John Stephenson's blog

Based solely on 8-year old rumors and gossip the paper that endorsed him now throws slime on his reputation. Of course McCain denies the New York Times-published allegations vehemently. See video of McCain's denial here.

There are actually no direct allegations of any sexual scandal here, and mostly attacks his ethics on dealing with lobyists. The allegations are paper thin, and should be easy enough to brush off. Its curious to me though, why the NY Times ignored the allegations against John Edwards. The allegations have no meat, but they decided it would be fit to be front page above the fold. Anonymous sources delivering nothing of substance is just irresponsible.

Captain Ed:

First she said that only Obama can "fix America's broken soul," and now this. If anything can stop Obama from getting the nomination or eventual Presidency, his wife running her mouth could be it.  See video here.

“For the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country,” she told a Milwaukee crowd today, “because it feels like hope is making a comeback.”

Women faint around him, and his message of hope and change are moving the mountains of Clinton inevitability. Now his wife tells us that he is the only one that can "fix American souls".

We have lost the understanding that in a democracy, we have a mutual obligation to one another — that we cannot measure the greatness of our society by the strongest and richest of us, but we have to measure our greatness by the least of these. That we have to compromise and sacrifice for one another in order to get things done. That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls. Our souls are broken in this nation.

Please, tell me what this smirky guy is apologizing for? Why is he being suspended again? Oh, because he used a politically incorrect, and possibly derogatory term towards a Clinton.

Video of David Shuster groveling for forgiveness here.

MSNBC says it has temporarily suspended anchor David Shuster from all NBC news broadcasts — except to offer his on-air apology for what he said about Chelsea Clinton.

Shuster outraged the Clinton campaign by saying on the air that the campaign had "pimped out" the Clintons' daughter, when they had her place phone calls to party superdelegates on her mother's behalf.

In a conference call with reporters, Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson on Friday excoriated MSNBC's Shuster and called the comment "beneath contempt" and disgusting. And he said it could threaten Clinton's participation in a debate later this month on MSNBC and in future debates on the network.

Take a look at this video and tell me with a straight face that these two bufoons report news fair, balanced, and unbiased.

One would think that a Democratic fundraiser fugitive that was involved with one of the prominate Democrats running for President was sentenced to three years for Fraud it would be newsworthy. However, CNN not only buried it behind all the post-Iowa ruckus, but also neglected to mention which candidate(s) the disgraced Hsu donated and fundraised. That would be Hillary Clinton.

A former fugitive captured in Colorado has been sentenced to three years in prison — after a judge rejected his bid to throw out a 16-year-old fraud conviction.

Attorneys for disgraced political donor Norman Hsu had asked Judge Stephen Hall to dismiss his 1992 no-contest plea, saying Hsu’s right to a speedy trial was violated because authorities were not actively pursuing him during his years as a fugitive.

 Update: Video of Huckabee's Press Conference.

Was it a change of heart or manipulating the media?  My personal opinion is of the latter, and I've gathered several reactions from other bloggers that seem to agree.  The way the media is reporting it right now, Mike just made a stupid mistake and it is backfiring already.

 Here is what happened via the Caucus:

Mike Huckabee is holding a press conference right now in which he was supposed to unveil a new negative ad against arch rival Mitt Romney.

But Mr. Huckabee came to the press conference and announced he’d had a change of heart and would not be broadcasting the ad after all.

But wait! It gets better.

He then broadcast it for a room crammed with reporters, photographers and television cameras.

As shown in this video, Chris Wallace and FOX News Sunday decided to misrepresent the words said by Fred Thompson by partially quoting them out of context.  Notice in the quote below of FOX, the use of the multiple dots.  This kind of covers people in misquoting folks in a legal manner. 

 "I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them....I'm not sure in the world we live in today it's a terribly good thing that a President has too much fire in his belly."

However it is obvious how mis-leading it is when his actual quote is put into context.  USA Today started this mis-quote meme as Newsbuster's Tom Blumer points out very well.

 Update:  So I'm wrong...Lets get those boycotts rollin!

URGENT MESSAGE! CALL OFF THE BOYCOTTS!

Rumors went out that Ron Paul was being excluded from a FOX Debate and his fans freaked out, as they have become famous for doing. They called for boycotts and protests, etc. Turns out that he was never even excluded from any debate, and that the debate in question didn't even exist. Oops! Panic buttons off.

First, the following article was written by my co-blogger, Jon Jay Ray.  He gets all credit, I just thought it fit in at Newsbusters.

The Leftist "Media Matters" is scandalized because Fox News reported an anti-Greenie story that was originally put on the net via a blog rather than by one of the mainstream news organizations. Fox was reporting — HORROR — that a group of 400 scientists have rejected the "consensus" view that the world is warming up. The scientific "consensus" on global warming has unravelled and we can't have that!

How pathetic they are. They couldn't question the truth of the story — because it is true. The only thing to criticize that they could find was who reported the event. We must bow down to the Leftist media and let them tell us what to think, apparently. We are naughty children from whom some information must be kept hidden. They are in for a lot of disappointment from now on, I would say.

Update (Ken Shepherd | 19:54 EST | Dec. 25): Huckabee staffer responds (see bottom of post)

I've been curious as to why no major MSM outlet has picked up on this? I wonder if Tim Russert will ask something about it on Meet the Press?

Jonah Goldberg wonders why this hasn't made more of a splash. So am I. Maybe now that NRO has picked it up, it will pick up some steam.

With as many critiques that I've given Huckabee, I've never questioned him on social issues. I've always thought that was his strong point. But now comes news that those principles may not be so bonafide, at least when money gets involved.

The Caucus Cooler reveals details on some shady fundraising that includes $35,000 from an embryonic stem cell research group.

Just in case you've been living under a rock I will summarize what has led up to this.  Someone associated with the Huckabee campaign responded to critical analysis from Rush about Huckabee, claiming in short that Rush didn't think for himself and just repeated chatter from the DC/Manhattan elites.  Mr. Limbaugh responded, and it was quite blunt (audio here).  This resulted in a lot of backpedelling from Huckabee who pleaded:

Matthew Sheffield asked me to crosspost this.  He said it would be perfect for Newsbusters.  You can listen to the audio of Rush Limbaugh's reaction here.  Following is a roundup of reactions from bloggers.

Wow! Now this is gonna have to sting, at least a bit. There may not be many conservatives in Iowa that read the blogs, but I know there are plenty that tune into talk radio. As Jammie Wearing Fool says:

If you're now a top contender for the GOP nomination, the last man you want to alienate is Rush Limbaugh.

AP photographer Bilal Hussein made a reputation staging anti-war propaganda photos. In April of 2006 American forces detained him with a cache of weapons. The AP waged an all out campaign against our military’s actions. They demanded that we either charge or release this tool of theirs. Now the military has decided to charge him, and the AP are still whining.

The U.S. military plans to seek a criminal case in an Iraqi court against an award-winning Associated Press photographer but is refusing to disclose what evidence or accusations would be presented.

An AP attorney on Monday strongly protested the decision, calling the U.S. military plans a “sham of due process.” The journalist, Bilal Hussein, has already been imprisoned without charges for more than 19 months.

What liberal bias?

Remember that big announcement I promised earlier? Well, it’s now official.

Newsweek press release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Tuesday, November 13, 2007

MARKOS MOULITSAS, FOUNDER AND PUBLISHER OF DAILYKOS.COM,
TO BECOME NEWSWEEK CONTRIBUTOR FOR 2008 PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN

New York — Markos Moulitsas, the founder and publisher of dailykos.com, will become a Newsweek contributor for the 2008 presidential campaign, offering occasional opinion pieces to the pages of the magazine and to Newsweek.com.

"We have always sought to represent a diversity of views in Newsweek, and we think Markos will be a great part of that tradition," said Newsweek Editor Jon Meacham. "He will give our readers in print and online a unique perspective. As always, our job is to create the most energetic and illuminating magazine possible, and Markos will help us do that as the campaign unfolds."

As Ken Shepherd of this site has pointed out before, if the military falls short of its recruiting goals the MSM trumpet it and frame it as a result of an unpopular war. So how will the media spin this? How will they react to the news that all military components meet and/or exceed their recruiting goals?

The first month of fiscal 2008 was a success for all active and reserve military components.

In a meeting with Pentagon reporters today, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said all components met or exceeded their recruiting goals for October.

On the active-duty side, the Army made 101 percent of its goal of 4,500, with 4,564 recruits. The Navy made 100 percent of its goal of 2,788 recruits. The Marine Corps made 102 percent of its goal of 2,720, with 2,788 enlisting. The Air Force made 100 percent of its goal of 2,656.

Airing on PBS tonight at 8 p.m. is “Judgment Day: Intelligent Design on Trial”, a two hour documentary that tells the story of the Dover case. The ACLU are super-excited!

Of all of the cases the ACLU has taken on in the last few years, our challenge to the promotion of “intelligent design” in Dover, Pennsylvania’s public schools is one that truly speaks volumes about our work - work that ACLU supporters like you make possible.

That is why I wanted to let you know about an upcoming program highlighting this landmark case.

Here is a preview:

I won’t know how objective the documetary itself is until I watch it, however a recent move by PBS has one group up in arms:

You may remember the controversy over a middle school in Maine providing birth control to eleven year olds without parental consent. It was a hot topic a few weeks ago. Well, now we have this nice piece of propaganda from the AP.

People decisively favor letting their public schools provide birth control to students, but they also voice misgivings that divide them along generational, income and racial lines, a poll showed.

Sixty-seven percent support giving contraceptives to students, according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll. About as many — 62 percent — said they believe providing birth control reduces the number of teenage pregnancies.

I don't want to sound heartless towards the many victims of the California wildfires, but this L.A. Times piece is just a sob story shilling for illegal alien sympathy!

Flames were only one worry for some illegal immigrants in the fire zone. Equally scary were the crowded roads and evacuation centers, heavy with law enforcement officers, including U.S. Border Patrol agents.

Some wondered if they would be deported if they went to shelters.

It gets even better. The ACLU is really trying to pull at the liberal heart-strings with ridiculous statements like this one:

Immigrant rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, however, claim that authorities have created a climate of intimidation through neglect and such policies as asking for identification at some shelters.

Heartbreaking video! Kellie Adams, a victim of the DC Snipers, tearfully speaks out about a broadcast of John Allen Muhammad by CNN where he tries to rally support and convince people he isn’t a monster. She wonders why CNN gives air time to such un-newsworthy, and white-washed garbage, when no one talks to victims families and victims anymore to see what they are going through five years later.

I’m not sure exactly what broadcast Kellie is speaking of, but perhaps it was this one hour white-wash special pointed out by Kathleen McKinley. Perhaps it was this. Or maybe it was this. There is plenty of sympathetic pieces at CNN to choose from, so I don’t doubt her.

This needs attention. Maybe if the blogs give it some air time, the media will not be able to ignore it.

John Stossel dares to question the conventional wisdom of liberal minds and MSM on the topic of global warming in the following video. 

The heartbreaking part of this report is to see the reaction of the children being interviewed.  They have obviously been indoctrinated with only one side of the story to the point of fear.  When asked where they learn this, one kid points to Al Gore's "Inconvenient Truth."

One point that John takes apart as factless is that even if global warming is real, that it is man's fault.  Despite recent developments, man can't control the weather, much less the climate. 

John points out that there is another side to the story and that too often the scientists that have tried to tell it have been silenced and threatened.  As John says, "Give me a break". 

Even though folks like Al Gore say "the debate is over", the debate is long from over.  The only reason it appears so is because the critics are too often silenced.

It will be interesting to see the New York Times try to wiggle an excuse to get out of the consequences of this, if they even have the decency to try. It will be interesting to watch the backlash and the apologists. It is interesting, but sadly not shocking.

This doesn’t need much added to it:

Every major daily paper in New York took note of President Bush’s decision to bestow the first Medal of Honor of Operation Enduring Freedom on Navy SEAL Lt. Michael Murphy - a Long Islander who gave his life for his country and his fellow SEALs.

