You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1194)

PLAYS: (1743)

November 23, 2009 CNN

SANCHEZ: I want to start with some breaking news, Mark Sanford, embattled governor of South Carolina, accused today of breaking state laws, not one time, not two times, 37 times, according to the finding by the state ethics commission, 37 counts of law-breaking, which means Sanford's problems may transcend the political now, even as an impeachment committee is set to convene tomorrow.

You're going to recall the governor's problems began when he disappeared from view for something like five days last summer. It was a big story then, still is. Aides said that Sanford was -- quote -- "trying to clear his head" hiking along the Appalachian Trail.

But he was spotted then by a reporter getting off a flight from Argentina and then was forced to admit what we all now remember he ended up saying in a news conference, forced to admit to having a South American mistress at the time.

Since then, his wife has left him. She says the couple's separated. She is also writing a book about him. Any talk of a presidential run, forget about it, and now, on top of potential impeachment, 37 counts of breaking state law, much of it stemming from Sanford's frequent travels. Joining me now from Washington, CNN's Peter Hamby, who spent a lot of time chasing this story in South Carolina.

Look, we get the ethics thing. What I think you need to explain to us is how this becomes a criminal issue and specifically what crimes are we talking about.

PETER HAMBY: Well, what we're talking about here. And the ethics commission is not saying that he's actually broken a law yet. What they have found are 37 counts in this complaint that he may have violated state law by using his office for personal gain.

They list three different kinds of charges against him that they will argue in a hearing. They haven't set a hearing date yet, but they will soon. Many of those counts say that he upgraded from business class to coach on flights going back to 2005.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1816)

PLAYS: (5170)

Rick Sanchez reports on another Republican sex scandal coming out of South Carolina. Gotta' love that party of "family values".

SANCHEZ: Hey, Roge, let's see how good a move we can make over to the Twitter board real quick, because a lot of people are commenting on this. There it is. Start from the bottom if we can.

Hug bug, "What is in the water in South Carolina?" Now, let's go just above that, where it says, "Another politician with a sex scandal, that is so common nowadays and they're supposed to be role models? Ha!"

We get what you're saying, folks

Let's talk about that. Just last week, I asked this question, what's up with South Carolina Republicans? Beginning with Mark Sanford, the famously wayward governor, why can't they seem to be staying out of trouble these days? There's Governor Sanford, there's Congressman Joe "Big Scream You Lie" Wilson. We just had two county chairmen who essentially said Jews are good with money.

And as if on cue now, we have Roland Corning. Who is Roland Corning, you ask? He's a former state legislator, and as of now, his latest performance, former assistant attorney general. Why?

Get this -- a police report obtained by the "Associated Press" is saying that Corning was questioned by an officer after speeding away from a cemetery with a stripper in his car, and with a bag of sex toys. And with some Viagra, Corning, I should tell you, is 66 years old. According to the police: the stripper, 18 years old. She works, by the way, at an establishment known as the Platinum Gentleman's Club.

According to the report, Assistant Attorney General Corning and the 18-year-old stripper gave conflicting accounts as to exactly what they were doing on Corning's lunch hour? In a cemetery? It states that Corning carried the sex toys, just in case.

Neither Corning nor the stripper was charged with anything. But after word reached his boss, Corning was stripped -- pardon the pun -- of the job he'd had since 2000. I mean assistant attorney general, stripper, sex toys, Viagra, cemetery, don't look good. South Carolina -- again?

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (107)

PLAYS: (487)

Rick Sanchez taked Michele Bachmann to task for her abortion field trips nonsense.

SANCHEZ: One of the things that we like to do in this segment is shine a light on lawmakers who gaffe or don't exactly tell the truth all the time. We begin "Fotos" today with Michele Bachmann.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BACHMANN: The bill orders these clinics protect patient privacy in student records. What does that mean? It means that parents will never know what kind of counsel and treatment that their children are receiving.

And, as a matter of fact, the bill goes on to say what's going to go on. Comprehensive primary health services, physicals, treatment of minor, acute, chronic medical conditions, referrals to follow up for specialty care -- is that abortion? Does that mean that someone's 13-year-old daughter could walk into a sex clinic, have a pregnancy test done, be taken away to the local Planned Parenthood abortion clinic, have their abortion, be back and go on home on the school bus that night? Mom and dad are never the wiser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: If could, if could -- Bachmann is a Republican, by the way. And to be clear, we looked into this. Nothing that she is alleging in that sound bite you just heard is actually true, nothing. We checked.

