Tag Archives: Washington Times

May 13, 2013 · 5:42 PM

Bobby Jindal To GOP: ‘It’s Time To Get Over’ Election Loss

Governor Bobby Jindal’s poll numbers may be low in Louisiana, but once again he’s giving his fellow Republicans some sage advice.  The last time he gave the GOP advice, they were not too happy with his choice of words.

The Huffington Post

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) spoke at a GOP dinner in New Hampshire on Friday, urging his fellow Republicans to “get over” last year’s electoral defeats and instead focus on reassessing party priorities ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

“We lost an election that we probably should have won,” Jindal said at a GOP fundraiser in Manchester, N.H., according to ABC News. “It’s time to get over it. … I think we can win elections by sticking to our principles, but I do think we need to make some changes and I think we need to think seriously about where we go from here.”

He continued, “We spent too much time last year criticizing the other side without saying what we were going to do instead, without saying what we were for.”

The Republican governor made headlines last year when he called on members of his party to end “dumbed-down conservatism” and “stop being the stupid party.” During his New Hampshire speech, Jindal offered an explanation for those remarks.

“What I meant by that was we’ve got to present thoughtful policy solutions to the American people — not just bumper stickers, not just 30-second solutions,” Jindal said, according to the Washington Times. “We have to have the confidence and the courage in our convictions and show them that our ideas will benefit them.”

Jindal has frequently been floated as a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. However, he has brushed off the speculation, insisting that it is too early to wade into the race.

“Anybody on the Republican side even thinking or talking about running for president in 2016, I’ve said, needs to get their head examined,” Jindal said during a February appearance on “Fox and Friends.” “And the reason I say that is, we’ve lost two presidential elections in a row, we need to be winning the debate of ideas– then we’ll win elections.”

 

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February 1, 2013 · 3:57 AM

No, the University of Chicago Isn’t Tearing Down Reagan’s Childhood Home to Make Way for an Obama Parking Lot

Fox Nation was leading the “outrage” over this fallacy…

Mother Jones

There’s a new rumor going around that the University of Chicago wants to pave what’s left of Reagan’s paradise and put up a socialist parking lot.

On Wednesday, the UK tabloid the Daily Mailpublished a story claiming that the university had plans to demolish Ronald Reagan’s childhood home in Chicago (832 E. 57th St.), to make room for a parking lot for a potential Barack Obama Presidential Library. It goes without saying that this would be flipping one gigantic bird to the American right.

It was at this apartment building that Reagan survived a severe bout of pneumonia. It’s also where the future president was living when his older brother was run over by a horse-drawn beer wagon (the incident wasn’t fatal, but left a long scar on his leg). In 2004, the University of Chicago bought the land encompassing the apartment building where the 40th President of the United States lived between the age of 3 and 4. Residents were ordered out in 2010. The Commission on Chicago Landmarks denied the structure “landmark status,” which gave the university the greenlight to take a bulldoze to the vacant six-flat building to make way for planned campus expansion.

“Some have said that the liberal Chicago establishment does not want a reminder that Reagan,a conservative icon, once lived in the city,” the thinly sourced Daily Mail report reads.

This story quickly found its way onto the Drudge Report, the Huffington Post‘s evening newsletter, Mediaite, MSN News, Newsmax, Tammy Bruce’s blog, American Thinker, Digital Journal, Examiner.com, The inquisitor, and a variety of conservative websites. (Dave Weigel atSlate expressed his strained credulity in this brief eye-roll of a blog post.) UPDATE: As Ben Dimiero at Media Matters noted, Fox News’ Fox & Friends First and Fox Nation also promoted the claim.

The original Mail article was based on a Washington Times piece that ran last Friday on the paper’s “Communities” page. “Individual [Communities] contributors are responsible for their content, which is not edited by The Washington Times,” reads a disclaimer to the right of the item. “The opinions of Communities writers do not necessarily reflect nor are they endorsed by the Washington Times.”

The parking-lot claim made in this Washington Times post—the root of this latest conservative freak-out—is based entirely on speculation.

Currently, there is no actual evidence that the University of Chicago (an institution long famous for promoting economic theories that could fairly be classified as “Reaganomics“) is planning to flatten one of Reagan’s former homes for the sake of an Obama parking lot. First of all, the location of Obama’s inevitable presidential library hasn’t even been decided yet—the stiff competition has come down to the University of Chicago and the University of Hawaii. The university’s plans involve something that is more mundane and far less troll-y than any pro-Obama conspiracy: According to the school’s representatives, they’re just trying to build more facilities for scientific studies.

