Don't plan on any Democrats keeping their word after the election! For Democrats their word doesn't mean much!
In tight races, some Democrats cut corners on ethics pledges
By Jonathan Strong - The Daily Caller | Published: 3:31 PM 10/22/2010 | Updated: 6:06 PM 10/22/2010
By Jonathan Strong - The Daily Caller
Facing unusually stiff competition at the ballot box, at least two Democratic congressmen are cutting corners on the ethics pledges they made regarding whom they’ll accept money from, disclosure records show.
Rep. Barney Frank, Massachusetts Democrat, has accepted nearly $50,000 from individuals employed by companies that received government bailouts under the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
Frank has pledged he will not accept funds from companies that received TARP money, but the donations appear to skirt the pledge.
In a separate race, Ohio Democrat Rep. Zack Space recently accepted a $1,000 donation from the wife of a D.C.-based lobbyist, violating the spirit of his pledge not to accept money from lobbyists, watchdog groups say.
Space, who represents the district formerly held by Republican Rep. Bob Ney, who went to jail for corruption related to GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, pledged he would not accept lobbyists’ dollars when he first ran for the seat.
Space has been criticized, though, both for accepting over $1 million from corporate political action committees and the immediate family members of lobbyists.
Now in the heat of a campaign in which a Republican wave has put as many as 100 Democrats at risk of losing their congressional seats, Space is again accepting money from the spouse of a lobbyist.
Space accepted $1,000 from Laura Fallin Redding, married to lobbyist Robert L. Redding, records show.
With so many Democrats in danger, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee said members are ditching their pledges because they desperately need the money.
“Democrats have hit the panic button, and that’s why Speaker Pelosi’s allies, like Barney Frank and Zack Space, are abandoning the pledges they made. They need all the help they can get to fend off tough challenges this fall. It’s obviously more important to Barney Frank and Zack Space to save their political careers than it is to keep their word with voters,” said NRCC spokesman Tory Mazzola.
Neither Frank nor Space returned requests for comment.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
Reply and Letter to Kay Bailey Hutchinson..
I wrote to Kay Bailey Hutchinson to ask for her support to defund NPR....what I got is the reply below that is generic, and basically says she will continue to support it.....the response has no passion, no boldness, no concern that NPR is being run by liberals.....
So I sent her the response below which enbodies my concerns that the "old guard" republicans will not be able to be bold enough to really effect the change we need....
I would encourage you to communicate to your congressmen/women in a simular manner. They have to hear it from us...we have to set our expectations so we will not be disappointed again!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you old time, traditional Republicans do not take BOLD action after this next election (rather than playing the safe game as you have in the past) you will not be given another chance to represent us. As you will see this time many old time traditional politicians will be defeated because they have gotten complacent and not acted with boldness to support the will of the American People. The American people are fed up with politicians both Republican and Democrat, but the Democrats' inexcusable performance over the past 21 months makes you as Republicans the best choice. But with Tea Party enthusiasm and the American People tuned into what is going on in Washington, don't expect a free lunch in the future just because you are Republican. Americans want drastically smaller government...drastically reduced spending...greater national security and defense...No Earmarks....a Department of Justice that is not corrupt and influenced by political considerations....the reestablishment of Constitutional Freedoms, Capitalism, and Free Trade.....Lower Taxes.....the Repeal of Obamacare and the move away from the Welfare State and the Socialism that Obama is trying to put into place.
Anything other than boldness will be seen as weakness....As a Republican Leader of long standing YOU need to take a bold position along with the rest of the leadership of the party. If you don't ....YOU WILL BE GONE when you come up for reelection.
Once again in a time where our deficits are out of control we CAN'T afford to be using taxpayer money to support Radio and TV.....!!! And if you can't see that easy opportunity then I worry how you will ever see the challenges that Social Security and Medicare funding will present.
I am a life long Republican, but I am concerned that you "fat cats" with years in Washington Politics will not be up to the bold actions that will be required after these midterms. Courtesy and Decorum need to be out the door....It's time to get Tough, Bold and get the People's work done!
Republicans have my vote again this time.....but if you screw it up, you will not have it the next time and there might be a national Tea Party political party!
Respectfully,
Steve Kendziera
Your Constituent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
To: stevekendziera@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Fri, October 22, 2010 10:35:19 AM
Subject: Constituent Response From Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding funding for public broadcasting. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.
