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Ignoring Kermit Gosnell Infanticide Factory, MSNBC Investigates If GOP Voters Too Culturally Pro-Life
by Noah Rothman | 11:17 am, April 12th, 2013 video » 558 comments
As examples of self-parody go, you can’t do much better than this. As the story of Philadelphia “house of horrors” abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell explodes on the internet and makes its way gradually onto the radars of the nation’s newsroom editors, questions have arisen about why this sensational story never received the wall-to-wall treatment it appears to merit. From conservatives and liberals alike, the universal horror that the Gosnell story has inspired is palpable. But some have suggested that the story is politically inconvenient for absolutist pro-choice activists. It simply does not fit the narrative, some say, which the media has come accustomed to reporting. A rather textbook example of this narrative stewarding came today via MSNBC. The network has not yet reported on Gosnell’s infanticide factory, but they took some time out of their busy programming day today to ask a panel of political professionals if the Republican Party’s base voters are simply too culturally conservative – and too pro-life – for the party’s leadership and the general electorate. RELATED: Advocacy Media: Pro-Choice Advocate Spouts Outright Falsehoods Unchecked On MSNBC
MSNBC’s host of The Daily Rundown and NBC News Chief White House Correspondent, Chuck Todd, played a clip for a Republican and Democratic political strategist on Friday of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus last month lamenting of how the party is viewed by many as being aged and narrow-minded.
Todd noted that Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) gave an “important speech” on Thursday reaffirming the GOP’s belief in a pro-life agenda, but cautioning that the way that the Republican Party makes that case will need to be more skillful and inclusive in the future.
“It seems that the leaders want to move the party in a different direction, but Republicans are in a different place,” Todd opined.
“The Republican Party is a pro-life, pro-gun party that has these kinds of values that are part of our coalition,” GOP pollster Bill McInteurff said unapologetically. He said that the GOP has to respect those values, but needs to show tolerance to those who do not share those values.
Todd turned to Democratic pollster Fred Yang and noted that independents are moving away from the GOP on cultural issues. Yang agreed.
It’s hard to argue that the Gosnell story raises inconvenient questions for pro-choice editorial policy of makers in newsrooms everywhere. MSNBC, for example, regularly invites pro-choice political lobbyists on to advance their agenda – even allowing those guests to grossly misrepresent the facts in that pursuit – but often fails to provide equal time to pro-life activists.
Todd once coined the term “advocacy media” to describe conservative outlets which, he said, promote an agenda rather than simply report on the facts and allow their viewers or readers to reach their own conclusions. Let’s take Todd’s advice then and allow you, dear reader, to draw your own conclusions about MSNBC’s glaring silence about the Gosnell story.
UPDATE: Lest you think that this was simply an oversight by Todd’s program, MSNBC’s straight news anchor Thomas Roberts and panel guests dug into a new NBC poll which shows that more people feel that restrictions on abortion rights are appropriate. One would think that the Gosnell case would dovetail well with this segment. One would think…
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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it is considering dropping current broadcast decency standards that ban explicit profanity and "non-sexual" nudity.
You can read the press release from the FCC here.
An ongoing court case stemming from an arrest in 2008 of a man
accused of identity theft has revealed the extent to which government
agencies can go in conducting surveillance of citizens, as well as the
practice of wireless phone providers in aiding the agencies in their
surveillance.
According to a report filed by Wired, in 2008 Daniel David Rigmaiden was charged for being the ringleader behind a $4 million tax fraud operation. But Verizon Wireless revealed in court that it had reprogrammed Rigmaiden's air card in order to make his mobile phone respond to incoming voice calls from the FBI and reconfigured the air card so that it would connect to a fake cell site, called a stingray, which the FBI would then use to track his location.
An air card is a device that plugs into a computer and uses the wireless networks of phone providers to connect the computer to the Internet. These devices are not phones and thus, they cannot receive incoming calls. But they can be programmed to respond to voice calls from landlines. The defendant in this case says that this is exactly what the FBI and Verizon did.
Once the air card is reprogrammed and reconfigured, the device can be used as pings that reveal the location of the person under surveillance in real time.