School-based health clinics, or as Bachmann terms them, "sex clinics," have been around for some 30 years in the United States. And as far as we've been able to discover, not one of them has ever referred a student to an abortion provider without the knowledge of a parent, never happened. The actual bill that Bachmann is citing stipulates that school-based health clinics comply with all federal, state and local laws governing parental notification and parental consent.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (86)

PLAYS: (239)

Rick Sanchez who's show is generally a mixed bag between trying to act like an actual journalist and just the usual CNN hackery, did something I don't see enough of on CNN, or any of the cable "news" networks for that matter, when interviewing Rep. Anthony Weiner. He asked him about the money flowing from the health care industry into the campaign coffers of politicians.

I'm sorry the conversation didn't lead to a discussion about public financing of political campaigns, which would put a stop to politicians feeling the need to chase after money from wherever they can get it to continue being re-elected. If our system of legalized bribery doesn’t change, I don’t see things getting any better for the average citizen out there any time soon.

SANCHEZ: I don't know what to say.

It appears that you, as a Democrat, as a guy who likes this public option, who likes getting the government involved in this thing, you're losing. And it may be because you began five yards behind the finish line. I mean, didn't you give the health insurance companies a huge big start by beginning the debate with universal health care off the table and the public as something we might do, but we really don't want to do it?

WEINER: Well, one thing for sure is, everything the health insurance industry has asked for in the Finance Committee up to now, they have gotten. It's a good playing field for them. We in the House are going to keep pushing for a public option. And frankly the president, who's our cleanup hitter, ultimately I believe is going to wind up mediating this dispute, and he says he wants a public option.

But you're exactly right. The real easy answer here is Medicare for all Americans. We give it to people who are 65. Why not 55? Why not 45? Why not do it? It's a low-overhead program. Sure, it has a financing problem, but so does all insurance at this point.

But at least we know it has very low overhead. We're not putting any into profits or advertising. So, that really was the smart place to start. We didn't. But we are going to try to get closer to that in the final product.

SANCHEZ: Let me just be real blunt with you real quick.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1452)

PLAYS: (7198)

CNN's Rick Sanchez to Fox News... You Lie!

SANCHEZ: And I welcome you back. I'm Rick Sanchez here in the world headquarters of CNN.

All right, there's something that I got to tell you now. If you watch this show every day, as I mentioned a while ago, you know that I usually don't suffer fools gladly, especially when it comes to the fools who perpetuate falsehoods.

Well, today, thousands of you flipped through the pages of "The Washington Post" only to come across a lie so bold and so upsetting that, frankly, I'm just not going to sit here in silence and allow my craft or my news operation to be unfairly maligned, because enough is enough.

And, yes, I'm talking to you, FOX News, you, who claim to be fair and balanced. At what, I wonder? You know, I don't know, but I have got a couple ideas.

FOX News (INAUDIBLE) color ad today. It asks: "How did ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, and CNN miss this?" They are referring to the picture there of the tea party protest in the nation's capital last Saturday.

They are saying that we missed this story. They are saying we did not cover this story. They are using a lie to try and divide people into camps. And, you know, Americans are starting to get tired of this.

Look at the bottom of the ad there, where it says, "We cover all the news."

Really? You do? What, we don't?

You know, that's an offense to myself and to my colleagues, who risk their lives for our viewers in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world to bring the news. You're actually telling people that we didn't cover a rally on Washington. Really?

Rog, roll the tape.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1977)

PLAYS: (34909)

August 29 2009 CNN

(Heather): Well, it looks like the Secret Service has paid someone a visit. Good. That's the least they should be doing.

SANCHEZ: All right. Hello again, everybody. I'm Rick Sanchez with the next generation of news. This is a conversation. It is not a speech. And it is your turn to get involved.

It is my duty as a journalist to make you aware of a deeply disturbing trend taking that is taking place in our country and how it ironically folds into yet another story that I shared with you just last week.

A CNN source with very close to the U.S. Secret Service confirmed to me today that threats on the life of the president of the United States have now risen by as much as 400 percent since his inauguration, 400 percent death threats against Barack Obama -- quote -- "in this environment" go far beyond anything the Secret Service has seen with any other president.

Now, I need to have you keep in mind today as we add details to this story of what we're going to share with you here. I want to take you back 11 days ago, when Mr. Obama visited Phoenix, Arizona. Do you remember this man? He's one of a dozen or so people who carried guns to that presidential event that we have been checking on.

You may remember that we heard him say on camera that he is prepared to resort to forceful resistance against the Obama administration. Now, today, I want to tell you about the church that that man attends. And, in particular, I am going to play for you parts of the sermon that were delivered from the pulpit on the very day before the president arrived in Phoenix, Arizona.

This is important. This, my friends, I believe you will agree, is chilling.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1397)

PLAYS: (5557)

Rick Sanchez shows some footage of a woman pleading with Tom Coburn to help her at a town hall meeting because her husband has had a traumatic brain injury, and they can't get insurance for him. After Coburn says he'll help through his office that that we "as neighbors" ought to help each other and the idea that the government is here to help is inaccurate. Gotta' love Sanchez's response here.

What's interesting about that is that Sen. Coburn just essentially said the government is not the solution, but then you have to ask yourself. He just told her to come and see him, isn't he the government? By the way after helping her, what will he do about the other 46,999,999 who don't have insurance, and the thousands upon thousands of Americans who say they do have insurance but like her, they're not getting covered? We'll ask those questions.

Exactly.

h/t The Political Carnival

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1299)

PLAYS: (4656)

I caught this on Tuesday and it's not shocking. I mean, the Secret Service agent's reaction to the psychos is not shocking. It's sane. Remember sanity?

CNN's Rick Sanchez had on a former Secret Service agent named on his show to talk about the psycho gun-toting teabaggers showing up at presidential events. You would never see this behavior under a Republican president because: A) They like Republicans. B) The Republicans would never allow it. You needed to sign loyalty oaths just to go to Bush/Cheney events.

Joseph Petro explains that this is insane behavior and it's an intimidation tactic by these yahoos, plain and simple.

Digby:

Former USSS officer: If the police have to go out and deal with these foolish gun nuts with exposed weapons in public crowds, they are being taken awy from activity that is much more important and that is to keep our president safe and to kep the public safe.

Rick Sanchez: In all your years as a Secret Service agent have you ever seen anything like this? Ten to twelve people yesterday were walking around this venue where the president was, walking outside, and they were packing. Have you ever seen a situation like that?

USSS: No, I've never seen or heard of anything like that. And I think it's, you know, I think all of us should be concerned about this. What's the next step? Are they going to ride around in pick-up trucks with automatic weapons? it would be like Somalia.

We're a democratic country. And we should be better than this. And what's the point? What's the point of them carrying these things? It's intimidation. Why hsould we tolerate that?

Sanchez: It's free speech and their point is that "we've got a right to come out and show everybody that we're for a constitution that gives us a right to bear arms.

USSS: It's probably also not against the law to bring a can of gas and a match into an event. Is that a good idea? No.

Having exposed weapons at public events, and it's not just presidential events, I would say this at any public event, particularly where people are disagreeing, it's really a formula for disaster.

Why does the picture of a bunch of yahoos driving around in pick-up trucks with automatic weapons not sound all that far fetched to me? And when you add the gasbags shrieking about liberals being the enemy all day long, this doesn't seem so far-fetched either.

People are going to either get hurt or die and the media still will whiff on this because they act like cowards.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (906)

PLAYS: (4192)

Isn't this special? Even Ed Henry was flustered by these people openly carrying assault rifles and other guns outside of an Obama rally in Phoenix, AZ. As Henry stated, this is legal, but at what point does the Secret Service get involved and say, you know what if you've got a weapon out in the open with these crowds, it's time for you to go?

These are not concealed weapons. They are being carried out in the open where maybe someone who doesn't have a permit or own the gun could take the gun away from the person carrying it and shoot people in the crowd. I would love for someone who knows something about what the conceal and carry laws are in Arizona to explain to me why this is legal? It just looks down right irresponsible to me to be carrying an unconcealed, loaded weapon in a crowd even if you do have a right to carry it.

And for the record, I'm not some anti-gun zealot. I have no problem with those that own and handle guns responsibly. My husband hunts and we've got a safe full of guns at our home. That said, if he brought one of them loaded into a crowd like these people did and had it right out in the open where anyone might take it away from him, I don't think we'd be married any more. I think it is completely irresponsible and if the gun laws in Arizona allow this, there's something wrong with their laws.

Transcript below the fold.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (900)

PLAYS: (4951)

CPR's Rick Scott twists in the wind as he tries to explain how he as the CEO of HCA had no idea his former company was participating in the practice of upcoding, where they defrauded the Medicare system for more than a decade and were forced to pay a $1.7 billion fine, the highest in U.S. history.

SANCHEZ: It sure looks to me like he's pointing his finger right at you. Do you think he is?

SCOTT: I think he was.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. Do you -- do you take credit -- I was just having a conversation with Eric Boehlert and they said, look, this guy has got this Web site. In fact, I'll show it to the viewers again. There's your Web site right there. We'll take it all the way to the very top. People can see it. It's CPR, Conservatives for Patients' Rights.

And there, you tell people where they can go, to these town-hall meetings. You tell them what they can do. You show them videos of what's been done so far.

Some people have used the word "orchestrated." I'm not sure what word you would use. But do you take credit for making sure this is going on? SCOTT: It would be nice to, right? But -- because I believe that people ought to show up to these meetings. They ought to be nicer about it. But they ought to show up to these meetings and tell them what they think.

I think they ought to show up whatever side you're on. You ought to let people know. I mean, we're going through a significant debate about what ought to happen in health care. Show up and tell them what you think.

SANCHEZ: But -- but you're -- but -- but let's be fair about this. You're not trying to get everybody to go. You're trying to gin up the people who are going to be on your side. I mean, you've got a lot to gain from this, don't you?

SCOTT: Well, I believe -- I clearly believe that government-run health care will be bad for you as a patient. It will be bad for you as a taxpayer. It will be bad for our country. But most importantly, bad for you as a patient.

Now, would I rather people show up that care about the debate on -- the way I believe? Absolutely. But when I'm on radio -- I'm on a lot of talk radio. I say show up, read the bill.

SANCHEZ: But you know, let's talk about this, though. I mean, the accusation that the White House was essentially making, one that you haven't challenged yet to my knowledge. Maybe you will here now.

Columbia Hospital Corporation, which you founded...

SCOTT: Absolutely.

SANCHEZ: ... which later became HCA, which made you, from my understanding, incredibly wealthy, was charged with defrauding the government for more than a decade and had to pay a record fine of $1.7 billion.

I mean, some would argue, and it would be hard to say they're wrong, that you would be the poster child for everything that's wrong with the greed that has hurt our current health-care system. People would ask, why should they listen to you?

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (986)

PLAYS: (2192)

CNN's Rick Sanchez brings in Michael Moore basher Sanjay Gupta and Rep. Roy Blunt to lament the horrors of private insurance companies no longer being able to reap massive profits on the backs of United States citizens. If we did by some miracle actually ever get to universal health care in the U.S., it would not mean these companies are out of business completely. They would still be offering supplemental insurance to compliment the government plan. In the world of the Gupta's and Blunt's out there, that would be a tragedy.

Blunt goes so far as to cite Medicare Part D as an example of just how well Republican health care reform has worked with giving consumers "choices". Yeah, the "choice" to line the pharmaceutical industry's pocket.

SANCHEZ: Roy Blunt is joining us now. He is a congressman from Missouri. He is good enough to talk to us now.

Congressman, thanks for being with us. I imagine the news that you are hearing, that there are problems here in the city, are ones you would have expected. But let me start you somewhere else and ask you, OK, what would your plan be?

BLUNT: Actually, that's the interesting thing about this debate, I think, Rick, is everybody agrees on the top line issues. We believe, I believe, as the leader of our group on our side that's tried to bring our committees together to work on this, I think we are in generally broad agreement.

We need a plan that has -- we need a health care system that has access for everybody regardless of preexisting conditions, one that has more competition, more choice in a way that would make it more affordable, and one that ensures that people have the maximum opportunity to make their own choices about their doctor and their health care.

So we agree on the goals, and our biggest disagreements are how you get there. And probably the biggest disagreement of how you get there is whether the government is going to run a plan that doesn't broaden competition, but actually eventually eliminates all the competition.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (82)

PLAYS: (327)

Exhibit A on how the GOP is hanging themselves out to dry with their blatant racism during the Sotomayor hearings. Rick Sanchez talks to his mom, and four other "wise Latina women" as he puts it, and asks them how they feel about the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the Supreme Court.

WHITFIELD: Rick Sanchez, you're wondering, where is he? Well, he decided to go back home to Miami to find some wise Latina women. There he is, Rick Sanchez.

And I know, in the forefront of the wise Latina women, su madre. In fat you even slept at her home last night, right?

SANCHEZ: That's the way it works. You have to come back sometime.

