On Thursday’s NBC Nightly News, anchor Brian Williams highlighted how, earlier in the day, First Lady Laura Bush “placed the blame squarely on the news media" for why so few support the President on Iraq. But instead of addressing her contention about how “there are a lot of good things that are happening that aren't covered and I think the drumbeat in the country from the media...is discouraging" as she hoped for “more balanced coverage” in the future, Williams applied a non sequitur to dismiss her assessment of the news media. He noted how “the recent report from the Iraq Study Group, however, specifically found that there has been significant under-reporting of the violence in Iraq." But that’s about the accuracy of U.S. military data collection and categorization, not the accuracy of news media coverage of the situation in Iraq. (Transcript follows)

Since the November elections some voters have been howling like a pack of wolves standing over a freshly killed deer. They want to hear that the veiled promises made to them by the newly elected congress will be kept. Impeach Bush, roll back the tax cuts for the rich, get the troops out of Iraq and investigations of the lead up to the war. But it is not going to happen! The voters and the ones that stayed home have been conned by the the main stream media. The greatest con artists of all time. The new congress main focus and bragging points is that they are going to raise the minimum wage. I do not remember the minimum wage as being one of the main topics of the last election.

There will be meaningless investigations, countless finger pointing, chest thumping and enough hot air to melt the polar ice caps. But nothing is going to change. This incoming congress neither had or has a plan to accomplish or do any of the things that you were led to believe. Do not look for any help from the msm because they will not attack their own creation.

(Columbia) - In Richland County alone, there have been ten murders in the past eleven days. So far the only connection is that a gun was used at each crime scene.

But some are asking if there could be another link? [sic] Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, says he believes there’s a correlation between the murders and South Carolina’s gun laws.

“Anytime we make it easier to get guns, you’re going to see an increase in gun violence,” Helmke said.

Helmke said South Carolina’s laws are some of the most relaxed in the nation because there’s no state background check and no registry that tracks the sale and ownership of all guns.1

On Wednesday's Hardball, MSNBC's Chris Matthews depicted Bush as a proverbial Nero, fiddling as Iraq burned and claimed Bush was led into war by "jugheaded neo-conservatives." Matthews also absurdly questioned Dennis Kucinich if Democrats weren't pushing harder for troop withdrawals because: "They're afraid the media will jump on them if they say, 'let's get out of that country now?'" Which begs the question does Matthews even watch his own network?

First up Matthews greeted viewers with this opening salvo:

Matthews: "Tonight, the President fiddles while Iraq burns. He said he will not be rushed into changing policy. Meanwhile, a new poll shows most Americans now think we're actually losing in Iraq. And we can't do more to stop the civil war. Let's talk a Republican senator who says its criminal to keep on this way. Let's play Hardball."

Filing two reports for Thursday’s "American Morning," CNN reporter Bob Franken asserted that Democrats are "more sincere" in their expressions of concern for ailing South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson. Reporting on what the political ramifications would be if the Democrat resigned from Congress, thus giving Republicans control of the Senate, Franken used apocalyptic language to describe such an occurrence. The loss of Johnson, who suffered a brain hemorrhage on Wednesday, would be a "major, major disruption" and could leave Congress "ripped in half by fate" Such an event would enable the Republicans to "protect their party's president from a full-scale assault." It was this type of over-the-top reporting that led to Franken’s claim that the Democrats are the ones who really care about the Senator:

Bob Franken: " Without question, all the expressions of concern for Senator Johnson are very sincere, but I've got to say that the ones from the Democrats, Miles, are even more sincere."

Co-host Miles O'Brien "Absolutely."

Geraldo Rivera, who established himself as a crusader for illegal immigrants, ventured in to The O’Reilly Factor to pick a fight with host Bill O’Reilly on the issue. First, Geraldo did concede that an illegal immigrant with a criminal record who murdered a Marine should have been deported. However, he quickly moved to defend the 11 million people currently breaking our country’s immigration laws.

He first called the recent raid at an Iowa meat packing plant "the biggest jive mast bust." Geraldo then insulted the American workers exclaiming, "Do you know why they’re working there? They’re almost exclusively illegal, because no citizen will take that crappy job." He then connected those who favor immigration enforcement with bigots and xenophobes calling them "nativists."

