GOP Rep. Calls Megyn Kelly ‘Pinhead And Weenie’ On House Floor (Mediaite)

Mehyn Kelly, image by Getty Images via @daylife

by Frances Martel
Mediaite
May 26th, 2010

Last night’s “Worst Person in the World” segment on Countdown wasn’t notable for anything host Keith Olbermann said in particular, or for the relative egregiousness of the crimes he accused his “worsts” of committing. The interesting thing about this attack is that the takedown instead came from a Republican Congressman who used the words “pinhead” and “weenie” on the House floor to attack a Fox News host.


The Republican Congressman is Steven LaTourette, and his victim, seemingly unknown to him, is Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Kelly, according to Olbermann, had claimed that some House Republicans were supporting a bill that bailed out unions. LaTourette had some strong words with which to differ with that assessment:

“As a Republican, I’m supposed to love Fox News and hate MSNBC. Now, let me tell you, I do hate MSNBC, but something just happened on Fox News that compelled me to come to the floor. They’ve run this diagram, and it really is, I think, blaspheming my good friend Pat Tiberi from Ohio in indicating that there are nine Republicans that are supporting a bill that will bail out unions. Well, that’s nonsense, and I don’t know who the pinhead and weenie is at Fox News that decided to put that story together… I don’t know what they’re doing at Fox News, but they should stop smoking it and get back to reporting the facts.”

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Gergen: ‘If Gov. Fought WWII Like Oil Spill We’d Be Speaking German’ (Mediaite)

David Gergen, image via Wikipedia

by Glynnis MacNicol
Mediaite
May 26th, 2010

The President Obama/BP Oil Spill pile-on continues. It’s starting to feel like the new media sporting event. Over at CNN last night James Carville continued his tirade calling for “heads to roll” and the normally low key David Gergen noted that “if our government had fought WWII like the way we’re fighting the oil spill, there’s a good chance many of us would be speaking German today.” Them’s fighting words!


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Too Far: Glenn Beck Mocks Malia Obama On His Radio Show (Mediaite)

Glenn Beck, image via Wikipedia

by Jon Bershad
Mediaite
May 28th, 2010

For years there’s been debate over whether or not mocking a politician’s family (particularly their children) is fair game. For the most part, political opponents and comedians have kept their swipes at the Chelsea Clintons and the Bush Twins of the world to a minimum. This morning though, Glenn Beck clearly stepped over the line when he began insulting and denigrating 11-year old Malia Obama.

Media Matters reported that Beck spent more than four minutes making fun of the now-infamous “Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?” quote from Obama’s press conference. While most of Beck’s jokes were aimed at the president himself, one line in particular moved the sights to the young girl:

“That’s the level of their education, that they’re coming to – they’re coming to daddy and saying ‘Daddy, did you plug the hole yet?’”

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Sarah Palin Welcomes New Next-Door Neighbor: ‘Scathing’ Journo Joe McGinniss (Mediaite)

Cover of The Selling of the President

by Glynnis MacNicol
Mediaite
May 25th, 2010

I have to imagine that when legendary (“scathing”) political writer Joe McGinniss (The Selling of the President) landed a book deal with Random House last fall to pen a “investigative narrative of Sarah Palin’s significance as both political and cultural phenomenon and as an embodiment of the contradictory forces that shaped Alaska as it moved into its second half-century as a state” he did not take into consideration Sarah Palin’s Facebook page. Or maybe he did and this is a part of a secret, ingenious, PR campaign. Either way, Sarah Palin says ‘Welcome.’ Actually, she says: “Hi, neighbor! May I call you “Joe”?

McGinniss has apparently rented the house next door to Palin’s in Wasilla, Alaska in order to research his new book, and has been taking the view from over the fence; something Palin does not fail to make sound slightly creepy. This is how Palin greeted him on her Facebook page:

Spring has sprung in Alaska, and with this beautiful season comes the news today that the Palins have a new neighbor! Welcome, Joe McGinniss!

Yes, that Joe McGinniss. Here he is – about 15 feet away on the neighbor’s rented deck overlooking my children’s play area and my kitchen window. Maybe we’ll welcome him with a homemade blueberry pie tomorrow so he’ll know how friendly Alaskans are.

