Noel Sheppard's blog

Imagine if you will that in September 1996, just days after America launched a missile strike on Baghdad to expand the “no fly zone,” Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich met with Saddam Hussein to discuss foreign policy matters without the permission of President Clinton.

Would the media have vociferously discussed the possibility that Gingrich had violated federal law in doing so?

If the answer is a resounding “Yes,” then why have extremely few press outlets broached this issue as it pertains to current Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s (D-California) recent potentially law-breaking trip to Syria?

To best understand the issue, a little history is necessary. The Logan Act was created in 1799, and reads as follows:

Last Friday, “The Young Turks” of Air America Radio invited comedian Jackie Mason on to discuss his new book. To say the least, hosts Cenk Uygur and Ben Mankiewicz displayed a level of rancor and invective that they should both be ashamed of (video available here).

The discussion was so extraordinarily hostile that at one point, as the conversation moved to what Israel had offered former PLO leader Yasser Arafat at Camp David in exchange for peace back in 2000, Uygur incredulously said to his guest:

Are you even remotely attached to the facts? They wanted to give 98 percent of the country back to the Palestinians?!?! I’ll take it right now!

Fascinating, yes? After all, Uygur, despite showing a remarkable lack of historical knowledge basically said on national radio that he’d be happy if Israel gave 98 percent of its land to the Palestinians.

Think I’m kidding? Well, the following transcript of this disgraceful interview comes directly from Air America’s website (emphasis added throughout):

For those in desperate need of a little comic relief on a Thursday afternoon, the following video provided by our dear friend Ms Underestimated is an absolute must see.

Dennis Miller was Jon Stewart’s guest on last Friday’s “Daily Show,” and the pair were absolutely side-splittingly funny.

In a six-minute, commercial-free segment, Miller took on Nancy Pelosi, Al Gore, Robert Byrd, and a number of political figures in a fashion only he can.

For instance, here was Miller’s take on the current Speaker of the House:

Imagine for a moment in the midst of the media’s current fixation with man-made global warming that Alaska experienced near-record high temperatures for the month of March. Do you think this would have been headline news, with folks like Meredith Vieira, Diane Sawyer, Charles Gibson, Brian Williams, and Katie Couric reporting the dire data with pictures of polar bears floating on broken ice flows?

Well, if the answer is a resounding “Yes,” why didn’t any of these news agencies bother sharing weather data from America’s 49th state concerning the previous month being one of the coldest on record?

As reported by the Alaska Climate Research Center (emphasis added):

A rather inconvenient truth occurred in late March that went totally unreported by the global warming alarmists in the media.

On the very day that soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore was informing Congress of the planet’s imminent doom, the Anchorage Daily News reported that this winter has been so cold there that fire hydrants are exploding.

I bet your favorite drive-by media outlet didn’t share any of this as they were falling all over themselves with sycophantic praise for the global warming alarmist-in-chief (h/t NB member dscott, emphasis added throughout):

Better strap yourself in for this one, sports fans, for the Washington Post ran an editorial Thursday harshly criticizing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and the “foolish shuttle diplomacy” she exhibited on her controversial trip to Syria this week.

(UPDATE: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert issued a press release denying giving Pelosi a "peace message" for Syria.)

Entitled “Pratfall in Damascus,” the piece pounded Pelosi early and often (emphasis added throughout):

HOUSE SPEAKER Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) offered an excellent demonstration yesterday of why members of Congress should not attempt to supplant the secretary of state when traveling abroad.

Shocked? Well, the Post's editorial staff was just getting warmed up. Check those seatbelts again:

Vanity Fair has just released its second annual “Green Issue.” This year, actor Leonardo DiCaprio was prominently placed on the cover -- captured by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz no less -- standing at the Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon in southeast Iceland perfectly looking the part as Hollywood's foremost concerned environmentalist.

In the featured piece, DiCaprio was labeled “The Man of the Hour,” and the following excerpt of his soon to be released documentary “The 11th Hour” was offered to the unsuspecting public (emphasis added throughout):

So, we find ourselves on the brink. It's clear humans have had a devastating impact on our planet's ecological web of life.

Wow. We’ve had a devastating impact on this planet? Devastating? Really? DiCaprio continued his sermon:

Andrea Mitchell and Chris Matthews orchestrated a rather obvious flip-flop Monday of a controversial statement the former made on the “Chris Matthews Show” the day before.

