Blagojevich 'Hairy' Insanity Defense Promoted by MSM

Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich has become such a huge embarrassment to his fellow Democrats that the mainstream media is now trying to explain away his over-the-top corruption as insanity on his part. And the sign of Blagojevich's insanity according to some media sources is his incredibly well-groomed hair. It seems that the Chicago Sun-Times is at the forefront of promoting Blagojevich…
P.J. Gladnick
December 11th, 2008 11:18 PM

CNN’s Jessica Yellin Does a 180 on Obama's 'Transparency

CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin reversed course concerning her take on President-Elect Barack Obama’s “transparency” on the issue of Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich and the appointment of his successor in the U.S. Senate. During a segment on Wednesday’s Situation Room, Yellin criticized the outgoing Illinois senator for “not starting off on the foot he promised he’d start off on, which is more…
Matthew Balan
December 11th, 2008 10:18 PM

NBC's Lee Cowan: Blagojevich 'Fell Victim to History

Certainly delivering a unique take on the Blagojevich case, in a Thursday night story on why Illinois politics are so corrupt, NBC reporter Lee Cowan characterized the Governor of Illinois as a politician who “fell victim” to Chicago's political machine. Apparently, corruption was just irresistible. Cowan contended:The Windy City is a political stew of characters, a cast of players that even…
Brent Baker
December 11th, 2008 9:57 PM

'I Think Murdoch Will Get the New York Times

How about Sean Hannity as editor of the New York Times op-ed page?  Maybe O'Reilly and Cavuto in place of Dowd and Krugman as Times columnists?  It might not be as far-fetched as it sounds.  At least, not if Michael Wolff is right.  The Vanity Fair media maven, appearing on CNBC this afternoon, not only said that Rupert Murdoch wants the Gray Lady, but predicted he would get her.  [H/t Gat.]View…
Mark Finkelstein
December 11th, 2008 4:43 PM

U.S. Capitol Visitor Center Emphasizes Liberal Political Causes

The DC Capitol Visitor Center opened last week three years late and $360 million dollars over budget. The AP reported that James Billington, the librarian of Congress, said the new visitor’s center "will make the Capitol, the icon of our republic, more accessible to all of us than ever before." He also said,“It provides a splendidly presented civics lesson.” The first place one walks into is…
Kerry Picket
December 11th, 2008 4:32 PM

Does Newsweek Have a Prayer

This news item led me to ask the question posed in the headline:(Reuters) - Newsweek magazine is planning staff cuts as part of a major editorial makeover likely to result in a slimmer publication, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people close to the magazine.The cuts are expected to be outlined in two companywide meetings on Thursday, and will come from an extension of voluntary redundancies…
Ken Shepherd
December 11th, 2008 4:27 PM

FT's Rachman Complains of 'Internet Slime' Over 'One World Government

Poor, poor Gideon Rachman. The Financial Times's chief foreign affairs columnist and blogger can't understand why people got so upset at him.He responded to a volume of disagreeable e-mails reacting to his December 9 column on the idea of having one world government in two different blog posts (the photo at the top right is from his blog): "Covered in Internet Slime" (December 10) and "Final…
Tom Blumer
December 11th, 2008 3:23 PM

Press Conference Questions to Obama

What follows are the questions that President-elect Obama took today at his 11 a.m. news conference after formally announcing former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) as his choice for Health and Human Services Secretary.:JACKIE CALMES, Wall Street Journal: Given the, in your statement when you addressed the controversy over Gov. Blagojevich, you did not repeat what your spokesman said yesterday about…
NB Staff
December 11th, 2008 2:04 PM

Kernen: Energy Czar Browner is 'Scary' during 'Once in a Lifetime Rece

President-elect Barack Obama named Carol Browner the "czar" of climate and energy policy for the White House, but CNBC's Joe Kernen was wary of her appointment. "You can see that even in Europe, some of the climate concerns, given this, this once in a lifetime recession, John - to put someone that, an advocate of such strong measures," Kernen said on "Squawk Box" Dec. 11. "Really I've seen her…
Paul Detrick
December 11th, 2008 1:36 PM

No Live Coverage of Obama Blagojevich Press Conference on CBS & NBC

Kyle Drennen
December 11th, 2008 1:23 PM

Dennis Miller: ‘Smartest Guy’ Obama is Either ‘Oblivious’ or

On Wednesday’s The O’Reilly Factor on FNC, during the show’s regular "Miller Time" segment, comedian Dennis Miller used humor to make a serious point about Barack Obama’s connections to corrupt and questionable characters in Illinois, and whether the President-elect was aware of the darker sides of his colleagues. Miller: "It’s just nice to know that my President-elect went through that entire…
Brad Wilmouth
December 11th, 2008 1:03 PM

MSNBC's Scarborough on Fairness and His Token Conservatism at Network

Ken Shepherd
December 11th, 2008 1:01 PM

The Gohmert Proposal: Weighing the Pros and Cons of Tax Holiday as Bai

Texas congressman: tax holiday more cost efficient than Paulson's remaining $350 billion bailout; critics say it's too Keynesian.
Jeff Poor
December 11th, 2008 12:16 PM

ChiTrib Columnist Zorn Lambastes Pols for Declaring Blago Arrest 'Sad

Liberal-leaning Chicago Tribune columnist and blogger Eric Zorn is tired of politicians -- Democratic and Republican -- declaring that Gov. Rod Blagojevich's arrest was a "sad day" for Illinois.The sad day, rather, was Wednesday, when Blago returned to work:[I]n statement after statement, our gloomy pols were keening as though a great leader had fallen or an important factory had closed.…
Ken Shepherd
December 11th, 2008 11:28 AM