out
calmly and started down the street. I said to myself, `I just can't let this
happen,' '' Merry said. Merry said at this point he sprang into ``adrenaline mode'' and began to chase after the suspect, all the while screaming at him to stop.

Meanwhile, Boston police officers responded to the armed robbery call and a
witness pointed them in the direction of the foot chase, police spokesman David
Estrada said. The officers found Merry, who had detained the apparently slow-footed thief on Harrison Avenue - all without spilling a drop of coffee, Merry said.

Then only a click or two later, I'm hit in the gut, stunned, sad, angry and depressed. Now that I have young kids myself, I don't react well to this kind of story,

Mom, baby die in shocking downtown fall

In a tragedy witnessed by a downtown evening rush-hour crowd, a 28-year-old
mother clutching her 9-month-old daughter apparently jumped from the window of
their 24th-floor luxury apartment.

They landed on a roof 16 stories below and were pronounced dead at the
scene.

The woman's husband - and only child's father - witnessed the events from
the door of their home in Devonshire Place, a tower on Washington Street, police
said.

Domestic Insurgents Get Earful During GITMO Visit

2005-07-22T13:41:00.000-04:00

This must have felt soooooo goooood! I wish it was on camera so I could see the look on Fat Ted's weathered, Chivas-soaked face. It's about time somebody told him off to his face.

TedK
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Soldiers from Massachusetts and Hawaii who work at the U.S. military detention facility at U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, gave visiting home-state senators a piece of their mind last week.

Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, Massachusetts Democrat, and Daniel K. Akaka, Hawaii Democrat, met with several soldiers during a visit led by Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican.

Pentagon officials said soldiers criticized the harsh comments made recently by Senate Democrats.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat, last month invoked widespread military outrage when he compared Guantanamo to the prison labor systems used by communist tyrant Josef Stalin, Cambodia's Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler.

"They got stiff reactions from those home-state soldiers," one official told us. "The troops down there expressed their disdain for that kind of commentary, especially comparisons to the gulag."

A spokesman for Mr. Kennedy had no comment. A spokeswoman for Mr. Akaka confirmed that the senator met with soldiers from Hawaii but did not recall receiving any complaints during the meeting.

Both senators made no mention of the incident in press statements after the visit. Mr. Kennedy, in his statement, said that he is "impressed with the courtesies and professionalism of the men and women in our armed forces."

Mr. Kennedy has been a leading advocate for closing the
prison facility. Mr. Akaka in April voted for an amendment that would have cut
funds for the prison.

Dems Domestic Solution: Leave Them Alone

2005-07-22T13:00:00.000-04:00

As the fear of domestic terror grows in the wake of the attacks in London, congressional Democrats have an answer.

Vote against the Patriot Act.

Lessen our abiility monitor these savages living among us. Make it harder for law enforcement to identify and track them. Make it next to impossible to listen to their conversations, monitor their Internet usage. Let them roam free, for we would never want to infringe on our precious civil libertries. That would be un-American!

Kevin at Rant Me a River points out,

78% of House Democrtas vote against renewal of The Patriot Act while 94 % of Republicans vote in favor of renewal.
Notwithstanding the inability to show one instance of alleged abuse of the powers granted by the Act, or the failure of the safeguards built into it, Nancy Pelosi joins the ACLU in condemning the bill. "The bill before us fails to assure accountability," said Pelosi. Of cousre, when you voted for it four freaking years ago, it was satisfactory, but now THOSE SAME PROVISIONS are a threat to our civil liberties.Too stupid to work, too lazy to steal? Get elected to Congress.

Bravo to Australia's John Howard

2005-07-21T22:09:00.000-04:00

Bravo
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

From National Review's Corner,

This quickie transcript was just sent to me by someone who described it as "a direct, devastating bitch-slap to the nonsense that the U.S., Britain and Australia brought this on themselves from any other leader":

Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen.

Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.

And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?

I read this earlier today and then saw it on TV tonight and let me tell you, the description at the top is quite fitting. I wish Bush would be, or could be, more direct.

Pundit Review Radio: This week's guest is Matt Margolis

2005-07-20T21:10:00.000-04:00

When?
Sunday evening, 9pm EST. Matt Margolis will be live in studio.

Where?
Stream the show live at WRKO, Boston talk leader . Call us with questions toll free at 877-469-4322.

Why?
Matt has been a true innovator and leader in the new media. He founded Blogs for Bush, and grew an ernormous online community of blogs who supported the President in the 2004 election. He was among the first bloggers given credentials for a national political convention. And he recently launched a new blog that is focused on the swamp that is the Massachusetts politics.

No wonder they hate Karl Rove

2005-07-19T21:18:00.000-04:00

EdithClement
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

No wonder they hate Karl Rove.

Today may have been the final masterstroke, the last, best misdirection play of his career. Judge Edith Clement was floated by "surrogates" of the administration this afternoon and everyone was aflutter. Drudge had the flashlight going. Breaking News everywhere. The liberals were pleasantly surprised. The media was thrilled. Bush listened to Laura, they said. A passable conservative woman in the mold of Sandra Day O'Connor. She sounded so good. Heck, even rumored candidate, Sen. John Cornyn, had an embargoed press release prasing the presidents pick, Edith Clement. It was a perfectly executed misdirection.

After the breathless afternoon coverage, and the anticipation for the evening press conference, it was as if the liberals were kicked in the stomach one last time by Rove.

Bush consulted with 30 Democrat Senators and he still didn't choose one of their pre-approved nominees! He's a divider not a uniter, I can hear it now. He went ahead and did what he has said he would since 1999. They simply can't believe it.

The question should be, Why would you ever doubt Bush with this pick?

Still, that's what many did, from both sides of the aisle. Once again, Bush was misunderestimated. It is always best when expectations are low and you surprise to the upside. John Roberts is 50 years old. He is a well regarded, mainstream conservative, Supreme Court veteran, who should be approved by any reasonable standard. If Ruth Bader Ginsberg can get 95+ votes, this should be an acceptable pick.

Liberal advocacy groups have their fax machines and emails cooking and that's fine. Conservatves would do the same thing.

The trouble for Democrat politicians is that they will have to oppose him vigorously enough to satisfy their money interests without going too far and hurting themselves with independents and what's left of conversative Democrats.

Can this line-up pull that off..Leahey, Schumer, Kennedy, Reid, Boxer, Durbin.

I've seen no evidence at all that they can. Good luck to them. They are a net positive for conservatives anyway.

Notes culled from the background noise...

Good exchange on Fox,

Fred Barnes, "This was the safe pick."

Bill Kristol replies, "I disagree, this was a bold pick. The safe pick would have been a woman first and a minority second."

Barnes later tried to explain his statement and came up empty, grasping at straws. Advantage Kristol. The boss wins again.

Keep talking Pat Leahey, keep talking.

Ken Starr gets lots of face time on TV as he was Solicitor General while Roberts was his First Deputy. Love it.

Hannity introduces former Senator John Breaux. Breaux congratulates Bush for "confusing everybody" and joking that he was originally "invited on the show to talk about Edith Clement". The Democrats miss Breaux. He is a grown up.

Ed Meese is still sharp as a tack. He's whipping Alan Colmes right now.

Susan Estrich, "This guy is the real thing." It was not a compliment.

Greta Van Sustern to Estrich, "Will Rehnquist retire or go out with his boots on?"

The good John Tierney

2005-07-16T20:55:00.000-04:00

The bad John Tierney is a back bench, empty suit, knee-jerk liberal congressman who most recently was seen seated at the head table during the House Dems mock impeachment hearings a few weeks ago.

The good John Tierney is the new guy on the New York Times editorial page. He is the Times token conservative columnist, the affirmative action position if you will, left vacant by the retiring William Safire.

Here is Tierney today on the Rove/Plame/Wilson/Novak story,

At the time her name was printed, her face was still not that familiar even to most Washington veterans, but that soon changed. When her husband received a "truth-telling" award at a Nation magazine luncheon, he wept as he told of his sorrow at his wife's loss of anonymity. Then he introduced her to the crowd.

And then, for any enemy agents who missed seeing her face at the luncheon but had an Internet connection, she posed with her husband for a photograph in Vanity Fair.

The smeared whistle-blower Mr. Wilson accused the White House of willfully ignoring his report showing that Iraq had not been seeking nuclear material from Niger. But a bipartisan report from the Senate Intelligence Committee concluded that his investigation had yielded little valuable information, hadn't reached the White House and hadn't disproved the Iraq-Niger link - in fact, in some ways it supported the link.

Mr. Wilson presented himself as a courageous truth-teller who was being attacked by lying partisans, but he himself became a Democratic partisan (working with the John Kerry presidential campaign) who had a problem with facts. He denied that his wife had anything to do with his assignment in Niger, but Senate investigators found a memo in which she recommended him.

Karl Rove's version of events now looks less like a smear and more like the truth: Mr. Wilson's investigation, far from being requested and then suppressed by a White House afraid of its contents, was a low-level report of not much interest to anyone outside the Wilson household.
So what exactly is this scandal about?

Why We'll Win

2005-07-15T21:27:00.000-04:00

tschiderer071505
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

It's because of guys like Army Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer.

Matt from Blackfive, our guest last weekend on Pundit Review Radio, pointed us to this,

(Army Times) During a routine patrol in Baghdad June 2, Army Pfc. Stephen Tschiderer, a medic, was shot in the chest by an enemy sniper, hiding in a van just 75 yards away. The incident was filmed by the insurgents.

Tschiderer, with E Troop, 101st “Saber” Cavalry Division, attached to 3rd Battalion, 156th Infantry Regiment, 256th Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, was knocked to the ground from the impact, but he popped right back up, took cover and located the enemy’s position.

After tracking down the now-wounded sniper with a team from B Company, 4th Battalion, 1st Iraqi Army Brigade, Tschiderer secured the terrorist with a pair of handcuffs and gave medical aid to the terrorist who’d tried to kill him just minutes before.

Click here for the video

This story reminds me of another from the early days of the invasion,

Military blogger L.T. Smash recounts a televised vignette that requires no further comment:

Martin Savidge of CNN, embedded with the 1st Marine battalion, was talking with 4 young Marines near his foxhole this morning live on CNN. He had been telling the story of how well the Marines had been looking out for and taking care of him since the war started. He went on to tell about the many hardships the Marines had endured since the war began and how they all look after one another.

He turned to the four and said he had cleared it with their commanders and they could use his video phone to call home.

