The term "bully pulpit" stems from President Theodore Roosevelt's reference to the White House as a "bully pulpit," meaning a terrific platform from which to persuasively advocate an agenda. Roosevelt often used the word "bully" as an adjective meaning superb/wonderful.
The Bully Pulpit features news, reasoned discourse, opinion and some humor.
(NY Daily News) - The seven very lucky state workers who won the $319 million Mega Millions jackpot can thank a jerk for their good fortune.
Mike Barth, one of the "Albany Seven" who claimed their winnings Thursday, said he was waiting in line on Friday to purchase a ticket for his co-workers at an Albany newsstand when he reached down to grab a Snickers bar - and a guy cut in front of him.
Rather than make a scene, Barth said he let the line-cutter buy his lottery ticket - then he bought the Quick Pick ticket that made him and friends instant millionaires.
"I'm thinking later on, after all this went down, what if that guy would have won that ticket instead of me," said Barth, 63, of Bethlehem, N.Y. "You never know."
After taxes, Barth and his co-workers are splitting $202 million - or about $19.1 million - should they opt to take the lump sum.
(By Larry McShane, NY Daily News) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan - but the opposite is clearly not the case.
The Boss, in a letter to the editor of 'The Asbury Park Press', made it obvious Wednesday that he's no fan of Christie's fiscal approach.
The Jersey native sent a note of thanks to the paper for a front-page story headlined "As Poverty Rises, Cuts Target Aid."
"The article is one of the few that highlights the contradictions between a policy of large tax cuts, on the one hand, and cuts in services to those in the most dire needs, on the other," Springsteen wrote.
(By Debbie Siegelbaum, TheHill.com) - Republicans on the House Administration Committee want to shore up voter registration rules in the wake of a Colorado study that found as many as 5,000 non-citizens in the state took part in last year’s election.
Rep. Gregg Harper (R-Miss.), the panel’s chairman, called the study “a disturbing wake-up call” that should cause every state to review its safeguards to prevent illegal voting.
“We simply cannot have an electoral system that allows thousands of non-citizens to violate the law and vote in our elections. We must do more to protect the integrity of our electoral processes,” Harper added.
Shock: HuffPo Front Page Star Van Jones Led Anti-American Rally – Day After 9-11!
(Breitbart.tv) - Unidentified speaker talks about 9/11 terrorists: "Don't call them cowards, they're heroes that died and they're the people that we have to support. The people of color are rising here and we have to understand that." (3:06 mark)
Van Jones at same rally: "It's the bombs that the government has been dropping around the world that are now blowing up inside the U.S. borders... We've got something stronger than bombs, we have solidarity. That dream of revolutionary change is stronger than bombs." (4:38 mark)
7 1/2 years later, President Obama gave him a job in the White House. And today he is influencing the editorial content at AOL.com.
(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - Spanish tennis player David Ferrer hit a tennis ball at a crying baby during his quarterfinal match at the Sony Ericsson Open on Wednesday, and, understandably, people are peeved.
Ferrer was preparing to serve in the second set when the child started crying loudly. He decided to play through the distraction, and ended up losing the point. In a moment of frustration, he hit a ball towards the source of the noise (which, again, was baby). The ball came nowhere near the child.
Now, hitting a ball at a crying baby won’t make you the most sympathetic of figures. Ferrer was a foreign player, playing an American, in America, and hit a tennis ball at an American baby. Yes, he was booed loudly.
But as Yahoo! notes, bringing a baby to a tennis match, a setting where silence is key, was probably not the best idea. Just saying.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - It looks more like a WWE wrestling match than an arrest, and the dramatic video is now causing a stir in San Diego.
It shows a police officer locked in a heated battle with a reportedly drunk fan at a soccer game. As the man resists arrest, the officer puts him in a choke hold. The officer then ends up on his back and struggles to flip the man over. Eventually the officer gets back on top and slams the man face-first into the concrete, which is accompanied by a loud slap (it‘s unclear if the sound is from the man’s face or hand). Now, police leaders are investigating:
(By Matt Schneider, Mediaite) - Potential Republican candidate for President Herman Cain apparently doesn’t want Donald Trump to be the only presidential hopeful to get all the headlines this week. After sharing some comments about Muslims that raised eyebrows, Cain is back again with some theories regarding why the “liberal mainstream media” is scared of certain Republican candidates and “doubly scared” of him.
Herman Cain: “The liberal mainstream media, notice how they have tried to destroy Sarah Palin, notice how the more popular Michele Bachmann gets, the more they try to destroy her? You want to know why they go after those two ladies more viciously? Because they know that Michele Bachmann or Sarah Palin is going to draw a lot of the women vote away from the Democrat party. They are scared to death of that if they were to run and get the nomination. They are doubly scared that a 'real' black man might run against Barack Obama.”
