Category: Journalism

Gonzo The Bigot

Philadelphia Inquirer sports columnist John “Gonzo” Gonzalez wrote a column today on how Eagles lineman Todd Herremans was duly chastised for tweeting an opinion about a television show.

“So.. caught up on Trueblood last nite,”  Herremans wrote on Twitter. “Not a fan of how they get u hooked with the 1st 2 seasons then bring on a barrage of homosexuality.”

Gonzalez caught the comment immediately and took issue with it even faster. He tweeted Herremans asking if he wanted to take it back or apologize.

Herremans responded by tweeting “@gonzophilly I have no issues with homosexuality to each his/her own… Its jus not for me.. #jussaying”

This was not good enough for Gonzalez, who described the opinion as “insulting”. He asked  Herremans how a gay Eagles employee might feel about what he wrote.

Herremans response was “@gonzophilly like I said .. To each his/her own”

Of course what happened next was Eagles management got involved and Herremans had to write an apology.

Gonzalez said he wasn’t sure if Herremans was sincere, which is rather flabbergasting to think that someone might actually think it possible he was.

Gonzalez also said he knew members of the Eagles who are gay and thought it a shame that they must remain in the closet because  some might not like True Blood.

So let’s summarize: we have a fellow who makes a living expressing his opinion attacking someone else for expressing an opinion, and a rather mild — and in a sane world inconsequential — one at that. Remember, Herremans was not mocking those who like the show nor was he demanding it be removed from HBO he was simply giving an honest opinion as to why he stopped liking it.

And for this an apology was forced.

Here is the definition of bigot: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices. The correct use of the term requires the elements of intolerance, irrationality, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs.

Who is the bigot in this matter? Hint, it is not the one who says “To each his/her own”

Daily Times Blames Bush Again

About a month after blaming George W. Bush for Pennsylvania’s budget woes, The Delaware County Daily Times in suburban Philadelphia decided to go whole hog and fault the entire nation’s economic misery on the previous president.

“When George W. Bush completed his second term of office in 2009, he left the country with a one-year deficit of more than $1 trillion and projected deficits of more than $8 trillion,” the DT said which was what they also said a month ago.

The DT, however, decided it was not worth  mentioning that it was the Democrats that controlled the legislature for the final two years of Dubya — civics tip of the day: spending bills start in the House.

Nor did it feel obliged to point out that Duby’s last proposed budget initially called for a $408 billion deficit.

Nor  did it think it necessary to say that the deficit was increased by $300 billion by TARP bailout spending strongly supported by certain senator from Illinois with whom the DT still seems enamored which would put them behind even Obama Girl , when it comes to shaking off the chains of co-dependency.

Nor did it see fit to note that $113 billion of that last deficit could be laid solely at the feet of Obama.

Nor did it bother to report that Obama has accelerated the spending so much that the first budget the can be entirely credit to him calls for a $1.7 billion deficit.

I suspect that the staff of the DT fully accepts Al Gore’s claim that he invented the internet. Still as it sinks into the pit and the tar finally closes over its gasping nostrils, the final thought of that Journal Register product will be “Bush’s fault”.

 

Daily Times Blames Bush

JournoList Scandal Has Columnist’s Panties Bunched

JournoList Scandal Has Columnist’s Panties Bunched — Philadelphia Daily News columnist Will “He-ever-get-his-panties-out-of-a” Bunch threw a hissy fit a few days ago about being included on a list of propagandists pretending to be journalist that sought, with success, to influence the 2008 presidential election in the Democrat Party’s favor.

” . . .based on the increasingly unhinged comments I’ve been getting on the JournoList lately — thought I should check to see if I had been erroneously placed there as well. Of course, I was. It’s 100 percent wrong. I was never on the now-defunct JournoList at any time during its history, nor was I ever asked to be on it, ” he wrote.

Bunch speculates he is being tied to the scandal because he allowed his name to be attached to an open letter objecting to the questions posed by moderators George Stephanapoulos and Charlie Gibson to Barack Obama during an April primary debate with Hillary Clinton.

He says his objections were only driven by concerns of journalistic integrity. Why would Stephanapoulos — that communications director for the, apparently in Bunch’s view, right-wing Clinton administration — think it of relevance to ask about a possible president’s connections to bigots like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and radicals like Bill Ayers?

Bunch downplays that how to keep Wright and Ayers from being a topic of the election was a major discussion on the list, and apparently feels it isn’t strange that these connections never were discussed much by the old media despite its willingness to report Sarah Palin’s religious views and such things as claims that she sought a library book ban, despite the claims being political and overblown .

Bunch feels it important to note that working journalists did not make up most of the 400 or so posters who he describes “as working for publications like the Nation with an openly liberalorientation, as well as academics and a few advocates.” He did not feel obliged, however, to point out that the list was founded by Washington Post columnist Ezra Klein and that some of those working journalists included Ryan Donmoyer who was covering the campaign for Bloomberg News and Ben Adler who was then writing for Politico and is now an editor at Newsweek.

Here is a link to the list about which Bunch is objecting.

Bunch, btw, is someone who hides his bias in plain sight.

And Will, unless you think that blacks are somehow inherently different than whites — a distinct possibility since you are a leftist — the handling of the voter intimidation incident by New Black Panther Party thugs   is a serious scandal.

JournoList Scandal Has Columnist’s Panties Bunched

JournoList Scandal Has Columnist's Panties Bunched

A Creeping Lawlessness In Government

The J. Christian Adams matter is getting a little traction. Even the Philadelphia Inquirer felt obliged to put an AP version on its website.

On Election Day 2008, a couple of thugs at polling place at 1221 Fairmount St., Philadelphia made racially disparaging comments and brandished weapons at poll watchers and voters. The thugs were black and members of a group called the New Black Panther Party.

After the election, the Justice Department brought a voter intimidation case against them. Adams was among the attorneys who pursued the case and won an entry of default after the defendants ignored the charges. Before the final judgment could be rendered though, the case was ordered dismissed. This was in May 2009,

On May 14, 2010, Adams resigned from the Department and went public a few weeks later with what has been occurring. He wrote that “the dismissal is part of a creeping lawlessness infusing our government institutions” and that “citizens would be shocked to learn about the open and pervasive hostility within the Justice Department to bringing civil rights cases against nonwhite defendants on behalf of white victims”.

Adams noted that this put “core American principles of equality before the law and freedom from racial discrimination . . . at risk”.

Adams has talked about this at length on Fox News and it has been a matter of discussion on talk radio. Still, there is a sheep-like segment of this country that will dismiss what Adams is saying out-of-hand solely because he has used those venues. To them, I say prepare to be sheared.

The corruption on display in the New Black Panther Party matter isn’t that much different than that which occurred in the Gerald Walpin matter.

Pa. Daily Blames State Budget Crisis On Bush

The Delaware County Daily Times in suburban Philadelphia, today, squarely placed the blame on Harrisburg’s inability to pass a budget on the shoulders of George W. Bush. It said:


Of course, it doesn’t help that the country was plunged into economic disaster by the previous administration. When George W. Bush took office in 2001, he inherited a budget surplus of more than $200 billion. In 2009, he left the country with a $1 trillion deficit and projected deficits of $8 trillion or more.

The Times‘ reasoning appears to be that if Washington didn’t have such fiscal headaches they’d be able to shovel more money to Pennsylvania and nobody would be upset about state political hacks making  300 Gs  even when they retire. Nor would people be expressing ire at the compensation of the members of the teachers union for whose pensions Harrisburg is largely on the hook .

Of course, one wonders why it might not have occurred to the editorial writers that places like California and New York and Michigan with even greater budget headaches might not get first dibs in the fed loot money which would obviously include a chunk taken from Pennsylvanians.

Now regarding the former president, while one is not inclined to defend the domestic spending that occurred under his watch, we can’t recall the Daily Times objecting to Dubya’s creating a Medicare drug entitlement that will cost an estimated $800 billion in its first decade, increasing federal education spending 58 percent faster than inflation or being the first President to spend 3 percent of GDP on federal antipoverty programs.