The 19 year old Marine next to him asked Martin if he would allow his platoon sergeant to use his call to call his pregnant wife back home whom he had not been able to talk to in three months. A stunned Savidge who was visibly moved by the request shook his head and the young Marine ran off to get the sergeant.

Savidge recovered after a few seconds and turned back to the three young Marines still sitting with him and asked which one of them would like to call home first, the Marine closest to him responded with out a moments hesitation "Sir, if is all the same to you we would like to call the parents of a buddy of ours, Lance Cpl Brian Buesing of Cedar Key, Florida who was killed on 3-23-03 near Nasiriya to see how they are doing."

At that Martin Savidge totally broke down and was unable to speak. All he could get out before signing off was "Where do they get young men like this?"

Don Luskin on Pundit Review Radio

2005-07-14T21:29:00.000-04:00

Who:

Don Luskin, Smart Money and National Review Online columnist, blogger (poorandstupid.com) and chief investment officer, Trend Macrolytics LLC, an independent economics and investment consulting firm serving institutional investors.

When:

Sunday evening, 9PM EST

Where:

WRKO, Boston's Talk Station
Streaming Live @ WRKO
Call us toll free @ 877-469-4322

Why:

Don is and old friend of the show, a leading conservative commentator and political economist who brings a unique perspective to the discussion. Plus, he's relentless when it comes to fact checking Paul Krugman. This is a valuable public service made possible by the blogsphere. We certainly appreciate his tireless effort to correct the record.

There was a great deal happening on the economic front this week. We will be asking Don about CNOOC's offer to buy UNOCAL. What are the implications if we let a Chinese, government controlled oil company take over a US oil company? There was good news on inflation and the deficit this week yet Hillary and Krugman were out sharply criticizing the Bush tax cuts. What is the Democrat strategy on the economy heading into 2006 mid-term elections?

We will also highlight economic and investing blog resourses.

Another Krauthammer Home Run

2005-07-14T21:18:00.000-04:00

Charles Krauthammer writing in Time Magazine,

...Why That's Ridiculous

On 9/11, the U.S. was rudely injected into a Muslim civil war--the jihadists are intent on conquering the entire region and re-establishing an ancient caliphate--except that only the jihadist side was really fighting. By taking the fight to the Arab/ Islamic heartland, the U.S. has forced Muslims to commit. The most remarkable effect of the wars to liberate Afghanistan and Iraq is that, whereas on 9/11 we stood alone against the terrorists, today there are two large and energized Muslim populations--with legitimate governments building armed forces--engaged in the same struggle against jihadism as we are.

It is those allies who are critical in ultimately winning the war on terrorism. The terrorists may have recruited their new Atta, now splattered on the walls of the Baghdad mosque he has suicide-bombed. We have recruited tens of millions of Afghan and Iraqi Muslims--with Lebanese and others to follow--opposing that Atta as they attempt to build decent, moderate, tolerant societies.

I'll take our recruits.

Read the whole thing.

Economies of scale

2005-07-14T16:28:00.000-04:00

So how does the US economy stack up?

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

Japan, 2004, 2.9 percent
France, 2004, 2.1 percent
Germany, 2004, 1.7 percent.
Italy, 2004, 1.3 percent
European Union, 2004 1.3 percent

United States, 2004: 4.4 percent

Unemployment

Japan, 4.7 percent

France, 10.1 percent

Germany, 11.7 percent

Italy, 8.6 percent

European Union, 9.5 percent

United States Unemployment Rate: 5 percent

It seems to me like the Bush economic plan is working just fine, especially the tax cuts. What were Democrats saying about the Bush economic plan?

Tom Daschle, Dec, 2002

"So all of the economic indicators would point to reasons for serious concern. Their trickle-down economic theories have been a miserable failure, and this is an admission of that miserable failure today. So in addition to changing the players, they've got to change the play. And I don't know that there is any evidence to suggest that they understand that today,"

Terry McAullife, Aug. 2001

"We believe this is a defining moment for President Bush. The bills for Bush's irresponsible fiscal policies are coming due. We are determined to take every measure to ensure that the American people know what is at stake in the upcoming budget battle."

John Edwards, Aug, 2004

"There is nothing compassionate about leaving millions of hardworking families behind, and there is nothing conservative about a fiscal policy that turns record surpluses into record deficits by combining an ill-planned war with reckless tax cuts for the wealthy," Edwards said. "Will we next hear that his economic plan was a catastrophic success?"

Joe Lieberman, May 2002

"His economic plan could fit on the back of a shampoo bottle: 'Cut taxes, increase spending, borrow, repeat. If he keeps repeating that plan, he will surely endanger Social Security benefits and slow our economy to a halt, just when we need the most economic strength we can muster to fight and win the war on terrorism."

Ted Kennedy, January, 2002

"The doubts that many of us had before the nation was attacked about the affordability of those tax cuts have become certainties in the wake of September 11," Kennedy said in a speech at the National Press Club. "Future additional tax breaks for the wealthy do not deserve a higher priority than strengthening education or covering prescription drugs under Medicare or protecting Social Security or meeting other urgent national priorities," Kennedy said.

Jon Corzine, Jan. 2003

Hillary, what was that about the tone in Wash. DC?

2005-07-12T08:52:00.000-04:00

"I sometimes feel that Alfred E Neuman is in charge in Washington," she said,
referring to MAD's gap-toothed mascot and raising laughs when she reminded the
audience of his catchphrase: "What, me worry?"'
-Hillary Clinton

When it comes to double standards, hypocrisy and unparalleled chutzpah, Hillary Clinton is a living legend. She, as a victim of the vast right wing conspiracy, is always among the first to decry the 'tone' in Washington, DC. Funny, but I never hear Bush making crude personal jokes about, oh I don't know, Hillary's thunder thighs, for example.

One thing the Clinton White House perfected was decrying the very tactics they were using. Remember the 'politics of personal destruction' that they were whining about as they destroyed Ken Starr and all of the women who came forward against Bubba.

Let's put aside her personal insults to the President, which played very well in Europe by the way, thanks for that senator.

London Telegraph: Bush is like comic book idiot, says Mrs Clinton

Let's focus instead on the substance of her remarks.

taxRevs
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

As Clinton gears up for a Senate re-election race in New York next year and a possible White House presidential bid in 2008, her attacks on Bush have become sharper.

In her speech Sunday, she accused the president of damaging the economy by overspending while giving tax cuts to the rich.
"There has not yet been one net job created in the last four years," she continued

In order to have a 'sharp attach', don't you need the facts on your side? Damage to the economy? Hello? We have the most vibrant, steady economy anywhere in the industrialized world. The 'one net job' line is an outright lie. Sure lots of jobs were lost during Bush's first term, he inhereted a burst stock market bubble, a recession and a fully formed, fat and happy global terrorist network that was coiled and ready to strike. Oh yeah, and September 11th happened. Despite all that, enough jobs were created by November 2004 so that Bush was not, as John Kerry and the Dems claimed daily, the first president since Herbert Hoover to lose jobs on his watch. Ms. Clinton is off by more than a half million jobs, at least. Sigh.

Here are the facts,

Unemployment is at 5%, a four year low
New jobs are being added at a rate of 160,000 per month so far this year
The economy is growing at 3.5-4.5% clip, perfect for steady growth
Defecit is shrinking faster than expected
Tax receipts into the Treasury are up 15% over a year ago, thanks to the tax cuts
Interest rates are at all time lows
Inflation is low
Home ownership is at record high levels

Sure, it's because of Iraq

2005-07-08T09:24:00.000-04:00

Sure, it's because of Iraq
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Thanks to Powerline for pointing us to this,

The Sun created this map, which shows some of the principal acts of Islamic terror, beginning with the first World Trade Center bombing in 1993. The map is by no means complete; among other things, it doesn't include any of the terrorist attacks in Israel.

The Sun:

More than 4,000 people have died as Islamic terrorism has spread across the world over the last decade. Here we highlight some of the worst atrocities.

Hinderacker adds,

Liberals are nevertheless convinced that this latest attack must be due to the war in Iraq. No word yet on the others.

Joe Gandelman at The Moderate Voice (via Instapundit) responds to Kos and others on the left now assailing the flypaper theory,

It's highly doubtful that if the U.S. wasn't now in Iraq that Osama bin Laden would today be out of his mass-murderer day job, standing behind a counter, wearing a bright cap, asking: "Do you want fries with that?"

He has tons of other great links.

Don't miss milblogger Blackfive on Pundit Review Radio

2005-07-07T21:01:00.000-04:00

When?
Sunday evening, 9pm EST. Matt will be on for the entire hour with us!

Where?
Stream the show live at WRKO, Boston talk leader . Call us with questions for Matt from Blackfive toll free at 877-469-4322.

Why?
Matt's blog Blackfive was voted the #1 military blog in 2004 by the Weblog Awards. He is a soldier, paratrooper and a blogger.

Back in WWII, soldiers wrote letters home. Today many of them communicate in real-time with all of us through the power of the Internet. The reason I am so confident of what we are doing in Iraq in particular, and the war on terror in general, is because of what I have read on milblogs like Blackfive.

Please do yourself a favor and check out Matt's blog and the others Milblogs listed in our links to the right of this page. In my opinion, it is a matter of national security.

How can that be?

Because the perspective that you get from Milblogs is 180% different from the coverage you get on TV or in your daily paper. It is hard to blame the public for doubting what we are doing in Iraq when all they hear, see and read is negativism in the media. They get even worse from the Democrat Party. No solutions, no alternative vision, just slander, quips and defeatism.

If the domestic insurgents in this country are able to sour public opinion to the point that we have to withdraw, and lose, in Iraq, well then we have handed a huge victory to the sub-human savages. That is what the liberals want to happen. To them, a defeat of George W. Bush is more important than a victory for the United States. These are difficult times. We face a devious and brutal enemy. And we also have to fight Al Qaeda.

Milblogs will open your eyes to the real situation on the ground in Iraq, to the progress in the governmental process and reconstruction. Don't be fooled by the Dems and their co-consiprators in the press. Educate yourself, arm yourself with information that is available to you. Please, read milblogs to get their fresh perspective. Don't form opinions based on half the story. The stakes are too high. Oh yeah, and don't forget to tune in on Sunday evening!