(By Lee Stranahan, Patterico's Pontifications) - Media Matters for America is a well funded, well organized and effective truth killing machine. Here are three short films I’ve made in the past few days to expose their techniques.
Yesterday, I did a film showing how Media Matters used deceptive editing techniques on the Fox / Bill Sammon story. This story has been all over the left wing blogosphere – if you haven’t seen the original piece that MMfA did, it’s here. Gotcha journalism at its worst. Here’s my video on it.
The next video shows how Media Matters used the ‘straw man’ fallacy to attempt to discredit the piece published by Lila Rose yesterday on the Mammosham story. As I say in the video, your position on the controversial issue of abortion doesn’t really matter here – Media Matters are contemptible news twisters.
But – who cares? So Media Matters lies. You know that so why does it matter? That’s what my second video is about. It matters because they have influence on the media narrative today and through the effective use of SEO techniques, they are also writing tomorrow’s ‘history book’. Watch and see what I mean.
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Knox County man who killed a man in a bar and ate his flesh must serve at least 51 years in prison.
The Knoxville News Sentinel reports that jurors on Tuesday convicted Herbert Mike Merritt of first-degree murder for his June 2008 attack at the Friends Sports Bar and Grill.
Merritt, who was known as "Mad Max" to the bar's regulars, shot Anthony Laymond "Tony" Ford six times before stabbing him and carving out a piece of his chest cavity. Merritt, who is 49, thought he was eating a piece of Ford's heart, but it was a portion of the dead man's lung he ingested.
Merritt contended he suffered a psychotic break when he killed Ford and was insane. Jurors deliberated five hours before finding him guilty.
HIGH POINT, NC (WGHP) — Officials have identified one of the victims killed in a plane crash in High Point on Wednesday.
The pilot and passenger Dr. Thomas Littlejohn III of Winston-Salem were killed after a small plane crashed into a house short of the PTI runway on Wednesday, FAA officials said.
FAA and NTSB investigators are on the scene in High Point investigating the crash. The cause of the crash has not been determined.
(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - Last night on HBO, 'Real Sports' ran an hour-long special on the state of college athletics. It was predictably ugly: Auburn football players spoke of “money handshakes” with boosters and coaches, and an Ohio State player said he got sexual favors from a co-ed during a campus visit.
In between segments, HBO held a round table discussion moderated by Bryant Gumbel. The panel included Jason Whitlock of FOX Sports, college hoops commentator Billy Packer, former Michigan football coach Rich Rodriguez, and former Ivy League commissioner Jeff Orleans.
The conversation was a lively one: Rodriguez, as a former coach, represented (unfortunately for him) the established order. And although he conceded that NCAA sports is a flawed system, he argued that a college scholarship was adequate compensation for college athletes.
Jason Whitlock…disagreed.
“I don’t see any coaches signing up to be amateurs,” said Whitlock. “If it’s so great, let the coaches sign up to be amateurs, and let them continue their studies and get an additional degree or something while they’re coaching.”
(WGHP) - President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest on March 30, 1981, just 69 days into his presidency. See the moments leading up to the shooting, and what followed immediately after.
Footage following the shooting:
Footage when the press learned President Reagan had been shot:
(By Byron York, Washington Examiner) - In a new interview with the BBC, Ron Reagan, Jr., son of the late president, called his father "a fetish object for the far right." Expanding on his point, the younger Reagan calls President Ronald Reagan "sort of the rubber 'bustier' of the far right."
Reagan Jr.'s remarks came when the BBC's Matt Frei asked him, "Are you happy the way [Ronald Reagan] is remembered in this country, especially by the conservatives?"
"Oh, I just think it's inevitable," Reagan Jr. responded. "Who else are they going to remember that way? Richard Nixon? I don't think so. Warren Harding? Maybe. But he is a fetish object for the far right, he's sort of the rubber 'bustier' of the far right -- you know, they all have to go and touch him, as it were."
Elsewhere in the interview, Reagan Jr. spoke of his father's deep belief in the American Dream. Asked if he believed as deeply, the younger Reagan said no. "Do you think it's an overused cliché?" Frei asked. "Yes," Reagan responded.
Liberal Sen Harry Reid (D-NV): "Country Doesn't Care Much About The Tea Party"
Harry Reid: "The country doesn't care much about the tea party. There is a new CNN poll out today that says this very directly. Well more than -- let's put it this way: The people who care about the tea party are a very small number who care about them positively."
(WGHP) - Rep. Alan Hale of Montana is perhaps targeting a possible new electorate, drunk drivers. Watch as he defends people's right to drive drunk in order to keep business at local bars and restaurants.
