Delaware media has been traditionally controlled by apologists and elitists but no more. There's a new game in town when it comes to media. First State Media Group has formed to bring you the things that the other guys won't. They will cover news stories that the others won't and give you opinions and perspectives that you won't get anywhere else. The best part? It's all done by regular Delawareans. No elites, no uppity holier than thous and your opinions are not only welcomed but encouraged. They thrive on comments by Delawareans and they need your stories, your upcoming events, your suggestions for new designs, stories and service offerings and of course your financial support. Stop by and visit First State News and make sure you leave a comment, let them know what you think good or bad. They can take it.
http://firststatenews.wordpress.com/
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Showing posts with label media. Show all posts
Friday, February 17, 2012
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Reviewing a Troublemaker
So the News Journal got their copy of Troublemaker and true to form they set out on a campaign to not only destroy the book but to destroy the author. I was mad, REALLY mad, but just moments before I started writing this post, I read the following hit piece from Chad Livengood at the News Journal. It should have made me mad. Should have…but it didn’t. As I read through the piece, through the long list of backstabbers and second guessers. Through the list of names of people who campaigned for Mike Castle, who developed the “Kill the girl” strategy that the Delaware GOP imployed in a vain attempt to stop O’Donnell from taking down the most liberal member (former) of the U.S. House of Representative, a guy who had destroyed the credibility of every candidate he’d run against and not their policies, I realized something. These are sad examples of what politics has become. Some of these people were great success stories. Some have TREMENDOUS talents. Others are just corrupt political scoundrels. None of them have escaped with their souls intact.
I’ll tell you, I could go on and on about Maria Evans’ failed career in media (I bet most of you have never even heard of Delaware Talk Radio have you?), Priscilla Rakestraw’s record of making false allegations to the employers of candidates she doesn’t like and Tom Ross’ outright sabotage. I could go on about the failure of the Delaware GOP to hold on to their seats long before the TEA Party came along. I could point out that in politics, it’s apparent that NO ONE is trustworthy or decent. I could…but I won’t because it doesn’t matter.
Ken Grant can enjoy his time on stage tearing down the work of one of the finest human beings I have ever met (thanks for the extra book sale), laughing it up with all of the Delaware political monsters in the crowd. Priscilla Rakestraw can live out the rest of her short time on Earth being as mean and nasty as she wants to be. Maria Evans can take solace in the fact that she’s assisted in the personal destruction of someone just trying to make a difference. Steve Grossman can sleep well tonight knowing that he stabbed a person that he supported in the General Election in the back. Chad Livengood can rest easy knowing that he has taken an impressive career and splattered it with a huge black spot. Tom Ross can smile knowing that he, as Chairman, ensured she’d never win and Mike Castle, king of Delaware kings, can sit up on his throne in Chateau Country with Chablis and some brie and be content knowing that Christine has been beaten down.
The bottom line here is that all of this, from Day 1 of her getting into the race till now was predictable. Anyone who is anyone saw this coming. The News Journal has always been just a tin can and string away from the DNC HQ and let’s face it, the Delaware GOP elites have long ago realized that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. Nothing I can say, no evil words, no backroom truth, no startling revelations about these cats is going to undo what they’ve done. So none of these people (except Mr. Grant…again, thanks for the book sale) is going to read Christine’s book. That’s fine, she didn’t expect you to. She didn’t write it for you. She wrote it for the people who TRULY supported her, not the ones who showed up just for the paychecks. She wrote it for the people who bucked the establishment trends, not those who buckle underneath it because they were born into it. She wrote it for the people who want to CHANGE politics, not the people who are desperately trying to keep it the same. She wrote it for conservatives and independents, not for progressives and liberals.
Truth be told, Delaware is the small town of states. Just like any small town upstart who challenges the lifelong political culture of a backwoods North Carolina town, a challenger to the Delaware establishment will be ostracized and beat up. If that North Carolina challenger wrote a book, after facing down a popular Mayor in a heated election, it’s unlikely many town members would buy their book. The same thing is happening here. I don’t believe that many people in Delaware will buy Christine’s book, not because it’s bad, but because they are too closed-minded to see beyond their own irrational hatred of a true patriot. They hate me too and I just don’t care. Because you see, I know something they don’t know. I know that for every plank they tear out from underneath our feet, we receive yet another Blessing from God. By the time they have ripped all the planks out, we’ll be able to float away.
So the title of this blog said “Reviewing a Troublemaker” and we’ve spent a lot of time reviewing Chad Livengood’s predictable and sad hit piece. Now I’d like to take some time to do what a decent reporter in Chad’s shoes would have done which is to review the book. I’m not going to pluck out a sentence here or there about the most damaging parts of it though. I think Chad’s covered that, thanks Chad! What I’m going to do is tell you what you’re going to see in the other 350 pages that Chad didn’t bother to read.
“Troublemaker: Let’s do what it takes to make America great again” is a fantastic book that really brings you into the struggle that the TEA Party faces. For those of you who don’t know who the TEA Party are and what they stand for, Christine shows you who they are: They’re you. You’re frustrated by the lack of jobs, so is the TEA Party. You’re upset at the down economy, so is the TEA Party. You’re angry at the corrupt political class in Washington, so is the TEA Party. You’re worried about the future for your kids, so is the TEA Party. You’re scared that out nation is going in the wrong direction, so is the TEA Party and so is Christine O’Donnell. You see, Christine got one thing right in the infamous “Witch Ad”, she is you. We’ve all said things that we wish we hadn’t, we’ve all quoted something kooky from a story we read and we’ve all questioned authority. The difference is that the TEA Party has simply acted on that questioning and so has Christine O’Donnell. She stood up, like the TEA Party did and said “Enough is enough, we want our country back from the political elites and the special interest groups.” That’s why she took on her own party first. You see, Christine ran a write in campaign in 2006 when she was asked by some of the political establishment and some close friends (for different reasons) to do so. Her write-in candidacy was designed by the political establishment to do one thing, stop Mike Protack (another person who bucks the establishment trend and scares the crap out of the elites). For Christine, it was an eye opening look at politics in America. In 2008, she had think long and hard but she decided to seek the party’s nomination to challenge Joe Biden. Not because she liked the smears and lies and distortions from the 2006 campaign but because she loved Delaware, loved America and thought that Joe Biden was not the right answer for either one. Truth be told, most people in Delaware agree with her but elections here are more about WHO you know than WHAT you know (a simple glance through the current and recent Delaware political class will prove that).
For a girl who grew up in a small house with a big family, Christine is surprisingly outgoing in public. Behind the scenes, as I came to know her, she’s quiet and thoughtful. She reminds of, well of me to be quite honest. She’s dealing now with what I dealt with throughout Jr. High and most of High School. She’s right on the edge of cool, right on the edge of being part of the crowd but there’s one problem, she won’t go along with their dastardly plans. She won’t drink that vodka or take that hit. She’s got one thing I didn’t have though, the willpower to see through convictions. See I eventually took that hit, drank that vodka and drove the getaway car. She won’t. I think that’s what inspires me about her. It’s what makes me want to defend her every chance I get, whether it’s using the left’s own science against them (Mice with human brain cells: Live Science & National Geographic) or calling them to task for using the same tactics against her that they rail against. The fact of the matter is that, as Christine explains in her book, she’s a Troublemaker because she won’t play ball their way. Yea, you’ll read about her childhood, her father as Bozo the Clown (and what a great guy he is) and her reversal from political liberal and pro-choice to pro-life conservative. She’ll walk you through her 2008 Senate campaign against Joe Biden and her 2010 Senate campaign against Mike Castle and Chris Coons. Sure, you’ll read a little about the infamous “Witch Ad” but you’ll also read about the real sad shame of the Widener debate when Chris Coons, a long time lawyer and a crowd of up and coming lawyers in the auditorium had trouble explaining the First Amendment to the Constitution. You’ll see how the political class will stop at nothing to derail those who it sees as obstructions to their goals and how they really just don’t care who they affect or how. I am personally well aware of this fact, their false accusations against me, labeled me a campaign finance violator and have cost me employment outside of politics. The book isn’t exclusive to political campaigning though. Christine offers some real solutions to Americas problems and many of them harken back to the original problem solvers, America’s founding fathers. While some will question these policy suggestions, those in the TEA Party and those with common sense will see them as excellent ways to move our country forward while returning our nation to the timeless principles of liberty that our founders held dear.
Christine tells a story that many of us in the TEA Party could tell but there are so many different reasons to read this account. For TEA Party members, it will validate much of what you’ve felt over the last 10 years. For those going into politics, it really runs down the problems that you are going to face with taking on the established political class. For women, Christine shows the incredible double standard among not only the politicians but among the liberal media as well. If I had to summarize that part, I would say that the women’s lib[eration] movement only works if the woman in question is a lib[eral]. If she’s a conservative, feel free to bash away. Christine doesn’t come away whiney or downtrodden but rather stronger for the criticism she’s faced and wiser for the experience. She comes away more convinced than ever that conservatism is the right answer to America’s problems and you will too. The book is a must read for TEA Partiers, political novices and young women. It’s a snapshot of what Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and even Hillary Clinton to some extent, have faced over the years and it’s evidence that the political class is running in abject fear of the TEA Party and conservative thought.
I’ll tell you, I could go on and on about Maria Evans’ failed career in media (I bet most of you have never even heard of Delaware Talk Radio have you?), Priscilla Rakestraw’s record of making false allegations to the employers of candidates she doesn’t like and Tom Ross’ outright sabotage. I could go on about the failure of the Delaware GOP to hold on to their seats long before the TEA Party came along. I could point out that in politics, it’s apparent that NO ONE is trustworthy or decent. I could…but I won’t because it doesn’t matter.