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Barack Obama and Co. give up a few secrets to Newsweek's Jonathan Alter in 'The Promise': INTERVIEW

By BOB ANDELMAN

Here’s the opening of a conversation that would get me divorced:

“Honey, I’m going to spend the next 17 months researching and reporting about President Obama’s first year in office. Oh, and I’m going to keep my full-time job at the magazine and keep showing up as a talking head on TV, too.”

Of course, I’m not Jonathan Alter, national affairs columnist at Newsweek, frequent political analyst on MSNBC and author of a fascinating, new, behind the scenes book, The Promise, President Obama, Year One.

If your only previous exposure to Alter has been in small doses via his appearances on MSNBC and “Meet the Press,” you’ll be impressed at how well his approach to politics and journalism holds up over the course of an entire book. There is straight reporting, of course, but also the occasional zinger or observation that captures the point in a sharp-edged arrow—I mean sentence.

And it isn’t a mere bow to Barack Obama as “The Promised One.” Alter identifies mistakes in strategy, errors in judgment and more than a few of the new president’s character flaws.

As a teen, I found Joe McGinness’s The Selling of the Presidency 1968 oddly compelling. It, in turn, propelled me to read histories of most 20th century presidents. So, for me, The Promise is like a Charleston Chew. Its flavor lasts all day and leaves you wanting more.

Alter is joining us on Mr. Media today to promote his appearance on Tuesday, May 25 at Forum Truth in Sarasota, Florida. His talk starts at 7:30 p.m. and the cost of admission includes a copy of his book, The Promise. You can make reservations online @ www.forumtruth.org or by phone, 941-349-8350.

JONATHAN ALTER AUDIO EXCERPT: "My wife has a really busy job, too. She is a supervising producer for 'The Colbert Report.' Her job is to book the guests on that show. Stephen Colbert--and rightly so--has high standards for the guests they get... We do a lot of shop talk (in bed). A lot of it revolves around, who should she get for the show and who should I interview for the book?" 

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You can LISTEN to this interview with JONATHAN ALTER, Newsweek editor, MSNBC analyst and author of THE PROMISE: President Obama, Year One, by clicking the audio player above!

  Copyright 2010 Bob Andelman. Click here for copyright permissions!

MORE POLITICAL INTERVIEWS FROM MR. MEDIA RADIO:
Barry Libert (Barack, Inc.)
Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich
Bill Adair (Politifact.com; St. Petersburg Times)
Pete Von Sholly (Capitol Hell)
Jeremy Redleaf (Juneau)
David Andelman (A Shattered Peace)
Brian Michael Jenkins (Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?)
Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy)
John Amato (CrooksandLiars.com)
Philip Shenon (The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation)
Katy Chevigny (Election Day,” “Deadline,” “Arctic Son)
Chuck Workman and Stephen J. Kern (In Search of Kennedy, Superstar: The Life and Times of Andy Warhol, The Source)
Alec Foege (Right of the Dial: The Rise of Clear Channel and the Fall of Commercial Radio)
Tom Leykis (The Tom Leykis Show)
John Amato (CrooksandLiars.com)
Paul Levine (Illegal, Solomon vs. Lord)
Kamran Pasha (Mother of the Believers)
Brian Michael Jenkins (Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?)
Marty Beckerman (Dumbocracy)
David Andelman (A Shattered Peace)
Philip Shenon (The Commission: The Uncensored History of the 9/11 Investigation)
Chris Matthews (Hardball)
Rob Kutner (The Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
Jim and Maureen Tusty (The Singing Revolution)

Did Rand Paul Cancel Meet The Press Under Orders From Karl Rove? (Mediaite)

Karl Rove, image via Wikipedia

by Glynnis MacNicol  
Mediaite  
May 23rd, 2010

It’s hard to blame Rand Paul for pulling out of a Meet the Press appearance on Friday after the kind of week he’d had following Tuesday’s Republican primary election in Kentucky. His scathing interview with Rachel Maddow on Wednesday night will probably go down as a lesson in what cable hosts are supposed to do, and what newbie politicians will now look to avoid at all costs (hopefully not to the detriment of her show). On today’s MTP roundtable even Bob Woodward noted that it was a pragmatic decision on Paul’s part.


But was it Rand’s decision? Politico is reporting this morning that Paul canceled the appearance because “senior Republicans” told him to do so. Two senior Republicans in particular: Karl Rove and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Karl Rove, the former top adviser to George W Bush, called Paul’s campaign manager this week and said the candidate was hurting himself with all the exposure, according to a source familiar with the conversation (In an email, Rove only said “no comment” when asked about the matter)

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