Hugh Hewitt on The Rise of Milblogs

AS THE WAR enters a phase where most of the fighting is far removed from the networks' cameras, it gets harder and harder to find reliable news on the conflict's many fronts.
Unless you read the milblogs, that is. "Milblogs" is short for "military blogs"--online journals run by active duty military or reservists who have returned to civilian life for the time being. These first person accounts of the world and the nation through the eyes of front-line troops are changing the nature not just of the blogosphere but of American reporting.
The ability of the civilian world to access the news and views of the military directly is a sea-change in media. At the conclusion of his wonderful 1998 book, Making the Corps, Washington Post writer Thomas Ricks worried aloud about the increasing distance between the civilian and military worlds, and the divergence in the values of both. Part of that problem was that the world of the warrior was increasingly remote from ordinary Americans who don't have much contact with the military.
MILBLOGS ARE CHANGING THAT CONDITION.

More incredible BS from the New York Times

2005-07-07T17:16:00.000-04:00

The New York Times ran this humiliating correction today,

The Op-Ed page in some copies yesterday carried an incorrect version of an article about military recruitment. The writer, an Army reserve officer, did not say, "Imagine my surprise the other day when I received orders to report to Fort Campbell, Ky., next Sunday," nor did he characterize his recent call-up to active duty as the precursor to a "surprise tour of Iraq." That language was added by an editor and was to have been removed before the article was published. Because of a production error, it was not. The Times regrets the error.

Michael Barone send an email to Instapundit,

I have one or two unanswered questions about the New York Times opinion
editor adding two sentences to Phil Carter's opinion article.

(1) Is the editor still working at the Times?
(2) If so, why?

Adding these sentences is totally irresponsible journalism. It is particularly offensive when it attributes these sentences to Carter who seems, from my reading of his work, to be very thoughtful and creative. If the current editors of the New York Times want to convince us that they're trying to run a fair newspaper, they could make some progress toward that goal by firing the editor responsible. I worked on the editorial page at the Washington Post under Meg Greenfield. She also edited the opinion pages. I have a fairly good idea of what she would have thought of this. But perhaps Gail Collins has different standards.

Instapundit adds,

I've never had an editor try to do anything like that to one of my pieces, but I've gotten emails from other people who've had similar experiences. My advice to editors who want to publish their own ideas under another name: Get a blog!

Bill Quick at Daily Pundit,

The only thing you need to decipher this bit of self-aggrandizing code masquerading as a "correction" is to ask yourself, "An editor added these statements in quotes? Why? And they were supposed to be "removed" before the piece was printed? Why add the false quotes in the first place, then?

The answer is obvious: The NYT is institutionally biased toward the antiwar, anti-Bush left, and that bias is expressed even by its editors, who add lies to what they print for no other reason than to move their biased leftish agenda forward.

I think it is time to ask this of the paper of record,

Has it actually gotten worse under editor Bill Keller?

Did you ever think in your wildest dreams that you would harken back to the balanced coverage of the Howell Raines era?

Good grief!

Patterico Gets Results

2005-07-07T13:31:00.000-04:00

A week or so ago Patterico busted the LA Times for sloppy reporting on the influence of Sandra Day O'Connor in 5-4 decisions,

L.A. Times Needs a New Fact-Checker for Those Editorials

Today’s L.A. Times editorial on Justice O’Connor opens with this statement: One fact sums up Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s pivotal role on the Supreme Court and the enormity of her resignation — she alone was in the majority of every one of the court’s 13 5-4 decisions this last term.

Wow. That’s really impressive. Except for one small problem . . . there were 24 5-4 decisions this Term, not 13 — and Justice O’Connor was in the minority in quite a few of those cases.

Today, the Times responded to Patterico by issuing a correction,

Retiring justice – An editorial Saturday on Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said the
Supreme Court in its last session had 13 5-4 decisions and that O’Connor had
been in the majority on all of them. The number of 5-4 decisions during the
court’s 2004-2005 session exceeded 13 (the number is up to 24, counting 5-3
decisions with Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist not voting, and other
vagaries). O’Connor sided with the minority in a number of these 5-4
splits. To read her dissenting opinions in two such cases, involving
eminent domain and the constitutionality of executing minors, go to http://www.latimes.com/oconnor.

Just the latest example of the pajama wearing, great unwashed among us (sorry Patterico) busting the professionals.

Injured milblogger meets a special guest

2005-07-06T14:05:00.000-04:00

Blackfive, our guest on Pundit Review Radio this weekend, has posted an update on injured military blogger Captain Chuck Ziegenfuss, who was wounded in Iraq.

Yesterday Chuck's wife posted some messages from Chuck, and - they had an interesting visitor.

"You can talk about our President, his politics, and his family, but you can never talk about his character. I met him face-to-face today and I will protect him as well as I protect my own."

Chuck's wife gives us the rest of the details,

Yes, we met President Bush today. He is an AMAZING man! As human as we all are... and genuinely cares about the American people. I will not go into detail about what we talked about, that will be up to Chuck. Let's just say it was a day we will never forget. If you do not support Bush, that is your choice... please do not post your opinions (if they are negative) on this blog. I do not want a political debate. My husband met his Commander in Chief - and the honor was all ours.

That is awe inspiring. It's a good thing this country has a lot more men like Chuck Ziegenfuss than Ted Kennedy and his ilk. Those damn domestic insurgents, shame on them for what they are trying to do. And all because of their white hot hatred of President Bush. They don't give a damn about the mission, only the politics of it.

Thank you Chuck Ziegenfuss and God speed in your recovery.

Operation Low Profile

2005-07-05T22:09:00.000-04:00

plame
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Byron York on The Corner,

From an article in today's New York Times about Valerie Plame, the CIA operative at the center of the Plamegate affair and husband of Bush antagonist and former ambassador Joseph Wilson:
She has guarded her privacy, with rare exceptions. She posed with her husband for a Vanity Fair photographer, wearing sunglasses and with a scarf over her blond hair. She drafted an op-ed article to correct what she felt were distortions of her and her husband's actions, but the C.I.A. would not authorize its publication, saying it would ''affect the agency's ability to perform its mission.''
Those were the only two examples given of Plame's rare exceptions to guarding her privacy. Perhaps the Times has not seen the July 2005 issue of Vanity Fair, which contains, in its "Vanities" section, this photograph. According to Vanity Fair, the photo was taken at the magazine's annual dinner for the Tribeca Film Festival, and Plame's and Wilson's fellow guests included Robert deNiro, Nicole Kidman, Barry Diller, Willem Dafoe, John McEnroe, and many others. Plame's and Wilson's photo appears below a shot of David Bowie and Sean "P. Diddy" Combs. The Times also cites friends who say the privacy-protecting Plame and ambassador Wilson "have had a low-key social life."

So what do we chalk this one up to? Sloppy reporting, agenda driven news, a culture of liberalism in the newsroom, lazy editors? What about all those layers of protection that seperate the professionals from the pajaahadeen? I think the new media at least knows how to use Google.

Remember Joe Wilson? How could you forget him when he won't go away? He was a key player in the recent mock impeachment hearing held by John Conyers. Excuse me, Chairman Connors,

Democrats Play House To Rally Against the War

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) banged a large wooden gavel and got the other lawmakers to call him "Mr. Chairman." He liked that so much that he started calling himself "the chairman" and spouted other chairmanly phrases, such as "unanimous consent" and "without objection so ordered." The dress-up game looked realistic enough on C-SPAN, so two dozen more Democrats came downstairs to play along.

Wilson's the guy who claimed Bush was fixing intel when it was he who was lying,

Of 'Lies' and WMD
The Senate vindicates President Bush and exposes Joe Wilson as a partisan fraud.

Monday, July 12, 2004 12:01 a.m. EDT
Allegations of lying or misleading the nation to war are about the most serious charge that can be leveled against a President. But according to this unanimous study, signed by Jay Rockefeller and seven other Democrats, those frequent charges from prominent Democrats and the media are without merit.

"The Committee did not find any evidence that Administration officials attempted to coerce, influence or pressure analysts to change their judgments related to Iraq's weapons of mass destruction capabilities."

In fact, the report shows that one of the first allegations of false intelligence was itself a distortion: Mr. Bush's allegedly misleading claim in the 2003 State of the Union address that Iraq had been seeking uranium ore from Africa. The Senate report notes that Presidential accuser and former CIA consultant Joe Wilson returned from his trip to Africa with no information that cast serious doubt on such a claim; and that, contrary to Mr. Wilson's public claims, his wife (a CIA employee) was involved in helping arrange his mission.

None of this matters of course, Democrats embrace him as a cult hero even to this day. Nice try today by the Times to boost his street cred among the looney left. Too bad you were made to look so foolish...so quickly.

Our favorite SCOTUS posts

2005-07-05T20:59:00.000-04:00

The guys at Real Clear Politics have set up a SCOTUS page for news and commentary. It is the place to go for MSM coverage of the debate. New media resources include The Volokh Conspiracy, Supreme Court Nomination Blog

Take The Professor Bainbridge SCOTUS QUIZ,

Which of the following statements about the Supreme Court confirmation process was made by a Republican Senator and which was made by a Democrat Senator?

"All questions are legitimate," ______, said in an interview. "What is your view on Roe v. Wade? What is your view on gay marriage? They are going to try to get away with the idea that we're not going to know their views. But that's not going to work this time."
“You not only have a right to choose what you will answer and not answer, but in my view you should not answer a question of what your view will be on an issue that clearly is going to come before the court in 50 forms probably, over your tenure on the court.”

SCOTUS QUIZ ANSWERS

Hugh Hewitt on hot stove SCOTUS scuttlerbutt,

A caller suggested Bush nominate Hillary, thus taking her out of the 2008 game. How could she turn it down and show her face in liberal salons? Perhaps paired with Estrada in a deal that Estrada goes first, then all filibustered nominees, and then Hillary. It will never happen, but that's hot stove SCOTUS at its best.

Michael Barone on the politics,

The political effect? No great help for either party. My own hunch is that the Democrats' posture of frenzied opposition won't get them where they want to go. But I'm not sure whether a battle over yesterday's issues helps Republicans, either.

War of the Worlds Coming to Washington DC

2005-07-01T11:38:00.000-04:00

JULY 1--Sandra Day O'Connor, the first woman appointed to the Supreme Court, announced her retirement today.

Here's her letter to the president

Bush call for dignified process (dignified and Senate Democrats don't often go together)

SCOTUS blog is the place to go for updates. The candidates are here.