Ken Grant can enjoy his time on stage tearing down the work of one of the finest human beings I have ever met (thanks for the extra book sale), laughing it up with all of the Delaware political monsters in the crowd. Priscilla Rakestraw can live out the rest of her short time on Earth being as mean and nasty as she wants to be. Maria Evans can take solace in the fact that she’s assisted in the personal destruction of someone just trying to make a difference. Steve Grossman can sleep well tonight knowing that he stabbed a person that he supported in the General Election in the back. Chad Livengood can rest easy knowing that he has taken an impressive career and splattered it with a huge black spot. Tom Ross can smile knowing that he, as Chairman, ensured she’d never win and Mike Castle, king of Delaware kings, can sit up on his throne in Chateau Country with Chablis and some brie and be content knowing that Christine has been beaten down.
The bottom line here is that all of this, from Day 1 of her getting into the race till now was predictable. Anyone who is anyone saw this coming. The News Journal has always been just a tin can and string away from the DNC HQ and let’s face it, the Delaware GOP elites have long ago realized that “if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. Nothing I can say, no evil words, no backroom truth, no startling revelations about these cats is going to undo what they’ve done. So none of these people (except Mr. Grant…again, thanks for the book sale) is going to read Christine’s book. That’s fine, she didn’t expect you to. She didn’t write it for you. She wrote it for the people who TRULY supported her, not the ones who showed up just for the paychecks. She wrote it for the people who bucked the establishment trends, not those who buckle underneath it because they were born into it. She wrote it for the people who want to CHANGE politics, not the people who are desperately trying to keep it the same. She wrote it for conservatives and independents, not for progressives and liberals.
Truth be told, Delaware is the small town of states. Just like any small town upstart who challenges the lifelong political culture of a backwoods North Carolina town, a challenger to the Delaware establishment will be ostracized and beat up. If that North Carolina challenger wrote a book, after facing down a popular Mayor in a heated election, it’s unlikely many town members would buy their book. The same thing is happening here. I don’t believe that many people in Delaware will buy Christine’s book, not because it’s bad, but because they are too closed-minded to see beyond their own irrational hatred of a true patriot. They hate me too and I just don’t care. Because you see, I know something they don’t know. I know that for every plank they tear out from underneath our feet, we receive yet another Blessing from God. By the time they have ripped all the planks out, we’ll be able to float away.
So the title of this blog said “Reviewing a Troublemaker” and we’ve spent a lot of time reviewing Chad Livengood’s predictable and sad hit piece. Now I’d like to take some time to do what a decent reporter in Chad’s shoes would have done which is to review the book. I’m not going to pluck out a sentence here or there about the most damaging parts of it though. I think Chad’s covered that, thanks Chad! What I’m going to do is tell you what you’re going to see in the other 350 pages that Chad didn’t bother to read.
“Troublemaker: Let’s do what it takes to make America great again” is a fantastic book that really brings you into the struggle that the TEA Party faces. For those of you who don’t know who the TEA Party are and what they stand for, Christine shows you who they are: They’re you. You’re frustrated by the lack of jobs, so is the TEA Party. You’re upset at the down economy, so is the TEA Party. You’re angry at the corrupt political class in Washington, so is the TEA Party. You’re worried about the future for your kids, so is the TEA Party. You’re scared that out nation is going in the wrong direction, so is the TEA Party and so is Christine O’Donnell. You see, Christine got one thing right in the infamous “Witch Ad”, she is you. We’ve all said things that we wish we hadn’t, we’ve all quoted something kooky from a story we read and we’ve all questioned authority. The difference is that the TEA Party has simply acted on that questioning and so has Christine O’Donnell. She stood up, like the TEA Party did and said “Enough is enough, we want our country back from the political elites and the special interest groups.” That’s why she took on her own party first. You see, Christine ran a write in campaign in 2006 when she was asked by some of the political establishment and some close friends (for different reasons) to do so. Her write-in candidacy was designed by the political establishment to do one thing, stop Mike Protack (another person who bucks the establishment trend and scares the crap out of the elites). For Christine, it was an eye opening look at politics in America. In 2008, she had think long and hard but she decided to seek the party’s nomination to challenge Joe Biden. Not because she liked the smears and lies and distortions from the 2006 campaign but because she loved Delaware, loved America and thought that Joe Biden was not the right answer for either one. Truth be told, most people in Delaware agree with her but elections here are more about WHO you know than WHAT you know (a simple glance through the current and recent Delaware political class will prove that).
For a girl who grew up in a small house with a big family, Christine is surprisingly outgoing in public. Behind the scenes, as I came to know her, she’s quiet and thoughtful. She reminds of, well of me to be quite honest. She’s dealing now with what I dealt with throughout Jr. High and most of High School. She’s right on the edge of cool, right on the edge of being part of the crowd but there’s one problem, she won’t go along with their dastardly plans. She won’t drink that vodka or take that hit. She’s got one thing I didn’t have though, the willpower to see through convictions. See I eventually took that hit, drank that vodka and drove the getaway car. She won’t. I think that’s what inspires me about her. It’s what makes me want to defend her every chance I get, whether it’s using the left’s own science against them (Mice with human brain cells: Live Science & National Geographic) or calling them to task for using the same tactics against her that they rail against. The fact of the matter is that, as Christine explains in her book, she’s a Troublemaker because she won’t play ball their way. Yea, you’ll read about her childhood, her father as Bozo the Clown (and what a great guy he is) and her reversal from political liberal and pro-choice to pro-life conservative. She’ll walk you through her 2008 Senate campaign against Joe Biden and her 2010 Senate campaign against Mike Castle and Chris Coons. Sure, you’ll read a little about the infamous “Witch Ad” but you’ll also read about the real sad shame of the Widener debate when Chris Coons, a long time lawyer and a crowd of up and coming lawyers in the auditorium had trouble explaining the First Amendment to the Constitution. You’ll see how the political class will stop at nothing to derail those who it sees as obstructions to their goals and how they really just don’t care who they affect or how. I am personally well aware of this fact, their false accusations against me, labeled me a campaign finance violator and have cost me employment outside of politics. The book isn’t exclusive to political campaigning though. Christine offers some real solutions to Americas problems and many of them harken back to the original problem solvers, America’s founding fathers. While some will question these policy suggestions, those in the TEA Party and those with common sense will see them as excellent ways to move our country forward while returning our nation to the timeless principles of liberty that our founders held dear.
Christine tells a story that many of us in the TEA Party could tell but there are so many different reasons to read this account. For TEA Party members, it will validate much of what you’ve felt over the last 10 years. For those going into politics, it really runs down the problems that you are going to face with taking on the established political class. For women, Christine shows the incredible double standard among not only the politicians but among the liberal media as well. If I had to summarize that part, I would say that the women’s lib[eration] movement only works if the woman in question is a lib[eral]. If she’s a conservative, feel free to bash away. Christine doesn’t come away whiney or downtrodden but rather stronger for the criticism she’s faced and wiser for the experience. She comes away more convinced than ever that conservatism is the right answer to America’s problems and you will too. The book is a must read for TEA Partiers, political novices and young women. It’s a snapshot of what Sarah Palin, Michele Bachmann and even Hillary Clinton to some extent, have faced over the years and it’s evidence that the political class is running in abject fear of the TEA Party and conservative thought.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Where do I go to get my Reputation Back?
Today I recieved some news that is just, well vindication that the Truth shall set us free. After being publicly smeared as a campaign finance violator by the Delaware Republican Party simply for supporting Christine O'Donnell over Mike Castle. The FEC had previously reached a split decision on the matter but the investigative committee found no reason to believe that the O'Donnell campaign nor I had done anything wrong. Here is a link to the entire report and here is the excerpt that vindicates me.
Finally, the complainant alleges that the O'Donnell Committee's press secretary stated on his Facebook page that he speaks to TPAC "daily. The complainant also states that TPAC was planning a radiothon during which O'Donnell would make an appearance. OGC recommended finding reason to believe that violations of the Act occurred based on those facts. We disagreed.My question is, where do I go to get my reputation back? When do I get to repair the damage that this false complaint has done to my career and potential political aspirations? Mr. Tom Ross, do you even care that you've destroyed the career of an innocent person? What about you Michael Toner? Do you care that your false allegations have impacted my career?
We note again that "opening an investigation to determine whether we could discover a basis for those suspicions runs counter to the statutory constraints imposed on the Commission. That "reason to believe" requires more than mere speculation has been established in prior enforcement matters. For example, in MUR 4960 (Hillary Clinton), the Commission summarized the requirements as follows:
The Commission may find "reason to believe" only if a complaint sets forth sufficient specific facts, which, if proven true, would constitute a violation of the FECA. Complaints not based upon personal knowledge must identify a source of information that reasonably gives rise to a belief in the truth of the allegations presented...
Unwarranted legal conclusions firom asserted facts, see SOR in MUR 4869 (American Postal Workers Union), or mere speculation, see SOR of Chairman Wold and Commissioners Mason and Thomas in MUR 4850 (Fossella), will not be accepted as true. In addition,... a complaint may jbe dismissed if it consists of factual allegations that are refiited with sufficiently compelling evidence provided in the response to the complaint...
Similarly, in MUR S467 (Michael Moore), the Commission stated that "[purely speculative charges, especially when accompanied by a direct refutation, do not form an adequate basis to find a reason to believe that a violation of the FECA has occurred." Therefore, under the Act, before making a reason-to-believe determination, the Commission must assess both the law and the credibility of the facts alleged. To do so, the Commission must identify the sources of information and examine the facts and reliability of those sources to determine whether they 'reasonably [give] rise to a belief in the truth of the allegations presented." Only if this standard is met may the Commission investigate whether a violation occurred. These requirements are not met here.
