Category: Journalism

Silence Of The Thunder Lizard-Lambs

Pa. State Rep. Steve Barrar (R-160) represents an area served by the Delaware County Daily Times. On Thursday, Barrar attempted to make it illegal for tax money to go to partisan groups. The action was aimed at ACORN albeit one’s mind is boggled that it should be even the case that groups that take sides in an election can even receive Pennsylvania tax dollars.

The attempt was shut down on partisan lines with the Democrats in the State House voting unanimously against it.

Yet not a peep in the Daily Times about it either yesterday or today. And they don’t even have the excuse of needing space to cover the death of a Phillies announcer or an ”80s pop star.

Barrar on July 30 attempted to get a resolution passed requesting the state Attorney General to investigate ACORN. The motion was sent to the State Government Committee where it disappeared. The committee is chaired by Philadelphia Babette Josephs (D-182). She is reportedly a member of ACORN. The silence in the Philadelphia Inquirer is deafening.

The Inky did carry today on page B2 a sweet and sympathetic story about how Philadelphia ACORN — which spends about $400,000  per year — will be unaffected by the federal cuts.

AP And Inky Play Blocking Fullback For ACORN

The Philadelphia Inquirer, today, moved the ACORN scandal up to page 3, and the story was rather lengthy, albeit granted it was wire copy from AP.

And of course the geist of it was how ACORN was shocked — shocked I say — at the events depicted in the videos taken at four of its offices in important urban areas and was going to have an “independent” investigation.

The story didn’t mention that the group initially threatened to sue filmmakers James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles for the sting and Fox News for airing it, nor did it point out that the Senate voted 83-7 to defund the group, nor did it point out that Pennsylvania’s own Little Bobby Casey was among the seven dissenters.

Shocked, I say, I’m shocked that the story doesn’t mention those things.

The story did, however, try to imply the complaints were partisan by unhip Republicans despite the Senate being controlled by Democrats and the vote to defund being strongly bipartisan — Little Bobby Casey excepted of course.

The Delaware County Daily Times ran the same piece of AP damage control although they put in on page 19 and cut it a little shorter.

Inquirer Mentions Acorn Scandal

Today’s Philadelphia Inquirer referenced the ACORN scandal.

It was in a three-paragraph story on page 16 regarding Sen Mike Johanns demand for an investigation.

 

Inquirer Mentions Acorn Scandal

 

Inquirer Mentions Acorn Scandal

Why The Dinosaur Media Is Dying

Nothing in today’s Delaware County Daily Times or Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the ACORN scandal despite yesterday’s 83-7 vote in the U.S. Senate to defund it — It has gotten at least $53 million since 1994 and Obama’s stimulus package made them eligible for billions — despite the fact that Pennsylvania’s own Bob Casey was among the seven dissenters.

 

Why The Dinosaur Media Is Dying

Why The Dinosaur Media Is Dying

Stories I missed in the Inquirer

Congratulations to the Philadelphia Inquirer for at least putting Saturday’s National Tea Party in Washington on the front page of its Sunday edition. Granted the headline was a bit small and downplayed the magnitude of the event. The British press, for instance, has estimated the crowd size at 2 million, and other sources have estimated at over 1 million.

Here, however, are some stories I missed in the publication:

1. Democratic Party farm-team ACORN giving advice to a “pimp” and “prostitute” in Baltimore about how to launder money and avoid paying taxes.   They  recommended they declare child prostitutes from El Salvador as dependents. Seriously.  Can’t blame the Inky too much for missing the second sting reported today.  ACORN is bragging that its Philadelphia office didn’t fall for it. ACORN gets millions in federal tax dollars.

2. Obama supporter bits off finger of 65-year-old man protesting health care plan.  On the bright side, the finger was reattached.

3. That another governor used the services of the madame that supplied Eliot Spitzer. Who could it be?

Daily Times Perplexed About Concern For Obama Speech

Today’s editorial in the Delaware County Daily Times was an expression of perplexion and strange outrage at the many parents concerned that President Obama’s Sept. 8 address to the nation’s 7th through 12 graders is going to be more of an exercise in building a Third-World type personality cult rather than an inspiration for youngsters to learn.

 
Here are some questions the Department of Education is suggesting teachers ask their students as a classroom activity with regard to the speech.

Why does President Obama want to speak with us today?     

 How will he inspire us?    

How will he challenge us?   

What might he say?  

Do you remember any other historic moments when the president spoke to the  

nation?    

What was the impact?    

 
Seems pretty Obama-centric. What happened to the stuff about “question authority”? It seems to have fallen out of fashion. 
 
The theme for the “last Kennedy brother” as some have called Obama, is ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for Obama.
 
Only a Maoist wouldn’t find it creepy.

Kevin Ferris Asks Why Obama Ignores Voter Intimidation

And with regard to the Inky, kudos to Kevin Ferris for his column today regarding the Obama administration strange dismissal of civil rights complaints against members of the New Black Panther Party for actions taken last Election Day at a polling place at 1221 Fairmount St., Philadelphia.

Samir Shabazz,  and Jerry Jackson dressed in paramilitary style uniforms and made racially disparaging comments and threats at voters while brandishing night sticks.

Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. dismissed the complaints filed by the victims last May and won’t say why. Ferris is asking as  should all who love democracy.

His column can be found: www.philly.com/philly/columnists/20090830_Back_Channels_.html

For a video of the incident see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neGbKHyGuHU

 

Kevin Ferris Asks Why Obama Ignores Voter Intimidation

Vince Fumo Is A Democrat

Jeff Gammage had a very interesting story in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer as to what former State Sen. Vince Fumo can look forward to as he serves his 55-month sentence at a federal facility in Kentucky.  He neglected to mention Fumo’s party, a simple oversight I’m sure.

Fumo, of course, is a Democrat. Perhaps Gammage felt that mentioning the 55-month prison sentence made it redundant to refer to the political party.

The story can be found at:  http://www.philly.com/philly/news/homepage/20090830_No_place_for_titans_.html?page=1&c=y

Bush Volunteered For Vietnam

Bush Volunteered For VietnamDuring the first eight years of the millennium, a large segment of the the American public bought the line spoon fed to them by the propagandists who work at the networks and major newspapers that as a young man George W. Bush avoided combat in Vietnam by using family connections to join the National Guard.

Well, as it turns out, Dubya not only picked one of the few Guard units whose members were seeing combat but he actually volunteered for it himself.

While supporters had heard and accepted reports of this, in a bit of serious irony Dan Rather’s lawsuit — Captain Dan is suing CBS for $70 million claiming he wasn’t able to defend his story alleging special treatment for Dubya because, don’t laugh, CBS executives wanted to curry favor with the President — has conclusively established the fact to all but the most psychotic  anti-Republicans.

Newsman Bernard Goldberg has reported that on  page 130 of the report created by a panel of outsiders CBS assembled to get sort out Rathergate, it was noted that Rather co-conspirator Mary Mapes had information prior to the airing of the Sept. 8 2004 segment that President Bush, while in the Texas Air National Guard volunteered for service in Vietnam but was turned down in favor of more experienced pilots. For example, a flight instructor who served in theTexANG with Lt.  Bush told Mapes in 1999 that  Bush“did want to go to Vietnam but others went first.” Similarly, several others advised Mapes in 1999, and again in 2004 before Sept. 8,that Lieutenant Bush had volunteered to go to Vietnam but did not haveenough flight hours to qualify.

Bush Volunteered For Vietnam

Glenn Beck And Who Needs Prime Time?

The attack by anti-speech partisans against newscaster Glenn Beck appears to be backfiring. As of Aug. 24, his Fox News show was the third most watched one on cable with 2,810,000 viewers behind Bill O’Reilly (3,440,000) and Sean Hannity (2,937,000).

Unlike O’Reilly and Hannity, however, Beck does not air in prime time coming on at 5 p.m.