On a scale of 1-10 for ugliness in the confirmation process, what do you think? I say it's Spinal Tap all the way....to ELEVEN

The Domestic Insurgency

2005-07-01T11:16:00.000-04:00

Pundit Review Radio
This week's guest: Patterico's Pontifications
Sunday, 9pm EST, streamed live at WRKO

This weekend on Pundit Review Radio we will be taking a look at the insurgency threatening our ability to win in Iraq. Not Zarqawi's insurgency, but Ted Kennedy's.

"Iraq is an intractable quagmire"
-Ted Kennedy

"You have an insurgency with no vision, no base, limited popular support, an elected government, committed Iraqis to the democratic process, and you have Iraqi security forces that are fighting and dying for their country every day. Senator, that is not a quagmire."
-General George Casey, top commander in Iraq

The Danger of the Kennedy Quagmire
He's hurting U.S. resolve by pushing the Vietnam button
By David Gerlenter

Ted Kennedy's comments are too important to ignore. The Bush administration must explain to the nation that quagmires are created by politicians and pundits, not soldiers. It has yet to confront head-on the potentially deadly resonance between the public's natural unease with the news from Baghdad and statements like Sen. Kennedy's.We must also confront our memories of Vietnam. If we don't, they will drive us crazy — or maybe they already have. Freud invented psychoanalysis to help hysterical and otherwise loony patients confront painful memories, to find truths that would set them free.America needs emergency psychoanalysis right now, before statements like Ted Kennedy's start destroying our will to do what is good and what is right.

Blogging for dollars

2005-07-01T11:09:00.000-04:00

Business Week has a great list of financial and economic related blogs for you to check out. For other resources, check out our favorites linked on the right.

Patterico on Pundit Review Radio

2005-06-30T08:47:00.000-04:00

You can't say we haven't been warned,

This appears to be the Pundit Review guys’ first significant lapse in judgment.
-Patterico

When: Sunday 9pm est

Where: Stream the show live at WRKO and reach us toll free at 877-469-4322

Why: Because his blog, Patterico's Pontifications is terrific. He smartly covers issues we care about, like media bias, legal issues, and general national political issues. Check out the beating he gives the LA Times, for starters.

But she did sleep at a Holiday Inn last night...

2005-06-28T09:15:00.000-04:00

Via PoliPundit,

While being interviewed by a local talk radio station about that whole
Guantanamo Bay meme (and de facto lefty fund raising device), spaced-out San
Francisco Bay Area Demo-Congresswoman, Ellen Tauscher, had this to say:

You know, look, I didn’t go to law school but I have watched Law &
Order for ten years, and I do believe we have the rule of law that we are not
only, uh, adhering to in the United States as a very strong principle, but we’re
also trying to, by the way, interject it around the world. And we need to stand
for it. And not only because it’s morally right but because we have our own
people at risk if they were captured ….

If you don't believe that Congresswoman Tauscher really said something so stupid, listen for yourself.

As PoliPundit said,

And people wonder why the Democrat Party has lost nearly 70 net U.S. House seats
over a 15-year period, despite the unions, the urban corpse bloc, and the FDR bloc, eh?

LaShawn Barber on Pundit Review Radio

2005-06-25T22:17:00.000-04:00

LaShawn Barber is our guest on Pundit Review Radio this Sunday evening at 9pm est.

"Her independence of thought and self-evident sense of mission immediately made her a favorite."
- The American Thinker

"We've become big fans of blogger La Shawn Barber..."
--- Power Line

"She's a rising star of the blogosphere..."
- Hugh Hewitt

"One of my favorite bloggers in the universe..."
- David Limbaugh

You can stream the show live at WRKO and call us toll free at 877.469.4322

Blog resources for legal issues

2005-06-25T20:59:00.000-04:00

Blogs can be a great resource to learn about current events. For example, the recent Supreme Court decision on property rights. For those who are not constitutional scholars (hello!), there are a number of resources to hear arguements on both sides of the issue. If the few paragraphs from AP in your local paper has you feeling a little less than fully informed, check out these great blogs that bring a fresh perspective to constitutional and legal issues,

Volokh Conspiracy
A collaborative weblog providing analysis of developments in the US legal system and courts, as well as of recent legal news and events.

SCOTUSblog
Another collaborative blog that provides opinions and analysis on both sides of the issue. They are a sister site to The Supreme Court Nomination Blog.

Hugh Hewitt
Uber blogger, author of the best selling book blog, and a Professor of Law at Chapman University Law School, where he teaches Constitutional Law

Glenn Reynolds
Better known as Instapundit, he is a libertarian leaning constitutional law professor at Univ. of Tennessee

Professor Bainbridge
Stephen Bainbridge is a professor of law at UCLA, where he currently teaches Business Associations, Unincorporated Business Associations, and Advanced Corporation Law. He also has a cool wine blog.

Bill Hobbs
A blogger who has interviewed politicians about the property rights case. He has posted their reaction to the decision on his blog.

Arguing with Signposts
A blog that has compiled a huge round-up of blogger reaction to the decision

Property Rights Trampled By Supreme Court Liberals

2005-06-24T08:08:00.000-04:00

So liberals on the Supreme Court side with private business, make that big business (Pfizer in this case) over the rights of homeowners. The ruling tramples the little guy, the working person with dreams of home ownership. Will the liberals be outraged by this erosion of property rights at the expense of big business? Imagine if the conservatives on the Court voted for this instead? We wouldn't hear the end of it.

Don Luskin on the SICK DECISION,

Let's be clear about where populist liberals really stand when they seem to be supporting "the public" and "the community."
A Supreme Court decision today, with all the liberals voting in favor, has cleared the way for government to condemn private property under eminent domain for commercial redevelopment. That means, simply, that individual families can have their homes seized against their will so that rich developers can put up shopping malls and office parks -- so long as some government entity makes a case that it's for "the public good." So who's the "public" here? Obviously, it's whoever has more power to influence government decisions.

Arguing With Signposts has a huge link round-up for blog reaction
.
(HatTip, Wizbang)

Justices Rule Cities Can Take Property for Private Development

Who's responsible for this decision?

Justices John Paul Stevens David H. Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen G. Breyer, and Anthony M. Kennedy joined the majority opinion in Kelo v. City of New London, No. 04-108. Justice Kennedy also wrote a separate concurring opinion to emphasize that while there was no suggestion in this instance that the plan was designed to favor any individual developer, "a court confronted with a plausible accusation of impermissible favoritism to private parties should treat the objection as a serious one and review the record to see it if has merit."

Who dissented?

Justice O'Connor's dissenting opinion was joined by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist and by Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas. She emphasized that rather than adhering to its precedents, the court had strayed from them by endorsing economic development as an appropriate public use.

"Who among us can say she already makes the most productive or attractive use of her property?" Justice O'Connor asked.

She added: "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."

LaShawn Barber on Pundit Review Radio

2005-06-23T09:38:00.000-04:00

lsb
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

We are very pleased to announce that this Sunday evening, June 26, at 9pm EST our guest will be LaShawn Barber.

Hugh Hewitt says LaShawn is "a rising star of the blogsphere"

We agree.

You can stream the show live at WRKO and you can call in and ask LaShawn a question toll free at 877-469-4322.

Durbin apologizes, Pelosi pulls back the curtain

2005-06-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Trey Jackson has video of that Dick in the Senate apologizing. Please watch it. What do you think? I'm glad he apologized yet I believe his true feelings were revealed in his original statement. For a differnt take, Dean Esmay diasgrees.

Durbin's comments aren't outrage enough for him to lose his leadership position in the Democrat party, just enough to have to eeek out an unconvincing apology. I wonder what Trent Lott thinks of that? He eeeked out and unconvincing apology and had to give up his leadership position! Bummer.

What a day for Nancy Pelosi. First, she defends Durbin while he is on the other side of the Capitol apologizing,

House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of California had earlier on Tuesday described Republican criticism of Durbin as an attempt to divert attention from sinking public support for the Iraq war.Yet Durbin decided to try to end the controversy, saying, "I offer my apology for those offended by my words."

Then she unintentionally reveals the liberal strategy,

When a reporter asked Pelosi Tuesday whether the House would some day get to a point where it would vote to cut off funding for military operations in Iraq, she replied, “The public will get there first. Their approval of this war is down to 37 percent in today’s poll; in March, it was 47 percent to 47 percent."

She wasn't done.

“How can they defend this war?” she asked.

I ask, how can she say that and claim to support the troops?

And finally, she proved herself, and her party, woefully unprepared to protect this country,

"These questions are important because the safety of our country depends on our reputation and how we are viewed, especially in the Muslim world," she said.

Our reputation keeps us safe? If only we hadn't been so mean to these savages during the past few years, we would be safe today? If it wasn't for Bush and his Iraq war our reputation would be great. What ignorance.

How was our reputation when the Islamo fascists stormed our embassy in Iran twenty six years ago?

Or when they bombed the barracks in Lebanon.
Or Pan Am Flight 103.
Or the Khobar Towers.
Or the embassy bombing in Kenya.
Or the embassy bombing in Tanzania.
Or the attack on the USS Cole.
Oh yeah, that thing that happened in 2001, they did that too.

This is your modern day Democrat party. Worrying about how people feel who have been killing us for a quarter century. If she and her fellow liberal Demiocrats are so worried about our reputation, why are they so ready and willing to slander our troops?

Their true colors are plain to see. They cannot protect us. God help us if they get back in power.

Do we have the will to win?

2005-06-21T08:45:00.000-04:00

Remember how you felt on September 12, 13, 14 in 2001? Pretty awful. The next attack was going to happen at any moment. Here we are four years later and there have been no attacks on US soil. What we are doing is working, we have our foot on the terrorists throats and the liberals in this country want to take it off, pick them up, give them a warm blanket. I hate to say it, but I think we need to be whacked again here at home because so many people in this country have forgotten what we are up against.

Blogger Austin Bay served in Iraq and has now gone back one year later as a journalist. He finds the changes, make that progress, striking. He's also wondering if we have the will to win back in the states...

This return visit to Iraq, however, spurs thoughts of America -- to be
specific, thoughts about America's will to pursue victory. I don't mean the will
of U.S. forces in the field. Wander around with a bunch of Marines for a half
hour, spend 15 minutes with National Guardsmen from Idaho, and you will have no
doubts about American military capabilities or the troops' will to win.
But our weakness is back home, in front of the TV, on the cable squawk shows, on the editorial page of The New York Times, in the political gotcha games of Washington, D.C.