Assuming that the radiothon was paid for by TPAC, mentioned the candidate, and was broadcast shortly before the primary election, the available information, including the Facebook posts at issue, provides insufficient basis for a reason-to-believe finding. First, the Facebook posting for the event does not indicate whether or not O'Donnell was set to appear. While a Facebook post by Evan Queitsch, apparently directed to a WDEL radio station employee, reads "@Jensen 1150 WDEL let me know if you want to know about the Tea Party Express as I speak w/them daily," OCiC states that the posts on their face do not satisfy the conduct prong. We agree. And even if TPAC and the O'DonnellConmiittee were in daily contact, such contacts would not be sufficient to meet the conduct threshold. More specific information is necessary.
Our unwillingness to find reason to believe a violation occurred based on the O'Donnell Committee's original response is bolstered by later confirmation that Mr. Queitsch was not a member of the O'Donnell campaign during the primary campaign. Therefore, the complainant's accusations in this matter, including one of which was based on tiie incorrect factual implication that Evan Queitsch was the O'Donnell Committee's press secretary, provide insufficient basis to find reason to believe.
Also, to the media, you were quick to print my name in your articles alledging that there was wrong doing involved here. Now that Christine, TEA Party Express and I have been cleared of wrong doing, will you print your retraction and apology on page A-1?
More Shoddy Reporting at the News Journal (yea, again)
Fresh off his enlightening piece about links on Amazon.com’s website that lead to porn when Christine O’Donnell is searched, the News Journal’s intrepid reporter Chad Livengood enlightens us with his review of the first few pages of Christine O’Donnell’s book. Chad has apparently gotten the Gannett memo “Kill the girl, kill the girl, yes master, yes master, tee hee, tee hee, tee hee hee hee hee.” (Thanks to Bill Cosby for that quote by the way). One could ask (and I have) why Chad chose to focus his last blog posting on research surrounding her Amazon.com store instead of say, the partisanship of CREW who has literally a more than 3-1 bias of attacking conservatives and Republicans vs. Democrats OR the fact that CREW violated their 501(c)3 mandate to remain apolitical when they attacked Christine O’Donnell during the campaign season. Agree or disagree with their (lies) position, the fact is that they broke the law. He’s not yet provided an answer. I assume he was busy with his latest concoction. This Sunday he released his review of O’Donnell’s book (or at least the first few pages) and WOW are there factual errors. I’m going to go through his piece (you can read the full piece here) and tackle some of the more egregious errors.
What’s weird is on the way back, the tension in the truck was such that you could literally feel the air being sucked out. We lightened it with some discussions about faith (yea, it was THAT tight) and some small talk. Later, as I was in and out of what I called “The War Room” where the review of the ads was taking place, I found out that the NYT reporter had apparently been leaked a copy of the “Witch Ad” which to that point had not been approved or even SEEN by the candidate.
“Kyle Roberts, a media buyer from Alexandria, Va., who purchased O'Donnell's TV time, said "proper procedure was followed for all advertisements aired on behalf of the campaign."
Christine raised a reported $7 million during her campaign however, she beat Mike Castle by raising far less than $2 million. Perhaps this video shows you a little bit more about who Priscilla Rakestraw is:
“Just like in her campaign, the impact of the witch ad is a central theme of her 358-page book, which combines O'Donnell's life story with reflections on her three failed Senate campaigns in Delaware and a tea-party-inspired manifesto for changing the country's direction.”
The ad is discussed in the book on a few pages but it’s not what one would consider a “central theme”. The “Witch Ad” as it is known, is so well known, to leave out the story surrounding it would have been disingenuous. “O'Donnell claims someone from Hollywood-based television producer Fred Davis' staff "leaked" the "I'm not a witch" ad to the press and Internet without her permission.
"Within one day, it became the most-watched video on the Internet ... all before I'd seen any footage, let alone approved the final cut," O'Donnell wrote……O'Donnell's version of events that transpired last fall are already being disputed by Republican consultants who dealt with the campaign and contradicted by emails her own campaign manager sent to Davis and his staff.”
If I may, I was a campaign worker after the Primary election (clarified for legal reasons) for Christine O’Donnell and I performed many duties. On the day of the commercial shoot, one of the things I was asked to do was to help track down supporters who would like to be in ads for O’Donnell. I knew that the campaign had been directed by the NRSC to utilize Fred Davis, a famous and highly touted Hollywood producer as their campaign ad man. Given Davis’ endorsements, I thought it was odd to be getting a call the day of the shoot and not sooner to allow us time to find people. Fortunately, Christine had a lot of VERY good supporters and we were able to find a number of people. Another staffer and I rode with the participants to a Philadelphia studio that was apparently once a warehouse of some sort. After some snacks and some time spent in the Green Room while Christine shot her portions of the ad we were called in. Only later did I find out why we were called so late. Oh I had heard the rumblings that they were concerned with the potential content of the ad Davis had planned to create but I had so many other duties to attend to that I didn’t delve further into that. I figured that this guy was a professional (and he is) and that it would all work out in the end. Like Christine, I was a little concerned that going with a high end Hollywood producer was a little over the top but I was just a regular guy and what did I know. I should have spoken up, I should have said something. I feel like part of this is my fault for not confirming Christine’s own thoughts. Of course, I couldn’t know what she was thinking but still, I could have said something. When we finally entered the studio, Mr. Davis had each participant sit and answer some basic questions like why they supported Christine and what they thought of her and Mr. Coons. Mr. Davis and his staff were nice but there was something weird, they were almost TOO nice. After now having been around politicians and media types, I know the feeling for what it is a divine warning that the person talking to you is a slime ball. The supporters that had come to be in the commercial were impressive and their words were powerful. I felt uplifted hearing Bob, Melissa, Councilman Brown and Mike (a lifelong Democrat) speak and I remember saying to myself that given Fred’s talent and the supporters words, this was going to be an incredible set of ads. It was raining out and so after chatting with Christine, the supporters and some of the crew from the shoot I pulled the campaign truck (talk about grassroots, the “campaign truck” was my 1997 GMC Sierra 1500 which I had decked out with yard signs taped on the back and sides…we were truly “grassroots” and yet, we’d just hobnobbed with people from Hollywood) around to the door and loaded up the gear. I noticed a person I hadn’t seen earlier and I asked who they were. I was told that the person was a New York Times reporter and that they’d wanted to do a story about Fred working with Christine but that the content of the commercials was still unknown to them.What’s weird is on the way back, the tension in the truck was such that you could literally feel the air being sucked out. We lightened it with some discussions about faith (yea, it was THAT tight) and some small talk. Later, as I was in and out of what I called “The War Room” where the review of the ads was taking place, I found out that the NYT reporter had apparently been leaked a copy of the “Witch Ad” which to that point had not been approved or even SEEN by the candidate.
“Kyle Roberts, a media buyer from Alexandria, Va., who purchased O'Donnell's TV time, said "proper procedure was followed for all advertisements aired on behalf of the campaign."
"This includes creative approval by campaign officials," Roberts said in a statement.”
Unfortunately, Chad’s reporting here is shoddy and to be honest, he knows it. I’ve seen the emails sent by Campaign Manager Matt Moran to Chad about this exact issue and the fact is that Kyle, the media buyer did follow procedure. However, Kyle had NOTHING to do with the creative side. He had nothing to do with which ad ran. THAT is the crux of the issue. Of all the ads that were shot that night, Fred Davis and his team only prepared the ad that Christine had specifically told him that she did NOT want to run. The problem was that there was no time to wait for the other ads, the ones she’d specifically said she wanted to run with, to be delivered. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in media buys had already been spent and there was a deadline. The campaign was up against the wall and with Christine on the campaign trail; Matt was forced to pull the trigger on an ad he knew was trouble. The alternative was to literally piss away hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chad Livengood was made acutely aware of these facts but somehow they didn’t make it in. Then again, there’s a lot that Chad knows that isn’t in the piece.“Emails obtained by The News Journal show O’Donnell’s campaign manager, Matt Moran, approved the witch ad, telling Davis “solid message Fred … well scripted and delivered despite the horrible hair (assume that was intentional to help reverse her negatives with women?).””
Having been in the room when some of these discussions took place, I can attest that NOONE was happy about the ad and that of all the people involved, *I* was the most positive about it. I thought if nothing else, it addressed the issue and that if there were other, stronger ads backing it up, like those cut by her supporters that fateful night, that it really wouldn’t be that big of a deal. Of course then I realized it had gone viral on the internet. I can attest to the sarcasm in Matt’s voice and emails. He was FAR from even content with the situation but he had no choice. Even the AP’s Randall Chase reported Matt’s sarcasm while Chad decided to leave that part out.
"No media company is going to leak the ad on behalf of a campaign," said one Republican consultant, who declined to be named because of what he said was O'Donnell's history of retaliating against critics. "If that actually happened, Fred's firm would no longer be working with O'Donnell…
... Moran and O'Donnell would not explain why Davis' firm continued to work for the campaign if they felt sabotaged by the airing of the witch ad as O'Donnell claims in the book."
Anyone else a little tired of reading about anonymous sources that more times than not, don’t have the foggiest idea what they’re talking about? Chad seems to take issue with the fact that Christine paid Davis despite this problem and that she continued to work with him. Moran explained in his email to Chad that the situation around “The Witch Ad” was not good and they there were backed into a corner. Remember also that Christine O’Donnell had been all but TOLD to use Fred Davis by the NRSC and she was between a rock and a hard place. To put it simply, she was the Republican nominee and she needed the support of the party. She was rebuilding her name within the party and doing all she could to repair bridges that had been burned during the contentious primary with RINO Mike Castle. So Christine took some advice that he gut told her was flat out wrong. She took a few thing on “hope” and given the money on the line, she really didn’t have a ton of choices. Moran went on to explain to Chad that after that initial disagreement on strategy, Davis’ firm worked quite well with the campaign and created some really great ads like “Principles”, “Tax Man”, “Shame on You Chris” and “What I’m Made Of”. Emails obtained by this blogger show that Chad Livengood was made ACUTELY aware of these facts and these ads before he published his piece. Why didn’t they make it into the story Chad?