And we certainly don’t see the Times objecting to President Obama’s drastic acceleration of those programs.

Of course, a lot of conservatives did and do.

And with regard to that  $1 trillion deficit and the projected $8 trillion deficits, well, Bush’s final budget projected a $408 billion deficit for fiscal year Oct. 1, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009. The TARP fiasco, strongly supported by a certain young senator from Illinois, spent nearly $300 billion  more — hey Daily Times what reforms do you advocate for Freddie and Fannie?  Then, Obama tacked on another $113 billion in “stimulus” spending,  and the economic downturn caused a drastic shortfall from the tax revenue that had been projected.

Obama’s first all-by-his-lonesome budget, btw,  calls for a $1.17 trillion deficit.

The problem with the old media isn’t that it criticizes and scrutinizes Republicans but that it fails to do so with Democrats. Stop drinking the Flavor Aid and start thinking for yourselves. 

Philadelphia Press Association Awards 2010

Philadelphia Press Association Awards 2010 — BillLawrenceOnline.Com was one of four news websites to receive a special achievement award this year from the Philadelphia Press Association. The others were kyw1060.com , Laura Nachman’s Philly TV and Radio and  philadelphia.bizjournals.com, which is the website for Philadelphia Business Journal.

The Grand Award For Public Service went to NJN News for Lethal Mix .

For a complete list of winners visit here .

Philadelphia Press Association Awards 2010

Swarthmore Celeb Author Likes His Quiet In Wasilla

Swarthmore Celeb Author Likes His Quiet In Wasilla — Expose author Joe McGinniss, whose HQ was once for many years Swarthmore, Pa. has moved his base to Wasilla, Alaska right next door to Sarah Palin.

McGinniss was a sportswriter for the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin (the original one), then a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer before hitting the big time in 1969 with the Selling Of The President, which described the marketing techniques used in the successful Nixon campaign the year before. He is best known for his true crime books Fatal Vision, Blind Faith and Cruel Doubt, all of which became TV miniseries.

McGinniss generally portrays his subjects rather unflatteringly.

McGinniss, who has written a critical magazine piece on Mrs. Palin, is allegedly writing a book about the former Alaska governor, but perhaps his move to Alaska is really motivated by a desire for peace and privacy. McGinniss has placed “no trespassing” signs all over the rented property and has threatened at least one news crew with arrest after they showed up at his door. The Palins have compassionately erected a 14-foot-high fence between the homes on his behalf.

McGinniss does appear to have a fixation on Mrs. Palin, almost  like something of out a Robert Mitchum movie — think Cape Fear or Night of the Hunter. He bid $60,100 at a Ride 2 Recovery eBay charity auction in order to win a dinner with Mrs. Palin. His bid came in second.

Still, maybe the best way for the Palins to handle this tense situation would be to invite this strange person over for coffee and cookies. The kids don’t have to be there, just Todd, Sarah and the firearms. They could set up videocameras to record the conversation, ask McGinniss a lot of personal questions and make sure he doesn’t get a copy of the tape.

OTOH, the fence works pretty well too.

Here is what Mrs. Palin has to say about it.

Swarthmore Celeb Author Likes His Quiet In Wasilla

A Looming War But Blue Devils’ Work Won’t Be Ignored

Today’s front page of the Philadelphia Inquirer carried stories on the latest attempt to plug the Deepwater Horizon leak, the squelching of a no-bid development deal for Family Court building in Philadelphia, girls lacrosse, puffing repeal of “don’t ask don’t tell”, the Academy of Natural Sciences, and Harrisburg corruption.

On page 2, they carries an update piece from Obama sources about how China is “likely to join rebuke of N. Korea” — which does not seem to be available on their website and has a markedly different slant than  this piece this morning from Bloomberg.Com: China May Shield North Korea As Lee, U.S. Seek Action.

