Noel Sheppard's blog

FNC's Varney Heatedly Debates Porkulus With Air America Host

Fox News's Stuart Varney had a heated debate Wednesday with Air America's Mike Papantonio about the state of the economy and the effectiveness of the $787 billion stimulus package.

Subbing for Neil Cavuto on Wednesday's "Your World," Varney tried repeatedly to get his liberal guest to admit that porkulus hasn't worked and that the economy is getting worse.

Papantonio wasn't having any of that hypocritically and amnesiacly claiming, "We have to get behind this President and be more positive" adding "You cannot be ankle-biting every day this man says something, you can't be attacking"  (video embedded below the fold, h/t NBer Dan Scott):

How Will Media Report June's Larger Than Expected Job Losses?

As NewsBusters has been reporting, Obama-loving media have been very quick to point out how recent unemployment reports from the Labor Department, though showing HUGE job losses, have been better than analysts expected.

The most absurd example was two months ago when a 539,000 decrease in nonfarm payrolls was applauded by many media outlets as being good news.

With that in mind, the Labor Department announced Thursday that job losses in June were far greater than analysts had forecast, making one wonder how the Obama-loving media will spin this positively.

Consider that as you read Bloomberg's early take:

Media Mostly Ignore German and Hungarian Tax Cuts

The government of Hungary voted to cut income taxes Monday to pull itself out of recession, and America's media for the most part ignored it.

At the same time, German chancellor Angela Merkel is pushing for lower taxes to help her nation's economy, and our press have similarly been less than enthusiastic about sharing the news.

One of the exceptions in both cases is the Wall Street Journal which reported the following Tuesday:  

Scary Blog Alert: Olbermann is Trustworthy, Fair and Unbiased

In today's "This Is One of the Scariest Things I've Ever Read" segment, a Kos Kid thinks MSNBC's Keith Olbermann is trustworthy, fair, and unbiased.

Feels like Halloween, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, in this love letter to the "Countdown" host that amazingly made Daily Kos's recommended diaries list, that was just the tip of the iceberg:

Milbank and HuffPoster Heatedly Debate Press Conference Plants

As NewsBusters' Tim Graham reported, the Obama administration planted Huffington Post blogger Nico Pitney to ask a question at Tuesday's press conference.

The following day, the Washington Post's Dana Milbank also took the White House to task for this shameful episode. 

On Sunday's "Reliable Sources," Milbank and Pitney had a rather heated debate about what transpired that included, according to Pitney, the WaPoer calling him a "d**k" (video embedded below the fold with transcript):

Stephanopoulos and Krugman: Democrats Punish Adulterers More Harshly

"Politicians of both parties stray. The Democrats actually seem to punish their strayers more harshly."

So said -- with a straight face no less! -- the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman on Sunday's "This Week."

Even more laughable, for at least the third time in so many days, former Clinton advisor, and current "This Week" host, George Stephanopoulos agreed.

Make sure there isn't any food or drink in your mouth before you proceed (video available here, relevant section at 18:10):

Media Ignore EPA Suppressing Skeptical Global Warming Report

The day before the House was to vote on a controversial energy bill destined to be the largest tax hike in American history, it was revealed that the Environmental Protection Agency had suppressed an internal report challenging the entire global warming myth.

Despite the importance of this study, and how it related to a debate about to ensue on the House floor, its existence and suppression went almost completely ignored by America's media.

This, of course, comes in stark contrast to regular and frequent news reports in previous years accusing the Bush White House of intentionally censoring the science of climate change.

Making matters worse, the media have no excuse for this current oversight for several House members held a press conference about this issue early Thursday afternoon (h/t NBer Joseph Johnson):

Olbermann Warns Kos Kids: Don't Criticize Me -- It Helps the Right

In today's "Does His Ego Know No Bounds?" segment, Keith Olbermann warned Daily Kos readers on Friday that they should not post diaries or comments critical of him for it strengthens the Right.

As NewsBusters Mitchell Blatt reported Friday, a diary was posted at Daily Kos on July 18 that bashed the "Countdown" host for just attacking Republicans and not doing any real news.

Olbermann clearly was displeased, and posted a response that was two parts Narcissus and one part Norman Bates (h/t Hot Air):

California Assembly Speaker: Conservative Talkers Are Terrorists

Conservative talk radio hosts are terrorists.

So said the Speaker of California's Assembly in an interview published at the Los Angeles Times Saturday.

As amazing as it may seem, this was Karen Bass's (D-LA) response to the question, "How do you think conservative talk radio has affected the Legislature's work?" (h/t NBer Gary Hall):

Boehner's Amazing Speech on the House Floor Friday

Just before the House passed what could end up being the largest tax increase in U.S. history, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Oh.) took to the floor and dissected the disgusting "American Clean Energy and Security Act" while accusing Democrats of shamefully adding 300 pages to the bill at 3 AM Friday morning.

In what some referred to as a filibuster, Boehner took more than sixty minutes methodically analyzing sections of the midnight hour additions as members of his Party and folks in the gallery cheered him on.

Every American owes it to him or herself to watch this entire marvelous speech and better understand how this bill if passed by the Senate will dramatically increase energy costs while sending what's left of our nation's manufacturing jobs to other countries (part one embedded right, five more parts embedded below the fold, Boehner's fabulous exchange with Rep. Waxman occurs at 6:40 of part two):

Sarah Palin Strikes Back: 'John Kerry - Why the Long Face?'