Public television and radio deliver important educational services for Americans of all ages and cultures, which is why I have supported funding in the past. However, every funding priority, including public radio and television, must be reviewed by Congress as we work to control federal spending. Increasing private support to preserve public broadcasting's quality programming is essential so the taxpayer's burden is not onerous. You may be sure I will keep your comments in mind as we endeavor to formulate a federal budget during this era of heightened security.
I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.
Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov
So I sent her the response below which enbodies my concerns that the "old guard" republicans will not be able to be bold enough to really effect the change we need....
I would encourage you to communicate to your congressmen/women in a simular manner. They have to hear it from us...we have to set our expectations so we will not be disappointed again!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you old time, traditional Republicans do not take BOLD action after this next election (rather than playing the safe game as you have in the past) you will not be given another chance to represent us. As you will see this time many old time traditional politicians will be defeated because they have gotten complacent and not acted with boldness to support the will of the American People. The American people are fed up with politicians both Republican and Democrat, but the Democrats' inexcusable performance over the past 21 months makes you as Republicans the best choice. But with Tea Party enthusiasm and the American People tuned into what is going on in Washington, don't expect a free lunch in the future just because you are Republican. Americans want drastically smaller government...drastically reduced spending...greater national security and defense...No Earmarks....a Department of Justice that is not corrupt and influenced by political considerations....the reestablishment of Constitutional Freedoms, Capitalism, and Free Trade.....Lower Taxes.....the Repeal of Obamacare and the move away from the Welfare State and the Socialism that Obama is trying to put into place.
Anything other than boldness will be seen as weakness....As a Republican Leader of long standing YOU need to take a bold position along with the rest of the leadership of the party. If you don't ....YOU WILL BE GONE when you come up for reelection.
Once again in a time where our deficits are out of control we CAN'T afford to be using taxpayer money to support Radio and TV.....!!! And if you can't see that easy opportunity then I worry how you will ever see the challenges that Social Security and Medicare funding will present.
I am a life long Republican, but I am concerned that you "fat cats" with years in Washington Politics will not be up to the bold actions that will be required after these midterms. Courtesy and Decorum need to be out the door....It's time to get Tough, Bold and get the People's work done!
Republicans have my vote again this time.....but if you screw it up, you will not have it the next time and there might be a national Tea Party political party!
Respectfully,
Steve Kendziera
Your Constituent
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
To: stevekendziera@sbcglobal.net
Sent: Fri, October 22, 2010 10:35:19 AM
Subject: Constituent Response From Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison
Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding funding for public broadcasting. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.
Public television and radio deliver important educational services for Americans of all ages and cultures, which is why I have supported funding in the past. However, every funding priority, including public radio and television, must be reviewed by Congress as we work to control federal spending. Increasing private support to preserve public broadcasting's quality programming is essential so the taxpayer's burden is not onerous. You may be sure I will keep your comments in mind as we endeavor to formulate a federal budget during this era of heightened security.
I appreciate hearing from you and hope you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.
Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator
284 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
202-224-5922 (tel)
202-224-0776 (fax)
http://hutchison.senate.gov
Interesting Video you MUST see!
Interesting short videa that unfortunately could become truth IF we don't get a real change in national leadership!
Obama and his Agena are EXTREME, not the Tea Party
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor: Obama is extreme not Tea Party
By Jeff Winkler - The Daily Caller | Published: 9:02 AM 10/22/2010
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said it is President Obama and his political agenda that is out of the mainstream, not the Tea Party movement.
“This administration and the Obama/Pelosi agenda that has been unfolded over the last 20 months is the extreme agenda,” he said on CBS Friday. Cantor rejected assertions that the Tea Party is an extremist movement.
Cantor said Democrats and their allies have failed to recognize that many people in this country are scared of an over-reaching government and that’s the extremism they want to see stopped.
“People are tired of Washington spending the money we don’t have, they’re tired of the expanse of government into almost every aspect of our lives,” Cantor said. “And frankly, they want to see us return to the America that has always stood as the beacon of prosperity to the world.”
By Jeff Winkler - The Daily Caller | Published: 9:02 AM 10/22/2010
House Minority Whip Eric Cantor said it is President Obama and his political agenda that is out of the mainstream, not the Tea Party movement.
