Noel Sheppard's blog

Free speech is certainly wonderful to watch when practiced by one in possession of compelling ideas mixed with two doses wit and a splash of sarcasm. Such was the case on Thursday evening when comedian Dennis Miller was given the stage on “Hannity & Colmes” to pontificate anew with nary a discouraging word from the resident liberal antagonist (video available here courtesy of our friend at Ms Underestimated):

Looks like they found evidence of water on Mars, but unfortunately, they also found a sucker fish in water, so we're not allowed to study it any more.

Do you know why I'm no longer liberal? Because I wanted to stop my sentences one word short of the word "but." You know, as a liberal, I found myself using the word "but" more frequently than a proctologist filling out his day planner.

Then, Miller made an observation that most NBers are likely to find somewhat objectionable:

Most NBers are familiar with an hysterical interview that former Partridge Family star Danny Bonaduce had on the streets of Hollywood with a 9/11 conspiracy theorist two weeks ago. On Thursday, Bonaduce was on “The O’Reilly Factor” with guest-host John Kasich to discuss the incident (video available here courtesy of our friend at Ms Underestimated):

I tell you what happened was I think I was eating dinner -- or lunch, rather, at an outdoor cafe. And I think this guy who -- I don't know if he believes in what he's doing or thinks he's helping, but I think, my belief was what he was saying was blatantly anti-American.

If you make the sitting president a murderer, you make my little brother-in-law who I've known since he was 6 a murderer, because he's on the ground in Iraq for his second tour and he's been shot.

Then, Bonaduce went after other Hollywoodans:

The Associated Press reported moments ago that former President Gerald Ford died Tuesday:

Gerald R. Ford, who picked up the pieces of Richard Nixon's scandal-shattered White House as the 38th and only unelected president in America's history, has died, his wife, Betty, said Tuesday. He was 93.

Ford had battled pneumonia in January 2006 and underwent two heart treatments — including an angioplasty — in August at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.

He was the longest living president, followed by Ronald Reagan, who also died at 93. Ford had been living at his desert home in Rancho Mirage, Calif., about 130 miles east of Los Angeles.

The article continued:

Real fans of the hit series "24" -- and you know who you are -- will love this special holiday video about Santa as a Jack Bauer-style counterterrorism agent getting assistance delivering presents from elves back at CTU.

Although this predictably turns into a promo for the upcoming season, it is filled with smiles and good cheer even for those that aren't fans of the show.

Without further ado, please enjoy the midnight ride of Santa Bauer (hat tip to our friend Ian at Hot Air).

For months before Election Day, Americans were brainwashed by the media concerning a Republican “culture of corruption,” and the need for the Democrats to clean it all up. Unfortunately, in the middle of this web of lies, the press chose to ignore the misdeeds of any politician with a “D” next to his or her name.

Now that the elections are over, and the press got the result they wanted, exposés about liberal politicians are suddenly acceptable again. On Christmas Day, roughly seven weeks after it helped pull off one of the largest bait and switches in campaign history, the Washington Post published corrupt revelations about one of its heroes, Rep. Jack Murtha (D-Pennsylvania).

Sadly for America, some of the content in this front-page article by Jonathan Weisman has been available for almost a year and a half. But, investigative reporting like this that might out a Democrat was specifically verboten by members of the drive-by media before November 7 (emphasis mine throughout):

Someone mentioned this video in one of the discussion threads, and it may be familiar to those that saw it almost thirty years ago. It's actually extra special, because it was filmed just months before Bing's death.

Without further ado, Bing Crosby and David Bowie sing "Little Drummer Boy". 

If you like "The Nutcracker Suite" and bicyling, you are going to love this video presented by Specialized Bicycle Components (hat tip to LGF).

One of the best versions of the classic Christmas song "White Christmas" has to be the Drifters' recording in the '50s.

Many of you will recognize it from the Macauley Culkin film "Home Alone". This is the version he comically lip-synched in the mirror as he combed his hair.

(Updates with other artists' renditions now follow.)

A friend e-mailed me the following "Christmas Lights Gone Wild" video that I wanted to share. Somebody took a lot of time to put this together, and even though its novelty wears off a tad in the middle, it's really extremely well done...and sure to give you and yours a well-deserved smile this time of year.

