News Junkie - Live Wire

FOX/CNN/MSNBC DISSECTED

Some great analysis of the current cable media landscape from CJR today. I disagree with a few points (especially the bit about MSNBC offering a rainbow of opinons) but this quote is interesting:

From personal experience covering news around the world, you almost always run into a CNN crew or stringer. You almost never run into a Fox reporter, and never one from MSNBC.

Read the whole thing at CJR’s website.

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ROY ASHBURN: “I’M GAY”

California State Senator Roy Ashburn admits to being a homosexual in an interview today on KERN. You can listen to the interview in this post and read the details here. Ashburn vows to carry on.

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BETTY WHITE TO SNL

After a massive online movement to draft her into the hosting duties at Saturday Night Live, Betty White confirms she will appear on the show.

But will she host?

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PETA TARGETS SEAWORLD

PETA sees a wounded opponent in SeaWorld after last month’s killer whale attack. Their latest mantra: “Let whales and dolphins ‘out of prison.’

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ADAM GADAHN CAPTURED

HUGE news out of Pakistan: American-born al-Qaeda leader Adam Gadahn has been arrested.

Update: It’s not him?

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NYT ON SCIENTOLOGY

‘Breaking With Scientology’ won’t hit print until tomorrow but you can read the New York Times assault on Scientology online right now.

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PHOTOS: TOYOTA HEARINGS

Executives from Toyota Motor Corp made the journey to Washington D.C. this morning to face down angry customers seething over their company’s recall follies. Take a look at these pictures from today’s event.

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THE BLOOM BOX

I can’t decide if the Bloom Box is the greatest invention ever or if I’m a bit like an old lady being conned by a slimy auto mechanic. Regardless, you have to watch this video. [Video]

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SCOTTY LAGO PHOTOS

Snowboarder Scotty Lago leaves the Olympic village in Vancouver after sexually suggestive photos of the bronze medalist and his trophy surfaced online. Lago says he’s in a ‘blackout’ and can’t talk about the event until next month. [View The Photos]

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RAY GOSLING ARRESTED

What happens when you admit to a murder on British public television? Well, you get arrested, of course. BBC presenter Ray Gosling arrested on suspicion of murder. [Details]

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TIGER WOODS PRESSER

Tiger Woods will finally reemerge from the shadows this Friday. The golf pro and reported sex addict is planning on holding a press conference at the PGA headquarters at 11AM Eastern. [Details]

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JOE BIDEN’S FOREHEAD

As I was watching President Obama’s stimulus update presser today, several readers emailed to ask ‘What’s that spot on Joe Biden’s forehead?’ Joe Biden is the first Catholic Vice President the U.S. has seen so each Ash Wednesday these questions float in like crazy. It’s Ash Wednesday, folks.

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Cheney, Bush Enjoy Popularity Surge In New Poll

The big buzz today is all about the battle of whits (albeit on different battlefields) between former Vice President Dick Cheney and President Barack Obama. But flying around just under the radar is a poll refuting the argument that Dick Cheney’s recent actions have been bad for Republicans. 41% of Americans now have a ‘favorable’ opinion of the former Vice President, up from 33% in January.

The ‘Polling Director’ for CNN,…


Australian TV Station Rebroadcasts ‘Abuse’ Pictures

Here are the photos you weren’t supposed to see.

Scroll ahead to about 7 minutes for the controversial shots. These are a few among many that the President was attempting to block only days after he was attempting to release them. Now, Obama finds himself in an even more precarious situation as his argument for releasing the terror documents (the information was already public) fits this situation like a glove. This, my…


The Mysterious Bush Unpaid Tab Scandal

Did President Bush’s team dine and dash on last Israel visit?:

JERUSALEM — It may be known as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s last scandal. If it isn’t settled soon, the brewing controversy also has the potential to become the first diplomatic dust-up between President Barack Obama and America’s strongest Middle East ally.

At issue is an unpaid $320 bill for dinner with a White House advance team at a restaurant


Iraqi Shoe Thrower Talks In Court

Muntadher al-Zaidi, the Iraqi shoe tosser, speaks at a court appearance:

shoetoss1

He explained his actions in an hour-long appearance on Thursday at the Central Criminal Court of Iraq. Asked if anyone pushed or motivated him to do this, al-Zaidi said he was spurred on by the “violations that are committed against the Iraqi people.”