“This administration and the Obama/Pelosi agenda that has been unfolded over the last 20 months is the extreme agenda,” he said on CBS Friday. Cantor rejected assertions that the Tea Party is an extremist movement.
Cantor said Democrats and their allies have failed to recognize that many people in this country are scared of an over-reaching government and that’s the extremism they want to see stopped.
“People are tired of Washington spending the money we don’t have, they’re tired of the expanse of government into almost every aspect of our lives,” Cantor said. “And frankly, they want to see us return to the America that has always stood as the beacon of prosperity to the world.”
The Continued Liberal Takeover of America's Media....It really is turning into State-Run Media!
The REAL concern here is the continued takeover of the media by liberal/biased forces that greatly threaten the objectivity of the information we receive and threaten freedom of speech. There was not many positions that Juan Williams took that I personally agreed with, however he certainly has the right to take those positions and express them over the privately funded airwaves. I use this blog to express my views, many of which I know some folks do not agree with....BUT I am not funded with public funds and neither should NPR be funded with ANY Taxpayer money. If this liberal NPR station what's to really compete and fund themselves then I am certain they will fail....just like CNN and MSNBC are failing today and Air America has already failed....
Liberal Billionaires like George Soros can buy and run any media outlets they want, but none of those should be funded by American Taxpayer dollars and Americans need to be aware that we are in the midst of a one sided takeoever of our media which very well might eventually impact our basic right of Freedom of Speech!
JUAN WILLIAMS: I Was Fired for Telling the Truth
By Juan Williams
Published October 21, 2010 | FoxNews.com
Yesterday NPR fired me for telling the truth. The truth is that I worry when I am getting on an airplane and see people dressed in garb that identifies them first and foremost as Muslims.
This is not a bigoted statement. It is a statement of my feelings, my fears after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by radical Muslims. In a debate with Bill O’Reilly I revealed my fears to set up the case for not making rash judgments about people of any faith. I pointed out that the Atlanta Olympic bomber -- as well as Timothy McVeigh and the people who protest against gay rights at military funerals -- are Christians but we journalists don’t identify them by their religion.
And I made it clear that all Americans have to be careful not to let fears lead to the violation of anyone’s constitutional rights, be it to build a mosque, carry the Koran or drive a New York cab without the fear of having your throat slashed. Bill and I argued after I said he has to take care in the way he talks about the 9/11 attacks so as not to provoke bigotry.
This was an honest, sensitive debate hosted by O’Reilly. At the start of the debate Bill invited me, challenged me to tell him where he was wrong for stating the fact that “Muslims killed us there,” in the 9/11 attacks. He made that initial statement on the ABC program, "The View," which caused some of the co-hosts to walk off the set. They did not return until O’Reilly apologized for not being clear that he did not mean the country was attacked by all Muslims but by extremist radical Muslims.
I took Bill’s challenge and began by saying that political correctness can cause people to become so paralyzed that they don’t deal with reality. And the fact is that it was a group of Muslims who attacked the U.S. I added that radicalism has continued to pose a threat to the United States and much of the world. That threat was expressed in court last week by the unsuccessful Times Square bomber who bragged that he was just one of the first engaged in a “Muslim War” against the United States. -- There is no doubt that there's a real war and people are trying to kill us.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE
INTERESTED IN
Fox Programming Pulled From Cablevision As Contract Ends Dollar Surge Crushes Stocks; Dow Drops 165 Was NPR Right to Fire Juan Williams? NPR Under Fire After Canning Juan Williams RAW DATA: NPR Internal Memo on Juan Williams Mary Katharine Ham, a conservative writer, joined the debate to say that it is important to make the distinction between moderate and extreme Islam for conservatives who support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on the premise that the U.S. can build up moderate elements in those countries and push out the extremists. I later added that we don’t want anyone attacked on American streets because “they heard rhetoric from Bill O’Reilly and they act crazy.” Bill agreed and said the man who slashed the cabby was a “nut” and so was the Florida pastor who wanted to burn the Koran.
My point in recounting this debate is to show this was in the best American tradition of a fair, full-throated and honest discourse about the issues of the day. -- There was no bigotry, no crude provocation, no support for anti-Muslim sentiments of any kind.