“Throughout the book, O'Donnell continues to show her distrust of the media and what she calls "unscrupulous reporters," though she doesn't take any to task by name.”
Christine didn’t take them to task by name but I will. One is Randall Chase at the AP who has a history of leaving facts out of stories, another is Ginger Gibson whose reporting during the campaign was shoddy at best and flat out hit pieces and Democrat propaganda at worst and another is Mr. Livengood himself. Between his report on porn while ignoring CREW’s political bias and their violation of the law and his seriously flawed “book review”, Chad is more than making the case for his inclusion as an “unscrupulous reporter”. That’s really a shame too because his tenacity on the timecards of Tony DeLuca and other double dippers was much appreciated. I’m disappointed in such tabloid journalism.
“With some of her campaign apparatus still intact, O'Donnell also has continued to deal with allegations from her past two campaigns that she used donations for personal expenses. At the same time, O'Donnell's campaign has gone after her accusers, filing complaints with the Internal Revenue Service, U.S. Attorney's Office and District of Columbia Bar Association against attorneys and a political watchdog who have called into question her campaign ethics.”
Actually Chad, as you are WELL aware, the U.S. Attorney in Delaware has cleared O’Donnell of any wrong doing and the FEC has found no anomalies with her campaign finances. O’Donnell has launched investigations into the outright lies by her accusers and asked the IRS to look at CREW’s blatant violation of their 501(C)3 charter. She’s also filed complaints to have CREW Executive Director and bar member Melanie Sloan investigated for her role in filing knowingly false affidavits on behalf of admitted liar David Keegan. The so called “watchdog group” has a more than 8-1 record of accusing Republicans over Democrats while historically, more Democrats have been investigated for ethics violations than have Republicans.
“O'Donnell uses the book to settle a few scores with her political adversaries in the Delaware political establishment, claiming "the state party didn't lift a finger to help our campaign" in 2008 and sabotaged her bid for the seat long held by Joe Biden in 2010…
"…It shows how ill-informed Christine O'Donnell is about the history of our party, its leadership and the pro-life candidates in Delaware," said Rakestraw, who added that she doesn't plan to buy O'Donnell's book.”
The reality is that O’Donnell is right. In 2008, O’Donnell was “endorsed” by the state party but the party did not feel confident that anyone could beat Joe Biden. That has been the MO of the Delaware GOP for 10 years now since the Democrats took control of Dover. The Delaware GOP has been running defeatist campaigns ever since and to be quite honest, I have questioned the dedication of the Delaware GOP leadership. The fact is that the following video more than sums up what the Delaware elites think. In the video, National Committeewoman Priscilla Rakestraw is very candid about Christine O’Donnell and Glen Urquhart:Christine raised a reported $7 million during her campaign however, she beat Mike Castle by raising far less than $2 million. Perhaps this video shows you a little bit more about who Priscilla Rakestraw is:
The bottom line here is that the leadership in the Delaware GOP is not committed to winning. It’s my SINCERE desire to see John Sigler change things but let’s call a spade what it is. The Delaware GOP leadership simply has not been committed to winning. The folly of the 2010 election really needs no recount but to remind you, former Delaware GOP Chairman Tom Ross, who was in fact the active chair at the time, said that Christine O’Donnell could not be elected dogcatcher and as you can see above, Priscilla sure had some strong words about Christine O’Donnell as well. In fact, it’s well known inside party circles that Priscilla Rakestraw orchestrated the smear campaign against O’Donnell. Rakestraw has also been implicated in a smear campaign against State Party chair candidate and Delta Airlines Pilot Mike Protack that resulted in trouble with Protack’s private market employer. Protack is considering taking legal action against those who used their influence to attack him with unfounded allegations.
“O'Donnell also alleges that Biden and Castle personally warned a supporter of the "consequences" of raising money for her in the 2008 Senate race against Biden. Like many of O'Donnell's allegations of campaign dirty tricks detailed in the book, the individual involved is not named.
Castle said O'Donnell's claim is "wholly inaccurate" and "the figment of somebody's imagination."
"I don't remember doing anything of that nature," Castle said Saturday.”
First of all, the “I don’t remember” line is not exactly smacking of surety of his statements. The fact is that evidence suggests that Mike Castle did actively work to sabotage her campaign, that Karl Rove (a key advisor to Castle) actively worked to sabotage her campaign and that there is a long held understanding that Castle, Biden and Carper are thick as thieves.
“She accuses Ross of abusing party funds by paying for robo phone calls against her in the primary.
Ross said there was nothing illegal about spending state party funds to help elect Castle, who won the party's backing at the state convention last May before losing the primary to O'Donnell.”
Sure is odd that the RNC’s position has been to stay out of primary races while Tom Ross and the rest of his leadership decided to inject themselves into this one in an UNPRECEDENTED manner. It may not be illegal to spend the money on those robo-calls but it sure is an abuse of party funds especially now that we know if they’d saved that money, they would have had more to spend on electing Republicans.
“After GOP delegates endorsed Castle, the party decided to launch a negative campaign against O'Donnell because it seemed the best option for helping Castle breeze to victory for the U.S. Senate seat and make gains in the state Legislature, Ross said.
"While my dogcatcher statement may have been a little harsh, the truth of the matter remains, Christine O'Donnell is not a viable statewide candidate in the state of Delaware," Ross said in an interview. "We had the biggest Republican year in a hundred years, and she lost by a very, very wide margin, while bringing down the rest of the ticket."”
Well Mr. Ross is continuing to double down on his stupidity from the 2010 campaign. This is a guy who named ME as Christine O’Donnell’s Press Secretary when I wasn’t even part of the campaign until AFTER the primary campaign was over. Also, this is apparently a guy who ignores the facts. You see, Ross claims that O’Donnell brought down the rest of the party but the facts actually bear out the OPPOSITE as the case. You see exit polling from the Delaware Senate race shows that O’Donnell actually HELPED down ticket Republicans. You see O’Donnell drew more Republicans and Independents to the polls and fewer Democrats by percentage than the registration gap bore out. It's interesting that 18% of Delaware Republicans cost Christine the election and likewise, 18% of Delaware Republicans consider themselves more liberal than moderate. I wonder if THAT is the reason those Republicans down ticket lost…because of Tom Ross’ failure to put together a Republican Party that represents Republican values.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
American media reduced to tabloid status
Jurors in the Casey Anthony trial are currently seeking the release of the names and contact information for all of the jurors who returned Not Guilty verdicts on the counts of 1st Degree Murder, Aggravated Manslaughter and Aggravated Child Abuse. In arguments before the presiding judge, the Honorable Belvin Perry, local and national media entities cited cases where juror information has been published int he past and an attorney for the media said "privacy issues should not be the only factor here". Judge Perry rightly observed that jurors are selected, against their will at times, to serve on the jury. They are subject to potential imprisonment if they do not show up. Why should the state then NOT protect their identities if they are being forced to participate? That's nothing short of holding a person against their will, forcing them to make a decision and then turning them over to the wolves. Judge Perry cited a number of specific threats and actions taken by nuts, crazies and media persons against jurors who information hadn't been released and rightly showed concern that those individuals didn't deserve this kind of attention.
The media's attorney argued that judges and lawyers were had as much to fear from these people but their names are public. The problem with that argument is that judges can recuse themselves, lawyers can refuse the case, etc. and they are paid quite handsomely for their participation whereas jurors are paid a pittance and forced under penalty of law to participate. Their privacy should be respected and their concerns at the top of the heap. It's understood that the American media isn't content to have the facts, they need to sensationalize, to drive up ratings and to "scoop" the other papers. This isn't done through old fashioned gum shoe reporting anymore, it's done through gestapo tactics and court orders.
And why should we be surprised? National television hosts call those who disagree with them "Nazis" and "talk sluts" and only rarely end up disciplined. National media stations hire disgraced attorney's like Nancy Grace who was all but disbarred by the State of Georgia for being a liar and who has written books that embellished the death of her former fiance for profit to label people guilty before even the first shred of evidence is admitted. In fact, if Nancy Grace's treatment of "Tot Mom" (Casey Anthony) is any indication of the media concern for human rights, it's amazing they don't dig up the bodies and interview the corpses of the victims. Remember, it was the "esteemed" (and I use that term VERY lightly) Nancy Grace who pronounced Robert Ricci "guilty" of kidnapping Amy Smart despite the fact that the real kidnappers were Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. Ricci died in custody despite his innocence and Grace never apologized. She also attacked the Duke lacrosse team after a local stripper accused them of raping her. On her prime time show, Grace said, "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape!" and "Why would you go to a cop in an alleged gang rape case, say, and lie and give misleading information?". Turns out that the prosecutor in the case, Mark Nifong was disbarred for knowingly lying and accepting false statements from the accuser in the case while the defendants were pronounced not guilty. The stripper, Crystal Gail Mangum is now being held on murder charges for stabbing her ex boyfriend. Grace has never apologized for any of her attacks or misstatements.