Wired describes how this is done:
But the undisputed claims made by Rigmaiden reveal the extent to which the government routinely uses the procedure to track those suspected of crimes. The more troubling feature of the practice, however, is that much of this tracking of citizens is done without a proper warrant and without probable cause.
The government has long asserted that it does not need a probable cause warrant to conduct such surveillance. But in Rigmaiden's case the government conceded that it needed a warrant due to the fact that the surveillance techniques reached directly into Rigmaiden's apartment.
Rigmaiden's point, however, is that the government often obtains warrants without full disclosure to judges as to how, exactly, such surveillance procedures work, meaning that the warrants that are issued are improper, allowing government agencies to track citizens illegally.
Given that these procedures are conducted remotely, with no physical contact whatsoever, and given that the procedures are conducted silently behind the scenes, no one can ascertain as to how thoroughly the government tracks the movement of citizens. And in today's world of GPS tracking systems, the push to equip cars with "black boxes" that record driving data, and the tracking of citizen movements with cell phone technology, many right-to-privacy groups express alarm at the power of government to spy on citizens routinely and off the radar screen.
If the government were to decide to conduct massive surveillance of citizens, all without appropriate warrants, how would anyone know?
And with the widespread corruption of this government, from top to bottom, complete with the move to disarm ordinary citizens, provide military grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels, and the penchant of a president to rule by decree using executive orders, perhaps there is ample cause for alarm.
(Hat tip to WRSA).
NOTICE. BRAND NEW!
My latest blog entry in the series, Musings After Midnight, is now available at The Liberty Sphere. It's titled, "The clock is ticking and it is now 15 seconds to midnight when the darkness falls on America."
ALSO BRAND NEW -- An index of all of the entries in my popular blog series, Musings After Midnight, from the earliest postings to the very latest...all 25.
Visit my ministry site at Martin Christian Ministries.
Get the scoop
Explosions have been reported near the Boston Marathon finish line.
Get the latest updates
photo
See how the young starlet has transformed over the years.
She's a bombshell now
Looks like bringing her dad and her 3-year-old daughter to her sex tape negotiations paid off for Farrah Abraham. TMZ
says the onetime "Teen Mom" star, 21, has inked a deal with Vivid
Entertainment for close to a million bucks for the porno she filmed with
professional boinker James Deen.
Not surprisingly, the flick's title reflects all the class and subtlety we expect from the 70-minute nookie-fest that she initially tried to pretend didn't exist/was leaked: "Farrah Superstar: Backdoor Teen Mom."
She also accused Deen of having a small, ahem, appendage when he talked openly about the planned-out shoot.
"If you're going to make a celebrity sex tape and try to pass it off as an amateur home video, you don't hire a well-known porn star!" shrugged Deen, who we're starting to like more and more, despite his participation in this mess. "You hire, like, some random dude."
Alas, the payday isn't quite what Farrah was hoping for.
"I will not be settling for anything less then a couple million," she declared to Us Weekly earlier this month. As for why she filmed it, "I'm a great woman, mother and entrepreneur. ... I wanted my own personal video made and photos taken for myself; when I am older I will have my best year to look back on."
Let's hope that's not true, but if it is, she has our deepest sympathies.
PHOENIX
(AP) - Jodi Arias returns to court Wednesday so jurors can consider
whether the death penalty should be an option for sentencing the former
waitress after convicting her last week of murdering her former
boyfriend.
Arias, 32, spent the weekend on suicide watch before being transferred back to an all-female jail where she will remain until sentencing.
Minutes after her first-degree murder conviction, Arias granted an interview to Fox affiliate KSAZ, only adding to the circus-like environment surrounding the trial that has become a cable TV sensation with its graphic tales of sex, lies and violence.
"Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place," a tearful Arias said. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I'd rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it."
Despite the comment that she would rather die than be in prison for life, she cannot choose the death penalty. It is up to the jury to recommend a sentence.
During the so-called aggravation phase of the trial that starts Wednesday, prosecutor Juan Martinez must convince the panel that the murder was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner. This phase will be a mini-trial of sorts, as both sides call witnesses to present testimony to jurors - the defense in an effort to spare Arias' life, the prosecution to at least have a shot at a death sentence.
