Anthony Weiner: Get Rid of Click and Clack

Rep. Anthony Weiner took to the floor of the House and outwardly mocked his Republican colleagues (and rightly so) for suspending House rules and calling an emergency session to... discuss the UN Resulution to impose a no fly zone over Libya? No. ...Vote for the US involvement for airstrikes in Libya with France and Britian? No. ...Oh, right, it was to vote for defunding NPR because of yet another edited video by hack James O'Keefe. Nothing about nuclear power plant safety, nothing about creating jobs. Just the GOP falling for another scam.

This is an instant classic.

Juan Williams is Me

Posted by JHW22

Now, we all know that Juan Williams wasn't fired for his people in Muslim garb scare me line. He was fired because he consistently speaks his opinion rather than unbiased analysis. Although I don't think his comment was fire-able on its own, it's how his statement plays into the larger discourse in America, particularly the right-wing fright fest against Muslims, that was the problem. Added to many other moments teetering on that fine line between integrity and something else, he deserved the boot in NPR's eyes. (Although, to be fair, you can search him on Media Matters and see the many times he has defended the Obama administration.)

But let me demonstrate why I see the point he was making about judging a book by its cover: I am afraid of people wearing "Don't Tread on Me" garb.

Now, this fear of mine has been around for a while. Perhaps it's because I am terrified of snakes. Perhaps it's because I assume (yes, I know about the whole ass out of me thing) that the majority of people with that yellow snake symbol are most likely carrying a concealed handgun -- at least in my state. And frankly, the "Don't Tread on Me" gang are consistently telling Americans how angry they are.

Snake + Guns + Anger = Scary

That's the truth. They scare me.

So on the first day of voting in Texas, a woman was asked to either remove her "Don't Tread on Me" button or return to vote on another day without it. She stomped her foot and acted as if she weren't allowed to vote when she DECIDED to leave the polling location. She CHOSE to leave then called the media. Oh, you can Google it and see all kinds of blogs posting the same story (word for word because they don't write anything original) saying she was "denied her right to vote". And you will see comments about the Black Panthers and the new conspiracy that Michelle Obama was electioneering when she voted.

This woman said she didn't wear the button to make a political statement as she then proceeded to tell the reporter how absolutely horrible the government is (I have searched high and low for the footage I saw but I can't find it. All I can find is the same damn story copy and pasted all over the intertubes and it's to frickin' late (or should I say early) to keep looking for it.). Yep. She ranted about the government but swears that yellow button with a snake on it and the "Don't Tread on Me" message wasn't meant to be political.

Now, this woman and others in the Tea Party claim the Gadsden Flag, the Tea Party, and unicorns are not parties or party symbols so the button should not be considered electioneering... But I'm guessing that button is more than a Betty Boop or Hello, Kitty type of fashion statement. Never mind that the Republican Attorney General for the State of Texas has the Gadsden Flag in his reelection campaign materials.

I told my husband that night that the reason for no propaganda rules like that is to prevent intimidation. I find it ironic that a group of people who found two "scary" black men STANDING outside a polling location in a black district were there to "intimidate" people into voting for a black man -- or something like that. Yes, one of the black men had a billy club but from what I could tell, he was pretty nice despite the annoying white kid bugging him with a video camera. Yet the "Don't Tread on Me" gang can't understand that maybe a tiny gal like me would be somewhat intimated by a person wearing a "Don't Tread on Me" button in a state that allows people to carry concealed weapons.

Snake + Guns + Anger = Scary

And let's not forget what yellow means. It means caution.

So I was shocked, but in some way justified in my fears, when a man with a yellow "Don't Tread on Me" button held a woman down while another man stomped on her head. That woman, who looks just like me, was doing the very damn thing "Don't Treaders" fight for -- using her first amendment right in all its glory.

The man who stood on her head said he "was concerned about Rand's safety". So I guess a couple of men twice her size should be allowed to man-handle a tiny woman to protect a man already out of harm's way because they are, um, concerned? Yet, when liberals went crazy over men carrying guns to Obama rallies, we were silly. I guess a tiny gal is far more menacing than a man with a "Don't Tread on Me" button or a semi-automatic rifle.

So today, Juan Williams is me. I admit my fear is based on irrational assumptions of strangers. Yep. I admit it. The difference is that the "Don't Tread on Me" gang aren't members of a minority race or religion. The people Juan Williams is afraid of are already on everyone's suspicion list and simply because of people like Juan Williams.

Now He's Just Being A Dick

Williams said that NPR's move to fire him was "a chilling assault on free speech" that came about due to "political correctness and ideological orthodoxy" by the "self-righteous ideological, left-wing leadership at NPR." He also recounted the years of tension between him and his bosses at NPR that resulted from his association with Fox.

Well, at least we now know where Juan Williams stands.