Merry Christmas.

(Updates follow with other versions, and other houses. So far, Update IV is the best by far!!!)

*****Update: Google has another version that's got better colors and sound.

*****Update II: Different house done to Mozart!

A rather extraordinary conclusion was reached by members of the panel on Sunday’s “The Chris Matthews Show” – the economy is strong. What makes this so earth shattering? Well, because the host prior to the elections – which, by the way, were only about seven weeks ago – regularly talked about how badly the economy was doing, and didn’t challenge those espousing similarly bearish viewpoints.

Yet, now that the elections are over, it’s okay for Democrat pols like Matthews to admit that which was clearly verboten prior to November 7. And, in this instance, not only did the host speak bullishly for a change, so did Dan Rather and Norah O’Donnell.

Matthews opened the show asking his guests what the best news for President Bush was in 2006. Rather amazingly answered: “The Dow and the economy. I’m not saying it will last, but the longer it lasts, the better it is for him, and I think it was the highlight of the year.”

The Dow and the economy were the highlight of the year? Really? Wouldn’t it have been nice if you folks recognized this before Election Day? Yet, Rather wasn’t the only one having such an astounding epiphany, as Norah O’Donnell agreed:

I was driving to the gym with my thirteen-year-old daughter on Friday, and as I searched for some conservative news talk on the radio, I came across the press conference concerning the Duke lacrosse rape case. Out of curiosity, I left it on, and heard one of the attorneys graphically describe sexual acts that would have made Linda Lovelace blush. Realizing my daughter was in the car, I quickly turned the radio off.

According to a number of sources on the Internet, as well as transcripts now available, several cable news networks broadcast this press conference live for all of America to hear the pornography. According to NBC’s Brian Williams: “Three cable news networks took the defense attorney's news conference live, and the language, dealing with sex acts and body parts, was unbelievable. I couldn't help but think of the daytime TV audience during what one of the attorneys almost comically went on to describe as ‘this wonderful season of the year.’"

Brian Stelter at TVNewser took the transcript from CNN and counted the various explicit sexual references (intentionally placed in the “Read More” section for those who would prefer not to see it; consider yourself warned):

An absolutely extraordinary discussion occurred on Thursday’s “Special Report” concerning the role of the media in wartime, and what the change in press coverage in the past sixty years has meant for the nation. Tastefully setting the table, host Brit Hume showed a clip of Clear Glass Productions' satirical film depicting how today’s liberal media would have covered World War II had this current iteration been around in the '40s (hysterical trailer of the film available here, video of Special Report segment here, hat tip to NB member Blonde):

ANNOUNCER: According to Pentagon sources, this now brings the official total of Americans killed overseas to 250,000. Congresswoman and House leader Ancy Lagosi took time out from her reelection campaign to mark the occasion.

REP ANCY LAGOSI: 250,000 of our finest coming home in wooden boxes, for what? To support a lie. What has Germany and Italy got to do with Pearl Harbor?

CROWD: Nothing!

LAGOSI: That's right, nothing.

CROWD: Roosevelt lied, millions died. Roosevelt lied, millions died.

Once the clip was over, Hume began:

Many people might not be familiar with Denver, Colorado’s most popular radio talk show host Mike Rosen. Regardless, he wrote an op-ed in Friday’s Rocky Mountain News which was an open letter to CBS president Sean McManus (hat tip to TVNewser, emphasis mine throughout):

Unfortunately, CBS News has been mired in last place behind NBC and ABC in recent years. Your response has been to hire Katie Couric to "perk up" your evening newscast. That was a mistake. Although she scored some good ratings numbers during her first week, this was likely a flash-in-the-pan reaction to a big promotional campaign and viewer curiosity. In the November sweeps, she's settled into a "distant third," as Variety recently phrased it.

Fascinated? Well, here was the marvelous payoff pitch:

As NewsBusters has reported here and here, there has been a shockingly deafening silence from the American media concerning revelations of former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger’s actions at the National Archives in 2003. In fact, it appears that only Fox News has much interest in a story about a top-level political official stealing and destroying top secret documents from the facility responsible for storing them.