“832 E. 57th St. is one of a number of vacant buildings the University owns that will be taken down to allow for expansion of the medical and biological research campus,” Jeremy Manier, news director at the University of Chicago, wrote in a email to Mother Jones. “The University’s permit request currently is under review by the city. Recent media reports that have speculated on other potential uses of the property are inaccurate.”

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December 5, 2012 · 12:05 AM

Nugent: Budget deal should suspend welfare recipients’ voting rights

Ted Nugent yells at CBS News

The crazy ain’t going nowhere in the GOP any time soon.  Actually it looks like they are there to stay…

The Raw Story

Conservative rocker Ted Nugent is urging the Republican Party to “stop the insanity” and insist that voting rights be suspended for welfare recipients as a part of a larger budget deal.

In his Monday Washington Times column, Nugent ranted that talk about raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans proved that Washington was a “financial insane asylum.”

“What we need is a wholesale, top-to-bottom assessment of the federal government, and then we need to slash and burn all Fedzilla departments, agencies and offices that are not constitutionally required or deemed vital,” he wrote. “This should be fundamental before any deals are cut regarding new taxes.”

“The three sacred entitlement cows in the room that no politician wants to poke are Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.  A blinding statement of the obvious is that we are never going to get our financial house in order until these sacred entitlement cows are not only poked, but slaughtered.”

According to Nugent, a budget deal should “spread the pain around” and raise taxes on Americans who currently don’t make enough income to pay a federal income tax.

“Let’s also stop the insanity by suspending the right to vote of any American who is on welfare,” he added. “Once they get off welfare and are self-sustaining, they get their right to vote restored. No American on welfare should have the right to vote for tax increases on those Americans who are working and paying taxes to support them. That’s insane.”

And, of course, any good budget deal would have to mandate that photo identification was required to vote nationwide, Nugent said.

“It shouldn’t take a Motown guitar slayer to come up with these common-sense bargaining chips before taxes are raised on the producers, which will further choke the economy,” the rocker concluded. “How about it, GOP?”

Following President Barack Obama’s re-election last month, Nugent opined that welfare recipients were “gluttonous, soulless pigs who feast on whatever Fedzilla provides.”

“And you thought ‘Planet of the Apes’ was a movie,” he wrote. “Too many Americans have become entitlement chumps who have been convinced by Democrats and other liberal scammers that they are entitled to the sweat and hard work of other Americans. Free cellphones aren’t free. Food stamps have become vote-getting extortion vouchers.”

In 2009, FactCheck.org debunked the myth that the Obama administration started a program which provides free cell phones to low-income Americans.

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June 29, 2012 · 12:15 PM

Supreme Court Ruling and the Right-Wing Freak-Out Begins

John Roberts : http://mariopiperni.com/

As usual, the Mario Piperni website never fails its readers…

Mario Piperni

What happened? I leave for a couple of days and come back to find that all hell has broken loose. My favorite website, the Daily Mauler Caller had this headline to greet me:

Congratulations, Americans: The government owns your bodies

Wow. Being forced to give up ownership of one’s body to a tyrannical government is serious stuff. Hoping to find better news at my second favorite website, I moved on to World Nut Net Daily. Not good. Right below this headline,

Muslim mob stones Christians – in U.S.!

I was shocked and dismayed to find this headline:

Ruling awakens ‘revolutionary fervor’

The World Nut Net Daily is a serious source for honest and balanced news, so when they talk of “revolutionary fervor’, watch out. Any website that gives Chuck Norris and Jerome Corsi space to blog their demented trash, err, enlightened views, knows what they’re talking about. Yes, sir, a revolution is on the way.

Twitter didn’t make me feel any better.

The end of America. Scary. And to let you know how serious he is, Shapiro states that he’s not exaggerating. Very cool of him.

Sigh. Checked in with my favorite right-wing talk radio guy, Limbaugh. I was hoping he could put a positive spin on it all. Nope.

Obamacare is nothing more than the largest tax increase in the history of the world…as of today, the American government can and will seize your private property if you don’t purchase and/or sell what’s been ordered. It’s really breathtaking, what happened today. And it is breathtaking to watch ignoramuses who don’t really understand what happened celebrate it. We have been betrayed and deceived by Congress. We have been betrayed and deceived by the Supreme Court.

There you go. Right-wing response to the Supreme Court ruling in a nutshell: betrayal, revolution and the end of America.

Poor babies. Well at least some of the brighter wingnuts now know what they’re going to do.

And they call them idiots. I wonder why that would be?

UPDATE:

My, my, they’ve really gone off the deep end. Here’s a comment from a Washington Times piece about Republican governors planning on ignoring the Supreme Court ruling on the ACA. The comment is typical of the madness that has overtaken the right beyond what we’ve witnessed over the last 4 years.

All three Branches of the Federal government are now operating outside their Constitutionally enumerated powers.  Therefor, by the Founding Fathers own concerns, the Federal government is null-and-void.  The individual States are now in charge of our government.

Each State should enact Marshal law, withholding all Federal withholding taxes from transfer to Washington!

Marshall law…now there’s a wonderful ideal. These sad fools really don’t know any better. They’re spouting the same crap they hear on Fox and other conservative media. In my more compassionate moments, I almost feel sorry for them.

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September 20, 2011 · 8:24 AM

Ralph Nader is a Careerist Troll

I couldn’t have said it any better…

Bob Cesca 

The attention whore is back and he’s looking for a solid primary challenger to the president, which, as we all know, will be a waste of time and will help the Republicans. But it doesn’t matter as long as Nader gets his fix.

Worried the liberal voice is being drowned out in the presidential campaign, progressive leaders said Monday they want to field a slate of candidates against President Obama in the Democratic primaries to make him stake out liberal stances as he seeks re-election.

Ralph Nader warns that without an intraparty challenge the liberal agenda “will be muted and ignored,” the one-man primary will kill voter enthusiasm and voters won’t get a chance to reflect on the real differences that divide the Democratic and Republican parties.

“What we are looking at now is the dullest presidential campaign since Walter Mondale — and that’s saying something, believe me,” Mr. Nader told The Washington Times.

Is Nader suggesting the president is going to be defeated by a landslide like Mondale was? If so, how will a primary challenger (who has no chance of winning the nomination) resolve that problem? Or if President Obama is the Reagan character, what the hell’s wrong with that?

Ugh. I’m trying to parse the words of a crackpot. It’s going to be a fine day.

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April 11, 2011 · 5:15 AM

The Nation: Fox News – The Liars’ Network

The Nation - Eric Alterman

In July 1999 Vice President Al Gore paddled down the Connecticut River in New Hampshire to spread what then–Rolling Stone reporter Eric Boehlert termed “his green theme of protecting the environment” while posing for the obvious photo-op. His hopes for making this message heard, however, went over the side when Bill Sammon, a reporter for the then-Moonie-owned Washington Times, wrote that local authorities had granted Gore a special favor when they released nearly 4 billion gallons of water from a nearby dam, at a cost of $7 million, in order to (literally) float Gore’s boat. As Boehlert noted in his masterful forensic audit of the story, Sammon’s point was clear: “In a clumsy abuse of power, Al Gore, a supposed friend of the environment, gladly wasted precious natural resources to stage-manage a political event.”

The rest of the press corps swallowed and regurgitated Sammon’s item, all but unmasticated. Newsweek dubbed it the “photo op from hell,” and CNN covered the “wave of criticism after floodgates are opened on a New Hampshire river to keep Al Gore afloat.” The New York Times report mocked the “mishap,” and the Washington Post chuckled with its readers about “Gore’s Four Billion Gallons for a Photo Op.”

Alas, it was almost all fiction. Nobody connected to the Gore campaign ever requested the release of the water. (The Secret Service did.) The correct figure for the amount of water released was 500 million gallons, or one-eighth of the amount roundly reported. The local utility company that operates the dam was already dumping millions of gallons into the parched Connecticut River every day, but for Gore’s trip this routine exercise was moved up a few hours. The alleged $7 million cost was also made up. The water in question made its way through hydroelectric turbines that generated power to be sold by the utility companies.

When Boehlert contacted Sammon, he waved off the question of accuracy entirely, because, he said, the story successfully made “a point about Gore’s political reflexes, [which are] to spin furiously and resort to deception.”

Continue reading…

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January 15, 2011 · 3:27 AM

Wash Times: Criticism Of Palin’s ‘Blood Libel’ Part Of ‘Ongoing Pogrom’ Against Conservatives

Sarah Palin at a campaign rally in Raleigh, NC.

Image via Wikipedia

What is wrong with some people on the Right?  Josh Marshall of Talking Points Memo says it best:

I thought Sarah Palin’s “blood libel” comment was crude and stupid. And I understand that many found it offensive, though I can’t say I was really offended in any personal way. The truth is very few things actually offend me. But this actually did. The Washington Times says that the reaction to Palin is part of an “ongoing pogrom” against conservatives in America.

That strikes me as offensive and even disgusting.

I really don’t know what’s with these people.

Talking Points Memo

A Washington Times (not to be confused with The Washington Post) editorial defends Sarah Palin’s use of the phrase “blood libel” in the wake of the Tucson shootings, by calling media criticism of Palin “the latest round of an ongoing pogrom against conservative thinkers.”

Palin had been criticized for using the term “blood libel” to characterize media attacks against her, because of associations between “blood libel” and persecution of Jews in Europe. The term has its roots in the false charge that Jews would murder children and use their blood in religious rituals.

The choice by the Times to describe media attacks as “pogroms” is even more unfortunate since the term usually refers to destructive riots that targeted Jews during the time of the Russian Empire, and often resulted in massacres.

Palin had been criticized for posting a map of the U.S. last year with gunsights over 20 Dem districts that were targets for Republicans, including that of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head on Saturday. Palin responded to the criticism in a video this week: “Journalists and pundits should not manufacture a blood libel that serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn. That is reprehensible.”    More…

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December 1, 2010 · 1:48 AM

Michael Steele To End RNC Tenure With One Last Demonstration Of Incompetence

One has to wonder why the RNC kept Michael Steel on so long.  Could it be that he has a bunch of dirt on his GOP colleagues?  We’ll see…

Huffington Post – Jason Linkins

Michael Steele’s tenure as the chairman of the Republican National Committee has been primarily marked by gaffes and financial mismanagement and scandal and donor mocking and people quitting in disgust and near constant calls for him to resign. Democrats are going to miss him when he’s gone! And gone he soon shall be, as well. As competitors emerge to challenge Steele for the RNC top spot, their suits are steeled by polling data that supports his ouster.

But, hey, how about one more Steele-related mishap, for auld lang syne? Over at TPM, Ryan J. Reilly notes that Steele is under fire for the money he’s lavished on a “longtime assistant”:

Critics of RNC Chairman Michael Steele have also focused on a lucrative job given to his longtime aide, Belinda Cook, convention-related gigs given to her family and friends and a variety of large expenses footed by the RNC.The Washington Times first reported on Cook’s salary — which is nearly three times what her predecessor made — earlier this month. Over two years ahead of the 2012 convention in Tampa, Steele signed a contract making Cook a “convention liaison” and paying her $15,000 per month.

FEC records show that Cook was also paid $25,000 for “Political Strategy Consulting” back in July. Records reflect thousands of dollars in additional reimbursements made to Cook for travel, food and beverages.

Additionally, Reilly notes that the RNC has already dropped $636,800 on the 2012 Republican National Convention:

That’s 18 times the amount spent that was spent in a comparable time frame four years ago, the Washington Post reported, causing more than a few raised eyebrows within the party.

You wouldn’t have thought it possible that Steele could make his colleagues’ eyebrows raise any higher, but there you go.

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May 21, 2010 · 11:53 AM

Washington Times Debuts Dale ‘N-Word Sign’ Robertson as Tea Party Columnist

Sign o’ the times?

Mediaite 

According to a press release, self-described “Tea Party Founder” Dale Robertson has joined the Washington Times’ “Tea Party Report” blog. Robertson, you may recall, was thrust back into the limelight in March, when he was quoted by the paper as never having seen any racial slurs at Tea Parties, despite having been photographed holding a sign that featured the N-word. He told us the photo was a fake, which our expert then disputed, before a sea of journalists came forward to point out that Robertson had already admitted to holding the sign.Robertson’s critics within the Tea Party paint him as a pure opportunist who did nothing more than try to squat on Tea Party domain names to turn a quick buck. He did try, unsuccessfully, to sell his website (Teaparty.org), but he says it was to defend against attacks on him by the Republican establishment.

If Robertson is an opportunist, he’s not a very good one. He seems to be joining the Tea Party Report just as interest in the actual movement is cooling. They exist now more as a voting bloc than a news story with moving parts.

Furthermore, the press release is from Robertson’s PR flack, not the Washington Times’. It’s not even clear that this is a paid gig, rather than another attempt by Robertson to market himself as a Tea Party Leader. The Tea Party Report “is written and edited by William J. Kelly and Laura Grock. Kelly also pens Bill Kelly’s Truth Squad for the Washington Times. We welcome all Tea Party leaders and enthusiasts to send us their news, opinions, and stories.”

At any rate, the Washington Times has never shown any qualms about Robertson, repeatedly quoting him in news stories as a Tea Party leader.

I reached out to the Tea Party Report for comment, and am awaiting a reply.

In pulling together links for this story, I was reminded that Dale Robertson, intentionally or not, wrote one of the funniest things I’ve ever read in the “About” section of his website, and I just had to re-immortalize it here. In describing the adversity he faced at his first protest, he said this: (emphasis mine)

I had brought my picnic table and chairs knowing this would not be easy, parking would be difficult, staying alive even harder.

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