(Breitbart.tv) - "These DUI laws are not doing our small businesses in our state any good."
(Real Clear Politics) - Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts, the ranking member on the House Financial Services Committee, talks to msnbc’s Lawrence O’Donnell about the latest developments on averting a government shutdown. (The Last Word)
(Breitbart.tv) - So much for "Congressional Decorum." Just watch how he treats his colleague, Rep. Bachmann.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - One of the girls is calling it the culmination of teen bullying. But whatever one wants to call it, it’s clear the video is shocking. Not just for the violence it features, but also for the goading and celebration heard in the background.
The video was reportedly taken last week, and features two Seattle-area teen girls brutally beating each other in a wooded area as friends cheer.
“Oh, (expletive), that was a good hit to the (expletive) temple! Dude, that must’ve hurt!” one spectator is heard saying.
“Yeah, one-punch knockout! That’s what I say!” said another.
The video was posted on YouTube, but was later removed. KOMO-TV has excerpts, and reports on the incident:
(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - Last night, PBS’ “Money & March Madness” special aired. There was a lot to take from it, but the main question, of course, is whether or not college athletes should get paid.
The piece centered around a class action lawsuit, with Ed O’Bannon as the lead plaintiff. O’Bannon, of course, was the 1995 player of the year, and led the UCLA Bruins to a national title. Now, he’s a car salesman in Nevada who wonders why his likeness appears in NCAA videogames, and he’s not compensated.
Also interviewed: 'Blind Side' and 'Moneyball' author Michael Lewis, who, in addition to calling “a purely commercial enterprise,” said, “The NCAA is in a fraudulent system, and I’m amazed it hasn’t been challenged more in the courts.”
Bellaire Man Found Stuck in Chair dies at the Age of 43
Is anyone to blame in the story of a man who lived in his chair for two years?
BELLAIRE,Ohio (By D.K. Wright, WTRF-TV) - Community reaction has been intense to our story about the morbidly obese man who spent two years in his chair.
Everyone is asking, "how could this happen?"
A man whose skin had fused to his chair, with bedsores, maggots and excrement everywhere. The description from the first responders was horrifying.
Now the 43-year-old Bellaire man has died according to our radio news partner WKKX.
Who is in charge of a case like this? First of all, is it a legal issue? A Belmont County legal authority says it appears that it is not.
(New York Post) - He didn't think Lady Luck was on his side -- and now he's out millions.
A hapless state information-technology worker who usually joined his office lottery pool took a pass last week -- only to learn that seven positive-thinking pals nailed a whopping $319 million Mega Millions jackpot, said a deli owner who knows the winners.
"The word is that when they were going around the office asking who wanted in on the pool, one guy said no, that he wasn't feeling lucky," said Jill Cook, who with husband Tom owns Cook's Deli in Albany, where the winners are lunchtime regulars.
"They asked him twice. They said, 'Are you sure?' and he said yeah, he was going to pass this time. I feel horrible for him," Jill said.
“The truth is, VCU’s resume wasn’t quite as good as some of the teams that got left out,” Bilas said. “Now, reasonable minds can differ, but I don’t think that if [Selection Sunday] were held again the argument would change at all.”
To be fair to Bilas, he also praised the Rams, saying that they’ve played “extraordinarily well” in this tournament. And he was far from the only media personality to say they shouldn’t have gotten in.
But still. Although his “they still wouldn’t make it” argument would hold up impeccably in a court of law, it may rile up some VCU fans that still feel disrespected.
(Real Clear Politics) - Bill Maher is asked if he regrets calling Michele Bachmann a bimbo and Sarah Palin the "c-word" and "dumb tw*t." His response:
"Well, you know, I've been through this so many times. There's a lot of people in America who have, of course, nothing to do except look for something to get mad at. And I've been a frequent target and I'm happy to provide that service. So, you know, I always say, as I've said many times in these kind of situations, if I hurt somebody's feelings, I'm always sorry about that, I'm not trying to hurt somebody's feelings. But if you want me to say I'm sorry what I said was wrong, no, sorry, I can't go there."
WASHINGTON (AP/THE BLAZE) — Just because he‘s good on the bench doesn’t mean he’s good on the road.
U.S. Park Police ticketed Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after a four-car fender-bender Tuesday along the George Washington Parkway. No one was injured in the accident, police said.
(By Glenn Davis, SportsGrid) - Charles Barkley’s gotten a little more acquainted with truTV in recent weeks, since he’s serving as an NCAA Tournament studio analyst and truTV happens to be one of the networks showing games.
But the NCAA Tournament isn’t the only programming on the channel with which Barkley’s acquainted, and he recently decided he was ready to make an overall proclamation on the network’s programming strategy. We don’t, however, think truTV will feature Barkley’s comments on any of their marketing materials.