On March 26, the South Korean frigate Cheonan was sunk by a North Korean submarine. Today, South Korea held a major naval exercise featuring anti-submarine drills, and U.S. Gen. Walter Sharp — who heads the U.S.-South Korean combined forces command which includes the 28,500 U.S. troops stationed there — raised the watch level from 3 to 2 one notch below the highest level.

North Korea responded by ending an agreement designed to prevent armed clashes at  maritime border with South Korea and warned of “immediate physical strikes” if any South Korean ships enter its waters.

North Korea is an impoverished dying nations but armed with nuclear weapons developed during the Clinton years. It’s military also has an enormous artillery component and South Korea’s capital of Seoul is within range of those guns.

Meanwhile, President Obama is meeting with the Duke Blue Devils basketball team to honor their sacrifice and effort  in winning the NCAA championship. He leaves for Chicago tonight to chill out over the Memorial Day weekend, which unfortunately will mean he is unavailable for the traditional presidential Memorial Day visit to Arlington Cemetery to honor the sacrifice and effort that involved keeping America free.

I hope he doesn’t chill out so much he can’t handle any 3 a.m. phone calls.

Do More Now Listen To Limbaugh Than Watch Network News?

Viewership for the week of May 3 was a combined 19,410,000 for the ABC, CBS and NBC network newscasts according to the trade site MediaBistro.Com

This puts them behind radio talk show giant Rush Limbaugh who has 20 million plus weekly listeners according to Wikipedia citing the trade publication Talkers Magazine.

The breakdown is: 7,430,000 viewers for Brian Williams at NBC Nightly News; 7 million for ABC World News With Diane Sawyer; and 4,980,000 for Katie Couric at CBS Evening News.

Newsbusters.org did a little research and found that that is a combined loss of 1.67 million viewers from the week of May 4, 2009.

And 70 percent of the viewers of network news is over the age of 54.

The good news for the nets is they still beat Sean Hannity who has 16 million radio listeners and 1.9 million viewers of his Fox News Channel show.

OTOH, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin and Dave Ramsey, who are tied for 6th place among radio talk show hosts with about 6.25 million weekly listeners, handily spank Katie Couric.

Now, there is a bit of apples vs. oranges in making these comparisons since radio audience is determined by Arbitron and is based on unduplicated listeners, while the TV networks use Nielsen Media Research which reports an average of nightly viewership over the week with obviously most of the same people watching  each night.

A year ago, however, the answer as to who touches more would not be debated.

 

Do More Now Listen To Limbaugh Than Watch Network News?

Do More Now Listen To Limbaugh Than Watch Network News?

William Thrasher Back On Job After Typical L_beral Sh_t

Philadelphia Police Officer William Thrasher has been reinstated with 13-months back pay after an arbitrator determined he probably didn’t utter the phrase “TNS” in the company of a Temple University journalism student on a ride-along as Thrasher patrolled a filthy, crime-ridden, no-snitch North Philadelphia neighborhood.

Thrasher is white and TNS apparently stands for “typical n_gger sh_t”

The arbitrator, Charles D. Long Jr., made the determination after the journalist, Shannon McDonald, refused to turn over her notes and in, his opinion, was “defensive, deflective and difficult” as a witness.

Thrasher was 24 at the time of the January 2009 ride-along and had two years on the force. Miss McDonald also quoted Trasher as describing the area as “disgusting” and saying “it’s like they’re animals”.

Thrasher was fired by Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey in April 2009

Now, Thrasher has denied saying TNS and said that the animal reference concerned the perpetrators of a particular homicide and not the neighborhood but just suppose he was actually guilty. Should a young man have his dreams dashed for words said in frustration?

What would Martin Luther King Jr. say?

It seems that Mayor Michael Nutter, who is black, and Ramsey, who is at least part black, missed a huge opportunity to improve race relations in a city known for racial polarization by failing to come to Thrasher’s defense.

Black leaders are going to have to come understand that racial tolerance, compassion and mercy is a two-way street.

Again, what would Martin Luther King Jr. say?

William Thrasher Back On Job After Typical L_beral Sh_t

William Thrasher Back On Job After Typical L_beral Sh_t