No Conservatives in CNN Panel Discussion on Taxes, Gays in the Military
CNN imported its Parker-Spitzer model of liberal versus slightly moderate to Friday's Situation Room, except reversing the sexes. Anchor Wolf Blitzer brought on Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen and Tea Party-hating columnist John Avlon to discuss the debate in Congress over tax rates and the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. Avlon took the same position as his colleague Kathleen Parker, that taxes should be raised on some rich, and joined Rosen in calling for the repeal of the controversial policy.
The two CNN political contributors appeared during the regular "Strategy Session" segment 49 minutes into the 5 pm Eastern hour. Blitzer read an excerpt from a recent blog item by Time's Mark Halperin where he wondered if the Democratic Party was "in the midst of a nervous breakdown." Rosen denied that this was the case and mouthed her party's talking points on the tax debate:
ROSEN: I think Democrats have been pretty clear for the last couple of months, which is- coming up to the end of the year, our priorities are extending the middle class tax cuts and extending unemployment insurance for the millions of Americans for whom it's running out at the end of the year. If Democrats are nervous, Republicans, in my view, are manic. They can't decide what's more important: to prevent unemployed people from feeding their families, or to give millionaires a tax break. It is just pathetic.
The liberal contributor stuck to her talking points, even after The Daily Beast columnist stated that "there is definitely a civil war within the Democratic Party...between the left and the center." She bemoaned how Republicans "have vowed to block anything that they do not approve of, anything that doesn't get attached to their millionaire's tax break, and if that's the case, there's not much else you can do about it."
Avlon replied to this by endorsing liberal Senator Chuck Schumer's proposal to raise taxes on the rich above a certain threshold:
AVLON: Well, you play offense against it, and I think- you know, one great gambit is what Senator Schumer has proposed, which is make the new threshold a million dollars. That's a great way of playing offense with this issue, and that's an example of the kind of tactical advantage you can take-
BLITZER: You think it will make a difference, John, to the Republicans if it were a million [dollars], as opposed to two hundred and fifty thousand?
AVLON: I think they would have a incredibly hard time defending their position if the threshold was a million, rather than two hundred and fifty thousand for a household, because it makes the distinction between the working wealthy in this country and the super rich, and that's where the distinction should be made.
Blitzer then raised the congressional debate over the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, and both of his guests called for its repeal. Avlon also lamented Senator John McCain lean to the right on this issue, echoing what he said about the Arizona Republican on CNN's AC360 program on August 24, 2010:
BLITZER: Let's get to another big issue, the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy that's before Congress right now. We heard more testimony today from the chiefs of the various branches of the U.S. armed forces. Senator McCain is taking the lead, in terms of opposing any change in the 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. Listen to what he said, and I'm going to play this clip.
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN (from Senate Armed Services Committee hearing): No one came up to me and said- gee, please, Senator McCain, get to work on 'don't ask don't tell.' In fact, every place I went, members of the military came up to me and said, thing's were fine- it's working.
BLITZER: He is the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee right now. Are you surprised, John, that he's really taking the lead in block- trying to block any change in 'don't ask, don't tell'?
AVLON: I am, because he hadn't taken this sort of a stand previously. I think it is a reflection of the primary campaign he ran this year, where he moved to the right to protect his right flank, and he seems to be continuing it. But there's a sense of discontinuity here in Senator McCain's position- not only with his own record- and even, actually, with positions articulated by his wife and daughter- but also with Senator Barry Goldwater, who held Senator McCain's seat before him, who famously said, you don't have be straight to shoot straight. I think it is time to move forward on this. I think it's an awkward positioning for a very honorable, independent senator who has now moved further to the right.
BLITZER: All right. Very quickly, Hilary, is anything going to happen on this right now?
ROSEN: I think Senator McCain has lost his moral high ground. I think that the Senate can still do this. If the Senate doesn't, the President needs to issue a stop-loss order. This will- may end up being in the President's hands. The fact that the Marine general today was allowed to go to Capitol Hill and testify that he was opposed to lifting the ban, in my view, is a complete violation of the chain of command. It was offensive. People have got to get a hold of this issue and deal with it now.