I could only see Bush and feel the blood of the innocents flow under his feet, as


Change: WhiteHouse.Gov Revamped

changedotgov
(Click The Image To Enlarge For Additional Detail)


Inauguration Watch: Bush Booed

bushout

Boos echoed throughout the crowd as President Bush, Vice President Cheney and several GOP congressmen were introduced before the swearing-in ceremony, although some in the crowd disagreed.

“I can’t imagine how it must feel for him — maybe we should be respectful,” said a man from Iowa standing near the World War II Memorial.

Former Oklahoma state senator Maxine Horner (D-Tulsa) and others near her scolded those who booed. “He’s still our


Graph: Presidential Approval Ratings

stackingthemuo

Plotted points are the averages of all approval polls taken by Gallup in each three-month period of each presidency. The first two points for Johnson and Ford are for polls taken in their first two months. Key dates are marked next to the poll results for the three-month period in which they took place.

With his inauguration just 90 minutes away, Barack Obama will most surely begin his Presidential tenure on a…


Inauguration Watch: The Meeting

President Bush and First Lady Laura bush greet incoming President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama at the White House for tea — just two hours before Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America.

This, my friends, is the very brief overlap…

President Bush also left a private note for Barack Obama in his desk


No Pardon For Scooter Libby

Scooter Libby, and many Conservatives, might not like this news:

In a move that has keenly disappointed some of his strongest conservative allies, President Bush has decided not to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, for his 2007 conviction in the CIA leak case, two White House officials said Monday.

On Bush’s last full day as president, Bush did commute the sentence of two former


Bush Rescues Ramos And Compean

randc

WASHINGTON (AP) – In his final acts of clemency, President George W. Bush on Monday commuted the prison sentences of two former U.S. Border Patrol agents whose convictions for shooting a Mexican drug dealer ignited fierce debate about illegal immigration.

Bush’s decision to commute the sentences of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who tried to cover up the shooting, was welcomed by both Republican and Democratic members of Congress. They had long


Inauguration Watch: Bush Out

Moving trucks will be headed into the White House, not out:

WASHINGTON (CNN) – On Inauguration day, there’s one scene at the White House that won’t be playing out exactly as it has during past transitions: the traditional moving of the outgoing First Family’s belongings. Anita McBride, Chief of Staff to First Lady Laura Bush, tells CNN that the Bushes have moved almost all their things out of the White House ahead


Inauguration Watch: Last Whack

You didn’t think the media was going to let him go quietly, did you?

BERLIN (Reuters) – Editorial writers around the world have been taking their final printed whacks at George W. Bush, accusing the president of tarnishing America’s standing with what many saw as arrogant and incompetent leadership.

Some newspaper editorials, for all their criticism, suggested historians might just be kinder later on than those now writing first drafts of history.


Inauguration Watch: Bush Goodbyes

President Bush is spending his last hours in office on the horn:

WASHINGTON – With just hours left in his presidency, President George W. Bush on Monday made a round of phone calls to leaders around the globe.

The White House said Bush chatted with: President Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia; Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia; President Lee Myung-bak of South Korea; Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen of Denmark; Prime Minister Silvio


Last Minute Bush Pardons Coming?

1. Pardon Prospects: Military and CIA interrogators of war-on-terror prisoners.
2. Pardon Prospect: Former Chief of Staff to Vice President Cheney, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby Jr.
3. Pardon Prospect: Former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.
4. Pardon Prospects: Former American Israel Public Affairs Committee Lobbyists Steven Rosen and Keith Weissman, Former Pentagon Analyst Lawrence Franklin.
5. Pardon Prospect: Former Justice Department official Bradley Schlozman.
6. Pardon prospect: Former junk


President Bush ‘Farewell’ Speech

TV Letterman Bush Speeches

WASHINGTON (AP) – President George W. Bush is warning against complacency in the face of another possible terrorist attack on the nation.
In his farewell address to the country Thursday night, Bush says that while it’s tempting to seek comfort by turning inward, the U.S. must reject isolation.

He says America must lead the cause of freedom and Americans must keep their resolve and must never let down their guard against