It seems America wants to get on with its Electra-Glide life, that Sept. 10
sense of freedom and security, without finishing the job. The military is
fighting, the Iraqi people are fighting, but where is the U.S. political class?
The Bush administration has yet to ask the American people -- correction, has
yet to demand of the American people -- the sustained, shared sacrifice it takes
to win this long, intricate war of bullets, ballots and bricks.

I could not agree more with this assessment. Bush needs to get out there, get aggressive about defending what we are doing, why it is so crucial to our future and why the American people need to prepare for a generation long struggle against these savages. He has dropped the ball and the "hurry up and lose" crowd now has the momentum here in the states. Get out there Mr. President before it is too late!

Right out of the playbook

2005-06-20T22:15:00.000-04:00

This whole Dick Durbin episode has been a case study as to why blogs matter and why the MSM can't stand them. It took five days of constant pressure from the new media, (blogs/talk radio/cable), to force the MSM to break their silence on the issue. They ignore and protect and then they characterize things like this.

LA Times headline: Sen. Durbin's Regret for Remarks Not Enough for GOP

This is so classic, right out of the MSM playbook. It's laughable at this point. Then again, we are talking about the LA Times.

Here is Patterico, the go to guy for LA Times bias busting,

“Sen. Durbin’s Regret.” That’s a hell of an interesting headline for a guy who had this to say in a radio interview conducted on Friday morning:

Q: No regrets on the statements you made?

Durbin: No, I don’t, and I’ll tell you why. I went to the floor and read a memo from the FBI. This isn’t something I made up.

Do you think that it would have helped L.A. Times readers to understand GOP outrage if they had been told that, earlier that same morning, Durbin had maintained that he had no regrets for the statements? I do. But that is nowhere mentioned in the article. Instead, we hear that the guy has apologized, but that the rotten stinkin’ GOP won’t accept the heartfelt apology:

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.), the assistant minority leader, subsequently said he regretted that his comments were misunderstood as criticism of U.S. troops. But Republicans have continued to call for a more forthright apology.

. . . .

“I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood,” he said in a written statement. “I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support.”

But that language, Republicans said, was not enough. On Saturday, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich called on the Senate to censure Durbin because his statement of regret did not retract the comparison.

The closest the article comes to alerting readers to Durbin’s hypocrisy is to say that he “initially seemed unrepentant.” Initially? What about on Friday morning, when he said he had no regrets? The paper skips over that and says: “By Friday, however, he relented.”

No. On Friday morning, he seemed unrepentant. On Friday afternoon, he “relented” to the extent of being sorry that others were too thick to understand what he was really saying.

If Durbin were a Republican making a ridiculous statement about policies of a Democratic administration, his Friday morning remarks would have been the focus of the story.

Instead we get a headline talking about “Sen. Durbin’s Regret.” Nice.

Pundit Review Radio: This week's guest is Dan Kennedy

2005-06-17T21:15:00.000-04:00

This Sunday evening at 9pm EST, our guest on Pundit Review Radio will be Dan Kennedy, the media writer from the Boston Phoenix.

Dan is a pretty liberal guy so we should have an interesting discussion about that Dick in the Senate, Durbin, the war on terror, the current state of the media and the impact of blogs. We are also going to discuss our governor, Mitt Romney, and his increasingly obvious plans for a presidential run.

I hope that you can join us by listening live online at www.wrko.com. If you would like to participate in the show, you can call us toll free at 877-469-4322.

Pundit Review Radio
Guest: Dan Kennedy
9PM EST on Sunday, June 19

Now that's a fisking

2005-06-17T14:26:00.000-04:00

RadioBlogger unloads on Dick Durbin. Ouch, that must hurt.

What liberal media?

2005-06-17T09:35:00.000-04:00

Hugh Hewitt notes that, "Not one editorial word from the big newspapers" on Dick Durbin's comments. He is wondering,

Has the elite MSM grown so craven and so protective of the Democratic Party that it will refuse to comment on the Durbin slander?

I think the answer is YES.

From the Media Research Center,

But while the networks kept their spotlight on the U.S. military's conduct, none of last night's broadcasts bothered to note a Tuesday speech by Minority Whip Dick Durbin — the second highest ranking Democrat in the Senate. Describing the treatment of al-Qaeda terrorists at the Guantanamo prison — including allegations that inmates are kept too hot or too cold, or forced to stay awake — Durbin wildly charged that "you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime, Pol Pot or others, that had no concern for human beings."

The comparison could not be more absurd. As reporter Rowan Scarborough noted in Thursday's Washington Times, "About 9 million persons, including 6 million Jews, died in Hitler's death camps, 2.7 million persons died in Stalin's gulags and 1.7 million Cambodians died in Pol Pot's scourge of his country. No prisoners have died at Guantanamo...."

So what are lefty bloggers saying about that Dick, Durbin?

2005-06-16T16:06:00.000-04:00

Democrat senator Dick Durbin's outrageous remarks about US troops behaving like Nazi's, the KGB and PolPot will unite the left and right, just as folks on both sides were outraged by Edward Klein's reckless charge that Bill raped Hillary and conceived Chelsea, right? Uh, maybe not. It seems that the left is entirely comfortable with the comparison. Some in fact, think Durbin didn't go far enough.

The largest most widely read blog on the Internet is The Daily Kos. Here is his take,

To the pea brains on the Right, incapable of reading the English language in its most basic, unuanced form, they claim Durbin is calling our troops Nazis. The Wingnutosphere is making that claim. Rush is making that claim. Hannity is making that claim. Drudge is making that claim. Look to Fox News to jump on the bandwagon tomorrow. Of course, what Durbin is saying is that such torture -- undisputed, by the way, and read from an FBI report -- is more at home in a place like Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany than in a modern Democracy. And that's the truth. Plain and simple.

The torture that was so bad under Saddam, is equally bad under U.S.
command. And Dick Durbin had the balls to say it so on the Senate floor.

Well, that's just one guy. That can't be representative of all lefty bloggers, can it?

Steve Gillard,

But the larger point is this: America is supposed to have higher standards than the Nazis or Stalin, not embrace them or use them as a defense. There is no reason that we should have a gulag in the sun or be accused of torture. We should have jailed and tried these people legally. Not acted like the people we're supposed to be fighting.

John Aravosis

Apparently, the Republicans who dominate the party today, on the radio, online, and in the halls of Congress, think that the only good American is a Stalinist, a Nazi, a fascist, or any other brand of totalitarian thug who beats the crap out of innocents because he can, because we're Amurrikans, God damn it, and if we want to throw you in jail for an eternity, with no lawyer and no charges, and torture you until your head explodes and you go absolutely insane, that's our right because, well, because FUCK YOU.

Steve Soto

If you consider torture legal and acceptable (even if innocent people are tortured), then Dear Leader's main post-hoc justification of the Iraq invasion it itself illegal, because Saddam Hussein would have been doing something that was legal (in your eyes - for he was only torturing "his enemies"). So, if you have a problem with torture being highlighted and publicized, then maybe it's time for you to become Saddam Hussein's lawyer. That is a more appropriate role for those who seek to condone, ignore, minimize or support torture.

Is there a single lefty blogger out there repudiating Dick Durbin's remarks?? If you find one, let me know please.

UPDATE: We've found one. Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix and the MediaLog blog. Ironically, Dan is our guest this weekend on Pundit Rveiew Radio on WRKO. Dan will be on at 9:20pm EST and you can stream the show live here or give us a call toll free at 877-469-4322.

Can we put the 'tax cuts casue deficits' debate to rest?

2005-06-16T14:03:00.000-04:00

The impact of across the board tax cuts are clear to everyone...well, almost everyone.

Tony Crescenzi is the chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak + Co., LLC, and advises many of the nation's top institutional investors on issues related to the bond market, the economy and other macro-related issues. Here is his take on the budget deficit, from RealMoney.com,

The outlook for the U.S. budget deficit has brightened considerably, with the deficit for the current fiscal year likely to be substantially lower than what was expected at the start of the year. The improvement is the result of a surge in tax receipts, a development that in many eyes reinforces the notion that tax cuts eventually broaden the tax base, thus boosting tax revenue.

Driving the improvement in the U.S. budget situation is the surge in income tax receipts. In May, individual income tax receipts were $57.61 billion, an 87.8% increase over the same month a year earlier. In the fiscal year to date, individual income tax receipts are up $103 billion, or 20.5% vs. the same period a year ago. Corporate income tax receipts were up 37.1% in May compared to a year earlier, and for the fiscal year, receipts are up $45 billion, or 47.2% compared to a year ago.

A continuation of the recent trend would put the deficit for next year at $250
billion to $275 billion, which would represent a near-halving of the deficit as a percentage of the gross domestic product. Reaching such a target would give a
lift to President Bush, who has pledged to cut the deficit in half by 2009.

The budget news provides new fodder for those who say that tax cuts can
actually lead to higher tax revenue. Such has been the case for 25 years, one
can reasonably argue. Nevertheless, given the large deficits of the past few
years, the debate over the impact of tax cuts on the U.S. budget deficit goes
on. Whatever the case, the data sure give President Bush and Treasury Secretary
Snow reasons to cheer.

Let's remember who said what...

Jeff Jacoby writing in the Boston Globe, March 5, 2001

""Voodoo redux," sniffs Bob Herbert in The New York Times. "There will be pain," intones Terry Moran of ABC mournfully. At Time.com, Jessica Reaves finds the Democrats' dire predictions "more realistic than the goofily optimistic tone Bush likes to set." Al Hunt, The Wall Street Journal's house lefty, labels the president's tax pitch "a sham." On CBS, Dan Rather assures viewers that Democrats are backed by "independent economists" in pronouncing the tax cuts
"risky business" - but makes no mention of CBS's own poll showing that a
whopping 67 percent of the public likes Bush's plan."
And a few select quotes from the champions of the working man,
'Many of you are well enough off that ... the tax cuts may have helped you,' Sen. Hillary Clinton said. 'We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.'

In a Jan. 16 speech at the National Press Club in Washington, Sen. Kennedy joined Sen. Clinton in calling for a "postponement" of $350 billion in scheduled tax cuts already approved, arguing of course that the cuts will benefit primarily "the rich," since Democrats define "the rich" as virtually anyone who pays taxes, rather than a net recipient of government handouts.
"The disturbing thing about the Bush forecast is that we are not just looking at the cyclical downturn -- a return to budget deficits because the economy is down," Rep. John Spratt, D-South Carolina, said on "Fox News Sunday."