Charles Barkley: “truTV is really the white BET…truTV is White Entertainment Television. It’s some of the craziest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life.”
(By Mark Finkelstein, NewsBusters.org) - What's next: MSNBC hawking "America: Love It Or Leave It" bumper stickers?
The new fashion among the liberal network's anchors is to accuse critics of President Obama's Libya policy of being unpatriotic. Last week, we documented how Cenk Uygur did it. Now, it's Ed Schultz's turn. The man recently relegated to the 10 PM slot went on an extended rant last night, repeatedly accusing Republican critics of the Libyan operation of being unpatriotic. Schultz set the tone with his opening graphic. As you see in the screengrab, Schultz branded Sarah Palin and John Bolton as "patriots, not" for questioning the president's conduct of the attack on Libya.
But Schultz was far--far--from finished. He eventually asked the question: "whose side are you on? Are you with the terrorists, Sarah, or are you with the President of the United States?"
(By Matt Schneider, Mediaite) - Republican Senator Rand Paul appeared on 'Fox & Friends' and said he is worried that President Obama’s decision to intervene in Libya without consulting Congress sets a “very bad precedent.” Paul declared it to be an “affront to the Constitution that we are not debating this in Congress.” Also interesting was his forceful response to Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who referred to the Tea Party as “extreme.”
Schumer was caught during a conference call admitting that the Democratic caucus agreed to use the word “extreme” when describing the Tea Party. Paul thought the criticism was unjustified and if anything, said that the huge deficits in Washington today is proof that “what Chuck Schumer and the Democrats are doing to this country is extreme.” Furthermore, Paul alleged that the Democrats are the only ones talking about a government shutdown and that they are more interested in a “cheap PR victory” than in being fiscally responsible.
Finally, as rumors circulate that Paul might consider running for the 2012 Republican nomination for President, he didn’t directly address the issue, but did deliver another harsh jab to Obama. Paul claims he spoke to many in the business community who continue to believe that Obama is “the most anti-business President we’ve ever had.”
Mammosham: Lila Rose Exposes Planned Parenthood CEO’s False Breast Cancer Clinic Claim
(Breitbart.tv) - A Live Action actor calls 30 Planned Parenthood clinics in 27 different states, inquiring about mammograms at Planned Parenthood. Every Planned Parenthood, without exception, tells her she will have to go elsewhere for a mammogram, and many clinics admit that no Planned Parenthood clinics provide this breast cancer screening procedure. "We don’t provide those services whatsoever,” admits a staffer at Planned Parenthood of Arizona. Planned Parenthood’s Comprehensive Health Center clinic in Overland Park, KS explains to the caller, “We actually don’t have a, um, mammogram machine, at our clinics.”
(Breitbart.tv) - Former AP photographer Ron Edmonds and former secret service agent Danny Spriggs, who now works for The Associated Press, talk about witnessing the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan.
(By Brad Cohen, SportsGrid) - Hey, remember when Jalen Rose called black Duke players “Uncle Toms” in the Fab Five documentary? And then a media firestorm ensued? For like two weeks? And then 'finally' it seemed like it ended?
Well, it was. Until today. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski went on “The Waddle Silvy Show” when former Dukie Jay Williams was co-hosting, and was asked about the incident. He said he didn’t want to discuss Rose’s comments … and then he immediately discussed Rose’s comments.
Coach K talked about how insulting the comments were, the decisions not to recruit any Fab Five member besides Chris Webber, and how the Fab Five “didn’t establish anything” at Michigan.
(WGHP-TV) - The first time FOX 8 'On Your Side' visited the Volunteer Fire Fighters Charitable Organization, they didn't get a warm reception. So they tried again on Tuesday.
The organization had been asking local businesses to give money since December, but no one seems to know where the money is going. Melissa Painter stood live outside the office in another effort to find out.
Before giving money to any organization, there are a couple of questions you need to ask first:
- How will my money be used?
- What percentage of my money goes toward that purpose?
If they demand immediate payment or they want to pick up a check the next day, do some digging first.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - “Um, Senators, ever heard of the mute button?”
That’s how the New York Times — yes the New York Times — begins its story on how Democratic Senators were caught Tuesday morning discussing secret marching orders before a conference call. Apparently, the senators didn’t realize that several of the reporters were already logged into the call and began discussing just how they wanted to verbally paint the GOP, House Speaker John Boehner, and the Tea Party.
The instructions came from the Senate’s No. 3 Democrat, New York’s Charles Schumer. The Times explains his instructions:
After thanking his colleagues — Barbara Boxer of California, Ben Cardin of Maryland, Tom Carper of Delaware and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut — for doing the budget bidding for the Senate Democrats, who are facing off against the House Republicans over how spending for the rest of the fiscal year, Mr. Schumer told them to portray John Boehner of Ohio, the Speaker of the House, as painted into a box by the Tea Party, and to decry the spending cuts that he wants as extreme. “I always use the word extreme,” Mr. Schumer said, “That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week.”
(CNSNews.com) - President Barack Obama on Monday told a student who has received a deportation notice that he does not want to deport her -- he wants people like her to succeed.
The exchange happened during a town hall event sponsored by the Spanish-language television network Univision at a Washington, D.C., school.
A student, who appeared via Skype, asked: “My question for the president is, why [is the government] saying that deportations have stopped -- or the detention of many students like me, why is it that we are still receiving deportation letters like this one?”
Obama answered, “We have redesigned our enforcement practices under the law to make sure that we’re focusing primarily on criminals, and so our deportation of criminals are up about 70 percent. Our deportation of non-criminals are down, and that’s because we want to focus our resources on those folks who are destructive to the community.
“And for a young person like that young woman that we just spoke to who’s going to school, doing all the right things, we want them to succeed," Obama said.
(By Jill Stanek) - [Today] over 30 pro-life billboards will be unveiled on Chicago’s south side, where residents are predominantly black.
The billboards will feature a graphic of President Barack Obama and state, “Every 21 minutes, our next possible leader is aborted.” The billboard will direct interested parties to ThatsAbortion.com, where African-American pro-life leader Alveda King is prominently featured.
The Chicago billboards are sponsored by Life Always, the pro-life organization behind the recent NYC billboard that created an uproar. It stated, “The most dangerous place for an African-American baby is in the womb,” an accurate statement since 60% of all preborn black babies in the NYC area are killed by abortion.
GoDaddy CEO Bob Parsons Bags Elephant to Aid African Villagers; Animal Rights Groups Go Nuts
(Breitbart.tv) - The social network web site Twitter is all abuzz because of a trip GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons went on and a video he posted online showing him hunting and killing an elephant.
Typically, animal rights groups are protesting. What is most important to know is the African villagers (you know, the HUMAN BEINGS) are having huge problems with these elephants destroying crops and causing starvation. But to be on the left these days means that elephant lives are more important than African villagers' lives.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - If you’re watching this video at an office or near others, you might want to warn those around because you will gasp in horror very shortly.
The Chinese government has just released video — as part of a public safety campaign — of what is arguably the craziest (most dangerous?) intersection in the world. It shows footage, taken by traffic cameras, of person after person getting blindsided, t-boned, or hit head on by cars, buses, and trucks going through an intersection in the Shandong province.
According to the site Chinasmack.com, the video has already racked up over 2 million views within 22 hours of being uploaded to the site Youku. That, folks, is what we call viral.
Warning, there are some graphic parts. You might want to put your hand over your mouth in preparation:
New Rules Would Label Millions of American Workers as Disabled
(By Shannon Bream, FoxNews.com) - Millions of Americans may be disabled and not even know it, according to some legal experts.
That's because sweeping new regulations from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission offer new guidelines on the issue of how to define "disability" under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The ADA, originally passed in 1990 and updated by Congress in 2008, originally defined disability as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity."
(BY JAMES M. O'NEILL AND DENISA R. SUPERVILLE, NorthJersey.com) - The large rectangular solar panels that PSE&G has been installing on utility poles across North Jersey are not winning style points from residents and local officials, who call them hideous, an eyesore, even "ugly as hell."
"I'm all in favor of solar energy. It's a great technology," said Wyckoff Township Committeeman Brian Scanlan. "That said, this project is an example of good intentions going awry."
Scanlan is concerned about the look of the 3-foot-by-5-foot panels perched on poles "especially where you have a neighborhood with front yards that are relatively small."
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - If you‘re not familiar with China’s “ghost cities,” they are some of the most fascinating images you will see.
“It’s estimated that 10 new cities are being built every year,” Australian news program SBS Dateline says. That may sound impressive, until you realize that many of the cities remain vacant long after they’re built.
Naked Emperor News/The Blaze: Cuba to Qatar Should Get to Vote for US President: Radicals Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn Preach One World Government in Lebanon
WASHINGTON (AP) — There may be less than meets the eye to President Barack Obama’s statements Monday night that NATO is taking over from the U.S. in Libya and that U.S. action is limited to defending people under attack there by Moammar Gadhafi’s forces.
In transferring command and control to NATO, the U.S. is turning the reins over to an organization dominated by the U.S., both militarily and politically. In essence, the U.S. runs the show that is taking over running the show.
And the rapid advance of rebels in recent days strongly suggests they are not merely benefiting from military aid in a defensive crouch, but rather using the multinational force in some fashion — coordinated or not — to advance an offensive.
(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - ESPN.com Columnist Rick Reilly ripped BYU star Jimmer Fredette in an online piece last week, and said Fredette has “a really good chance to be your Provo area Isuzu dealer.” ESPN Radio host Colin Cowherd, meanwhile, said on his radio show on Friday that Fredette is “90% media creation.”
This did not sit well with Fox Sports Radio host and 'Sports Illustrated' senior writer Dan Patrick.
Patrick called out Reilly and Cowherd this morning on his radio show, in a spirited monologue that took shots at his fellow media personalities, as well as ESPN as a whole.
(Breitbart.tv) - Former President Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba Monday to discuss economic policies and ways to improve Washington-Havana relations, which are even more tense than usual over the imprisonment of a U.S. contractor on the island.
(By Mark Joyella, Mediaite) - Fox News political analyst Kirsten Powers told Fox’s Greta Van Susteren comic Bill Maher’s jokes about Michele Bachmann and Sarah Palin represent an attack on “all women.” Maher, who has made no bones about his comedic high hopes for a Bachmann presidential campaign. On his HBO show Friday, Maher described the GOP field of potential presidential candidates as a 'Gilligan’s Island' in the making, with Palin and Bachmann as “two bimbos,” Mitt Romney as “the millionaire” and Newt Gingrich as “the professor.”
“It degrades all women,” said Powers. “When you do this, you can choose these two women, but it degrades all women…if they’re not being called bimbos, they’re being called these scheming climbers…it’s not a minor thing.”
(By RICHARD CRAVER, Winston-Salem Journal) - A dentist in King is losing his license next month because he defrauded Medicaid and used the money to pay for "an opulent lifestyle," according to the N.C. State Board of Dental Examiners.
The board said Sassan Bassiri applied "his dishonest and fraudulent scheme" for at least six years through "misconduct (that) was driven by greed."
Bassiri used excess reimbursements to buy a house worth nearly $1 million, condominiums in Myrtle Beach, S.C., tracts of land in North Carolina, expensive cars and a new office building, according to the board's filings.
The ruling from the board was made March 17. Bassiri must surrender his license by April 18. Bassiri could not be reached for comment Monday.
ALAMANCE COUNTY, NC (WGHP) - When Elon Fire Captain David Wright received a phone call from the Alamance County Volunteer Fire Fighters Charitable Organization asking for donations, he immediately knew something was up.
That's because there is no such organization with that name that officially does business with the county. Curious as to who was making the calls, Wright asked the caller some questions.
"Which fire department are you associated with? Which fire association are you affiliated with? He couldn't provide me with any answers," Wright said.
FOX 8's Melissa Painter tried to get a straight answer, too, but the organization never returned several phone messages. Melissa went over to their Greensboro office in person, but after identifying herself, employees closed the door, ran to their cars and peeled out of the parking lot, saying they don't talk with the media.
Considering the station's track record with community service, this is not how charities normally greet station employees.
(By Emily Esfahani Smith, The Blaze) - When Bill Ayers agreed to visit New Jersey’s Montclair State University–which The Blaze reported on here–he probably didn‘t think he’d get taken down publicly–and embarassingly–by a young black activist. But that’s what happened when New Jersey’s Vanessa Jean-Louis questioned Ayers about his opposition to charter schools in this stunning exchange:
(By Allahpundit, Hot Air) - Via Gizmodo, I thought we’d seen the worst a few weeks ago, but no. The clip at the last link looked like a flood turning into rapids transforming into a roaring river. This looks more like what it actually was — an honest-to-goodness ocean spilling into a city and swallowing it whole. By the end of the clip, if not for that lone building on the right edge of the frame, you wouldn’t know civilization had been there.
(CBS Channel 12 News) - A T-28 Warbird crashed into the water off of Albert Whitted Airport Sunday .It was the second small plane crash in two days at the airport. The pilot and passenger suffered minor injuries.
(By Jake Tapper, ABC News) - Former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld used the word “confusion” six times in an interview on ABC News’ ‘This Week’ to describe the United Nations-backed military effort in Libya.
“The first thing you have to do,” Rumsfeld told ABC News’ Senior White House Correspondent Jake Tapper, “is recognize…the mission has to determine the coalition. The coalition ought not determine the mission.”
“If you go into something with confusion and ambiguity about what the mission is – and we’ve heard four or five different explanations about why we’re there – and that is the root of the problem. The confusion that comes from that,” Rumsfeld told Tapper on “This Week.”
“Confusion about what the mission is, confusion about who the rebels are, confusion about whether or not Gadhafi should be left in power, confusion about what the command and control should be,” Rumsfeld said.
(By Matt Schneider, Mediaite) - Rush Limbaugh does not believe the Obama administration’s rationale for American intervention in Libya. Rush declares, “this is no more a humanitarian mission than it is a mission to save the animals and the pets of Libya. This is about European energy, pure and simple.”
(By Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters.org) - Howard Kurtz on Sunday hypocritically supported the Huffington Post's decision to can Andrew Breitbart as one of its front page contributors.
The "Reliable Sources" host took issue with comments Breitbart made about former Obama green czar Van Jones, but ignored the immutable fact that numerous HuffPo bloggers have regularly made ad hominem attacks on prominent conservatives without being admonished or demoted:
(By Mike Flynn, Big Government) - This weekend we learned which 4 teams will meet in the finals of the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. For many players, coaches and fans, this weekend was the culmination of life-long dreams. This weekend, however, we also learned that Delaware state officials thought it was prudent to dispatch resources and manpower to remove a number of curbside basketball hops from a local 'cul de sac'.
So much for their dreams.
The Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) deployed heavy equipment and over a dozen staff to tackle the scourge of curbside basketball. When a local resident complained about the heavy-handedness of the state’s response, they even brought in law enforcement.
Grammy Winner Darius Rucker: ‘I Don’t Think Anybody Really Cares What My Politics Are’
(Breitbart.tv) - Superstar Carrie Underwood also chimed in that she does not get involved with politics and is only interested in helping charities. The two performers were appearing at an event honoring former President George H. W. Bush.
Naked Emperor News: Farrakhan-a-Rama: Obama Selected to Be First Jewish President, Defends Gaddafi & Dictatorship, Arrogant America Filled With Beasts (Content Warning)
(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - When VCU Rams head coach Shaka Smart appeared on ESPN2 this morning, he was clearly prepared to fight if he had to.
At some point, Smart knew it would come up: that, despite a so-so resume, his VCU Rams were selected to the NCAA tournament, even after going 3-5 in February. And although ESPN wasn’t the only critic of VCU’s selection, they were by far the most vocal, with analyst Jay Bilas calling their selection “indefensible.”
So he may have felt, at least on some level, that he was on enemy territory. Or, at the very least, that he was dealing with a media outlet that may not respect his program.
Which explains why Smart played his ace-in-the-hole in an interview on 'First Take' this morning.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - “New evidence has emerged that the Iranian government sees the current unrest in the Middle East as a signal that the Mahdi–or Islamic messiah–is about to appear.”
So begins an ominous report by CBN’s Erick Stakelbeck detailing a propaganda video reportedly “approved at the highest levels of the Iranian government.“ That video explains ”all the signs are moving into place — and that Iran will soon help usher in the end times.”
Regular Beck viewers may know the Mahdi by another name, the twelfth imam — a term not lost to Stakelbeck, who writes thattThe new video “describes current events in the Middle East as a prelude to the arrival of the mythical twelfth Imam or Mahdi — the messiah figure who Islamic scriptures say will lead the armies of Islam to victory over all non-Muslims in the last days.”
Stakelbeck reports, and includes excerpts from the video called “The Coming is Near:”
(By Jon Bershad, Mediaite) - Earlier [last Friday] afternoon, a man with a knife stood outside San Diego police headquarters shouting anti-gay epithets and antagonizing police. He was surrounded and a lengthy standoff ensued. Eventually, he made a movement towards the officers, and they shot him. This all went out on a live feed on KFMB-TV CBS 8’s website. Only after the shooting did the news crew learn that the man was shot with non-lethal bullets meaning he didn’t get much more than a lot of nasty bruises. However, until that confirmation, it seemed like a man had just been blown away with shotguns and a news site had aired it all live.
(FoxNews.com) - The vice president's press secretary has apologized to a local political reporter after he was kept in a storage closet during a Florida fundraiser.
Scott Powers, a reporter with the 'Orlando Sentinel', was relegated to the storage space during a fundraiser Wednesday for Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., apparently to prevent him from speaking to people before Vice President Biden showed up. The 'Orlando Sentinel' published a brief account of the incident earlier in the week.
(By Jonathon M. Seidl, The Blaze) - When a radical mentions how surprised he is at the radicalization of others, might that be a telling sign about those mentioned?
The MacIver Institute, which has become one of the go-to groups documenting the unrest in Wisconsin, has released a disturbing video report showing what one prominent communist thinks of Wisconsin Democratic legislators.
“I have to tell you,” says Communist Party USA Vice Chair Scott Marshall in an online video, “that in every one of the situations that I’ve been in in Madison and Indianapolis, there is a radicalization going on among Democratic legislators that I‘ve never seen in my lifetime and I don’t think any of us have.”