Martinez will likely call the county medical examiner who performed the autopsy to explain to jurors how Travis Alexander did not die calmly and fought for his life as evidenced by the numerous defensive wounds on his hands and feet. The lead detective on the case also will likely testify about the crime scene in an effort to show jurors just how much blood was spread around Alexander's bathroom and bedroom as he struggled to fend off the attack.
If jurors find Arias' crime deserves consideration of the death penalty, the trial will move into yet another - and final - phase. Prosecutors will call witnesses, including members of Alexander's family, aimed at convincing the panel she should face the ultimate punishment. Arias' attorneys will also call witnesses, likely members of her family, in an attempt to gain sympathy from jurors so they give her life in prison.
If the panel finds no aggravating factors exist, jurors will be dismissed and the judge will determine whether Arias should spend the rest of her life in prison or be sentenced to 25 years with the possibility of release.
"I think this jury is going to listen to everything, but they're going to come back very quickly and find that indeed the state has shown beyond a reasonable doubt the crime was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner," Phoenix criminal defense lawyer Julio Laboy said. "This was a cruel death and one in which he (Alexander) knew he was dying."
Arias acknowledged killing Alexander on June 4, 2008, at his suburban Phoenix home. She initially denied any involvement then later blamed masked intruders.
Read more: http://www.kfyi.com/articles/arizona-news-118695/jury-ponders-death-for-jodi-arias-11290286/#ixzz2TOUUehwS
Gun-rights group endorses Manchin-Toomey compromise
A
gun-rights group on Sunday endorsed a bipartisan compromise in the
Senate to expand background checks — splitting from the National Rifle
Association.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms had opposed previous iterations of a Democratic proposal for univesal background checks.
This group has far fewer members than the NRA — over 600,000 as compared to the NRA's nearly 5 million. But the shift still represents a divide in the usually-united gun lobby, and lends further momentum to an expanded background check measure negotiated by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
In announcing support, the group pointed to sections of the compromise that lift some restrictions on guns that are already in place.
"You can see all the advances for our cause that it containes like interstate sales of handguns," chairman Alan Gottlieb said.
"It's huge," Manchin told Fox News on Sunday afternoon as he announced the CCRKBA endorsement.
The Senate is set to spend this week debating gun legislation.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms had opposed previous iterations of a Democratic proposal for univesal background checks.
This group has far fewer members than the NRA — over 600,000 as compared to the NRA's nearly 5 million. But the shift still represents a divide in the usually-united gun lobby, and lends further momentum to an expanded background check measure negotiated by Sens. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
In announcing support, the group pointed to sections of the compromise that lift some restrictions on guns that are already in place.
"You can see all the advances for our cause that it containes like interstate sales of handguns," chairman Alan Gottlieb said.
"It's huge," Manchin told Fox News on Sunday afternoon as he announced the CCRKBA endorsement.
The Senate is set to spend this week debating gun legislation.
Explore related topics: senate, gun-control, nra, background, checks, gun-rights
More from NBCNews.com
Monday, April 15, 2013
|
|
FCC set to drop ban on f-word, nudity on television and radio stations nationwide
They are seeking public comments; make your voice count!
April 8, 2013The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced it is considering dropping current broadcast decency standards that ban explicit profanity and "non-sexual" nudity.
You can read the press release from the FCC here.
Specifically, if enacted, the new
FCC policy would allow network television and local radio stations to
air the f-word, the s-word and to allow programs to show frontal female
nudity, even during hours when they know children will be watching and listening.
It is accepting comments on the proposal from the viewing public until the end of April.
Current broadcast
decency law prohibits expletives and nudity, even if brief or
"fleeting." The Supreme Court has upheld the law as constitutionally
enforceable by the FCC, despite lawsuit attempts by networks NBC and FOX
to overturn it.
TAKE ACTION
Submit your comments to the FCC, urging it to reject any changes to the current policy.
The FCC will not accept general email comments. To be valid, you are required to file a formal comment via the FCC's website.