Democrat Harry Reid of Nevada, said elements like the dividend tax cut largely ignore the poor and middle class. "We should do something to take care of people who work for corporations, not help the corporations necessarily," he told NBC's Meet the Press.

“I’m running for president to roll back George Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy so that we can invest in education and health care,” proclaims John Kerry in his typical stump speech.

Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., a 2004 presidential hopeful, said on ABC's This Week that "if this is what (Mr. Bush) thinks is going to help regular people in times of an economic downturn, it just shows how out of touch he is."

Rep. Rob Andrews, a New Jersey Democrat, criticized the president's call to accelerate implementation of the tax cuts passed in 2001 to spur the economy now. "This is trickle-down, the sequel," Andrews said. "It didn't work the first time, and it's not going to work this time."

Former Democrat representative Dick Gephardt, "knee-jerk tax cuts that do nothing but pay off George Bush's wealthy campaign contributors while killing economic growth."

More on that Dick in the Senate

2005-06-16T09:09:00.000-04:00

Democrat Senator Dick Durbin, who compared US troops to Nazi's, PolPot and the KGB on the Senate floor yesterday, refuses to apologize. How much of this are we going to take?

CHICAGO Illinois- Senator Dick Durbin says he won't apologize for comments
comparing American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Nazis and
Soviet gulags.News of the Democrat's comparison created a buzz around the
Internet today, fueled by sound bites of yesterday's Senate floor speech on
radio talk shows. By this afternoon, Illinois Republican Party Chairman Andy
McKenna asked Durbin to apologize.

Durbin says the Bush administration should apologize for abandoning the Geneva Conventions.

Dick and his fellow Democrats are woefully unprepared to deal with the war on terror if they are still hoping to give Geneva protections to those who clearly don't deserve them. This has gone from dissent to disgrace. Democrats wonder why people don't trust them on national security? Please.

And who is this guy who we so brutally tortured, according to Durbin? He was the 20th hijacker from the September 11 plot. Our crimes, according to Dick, we turned down the AC and made him shiver. I wish I was kidding. Here is the account of prisoner abuse that has a Democrat Senator comparing our troops to Nazi's,

On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking
with cold. ..... On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

That's it folks, your US Nazi's at work, fiddling with the AC.

As Indiana Republican Congressman Steve Buyer, a decorated Gulf War veteran, said on WRKO this morning, Dick Durbin, Nancy Pelosi and Ted Kennedy represent the "hug a thug" crowd. I wish more people in positions of power would call Dick's like Durbin on the reckless use of language. Hell, I wish EVERYONE would call him on it. I know I will by dialing his office at (202) 224-2152.

Recent guest on Pundit Review Radio, James Taranto of OpinionJournal's Best of the Web, had this to say about Dick Durbin,

We are fighting an enemy that murdered 3,000 innocent people on American
soil 3 1/2 years ago and would murder millions more if given the
chance--and according to Dick Durbin, our soldiers are the Nazis.

Al Qaeda finds useful idiots in large supply in US Senate

2005-06-16T06:48:00.000-04:00

The Al Qaeda training manual is the terrorist bible, not the Koran. Rule #18

Lesson 18 of that manual, whose authenticity has not been questioned,
emphatically states, under the heading "Prison and Detention Centres", that,
when arrested, members of al-Qa'eda "must insist on proving that torture was
inflicted on them by state security investigators. [They must] complain to the
court of mistreatment while in prison".

It is truly sad that so many US Democrat politicians, and a few weak Republicans, are accepting at face value the claims of terrorists at GITMO over the words, and evidence, of our own military. It is pathetic and infuriating at the same time. One should expect this from alleged "human rights" groups like Amnesty and Human Rights Watch, but for US political leaders to so quickly, easily and thoughlessly join the chorus, it is disheartening. These people wonder why the US has a bad reputation overseas. Look in the mirror.

As John Hinderaker said on Powerline,

The mildness with which terrorist detainees have been treated stands as an
imperishable monument to the greatness of the American spirit and the moderation
of the Bush administration.

US politicans calling for the closing of GITMO are useful idiots, they are useful to AlQaeda in that they are buying into their planned, deliberate cries of torture and they are idots because they defame the US military unnecessarily, make their job more difficult and bring legitimacy to an obvious red herring.

Powerline has more on this today,

The Senate hearing on Gitmo that C-SPAN has been re-broadcasting tonight stands as a monument to the wisdom of al Qaeda, which advises its terrorists to complain, if captured, about torture and mistreatment in order, presumably, to take advantage of folks like many members of the Senate Judiciary Committee. The Democratic members, and several Republicans as well, can't seem to accept the notion that detainees captured while fighting Americans during our campaign against al Qaeda and the Taliban deserve anything less than the full blown due process we accord our citizens, including access to federal court. Never mind that ordinary prisoners of war captured by us on the battle field during, say, World War II, never received such "due process." Why should we be more solicitous of unlawful combatants than we were of legitimate soldiers who abided by the rules of war?

Perhaps the argument is not that our treatment of detainees hurts us with potential terrorists, but rather that it hurts our image with friends and potential friends. It is true that if no one ever criticized the way we treat detainees, our image would be better. But I'm aware of no evidence that our image short-fall is causing us any difficulties in fighting terrorism. Governments still cooperate with us, or not, for the usual reason -- self interest. Moreover, granting prisoners access to federal court won't mitigate our the image problems resulting from detaining prisioners at Gitmo and elsewhere. Most foreigners likely find it as absurd as al Qaeda does that we would consider providing gold-plated legal process to captured terrorists. The image problem stems from claims of torture. Those claims, and the eagerness of elements of the MSM and the American left to advance them, won't end regardless of what we do. Al Qaeda's playbook, and the history of the past few months, tell us so.

Is idiot too strong? Ah, no it isn't.

From Little Green Footballs,

Last night on the Senate floor during a debate on the Energy Bill, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill) suddenly launched into a bizarre rant comparing the American military to Nazis, the Soviet KGB, and Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge. (Hat tip: Right Wing Conspirator.)

"If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing
what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly
believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad
regime—Pol Pot or others—that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is
not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their
prisoners."

What actions exactly? What could we have done to have a Democrat US Senator comparing our military to Nazi's, the KGB and PolPot?

On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the
temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking
with cold. ..... On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off,
making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The
detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him.
He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On
another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely
loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before,
with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.

Dick Durbin, Democrat Senator, disgracing himself, our military and the Senate all at once. An idiot indeed.

The email scandal list grows...

2005-06-14T20:49:00.000-04:00

It looks like Kofi Annan's is going to join the list of high profile people brought down thanks to an email. Am I missing anyone?

Kofi Annan, UN

AP -- The committee probing the U.N. oil-for-food program announced Tuesday it will again investigate Secretary-General Kofi Annan after two e-mails suggested he may have known more than he claimed about a multimillion-dollar U.N. contract awarded to the company that employed his son.

One e-mail described an encounter between Annan and officials from Cotecna Inspections S.A. in late 1998 during which the Swiss company's bid for the contract was raised. The second from the same Cotecna executive expressed his confidence that the company would get the bid because of "effective but quiet lobbying" in New York diplomatic circles.

Hank Greenberg, Former CEO of insurance giant AIG

In a statement, New York Attorney General Spitzer said AIG, led by its former chief executive and financial chief, "resorted to deception and fraud in an apparent effort to improve the company's financial results."

The complaint quoted from emails and interviews with current AIG employees that suggested both AIG CEO Greenberg and former CFO Smith were aware of, and had approved, the transactions at issue.

Jim Kilts, Gillette CEO

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Gillette Co. (G) was ordered Thursday to provide Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin with copies of its email communications with its investment bankers sent during the run-up to the company's proposed merger with Procter & Gamble Co. (PG).

Massachusetts Superior Court Judge Allan van Gestel ruled that Gillette's two investment bankers, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and UBS AG (UBS), must turn over emails sent to seven Gillette executives, including Chief Executive James Kilts, relative to their "fairness opinion" on Procter & Gamble's offer for Gillette, according to court documents.

Henry Blodget, Merrill Lynch telecom analyst

(PugetSound Biz Journal) While Blodget was privately badmouthing InfoSpace's chief executive (Arun Sarin, at that point) and deriding the company as "a piece of junk," he was publicly recommending the stock to unsuspecting customers. InfoSpace enjoyed Merrill's highest stock rating and held a spot on the firm's "Favored 15" list at a time when Blodget's insider e-mails fretted that "this stock is a powder keg, given how aggressive we were on it earlier this year and given the 'bad smell' comments that so many institutions are bringing up."

Other stocks got equally brutal private assessments while officially blessed with Merrill's top ratings of buy or accumulate. Excite@Home was "such a piece of crap." Internet Capital Group provided "nothing positive to say." Two others were each assessed as "a piece of s--t."

Jack Grubman, Salomon Smith Barney

DOW JONES, NEW YORK -- Former Salomon Smith Barney telecom analyst Jack Grubman said email messages written by him in 2001 alleging he received outside pressure related to his rating on AT&T Corp. (T) were fabrications.

The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that in Jan. 2001, Grubman sent emails to an analyst at a money-management firm indicating that Citigroup Inc. (C) Chief Executive Sanford Weill pushed him to review his rating of AT&T. The emails say that Weill's alleged pressuring of Grubman was done to gain the support of AT&T Chief Executive C. Michael Armstrong, a key Citigroup board member, in a power struggle between Weill and Citigroup's former co-chairman, John Reed, in early 2000.

Here's a list from the ePolicyInstitute,

Using email to send sensitive personal information and comments. The Enron Corporation used its email system to send sensitive employee information, such as Social Security numbers, wage packages, performance evaluations and other personnel information. Employees also sent revealing messages about office romances, affairs and other personal comment. When the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seized Enron's email records in an investigation, it posted them online, creating embarrassment or dangerous security breaches.
Deleting email messages during a legal investigation. Investment banker Frank Quattrone's email urging members of his technology-sector banking group at Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) to "clean up" their files during a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation led to his being charged with obstructing federal grand-jury and SEC investigations.
Issuing potentially negative confidential internal memos. Two Merrill Lynch senior executives faced a barrage of negative publicity after someone leaked their confidential internal memo warning 50,000 employees to be careful with email content to the business media.
Not monitoring employee email use, and using company email to receive illegal or embarrassing messages. An American Family Insurance employee the FBI suspected was receiving child-pornography emails at work was prevented from suppressing that evidence because his company repeatedly reminded users that it could monitor or search their computers. However, the employee's activity didn't surface until the FBI's investigation into the email source, a Yahoo! discussion group.
Not controlling instant-messaging use. More than half of the regional stock brokerage firm Stifel Nicolas had downloaded free IM software and were using it without management knowledge or approval and without oversight from its compliance division, which makes sure all messages meet strict SEC and stock-exchange regulations. "Instant Messaging is a form of turbocharged email that creates a written business record that can be subpoenaed and used as evidence in litigation or regulatory investigations," Clearswift and the ePolicy Institute said.

