NewsReal: Health Reform Supporters Like An Abusive Spouse Topic: Horowitz
For almost a decade I worked in a domestic violence shelter. I sat with women who were shaking, bruised and ashamed. They were in utter shock and disbelief at the violence that had just occurred. The names of the people in each woman’s story were different; but the story lines were remarkably the same.
Police responding to domestic violence calls can tell a similar story. Often times, the officer responding to a call finds a calm man sitting on the front porch steps, smoking a cigarette, quietly waiting for the police to arrive. He greets the officers, and coolly explains to them that his wife is inside, ranting and raving. “She’s crazy, out of her mind. I don’t know what her problem is.”
Her problem is she has just realized what has happened to her.
In much the same way, as Americans try to grasp what just hit them...
-- Rhonda Robinson, March 24 NewsReal post, who goes on to claim that "The difference between the anger so many Americans feel right now, is quite different than the hatred and rage that has long been a part of the Left’s political arsenal."
Brent Bozell And That "Snarky Gay Sense of Humor" Topic: Media Research Center
Brent Bozell was in full snit-fit mode in a March 23 Media Research Center press release, trying to push back against reports of racist and homophobic remarks made by tea party protesters outside the Capitol during debate over the health care reform bill.
Bozell avoids denying the claims, downplaying them as "the disgraceful outbursts of a few" and instead focusing on Keith Olbermann, where the "crescendo of bigotry by the left-wing media against the Tea Party movement reached a disgusting pinnacle" with Olbermann "indicting the entire movement as being homophobic racists based on the actions of a few fringe protestors."
That led to this statement by Bozell:
“What an exercise in hypocrisy. Some of you in the left-wing so-called ‘news’ media have actively participated in insulting conservatives with vulgar ‘tea bagging’ jokes. You’ve done it on live national television, snickering at your own snarky gay sense of humor. And if you haven’t done that, you have been a coward, doing nothing to condemn your colleagues for their disgusting behavior.
“Don’t you dare give us any more lectures on civility. You hypocrites disgust me.”
First: Vulgarity is not the same thing as racism or homophobia. Second: "snarky gay sense of humor"? Really, Brent? Anyone care to unpack the homophobia implicit in that remark?
On March 21, 2010, a day that will live in infamy, our beloved constitutional republic came to an end. Its murder was committed by a slim majority in the House of Representatives by socialist Democrats who have given us a new form of government: state socialism. By that vote, the great legacy of freedom given us by our Founding Fathers was thrown on the trash heap. And the man most responsible for making this happen is the socialist despot in the White House, Barack Hussein Obama.
We can now say with nothing less than certainty that Barack Obama absorbed every word of his America-hating preacher in the church he and his wife attended for 20 years. He lied his way into the White House with the help of socialist Democrats who admire Fidel Castro more than they do George Washington.
And so, Barack Hussein Obama will go down in history as having achieved what no one believed an elected American president could ever achieve, the destruction of our constitutional republic. He joins that freedom-hating pantheon of philosophers and despots like Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, Josef Stalin, Adolf Hitler, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, Pol Pot and other such political leaders who led millions of people into slavery and death.
-- Samuel L. Blumenfeld, March 23 WorldNetDaily column
Porter repeatedly and shamelessly suggests that President Obama wants to outlaw Christianity. Referring to her upcoming "May Day" rally, she writes, "We will be meeting on May 1 to stand for God at the Lincoln Memorial. But we don't face arrest for it. At least not yet." She later added, "The underground church risked arrest and torture to stand for God in the face of Communist rule. We don't face arrest just yet, but if we don't come to God on bended knee and receive his hand of mercy and rescue, there is no question that we will."
Porter is not taking the passage of health care reform well: "Desecrating the Sabbath, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic lynch men in Congress did exactly what they said they'd do when they were voted into office." She ranted that "Bart Stupak has blood on his hands, and he and his cohorts must be removed from office in November." She also claims that Stupak "voted for abortion funding in the health-care bill," adding that "this bill forces us to participate in killing innocent lives with our hard-earned tax money." Porter islying.