The CNN anchor didn't mention at any point during the segment that Rosen is a member of the board for the foundation of homosexual activist group Human Rights Campaign and once served as their interim director. An on-screen graphic noted that she is a "board member of several non-profits," but there was no specification as to which ones.
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Comments
CNN - no balance in their
Submitted by Van Halen on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 11:16am.
CNN - no balance in their stories.
No viewers in their audience.
At least MS-NBC is somewhat honest about their bias...
Submitted by krendler on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 12:17pm.
CNN is constantly running promos begging people to believe they're "right down the middle", just like Rick Sanchez used to claim. Doesn't pass the laugh test. Sure, they might be less shrill than the evening guys on MS-NBC but from the standpoint of the continuous, all-day, off-the-cuff "analysis" by their anchors (e.g., John Roberts, TJ Holmes, etc), they're well to the left of center, consistently confrontational with conservative guests, rarely using the term "liberal" while characterizing people as "conservative" frequently, the manner in which they pose questions, flat out regurgatation of Obama admin talking points, etc, etc. And, yes, the panels are ALWAYS lopsided in favor of liberals.
Avlon and CNN are complete
Submitted by TE on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 1:34pm.
Avlon and CNN are complete jokes. Avlon and CNN attempt (and fail) to pass off Avlon as some sort of "civil" so-called "moderate" "wise man", when, in fact, Avlon is nothing but a militant, virulent, whack job, leftist fundamentalist extremist. On all issues, Avlon's views are identical to those of leftist fundamentalist homosexualist nut job Hillary Rosen, Wolf Blitzer and every other person at CNN.
You can view Blitzer and CNN's abysmal, abysmal so-called "ratings" here: http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/the-scoreboard-thursday-december-2_b42494
Maybe they've still got a
Submitted by Barack_must_go..... on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 1:36pm.
Maybe they've still got a chance over at CNN if they lie about being a real news channel ( not that they are one anymore ).
They could model their entire 24/7 line up on the dishonest concept of being a fake ( political satire ) station like the reasonably successful Stewart / Colbert duo over at Comedy Central.
Afterall those two are the hugest douchebag shills for the Obama Socialist Regime but by calling the bullshit they spew " political satire " they can spew left wing bomb thrower propaganda four nights a week, call it comedy and continue for the most part to fly under the radar.
Barack_Must_Go.....
Taxes
Submitted by billb on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 2:49pm.
This morning, CNN is pushing the elimination of the mortgage interest deduction as recommended by the defecit commision. If they really want to raise REAL tax revenue, make employer provided health insurance TAXABLE! It should figure in your income, just like paid vacation and sick days. People who provide their own insurance get no deduction.
Who knows, this might solve the defecit AND health care insurance problem at the same time!
It makes you wonder how many on the left have insinuated
Submitted by Rush Fan on Sat, 12/04/2010 - 5:45pm.
themselves into Republican Administrations as pseudo Republicans. Take John Avlon, for example. Avlon worked as chief speechwriter for former Republican New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Avlon's wife, Margaret Hoover, supposedly a "Republican Strategist," is a contributor to Fox News's O'Reilly Factor, and worked in the Bush Administration. Hoover is pro-abortion and believes in gay marriage. She has stated that she wants to reform the GOP.
Of course, who can forget the most famous liberal in a Republican Administration, Colin Powell, who served under both Bush Administrations.
Do these leftist just faithfully serve their Republican employers, or do they attempt to wreak havoc within? Well, in the case of Secretary of State Colin Powell, and his deputy Richard Armitage, we know they both kept silent while a Special Prosecutor spent a lot of time investigating, and both let Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Chief of Staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, erroneouly take the fall for the release of Valerie Plame's name.
Let's not forget that she is
Submitted by Martin2717 on Sun, 12/05/2010 - 3:30am.
Let's not forget that she is the great granddaughter of Herbert Hoover, who was mostly responsible for the Great Depression escalating the way it did. She may be a "Republican" but she is not a conservative. Being married to this Avlon clown, speaks volumes IMO.