Two days later, Ellen Weiss, my boss at NPR called to say I had crossed the line, essentially accusing me of bigotry. She took the admission of my visceral fear of people dressed in Muslim garb at the airport as evidence that I am a bigot. She said there are people who wear Muslim garb to work at NPR and they are offended by my comments. She never suggested that I had discriminated against anyone. Instead she continued to ask me what did I mean and I told her I said what I meant. Then she said she did not sense remorse from me. I said I made an honest statement. She informed me that I had violated NPR’s values for editorial commentary and she was terminating my contract as a news analyst.
I pointed out that I had not made my comments on NPR. She asked if I would have said the same thing on NPR. I said yes, because in keeping with my values I will tell people the truth about feelings and opinions.
I asked why she would fire me without speaking to me face to face and she said there was nothing I could say to change her mind, the decision had been confirmed above her, and there was no point to meeting in person. To say the least this is a chilling assault on free speech. The critical importance of honest journalism and a free flowing, respectful national conversation needs to be had in our country. But it is being buried as collateral damage in a war whose battles include political correctness and ideological orthodoxy.
I say an ideological battle because my comments on "The O’Reilly Factor" are being distorted by the self-righteous ideological, left-wing leadership at NPR. They are taking bits and pieces of what I said to go after me for daring to have a conversation with leading conservative thinkers. They loathe the fact that I appear on Fox News. They don’t notice that I am challenging Bill O’Reilly and trading ideas with Sean Hannity. In their hubris they think by talking with O’Reilly or Hannity I am lending them legitimacy. Believe me, Bill O’Reilly (and Sean, too) is a major force in American culture and politics whether or not I appear on his show.
Years ago NPR tried to stop me from going on "The Factor." When I refused they insisted that I not identify myself as an NPR journalist. I asked them if they thought people did not know where I appeared on the air as a daily talk show host, national correspondent and news analyst. They refused to budge.
This self-reverential attitude was on display several years ago when NPR asked me to help them get an interview with President George W. Bush. I have longstanding relationships with some of the key players in his White House due to my years as a political writer at The Washington Post. When I got the interview some in management expressed anger that in the course of the interview I said to the president that Americans pray for him but don’t understand some of his actions. They said it was wrong to say Americans pray for him.
Later on the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock crisis President Bush offered to do an NPR interview with me about race relations in America. NPR management refused to take the interview on the grounds that the White House offered it to me and not their other correspondents and hosts. One NPR executive implied I was in the administration’s pocket, which is a joke, and there was no other reason to offer me the interview. Gee, I guess NPR news executives never read my bestselling history of the civil rights movement “Eyes on the Prize – America’s Civil Rights Years,” or my highly acclaimed biography “Thurgood Marshall –American Revolutionary.” I guess they never noticed that "ENOUGH," my last book on the state of black leadership in America, found a place on the New York Times bestseller list.
This all led to NPR demanding that I either agree to let them control my appearances on Fox News and my writings or sign a new contract that removed me from their staff but allowed me to continue working as a news analyst with an office at NPR. The idea was that they would be insulated against anything I said or wrote outside of NPR because they could say that I was not a staff member. What happened is that they immediately began to cut my salary and diminish my on-air role. This week when I pointed out that they had forced me to sign a contract that gave them distance from my commentary outside of NPR I was cut off, ignored and fired.
And now they have used an honest statement of feeling as the basis for a charge of bigotry to create a basis for firing me. Well, now that I no longer work for NPR let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought.
Daniel Schorr, my fellow NPR commentator who died earlier this year, used to talk about the initial shock of finding himself on President Nixon’s enemies list. I can only imagine Dan’s revulsion to realize that today NPR treats a journalist who has worked for them for ten years with less regard, less respect for the value of independence of thought and embrace of real debate across political lines, than Nixon ever displayed.
Juan Williams is now a full-time Fox News contributor.
Liberal Billionaires like George Soros can buy and run any media outlets they want, but none of those should be funded by American Taxpayer dollars and Americans need to be aware that we are in the midst of a one sided takeoever of our media which very well might eventually impact our basic right of Freedom of Speech!
JUAN WILLIAMS: I Was Fired for Telling the Truth
By Juan Williams
Published October 21, 2010 | FoxNews.com
Yesterday NPR fired me for telling the truth. The truth is that I worry when I am getting on an airplane and see people dressed in garb that identifies them first and foremost as Muslims.