Porter asserted that "Barack Obama, when he took over the car industry, closed only Republican dealerships (or those who supported his Democratic opponents or who gave less than $200 to his campaign)," adding that "he decided that the exceptionally successful Republican car dealerships weren't 'eligible' to remain open." That is a baseless conspiracy theory. Actually, let's call her claim what it is -- a lie.
Porter also insists that "the New England Journal of Medicine predicts a mass exodus of medical providers." That too is a lie.
We can go on -- her column is replete with even more falsehoods and misrepresentations.
While Porter is using her "May Day" rally to pray for her country, maybe she should take some time out to ask forgiveness from God for her shameful and disgraceful lies.
CNS Joins Battle to Defend Hannity, Bash Schlussel Topic: CNSNews.com
The ConWeb has certainly arrayed some significant firepower to defend Sean Hannity.
We've previously detailed how WorldNetDaily has rushed to Hannity's defense over accusations by right-wing blogger Debbie Schlussel that Freedom Alliance, an organization affiliated with Hannity and co-founded by Oliver North, has misspent money designated for scholarships (while hiding its tangled relationship with her). Now CNSNews.com has joined the battle in a March 22 article by Michael Chapman.
Chapman's clear goal is to discredit Schlussel, describing her as "a blogger who cited an unnamed source who, in turn, cited an unnamed 'guy' at Fox News Channel in suggesting that the charity used some of its donations to pay lavish expenses supposedly incurred by Hannity." Chapman does not mention Schlussel's ideological leanings.
Chapman went on to complain that "Schlussel did not name the source who sent her the message citing the unnamed 'guy' at Fox News who claimed that Hannity had run-up big expenses on the tab of the Freedom Concerts." He lavishes much more attention on Freedom Alliance's defense.
We don't have a dog in this fight, but Schlussel is known for making hyperbolic claims. We do find it interesting how much effort is being put into shooting down Schlussel on this, while pretending she's not a fellow right-winger -- even though that ideological link is the reason her claim has gathered traction to the point that other right-wingers are working hard to shoot it down.
It is clear the current administration, along with Pelosi and Reid, will lie, cheat, steal and even trample the Constitution to bring about their socialist/communist utopia vision all while punishing the nation for past missteps. It's the Alinsky plan for America.
If they pass this bill, then we the people are no longer "we the people." We are now "we the ruled." Our nation has been taken over by a band of thugs, and the truly sad part is 52 percent of you sent the thug to the position of power that will enslave all of us.
I hope all you dummies who allowed your hatred for George Bush to blind you from the danger ahead realize the damage you've done. When you voted in an all-Democratic Congress in 2006 and Obama in 2008, you put your country in the hands of radical leftists who see a much different America than the average person.
P.T. Barnum had it right when he said, "There's a sucker born every minute." I think it may now be every second.
Thank you, Obama voters. I hope you're happy. But your happiness will be short lived unless you are willing to bow at the altar of your new tyrant – just like crazy cousin Dennis.
A March 22 NewsBusters post by Colleen Raezler complains that "Family Guy" has "denied [Terri] Schiavo human dignity in the March 21 episode by referring to her in lyrics sung by cartoon preschoolers as 'the most expensive plant you'll ever see' and a 'vegetable,' and noted 'her mashed potato brains.'"
Raezler has yet to complain about how her fellow NewsBusters denied Rosie O'Donnell human dignity just one day earlier by referring to her as "this thing." As in "Is someone REALLY going to give this thing its own show?"
Jeffrey's Bias-Heavy 'News' Story on Health Care Reform Topic: CNSNews.com
Is Terry Jeffrey editorializing in his "news" story on the passage of health care reform? Oh, just a tad:
Congress Votes to Socialize Health Care in United States
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. House of Representatives voted 219-212 on Sunday night to socialize health care in the United States, making the government the paymaster of, and giving it sweeping regulatory authority over, the U.S. health care industry which represents one-sixth of the U.S. economy.
The legislation also enacts a dramatic and unprecedented diminution in the individual liberty of citizens. It does so by mandating that all Americans buy a government-approved health care plan while redistributing wealth on a massive scale by promising annual federal insurance subsidies to all Americans who earn less than 400 percent of the poverty level, which is currently $88,200 for a family of four.