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin once again earned her nickname "Sarahcuda" when she struck back at Sen. John Kerry for his pathetic comment about it being too bad that it wasn't she who went missing instead of South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford.

For those that missed it, Kerry was speaking to a group of business and civic leaders in Boston Tuesday, and according to the Boston Herald, said of the Sanford affair: “Too bad, if a governor had to go missing it couldn’t have been the governor of Alaska. You know, Sarah Palin.’’

On Friday, speaking in front of military members in Kosovo, Palin hit back (video embedded below the fold, h/t Hot Air):

Friday Funnies: 'What If Government Ran Health Care?'

The good folks at Reason have created a short video satirizing what healthcare will look like in America if the Democrats have their way (h/t Hot Air):

After GOP-less ObamaCare Special, ABC's Sawyer Chides McConnell and Steele for Not Coming on Thursday's 'GMA'

Apparently feeling some heat about its decision to not allow any Republicans to participate in its primetime ObamaCare infomercial Wednesday evening, ABC decided at the last minute to invite Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and RNC Chairman Michael Steele on Thursday's "Good Morning America."

Unfortunately, both McConnell and Steele, having been given less than 24 hours notice, were not available, and the RNC suggested "GMA" contact Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wi.), one of the GOP's leading voices on healthcare in the House.

Although Ryan was available, and did speak with Sawyer Thursday morning, the "GMA" co-host still felt the need to tell viewers McConnell and Steele declined her invitation (video embedded right):

Climate Progress's Romm Blames Tiger's US Open Loss on Global Warming

Climate Progress's Joe Romm believes global warming caused all the rain at last week's U.S. Open golf tournament, and because favorite Tiger Woods was in the first draw of players most impacted by the inclement weather, it cost him the victory.

In his latest exhibition of Global Warming Derangement Syndrome, Romm conveniently ignored how New York is currently experiencing one of its coldest Junes on record.

Alas, as we've seen from Romm and his ilk in the past, facts are often inconvenient truths to be summarily cast aside when they conflict with the agenda (h/t Climate Depot):

London Mayor: Obama and BBC Have Done More For Iran Than Bush and Fox News

"Obama's intelligent speech in Cairo has had a big impact in the Muslim world, and it is obvious that it is his presence in the White House – far more than any BBC broadcast – that is giving hope to the demonstrators in Tehran...I do not believe it could possibly have happened had John McCain been elected...Who knows whether [the Iranian protestors] will succeed, but we can safely say that the BBC and Barack Obama have done more to change Iran than Fox News and George W Bush."

So wrote London's mayor in an astonishing display of Obama Derangement Syndrome Monday.

In his British Telegraph article entitled "What has Ayatollah Khamenei of Iran got against little old Britain?", Boris Johnson sung the new American president's praises in a fashion likely to upset many a stomach (h/t NBer Right2thePoint): 

WaPo: Obama's Cairo Speech Encouraged Iranian Revolt

The recent protests in Iran, as well as Hezbollah's political defeat in Lebanon days earlier, are the result of Barack Obama's speech in Cairo on June 4.

Such nonsense was actually reported by the Washington Post Tuesday.

At this time, it appears the real Obama Derangement Syndrome is creating a nexis between anything good that happens anywhere on the planet to some presidential deed (h/t Hot Air):

Juan Williams: Press Aren't Treating Obama Like a Politician

For the second time in less than 48 hours, NPR's Juan Williams accused the press of not doing their job in properly reporting the deeds and doings of America's new President Barack Obama.

Having accused the news media of "kowtowing to the Obama administration" during Friday's "Special Report" on FNC, Williams went even further on Sunday's "Fox News Sunday" (h/t Jennifer Rubin):

[W]hat really, you know, strikes me is the celebrity nature of the treatment, the coverage of him as a celebrity versus the policy-maker...So you know, the problem here is he's not being treated as a politician. The press is not being sufficiently adversarial, which is its role, to hold him accountable.

What follows is an embedded video of this entire extremely candid discusion of the press's abdication of journalistic integrity along with a transcript:

FTC To Go After Bloggers That Make False Claims

In today's "Truly Delicious Irony" segment, the Federal Trade Commission, just months after so-called journalists decided who should win a presidential primary and subsequent election, is going to begin going after bloggers who make false claims about products and/or don't fully disclose conflicts of interest.

Imagine that.

As reported by the Associated Press Sunday:

Hannity Again Discusses California's Congress-created Dust Bowl

The farms that supply much of America's produce are quickly becoming extinct.

On Friday, as I drove back from my southern California office north on I-5, I witnessed it firsthand seeing for myself what many are now calling the Congress-created Dust Bowl.

Of course, global warming obsessed media, when they bother to report this dire situation, typically blame the problem on California's drought.

Fortunately, Fox News viewers know the truth, as on Friday, for the second time in two months (see Brad Wilmouth's "FNC: Drought-Stricken Farmers Lose Fight for Water to Endangered Fish"), Sean Hannity informed the nation what the real cause is -- the Endangered Species Act and a federal judge's decision in August 2007 to save a little-known fish called the Delta smelt (video embedded below the fold):