Recapping The End Of Glenn Beck

The end of Beck on Fox, at least.

Mark Halperin calls Obama a ‘dick’ on live TV

By David Edwards

After Time’s Mark Halperin referred to the President of the United States as a “dick” Thursday, MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough made it clear that he helped orchestrate the incident.

Scarborough set Halperin up by asking him about yesterday’s press conference where President Barack Obama scolded Republicans for not raising the debt ceiling.

“Are we on the seven-second delay?” Halperin asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Scarborough said. “Come on. Take a chance.”

“I thought he was kind of a dick yesterday,” Halperin announced with smile.

Following the commercial break, Scarborough admitted he was complicit in the stunt.

“I’m sorry. It was a joke,” he confessed. “We made the joke before the show about the seven-second delay and we were going to try it out.”

“Joking aside, this is not a pro forma apology, it’s an absolute apology, heartfelt to the president and the viewers,” Halperin said. “I became part of the joke, but that’s no excuse. I made a mistake and I’m sorry and I shouldn’t have said it. As I said, I apologize to the president and to the viewers who heard me say that.”

Washington Monthly‘s Steve Benen noted that the Morning Joe crew was probably upset that Obama didn’t appear “docile and conciliatory” towards Republicans in Congress.

“Halperin’s credibility as an objective observer of political events has long been dubious, at best, but this morning’s little stunt should remove all doubt,” Benen wrote.

Update: MSNBC has suspended Halperin indefinitely.

“Mark Halperin’s comments this morning were completely inappropriate and unacceptable,” MSNBC said in a statement. “We apologize to the president, the White House and all of our views. We strive for a high level of discourse and comments like these have no place on our air. Therefore, Mark will be suspended indefinitely from his role as an analyst.”

Watch this video from MSNBC’s Morning Joe, broadcast June 30, 2011.

Motor City Liberal Comments: I remember  jokers like this were scared  to air their slightest of criticism of George W.Bush.and if they did they waited until Bush became the political version of a nuclear reactor meltdown so there was no blacklash from his flying monkeys in the right wing media and their followers.

Before the right wing lurkers say well you guys said the same about Bush, well no one called Bush a dick on national tv and let me remind you Bush critics almost saw their careers ruined check out the Dixie Chicks and vocal Bush critic Danny Glover who lost a phone endorsement deal.

Lawrence O'Donnell On Netroots Nation

Papercuts Poll Results: MSNBC Judged 'Most Unreliable MSM Organization

PAPERCUT POLL Results:
Which Mainstream Media Organization is Most Unreliable?

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The results of DBKP's poll, "Which Mainstream Media Organization is Most Unreliable?" are in and we have a winner.

35% of respondents chose MSNBC as the most unreliable, biased MSM organization. Fox News was second with 27%.

THE RESULTS:

1. MSNBC - 35%
   
   
2. Fox News - 27%
   
   
3. New York Times - 18%
   
   
4. CNN - 7%
   
   
5. Los Angeles Times - 4%
   
   
6. CBS News - 2%
   
   
7. Washinton Post - 2%
   
   
8. Newsweek - 1%
   
   
9. TIME - 1%

The ran from November 11-30 2008 and 741 people participated.

DBKP's current poll question, "POLL: Which NFL Team Will Win Super Bowl XLIII" runs until November 8 2008.

Currently, the NY Giants lead with 26%, followed by the Dallas Cowboys, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennesee Titans.


by Mondo Frazier
image: dbkp file

Chris Matthews: Serious Senate Run or MSNBC Contract Gambit?

Chris Matthews' Senate Run:
Serious Bid or Contract Contrivance?




What's a Left Wing Talking Head to Do?

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Chris Matthews, the Hardball Boy, is contemplating a run for the U.S. Senate.

Or not.

From Matthews inches closer to Senate run:

Chris Matthews is dead serious about running for the Senate in Pennsylvania — and is shopping for a house in the state and privately discussing quitting MSNBC as proof of his intense interest, according to NBC colleagues, political operatives and friends.

Politico's MICHAEL CALDERONE & JOSH KRAUSHAAR think it might just be a "negotiations ploy to jack up his contract" on the part of Matthews.

Matthews is receiving some pressure to step down from his "Hardball" spot if he truly is committed to making a run for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Arlen Specter (R-PA).

If Matthews is serious about running, some within the network hope he commits to the Pennsylvania Senate race sooner rather than later. Otherwise, his nightly presence on “Hardball” provides easy fodder to critics fueling the narrative that MSNBC is in the tank for the Democratic party. After NBC News was stung by criticism during the presidential campaign — charged with bias resulting from the antics of more outspoken personalities on MSNBC — staffers worry the situation will be repeated over the next six months.