This is not a bigoted statement. It is a statement of my feelings, my fears after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 by radical Muslims. In a debate with Bill O’Reilly I revealed my fears to set up the case for not making rash judgments about people of any faith. I pointed out that the Atlanta Olympic bomber -- as well as Timothy McVeigh and the people who protest against gay rights at military funerals -- are Christians but we journalists don’t identify them by their religion.
And I made it clear that all Americans have to be careful not to let fears lead to the violation of anyone’s constitutional rights, be it to build a mosque, carry the Koran or drive a New York cab without the fear of having your throat slashed. Bill and I argued after I said he has to take care in the way he talks about the 9/11 attacks so as not to provoke bigotry.
This was an honest, sensitive debate hosted by O’Reilly. At the start of the debate Bill invited me, challenged me to tell him where he was wrong for stating the fact that “Muslims killed us there,” in the 9/11 attacks. He made that initial statement on the ABC program, "The View," which caused some of the co-hosts to walk off the set. They did not return until O’Reilly apologized for not being clear that he did not mean the country was attacked by all Muslims but by extremist radical Muslims.
I took Bill’s challenge and began by saying that political correctness can cause people to become so paralyzed that they don’t deal with reality. And the fact is that it was a group of Muslims who attacked the U.S. I added that radicalism has continued to pose a threat to the United States and much of the world. That threat was expressed in court last week by the unsuccessful Times Square bomber who bragged that he was just one of the first engaged in a “Muslim War” against the United States. -- There is no doubt that there's a real war and people are trying to kill us.
YOU MIGHT ALSO BE
INTERESTED IN
Fox Programming Pulled From Cablevision As Contract Ends Dollar Surge Crushes Stocks; Dow Drops 165 Was NPR Right to Fire Juan Williams? NPR Under Fire After Canning Juan Williams RAW DATA: NPR Internal Memo on Juan Williams Mary Katharine Ham, a conservative writer, joined the debate to say that it is important to make the distinction between moderate and extreme Islam for conservatives who support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq on the premise that the U.S. can build up moderate elements in those countries and push out the extremists. I later added that we don’t want anyone attacked on American streets because “they heard rhetoric from Bill O’Reilly and they act crazy.” Bill agreed and said the man who slashed the cabby was a “nut” and so was the Florida pastor who wanted to burn the Koran.
My point in recounting this debate is to show this was in the best American tradition of a fair, full-throated and honest discourse about the issues of the day. -- There was no bigotry, no crude provocation, no support for anti-Muslim sentiments of any kind.
Two days later, Ellen Weiss, my boss at NPR called to say I had crossed the line, essentially accusing me of bigotry. She took the admission of my visceral fear of people dressed in Muslim garb at the airport as evidence that I am a bigot. She said there are people who wear Muslim garb to work at NPR and they are offended by my comments. She never suggested that I had discriminated against anyone. Instead she continued to ask me what did I mean and I told her I said what I meant. Then she said she did not sense remorse from me. I said I made an honest statement. She informed me that I had violated NPR’s values for editorial commentary and she was terminating my contract as a news analyst.
I pointed out that I had not made my comments on NPR. She asked if I would have said the same thing on NPR. I said yes, because in keeping with my values I will tell people the truth about feelings and opinions.
I asked why she would fire me without speaking to me face to face and she said there was nothing I could say to change her mind, the decision had been confirmed above her, and there was no point to meeting in person. To say the least this is a chilling assault on free speech. The critical importance of honest journalism and a free flowing, respectful national conversation needs to be had in our country. But it is being buried as collateral damage in a war whose battles include political correctness and ideological orthodoxy.
I say an ideological battle because my comments on "The O’Reilly Factor" are being distorted by the self-righteous ideological, left-wing leadership at NPR. They are taking bits and pieces of what I said to go after me for daring to have a conversation with leading conservative thinkers. They loathe the fact that I appear on Fox News. They don’t notice that I am challenging Bill O’Reilly and trading ideas with Sean Hannity. In their hubris they think by talking with O’Reilly or Hannity I am lending them legitimacy. Believe me, Bill O’Reilly (and Sean, too) is a major force in American culture and politics whether or not I appear on his show.
Years ago NPR tried to stop me from going on "The Factor." When I refused they insisted that I not identify myself as an NPR journalist. I asked them if they thought people did not know where I appeared on the air as a daily talk show host, national correspondent and news analyst. They refused to budge.
