Howard Dean, unhinged on the stump, again,
You think people can work all day and then pick up their kids at child care or wherever and get home and still manage to sandwich in an eight-hour vote? Well Republicans, I guess can do that. Because a lot of them have never made an honest living in their lives.
Hugh Hewitt says,
“Dean is certainly making even Terry McAuliffe look like a diplomat and a thoughtful man.”
Don’t miss Hugh on Pundit Review Radio on Sunday June 12 at 9pm EST.
This Sunday, June 5 we will be speaking with Scott Johnson from Powerline. You can stream both live at WRKO.
Howard Dean’s Raised Voice Isn’t Raising Cash
One hundred days into his tenure as the high-energy, higher-decibel chairman of the Democratic Party, Howard Dean is in trouble with party moneybags. The former Vermont governor seems to be doing a better job flaying the Republicans than bridging the cash chasm between the parties. Given Dean’s 2004 run as a populist crusader, moderates were never wild about his takeover of the Democratic National Committee. So some big donors are sitting on their wallets.
Dean wowed the faithful in ’04 with his Web-based fund-raising magic. But major business donors still count, and in his new role as party honcho, the feisty doctor seems to be struggling to connect. After achieving money parity with the GOP in 2004, Democrats have fallen far behind. According to the Federal Election Commission, the DNC raised $14.1 million in the first quarter of 2005, vs. the Republican National Committee’s $32.3 million. Dean drew about 20,000 new donors, while his rivals picked up 68,200. The bottom line: Republicans have $26.2 million in the bank vs. $7.2 million for the Dems.
John Hinderaker, Powerline
What a hideous deal! The Democrats have agreed to cloture on only three nominees, and they have made no commitment not to filibuster in the future, if there are “extraordinary circumstances.” Of course, the Dems think any nominee who is a Republican is “extraordinary.” The Dems have just wriggled off the hook on some of the nominees that, politically, some of them did not want to be seen voting against.
Someone explain to me why the Republicans haven’t been rolled once again. To me, it looks like a pathetic collapse on the part of the Republicans–not the leadership, but Senators like McCain who sold out their party.
ONE MORE: Now the Republicans are treating the execrable Robert Byrd like a hero! Unbelievable. What a low moment. “We have kept the Republic,” Byrd says. I think I’m going to be sick.
It is impossible to say whether this is a “terrible” deal, a “bad” deal, or a very, very marginally “ok” deal, but it surely is not a good deal.
Ed Hennessey, Captain’s Quarters,
If the Republicans have foresworn the Byrd option without an ironclad guarantee that the filibuster will not be used on nominees with majority support, then they have traded their hard-won majority for de facto minority status — and the leadership will have to answer for this result.
Mark Tapscott (via Malkin)
I said months ago that Senate GOPers are terrified of offending Senate Democrats. Now we will see the Senate GOP leadership desperately searching for a way to share in the glory that even as this post is being written is being prepared by the MSM to shower upon Senate “moderates” of both parties who “saved” the Senate and the federal judiciary from the Extreme Right and the Evangelical Christian Theocracy.
Good Call Indeed. The first wire stories are rolling in,
Boston Globe Headline: Modeates Reach Filibuster Deal
When you click the link, the headline to the AP story reads “Senators avert showdown over filibusters”. Interesting.
WASHINGTON –In a dramatic reach across party lines, Senate centrists sealed a compromise Monday night to clear the way for confirmation of many of President Bush’s stalled judicial nominees, leave others in limbo and preserve venerable filibuster rules.
“In a Senate that has become increasingly partisan and polarized, the bipartisan center held,” said Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., one of 14 senators –seven from each party — to pledge their “mutual trust and confidence” on the deal.
Blogs for Bush is liveblogging and has tons of great links.
Three Cheers to Laura Bush for calling Katie Couric on her bias against the military!
Hat Tip: The Corner
From the Today Show, May 23, 2005
Katie Couric:
“In your view, is the administration holding the people who are doing these things, and perhaps they are in the minority as you say, but do you think they’re being held sufficiently accountable?”