With that in mind, “Your World” invited Ann Coulter on to discuss this issue on Thursday, and the conservative author was not shy (video available here courtesy of our friend at Ms Underestimated). After guest host David Asman gave some background, he asked his guest: “Ann Coulter, where is the outrage? Are you surprised that there is no outrage about this?”

Ann didn’t disappoint:

As reported by NewsBusters, actor Sean Penn made some fairly ridiculous statements about President Bush at an awards ceremony on Monday. On Wednesday’s “Hannity & Colmes,” the panel discussed these inanities, with radio host Michael Reagan sitting in for the vacationing Sean. Colmes set up the discussion, “So is Hollywood out of touch with mainstream America or are they saying exactly what Americans want to hear?” Fox News’s Greg Gutfeld was first up (video available here):

No, actually, I wouldn't even argue with any of Sean Penn's assertions. I have no problems with what he says. What I love about him, though, is that when he does these speeches or when he's on Larry King, he keeps talking about censorship and how people are out to shut him up. But somehow he never shuts up. He just keeps talking. So every time he ever says that, he undermines his own argument. And that's why I love him.

I agree. Alas, Colmes didn’t, and proceeded to bang the same absurd drum he had the evening before with the MRC’s Brent Bozell:

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough invited a group of “heavy hitters” on to “Scarborough Country” Wednesday, and the discussion quickly moved in the direction of why impeachment proceedings of President Bush should be commenced due to his handling of the war in Iraq (video available here). After addressing what the President said at his morning press conference, Scarborough got the bash-fest started:

Yes, those words coming from the man who`s decided the only way to turn things around in Iraq is by sending in more troop. Despite being told by the Joint Chiefs, Colin Powell and the man running the Iraq war, General Abizaid, that sending more troops to Iraq would only get more Americans killed…Now, seeming to confirm his opponent`s worst suspicions that this president does not value the opinions of those with whom he disagrees, Mr. Bush has now decided to go it alone in Iraq against the wishes of his allies, against the desires of his fellow countrymen, and yes, even against the advice of his own generals.

Scarborough then got his first guest involved in the bashing:

Multi-billionaire Donald Trump has announced that he is suing comedian Rosie O’Donnell. As reported by Access Hollywood (video about their ongoing feud available here, as well as here courtesy of our friend at Ms Underestimated, emphasis mine throughout):

Earlier this afternoon Trump announced he is filing suit against the TV talk show host. "She says things that come to her mouth, she's not smart, she's crude, she's ignorant and to be honest I look forward to suing Rosie," he told our cameras. "I'm gonna sue her and I look forward to it. She's really very dangerous for the show."

Trump declined to elaborate on the details of his proposed legal filings, but added O'Donnell will understand his reasoning. "Rosie will find out what we're suing her for. She knows what we're suing her for," he said adding the lawsuit is already in the works. "It's something I look very forward to," he added.

The article continued with some marvelous mudslinging that makes one wonder whether or not Rosie threw chewing gum at Donald during gym class:

When Santa came to Wall Street this year, the media cried and pouted.    

With the Dow Jones Industrial Average at an all-time high and commodities markets experiencing one of their best years in decades, Wall Street firms were feeling especially merry this year. The media responded as if they had seen Jacob Marley’s ghost.

NBC’s John Seigenthaler gloomily downplayed Wall Streeters’ good fortunes by stating:

In keeping with the holiday season, it appears that Osama bin Laden’s right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has released a new videotape. In this one (translation altered by ScrappleFace for our amusement), the brains behind al Qaeda has converted to Christianity, and offers a Christmas blessing to Americans, and to his new friends, the Jews (video available here, hat tip to Hot Air).

Pay particular attention as the al Qaeda leader offers “to the people [he] used to call infidels” a blessing that “may come as a surprise.” He tells us that “reading the Koran only kills time.” Alas, he wonders: “If there really is a God, would he use suicide bombers ripping apart women and children to establish His law on earth?”