Enter the mainstream media at local and national papers, on radio and TV who consistently feed the world the leftist agenda, hound the innocent and ignore more facts than they report all in search of ratings or sales. Is it any surprise that these animals are seeking the contact information for the jurors who rendered an unpopular but arguably correct verdict? Do you think these "people" care about who they hurt? Ask Christine O'Donnell, Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann about the media abuse. These animals know no bounds. I witnessed the media sleaze of the News Journal with Ginger Gibson who did everything she could to trash Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell and knew no bounds. I hope that Judge Perry rejects the media's motion and upholds the privacy of jury members.
The media's attorney argued that judges and lawyers were had as much to fear from these people but their names are public. The problem with that argument is that judges can recuse themselves, lawyers can refuse the case, etc. and they are paid quite handsomely for their participation whereas jurors are paid a pittance and forced under penalty of law to participate. Their privacy should be respected and their concerns at the top of the heap. It's understood that the American media isn't content to have the facts, they need to sensationalize, to drive up ratings and to "scoop" the other papers. This isn't done through old fashioned gum shoe reporting anymore, it's done through gestapo tactics and court orders.
And why should we be surprised? National television hosts call those who disagree with them "Nazis" and "talk sluts" and only rarely end up disciplined. National media stations hire disgraced attorney's like Nancy Grace who was all but disbarred by the State of Georgia for being a liar and who has written books that embellished the death of her former fiance for profit to label people guilty before even the first shred of evidence is admitted. In fact, if Nancy Grace's treatment of "Tot Mom" (Casey Anthony) is any indication of the media concern for human rights, it's amazing they don't dig up the bodies and interview the corpses of the victims. Remember, it was the "esteemed" (and I use that term VERY lightly) Nancy Grace who pronounced Robert Ricci "guilty" of kidnapping Amy Smart despite the fact that the real kidnappers were Brian David Mitchell and Wanda Barzee. Ricci died in custody despite his innocence and Grace never apologized. She also attacked the Duke lacrosse team after a local stripper accused them of raping her. On her prime time show, Grace said, "I'm so glad they didn't miss a lacrosse game over a little thing like gang rape!" and "Why would you go to a cop in an alleged gang rape case, say, and lie and give misleading information?". Turns out that the prosecutor in the case, Mark Nifong was disbarred for knowingly lying and accepting false statements from the accuser in the case while the defendants were pronounced not guilty. The stripper, Crystal Gail Mangum is now being held on murder charges for stabbing her ex boyfriend. Grace has never apologized for any of her attacks or misstatements.
Enter the mainstream media at local and national papers, on radio and TV who consistently feed the world the leftist agenda, hound the innocent and ignore more facts than they report all in search of ratings or sales. Is it any surprise that these animals are seeking the contact information for the jurors who rendered an unpopular but arguably correct verdict? Do you think these "people" care about who they hurt? Ask Christine O'Donnell, Sarah Palin or Michelle Bachmann about the media abuse. These animals know no bounds. I witnessed the media sleaze of the News Journal with Ginger Gibson who did everything she could to trash Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell and knew no bounds. I hope that Judge Perry rejects the media's motion and upholds the privacy of jury members.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
O'Donnell cleared but still smeared by biased media
It's amazing what facts didn't make it into the story huh? http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/report-federal-election-commission-attorneys-urged-finding-that-odonnell-broke-campaign-laws/2011/06/29/AGuJT5qH_story.html
Randall Chase from the AP called today (FYI: The FCC never contacted me by the way) and here is what I told him:
I was not an official “volunteer”, employee or paid consultant with Friends of Christine O’Donnell until late September 2010, after the Primary election and after the TEA Party Express had left town. I was an independent blogger and supporter of Christine and I was anti-Mike Castle. As the Executive Director of Common Sense Communities Society, I endorsed Christine and subsequently I nominated her at the convention. I was not an official member of the campaign in any capacity. As ED of CSCS, I helped to bring in the TEA Party Express to Delaware to advocate independently of the campaign. Christine showed up at public events, there was no private communication there. Additionally, I was a frequently caller to the Rick Jensen show to defend Christine or to advocate against Mike Castle. I offered to hook Rick Jensen up with the TEA Party Express for an interview as an independent agent. I did speak with the TEA Party Express every day at that time, in my capacity of CSCS Exec. Director. Also, I was/am the Communications Director for Founders Values, a 501(c)3 who put on debates and candidate forums which she attended. As a host, I saw it as my role to ensure that our guests were protected and so when she was accosted by the press, I walked her out.
The truth is omitted...wow...shocking...TELL THE TRUTH!
Randall Chase from the AP called today (FYI: The FCC never contacted me by the way) and here is what I told him:
I was not an official “volunteer”, employee or paid consultant with Friends of Christine O’Donnell until late September 2010, after the Primary election and after the TEA Party Express had left town. I was an independent blogger and supporter of Christine and I was anti-Mike Castle. As the Executive Director of Common Sense Communities Society, I endorsed Christine and subsequently I nominated her at the convention. I was not an official member of the campaign in any capacity. As ED of CSCS, I helped to bring in the TEA Party Express to Delaware to advocate independently of the campaign. Christine showed up at public events, there was no private communication there. Additionally, I was a frequently caller to the Rick Jensen show to defend Christine or to advocate against Mike Castle. I offered to hook Rick Jensen up with the TEA Party Express for an interview as an independent agent. I did speak with the TEA Party Express every day at that time, in my capacity of CSCS Exec. Director. Also, I was/am the Communications Director for Founders Values, a 501(c)3 who put on debates and candidate forums which she attended. As a host, I saw it as my role to ensure that our guests were protected and so when she was accosted by the press, I walked her out.
The truth is omitted...wow...shocking...TELL THE TRUTH!
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The News Journal Strikes Again
Last night Founders Values had our annual membership meeting. This meeting revolved around the 2nd Amendment and that is always a good draw. Even with the expectation of poor weather and some late notices, we had a good turn out. One of our members, Bob Wilson, approached me before the meeting and asked where I found some information that I had written about concerning Delaware's pension and retiree health care benefits. I told him that I had taken my information from a Pew Center Study that was done in 2008 about our state of underfunding. As you may note, the Pew Center is no right wing think tank, this isn't information from the Heritage Foundation, Americans for Prosperity or some other such conservative organization. The Pew Center leans left and is far more optimistic about governments deficit spending than even most Americans are. That's why when they say that our State Employee Pensions are underfunded to the tune of $600 million and our retiree health care plan is unfunded to the tune of $5.4 billion, I take notice. When they post a study that says we should be concerned about the retiree plan that is LESS THAN 2% funded, I think it's worth citing.
I soon found out why he was so interested in my source. Bob had written a letter to the editor of the News Journal. He's written letters before and almost always received a verification call from the same person. This time the call came from a different person, John Sweeney. Sweeney is the editor of the News Journal editorial pages so it's understandable that he might jump in and make a verification call on an editorial submission. The problem comes when you read the letter Bob submitted, and the one that was printed. I'll start with the version the News Journal printed:
And here is what Bob ACTUALLY wrote:
302-324-2500
Be sure to mention that John Sweeney should apologize for his actions publicly.
I soon found out why he was so interested in my source. Bob had written a letter to the editor of the News Journal. He's written letters before and almost always received a verification call from the same person. This time the call came from a different person, John Sweeney. Sweeney is the editor of the News Journal editorial pages so it's understandable that he might jump in and make a verification call on an editorial submission. The problem comes when you read the letter Bob submitted, and the one that was printed. I'll start with the version the News Journal printed:
In the March 11 News Journal, the spokeswoman for the Delaware State Education Association stated that it has a history of collaboration with the state government. My question would be, “Who are they collaborating against?” In this situation, it could only mean the taxpayers of Delaware. Is this a good thing?
The executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees said that any kind of effort to change the status quo would cause the unions in Delaware to unite.
The only reasonable conclusion would be that they would unite against the taxpayers and citizens of Delaware.
You know, the ones who have to pay for all of this.
Does anyone think that all of the unfunded liabilities may have come from this type of cooperating and collaborating?
Bob Wilson, Newark
And here is what Bob ACTUALLY wrote:
According to the Common Sense Communities Society, Delaware's public employee pension fund is underfunded by $600 Million dollars and the public employee retirement health care fund has an unfunded liability of $5.4 Billion dollars. Now what can possibly go wrong here?Now, I understand that the editorial pages retain the right to edit submissions, but to TOTALLY change it in such a drastic way by omission is rather pathetic. I'm urging you to call the News Journal and demand an answer as to why this letter was edited to such an enhanced degree. The removal of all of the facts make the op-ed almost entirely incoherent. You can call the News Journal at the number below:
In the March 11th News Journal the spokeswoman for the Delaware State Education Association stated that they have a history of collaboration with the state govt. My question would be who are they collaborating against? In this situation it could only mean the taxpayers of Delaware. Is this a good thing?
In the same piece the Executive Director of the AFL-CIO, who happily is also a member of the state House of Representatives, stated that the Unions have been so successful in the political process that they don't even have to negotiate with the state. What!! All they have to do is tell the state what they want and they get it? That's a sweet deal!
The executive director of AFSCME said that any kind of effort to change the status quo would cause the Unions in Delaware to unite. The only reasonable conclusion would be that they would unite against the taxpayers and citizens of Delaware. You know the who have to pay for all of this.
Does anyone think that all of the unfunded liabilities may have come from this type of cooperating and collaborating?
Nah, nothing to see here, just keep on moving.
Bob Wilson
Newark
302-324-2500
Be sure to mention that John Sweeney should apologize for his actions publicly.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Delaware's Irrelevant "columnist" Attacks TEA Party and O'Donnell
Delaware's lone statewide newspaper employs some rather strange people. One such individual, the often drunk (rumor has it he spends about 75% of his time in his favorite bar in a state close to a coma) Ron Williams falls into fits of rage and his drunken state keeps his stupid filter from working properly (read: at all).