What does that mean according to Marshall? “[W]e have to work with them and we have to see the possibility that a lot of these Democrats are going to move toward more independent positions. And by independent I mean independent of the corporations, independent of the finance capital, and independent of the ruling class of this country.”
(By Glenn Davis, SportsGrid) - If you’re a college basketball fan, there’s a chance you’ve heard about a little story today involving VCU’s win over Kansas [yesterday], giving the Rams one of the most improbable Final Four berths of all time. And there exists the slightest possibility that you heard about how some prominent people didn’t think VCU belonged in the tournament (and regardless of performance since, still don’t).
Regardless of anything said at the time, however, VCU’s play since the tournament began is beyond reproach, and with each passing win, the players who so wildly surpassed any expectations of them must be laughing a little bit harder at those who doubted their credentials. And Charles Barkley wouldn’t mind hearing them let everybody know it:
Candidate Obama in 2007: Americans ‘Have a Right to Know’ Before Government Takes Military Action.
(Eyeblast.tv) - President Barack Obama, as a presidential candidate in 2007, said the American people have a right to know about and participate in the debate over U.S. foreign policy decisions and whether the nation uses military force. His comments were captured on videotape.
(By Matt Schneider, Mediaite) - Donald Trump continued with his mission to question the whereabouts of President Obama’s birth certificate, in an appearance on 'Fox & Friends' this morning. Before the birther issue though, Trump wanted to share his assessment of how Obama is handling Libya and the budget: “we have people that have absolutely no idea what they’re doing running this country.”
Back to Obama’s birth certificate, Trump bluntly states “this guy either has a birth certificate or he doesn’t.” Trump goes on to say that he is really concerned:
Donald Trump: “You have no doctors that remember, you have no nurses – this is the president of the United States – that remember. . . . Why can’t he produce a birth certificate? . . . I brought it up just routinely, and all of a sudden, a lot of facts are emerging and I’m starting to wonder myself whether he was born in this country?”
(By Dan Fogarty, SportsGrid) - Count basketball analyst Charles Barkley among those who say college players should stay in school. [Saturday] afternoon on CBS’ March Madness pregame show, Barkley said that he “hates ‘one and done,’” the practice of college players declaring for the NBA draft after only one year of school.
“They want to rush the process,” Barkley said regarding one and done players. “You learn to be a better basketball player in college. You learn how to play the game. You grow physically and mentally as a person. Quit trying to rush the process.”
This is obviously a pretty layered topic – some players choose to leave early because their families are struggling financially, and the promise of a big NBA payday changes that. Some leave early because they want to avoid a catastrophic injury in college, because no one wants to draft a player with a torn ACL.
Still, Barkley’s position is one of a former player. And it should be pointed out that when he was in school, he fell into the “financially struggling” category. Here are his full comments, via CBS.
(Fox Nation) - As America remembers the first female vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro, here is a look back at her final interview in November 2010 during the midterm elections, when she met Sarah Palin for the first time:
(By Noel Sheppard, NewsBusters.org) - For over two years, liberals and conservatives have been at odds over whether the public actually wants ObamaCare.
On Friday's "Inside Washington," NPR's Nina Totenberg took the predictable liberal position that polls show folks want all the "goodies" in the bill, but Charles Krauthammer made it clear that these survey results change drastically when people are told the cost:
Republicans promise fair, legal boundaries in redistricting
RALEIGH (By Jim Morrill, CharlotteObserver.com) - It's the mantra of North Carolina's Republican leaders: This year's political redistricting will be "fair and legal."
They don't say it will be nonpartisan.
The process that will change voting districts for millions of North Carolinians - and the state's political landscape for at least a decade - starts Wednesday when House and Senate lawmakers charged with redrawing districts meet for the first time. A series of public hearings will start in April.
"If there is any political viewpoint in this world which is free from slavish adherence to abstraction, it is American conservatism. ... Our task now is not to sell a philosophy, but to make the majority of Americans, who already share that philosophy, see that modern conservatism offers them a political home. We are not a cult, we are members of a majority. Let's act and talk like it. The job is ours and the job must be done. If not by us, who? If not now, when? Our party must be the party of the individual. It must not sell out the individual to cater to the group."
(FOX 25 / MyFoxBoston.com) - Is it appropriate for a child to learn how to breastfeed?
A controversial new doll is certainly raising some eyebrows. It's called the Breast Milk Baby and a video on the toy company's Web site shows how it works.
The baby comes with a cloth halter, which shows where little girls should hold the doll. The doll even makes noises.
As you can imagine, some parents are outraged.
The toy company, located in Spain, says the doll is designed to help little girls learn about the bond between a mother and child.