His marvelous answer:

Say what you will about the Weekly Standard’s Bill Kristol, but he is certainly a good sport. On Tuesday, the well-known conservative set himself up as a witting punching bag for the liberal comedian Jon Stewart on the “Daily Show,” and in between low-blows and kidney punches, Kristol got some good jabs in of his own (video available here).

Stewart’s focus predictably was how poorly the Iraq war is going in his view, and just how wrong President Bush and folks like Kristol were in their predictions for this incursion. As Kristol sat and took the comedic beating with grace and aplomb, he made a marvelous observation about how much differently he was being treated by Stewart as opposed to liberal guests like Barack Obama, and, just the night before, Iowa Governor and presidential candidate Tom Vilsack. What follows is a rough transcript of Kristol’s views concerning Stewart’s interview biases:

Hollywood producer David Zucker has produced another uproariously hilarious video that has been posted at YouTube (must-see video available here, hat tip to NB reader "mattm"). In his most recent effort, Zucker lampoons the just-released Iraq Study Group report by comparing it to the failed attempt to appease Adolf Hitler with the 1938 Munich Accord.

Please bring your sense of humor, because Zucker makes a mockery of this study, its participants -- especially James Baker -- former British prime minister Neville Chamberlain, and the madman in Iran.

Post script:

Michelle Malkin was Bill O’Reilly’s guest on Monday’s “O’Reilly Factor,” and the pair had some unkind words for former CBS anchorman Dan Rather. For a little background, Rather told HBO’s Bill Maher on November 17 that Fox News gets talking points from the White House. O’Reilly subsequently challenged Rather about this, and instead of going on “The Factor” to discuss the issue with Bill, the former anchorman went on CNN’s “Reliable Sources” last Sunday to plead his case. O’Reilly wasn’t pleased with Rather’s response over the weekend, and chose to take issue (video available here, hat tip to Hot Air):

Rather can't have it both ways. If he says FOX News gets White House talking points, he'd better be able to back it up. And so far, he can't, no matter how many interviews he does with CNN. Mr. Rather is welcome here to explain himself, but he should have done that already.

As he introduced Malkin, O’Reilly made his case even stronger:

Actor Sean Penn received an award Monday evening from the Creative Coalition, and took the opportunity to slam virtually every Republican whose name he's familiar with while calling for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney. Here are some of the more vitriolic segments of the prepared text as he accepted the first annual Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award (emphasis mine throughout):

Which is to say that, globally, the United States is number one at demanding accountability and backing up that demand with imprisonment. But, when it comes to our president, vice president, secretary of state, former secretary of defense...this insistence on accountability vanishes. All of a sudden, what's past is prologue. And we're just "forward-looking." But some people can't just look forward. Men and women stationed in Iraq at this moment, under orders of a Commander-in-Chief so sufficiently practiced in the art of deception, that he got vast numbers of American journalists and the most esteemed media outlets of this country, including The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and PBS to eagerly serve his agenda-building for war. And the process also induced vast numbers of artists and performers (probably even some in this room tonight) to keep quiet and facilitate the push for an invasion in Iraq.

He's certainly come a long way from "Hey bud...let's party" hasn't he? Of course, on the flipside, someone should have cautioned the seemingly stoned recipient that people on drugs should not give speeches. Alas, Spicoli...er, I mean Penn was just getting warmed up:

Chris Matthews’ interview with actor Matt Damon, which was recorded last week, was aired on Monday’s “Hardball”. Apart from what was reported here Saturday, Damon also made some disparaging remarks about Dick Cheney (video available here), while Matthews addressed what it would be like to waterboard the Vice President...I kid you not.

Conceivably the most amazing part about this interview was the whole idea that Chris Matthews was actually discussing the war in Iraq with an actor as if Damon was some kind of expert on geopolitics. For instance, after Damon suggested that the entire war was a “PR battle,” Matthews asked the audience if they agreed. This met with great applause. When it died down, Damon said: “There’s no other reason to rush that fast to war unless you know you don’t have it. They didn’t have it.”

Matthews followed this up as if he was questioning Colin Powell:

Most NBers are likely aware that Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly just got back from a tour of Iraq. On Monday’s “Factor,” he played a video montage of his trip. This needs no transcript or intro, for the pictures and words of the soldiers ably speak for themselves (must-see video available here courtesy of our friend at Ms Underestimated).