I only bring this up now because Ron has gone and done it again. Perhaps the oddest part about this, is that the News Journal editors (yes I'm aware Ron is an assistant editor of the opinion pages...but someone should review his work), presumably sober and rational, actually print his drivel. Maybe more surprising, is that anyone still reads his column.
Well someone does, and that's why the record must now be set straight. The people of Delaware are being sold a bill of goods by an evil and corrupting old fart with a drinking problem and a lack of class. In his column called "Are Republicans just going to hand over the keys to the newbies" back on Feb. 26th our own "Uncle Ronnie" once again waded into the waters of insanity and took his readers with him. Maybe it plays to the target audience of the News Journal, mindless liberal progressive zombies but those of us with a few brain cells left are wondering about JUST a few things...
First, Ron opens his column with a couple of rather insulting remarks, one aimed at the thousands and thousands of Delawareans who have turned out for TEA Party rallies and the tens of thousands of Delaware Republicans who bucked the trend and supported O'Donnell in the 2010 Primary against RINO Mike Castle.
Further, your "dear little Miss..." statement is both condescending and ignorant. Christine O'Donnell ran back to back TOUGH races against two opponents who used the large Democrat registration advantage and every nasty, dirty and disgusting trick they could against her. They attacked her for being a woman, called her stupid and worse yet not a peep out of the so-called "women's rights" defenders. Some sources on the far left even dug up complete and total lies about Christine's "sex life". These are things you would NEVER hear about male candidates. Despite the nationwide smear campaign and millions of dollars spent trashing her, despite the fact that her own party leadership undermined her campaign at every turn and despite the fact that your paper, the News Journal, assigned their very own personal smear artist to the race, she STILL beat Mike Castle in the Primary and scared the CRAP out of Coons in the general. For that alone she deserves more respect than what you've given her. Of course, it could just be the whiskey talking...
Just a few paragraphs later, after attacking O'Donnell for the idea that she might be as rhythmically challenged as she suggests, Williams again insert his foot into his drinking hole:
2008: Markell defeats Lee by 15%
2006: Tom Carper (D) defeats Jan Ting (R) 70.2% - 28.7% (42% GOP loss)
2004: Carney defeats Ursomarso by 26%
2002: Biden defeats Clatworthy 58.2% - 40.2% (18% GOP loss) - keep in mind that if you speak to GOP insiders like Priscilla Rakestraw...she claims that this was a tight race...
2000: Minner defeats Burris by 20%
Not to mention there are a HOST of local and state rep races with similar defeats. In fact, O'Donnell's 7 point swing in the face of overwhelming odds is rather impressive. Perhaps Ron forgot these, whiskey has a tendency to make me that way too.
In addition to mischaracterizing O'Donnell's performance in the General Election, Williams goes right for an "objective source" when he reaches out to Tom Ross, the Delaware State GOP Chair who publicly said that O'Donnell could not be elected dogcatcher, made up a story about a fake death threat in a desperate 11th hour ploy (he's done this before in tight primaries to sway public opinion) and filed a frivolous lawsuit against the campaign which remained an active stain on the campaign throughout the entire general election season. Tom Ross and the "Republican Party leadership" consistently undermined Christine and fabricated stories. Pardon me if I question whether or not Mr. Ross even RECIEVED phone calls from other GOP chairs. Much less that they used the term "that wacko from Delaware" (in the event that it did happen, how sad is it that these other state GOP parties are so weak that they rely on the smallest state in the union to get their candidates elected?)
There were more registered Democrats in 2010 than there were in 2008 in fact, since 2002, the Democrat registration has jumped 31% and just since 2006 it has increased 19%. Some of that is due to Republicans who became Democrats to vote in the primary that elected Jack Markell (how's that working out for us?) as Governor. Most of it is due to an influx of NJ, PA and NY liberals who left the states they helped destroy for the relative safety of Delaware and have begun to destroy THIS state. In addition, only 81% of Republicans supported their own nominee in 2010. This is of course because the nominee was NOT Mike Castle because had O'Donnell not won, the party faithful would be EXPECTED to fall in line.
Further numbers bare an even more incredible reality for the Delaware GOP. Since Christine O'Donnell has been a U.S. Senate nominee, the percentages have increased:
28.7% - 2006 - Jan Ting vs Tom Carper
35.3% - 2008 - O'Donnell vs Biden (other notables this year: Judge Bill Lee (Governor) 32%, John McCain 37%, Copeland 38%)
40% - 2010 - O'Donnell vs Coons
Remember, Jan Ting was SO liberal that he actually switched to the Democrat Party after he lost handily to Carper. And lest ye think that despite the numbers above, O'Donnell caused a drop in Republican voters:
In the 2006 midterm elections, 90,176 Republicans voted. In the 2010 midterm elections, 102,225 Republicans voted. In addition, a third party firm, Viae Consulting found the following:
Williams then goes on to attack Mike Protack who is a constant source of ire from the Delaware political establishment.
Tom Ross is a an abject failure as Chariman. I had misplaced hope after the election that he would be able to rally the troops under the banner of freedom and liberty but he's squandered every bit of political capital he had with the majority of Republicans who voted against Mike Castle and the establishment status quo.
Priscilla Rakestraw is a little like legacy computer games. It's old, doesn't really work right but man it was cool back in the day. She's the longest serving National Committeewoman in the entire GOP...cool...ok I'm over it. She's also quite vidictive and as you can see in this video, a little out of touch:
Laird Stabler is a good guy and fortunately he has stayed above the fray. Unfortunately he has not been able to fight against the other party leaders.
Mike Castle is finally gone as the party figurehead but there is noone who stepped right in to take his place. That has caused a bit of a problem as the party transitions and the GOP chair flops like a freshly caught fish on the floor of the boat. Castle has 10 years of service in the Congress to give people an opinion on where the Delaware GOP stands, which is just left of the majority of the country. Apparently that doesn't play as well in Delaware as they thought. As the party ideology moved left, their numbers of representation plummeted. Since the early 80's when Pres Reagan and then Gov. Pete DuPont led America out of the dismal 70's, the Delaware GOP has drifted to the left and moved so far that it has alienated it's base and blurred the lines between the GOP and Democrat Party to the point that people no longer even see a difference. A fresh conservative approach would actually FIX the Delaware GOP but that isn't Williams' goal. His only plan here is to demonize conservatives, attack Republicans and assinate the character of everyone in the process. It's my sincere desire to see Ron Williams unemployed but I hold out no hope of the News Journal doing the right thing and firing this lunatic drunkard. It's more likely that the Delaware GOP actually hand over the keys to the newbies than the News Journal do the right thing here.
Written by Evan Queitsch - I Evan Queitsch hereby certify that I am stone cold sober and have not touched a drop of alcohol in 24 hours.
Maybe Williams could end his columns with the above line...naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
I only bring this up now because Ron has gone and done it again. Perhaps the oddest part about this, is that the News Journal editors (yes I'm aware Ron is an assistant editor of the opinion pages...but someone should review his work), presumably sober and rational, actually print his drivel. Maybe more surprising, is that anyone still reads his column.
Well someone does, and that's why the record must now be set straight. The people of Delaware are being sold a bill of goods by an evil and corrupting old fart with a drinking problem and a lack of class. In his column called "Are Republicans just going to hand over the keys to the newbies" back on Feb. 26th our own "Uncle Ronnie" once again waded into the waters of insanity and took his readers with him. Maybe it plays to the target audience of the News Journal, mindless liberal progressive zombies but those of us with a few brain cells left are wondering about JUST a few things...
First, Ron opens his column with a couple of rather insulting remarks, one aimed at the thousands and thousands of Delawareans who have turned out for TEA Party rallies and the tens of thousands of Delaware Republicans who bucked the trend and supported O'Donnell in the 2010 Primary against RINO Mike Castle.
"I've been trying to pin down a Delaware Republican or two on the question of how the party is going to deal with the tea party faction, especially in Sussex County, and the likes of dear little Miss Christine O'Donnell."Mr. Williams, the Delaware Republican Party isn't going to "deal" with the TEA Party faction...oh it's TRYING to...but the reality is that the TEA Party is a non-partisan effort to fight the kind of corruption that leads someone like Ron Williams to suggest that the Delaware GOP is going to "deal" with anything. You see Ron, for those TEA Party folks who are registered Republicans, they ARE "Delaware Republicans" meaning that THEY will determine who runs the party, not a few elites. You see, the TEA Party has awakened the GOP electorate to the fact that the party has been controlled by a small and elite few who have incestuously kept the power of the party consolidated within their ranks. These same people have watched their fundraising base dwindle and have continuously thrust forward RINO Mike Castle despite the fact that he voted with the Democrats more often than with Republicans and despite some very odd votes (he voted to impeach President Bush and for Cap and Trade).
Further, your "dear little Miss..." statement is both condescending and ignorant. Christine O'Donnell ran back to back TOUGH races against two opponents who used the large Democrat registration advantage and every nasty, dirty and disgusting trick they could against her. They attacked her for being a woman, called her stupid and worse yet not a peep out of the so-called "women's rights" defenders. Some sources on the far left even dug up complete and total lies about Christine's "sex life". These are things you would NEVER hear about male candidates. Despite the nationwide smear campaign and millions of dollars spent trashing her, despite the fact that her own party leadership undermined her campaign at every turn and despite the fact that your paper, the News Journal, assigned their very own personal smear artist to the race, she STILL beat Mike Castle in the Primary and scared the CRAP out of Coons in the general. For that alone she deserves more respect than what you've given her. Of course, it could just be the whiskey talking...
Just a few paragraphs later, after attacking O'Donnell for the idea that she might be as rhythmically challenged as she suggests, Williams again insert his foot into his drinking hole:
"I don't completely understand how Christine O'Donnell, who lost a U.S. Senate race in Delaware by one of the widest margins in modern times, is considered a "star" by television producers. But that's why I'm not a television producer and they are."As usual, Mr. Williams is playing fast and loose with the truth...well ok, he's pretty much completely wrong. O'Donnell lost the 2010 General election by 14 points. Now that is larger than the campaign would like but not insurmountable, it's really only a 7 point swing. With that said, the loss remains at 14% so, is Mr. Williams right? Is this one of the widest margins in modern times?
2008: Markell defeats Lee by 15%
2006: Tom Carper (D) defeats Jan Ting (R) 70.2% - 28.7% (42% GOP loss)
2004: Carney defeats Ursomarso by 26%
2002: Biden defeats Clatworthy 58.2% - 40.2% (18% GOP loss) - keep in mind that if you speak to GOP insiders like Priscilla Rakestraw...she claims that this was a tight race...
2000: Minner defeats Burris by 20%
Not to mention there are a HOST of local and state rep races with similar defeats. In fact, O'Donnell's 7 point swing in the face of overwhelming odds is rather impressive. Perhaps Ron forgot these, whiskey has a tendency to make me that way too.
In addition to mischaracterizing O'Donnell's performance in the General Election, Williams goes right for an "objective source" when he reaches out to Tom Ross, the Delaware State GOP Chair who publicly said that O'Donnell could not be elected dogcatcher, made up a story about a fake death threat in a desperate 11th hour ploy (he's done this before in tight primaries to sway public opinion) and filed a frivolous lawsuit against the campaign which remained an active stain on the campaign throughout the entire general election season. Tom Ross and the "Republican Party leadership" consistently undermined Christine and fabricated stories. Pardon me if I question whether or not Mr. Ross even RECIEVED phone calls from other GOP chairs. Much less that they used the term "that wacko from Delaware" (in the event that it did happen, how sad is it that these other state GOP parties are so weak that they rely on the smallest state in the union to get their candidates elected?)
"Because of the national publicity, state Republican Party Chairman Tom Ross was getting telephone calls from several fellow state chairs, including those in Connecticut and New Mexico, who were seeing a drop in the polls for Republican candidates in their state. They attributed it to that "wacko from Delaware" who's making all Republicans look like goofballs.O'Donnell raised $7 million from all over the country in the face severe odds. Most of it was raised in just 6 weeks. From February through September, Delaware supporters were discouraged and viciously threatened for showing public support for or donating to Miss. O'Donnell. For the sake of argument, let's pretend that Tom Ross isn't a lying, conniving snake in the grass capable of selling his own mother to his father and give him the benefit of the doubt that these calls actually came in. Are these claims accurate? Let's start with the raw figures:
Ross also told me recently that the chances of newcomers to Delaware joining the state Republican Party had been undermined by her. People with political convictions, and money to contribute, don't want to join a party with people like her."
There were more registered Democrats in 2010 than there were in 2008 in fact, since 2002, the Democrat registration has jumped 31% and just since 2006 it has increased 19%. Some of that is due to Republicans who became Democrats to vote in the primary that elected Jack Markell (how's that working out for us?) as Governor. Most of it is due to an influx of NJ, PA and NY liberals who left the states they helped destroy for the relative safety of Delaware and have begun to destroy THIS state. In addition, only 81% of Republicans supported their own nominee in 2010. This is of course because the nominee was NOT Mike Castle because had O'Donnell not won, the party faithful would be EXPECTED to fall in line.
Further numbers bare an even more incredible reality for the Delaware GOP. Since Christine O'Donnell has been a U.S. Senate nominee, the percentages have increased:
28.7% - 2006 - Jan Ting vs Tom Carper
35.3% - 2008 - O'Donnell vs Biden (other notables this year: Judge Bill Lee (Governor) 32%, John McCain 37%, Copeland 38%)
40% - 2010 - O'Donnell vs Coons
Remember, Jan Ting was SO liberal that he actually switched to the Democrat Party after he lost handily to Carper. And lest ye think that despite the numbers above, O'Donnell caused a drop in Republican voters:
In the 2006 midterm elections, 90,176 Republicans voted. In the 2010 midterm elections, 102,225 Republicans voted. In addition, a third party firm, Viae Consulting found the following:
- Christine O’Donnell’s candidacy did not drive Democrats to the polls
- Christine O’Donnell drove more Republicans to the polls to vote
- New Castle County Republicans jumped the party line to vote for the Democratic opponent
- New Castle County Republican registration was lower in 2010, than in 2008.
"The congressional candidacy of Glen Urquhart, whose campaign was run by a renegade, off-the-reservation Vance Phillips, current member and former president of Sussex County Council, was also not conducive to raising legitimate money. Why in the world would Republicans not vote for an attractive, independently wealthy, and brainy lawyer like Michele Rollins, they would ask.So it seems that Mr. Williams just hates conservatives. Vance Phillips is a respected member of the Sussex County Republican Party, former Sussex County Council President and current Sussex County Council member. He has a long history of community involvement and in 2007 he was the state Vice Chairman of the Republican Party. Like his friend Al Mascitti, Williams seems to think that anyone who believes in God, believes in being fiscally responsible or supports a small government is "an extremist". Ron, Michele lost for a number of reasons, not the least of which is because the people of the Delaware Republican Party are TIRED of being told who to vote for and of supporting candidates like Mike Castle who do not represent them. Rollins stood with Castle, she aligned herself with him and THAT is why she lost.
Well, good question. You'll have to ask the tea partiers and right-wing extremists like Vance Phillips and his ilk."
Williams then goes on to attack Mike Protack who is a constant source of ire from the Delaware political establishment.
"And now you've got Mike Protack, another perennial loser who has never garnered a legitimate party following, running for state party chairman."It should be pointed out that, as someone who is plugged into Republican politics, Mike Protack has not said he wants to be Party Chairman, he hasn't announced an intention to run for that office. The only names I have heard officially in the ring for state chair are Tom Ross (the current mistake) and Don Ayotte who is a Sussex County favorite with limited support in Kent and New Castle County. This is laughably wrong and it serves to show that both the News Journal AND the Delaware GOP leadership are TOTALLY lost when it comes to what is going on within the GOP. Later in the story Williams mentions John Siglar, the former NRA President who supported Christine O'Donnell as a potential candidate for Republican Party chair. The problem is that he names Siglar as a party leadership favorite when in reality Siglar is being courted by the conservative wing of the GOP.
"Finally, Ron Williams ends his rather aweful column but before he does he says this:This might be the best idea I've heard yet. Under the leadership of Ross, Rakestraw and Castle the Delaware GOP has become irrelevant. They've resorted to cutting deals with the Democrat Party in order to retain a semblance of power in the state. Turning over the keys to the "newbies" who were able to rally together and defeat one of the 3 most powerful politicians in Delaware might actually help the cause. In fact, I can almost guarantee that we would do a better job than the current crop of cronies who gave continuously depleted funds, been ineffective at raising money, have no real message and absolutely no leadership.
I finally received an answer that at first I thought was simply flip and sarcastic. But the more I thought about it, it might not be a bad idea, at least in the short run. 'We're just going to give them the keys and let them run the show. See ya later.'"
Tom Ross is a an abject failure as Chariman. I had misplaced hope after the election that he would be able to rally the troops under the banner of freedom and liberty but he's squandered every bit of political capital he had with the majority of Republicans who voted against Mike Castle and the establishment status quo.
Priscilla Rakestraw is a little like legacy computer games. It's old, doesn't really work right but man it was cool back in the day. She's the longest serving National Committeewoman in the entire GOP...cool...ok I'm over it. She's also quite vidictive and as you can see in this video, a little out of touch:
Laird Stabler is a good guy and fortunately he has stayed above the fray. Unfortunately he has not been able to fight against the other party leaders.
Mike Castle is finally gone as the party figurehead but there is noone who stepped right in to take his place. That has caused a bit of a problem as the party transitions and the GOP chair flops like a freshly caught fish on the floor of the boat. Castle has 10 years of service in the Congress to give people an opinion on where the Delaware GOP stands, which is just left of the majority of the country. Apparently that doesn't play as well in Delaware as they thought. As the party ideology moved left, their numbers of representation plummeted. Since the early 80's when Pres Reagan and then Gov. Pete DuPont led America out of the dismal 70's, the Delaware GOP has drifted to the left and moved so far that it has alienated it's base and blurred the lines between the GOP and Democrat Party to the point that people no longer even see a difference. A fresh conservative approach would actually FIX the Delaware GOP but that isn't Williams' goal. His only plan here is to demonize conservatives, attack Republicans and assinate the character of everyone in the process. It's my sincere desire to see Ron Williams unemployed but I hold out no hope of the News Journal doing the right thing and firing this lunatic drunkard. It's more likely that the Delaware GOP actually hand over the keys to the newbies than the News Journal do the right thing here.
Written by Evan Queitsch - I Evan Queitsch hereby certify that I am stone cold sober and have not touched a drop of alcohol in 24 hours.
Maybe Williams could end his columns with the above line...naaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
On a slow news day...
Delaware news is dominated by "breaking news" that Christine O'Donnell submitted paperwork to form her political action committee. They seemed to be surprised about the fact that Christine was able to file the paperwork to start a PAC to do independent expenditures for candidates and raise an unlimited amount of money. The name of the PAC is ChristinePAC. News at 11.
Honestly? Folks....I really don't even know what to say anymore about these people. Is there ANY hope for journalism? I applaud Christine for starting the PAC and as soon as I know more about it I will post that information. Unlike the LSM (Lame Stream Media) I'm going to wait till there is more substance and *gasp* a website. News...when it happens.