How do we top this?

2005-06-14T08:46:00.000-04:00

From Hugh Hewitt,

I was on PunditReview Radio last night, which has moved over to Boston's WRKO --a great, great radio station. If there's a smart radio entrepreneur in Boston, he or she will start putting a syndication deal for these guys on Sunday nights across the
country, as bloggers would love to listen to a program devoted to new media.

Thank you Hugh for your generous comments and for coming back on Pundit Review Radio! Hugh's first appearence was last fall when he was promoting his book If It's Not Close, They Can't Cheat. You can listen to that interview here.

This weekend we discussed his new book Blog, and the impact of the new media on journalism, politics, pop culture and even American business.

We hope that you will be able to check our show out each Sunday evening at 9pm EST on Boston's talk station, WRKO. You can stream the show live online here. If you want to call in, you can reach us at 877-469-4322.

This Sunday evening our guest will be liberal media writer Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix.

Happy 1st Birthday To Conservative & Right blog

2005-06-13T08:02:00.000-04:00

Happy Birthday
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Grace Marzioli's Converative & Right blog has just celebrated its first anniversary. Congratulations.

We have had Grace in our blogroll for a long time, she has an interesting take on the issues we all care about and she is doing some incredible things with her life that are truly inspirational. Check her out.

Edward Klein over the line

2005-06-12T23:48:00.000-04:00

DRUDGE FLASH: BILL RAPED HILLARY

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton turned furious and considered legal
action after learning bestselling author Ed Klein would allege in a new book:
Bill Clinton raped her -- resulting in the conception of daughter Chelsea
Clinton!"[Author] Klein is going to rot in hell for this," a well-placed source
close to Hillary said over the weekend.

1. You don't have to drive around with a Hillary 08' bumper sticker to see that this is over the line, disgusting garbage.

2. This crushes everything else in this book, true or not. It doesn't matter now.

3. MSM will say her critics are crazy people. Substantive Hillary critics are hurt by association. This is bad news.

4. This is net positive for Hillary the Prez candidate.

Pundit Review Radio Update: Hugh Hewitt this Sunday

2005-06-09T17:16:00.000-04:00

This Sunday evening at 9pm EST our guest will be Hugh Hewitt. We will be speaking with Hugh about his great new book Blog and other issues involving the rise of the new media.

You can listen to the show live online at WRKO. You can call in with questions for Hugh toll free at 877-469-4322.

This will be Hugh Hewittt's second appearence on Pundit Review. To listen to our previous interview with him, click here.

June 19th: Dan Kennedy

We are also pleased to announce that on June 19, our guest will be Dan Kennedy, media writer for the Boston Phoenix. Dan is one of the most influencial and widely read liberal media writers around and we will get his take on the rise of the blogs and their impact on the media. Is the media as overwhelmingly biased as we say?

After 10 years, Dan is leaving the Phoenix at the end of the month to teach journalism at Northeastern Univ. We also want to hear how he thinks blogs will impact the next generation of reporters.

It should be an interesting discussion.

Quote of the Day

2005-06-09T10:26:00.000-04:00

from Andrew Sullivan's blog,

"Does anyone in America doubt that Kerry has a higher IQ than Bush? I'm sure the candidates' SATs and college transcripts would put Kerry far ahead." - Howell Raines, former executive editor of the New York Times, last August. Heh.

Yale grades portray Kerry as a lackluster student
By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff June 7, 2005

WASHINGTON -- During last year's presidential campaign, John F. Kerry was the candidate often portrayed as intellectual and complex, while George W. Bush was the populist who mangled his sentences.

But newly released records show that Bush and Kerry had a virtually identical grade average at Yale University four decades ago.

In 1999, The New Yorker published a transcript indicating that Bush had received a cumulative score of 77 for his first three years at Yale and a roughly similar average under a non-numerical rating system during his senior year.

Kerry, who graduated two years before Bush, got a cumulative 76 for his four years, according to a transcript that Kerry sent to the Navy when he was applying for officer training school. He received four D's in his freshman year out of 10 courses, but improved his average in later years.

The grade transcript, which Kerry has always declined to release, was included in his Navy record. During the campaign the Globe sought Kerry's naval records, but he refused to waive privacy restrictions for the full file. Late last month, Kerry gave the Navy permission to send the documents to the Globe.

War on Terror Update: One cell at a time

2005-06-09T10:10:00.000-04:00

Two terror suspects arrested in California

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has arrested two California men after one of
them admitted he attended an al Qaeda training camp in Pakistan, Justice
Department officials said on Wednesday.

Hamid Hayat, 23, and his father, Umer, of Lodi, California, east of San
Francisco, were taken into custody over the weekend. Both men are being held on
charges of lying to federal authorities.

Two other men were arrested in Lodi for violating terms of their visas,
said Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Dean Boyd.

Bush urges Congress to renew Patriot Act

WASHINGTON - President Bush is pressuring Congress to renew the Patriot Act
by highlighting the arrest of a man accused of plotting attacks on the Brooklyn
Bridge and an Ohio shopping mall.

Portions of the Patriot Act - signed into law six weeks after the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks to catch other terrorists - are set to expire at the end of
the year. The law bolstered FBI surveillance and law-enforcement powers in
terror cases, increased use of material witness warrants to hold suspects
incommunicado for months and allowed secret proceedings in immigration
cases.
Civil liberties groups and privacy advocates say the law undermines
freedom. But Bush calls the act vital to tracking terrorists and disrupting
their plans.

Democrat Rhetoric Stays Over The Top

2005-06-09T09:41:00.000-04:00

From Art Chernkoff,

Top House Democrat Charles Rangel complained on Monday that the Bush administration's decision to concoct a "fraudulent" war in Iraq was as bad as "the Holocaust."

"It's the biggest fraud ever committed on the people of this country,"
Rangel told WWRL Radio's Steve Malzberg and Karen Hunter. "This is just as bad
as six million Jews being killed. The whole world knew it and they were quiet
about it, because it wasn't their ox that was being gored."It's not actually
quite as bad as it seems:

Asked to clarify his Holocaust comparison, Rangel told Malzberg: "I am
saying that people's silence when they know terrible things are happening is the
same thing as the Holocaust, where everyone would have me believe that no one
knew those Jews were killed over there."

Initially I though, this is not as bad as it seems; Rangel is not making a grossly offensive comparison of the liberation of 26 million people from tyranny with the killing of 6 million Jews. What a relief. He's merely making a stupid, inaccurate, and hysterical comparison of the public reactions to both events. Stupid, inaccurate, and hysterical, because after all, Iraq, in all its aspects and from all the perspectives, is the most talked about issue in the world today.

The Howard Dean Gift That Keeps On Giving,

"the GOP is a "white Christian party''

"A lot of them never made an honest living in their lives," said Howard
Dean on June 2 at a conference hosted by Take Back America.

"I think Tom Delay ought to go back to Houston, where he can serve his jail
sentence!"
"Thanks to their pale skin, round eyes and khaki trousers, Republicans just blend in," said Mr. Dean. "So they vote, get in the back of the line and vote again. And because they've never made an honest living in their lives, they could do that all day long."
"The Republicans are not very friendly to different kinds of people. We’re more welcoming to different folks, because that’s the kind of people we are."

Scott Johnson of Powerline on Pundit Review Radio

2005-06-03T09:04:00.000-04:00

Don't miss Scott Johnson from Powerline this Sunday evening, June 5th at 9pm EST on
Pundit Review Radio, heard exclusively on Boston's talk leader WRKO.

You can stream the show live at WRKO.

We are looking forward to talking with Scott, one of the true leaders in the new media. He will be giving us his unique perspective on this week's revelation of Deep Throat, how he feels about Mark Felt: is he a hero or villian, how Watergate changed the establishment media and how it has led to many of their problems today.

If you have a question for Scott, give us a call Sunday evening at 877-469-4322.

If you can't listen, you can email a question to us at punditreview @ hotmail.com

Pundit Review Radio Flashback...

To listen to Scott's previous appearence on Pundit Review Radio, click here. Scott gave us a detailed breakdown of how the Dan Rather phony document story unfolded. This interview was conducted in October, 2004.

Do you think these two are related?

2005-06-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

Howard Dean, unhinged on the stump, again,

You think people can work all day and then pick up their kids at child care or wherever and get home and still manage to sandwich in an eight-hour vote? Well Republicans, I guess can do that. Because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.

Hugh Hewitt says,

"Dean is certainly making even Terry McAuliffe look like a diplomat and a thoughtful man."

Don't miss Hugh on Pundit Review Radio on Sunday June 12 at 9pm EST.
This Sunday, June 5 we will be speaking with Scott Johnson from Powerline. You can stream both live at WRKO.

Howard Dean's Raised Voice Isn't Raising Cash

One hundred days into his tenure as the high-energy, higher-decibel chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean is in trouble with party moneybags. The former Vermont governor seems to be doing a better job flaying the Republicans than bridging the cash chasm between the parties. Given Dean's 2004 run as a populist crusader, moderates were never wild about his takeover of the Democratic National Committee. So some big donors are sitting on their wallets.

Dean wowed the faithful in '04 with his Web-based fund-raising magic. But major business donors still count, and in his new role as party honcho, the feisty doctor seems to be struggling to connect. After achieving money parity with the GOP in 2004, Democrats have fallen far behind. According to the Federal Election Commission, the DNC raised $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2005, vs. the Republican National Committee's $32.3 million. Dean drew about 20,000 new donors, while his rivals picked up 68,200. The bottom line: Republicans have $26.2 million in the bank vs. $7.2 million for the Dems.

Blog Reaction To Filibuster Deal

2005-05-23T21:13:00.000-04:00

John Hinderaker, Powerline

What a hideous deal! The Democrats have agreed to cloture on only three nominees, and they have made no commitment not to filibuster in the future, if there are "extraordinary circumstances." Of course, the Dems think any nominee who is a Republican is "extraordinary." The Dems have just wriggled off the hook on some of the nominees that, politically, some of them did not want to be seen voting against.
Someone explain to me why the Republicans haven't been rolled once again. To me, it looks like a pathetic collapse on the part of the Republicans--not the leadership, but Senators like McCain who sold out their party.

