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Hillary has let her sticky fingers show again. Will the MSM pay attention?

We're all familiar with her statement from 2004: "the tax cuts may have helped you. We're saying that for America to get back on track, we're probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."

Speaking today at the DNC's winter meeting, she let that same Hillary-knows-best side show:

"The other day the oil companies recorded the highest profits in the history of the world. I want to take those profits. And I want to put them into a strategic energy fund that will begin to fund alternative smart energy, alternatives and technologies that will actually begin to move us in the direction of independence.

Actual caption:

Former vice-president Al Gore stops briefly to speak with reporters as he enters Taco Bell Arena at Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, Monday, Jan. 22, 2007. Gore was in town to speak about global warming. (AP Photo/Troy Maben)

The sessions may not have been televised, but as a judge for the Miss America pageant, Chris Matthews decided to play "Hardball" with the contestants. One woman was asked where bin Laden is.

Reports the Washington Examiner:

As one of the key judges at the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas this weekend, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews pulled out his “Hardball” best when it came time to question each of the contestants.

“Why did Mississippi seem to do a better job than” Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina?” he asked Miss Mississippi.

“If you had a long plane ride, who would you rather sit next to, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush?” he queried another.

Economic gloomsayer (and New York Times reporter) Vikas Bajaj has made something of a specialty in finding dark clouds in economic silver linings, and Thursday's hypothetical hand-wringing on the front-page of the Business section is no different ("What Could Bog Down the Bull -- Slowing Earnings Threaten to Turn the Easy Going Into a Slog Through Mud").

"Stocks surged yesterday afternoon, sending the Dow Jones industrial average to within a hair of a new high, after the Federal Reserve pointed to strength in the economy and a moderation in inflation.

"Investors may want to enjoy it while they can.

"The road ahead promises to be a long, hard slog as corporate profits are starting to slow."

Meanwhile, actual good economic news (as opposed to Bajaj's hypothetical bad news) was relegated to page C-10, in Jeremy Peters' "Vigorous Consumer Spending Helped Economy Grow 3.5% at the End of 2006."

It's a few days old now, but still timely given today's release of the IPCC report on global warming. It's CNN's Lou Dobbs conceding that while there are scientists who disagree with the premise that global warming is anthropogenic, he's tired of their voices in the debate. So he's picking a winner. No word on if Lou is on the invite list for Al Gore's Oscar night after-party.

I clipped the relevant portions. Total run time of 0:55

Audio (MP3) | Video (Real Player) | Video (Windows Media Player) (cont'd...)

Sometimes, a line just jumps out of a transcript. To me, this is just a Line of the Week. On Thursday's GMA, George Stephanopoulos was assessing the fallout from Sen. Joe Biden describing Barack Obama as "clean" and "articulate." In trying to explain how it helped Obama, George declared: "He was doing poorly among the African American community because a lot of them didn't know he was black."

Here's the line with more context around it:

Roberts: "But who's counting?"  But with a woman, a Hispanic, an African American in the race, is this just the beginning of a really charged race?"

Well that certainly didn’t take long, did it? I hope everyone is safely tucked in their bomb shelters, for the war of the cable networks is in full swing, and shrapnel is now dangerously flying in all directions.

In response to Fox News’s ad attacking Anderson Cooper while promoting Greta Van Susteren as reported by NewsBusters here, CNN has now released its own ad.

In it is are couple of strikes right at those claiming to be “fair and balanced”:

The amazing liberal vapors over President Bush’s use of the word "Democrat" to describe, er, Democrats, continues. In an NPR interview with Juan Williams, President Bush claimed it was a simple mistake in his State of the Union speech, but liberals quickly found more of these grievous offenses in searching speech texts at the White House website. Certain left-wing media critics who lay face down in worship at the feet of Hillary Clinton are now insisting that the word "Democrat" is a "smear" and an "oft-used Republican slur." The Washington Post and The New York Times each produced stories on Bush's denial of this microscopic scandal. (Clay Waters handled it at Times Watch here.)

But my favorite fuss comes from former Newsweek reporter and Carter speechwriter Hendrik Hertzberg at The New Yorker, who says the plain D-word is "jarring verging on ugly. It fairly screams ‘rat.’" He then imagined Republicans want to destroy the Democrats like Israel’s enemies want to wipe out Israel, and compared them to a street gang:

Discuss...

"Global warming is for real and we are to blame." This was the sentiment presented on CBS’s "Early Show" on Friday morning while discussing a report released from "leading climate experts." During the segment, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips classified the climate document as "not so much a report as a call to action." Mr. Phillips’ piece also contained comments from Achim Steiner who claimed that people who "risk inaction" will be judged by history to be "irresponsible." Steiner was identified on screen as head of the UN Environment Project. However, a look into his background reveals him to be somewhat of an environmental activist. And while CBS presented the views of an environmentalist, it continued it’s pattern of ignoring scientists that are skeptical that human activity is the cause of global climate change.

As the Beatles sang years ago, It’s getting better all the time.

Forget about this Sunday's Super Bowl, sports fans. World War III in the arena of cable news is raging on, and the players have started taking prisoners.

As NewsBusters reported here and here, the most recent escalation between heavyweight Fox News and steadily becoming also-ran CNN started when the former took out an ad in Television Week magazine describing Anderson Cooper as “the Paris Hilton of television news.” This was actually a promotion for Fox News’s “On the Record” with Greta Van Susteren.

On Thursday, the New York Post reported that folks at CNN didn't find this at all funny (h/t to FishbowlNY):

When it comes to the subject of global warming, members of the media have lost all restraint. CNN’s Larry King nervously wondered if climate change might "really kill us all?" Could it "submerge cities like New York and Washington and San Francisco under floods from melting Arctic ice caps?" Not to be outdone, "Good Morning America’s" weatherman warned of the dire threat of global warming. The next day, an ABC graphic fretted, "Will billions die from global warming?"

For anyone that questioned whether "Newsweek" is biased, public appearances by the magazine’s top staffers should answer the question. Editor Jon Meacham suggested that President Bush is outside "reality." "Newsweek" columnist Anna Quindlen recently debunked the "myth" that Hillary Clinton is a liberal.

Last weekend’s protest of the Iraq war was alternatively described as a "peace surge" and an example of a nation that "says no to war." If only pro-life rallies received such adulatory language.

GMA's segment this morning on the big global warming confab in Paris was filled with predictably alarmist rhetoric. But one factoid slipped through the MSM filter that could put a chill on the "it's-all-man's-fault" view of the matter: thousands of years ago, global warming exceeded anything we're currently experiencing.

Oh, and did you know the result of global warming is . . . fewer hurricanes? First, the alarmism. Reporting from Paris, ABC weatherman Sam Champion informed us:

• "It's really kind of frightening stuff, the stuff that science fiction books and movies are made of. Melting ice, heat waves and even stronger storms."
• "Global warming is with us, and it's going to be with us for centuries."
• "It is the definitive report on global warming, and it's frightening."

How can Katie Couric claim to keep her politics our of her work when she offers up her own editorial positions on a variety of subjects? She does so in the course of her "Katie Couric's Notebook" segments. It's true that Katie normally avoids the controversial. On January 16th, for example, she took a bold stand against procrastination. And when she did address abortion on January 22nd, she played it largely down the middle -- though pro-lifers might argue that her mention of the way the issue has sparked violence ignores the daily violence of abortion itself.

But at times Couric takes positions on hot issues of the day, such as on January 12th when she expressed the hope that the Gitmo prison "is closed down soon." On January 26th, Couric came out for "breaking our addiction to oil." Or how about this one, in which, incredibly, Couric argued in favor of congressional earmarks!

The plot of tonight’s (Friday) Law & Order on NBC will revolve around a “right-wing” character who is clearly inspired by Ann Coulter and who brags about having a drink with “Rush.” In a 20 second promo aired this week for the February 2 episode that will air at 10pm EST/PST, the announcer touts how “a controversial speaker causes a campus shooting.” A detective calls the Coulter character “a real pain in the a[ss]-" before the promo cuts to a scene of her excusing herself from the DA's office: “I've got drinks with Rush.”

The Coulter character is played by a beautiful blonde, though huskier than the real Coulter, actress Charlotte Ross. She is probably best-known for playing “Detective Connie McDowell” on ABC’s NYPD Blue. (IMDb's page on Ross.) Yahoo posted this plot summary: “Someone in a crowd fires a gun, killing a student, during a question-and-answer session of a controversial speaker.” TV Guide.com offered a fuller rundown with the political edge: “A student is shot at a politically charged college assembly and the investigation leads to a Ph.D. student dealing in embryonic stem-cell research who feels threatened by the tactics of the assembly speaker (Charlotte Ross) -- a right-wing conservative.”

Video of the promo spot (20 seconds): Real (650 KB) or Windows Media (775 KB), plus MP3 audio (125 KB)

One would think there'd be outrage all around on the Left given reports of a sitting female Democrat Representative allegedly being called a whore by the chairman of a caucus. But look around, there's hardly a peep from the Left.

The mainstream media hasn't exactly gone out of its way to carry the story either. A search for Sanchez's name at Google News produces an insulting 150 or so links.

Note to Representative Sanchez, next time someone calls you a whore, make sure it's a Republican. Otherwise it seems such things simply aren't news.

Rep. Loretta Sanchez has quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, accusing the chairman, Rep. Joe Baca, of telling people she's  a "whore."

WFAA TV in the Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas market has been touting a story that they obviously think is some sort of tragedy. So bad, in fact, that the first words of their story are, "'Inhumanity' and 'atrocity' are just two words being used to describe news..."

One would think that the world was ending, wouldn't one?

The TV station is wracked up in high dudgeon over a family of Palestinians who are in the country illegally and were scooped up by Immigration officials and remanded to a rather posh housing center to await the outcome of the machinations of government officials trying to determine their fate.

Brent Bozell, President of the Media Research Center which operates NewsBusters, appeared Thursday night, with Rachel Sklar of the Huffington Post, on FNC’s Hannity & Colmes. Topic: The publication by the New York Times on Monday of a picture of a dying U.S. soldier in Iraq, suffering from a head wound, being carried on a stretcher. Sklar and Bozell had very different answers for how they’d react to a picture/video of a killed love one being posted by the Times, but before where the clip below begins Sklar did state that the Times was in the wrong if their actions contravened an agreement with the military about what embedded journalists could include in their stories.

The Times has agreed to apologize to the family of Staff Sgt. Hector Leija and the photo has been removed from the online posting of the January 29 article, but an accompanying video, which unlike the printed picture does not show the wounded soldier’s face and head -- but does show the events around the shooting and the wounded Leija’s legs -- remains online. The MRC’s TimesWatch posted an excerpt from Thursday’s Houston Chronicle article, "N.Y. Times to apologize for photo, video of soldier: Paper to send family a letter of explanation, regret over using images of the dying Texan."

Video clip (4:00): Windows Media (7.8 MB at higher quality 256 kbps) or Real (3 MB at lower quality 100 kbps), plus MP3 audio (1.4 MB)

About 12 minutes into Thursday’s NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams warned viewers about “global warming,” but just eight minutes later NBC ran a story about the month-long “deep freeze” in Colorado. If journalists can fret about global warming every time there’s a heat wave, it’s just as legitimate to point out such a glaring contrast on a newscast even if the events are really no more contradictory than claiming above average temperatures one month are evidence of global warming.

With “Global Warming” on screen in the graphic over his shoulder, Williams promoted the “much-anticipated” upcoming report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change: “Global warming, they are to say, is very likely to be caused by people, by very likely, the scientists behind this report say, that means 90 percent certain.” Williams went on to trumpet how “Al Gore has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize for his work fighting global warming.” Then, 20 minutes into the program, viewers saw “Deep Freeze” on screen as Williams noted how a month ago “the devastating first wave of winter smacked into Colorado,” and as a result, “many of the cattle in Colorado are in deep trouble and suffering badly now.” Reporter Kevin Tibbles began with a newborn calf struggling “to survive in an especially brutal Colorado winter.” Tibbles highlighted how the majority of calves born to one rancher have died and the rancher blamed the temperature: “They were born in the snow and it was too cold...”

After avoiding politics the previous day, the ladies on Thursday's The View seemingly compensated for their lost time. Joy Behar led the way first calling for more political speeches at the Oscars, then cheered for Gore’s nomination, apologized for Joe Biden, Rosie said she’d never run for office, and took the solemnity of a political columnist’s death to attack President Bush.

Barbara Walters returned from Los Angeles where she interviewed some Oscar nominees for her upcoming Academy Awards special. Joy Behar wants more nominees to shove their opinions on all Americans.

Joy Behar: "I pray that somebody is controversial and assertive. I pray it. Because, it’s so tedious otherwise, you know. Thank you, thank you, my piano teacher. Who cares? Say something political and interesting."

So which do you think will be a greater source of indigestion at the Clinton dinner table this evening: Barack Obama possibly getting the Democrat nomination for president in 2008, or Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007?

Regardless of the answer, as amazing as it might seem, the former vice president was actually nominated for such an honor according to the Associated Press (emphasis mine throughout): "Former Vice President Al Gore was nominated for the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize for his wide-reaching efforts to draw the world's attention to the dangers of global warming, a Norwegian lawmaker said Thursday."

Extraordinary. Before you read the rest of this nonsense, please remove combustibles and sharp objects from proximity:

Yesterday, President Bush became the second sitting president to ever take a stroll on the New York Stock Exchange floor (Ronald Reagan was the first to do so). Bush also gave a speech at Federal Hall in which he defended his tax cuts, as well as No Child Left Behind, and his policy initiatives in general. But his policy remarks got no attention last night on the evening newscasts, which instead hyped his talking points on CEO pay and income inequality, two liberal themes.

I wrote more about that here. Here's an excerpt:

I am posting this as the mainstream media hasn't picked it up.

While not being able to keep up with all of his many accomplishments over the years, I do speak from personal experience when I say Rush Limbaugh's 1992 Best Seller The Way Things Ought To Be may have done more to carry discussion of conservative ideas and the concept of political freedom into elements of American popular culture where it was never thought much about before.

So it's good to see Mr. Limbaugh finally nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize:

On Tuesday night, the ABC program "Nightline" devoted almost nine minutes of air time to a group of atheists who are encouraging teens to take the "blasphemy challenge" and videotape themselves denying the existence of God. Although reporter John Berman did ask some challenging questions to the creators of blasphemychallange.com, he also tossed softballs, such as "What’s wrong with God?" Additionally, the ABC correspondent first related how atheists are actually an oppressed minority and yet also the wave of the future:

John Berman: "Two of the best-selling books on Publishers Weekly religion lists are by atheists about atheism. There's a hard-hitting documentary questioning the very existence of Jesus. There's even an atheist lobby in Washington."

Blogs such as NewsBusters play a key role in helping the truth bypass the filter of the mainstream media. That was the view that Rear Admiral Mark Fox expressed to this blogger today.

I had the opportunity to participate in a conference call for bloggers with RADM Fox, a Silver Star recipient who scored the first Navy MiG kill in Operation Desert Storm, and who now serves as the Communications Director for MNF-I in Baghdad. Given NB's mission, when I had the to ask a question I naturally focused on MSM coverage of the war.
I cited to Admiral Fox the headline and opening paragraph of the New York Times story on the recent battle in Najaf in which Iraqi-US forces killed over 200 enemy fighters and captured more than 400. Predictably, the Times sought to cast the success in the most negative possible light.

Occasionally I'm contacted by media organizations who want to tape an interview, usually when events occur which will impact military families. Right before the President's speech on the way forward in Iraq, I received some media requests. The aim was to come to my home, film me watching the speech and then interview me about my reaction to what was said. I have never done a television interview. Ironically, I think I would have accepted one of these invitations, but I happened to be out of town and not in Washington during the President's speech, so I was unavailable.

I farm these interviews out when possible. My husband calls me a "chicken" for doing this, and he's mostly right. When I'm contacted, it's usually because the outlet is looking for a "pro-victory" point of view and they know, obviously, that I represent that point of view. No doubt they already have the opposing view lined up. One of the reasons I'm leery of television interviews is because of ambush tactics such as those recently used against my blog mom, who was asked to appear on an ABC News show with another mother to discuss Iraq.

I arrived at the prescribed time, I put my earpiece in, got the microphone clipped to my sweater and the cord appropriately hidden. The New York producer and the director (or tech guy??) both spoke in my ear and I did the microphone test... 1, 2, 3, 4... 10, 9, 8, 7. I sat listening to the broadcasts and news feeds in my ear for a good 20 minutes, including a few on-air promos of the upcoming interview “with two military moms with their take on the President's State of the Union Address,” as well as the two lead-in interviews with two of ABC's female political reporters -- one in New York and one in D.C.

I'm thinking, Great. I have Hillary or Nancy in the other chair! Close. Turns out it was Barbara Boxer’s friend, Anne Roesler not to mention Nancy Pelosi’s darling. While there was a small legend that appeared and quickly disappeared under Ms. Roesler’s picture, turns out that Anne Roesler is no ordinary, average “military mom”, but a practiced anti-war speaker and writer -- AND HAS BEEN SINCE BEFORE THE WAR ACTUALLY BEGAN.

Half-serious warning: those with heart conditions are advised to have their medications handy when reading this.

With Democrats in congressional power, are leftists feeling suddenly empowered to express formerly taboo views? First came a column in the Los Angeles Times arguing we have overreacted to 9-11. Now comes Washington Post columnist William Arkin to express contempt for our troops and question how much we really owe them after all.

Excerpts from The Troops Also Need to Support the American People:

• "I've been mulling over an NBC Nightly News report from Iraq last Friday in which a number of soldiers expressed frustration with opposition to war in the United States. I'm all for everyone expressing their opinion, even those who wear the uniform of the United States Army. But I also hope that military commanders took the soldiers aside after the story and explained to them why it wasn't for them to disapprove of the American people."
• "These soldiers should be grateful that the American public, which by all polls overwhelmingly disapproves of the Iraq war and the President's handling of it, do still offer their support to them, and their respect."
• "Through every Abu Ghraib and Haditha, through every rape and murder, the American public has indulged those in uniform, accepting that the incidents were the product of bad apples or even of some administration or command order."
• "We pay the soldiers a decent wage, take care of their families, provide them with housing and medical care and vast social support systems and ship obscene amenities into the war zone for them, we support them in every possible way, and their attitude is that we should in addition roll over and play dead, defer to the military and the generals and let them fight their war, and give up our rights and responsibilities to speak up because they are above society?"

Discuss amongst yourselves...

Democratic presidential candidate (for now, anyway) Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware got headlines for all the wrong reasons yesterday when he referred to Sen. Barack Obama, who's also running for president, as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy" in an interview with the New York Observer.

"Biden Unwraps His Bid for '08 With an Oops!" read the headline over Adam Nagourney's Thursday story in the New York Times. Credit the Times for putting it on the front page, and to Nagourney for bringing up Biden's equally strange comment last summer that aired on C-Span: “You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking.”