The new health-care system the legislation will put in place over the next four years amounts to a massive and mandatory new welfare program that will ensnare middle-class and middle-aged Americans in dependency on the federal government for a vital element of their lives.
Jeffrey also serves up his own less-than-reality-based interpretation of abortion funding and the bill (notice his love of the word "theoretically"):
Stupak and his allies accepted President Obama’s promise that he would sign a draft Executive Order that simply instructs federal agencies to set accounting rules for how the health care plans that people purchase with federal funds will theoretically “segregate” the federal money they receive from other dollars that would theoretically pay for abortions.
President Obama’s draft Executive Order speaks of this “segregation” mechanism as if it were the effective equivalent of the Hyde Amendment. However, the Hyde Amendment prohibits any federal funds funneled through various annual appropriations bills from going to any health plan that covers abortion. The health care bill that Congress passed Sunday and the Executive Order that Obama is promising to sign will allow federal funds to go to health care plans that cover abortion. It will only theoretically “segregate” these fungible funds from other dollars going to the same insurance plans that pay for abortion.
The claim that the bill funds abortion has been repeatedly disproven, and neither Jeffrey or anyone else at CNS has attempted to rebut it.
WND Also Ignores Death of Filegate Topic: WorldNetDaily
Last week we noted that the Clinton conspiracy-mongers at the Media Research Center failed to acknowledge the death of the "Filegate" case. Another Clinton-obsessed ConWeb component has ignored it too: WorldNetDaily.
WND was clinging to Filegate -- the word appears in 189 articles in the WND archive -- as late as last year, when it promoted Larry Klayman's efforts to "grill" Hillary Clinton "over her handling of confidential FBI files." WND quoted Klayman as saying, "We are confident that Judge [Royce] Lamberth will now have to finally order the deposition."
Lamberth is the very same judge who tossed the lawsuit once and for all, saying: "The plaintiffs, he wrote, "after ample opportunity . . . have not produced any evidence of the far-reaching conspiracy that sought to use intimate details from FBI files for political assassinations that they alleged. The only thing that they have demonstrated is that this unfortunate episode -- about which they do have cause to complain -- was exactly what the defendants claimed: nothing more than a bureaucratic snafu."
As recently as Feb. 18, Bob Unruh was still touting Klayman's efforts to depose Clinton. But the fact that the entire lawsuit has been tossed out of court and derided as specious by the judge has yet to find a home at WND.
Ellis Washington begins his March 20 WorldNetDaily column by declaring, "I consider myself a conservative intellectual, a thinker who holds philosophical ideas out the Judeo-Christian traditions of intellectual thought."
Apparently one distinguishing characteristic of the conservative intellectual is to engage in ad hominem attacks, for that is what Washington spends much of his column doing. The target is "liberal blogger" and "well-known atheist" Ed Brayton, who responded to Washington's column last week claiming that the whale who killed a trainer at Sea World should be put to death because, among other reasons, animals are "distinctively inferior to human beings and were worth little if any moral consideration" since "humans have souls and animals don't." Washington also cited a biblical passage about an out-of-control bull stating that "the bull must be stoned and the owner also must be put to death" (italics his).
Brayton highlighted Washington's statement that his ideas about the destruction of misbehaving animals comes from "the same place we got the ideas found in natural law, the common law, the Federalist Papers, the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- it all came from the Bible."Brayton points out that the Constitution largely rejected English common law as derived from the Bible, adding that "there is no mention of biblical sources for any of the Constitution's principles" in the Federalist Papers. Brayton added: "And in case you're interested - no, Washington never did reply to my question about ERVs and common descent. Because he can't, I'm quite sure."
Washington starts off by declaring that Brayton "absolutely hates everything good about America -- which I guess would explain why he hates my writings and ideas so much because I am a Christian, a conservative and am very pro-America." He goes on to tell Brayton that "for you to follow such a man [like Charles Darwin] is like following a cult leader. Your position is ipso facto (inherently) indefensible. You have built an entire worldview on quicksand. Lenin referred to true believers like you and your fellow bloggers as 'useful idiots.'"