This self-reverential attitude was on display several years ago when NPR asked me to help them get an interview with President George W. Bush. I have longstanding relationships with some of the key players in his White House due to my years as a political writer at The Washington Post. When I got the interview some in management expressed anger that in the course of the interview I said to the president that Americans pray for him but don’t understand some of his actions. They said it was wrong to say Americans pray for him.
Later on the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock crisis President Bush offered to do an NPR interview with me about race relations in America. NPR management refused to take the interview on the grounds that the White House offered it to me and not their other correspondents and hosts. One NPR executive implied I was in the administration’s pocket, which is a joke, and there was no other reason to offer me the interview. Gee, I guess NPR news executives never read my bestselling history of the civil rights movement “Eyes on the Prize – America’s Civil Rights Years,” or my highly acclaimed biography “Thurgood Marshall –American Revolutionary.” I guess they never noticed that "ENOUGH," my last book on the state of black leadership in America, found a place on the New York Times bestseller list.
This all led to NPR demanding that I either agree to let them control my appearances on Fox News and my writings or sign a new contract that removed me from their staff but allowed me to continue working as a news analyst with an office at NPR. The idea was that they would be insulated against anything I said or wrote outside of NPR because they could say that I was not a staff member. What happened is that they immediately began to cut my salary and diminish my on-air role. This week when I pointed out that they had forced me to sign a contract that gave them distance from my commentary outside of NPR I was cut off, ignored and fired.
And now they have used an honest statement of feeling as the basis for a charge of bigotry to create a basis for firing me. Well, now that I no longer work for NPR let me give you my opinion. This is an outrageous violation of journalistic standards and ethics by management that has no use for a diversity of opinion, ideas or a diversity of staff (I was the only black male on the air). This is evidence of one-party rule and one sided thinking at NPR that leads to enforced ideology, speech and writing. It leads to people, especially journalists, being sent to the gulag for raising the wrong questions and displaying independence of thought.
Daniel Schorr, my fellow NPR commentator who died earlier this year, used to talk about the initial shock of finding himself on President Nixon’s enemies list. I can only imagine Dan’s revulsion to realize that today NPR treats a journalist who has worked for them for ten years with less regard, less respect for the value of independence of thought and embrace of real debate across political lines, than Nixon ever displayed.
Juan Williams is now a full-time Fox News contributor.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
More Reasons to Defund NPR!
A Brief History of NPR's Intolerance and Imbalance
Published October 21, 2010 | FoxNews.com
From calling Tea Party members “Tea Baggers,” to saying that "the evaporation of 4 million" Christians would leave the world a better place, to suggesting that God could give former Sen. Jesse Helms or his family AIDS from a blood transfusion, NPR's personalities have said some pretty un-PC things in the past. A look at the record reveals no shortage of intolerant statements and unbalanced segments on the publicly sponsored network's airwaves.
Here's an incomplete list of questionable and controversial content that has aired on NPR or has been uttered by its employees:
-- In June, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) said it was easy to see why some refer to NPR as "National Palestine Radio" following a June 2 segment hosted by Tom Ashbrook on the Gaza flotilla incident. The segment featured five guests -- none of whom defended Israel's actions.
Among the five guests, Janine Zacharia, a Middle East correspondent for The Washington Post, was the only one who did not overtly criticize Israel. She also did not defend its actions, CAMERA officials said.
"So there you have it -- five perspectives and not one voice to present the mainstream Israeli perspective," they said in a June 17 press release. "That's Ashbrook's and NPR's version of a balanced discussion on Israel."
Last week, Newsbusters, a conservative media watchdog group, claimed that NPR's "Fresh Air" spent most of its hour insinuating that the Republican Party was dangerously infested with extremists.
NPR's Terry Gross hosted Princeton professor Sean Wilentz, who has written that President George W. Bush practiced "a radicalized version of Reaganism," Newsbusters' Tom Graham wrote.
"Can you think of another time in American history when there have been as many people running for Congress who seem to be on the extreme?" Gross asked, according to Graham.
"Not running for Congress, no," Wilentz replied. "I mean even back in the '50s."
-- NPR issued an apology in 2005 for a commentator's remark on the return of Christ following a complaint by the Christian Coalition that the comment was anti-Christian.