As you watch, pay particular attention to how the soldiers who were interviewed don’t vaguely represent the gross caricature of the military presented by folks like Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts), Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), or actor Matt Damon. And, see if these folks agree with the media contention that Iraq is a quagmire needing to be retreated from as quickly as possible.

In the midst of all the civil war, quagmire, cataclysmic, doom and gloom reports about Iraq comes a shocking story from an even more shocking source. According to Newsweek, Iraq’s economy is booming (hat tip to Drudge, emphasis mine throughout):

Civil war or not, Iraq has an economy, and—mother of all surprises—it's doing remarkably well. Real estate is booming. Construction, retail and wholesale trade sectors are healthy, too, according to a report by Global Insight in London. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce reports 34,000 registered companies in Iraq, up from 8,000 three years ago. Sales of secondhand cars, televisions and mobile phones have all risen sharply. Estimates vary, but one from Global Insight puts GDP growth at 17 percent last year and projects 13 percent for 2006. The World Bank has it lower: at 4 percent this year. But, given all the attention paid to deteriorating security, the startling fact is that Iraq is growing at all.

Amazed? Shocked? Sound like those who claim that only the negative side of the story is reaching our shores? Well, there’s more:

This was certainly a bizarre headline to see in Monday’s New York Times: “After Bankruptcy Filing, Recriminations Fly at Air America.” Now, follow that up with these opening paragraphs (emphasis mine throughout):

In its search for a new chief executive this past summer, Air America Radio interviewed seasoned media executives in an effort to revive the faltering network. One interview took a bizarre turn, however, when the executive got into a political argument with Randi Rhodes, one of the network’s on-air hosts.

“I laughed and said, ‘You sound like Republican talking points,’ ” Ms. Rhodes recalled.

Yep. That’ll certainly help you recruit a top executive, Randi! Nice job! Yet, that was just the beginning of a startling analyis from an unlikely source as to how extreme liberal views made the success of this network almost impossible:

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich was Tim Russert’s "guest" on “Meet the Press” Sunday, and it’s safe to assume the eloquent Georgian would have preferred something more pleasant for Christmas like a root canal, a colonoscopy, or an income tax audit. In fact, Russert gave Gingrich a grilling that many murder suspects don’t receive from hostile police officers in an interrogation room.

With that as pretext, while you read some of Russert’s inquiries, just imagine how incredibly unlikely it is that any Democrat candidate for president will ever face the kinds of questions Gingrich did this fine day. For instance, can you in your wildest dreams envision Russert asking John Edwards or Hillary Clinton something like this:

Imagine for a moment you were ABC’s Chief Washington Correspondent, as well as a former member of the Clinton administration who was currently quite opposed to the Iraq war. Further assume that in the months leading up to the recent midterm elections, the Democrat Senate minority leader had been aggressively advocating immediate troop withdrawals from the region, a position you agreed with. Contrary to his previous view of this incursion, when you interviewed this Senator after the elections, he stated that he could actually support an increase in troops.

Given his expressed positions before the elections, and the fact that he was about to be sworn in as the new Senate majority leader, would you aggressively challenge this high-ranking official about his sudden change of heart, or give him a pass? Well, on Sunday’s “This Week”, America got its answer as another pre-election myth was retired, and unceremoniously put out to pasture (must-see video available here, relevant section at minute three, transcript follows).

Former CBS anchorman Dan Rather was Howard Kurtz’s guest on Sunday’s “Reliable Sources,” and the interview went in a lot of fascinating directions. One of the most telling parts was when Rather said Saddam Hussein’s contentions that Iraq didn’t possess weapons of mass destruction were clearly more accurate than those who suggested otherwise – certainly implying President Bush.

Early in the segment, Kurtz played a clip of a controversial 2003 interview that Rather did with Saddam Hussein wherein the now deposed despot claimed Iraq had no WMD. Kurtz asked Rather, “Does that answer seem different to you now than it might have seemed at the time when most people did believe that Saddam had WMD?”

Rather answered: