DOWNLOADS: (217)

PLAYS: (3767)

Embed

Despite the fact that MSNBC, CNN, Current TV and who knows how many other media outlets had already shown or covered the devastating clips that Mother Jones released this Monday, Fox News decided to feign ignorance and pretend they had no prior knowledge of the story when Mitt Romney gave his press conference in response to the leaked videos.

Had they not been completely ignoring the story intentionally instead of covering it, maybe they wouldn't have had to pretend like they were clueless after they were notified that Romney was doing press availability.

Greta Van Susteren brought in their previously scheduled guest, KT McFarland, following Romney's just devastating press conference and the best she had to offer in response is that Mittens ought to be talking about national security and the problems with the protests and unrest in the Middle East and Africa instead.

And despite Van Susteren pretending that the Romney presser was the first she'd heard about the Mother Jones story, amazingly her panel of Byron York, Michael Crowley and Rick Klein were somehow able to fill her in on it. Imagine that? Fox really is becoming a parody of itself these days.

DOWNLOADS: (196)

PLAYS: (3091)

Embed

Look for more of the nonsense talking point you heard during this segment in the coming week from the right. This recording of Romney is just like President Obama during the primary season when he was up against Hillary, talking about people "clinging to their guns and their religion." They conceded that it's not the same in this segment, but you watch, they'll be using that same line on Fox as the week goes on and doing their best to play the false equivalency game.

DOWNLOADS: (805)

PLAYS: (1425)

Embed

That tea party is so grass rootsy they're holding strategy sessions at The Heritage Foundation. Good thing they're just looking out for the little people. I found C-SPAN's description of this program rather odd:

Tea Party leaders talked about the future of the movement among new members of the 112th Congress. Following their remarks, they responded to audience members' questions.

"Tea Party leaders" huh. And just who are those "leaders"?

• Michael Franc, Vice President, Government Relations, Heritage Foundation
• Ed Morrissey from HotAir
• Billie Tucker First Coast Tea Party
• Byron York, Washington Examiner

I didn't know Franc, Morrissey and York were "Tea Party leaders". The only self-identified "Tea Party" leader who was there, Billie Tucker had this to say about "entitlements".

Q: Now all three of you have mentioned that for true financial reform we need to cut back on entitlements. Is there the motivation and the courage and the desire for the tea party to go into that fight? That's a long hard fight to cut Social Security, food stamps, Medicare, all those programs.

TUCKER: Yes and we've had discussions about that because we know it is a problem. Again, the American people are smart and the tea party members are smart. And they know we cannot talk about, you know, doing away with spending without really looking at the entitlement programs. The word that we do not like in the tea party movement is to say that Social Security is entitlement.

People are sick of that and they want that changed. They paid into a system that was set up by this government, again, sort of like this health care, was not entitlement; we all paid into it. The problem is corruption happened and they didn't do with the money what they were supposed to do with the money. So we're willing to work on that issue, but we're not willing to give it all up, because they screwed it up. Does that make sense?

But when it comes to entitlements for people that are not willing to work, absolutely, we're willing to talk about that as well. Because there are a lot of good people out there that can get to work but they're now being paid... they're on the dole of the government and we can't have that.

So we're willing to negotiate. We're going to take care of the people who paid into the system. I've got a 85 year old mother in law who lives with us. She paid into that system and doggone it she's gonna' get out what she's entitled to. And she's willing to give up a little but not everything for people that are unwilling to work.

Gee, I wonder who she could be talking about here?

DOWNLOADS: (139)

PLAYS: (254)

Embed

Here's yet another example of why our beltway Villager White House press corps is completely useless. Here's Urban Radio's White House correspondent April Ryan talking to Greta Van Susteren on Fox about the Shirley Sherrod firing.

Ryan: But I'm going to say this. Greta there is a lot of blame to be laid. I'm going to start as a reporter who started out in this business going from the basics, the facts and learning how to put the full context of the story out there. It started shoddy, the reporting was done shoddily and I'm sorry, the full context was not put out and then yesterday when the tape started coming out the full forty three minutes, we understood that it was about racial redemption and reconciliation.

Now some say, maybe she shouldn't have said it. Some say maybe she should have but either way the context of the story was not put out at the very beginning and that's where it starts. There is blame to be laid in almost every facet. You know you can say the NAACP, they're having a meeting this evening. They're very upset about the fact that they had to retract a statement and all the racial aspects that's going on. Then you have the White House having to retract. I mean so many people are involved in this now and it started from shoddy reporting.

While what she said is true, the problem is what she didn't say -- Fox News and Andrew Breitbart. April if you care about "shoddy reporting", don't go on one of the first shows to do the shoddy reporting and complain about how the story wasn't reported properly without bothering to mention that pesky little fact. The story went from Breitbart's site to Fox News' web site straight to O'Reilly, then to the show she's appearing on now, to Hannity. Pitiful.

DOWNLOADS: (455)

PLAYS: (752)

Embed

Byron York repeats the nonsense that someone actually pays him to write in his column at The Washington Examiner that the Democrats in the House voting for the health care bill a second time is somehow akin to Tiger Woods cheating on his wife.

Dems turn risky health vote into manhood contest:

I called a Democratic strategist with a question: Say I'm a moderate Democrat. I voted for the House bill last November, but I've seen the polls, I know a majority in my district opposes the bill, and I feel certain that voting for final passage will end my time in office. Why should I vote yes?

"Look, you voted for it before," said the strategist, who asked to remain anonymous. "You should have thought about that then. You're stuck with the vote, it's around your neck, you're going to wear it like an albatross. The ad that's going to run against you is going to be the same whether you vote for it now or not.

[...]

What about this argument, I asked: Yes, I voted for it once, but why compound the damage by doing it again? Say you've cheated on your spouse. You can tell them you only did it once, that it was a mistake, and that you won't do it again. Or you can assume the damage has been done and carry on like Tiger Woods. Which is more likely to save the relationship?

I'm sure York just has their best interest at heart and would never turn around and call them flip floppers if they listened to him...right? The last thing any Democrat should do is listen to this hack. That strategist he talked to was right. If they vote against it at this point, the Republicans will use it against them if their only concern is getting reelected. If they really cared about making good policy, they'd have been pushing for single payer at the beginning. Listening to York and his ilk and flip flopping now just makes them look like they're weak and can't govern.

DOWNLOADS: (2085)

PLAYS: (9167)

Embed

From The Colbert Report May 6, 2009. Stephen salutes Byron York for his column at the Washington Examiner: The black-white divide in Obama's popularity:

Colbert: Mr. York and I have tremendous respect for the opinions of African Americans. Except when they make it hard to measure the opinions of actual Americans.

That's why I think, for accuracy's sake, polls in the future should include the standard disclaimer, "plus or minus black people."

By the way, a lot of people called York's column offensive. But if you eliminate people who hate racism, it's not.

DOWNLOAD (30)

PLAY (186)

On Washington Journal the NRO's Byron York is asked how he thinks the GOP needs to redefine itself.

York: You know I think that there is actually a danger that the Republican party can over think and over analyze what has gone wrong. I mean there's been a lot of useful thinking among Republicans about uh, do Republicans need to keep pushing tax cuts for ever and ever and ever. Have they really done enough to address health care issues and these are serious things Republicans need to think about, but, you have to remember that we've just come from a Presidential election in which a significant portion of the Republican base just didn't like the candidate. And a large portion of the electorate ah, didn't like the President that the candidate was trying to succeed.

So those are maybe not unique but kind of unusual situations which will probably not come again. So while I think Republicans need to clearly rethink some issues, I don't think they need to blow up the whole place and start again because they lost in part due to some really quite unique situations this year.

I hate to break it to York but if he really thinks the only reason McCain lost the election is that voters didn't like McCain and Bush, he's got some reality checks coming.