In my opinion, this is not about oppression of free speech, as much as Sarah Palin wants it to be. Juan Williams is free to say whatever he wants. That does not mean that the objective news organization he works for doesn't have the right to terminate his contract because of inappropriate statements he made while identifying himself as an analyst of said organization.

Why do these defenders of the Constitution fail to understand that freedom of speech does not mean the possibility of repercussions about the asinine things you are free to say?  It doesn't exist in a vacuum.

To top it off, this winds up being a big payday for Williams, as he was immediately contracted by Fox News for a multi-year $2 million deal. Seems to be the best mistake Williams ever made.

See Ya, Juan!

Juan Williams agreeing with Bill O'Reilly's comments on the now infamous The View segment in which Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walked off the set:

"...I think you’re right. I think, look, political correctness can lead to some kind of paralysis where you don’t address reality.
I mean, look, Bill, I'm not a bigot. You know the kind of books I've written about the civil rights movement in this country. But when I get on the plane, I got to tell you, if I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think, you know, they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous."

Did it ever occur to Williams that the 9/11 hijackers were NOT wearing Muslim garb? So according to Williams, we have more to fear from someone wearing "Muslim garb" than someone who isn't. Remind me again what the Times Square Bomber was wearing? So finally, NPR, which over a year ago asked Williams not to identify himself as an NPR analyst while on O'Reilly's show, has had enough.

NPR announced late on Wednesday night that it has terminated the contract of longtime analyst Juan Williams over his comments... In a statement, NPR said that it had informed Williams of its decision on Wednesday night, and that his remarks were "inconsistent with our editorial standards and practices, and undermined his credibility as a news analyst with NPR."

A quick Google search will find that right wing bloggers are outraged, OUTRAGE I TELL YOU!, that Williams was fired for "no particular reason" or for "telling the truth" and are blaming Think Progress and The Huffington Post for... well for reporting the incident I suppose.

Even the Morning Joe crew was appalled at the firing. And just recently, Joe Scarborough tweeted this:



Actually, Joe, no. Williams was fired for saying he gets nervous on a plane when he sees people wearing Muslim garb.

But here's one question that these people should answer: If it's okay for Rick Sanchez to be fired for saying Jews run the media, and it's okay for Helen Thomas to be forced out for saying that Jews should get out of Palestine, then why is this particular firing an outrage? It couldn't be because one religion is to be revered and the other is to be vilified, could it?

Well at least Williams if now free to express his opinion on Fox News full time without having to worry about damaging NPR's credibility.

@nprpolitics Sucks

Posted by JHW22

Slowly, many liberals have noticed that NPR isn't always free of spin to the right. Or spin to the fear. Or spin to the whatever is opposite of what they should be reporting.

Today I dropped @nprpolitics from my Twitter feed because of their choice of Tweet language in regards to the new deficit numbers.

First, notice how Mark Knoller, CBS News White House Radio Correspondent, Tweeted. He posted:

While Obama was speaking, Treasury Dept reported that federal deficit for the 2010 fiscal year just ended was $1.294-trillion.

He followed that with:

That's down from the 2009 deficit record high deficit of $1.416-trillion.

Here's how @nprpolitics reported the same information:

Federal Deficit Hits Near-Record $1.3 Trillion In 2010 http://n.pr/cbR5RZ

The article in link in the @nprpolitics Tweet states [emphasis mine]:

The Obama administration says the federal deficit hit a near-record $1.3 trillion for the just-completed budget year.

That means the government had to borrow 37 cents out of every dollar it spent as tax revenues continued to lag while spending on food stamps and unemployment benefits went up as the economy slowly pulled out of recession.

The eye-popping deficit figures provide Republican critics of President Barack Obama's fiscal stewardship with fresh ammunition less than three weeks ahead of the midterm congressional elections. The deficit was $122 billion less than last year, a modest improvement.

That's right. The deficit is better this year than last. But @nprpolitics is spinning it as if it's the opposite. Massive fail. I no longer follow @nprpolitics on Twitter.

Time Flies

Today would have been John Lennon's 70th birthday.

Seventy years old.  I was fourteen when he was gunned down in front of his apartment on West 72nd Street and Central Park West in front of The Dakota.

It's eerie to think that I am now four years older than Lennon was when he was killed. And strange that 30 years have already passed since that day. But I'll leave the details of that night and the event s that followed for a post on December 8th.

In the meantime, mark your calendars for November 22nd, when PBS will air LENNONYC, an American Masters episode, and check out this NPR interview.

Studio 360 - Nikola Tesla

My wife's co-worker introduced me to the Studio 360 NPR series and last week's show was a rebroadcast of the January 25th production of invention, centering on Nikola Tesla. He also recommended the Mike Daisey show I was raving about a couple of weeks ago.

Here is Daisey on Studio 360 with three short monologues regarding Tesla from his one-man shows. Enjoy.

Tesla vs. Edison



Tesla and Twain



The Death Ray




You can listen to the whole one hour Studio 360 broadcast here.