You know, it's funny. Now she spends most of her time, my mom, asking me not about me or anything else other than just my kids. I guess that's the role of a grandmother.

WHITFIELD: You have taken the back seat to the kids.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes, pretty much so.

You know, it's interesting that we would try and stretch our coverage, because we have heard a lot from pundits, and we have certainly heard a lot from legal analysts, and we've heard a lot of politicians and newscasters, and they all have something to say that's very much an important part of this story about Sonia Sotomayor and her candidacy, her nomination for the Supreme Court of the United States.

It's historic, but we haven't maybe spent as much time as we possibly could going around the country and getting a perspective from other people, from regular people who live other there, and especially the people who have now become part of this nomenclature, this wise Latina woman.

So I wanted to do was to come to south Florida and find four wise Latina women, women who have been former federal prosecutors, women who have gone to Ivy League schools, who fought the fight and made it and are extremely successful.

And I think I found them. And I am going to sit down and tell you what they have to say about what it is like, their perspective. It is really unique, all right, Fredericka? You probably know a little bit about this.

For example, what it's like to be a female federal prosecutor, and with all that that brings, and still you walk into a courtroom, as they tell me, and guess what, a lot of people say, oh, you must be the court reporter, or are you the attorney's wife?

That's the reality of the legal system, which they tell me is still very male-dominated. And that's an important point.

But before we even get started with them, I decided to talk to the wisest of the Latina women, as you mentioned, my mama. Usually, Mom and I don't talk politics. Dad and I talk politics, my brothers and I talk politics, but usually, Mom and I don't talk politics. We talk about the kids and other stuff.

Well, I asked her about Sonia Sotomayor, and I found out that my mother, like many Hispanic-Americans, has a lot to say about this. Take a listen.

Continue reading »

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (2888)

PLAYS: (11288)

My first week on the job here at Crooks and Liars, I went on CNN Newsroom with Rick Sanchez to talk about an investigative piece co-written with Max Blumenthal about Sarah Palin's longtime dalliances with Alaska's far-right elements, particularly the secessionist Alaska Independence Party.

At the time, the McCain campaign blew us off publicly. And unfortunately, none of our colleagues in other media settings picked up on the story and asked further questions about the issues it raised -- particularly at a time when the McCain campaign was busy accusing Barack Obama of "palling around" with "terrorists" and extremists.

Now, it turns out that my short appearance on TV threw Sarah Palin into a tizzy and provoked a quarrel with Steve Schmidt of the McCain campaign. This from a CBS story by Scott Conroy and Shushannah Walshe:

Internal campaign e-mails exchanged three weeks before Election Day offer a rare look at just how frustrated then Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin had become with the manner in which top McCain campaign aides were handling her candidacy. The e-mails, obtained exclusively, also highlight the power struggle and thinly veiled acrimony that pervaded the relationship between Palin and the campaign's chief strategist, Steve Schmidt.

The episode in question began when an investigative report published on the left-leaning Web site Salon.com raised questions about Palin's relationship with members of the Alaska Independence Party (AIP) when she was mayor of Wasilla. The AIP's platform calls for a vote giving Alaskans the option to secede from the United States. It had already been widely known that Todd Palin was a registered member of the AIP from 1995 to 2002 and that Governor Palin had taped a recorded greeting at the party's 2008 convention.

On the morning of Oct. 15, Palin was aboard her campaign jet and en route to New Hampshire when she happened to catch a disparaging CNN segment that touted the Salon.com story, complete with a provocative graphic at the bottom of the screen reading, "THE PALINS AND THE FRINGE."

While shaking hands after a rally later that afternoon, someone on the rope line shouted a remark at Palin about the AIP.

The comment set her off. She worried that the campaign was not sufficiently mitigating the issue of her alleged connection to the party, which despite a platform that harkens more to the Civil War than the 21st century, continued to play a serious role in Alaska politics.

Palin blasted out an e-mail with the subject line "Todd" to Schmidt, campaign manager Rick Davis and senior advisor Nicolle Wallace, copying her husband on the message (all of the e-mails are reprinted below as written).

"Pls get in front of that ridiculous issue that's cropped up all day today - two reporters, a protestor's sign, and many shout-outs all claiming Todd's involvement in an anti-American political party," Palin wrote. "It's bull, and I don't want to have to keep reacting to it ... Pls have statement given on this so it's put to bed."