On Thursday’s edition of The View, the ladies, along with guest co-host Dari Alexander of Fox News, discussed Democratic Senator Tim Johnson’s emergency brain surgery and the potential political fallout. Alexander explained to the audience that if Johnson had to resign from the Senate, the Republican governor of South Dakota would pick an interim senator to fulfill the remainder of Johnson’s term, thereby creating the potential for an even split in the Senate between Democrats and Republicans. Joy Behar chimed in and put forth another tin foil hat worthy conspiracy theory:

Joy Behar: "Is there such a thing as a man-made stroke? In other words, did someone do this to him?" Video Clip: Real Player (2MB) or Windows Media (2.45MB) Plus MP3 (383KB)

Well, it certainly didn’t take long for a member of the media to suggest that there’s some kind of conspiracy involved with Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-SD) medical condition. On Thursday’s “The View,” co-host Joy Behar questioned, “Is there such a thing as a man made stroke? In other words, did someone do this to him?”

Don't believe it? Well, those that can tolerate it can watch this disgraceful example of indecency here. Hat tip to Hot Air. A transcript is here.

Sadly, this wasn't the only disgrace, for when conservative co-host Elizabeth Hasselbeck asked why liberals are always seeing a conspiracy in everything, Behar unashamedly responded:

TREASON 101: ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY PROMOTES THE DESTRUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

In May of 2005, a Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) task force released "Building a North American Community", a blueprint for merging the United States, Mexico and Canada into one country called "North America". The plan, which is being implemented via the Security and Prosperity Partnership agreement signed last year between the leaders of the three countries, will destroy the sovereignty of the USA. The United States will cease to exist as an independent nation. The United States Constitution , including the Bill of Rights, will be extinct. Implementation of such a plan is, therefore, by definition, an act of TREASON. No other word fits the crime.

Analysts: Dollar collapse would result in 'amero'
Think deep recession likely regardless of Fed's actions

Prisonplanet.com | December 13, 2006
Jerome R. Corsi

Two analysts who have reconstructed money supply data after the Fed stopped publishing it argue a coming dollar collapse will set the stage for creating the amero as a North American currency to replace the dollar.
The reconstructed M3 data – the broadest measure of money – published on econometrician Gary Kuever's website, NowAndFutures.com , shows M3 increased at a rate of 11 percent in May, compared to 9 percent when the Federal Reserve quit publishing M3 data earlier this year.

Surely, Americans of all stripes ended up rooting for CNN's Wolf Blitzer as he sparred against that oily hater David Duke on Wednesday night. But many Americans also might suspect that the Duke booking was a stunt to goose ratings and create buzz for CNN. Conservatives have often been outraged that liberals would suggest Duke was one of them, when he was always appearing in the liberal media, and not on conservative talk radio. They made him famous. For those readers who are too young to remember the last national media heyday for David Duke, it was in the presidency of George H. W. Bush, whose election was widely believed by liberals to be the result of racist Republicans responding to Willie Horton's face in political ads. Here's an old article I wrote in 1992 on the phenomenon:  

Why is David Duke famous? The national media jumped all over the Duke story from the time he campaigned for and won a state representative seat on January 21, 1989. He gained nationwide infamy because his presence proved two things journalists would like to believe about American politics -- first, that the country's whites as a whole are still inherently racist; and second, that George Bush won the 1988 election almost completely because of that.

Today's starters:

Media: After resigning from CNN after making baseless accusations that American soldiers were deliberately trying to kill journalists, Eason Jordan has resurfaced as the head of a new Iraq war news site. Among other things, the site will attempt to find the mysterious AP source and purported Iraqi policeman Jamil Hussein. Michelle Malkin will be going there to look for him as well.

Bad judgment at CBS: The network led with Christmas shopping on the night news broke about South Dakota Democrat Tim Johnson was hospitalized.

Politics: Is the flying imams kerfuffle really a publicity stunt?

John McCain is trying to sell himself as the GOP establishment candidate this time around, according to Robert Novak. Ed Morrissey doesn't think it's working, at least at this point. John Kerry, meanwhile, is going to visit Iraq.