In a nutshell, Matthews’ Sunday panel was discussing the politics of Iraq. During several instances, Mitchell stated that Gen. David Petraeus had recently had a private meeting with the Republican caucus promising progress in the embattled nation by August.

The next day on “Hardball,” Matthews, in the middle of a discussion about presidential candidates, suddenly asked Mitchell about Petraeus. She answered by stating the general had recently addressed both Republicans and Democrats about progress in Iraq, after which the discussion quickly reverted back to presidential candidates (video available here).

Here's what Mitchell said Sunday that apparently needed correcting:

An as yet unpublished report from Ottawa, Canada, suggests that there is absolutely no ecological advantage to using ethanol blends in cars versus conventional unleaded gasoline.

Think this will make headlines here in America?

Regardless of the answer, the Canadian Broadcasting Company reported on Friday (video available here, emphasis added throughout):

An unpublished federal report appears to undermine the belief that commercially available ethanol-blended fuel produces cleaner emissions than regular gasoline.

The piece marvelously continued:

As many people know, Rosie O’Donnell has landed herself in another high-profile brouhaha with yet another high-profile media figure.

In December, it was Donald Trump. Now, it’s Bill O’Reilly.

Yet, this time, her statements which precipitated the skirmish – that America may have set up the recent showdown between Iran and the captured British sailors, as well as the Bush administration being involved in bringing down the World Trade Center on 9/11 – appear to have enflamed the American people.

In fact, AOL is currently running an online poll asking the question (h/t Hot Air): "Should ABC fire Rosie, as O'Reilly implies?" The tally as of 10:00 AM EST Tuesday is:

While conservatives in the nation’s capital gathered on March 29 to recognize some of the most disgraceful media performances of 2006 at the MRC’s 20th Anniversary Gala, one of the evening’s “winners” was being unceremoniously torn to shreds by Fox News Channel’s Bill O’Reilly (two-part videos available here and here).

In fact, the host went so far as to ask his guests, Bernie Goldberg and Jane Hall, if the time had come for ABC to cut its ties with the outspoken and controversial comedienne.

O’Reilly perfectly set up the discussion:

For those skeptical about man’s role in climate change who haven’t grown concerned about the media’s fascination with this issue, and the propaganda being spread by soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore and his schlockumentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” this report by the Associated Press Saturday should open your eyes (emphasis added throughout):

Citing Al Gore's movie on global warming, a federal judge has advanced a lawsuit against the government for its financing of overseas projects that may contribute to climate change.

Shocked? You should be, because the alarmism running through society concerning this issue, and being flamed by Gore and his sycophant cadre in the media and Hollywood, clearly carries risks that an obedient and complicit press ignore:

Despite the constant drumbeat coming from the media and their global warming prophet soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore, we have lately seen more and more noted scientists around the world speaking out against the supposed consensus that man causes climate change.

The most recent entry on the side of the skeptics was Dr. Syun-Ichi Akasofu, the former director of the University of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research Center.

As reported by the Anchorage Daily News Sunday (emphasis added throughout):

On Monday, a blogger had to cancel a speaking engagement at a tech conference because she was receiving death threats from people through her e-mail and at other websites.

On Tuesday, a radio personality and blogger at the Huffington Post suggested that White House Press Secretary Tony Snow has cancer because he lies and works for Fox News.

I kid you not.

His name is Charles Karel Bouley, and what follows are excerpts from this abomination intentionally placed after the break for those that would prefer to not read this kind of deplorable vitriol (h/t Allah at Hot Air, emphasis added throughout):

Bloggers receiving death threats? Can’t happen, right? After all, blogosphere denizens are all intelligent, thoughtful people with intellectual capacities and moralities far beyond most mortals, correct?

Well, think again, because a programming instructor/blogger from Colorado by the name of Kathy Sierra cancelled her appearance at the O’Reilly ETech conference in San Diego after receiving astoundingly horrid death threats via e-mail and postings at a number of rather debased websites.

What follows is a disturbing tale as the creator of the “Head First’ series of books about computer programming posted Monday at her “Creating Passionate Users” blog (h/t Instapundit). However, the reader is cautioned to proceed with care, for her account is raw, vulgar, and extremely shocking:

Seymour Hersh of “The New Yorker” has been an outspoken critic of the Bush administration and the war in Iraq for many years. This certainly should come as no surprise to folks familiar with his name, his work, and his style of dangerously activist journalism.

On March 11, Hersh added a new wrinkle to his résumé by not only doing a radio interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, but also actually discussing what he believes is the American military strategy towards Iran including what he called "an intensive planning for an air strike" and  "some sort of on the ground operation."

I kid you not.

The shocking interview was transcribed at the IRIB website (h/t NRO’s Michael Rubin, emphasis added throughout):

As the Business & Media Institute reported last year, press reports of climate change have been going on since the 1800s.

Over the weekend, I was sent a list of New York Times articles dating back to 1855 addressing the global warming and cooling that has been happening on this planet for the past 150 years. I have taken the liberty of adding a few pieces that I discovered in the Times’ archives to further illustrate the point.

As you review the following, try to keep in mind just how sure global warming alarmists like soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore are that the current trend in climate change is a “a true planetary emergency” that must be dealt with soon to avoid an imminent cataclysm:

Lately it seems that HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher” has become the place for left-wing politicians and media members to go on Friday evenings to say whatever disgraceful thing they want about the Bush administration without regard for accuracy or prudence.

Does that make it HBO’s answer to ABC’s farcical morning coffee klatch “The View,” and Bill Maher is suddenly just an intelligent version of Rosie O’Donnell with a Y-chromosome and better clothing?

The March 23 installment certainly suggested so, with the unabashed and unashamed host leading a herd of disgruntled liberals to slaughter conservatives much as Rosie now despicably does on almost a daily basis. In fact, Maher began this most recent episode with a monologue featuring ten out of eleven jokes about Bush, his family, the Administration, and seemingly any politician with an “R” next to his name.

Most disgracefully, the first josh of the evening actually mocked the First Lady (video available here):

Actor Sean Penn was at it again on Saturday.

This time, as he spoke to a town hall, antiwar meeting in Oakland, California, he made some truly despicable statements, including declaring that President George W. Bush has “become our country’s and our Constitution’s most devastating enemy.”

Those that are interested can read excerpts of his disgraceful speech here, or listen to some of his choice epithets on MP3 here.

Penn also declared to the President:

HBO’s Bill Maher may have hit a new low on Friday’s installment of “Real Time.” During this episode, which was really just one long Bush bash, the host actually suggested that President Bush and Vice President Cheney are traitors.

As Maher used a lot of vulgarity in his final “New Rule” segment entitled “Treasonable Doubt,” I will post the details after the break for those who are uncomfortable with profanity addressed specifically at the most powerful man in the world.

However, I must caution the reader ahead of time to move forward at your own risk. This was Maher at his most hateful self, and his vitriol was turned all the way up to eleven for those who understand the Spinal Tap reference (video available here):

As NewsBusters reported, the Washington Post published an editorial Friday that was highly critical of the bribery tactics employed by House Democrats to get their pork-laden Iraq withdrawal bill passed.

As surprising as this event was, even more shocking was a Democrat Congressman so angered by this paper disagreeing with his Party that he said “[the Post] helped drive the drumbeat that drove almost two-thirds of the people in this chamber to vote for [the Iraq war]."

Displaying such unbridled disgust was Rep. David Obey (D-Wisconsin) who had rather harsh words for the Post on the House floor Friday (video available here):

It must have been very chilly in hell on Friday, for the editorial division of a major newspaper actually came down on Democrats.

I kid you not.

For those that missed it, the Washington Post ran an editorial Friday entitled “Retreat and Butter,” with a sub-headline “Are Democrats in the House voting for farm subsidies or withdrawal from Iraq?”

Having asked a tremendously valid question that most in the antiwar media have ignored as the Iraq debate heated up on Capitol Hill this week, the Post surprisingly and accurately answered its own question (better strap yourself in your seat):

If a trial was held wherein the jury ruled humans are not responsible for global warming, would the media report it or ignore it?

Well, such a trial did indeed occur – albeit by sixth-graders at a middle school in Colorado – and the jury found in favor of the skeptics.

Sadly, as a result, no media outlets addressed this event, or the surprising verdict.

As marvelously reported by the Daily Times-Call (emphasis added throughout):

Want to have some real fun at your next dinner party? Well, invite an equal number of liberals and conservatives, and ask them the following question: “Why do conservatives dislike Al Gore so much?”

It’s guaranteed to be a huge success making you the toast of your neighborhood.

With that in mind, the host of MSNBC’s “Scarborough Country” marvelously did exactly that on Wednesday, pitting Republican strategist Terry Holt against Media Matters’ Paul Waldman.

What ensued was a wonderful point-counterpoint discussion about the former Vice President addressing both sides of this suddenly controversial figure (video available here):

There are a lot of conspiracy theories running through extreme left-wing circles about the attacks on 9/11. One such piece of drivel is an Internet movie called “Loose Change.”

On Thursday’s “O’Reilly Factor,” the host invited a New York City detective named Bo Dietl, and author Gerald Posner to discuss some recent developments surrounding the conspiracy theorists. O’Reilly began (video available here, h/t Hot Air):

The far-left fringe has embraced the conspiracy theory that elements of the U.S. government carried out the attacks on 9/11. It's unbelievable, but that's what they're saying. Now some mainstream individuals are buying into it. Rosie O'Donnell discussed it on her blog. And the owner of the Dallas Mavericks, billionaire Mark Cuban, may distribute a movie called "Loose Change." That piece of propaganda may be narrated by Charlie Sheen. And it says the U.S. government was criminally negligent on 9/11.

Posner chimed in:

It is safe to say after listening to Wednesday’s “Glenn Beck Program” that the host is not at all fond of ABC’s Rosie O’Donnell. In fact, one wouldn’t be out of line in stating that he loathes the co-host of “The View” who he disaffectionately referred to as a “fat witch.”

In an unbridled rant about a figure that is truly becoming one of the prime targets for conservatives due to her frequent ignorant and vitriolic diatribes about any Republican brought up during this idiotic program, Beck took on Rosie’s views with a vehemence that will surely put a smile on many faces.

After discussing the “double standard in the media” concerning opinions like his, and how he is called a hatemonger, Beck went after Rosie with both barrels blazing (audio available here, h/t Ian at Hot Air):

If soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore’s testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday wasn’t funny enough for you, Conan O’Brien’s satirical cast of a new NBC, made for television movie about problems facing the White House is sure to give you a chuckle.

The video is here courtesy of YouTube (h/t Allah at Hot Air), and a list of the cast follows after the break for those of you who prefer your comedy in writing.

However, please be forewarned that some degree of liberal bias is in this casting, as O’Brien clearly took stronger swings at Republicans. Yet, all in all, it’s pretty funny:

Something rather extraordinary occurred last December which had extremely ominous implications for stock investors around the world, but got totally ignored by the media.

In fact, if not for a recent video posting at YouTube, and a March 20 article in the New York Post, these spectacular revelations would still be well under the radar.

On December 22, CNBC’s James Cramer did a web interview for TheStreet.com TV. In it, he told TSC’s executive editor Aaron Task about how he used to manipulate stocks and the market when he was a hedge fund manager, and explained how such people today can’t “do anything remotely truthful” if they want to make money (video available here).

As TSC reported in a recap at its website the same day (emphasis added throughout):

Is it the media’s job to keep American citizens aware of statements made by foreign officials that could shed light on what we’re up against in winning the wars in Iraq and on terrorism? Or, should the press keep the caustic comments of such political officials from the public in order to maximize the impression that all the problems in the world are caused by the Bush administration?

While you formulate an answer, consider the following statements made by the Syrian Minister of Culture during a speech aired on Iranian television (video available here courtesy of Memri TV):  

The so-called Al-Qaeda is in my opinion, an illusion. It is a bunch of organizations which used to be supervised by the CIA, and used to commit crimes in some Arab and Islamic countries.

Nice, huh? Alas, he was just getting warmed up blaming terrorism on America:

An interesting event took place during soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore’s visit to Congress on Wednesday. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) asked the former Vice President to take a pledge that he would not use more energy in his personal residence than the average American, and Gore refused (video available here).

As reported at the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works website: "Senator Inhofe showed Gore a film frame from 'An Inconvenient Truth' where it asks viewers: 'Are you ready to change the way you live?'” 

On the playground, one would call this “Put up or Shut up.” Do you think Gore put up? The press release deliciously continued: