TM NOTE: Well, this was supposed to be up hours ago, but a little life interruptus impeded my best intentions. So, finally, here you go…
Tired of being on the receiving end of damaging stories developed by liberal groups such as Media Matters and the Center for American Progress, conservatives are looking to launch their own opposition research army to dig up dirt on the left. In the last year, a mix of big-money Republican-allied independent groups, tea party non-profits, guerilla videographers, and some scrappy bloggers and talk show hosts has created a raft of fledgling investigative research and reporting efforts to uncover and publicize alleged corruption, flip-flops and plain-old gaffes by Democrats and their allies headed into the 2012 elections. – Right seeks edge in opposition wars
The story above in Politico is worth a read, because that’s what Jim Messina & company will face in 2012 that they didn’t in 2008; that and a demoralized progressive base and disaffected Democrats who simply will not come out for Obama this time. …and before we go any further, the Ari Berman piece about Messina evidently exploded heads over at camp Obama. So Jeff Zeleny of the New York Times does a push back profile, with Ben Smith calling it “the Messina wars.” Smith has a hilarious warning:
This is a moment for some of the media and Democratic infrastructure to pick sides, stake out positions: Do you want the authorized leaks or the unauthorized ones. (I’ll take both, please!) Do you want an appointment in the second term or a regular spot on the Ed Show?
Considering Mr. Schultz’s performance last week on Libya, I’m not sure anyone should want a “regular spot” on his show.
Now onward and rightward ho we go…
Pastor Terry Jones leads with crazy.
“It is definitely a consideration to stage a trial on the life of Mohammed in the future,” he said in interview on Saturday. – UK Telegraph
Just how Jones plans to put Mohammed on trial is a head-scratcher, but this fanatical religious nut job has now captured the world’s attention, so it’s unlikely he’s going to stop at inciting violence around the world.
Mitt Romney goes after Pres. Obama’s foreign policy in Las Vegas by completing a back shot off of Sec. Hillary Clinton:
Romney said Obama hasn’t been tough enough on Iran and its suspected nuclear weapons program. And he said he was surprised Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Syrian President Bashar Assad “a reformer” even as he puts down protests. “Obama is either unwilling or incapable of dealing with this,” Romney said, speaking about Iran and turmoil in the region at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s winter meeting. “Israel’s very existence may be at stake.”
In the most recent South Carolina polling for 2012, Sarah Palin was nowhere in sight and Mitt Romney finished fourth, behind Michele Bachmann.
Huckabee, who has shown no signs of mounting a repeat presidential bid in the state, nevertheless won the vote with 23 percent of the 152 ballots cast, local GOP officials told CNN. He was followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who captured 11 percent of the vote. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann finished third with 10 percent.
Fox News channel’s Bill Sammon’s “cruise ship confession” was really something to watch unfold this past week. As always, Jon Stewart is at his best here unwinding it.
Roger Ailes and his network hacks have always preened that their “news” shows are unbiased, non-ideological and straight news. Bret Baier emphatically defended this stance with Jon Stewart this week, which after the Sammon confessional made the Fox News anchor look like an ass.
Mr. Sammon made Stewart’s job easy, because when the Washington managing editor and a vice president of Fox News, the biggest and most successful network on cable, is found lying it makes a mockery of any “news” title and turns any anchor’s performance into a charade.
Politics is money. It’s marketing. It’s the Roger Ailes playbook. He gave Huckabee a show, spotlighted John Kasich, not to mention built a home studio for Sarah Palin, with Ailes’s latest gimmick giving Donald Trump a “Mornings with Trump” Fox segment, with Trump duh, winning.
Now the RNC wants to take a page from Roger Ailes through monetizing the presidential debate season.
The Republican National Committee is considering sanctioning a series of monthly presidential candidate debates beginning in August that would be paired with committee fundraisers, a party official confirmed to The Ballot Box.
The RNC is in the process of soliciting input from its members on what form the events will take. One proposal is that candidates would attend RNC fundraisers that would coincide with the sanctioned debates. The forums would run through the start of the primary season in February 2012.
The money raised would go to the RNC’s Presidential Trust. [...]
It’s quite a concept. One that Roger Ailes, the Fox News channel and Republican moneymaker, marketing and media mogul, would approve.
And the Right has finally decided who the devil is. It’s Planned Parenthood.
Comments are closed.