Declaration of Incoherence

From RAW STORY:

For 29 years, National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” has celebrated the Fourth of July with a reading of the Declaration of Independence by hosts, reporters, newscasters and commentators.

This testament to the nation’s founding document has previously proved uncontroversial. But that changed in the year 2017.

After NPR tweeted the accompanying text of the declaration line by line, Donald Trump backers (seemingly unaware of the source document) accused the media organization of playing partisan politics and attacking the president.

“So, NPR is calling for a revolution,” Twitter user @JustEsrafel wrote.

 

Mike Pence, Twitler, Steve Bannon, Jared Kushner, and Mika Brzezinski on the dartboard

 

Original painting (Writing the Declaration of Independence, 1776 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris)

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Weiner Roast

From WBEZ91.5:

Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-NY) may have brought the scandal over digital dalliances upon himself, but the media’s coverage of the story from the moments after he sent that errant tweet has been orchestrated almost entirely by one person: conservative blog entrepreneur Andrew Breitbart.

Breitbart, the other famous guy at the center of this scandal, has made the scandal a national fixation.

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When is time up for those who should be doing time?

From THINK magazine:

National Public Radio Media Correspondent David Folkenflik raised serious questions about the latest James O’Keefe video tape, which showed an NPR fundraiser insulting conservatives, during a presentation to Stony Brook’s News Literacy Conference.

Fundraiser Ron Schiller, as well as CEO Vivian Schiller (no relation), were “ousted from their jobs” as a result, according to Folkenflik. Officially, they both resigned.

Folkenflik, who does not speak for NPR, described O’Keefe as a “conservative activist,” the video as a “sting” and the situation as an “astonishing episode.” He also joked that he introduced O’Keefe by a different controversy in each report he filed.

It’s not a wonderful day in this Mr. Rogers’ neighborhood!

From KRWG:

LAS CRUCES, NM (krwg) – House Republicans proposed eliminating public broadcasting funding entirely last week as part of an effort to cut $100 billion in federal spending from the president’s 2011 fiscal year budget.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting or CPB provides funding for PBS and NPR stations across the country.

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A Few of My Favorite Zings

To the tune of My Favorite Things (music by Richard Rodgers, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein):

Health care and midterms and all kinds of fighting,
Rallies and scandals, it was so exciting,
Tea party darlings were at it again,
All this shit happened in 2010.

Nothing but heartache for millions of Haitians,
While dumb old Pat Robertson hurled accusations,
John Roberts’ activist band of Supremes,
Were simply the court of a lobbyist’s dreams.

Shafted? I Report, You Decide

From abc NEWS:

Juan Williams, who was fired from his job at NPR after comments he made on Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” this week regarding Muslims, fired back at the radio station on Friday while guest hosting “The O’Reilly Factor.”

“My comments about my feelings supposedly crossed this line, some line, somewhere. That crossed the line?” Williams said.

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I Should Say Stupid Stuff to Reporters? Gotcha!

From YAHOO! NEWS:

Sarah Palin still bristles when talking about her initial experience with the national media. After John McCain named her to the 2008 presidential ticket, political reporters understandably had a few questions for a little-known candidate seeking the vice presidency. More than a year after stumbling in a series of interviews with Katie Couric, Palin was still talking of her irritation with the anchor’s innocuous question about what she reads.

On this week’s “Fox News Sunday,” Palin took another swing at the media, comparing what she considers the unfair media treatment of herself during the fall 2008 campaign with the scrutiny that Kentucky Republican Rand Paul has endured since criticizing part of the Civil Rights Act on NPR and on MSNBC’s “Rachel Maddow Show” last week.

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A Musical Tribute to Dana Perino

From the Washington Post:

Still looking for that last-minute Christmas gift for White House press secretary Dana Perino? May we recommend a gift certificate for the forthcoming book on the Cuban Missile Crisis by our colleague Michael Dobbs, “One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War,” due out next summer?

Appearing on National Public Radio’s light-hearted quiz show “Wait, Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me,” which aired over the weekend, Perino got into the spirit of things and told a story about herself that she had previously shared only in private: During a White House briefing, a reporter referred to the Cuban Missile Crisis — and she didn’t know what it was.

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