Please follow these instruction carefully, to insure your comment is accepted by the FCC:
1. Go to http://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/upload/begin?procName=&filedFrom=X.
2. Enter the code "13-86" in the "Proceeding Number" box and fill out the few remaining required fields.
3. Enter your comment in the text box provided and click "Continue."
4. From there, review your comment and click "Confirm."
2. Enter the code "13-86" in the "Proceeding Number" box and fill out the few remaining required fields.
3. Enter your comment in the text box provided and click "Continue."
4. From there, review your comment and click "Confirm."
Here is a sample comment you may submit:
I oppose any changes to the current FCC indecency standards that would allow television and radio stations to broadcast expletives and nudity on the public airwaves, even if brief or "fleeting."
The Supreme Court has confirmed the FCC's authority to enforce policies regarding expletives and nudity, especially during times when children are likely to be watching or listening.
Relaxing the current policy would not serve the public interest and I urge the FCC to reject all proposals that would allow for the broadcast of expletives and nudity on FCC-licensed stations.
We are all under surveillance now
FBI surveillance practices are increasingly coming under fire.
Credits:
(Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
According to a report filed by Wired, in 2008 Daniel David Rigmaiden was charged for being the ringleader behind a $4 million tax fraud operation. But Verizon Wireless revealed in court that it had reprogrammed Rigmaiden's air card in order to make his mobile phone respond to incoming voice calls from the FBI and reconfigured the air card so that it would connect to a fake cell site, called a stingray, which the FBI would then use to track his location.
An air card is a device that plugs into a computer and uses the wireless networks of phone providers to connect the computer to the Internet. These devices are not phones and thus, they cannot receive incoming calls. But they can be programmed to respond to voice calls from landlines. The defendant in this case says that this is exactly what the FBI and Verizon did.
Once the air card is reprogrammed and reconfigured, the device can be used as pings that reveal the location of the person under surveillance in real time.
Wired describes how this is done:
In order to do this, Verizon reprogrammed the device so that when an incoming voice call arrived, the card would disconnect from any legitimate cell tower to which it was already connected, and send real-time cell-site location data to Verizon, which forwarded the data to the FBI. This allowed the FBI to position its stingray in the neighborhood where Rigmaiden resided. The stingray then “broadcast a very strong signal” to force the air card into connecting to it, instead of reconnecting to a legitimate cell tower, so that agents could then triangulate signals coming from the air card and zoom-in on Rigmaiden’s location.On March 28, 2013, Rigmaiden submitted a report to the court describing in detail this tracking procedure conducted by the FBI and Verizon. The government did not dispute Rigmaiden's assertions.
But the undisputed claims made by Rigmaiden reveal the extent to which the government routinely uses the procedure to track those suspected of crimes. The more troubling feature of the practice, however, is that much of this tracking of citizens is done without a proper warrant and without probable cause.
The government has long asserted that it does not need a probable cause warrant to conduct such surveillance. But in Rigmaiden's case the government conceded that it needed a warrant due to the fact that the surveillance techniques reached directly into Rigmaiden's apartment.
Rigmaiden's point, however, is that the government often obtains warrants without full disclosure to judges as to how, exactly, such surveillance procedures work, meaning that the warrants that are issued are improper, allowing government agencies to track citizens illegally.
Given that these procedures are conducted remotely, with no physical contact whatsoever, and given that the procedures are conducted silently behind the scenes, no one can ascertain as to how thoroughly the government tracks the movement of citizens. And in today's world of GPS tracking systems, the push to equip cars with "black boxes" that record driving data, and the tracking of citizen movements with cell phone technology, many right-to-privacy groups express alarm at the power of government to spy on citizens routinely and off the radar screen.
If the government were to decide to conduct massive surveillance of citizens, all without appropriate warrants, how would anyone know?
And with the widespread corruption of this government, from top to bottom, complete with the move to disarm ordinary citizens, provide military grade weapons to Mexican drug cartels, and the penchant of a president to rule by decree using executive orders, perhaps there is ample cause for alarm.
(Hat tip to WRSA).
NOTICE. BRAND NEW!
My latest blog entry in the series, Musings After Midnight, is now available at The Liberty Sphere. It's titled, "The clock is ticking and it is now 15 seconds to midnight when the darkness falls on America."
ALSO BRAND NEW -- An index of all of the entries in my popular blog series, Musings After Midnight, from the earliest postings to the very latest...all 25.