Washington then responds not to the whale stuff but that previous question Brayton referenced: "Can you provide a coherent, consistent explanation other than common descent for the patterns of appearance of endogenous retroviruses in vertebrate genomes?" He declares himself to be "not a scientist but a philosopher and an intellectual, the way I approach all bodies of knowledge is from reason and veritas (truth)." Actually, Washington isn't all that much into the truth. Washington continues:
Ed, St. Paul had already dealt with Darwin's specious theories of man (vs. 23) and the philosophers of his day, who were a lot smarter than you and your fellow bloggers. I also addressed the unsustainable aspects of Darwinian evolution in my law review article, Reply to Judge Richard A. Ponser on the Inseparability of Law and Morality"
Your issues about where humanity came from are not so much a problem of the head (brain), but of the heart (soul). Until you repent and ask Jesus to come into your heart you will always be confused and wrong in your worldview, which will disallow you, I and your fellow bloggers the ability to have a rational discussion based on the syllogism that was a foundation of Western civilization:
If A = B, then A + B = C
... Big Bang explosions, theories by unremarkable naturalists, ERVs and "billions of years …" cannot explain the complexity of an eye, nor expound upon the incomprehensible diversity and richness of creation. That suit you are wearing on your blog as well as the teeth in your mouth did not explode into place. I learned in science that explosions destroy things, not create things.
Ed, take a look at my law review article. Although it was written 11 years ago, the ideas and ideals are timeless and transcendent.
Peace,
Ellis
We can't tell for sure, but it seems like Washington still didn't answer Brayton's question.
Apparently, being a conservative intellectual doesn't actually require any intellectualism at all. On top of the ad hominem attacks (which Washington has previously defended when Michael Savage does them because, well, Savage is Jesus). In addition to the ad hominem attacks, it also means a substantial degree of egomania.
WorldNetDaily doesn't handle losing well, does it? Its March 21 article by Drew Zahn on the passage of health care reform carries the headline "Bloody Sunday, 2010: House OKs health bill."
WND's Unsourced Attack on Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood Actually Comes From Hate Group Topic: WorldNetDaily
Oh, here's a shock: WorldNetDaily has apparently hooked up with another hate group to smear one of its declared enemies -- and the editor's daughter was enlisted to do it.
A March 16 WND article by Kathleen Farah -- a daughter of WND editor Joseph Farah -- claimed that "the World Association of Girl Scouts and Girl Guides held a no-adults-welcome panel at the United Nations in which Planned Parenthood distributed a brochure entitled 'Healthy, Happy and Hot,'" which "targets young people and contains graphic details on sex. It also encourages casual sex in many forms." But Farah offers no evidence to support her claim, nor does she quote anyone in her article substantiating it. Farah also made no apparent effort to contact the Girl Scouts, Planned Parenthood, or the United Nations for a response.
Apparently, Farah lifted her claims from the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM), a right-wing group that was created by Human Life International, an anti-abortion group with a history of anti-Semitism -- it once blamed Jews for the abortion-rights movement. At no point in her article does Farah credit C-FAM as the source of the information she cribbed.
It's not until a March 19 WND article by Drew Zahn that an actual source is provided for the claim -- a representataive of the right-wing group Family Watch International. Again, C-FAM's apparently contribution is curiously omitted; then again, if we took information at face value from a hate group, we'd try to hide it too.
It's also the first time there's a statement (albeit buried in the 10th paragraph) from the Girl Scouts, which states that the pamphlet was not distributed to the girls but left on a table from a previous presentation.
Zahn, however, ignored that the Girl Scouts also stated:
The Girl Scouts of the USA was not contacted by Catholic Family & Human Rights Institute (C-FAM) regarding its initial story to discuss the facts of this event. Had they applied these basic journalistic standards, perhaps the true details of this event would have been reported.
Nevertheless, Zahn began his article by falsely asserting that the Planned Parenthood "teen-sex promoting guide" was "provided for Girl Scouts in attendance."