Every paper but one, that is.

And it shouldn’t be particularly hard to guess which one.

The controversy started when a Mexican bar owner in Reno Nevada flew the Mexican flag above that of the United States. This is illegal under United States Code Section 7, Title Four.  An insulted and offended American veteran, Jim Brossard, felt he had to take action and cut down both flags.  After much controversy in blogs and media, the ACLU released a statement urging the media to "correct the misinformation that it is illegal" to fly foreign flags over the U.S. flag.

If this exclusive is completely accurate then it is a bombshell story that the media completely ignored or overlooked. It probably didn’t line up with their narrative for the war. According to the report, the Time reporter that broke this story played the fool to an al Qaeda operative and the actual attacks were done by militant operatives led by Al Qaeda. Others were quick to echo the propaganda , overlooking key facts and evidence as the MSM does so well, from the New York Times to Congressman John Murtha.

Nathaniel R. Helms has the story:

The media piled on when President Bush used his veto pen on this children's health insurance bill. They tried to drop the absolute moral authority bomb on it big time and paint him as not caring about children. Now it looks like a little backfire is on the horizon.

On September 29th, 12 year old Graeme Frost of Maryland got to do the Democrats’ radio address, in which he told his story of how he and his sister were seriously injured in a car accident, and if it hadn’t been for SCHIP, they wouldn’t be here today. The Baltimore Sun did a story on the family, in which it stated the family couldn’t get health insurance through their work.

"Bonnie Frost works for a medical publishing firm; her husband, Halsey, is a woodworker. They are raising their four children on combined income of about $45,000 a year. Neither gets health insurance through work."

Despite much photographic evidence of defacement and criminal graffiti by far left, anti-war, group Code Pink at a U.S. Marine Recruitment Center, The Berkeley Daily Planet ran the headline, "Code Pink Protests Marine Recruitment Center." It was more than hanging up pink posters that said "RECRUITERS LIE, CHILDREN DIE" and chanting anti-war cheers. As is often the case with this radical leftist group, things went overboard into the criminal realm of property defacement and damage. Yet, even beyond the lacking headline tag, one would never know if reading the Berkely Daily Planet.

In case you missed it, the last episode of a CBS crime show, called "Cold Case," depicted Christian teens in an abstinence club as sexually active hypocrites that actually go to the extremes of stoning a member to death to keep their activities a secret. Quite extreme compared to reality. When is the last time you heard of a Christian abstinence club stoning someone to death?

The MRC's Culture and Media Institue, a defender of traditional values, says it is an attempt to influence this fall’s congressional debate on abstinence education programs. The show also depicts abstinence-only education as "useless, if not actively harmful."

Meanwhile in the real world of Iran, a real woman is about to really be stoned. Where is the media on this?

MSM coverage over the non-racist statements of right-of-center pundit Bill O'Reilly has been trumpeted loudly and lots.  But when John Edwards says to a group of kids on MTV that young black men will soon either be in prison or dead, there is barely a blip on the radar.  If a Republican cadidate would have said this, the MSM would have made certain it was a campaign killer.  It would have been red meat for the echo chambers.  Here is what he said.

“We cannot build enough prisons to solve this problem. And the idea that we can keep incarcerating and keep incarcerating — pretty soon we’re not going to have a young African-American male population in America. They’re all going to be in prison or dead. One of the two.”

NewsBusters editor Brent Baker has done a superb job reporting on the smear job against Bill O'Reilly from the liberal group Media Matters. Fox News's John Gibson does an awesome job at tearing them apart. If you haven't heard the audio from his show yet... you should definitely take a listen.

Quoting Gibson:

This thing about Rush is really crystal clear. You can see how they lie. In this case, they said Rush said something, posted an audio recording of it and an audio transcript and cut it off at the precise moment where the next thing he said proved them wrong. Heres how it went down. I'll play this bit and you can hear what Media Matters posted of what Rush said and then I'll play you what he said next....the words that came next. The words that came right after they cut it off....and you will see...here...because this is radio...you will hear the live admission by this Soros backed group called Media Matters.