Reactions are mostly skeptical.

Sister Toldjah, Chris Matthews sets example other partisan journalists should follow:

I applaud Matthews for taking into serious consideration the possibility he’d need to leave the network in order to run for Senate (of course, he should have left it much, much earlier - but then again he wouldn’t have been able to help his fellow mediots with getting Obama elected, would he?). In fact, I encourage every other journalist out there who has a strong bias for one party or the other - who thinks it’s their “job” to help that party - to please follow Matthews’ example, retire from your profession and start pursuing your dream of officially working to advance that party’s principles - whether it be as a politico, an advisor or aide, or working for an advocacy group, or starting your own. Make your biases known upfront instead of continuing to hide behind a phony banner of “objectivity.”

Alex Paranee--Gawker--Chris Matthews to Hold Breath

Until He Becomes a Senator (or Gets a Raise):
There's no doubt that Chris wants to be a Senator—it's been his dream since he was a little boy, to join that undemocratic and increasingly deadlocked and feeble deliberative body—but the guy is also smart about the realities of politics, if not the realities of reality. Running against a five-term senior Senator would be tough for any Democrat, but "any Democrat" would probably have better luck against Specter than a man who's been on the world's craziest cable news network saying some of the craziest things on that network for years.

Jules Crittenden, Jackass-A-Palooza takes the long view:

Full disclosure: As a professional tabloid newspaperman and frothing rightwing blogger, I have a vested interest in chaotic hilarity, if that is what the American people in their wisdom and through their political processes determine is what will best serve their interests.

Other reactions to the Matthews' bid-maybe-not at Memeorandum.

Is this a serious story? Is this a contract gambit?

Who knows--other than Chris Matthews?

It might be hard slogging it out every night on MSNBC for an audience that approaches the number of people on Friday night at Denny's.

It might be hard playing second banana to the Olberdude.

It might be hard getting anyone outside the DailyKOS to take him seriously.

But it's still easier money than actually having to convince people to vote for him in order to get the job of Chris Matthews' dreams.


by Mondo Frazier
image: jossip

MSM Obama Confession Time: WashPo, NewsWeek, MSNBC, LA Times

Bias on Record:
Washington Post
Chris Matthews
Newsweek
Los Angeles Times

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Mainstream Media: Yes We Can!

Deborah Howell, the ombudsman at the Washington Post completely agrees [An Obama Tilt in Campaign Coverage]:

The Post provided a lot of good campaign coverage, but readers have been consistently critical of the lack of probing issues coverage and what they saw as a tilt toward Democrat Barack Obama. My surveys, which ended on Election Day, show that they are right on both counts.

Human Gaffe Machine Joe Biden?

One gaping hole in coverage involved Joe Biden, Obama's running mate. When Gov. Sarah Palin was nominated for vice president, reporters were booking the next flight to Alaska. Some readers thought The Post went over Palin with a fine-tooth comb and neglected Biden. They are right; it was a serious omission.

John at Power Line wasn't surprised [Ho Hum] and offers a possible solution.

Howell finds that the Post's coverage of Sarah Palin was especially biased. To which my response is, tell us something we didn't already know. Anyone who can still be shocked by newspapers' liberal bias hasn't been paying attention for a long time. The Washington Post is a Democratic newspaper, and a good one, for the most part. As I've said before, the Post is the most respectable voice of the Democratic Party. But it would be foolish to expect objectivity from what is essentially an arm of the Democratic Party.

Conservatives should stop talking about media bias and start founding (or buying) some newspapers of our own. Of course, until that happens we'll probably still complain about bias from time to time.

Ed Morrissey at Hot Air [Right on time!] sums up DBKP's position on the matter exactly.

Why didn’t the Post want to look at the files of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, Barack Obama’s only executive experience prior to his run for the presidency? The media never bothered to make a hundredth of the effort on Obama that they did with Palin, and they had two years to do it.

That’s the issue Howell should have addressed in her column. We already know that the Post gave imbalanced coverage of Obama and McCain, as did most of the rest of the media. And now Howell gives the mea culpa in her first column after Election Day, when it’s far too late to do anything about it. Where was Howell during the last three months? Why wait until the election is over to speak up? That’s an answer in itself.

Gateway Pundit has a video of MSNBC's Chris Matthews. [Now That the Election is Over... Media Admits Bias For Obama] Matthews declares that his job as a journalist is to continue his Grand Obama Pimp he perfected during his election coverage.

There will be no traditional press honeymoon between Chris Matthews and Barack Obama, Matthews already having been guilt of the press equivalent of premarital sex.

Journalists not only love new...
They love Democrats.
Sarah Palin was new but they raked her over the coals.
Such is the demise of our mainstream media.
The one thing that is clear after this election-- If you want to find the truth you will have to go elsewhere for your news.