Visit my ministry site at Martin Christian Ministries.
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'Teen Mom' alum Farrah Abraham sells classily titled sex tape for big bucks
When sexy turns sad, desperate and pathetic ...
By Pop Spy -- Kat Giantis Mon 11:03 AM
Looks like bringing her dad and her 3-year-old daughter to her sex tape negotiations paid off for Farrah Abraham. TMZ
says the onetime "Teen Mom" star, 21, has inked a deal with Vivid
Entertainment for close to a million bucks for the porno she filmed with
professional boinker James Deen. Not surprisingly, the flick's title reflects all the class and subtlety we expect from the 70-minute nookie-fest that she initially tried to pretend didn't exist/was leaked: "Farrah Superstar: Backdoor Teen Mom."
She also accused Deen of having a small, ahem, appendage when he talked openly about the planned-out shoot.
"If you're going to make a celebrity sex tape and try to pass it off as an amateur home video, you don't hire a well-known porn star!" shrugged Deen, who we're starting to like more and more, despite his participation in this mess. "You hire, like, some random dude."
Alas, the payday isn't quite what Farrah was hoping for.
"I will not be settling for anything less then a couple million," she declared to Us Weekly earlier this month. As for why she filmed it, "I'm a great woman, mother and entrepreneur. ... I wanted my own personal video made and photos taken for myself; when I am older I will have my best year to look back on."
Let's hope that's not true, but if it is, she has our deepest sympathies.
Jury Ponders Death for Jodi Arias
Arias, 32, spent the weekend on suicide watch before being transferred back to an all-female jail where she will remain until sentencing.
Minutes after her first-degree murder conviction, Arias granted an interview to Fox affiliate KSAZ, only adding to the circus-like environment surrounding the trial that has become a cable TV sensation with its graphic tales of sex, lies and violence.
"Longevity runs in my family, and I don't want to spend the rest of my natural life in one place," a tearful Arias said. "I believe death is the ultimate freedom, and I'd rather have my freedom as soon as I can get it."
Despite the comment that she would rather die than be in prison for life, she cannot choose the death penalty. It is up to the jury to recommend a sentence.
During the so-called aggravation phase of the trial that starts Wednesday, prosecutor Juan Martinez must convince the panel that the murder was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner. This phase will be a mini-trial of sorts, as both sides call witnesses to present testimony to jurors - the defense in an effort to spare Arias' life, the prosecution to at least have a shot at a death sentence.
Martinez will likely call the county medical examiner who performed the autopsy to explain to jurors how Travis Alexander did not die calmly and fought for his life as evidenced by the numerous defensive wounds on his hands and feet. The lead detective on the case also will likely testify about the crime scene in an effort to show jurors just how much blood was spread around Alexander's bathroom and bedroom as he struggled to fend off the attack.
If jurors find Arias' crime deserves consideration of the death penalty, the trial will move into yet another - and final - phase. Prosecutors will call witnesses, including members of Alexander's family, aimed at convincing the panel she should face the ultimate punishment. Arias' attorneys will also call witnesses, likely members of her family, in an attempt to gain sympathy from jurors so they give her life in prison.
If the panel finds no aggravating factors exist, jurors will be dismissed and the judge will determine whether Arias should spend the rest of her life in prison or be sentenced to 25 years with the possibility of release.
"I think this jury is going to listen to everything, but they're going to come back very quickly and find that indeed the state has shown beyond a reasonable doubt the crime was committed in an especially cruel, heinous and depraved manner," Phoenix criminal defense lawyer Julio Laboy said. "This was a cruel death and one in which he (Alexander) knew he was dying."
Arias acknowledged killing Alexander on June 4, 2008, at his suburban Phoenix home. She initially denied any involvement then later blamed masked intruders.
Read more: http://www.kfyi.com/articles/arizona-news-118695/jury-ponders-death-for-jodi-arias-11290286/#ixzz2TOUUehwS
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Content and Programming Copyright 2014 By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative News Tea Party Network © LLC UCC 1-308.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WITHOUT PREJUDICE All copyrights reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative News Tea Party Network Copyright 2014 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content. © All Copyrights reserved By Patcnews The Patriot Conservative News Tea Party Network
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