On "All Things Considered," the network's afternoon drive-time program, humorist Andrei Codrescu said that the "evaporation of 4 million [people] who believe" in the doctrine of Rapture "would leave the world a better place."
Codrescu, who was on contract with NPR but not a full-time employee, later told The Associated Press he was sorry for the language, but "not for what [he] said."
NPR apologized for the comment, saying, it "crossed a line of taste and tolerance" and was an inappropriate attempt at humor.
-- Also in 2005, NPR apologized to Mark Levin, author of "Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America," after a broadcast of its program "Day to Day" falsely accused him of advocating violence against judges. Levin accepted the apology, but said the broadcast was "illustrative of a smear campaign launched by the Left to try and silence" his criticisms of judicial activism.
-- In 2002, the head of NPR issued an apology six months after a report linking anthrax-laced letters to a Christian conservative organization.
-- Also in 2002, during an interview with the Philadelphia City Paper, NPR host Tavis Smiley said he strived to do a show that is "authentically black," but not "too black."
-- In 1995, Nina Totenberg, NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent, was allowed to keep her job after telling the host of PBS' "Inside Washington" that if there was "retributive justice" in the world, former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms would "get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it."
Published October 21, 2010 | FoxNews.com
From calling Tea Party members “Tea Baggers,” to saying that "the evaporation of 4 million" Christians would leave the world a better place, to suggesting that God could give former Sen. Jesse Helms or his family AIDS from a blood transfusion, NPR's personalities have said some pretty un-PC things in the past. A look at the record reveals no shortage of intolerant statements and unbalanced segments on the publicly sponsored network's airwaves.
Here's an incomplete list of questionable and controversial content that has aired on NPR or has been uttered by its employees:
-- In June, the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA) said it was easy to see why some refer to NPR as "National Palestine Radio" following a June 2 segment hosted by Tom Ashbrook on the Gaza flotilla incident. The segment featured five guests -- none of whom defended Israel's actions.
Among the five guests, Janine Zacharia, a Middle East correspondent for The Washington Post, was the only one who did not overtly criticize Israel. She also did not defend its actions, CAMERA officials said.
"So there you have it -- five perspectives and not one voice to present the mainstream Israeli perspective," they said in a June 17 press release. "That's Ashbrook's and NPR's version of a balanced discussion on Israel."
Last week, Newsbusters, a conservative media watchdog group, claimed that NPR's "Fresh Air" spent most of its hour insinuating that the Republican Party was dangerously infested with extremists.
NPR's Terry Gross hosted Princeton professor Sean Wilentz, who has written that President George W. Bush practiced "a radicalized version of Reaganism," Newsbusters' Tom Graham wrote.
"Can you think of another time in American history when there have been as many people running for Congress who seem to be on the extreme?" Gross asked, according to Graham.
"Not running for Congress, no," Wilentz replied. "I mean even back in the '50s."
-- NPR issued an apology in 2005 for a commentator's remark on the return of Christ following a complaint by the Christian Coalition that the comment was anti-Christian.
On "All Things Considered," the network's afternoon drive-time program, humorist Andrei Codrescu said that the "evaporation of 4 million [people] who believe" in the doctrine of Rapture "would leave the world a better place."
Codrescu, who was on contract with NPR but not a full-time employee, later told The Associated Press he was sorry for the language, but "not for what [he] said."
NPR apologized for the comment, saying, it "crossed a line of taste and tolerance" and was an inappropriate attempt at humor.
-- Also in 2005, NPR apologized to Mark Levin, author of "Men in Black: How the Supreme Court is Destroying America," after a broadcast of its program "Day to Day" falsely accused him of advocating violence against judges. Levin accepted the apology, but said the broadcast was "illustrative of a smear campaign launched by the Left to try and silence" his criticisms of judicial activism.
-- In 2002, the head of NPR issued an apology six months after a report linking anthrax-laced letters to a Christian conservative organization.
-- Also in 2002, during an interview with the Philadelphia City Paper, NPR host Tavis Smiley said he strived to do a show that is "authentically black," but not "too black."
-- In 1995, Nina Totenberg, NPR's award-winning legal affairs correspondent, was allowed to keep her job after telling the host of PBS' "Inside Washington" that if there was "retributive justice" in the world, former North Carolina Sen. Jesse Helms would "get AIDS from a transfusion, or one of his grandchildren will get it."
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