Zahn does concede that the brochure was "produced by the International Planned Parenthood Federation for young people with HIV." As Right Wing Watch points out: "Honestly, does the right-wing claim even seem plausible? Are we really supposed to believe that Girl Scout leaders kicked all the adults out of the room so that Planned Parenthood could distribute a brochure to a group of young girls about how to lead sexually fulfilling lives while living with HIV?"
WorldNetDaily's Idea of 'News' Topic: WorldNetDaily
This is how a March 20 WorldNetDaily news article begins. Repeat, this is a news article:
Will it soon be the U.S.S.A. – the United Socialist States of America?
Tens of thousands of people descended on Washington today, lining up in circles around the Capitol, in protest of a pending vote Sunday on President Obama's trillion dollar plan that would take over health care across America. That's some $500 billion in cuts from funding for U.S. seniors and another nearly like amount in new taxes.
WND Ignores Another Intra-Birther Smackdown Topic: WorldNetDaily
As we've detailed, WorldNetDaily's Orly Taitz protection racket includes hiding criticism of her shoddy lawyering by other birther lawyers. Now, another birther lawyer has come out against Taitz.
On the March 1 edition of the Patriot's Heart webcast, Gary Kreep -- who, as WND has stated, "has been involved in several of the cases that have raised challenges to Obama's occupancy of the Oval Office, including two in California" -- Kreep noted that Taitz filed a motion after deadline, thereby complicating one birther case he is also involved in, and the court wrapped her appeal with one that Kreep had filed. Kreep said he planned to make an effort to sever her appeal from his because he fears "she will take actions which are going to damage our attempts to [inaudible] the matter on behalf of our two clients in this case." Kreep went on to say that Taitz's filings in the case "had nothing to do with the issue" and "just makes things more difficult." Kreep continued:
Well, it makes the issue Dr. Taitz rather than the issue of eligibility, because much of what Dr. Taitz has done has been to attract attention to herself, not attract attention to the case. And as you know, she's become a laughingstock in the media, and they've used her antics to basically hurt all of us. ... Becauase she has made a fool of herself in many ways.
In case Kreep's point wasn't clear, it was summed up on the blog of Kreep's group, the United States Justice Foundation, which linked to the show:
Gary Kreep says Orly’s made a laughing stock of herself and the whole eligibility issue. He seems to have grown cozy with her arch-enemy Phil Berg, despite their policy differences. He really lets Orly have it in a way I haven’t heard him before.
WND hasn't mentioned a thing about Kreep's criticism of Taitz, even though it happened three weeks ago. Then again, Taitz has ordered WND not to report anything negative about her.
March 19 was a busy day for Newsmax managing editor David Patten -- he penned no fewer than four articles promoting opposition to health care reform.
First, he wrote that the outcome over reform "remains very much in doubt," with a focus on who which members of Congress were or were not voting for it. Then, Patten promoted the tea party movement's anti-reform rally, calling it "one last push to stop the Obamacare freight train."
This was followed by an article in which Patten allowed Stupak to uncritically claim that the Senate bill contains "pro-abortion language" and violates "the longstanding agreement that taxpayer dollars should not defray the cost of abortions." While Patten portrayed Stupak as responding the an Associated Press fact-check pointing out that the Senate bill does not fund abortion, Pattenmade no apparent attempt to contact anyone to rebut Stupak's claims (which have been repeatedlydebunked).
Finally, Patten uncritically repeats Dick Morris' attacks on reform, failing to disclose that Morris is among the Newsmax writer triumverate working for the anti-Obama League of American Voters stop the bill.Which means Morris' unsupported claims get uncritically repeated as well.
In complaining about "backroom deals" to get the bill passed -- a procedure that, for better or worse, happens with pretty much every piece of major legislation in which the vote is close -- Morris asserts that "There were two congressmen from California who got a multi-, multi-million dollar water project for their district." What Morris appears to be referring to is a report that California's Central Valley, which happens to be reprsented by two Democratic congressmen who were allegedly wavering on health care reform. In fact, allegations of a quid pro quo are baseless -- the water allocation was increased because more winter precipitation broke a drought and filled area reservoirs.
The only thing Patten seems to be managing here is right-wing spin.