Two words-- Rashid Khalidi.

Jammie Wearing Fool, WaPo Ombudsman: Yes, We Were Completely In the Tank for Obama :

They found plenty of space to go over McCain's health in agonizing detail but ignored Obama's drug use, shady connections and mysterious undergrad years.

I'm sure they'll make up for their grossly imbalanced coverage now that their guy is safely in office. And I have an oceanfront spread in Wyoming up for sale.

It's to the Washington Post's credit to admit that its coverage emanated from within the tank. We may see more stories like this.

More likely, we'll see the usual apologia from the MSM about how they were non-biased stalwarts looking out for the interests of the unwashed sheeple who remain as their customers.

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NEW YORK Times



Since the NY Times ceased being a serious journalistic endeavor some time ago, we'll let its horrific coverage of Election 2008 pass without comment.

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LA Times and the Khalidi Video

The Lost Angeles Times' refusal to release the video of the Obamas, Rashid Khalidi and Bill Ayers is well-documented. The LA Times previously had ordered its reporters not to write on their blogs about John Edwards getting caught leaving his mistress Rielle Hunter's room at the Beverly Hilton--even after it had been confirmed by Fox News.

* Obama, Khalidi Hidden Video: The Evolution of the LA Times Excuses
* LA Times Obama-Rashid Khalidi Video: $175,000 Reward Offered for Tape
* Obama-Khalidi Tape: Blogger Obtains Quotes from Hidden Video UPDATED
* John Edwards-Rielle Hunter Love Child: LA Times Censors Reporters on Story

As the LA Times mulls over further lay-offs, it might examine its refusal to provide its remaining customers with a product they seek: news.

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NewsWeek Keeps its Obama Thoughts to Itself--until AFTER the Election

Mikes America, at Flopping Aces, tipped off a post election admission from Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas of Newsweek on Charlie Rose: Newsweek Editors: Obama a “Creepy,” “Deeply Manipulative,” “Creature”

Why didn’t they say this in their magazine BEFORE the election?

Yesterday I shared with you the audio of Tom Brokaw being interviewed by Charlie Rose where both men admit they don’t know who Obama really is or what he intends to do in office. Now, a post election admission from Jon Meacham and Evan Thomas of Newsweek; also interviewed by Charlie Rose. Audio is provided with commentary by Rush Limbaugh (transcript):

FA provides the Brokaw video, as well as a transcript, ending with the following observation by MA:

At what point will Meacham and Thomas, along with Brokaw and so many others face the fact that they committed journalistic malpractice by hiding the character concerns they are only now sharing about Obama? Were they just tooooo busy digging dirt on Sarah Palin’s children and Joe the Plumber to tell the American people what a “creepy,” “manipulative,” “creature” Obama is?

Yes, they kept all of this out of their publication before the election.

Again, we'll give Meachum and Thomas credit for admitting their bias.

As with the others, they get absolutely no credit for being journalists--their professed profession.

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by Mondo Frazier
images: dbkp file

Green Machine, MSNBC, The Incredile Hulk: Stealth Cross Marketing

The Green Machine: MSNBC News “pimps” their ride
by London Shearer Allen
StinkyJournalism.org



When MSNBC posted an Incredible Hulk, "Green Machine" quiz--it was part of a publicity campaign for Universal Studio's new movie. However, there was no disclosure by MSNBC that they were helping promote their parent company's product. At the same time they were helping promote the Hulk,"Green Machine," MSNBC was also marketing yet another "Green Machine"-- their own, so-called, news gathering vehicle. Note: Even the slogan emblazoned on the MSNBC "green machine" car states, "green is universal." Is this coincidence or another nod to Universal Studios?

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MSNBC and Fox News election coverage has gone green – did anyone notice? News reports have been coming in from the two networks’ “ecologically friendly newsgathering vehicles.” Fox News’ dubbed theirs the ‘ Election Link’ vehicle. One assumes MSNBC’s more whimsical name, “Green Machine,” refers to the green movement – right?

Maybe not. MSNBC’s Green Machine, a Ford Escape, was launched on the Nightly News, April 22, 2008. NBC parent company of MSNBC, had already “debuted” the “mean green streaming machine" aka the new Ford Escape, with cross-marketing on its Today show, the day before, April 21st. Three weeks later, Universal Studios (a.k.a NBC) released its feature film “The Incredible Hulk,” also marketed as “the Green Machine,” on June 13th, 2008.

By June 15, MSNBC News website published a “quiz” titled, “Hulk out! Take our green machine quiz. How much do you know about the Incredible Hulk?” The problem? There was no disclosure that MSNBC and Universal, the maker of the Green Machine, are both properties of NBC Universal Inc. Note: Even the news vehicle slogan is "green is universal." Another coincidence or just shrewd marketing? You choose.