Honestly? Folks....I really don't even know what to say anymore about these people. Is there ANY hope for journalism? I applaud Christine for starting the PAC and as soon as I know more about it I will post that information. Unlike the LSM (Lame Stream Media) I'm going to wait till there is more substance and *gasp* a website. News...when it happens.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Federal Judge among those killed in Arizona shooting
As the nation remains in prayer for the recovery of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords after the Arizona shooting on Saturday and in mourning for those killed, including the 9yr old granddaughter of former Phillies manager Dallas Green, the mainstream media has glazed over one of the dead. Among those killed was Federal Judge John McCarthy Roll who was the Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona. Judge Roll was a supporter of the 2nd Amendment and had presided over a number of pro-gun cases in which he issued rulings that favored gun owners or struck down federal gun crackdowns as illegal. Friday Jan. 7th, Judge Roll issued a “preliminary ruling” in a case titled “United States of America v. $333,520.00 in United States Currency et al” [Case Number: 4:2010cv00703 Filed: November 30, 2010] wherein he stated he was preparing to rule against President Obama’s power to seize American citizens money without clear and convincing evidence of a crime being committed.
The Obama administration had claimed that it was their right to seize funds suspected of being smuggled into or out of the United States by using Presidential Executive Orders, instead of existing laws. The USA Patriot Act has opened the door for Presidents to take this stand. The Obama administration used FDR's Gold confiscation order (E.O. 6102) as justification for their claims. The murder of Judge Roll does not appear to be directly related to his pending ruling on this case but it does seem odd that it came only one day after his preliminary report was issued.
The Obama administration has been moving to acquire as much federal power as it can since the President took office by using the recent economic crisis and security lapses as proof of need. Perhaps the scariest power claimed by President Obama is contained in Executive Order 13528 he signed a year ago today (January 10, 2010) which created a Council of Governors that have been hand-picked to rule over the United States in place of its elected representatives when their next “disaster” strikes and orders them to begin “synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities”.
Initial media reports blamed the attack on "Sarah Palin" and other TEA Party and conservative personalities due to their "dangerous rhetoric" and the mainstream media even originally labeled the shooter (Jared Loughner) as "a TEA Partier". This has prompted calls for the Obama Administration and Congress to infringe on the 1st Amendment rights of Americans and their freedom of speech. Also, the political establishment and the mainstream media have a vested interest in silencing the TEA Party and conservatives. The political establishment took a thumping in 2010 as many TEA Party candidates were elected and even more establishment candidates from both major parties were ousted by their constituents. Investigations by Arizona law enforcement have actually shown that Loughner was an Atheist who dabbled in satanic worship and who named the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf as two of his favorite books. In addition, the left-wing blog "The Daily KOS" ginned up the hate and vitriol against Congresswoman Giffords. Add that to the calls for revolution by MSNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan, the suggestion by Clinton pollster Mark Penn that Obama "needs his own Oklahoma City" and this montage of leftist hatred and we're left to ask, where's the beef when the MSM blames the TEA Party for violence?
The Obama administration had claimed that it was their right to seize funds suspected of being smuggled into or out of the United States by using Presidential Executive Orders, instead of existing laws. The USA Patriot Act has opened the door for Presidents to take this stand. The Obama administration used FDR's Gold confiscation order (E.O. 6102) as justification for their claims. The murder of Judge Roll does not appear to be directly related to his pending ruling on this case but it does seem odd that it came only one day after his preliminary report was issued.
The Obama administration has been moving to acquire as much federal power as it can since the President took office by using the recent economic crisis and security lapses as proof of need. Perhaps the scariest power claimed by President Obama is contained in Executive Order 13528 he signed a year ago today (January 10, 2010) which created a Council of Governors that have been hand-picked to rule over the United States in place of its elected representatives when their next “disaster” strikes and orders them to begin “synchronization and integration of State and Federal military activities in the United States; and other matters of mutual interest pertaining to National Guard, homeland defense, and civil support activities”.
Initial media reports blamed the attack on "Sarah Palin" and other TEA Party and conservative personalities due to their "dangerous rhetoric" and the mainstream media even originally labeled the shooter (Jared Loughner) as "a TEA Partier". This has prompted calls for the Obama Administration and Congress to infringe on the 1st Amendment rights of Americans and their freedom of speech. Also, the political establishment and the mainstream media have a vested interest in silencing the TEA Party and conservatives. The political establishment took a thumping in 2010 as many TEA Party candidates were elected and even more establishment candidates from both major parties were ousted by their constituents. Investigations by Arizona law enforcement have actually shown that Loughner was an Atheist who dabbled in satanic worship and who named the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf as two of his favorite books. In addition, the left-wing blog "The Daily KOS" ginned up the hate and vitriol against Congresswoman Giffords. Add that to the calls for revolution by MSNBC anchor Dylan Ratigan, the suggestion by Clinton pollster Mark Penn that Obama "needs his own Oklahoma City" and this montage of leftist hatred and we're left to ask, where's the beef when the MSM blames the TEA Party for violence?
Saturday, January 8, 2011
The left wing media tries it again, facts prove them wrong, no retractions
Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot today along with 12 other people by a lone gunman in Tucson Arizona. The Democratic Congresswoman is in critical condition but at least others were killed in the attack. She is considered a Blue Dog Democrat who supported Universal Healthcare but only after language that would remove federal funding for abortions. Immediately after the attack, the wires filled with commentary that blamed Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck for the attack. They intimated that the gunman must have been an angry TEA Party Republican. Even the WSJ jumped into the fray:
Asked whether the tea party right deserved to be singled out for particular blame, Grijalva assented:
As it turns out, the shooter was far from your average TEA Party grandfather with an axe to grind against illegal immigrants. Jared Lee Loughner's favorite book, A Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx (and many of the left wing journalists who initially classified him as a TEA Partier). Also he was a known leftist in school and believer in mind control and other conspiracy theories who read Hitler and enjoyed burning American flags. Also, conservatives from Sarah Palin to Michelle Bachman down to the individual TEA Partier on Facebook have posted messages of prayer and best wishes for the Congresswoman. Meanwhile, the media deletes old data but never issues a retraction. AP stories which had originally called this "the fault of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh" have been removed from the net and replaced with "updates" but no retraction has been issued. *UPDATE* Turns out that, as usual, the HATE came from the left and not the right.
WE THE PEOPLE must hold the 4th branch accountable and call on them to be FAIR AND BALANCED. We must stop buying their papers, tuning into their TV stations and logging into their website. Only when we stop relying on their lies, can we get accurate news.
The shooting was not the first time the congresswoman has had brushes with violence. Following the health care overhaul vote this year, her district office was vandalized.This reminds me, as it does Erick Erickson over at Redstate, of the reaction to the attack at the Discovery Channel. The radical leftist blogs like the Huffington Post, Salon and Daily KOS, who routinely call in both comments and postings, for the blood of conservatives immediately attacked Palin, Beck and Limbaugh as having stoked these flames and even some elected officials got in on the hits. Radical leftist/progressive Raul Grijalva, who is also an Arizonia Representative in the U.S. House spoke to the progressive magazine Mother Jones :
"The rhetoric has gotten incredibly heated," she told MSNBC in March. "Not just the calls, the emails, the slurs. Things have really gotten spun up."
Dr. Peter Rhee, trauma surgeon at the University of Arizona Medical Center, gives an update to the press on the condition of ten victims of the Tucson, Arizona shooting including wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
.She also specifically called out a "targets" website created by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for the 2010 midterm elections that featured a crosshair over hers and other districts. Republicans campaigned heavily against Ms. Giffords, a moderate Democrat in a Republican-leaning district, last year.
"We can't stand for this, we do really need to realize that the rhetoric and firing people up, and you know things for example we're on Sarah Palin's targeted list, the thing is the way she has it depicted has the crosshairs of a gunsight over our district," she told MSNBC.
Asked whether the tea party right deserved to be singled out for particular blame, Grijalva assented:
[When] you stoke these flames, and you go to public meetings and you scream at the elected officials, you threaten them—you make us expendable you make us part of the cannon fodder. For a while, you've been feeding this hatred, this division…you feed it, you encourage it….Something's going to happen. People are feeding this monster….Some of the extreme right wing has made demonization of elected officials their priority.A number of prominent left-wing blogs, including Daily Kos and FireDogLake, also blamed Sarah Palin for fanning the flames by placing Giffords—along with other vulnerable Democratic members of Congress—literally in the crosshairs on a map during the midterm elections. Grijalva said that the Palin "apparatus" shares responsibility for creating a climate of extremism. "Both Gabby and I were targeted in the apparatus in that cycle [saying] these people are 'enemies.'" He concluded: "The Palin express better look at their tone and their tenor."
As it turns out, the shooter was far from your average TEA Party grandfather with an axe to grind against illegal immigrants. Jared Lee Loughner's favorite book, A Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx (and many of the left wing journalists who initially classified him as a TEA Partier). Also he was a known leftist in school and believer in mind control and other conspiracy theories who read Hitler and enjoyed burning American flags. Also, conservatives from Sarah Palin to Michelle Bachman down to the individual TEA Partier on Facebook have posted messages of prayer and best wishes for the Congresswoman. Meanwhile, the media deletes old data but never issues a retraction. AP stories which had originally called this "the fault of Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh" have been removed from the net and replaced with "updates" but no retraction has been issued. *UPDATE* Turns out that, as usual, the HATE came from the left and not the right.
WE THE PEOPLE must hold the 4th branch accountable and call on them to be FAIR AND BALANCED. We must stop buying their papers, tuning into their TV stations and logging into their website. Only when we stop relying on their lies, can we get accurate news.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)