Mrs. Bush took exception to Katie’s P-word:
“Yes I do. I mean there’s investigations going on the people are being held accountable and it’s not ‘a perhaps in the minority’. We know it’s very, very few people. A handful of people. We know that overall our troops are serving with distinction. They’re very helpful to the people where they are. They’re building schools, they’re refurbishing schools. They’re drilling well waters so that villages have clean water. They’re helping both Afghanistan and Iraq as they build they’re countries. They’re training troops in Iraq and policemen there.”
“So the, the sad news is that the coverage is so extreme of a handful of really, really bad cases. And the American people are sick about it. They don’t want people around the world to have an image of Americans like that, because that’s not the way Americans really are. And it’s certainly not the way our troops, overall, serve anywhere around the world.”
Boston’s talk leader, WRKO, has decided to replace Newsweak International with Pundit Review Radio, a show that promotes bloggers. Ouch!
Each Sunday evening at 9PM EST, we will examine traditional talk radio topics (politics, media, culture) by highlighting the work of the best, most insightful thought leaders in the new media.
And by best, we mean THE best. Here is the guest line-up for our first month on WRKO,
May 22: James Taranto from Opinion Journal’s Best of the Web
May 29: Don Luskin of National Review, Smart Money and PoorandStupid.com
June 5: Scott Johnson, Powerline
June 12: Hugh Hewitt
You can listen to the show live at WRKO and you can reach us toll free at 877-469-4322.
We want to thank everyone who has supported the show this week by alerting your readers and linking to us. We truly appreciate your support.
Talk to you Sunday evening.
We didn’t even ask if he wanted boxers or briefs.
Junk Yard Blog has the goods on another high profile mainstream media member trashing the US military.
Linda Foley is the International President of the Newspaper Guild and is also president of Communications Workers of America, the nation’s largest broadcast and journalism workers union. Take it away Ms. Foley,
Journalists, by the way, are not just being targeted verbally or â?¦ah, orâ?¦ ah, politically. They are also being targeted for real, umâ?¦in places like Iraq. What outrages me as a representative of journalists is that there’s not more outrage about the number, and the brutality, and the cavalier nature of the U.S. military toward the killing of journalists in Iraq. They target and kill journalistsâ?¦uh, from other countries, particularly Arab countries like Al -, like Arab news services like Al-Jazeera, for example. They actually target them and blow up their studios with impunityâ?¦
Bryan Preston at Junk Yard Blog says,
So like Eason Jordan, Foley made a completely unsubstantiated and outrageous claim that the US military is targeting journalists in Iraq for murder. Unlike Eason Jordan, there is a tape. She said what’s written above. I saw the tape and heard her words. There is no doubt what she said, and there is no doubt that she offered up nothing in the way of evidence to substantiate her claim.
For our previous coverage of Eason Jordan, click here.
Is it any wonder that your Average Joe thinks the mainstream media is doing a lousy job? Few industries outside of Hollywood and maybe professional sports have a greater sense of self worth than MSM journalists.
Survey: Press, public not on the same page
By Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe
A University of Connecticut survey released today reveals some significant disagreements between journalists and the general public over the quality of today’s reporting and the boundaries of press freedom.
While 72 percent of the journalists said their profession did a good or excellent job of reporting information accurately, only 39 percent of the public felt the same way. At the same time, 61 percent of the citizen respondents said they disagreed with the statement that ”the news media tries to report the news without bias.”
Some survey findings may provide fodder for conservatives who complain about liberal tilt in the press. When asked to identify themselves politically, one-third of the journalists and one-third of the citizens said they were Democrats. The divergence came when 32 percent of the public identified themselves as Republicans, compared with only 10 percent of the newsroom employees. Among journalists who said they voted in the 2004 election, 68 percent reported favoring John Kerry and 25 percent chose George Bush. Yet among the public respondents who said they voted, Bush beat Kerry 54 percent to 44 percent.
Newsweak could have saved themselves a lot of trouble if only they had thought to do this.