So that fun quiz you took on the MSNBC News site, depending on how you look at it, is either an advertisement in disguise or a promotion of the movie masked as editorial content. Such options leave little room for optimism.

Fake product placement? What other chicanery can be found at the GE-owned network?

Continue reading: The “Green Machine”: MSNBC News “pimps” their ride

by London Shearer Allen
image/source: The “Green Machine”: MSNBC News “pimps” their ride

Obama Tried to Delay Iraq-US Troop Agreements

Why isn't Obama denying Amir Taheri's charges?
He admited to it in June to MSNBC!





[NOTE: The New York Post's Amir Taheri, in "OBAMA TRIED TO STALL GIS' IRAQ WITHDRAWAL", "discussed how Barack Obama, during his July trip, had asked Iraqi leaders not to finalize an agreement vital to the future of US forces in Iraq - and how the effect of such a delay would be to postpone the departure of the US from Iraq beyond the time Obama himself calls for."]


We've discovered an MSNBC article which directly contradicts Obama's defense of his negotiations with the Iraq government.

Taheri layed out the Obama spin in today's followup to his Monday article:

The Obama campaign has objected [to my assertions]. While its statement says my article was "filled with distortions," the rebuttal actually centers on a technical point: the differences between two Iraqi-US accords under negotiation - the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA, to set rules governing US military personnel in Iraq) and the Strategic Framework Agreement (SFA, to settle the legal basis for the US military presence in Iraq in the months and years ahead).

The Obama camp says I confused the two. It continues: "On the Status of Forces Agreement, Sen. Obama has always said he hoped that the US and Iraq would complete it - but if they did not, the option of extending the UN mandate should be considered.

"As to the Strategic Framework Agreement, Sen. Obama has consistently said that any security arrangements that outlast this administration should have the backing of the US Congress - especially given the fact that the Iraqi parliament will have the opportunity to vote on it."




If there is any confusion, it's in Obama's position - for the two agreements are interlinked: You can't have any US military presence under one agreement without having settled the other accord. (Thus, in US-Iraqi talks, the aim is a comprehensive agreement that covers both SOFA and SFA.)

Unfortinately for Barack Obama, he's already on the record as having said that his discussion with Zebari was about both the SOFA and SFA. This from a June article from MSNBC:

He said he told Zebari that negotiations for a Status of Forces agreement or strategic framework agreement between the two countries should be done in the open and with Congress's authorization and that it was important that that there be strong bipartisan support for any agreement so that it can be sustained through a future administration. He argued it would make sense to hold off on such negotiations until the next administration.

"My concern is that the Bush administration--in a weakened state politically--ends up trying to rush an agreement that in some ways might be binding to the next administration, whether it was my administration or Sen. McCain's administration," Obama said. "The foreign minister agreed that the next administration should not be bound by an agreement that's currently made."

We've got Obama dead to rights on this. Start the investigation!

by rizzuto
image: dbkp file
Source: Why isn't Obama denying Taheri's charges? He admited to it in June to MSNBC!

Mainstream Media: When News Breaks

They want to help.

It's the Mainstream Media way.


by RidesAPaleHorse
image: RAPH

Rocketboom and Peggy Noonan Two-fer

Sometimes, no matter how hard you try, you can't make two different items fit in the same post.

Unless you offer a Two-fer.

PEGGY NOONAN BASHES MSNBC

From AllahPundit, Hot Air, "Video: Peggy Noonan salutes MSNBC’s “fatuous suck-upping” … on MSNBC":

After you’re done here, go watch the clip at Olby Watch of our straight-down-the-middle modern-day Murrow urging an AP writer on air last night to “find new work” after he committed the grievous sin of not soiling his pants over Barack Obama’s speech. Remember, Olby’s always at pains to stress how his role as opinionated nutroots vlogger on “Countdown” is very different from his role as unbiased anchorthing when covering election events. See how different he sounds to you.

Peggy Noonan two-fer below: she rips Olbermann and has her fellows in stitches--all with the same comments.

Hilarious!


Deceiver Gets FAN MAIL from ANDREW BARON

Deceiver ran a post called "How Much Does it Take to make a Rocketboom?". It chronicled the madcap adventures of John Edwards' moneyman, Fred Baron's son, Andrew and his vblog, Rocketboom.

Simon, at Deceiver, then received the following from Andrew Baron:

I appreciate that we live in a world with checks and balances but it seems like the author of this blog is either on crack or working for Republican extremists.


Simon replied, "As if they’re mutually exclusive!"

The plot thickens daily.


by Mondoreb
image: posters