ONE MORE: Now the Republicans are treating the execrable Robert Byrd like a hero! Unbelievable. What a low moment. "We have kept the Republic," Byrd says. I think I'm going to be sick.

Hugh Hewitt,

It is impossible to say whether this is a "terrible" deal, a "bad" deal, or a very, very marginally "ok" deal, but it surely is not a good deal.

Ed Hennessey, Captain's Quarters,

If the Republicans have foresworn the Byrd option without an ironclad guarantee that the filibuster will not be used on nominees with majority support, then they have traded their hard-won majority for de facto minority status -- and the leadership will have to answer for this result.

Mark Tapscott (via Malkin)

I said months ago that Senate GOPers are terrified of offending Senate Democrats. Now we will see the Senate GOP leadership desperately searching for a way to share in the glory that even as this post is being written is being prepared by the MSM to shower upon Senate "moderates" of both parties who "saved" the Senate and the federal judiciary from the Extreme Right and the Evangelical Christian Theocracy.

Good Call Indeed. The first wire stories are rolling in,

Boston Globe Headline: Modeates Reach Filibuster Deal
When you click the link, the headline to the AP story reads "Senators avert showdown over filibusters". Interesting.

WASHINGTON --In a dramatic reach across party lines, Senate centrists sealed a compromise Monday night to clear the way for confirmation of many of President Bush's stalled judicial nominees, leave others in limbo and preserve venerable filibuster rules.

"In a Senate that has become increasingly partisan and polarized, the bipartisan center held," said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., one of 14 senators --seven from each party -- to pledge their "mutual trust and confidence" on the deal.

Blogs for Bush is liveblogging and has tons of great links.

Laura Bush Sets Little Katie Straight

2005-05-23T17:33:00.000-04:00

Katie's Message to the military
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Three Cheers to Laura Bush for calling Katie Couric on her bias against the military!

Hat Tip: The Corner

From the Today Show, May 23, 2005

Katie Couric:

"In your view, is the administration holding the people who are doing these things, and perhaps they are in the minority as you say, but do you think they're being held sufficiently accountable?"

Mrs. Bush took exception to Katie's P-word:

"Yes I do. I mean there's investigations going on the people are being held accountable and it's not 'a perhaps in the minority'. We know it's very, very few people. A handful of people. We know that overall our troops are serving with distinction. They're very helpful to the people where they are. They're building schools, they're refurbishing schools. They're drilling well waters so that villages have clean water. They're helping both Afghanistan and Iraq as they build they're countries. They're training troops in Iraq and policemen there."
"So the, the sad news is that the coverage is so extreme of a handful of really, really bad cases. And the American people are sick about it. They don't want people around the world to have an image of Americans like that, because that's not the way Americans really are. And it's certainly not the way our troops, overall, serve anywhere around the world."

Pundit Review Radio All-Star Line-Up

2005-05-21T22:17:00.000-04:00

Boston's talk leader, WRKO, has decided to replace Newsweak International with Pundit Review Radio, a show that promotes bloggers. Ouch!

Each Sunday evening at 9PM EST, we will examine traditional talk radio topics (politics, media, culture) by highlighting the work of the best, most insightful thought leaders in the new media.

And by best, we mean THE best. Here is the guest line-up for our first month on WRKO,

May 22: James Taranto from Opinion Journal's Best of the Web
May 29: Don Luskin of National Review, Smart Money and PoorandStupid.com
June 5: Scott Johnson, Powerline
June 12: Hugh Hewitt

You can listen to the show live at WRKO and you can reach us toll free at 877-469-4322.

We want to thank everyone who has supported the show this week by alerting your readers and linking to us. We truly appreciate your support.

Talk to you Sunday evening.

More torture from US troops?

2005-05-20T08:51:00.000-04:00

Saddam
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

We didn't even ask if he wanted boxers or briefs.

Bashing of US military by MSM continues...

2005-05-19T09:03:00.000-04:00

Junk Yard Blog has the goods on another high profile mainstream media member trashing the US military.

Linda Foley is the International President of the Newspaper Guild and is also president of Communications Workers of America, the nation's largest broadcast and journalism workers union. Take it away Ms. Foley,

Journalists, by the way, are not just being targeted verbally or …ah, or… ah, politically. They are also being targeted for real, um…in places like Iraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there's not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq. They target and kill journalists…uh, from other countries, particularly Arab countries like Al -, like Arab news services like Al-Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunity…

Bryan Preston at Junk Yard Blog says,

So like Eason Jordan, Foley made a completely unsubstantiated and outrageous claim that the US military is targeting journalists in Iraq for murder. Unlike Eason Jordan, there is a tape. She said what's written above. I saw the tape and heard her words. There is no doubt what she said, and there is no doubt that she offered up nothing in the way of evidence to substantiate her claim.

For our previous coverage of Eason Jordan, click here.

Is it any wonder that your Average Joe thinks the mainstream media is doing a lousy job? Few industries outside of Hollywood and maybe professional sports have a greater sense of self worth than MSM journalists.

Survey: Press, public not on the same page
By Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe

A University of Connecticut survey released today reveals some significant disagreements between journalists and the general public over the quality of today's reporting and the boundaries of press freedom.

While 72 percent of the journalists said their profession did a good or excellent job of reporting information accurately, only 39 percent of the public felt the same way. At the same time, 61 percent of the citizen respondents said they disagreed with the statement that ''the news media tries to report the news without bias."

Some survey findings may provide fodder for conservatives who complain about liberal tilt in the press. When asked to identify themselves politically, one-third of the journalists and one-third of the citizens said they were Democrats. The divergence came when 32 percent of the public identified themselves as Republicans, compared with only 10 percent of the newsroom employees. Among journalists who said they voted in the 2004 election, 68 percent reported favoring John Kerry and 25 percent chose George Bush. Yet among the public respondents who said they voted, Bush beat Kerry 54 percent to 44 percent.

Newsweak: Fact Checking 101

2005-05-18T14:54:00.000-04:00

Newsweak could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if only they had thought to do this.

NewsWEAK Lied, People Died

2005-05-15T20:26:00.000-04:00

Ever since Newsweak magazine published an article on May 9 about alleged abuses at Guantanamo Bay, specifically the desecration of a Koran, the Muslim world has been protesting the US. Afghanistan has been rocked by protests and violence. So far 16 people have been killed and more than 100 injured.

And now Newsweak comes out, on May 15, and says they got it wrong. The desecration of the Koran by US troops at Guantanamo never happened.

What more could Newsweak possibly do to damage the US and put our troops in a more difficult situation? How would you like to be a 19 year old American GI in Afghanistan this morning? Is it any wonder why people question the motives of the mainstream media? South Park Conservatives is a book about this very subject. The subtitle, The Revolt Against Liberal Media Bias

John Steel Gordon is a best selling author of a number of books about Wall Street and American capitalism. He is also, apparently, a frequent reader of Powerline. Here is what he sent the guys at Powerline regarding this Newsweak mess,

Liberal MSM magazine finds marginally credible story that makes the military
(and Bush Administration) look bad and rushes into print with it without any
consideration of the possible consequences. So what else is new?
What I find most interesting is that Newsweek insists on spelling the name of the holy book of Islam "Qur'an" despite the fact that there has been a perfectly good word for it in use in the English language ("Koran") since 1625. "Qur'an" is a
transliteration of the Arabic word for the Koran (although my dictionary says
there should be a long vowel mark over the A--but, since I don't speak Arabic, I
will have to take its word for it). So using Qur'an instead of Koran is like
using "Athina" for "Athens" of "Moskva" for "Moscow." In other words, political
correctness run amok.I think the apostrophe--utterly meaningless in an
English-language context--is a particularly nice touch of cultural pandering.

Interesting observation indeed.

Instapundit on Newsweak,

People died, and U.S. military and diplomatic efforts were damaged, because
-- let's be clear here -- Newsweek was too anxious to get out a story that would
make the Bush Administration and the military look bad.

America's favorite new gameshow: Filibusted!

2005-05-12T07:41:00.000-04:00

from our firends over at Citizen Journal,

FILIBUSTED!!!!!

Who said it?1) "I find it simply baffling that a Senator would vote against even voting on a judicial nomination."

2) "I have stated over and over again ... that I would object and fight against any filibuster on a judge, whether it is somebody I opposed or supported."

3) "Even if they tend to vote against the nomination itself, it is wrong to filibuster a nomination, and the senators who believe in fairness will not let a minority of the Senate deny the nominee his vote by the entire Senate."

And the answers are

Kerry and Form 180: 100 Days and Counting

2005-05-10T08:31:00.000-04:00

johnkerry
Originally uploaded by punditreview.

Exactly 100 days ago John Kerry went on national TV and said he would sign Form 180 which would allow all of his military records to be released. He still has not done so. What possible reasonable explanation could John Kerry have for lying about his willingness to sign the form?

Meet The Press, January 30, 2005

MR. RUSSERT: Many people who've been criticizing you have said: Senator, if you would just do one thing and that is sign Form 180, which would allow historians and journalists complete access to all your military records. Thus far, you have gotten the records, released them through your campaign. They say you should not be the filter. Sign Form 180 and let the historians...
SEN. KERRY: I'd be happy to put the records out. We put all the records out that I had been sent by the military. Then at the last moment, they sent some more stuff, which had some things that weren't even relevant to the record. So when we get--I'm going to sit down with them and make sure that they are clear and I am clear as to what is in the record and what isn't in the record and we'll put it out. I have no problem with that.
MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?
SEN. KERRY: But everything, Tim...
MR. RUSSERT: Would you sign Form 180?
SEN. KERRY: Yes, I will. But everything that we put in it, Tim--everything we put in--I mean, everything that was out was a full documentation of all of the medical records, all of the fitness reports. And I'd call on those who have challenged me, let's see their records. I want to see the records of each of those people who have put up
a challenge, because some of them have some serious questions in them, and it
hasn't been appropriate...
MR. RUSSERT: So they should sign Form 180s for themselves as well?
SEN. KERRY: You bet.

We all know how outragged John Kerry was during the campaign when he was claiming that George Bush lied to him about the WMD intelligence (put aside the fact that they looked at the same evidence and reached the same conclusion). The Swift Boat Vets raised some serious questions about John Kerry and his refusal to sign this form has me wondering why.