Schmidt hit "reply to all" less than five minutes after Palin's e-mail was sent. "Ignore it," he wrote. "He was a member of the aip? My understanding is yes. That is part of their platform. Do not engage the protestors. If a reporter asks say it is ridiculous. Todd loves america."

This clear cut response from the campaign's top dog carried an air of finality, but it did not satisfy Palin. She responded with another e-mail, adding five more names to the "cc" box, all of whom traveled on her campaign plane. They included her senior political adviser Tucker Eskew, senior aide Jason Recher, the lone traveling aide from her Alaska office Kris Perry, press secretary Tracey Schmitt and personal assistant Bexie Nobles.

Palin's insertion of the five additional staffers in the e-mail chain was an apparent attempt to rally her own troops in the face of a decision from the commanding general with which she disagreed. Her inclusion of her personal assistant was particularly telling about her quest for affirmation and support in numbers, since the young staffer was not in a position to have any input on campaign strategy.

"That's not part of their platform and he was only a 'member' bc independent alaskans too often check that 'Alaska Independent' box on voter registrations thinking it just means non partisan," Palin wrote. "He caught his error when changing our address and checked the right box. I still want it fixed."

Now, the problem with this response is that it's just factually false. Palin's connections with the AIP ran much, much deeper than Todd's paper affiliation. As we explained in the Salon story:

Continue reading »

Matthew Balan at Newsbusters is unhappy because a CNN chryon identified Shawna Forde's killer-Minuteman gang "extremists", while Rick Sanchez talked a bit about how Forde had been a player in the movement:

A chyron which accompanied a report on CNN’s Newsroom program on Wednesday about the arrest of a leader of an organization inspired by the Minuteman Project, referred to her and her accused accomplices as “extremists.” Despite qualifying how the largest Minuteman organization had distanced itself from the suspects, anchor Rick Sanchez questioned how she became a “player in the anti-immigration movement.”

OK, so if Balan doesn't want to call Forde's gang of thugs "extremists," what would he call this?

Accused ringleader Shawna Forde told her family in recent months that she had begun recruiting members of the Aryan Nations and that she planned to begin robbing drug-cartel leaders, her brother Merrill Metzger said Monday in a telephone interview from Redding, Calif.

"She was talking about starting a revolution against the United States government," he said.

... "She sat right here on my couch and told me that she was going to start an underground militia. This militia was going to start robbing drug-cartel dealers — rob them and steal their money or drugs," Metzger said.

... Investigators think the May 30 robbery was intended to be the first in a series of such attacks intended to fund the border-watch group and a new venture, O'Connor said. Forde planned on starting a business of helping free kidnap victims in other countries, he said.

Oh, and then they shot a 9-year-old girl and her father to death in cold blood.

And yes, Forde indeed was a player in the Minuteman movement, appearing on TV as a Minuteman spokesperson and onstage with Jim Gilchrist here in the Northwest.

What, exactly, does Balan think Sanchez should have reported?

Now, Sanchez never suggests that the larger Minuteman movement might be riddled with extremists, but that seems to be what Balan is accusing him of doing. Or at least sidling up too close to that proposition.

Well, tell ya what, Matthew: We'll gladly say it here. The Minuteman movement is and always has been an extremist movement, and so it is no surprise to see it devolve in its decaying phase into a radical and violent one.

Oh yes, and you know what else? It's a big moneymaking scam, too.

But I guess you're unhappy unless they're described as a big "neighborhood watch." Yeah, that fits 'em to a T, eh?

Here's what's actually noteworthy about all this: Unlike CNN, you'll never see this story reported on Fox. In fact, I haven't seen a single mention of this story on Fox TV. Gee, I wonder why that is. Well, no I don't.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1321)

PLAYS: (7371)

Rick Sanchez rips Bill O'Reilly for lying about CNN's coverage of the shooting death at a Little Rock, AK recruiting center.

From Rick Sanchez's blog, apparently Bill O'Reilly has issued a retraction, if you'd call it that.

Producer’s note: Bill O’Reilly did offer up what he described as a “rare correction” tonight (June 5th).

“I was wrong,” Mr O’Reilly said. “My apologies to CNN. I was talking about primetime, but I did not say that. As they say in third grade, ‘my bad’.”

Hmmmm....

Bill O'Reilly: So all day long it wasn't news to cover an army recruiter gunned down in Arkansas.

Bill-O can't even tell the truth with his supposed retraction. Maybe Rick will hit him up again Monday for his half assed apology.