Ward Connerly, the noted opponent of affirmative action, is planning to sponsor several anti-preference ballot initiatives in 2008.

The Boston Herald reports that hundreds of journalists hungry for advancement have sent in resumés to become Bob Woodward's assistant. Making up facts to fit a preestablished narrative a plus. Also, like Mark Felt, you have to do all the work but give all the credit to Woodward.

Last October, Dante Chinni wrote in the Christian Science Monitor that Bob Woodward has an uncanny knack for finding quotes to match any narrative, even if it contradicts one of his earlier narratives.

You may not be Carl Bernstein, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work with Bob Woodward.

The legendary journalist is currently looking for a new assistant and took the unusual step of advertising on Web sites like journalismjobs.com.

The longer President Bush refuses to completely accept the Iraq Study Group's recommendations the more irked NBC's Tim Russert and Meredith Vieira seem to get. On this morning's Today show Vieira and Russert seemed dumbfounded that the President has yet to wave the white flag in Iraq as they ran down the results of the latest NBC News poll. Vieira declared to Russert: "As polls go it is as bad as it gets for the President." and after running a clip of Bush cynically pondered: "It sounds like the same old President Bush to me. How much do you think he has taken from this listening tour?" Russert, pivoting off the negative poll results quipped: "Real pessimism. When the Iraq Study Group came out and said the situation was 'grave and deteriorating,' that resonated with the American people. I think the President's political condition as we sit here this morning is 'grave and deteriorating."

Ladies and Gentlemen, let’s drop the partisanship for a second and recognize that the media coverage of Sen. Tim Johnson’s (D-SD) sudden illness has been nothing but disgraceful.

The first reports I heard on this issue came early yesterday on CNBC, and immediately the discussion was about how this could change the balance of power in the Senate. I was disgusted. (Update follows with how the network evening broadcasts covered the story.)

As my daughter and I left the gym in the early evening, she questioned me about the Senator, and how this would impact politics. I was a bit shocked, and asked her where she had heard about his malady. She said that it was on the television in the ladies’ locker room, and the announcers were discussing how this might hurt the Democrats.

Let’s get a grip for a second here, folks. A man is fighting for his life right now, and that should be much more important than how this impacts who will control the Senate. Yet, just moments ago, this was the headline of an Associated Press article: “GOP governor has the power to appoint Senate replacement.” These were the first two paragraphs:

Comedy lovers are likely familiar with the name Elayne Boosler, who was a popular comedienne in the late ’80s and early ’90s. Today, she is somewhat of a liberal activist, having moderated a Democrat presidential forum in 2003, and regularly subbing for syndicated liberal radio talk show host Stephanie Miller.

With that as pretext, Boosler published a blog at HuffnPuff Wednesday with a fascinating take on the recent Michael Richards AKA Kramer episode (emphasis mine throughout):

Words won't kill you unless they are "Ready, aim, fire!". Now that some time has gone by since the Michael Richards rant, let's talk about the true victim of the "n" word; standup comedy. The L.A. Times continues to feature articles on the Laugh Factory, focusing on further "n" word developments, and on black comedians lamenting the loss of their use of the "n" word at the club. They're determined to say it, even though the clubowner is fining them for it.

Stay with her, folks, for she’s got a compelling point:

The Democrats constant attack against Wal-Mart Has Hurt America Once Again. Just Like The Lies About George Bush and The Iraq War has Killed Thousands of Americans And undermined this Country for Political Reasons, The Democrats are now trying to hurt the economy by destroying The greatest friend to the American Consumer. This Proves The Democrats are not Mentally Ready to Asume Power and That endangers this Country. All across America people are becoming more discouraged by the day knowing they made a huge mistake by staying home on election day and allowing the Democrats to assume control of the congress . The Democrats have become a party of pacifists which our enemies thrive on and encourage and in the end will lead to the destruction of many of our cities in the very near future.

Click here for instructions on running Gaggle daily on your own site. There's also an archive of previous toons available here.

Click here for instructions on running Gaggle daily on your own site. There's also an archive of previous toons available here.