Media victim? Seriously? He’s a media victim in the same way that Kim Kardashian is: every dollar they raise/make is due entirely to their shameless exploitation of media fascination with them as opposed to any iota of talent they might possess.
These two peas-in-a-pod exemplify the modern-day media corollary of “If it bleeds, it leads,” which is “If it screams – or has implants – it leads.”
This episode will inevitably help him raise more money from the nutjob base, which helps him. But I don’t know enough about the dynamics of his new district to say whether it hurts him with actual swing voters.
People who talk about him seriously as a VP prospect should immediately report back to the asylum from which they’ve escaped.
1. As the movie reviewers from In Living Color would say: “Hated it!”
2. This may be the first book review in history to quote Benjamin Netanyahu, Fredo Corleone, Emily Bronte, Three Dog Night, and Jerry McGuire.
An excerpt:
Within the aching, romantic heart of Peter Beinart lies an epic, tragic love story.
Beinart’s latest book, The Crisis of Zionism, begins as a tale of the author as a young boy, sitting at the knee of his immigrant grandmother, falling in love with her utopian vision of their ancestral homeland, a nation of liberal values and the moral pursuit of peace. You had me at “Shalom”!
But recently, upon receipt of a mysterious video — featuring a young boy mourning the arrest of his Palestinian father — our heroic narrator removes his devotion-inspired blinders, and his now-unjaundiced eyes reveal a long trail of illiberal betrayal by the wholly hole-y Holy Land.
But rather than retreat, our author sets out instead to reform his unfaithful love. With a self-image of Biblical proportions, Beinart likens himself to the Hebrew Prophets who decried the misuse of power the last time the Jews ran Israel.
Alas…this Jeremiah is a bullfrog.
Like many works in the kiss-and-tell genre, The Crisis of Zionism is driven by emotion rather than fact, and is so transparently one-sided that it reveals that the true betrayer is the author himself. Beinart is like Heathcliff, whose misinformed, misguided abandonment of his true love damns the couple to tragedy. Or perhaps he’s Fredo, whose thwarted ambition leads him on the path to perfidy, enabling and empowering his family’s enemies. You broke my heart, Peter. You broke my heart.
Our readers, the RP Nation, had a lot to say about this controversy — we’ve received dozens of emails and comments. We list some of the better responses below:
Jonathan, you claim to be bi-partisan politically, but come near (but just this side of civil) to speak with a hint of animosity about the University of Louisville. WATCH IT!!!!! I’VE GOT MY EYES ON YOU.
Love, M.A, Louisville, KY
As a Saturday Night Live fan, I like Michelle Bachman or a comeback by Sarah, who should have a lot to say about reproductive health.
C.U., Hartford, CT
I agree with Portman who can swing Ohio. Yes, Rubio brings Florida and more of the Hispanic vote. I love Huckabee, but Arkansas is tiny and he is old news. Portman can legitimately run on a balanced budget platform, more so than anyone else.
S.C., Miami, FL
How about Kentucky’s head basketball coach, John Calipari?
B.M., New York, NY
Nope, it is Rubio.
T.W., Indianapolis, IN
I will be traveling on business through Wednesday morning, March 28th, with only limited access to email. If you need help immediately, please contact [Name omitted]. I look forward to being in touch as soon as possible.
D.H., Washington, DC
Read the rest of... The RPs Debate the 2012 GOP VP — The RP Nation Weighs In
He’s staying in the race for three reasons: 1) to get himself – and son Rand – decent speaking slots in Tampa, and 2) to keep building a fundraising list that he can bequeath to Rand; and 3) to build field lists in all 50 states that Rand can use in a 2016 or 2020 presidential run.
I bet no first time national candidate in history will start out with as many yard-sign locations than Rand – not even rock-star candidates like HRC and Obama in 2008.
Given the above, it’s kind of sad to watch all these middle and working-class small donors get fleeced, but hey, like Paul says, it’s a free country! (Just not quite free enough for his taste.)
March has opened cruelly for conservatives. One of their icons, Andrew Breitbart, died prematurely; another, Rush Limbaugh, lives on, and valuable time is spent apologizing or distancing from his choice to punch down at a young woman. Between the recollections of Breitbart, and both the real and canned outrage over Limbaugh, the pugnacious, caustic side of the political Right is in full public view.
In the normal course of the ideological firefight, one favored tactic is to minimize antagonists as irrelevant and undeserving of attention. The critics of Breitbart and Limbaugh are actually just as quick to dramatize their importance as their defenders. For the left, the ferocity of both men helps prove their case that the Right is an intolerant, mean-spirited crusade that bullies its detractors. For much of the right, the two epitomize a conviction activism that has been indispensable in outwitting and outlasting the mainstream media and its liberal biases. It’s worth examining each claim for signs of inflation.
Breitbart first: to the extent the general public was aware of Breitbart, it was largely based on three episodes, one of which reflects poorly on him. On the plus side, he drove the exposure of ACORN as a loopy, madcap farce that was living off the public dime and an unmerited reputation for good works. On the neutral side, he outed Anthony Weiner as the kind of guy who milked his mini celebrity to bait attractive twenty-somethings, and who thought his best features are the kind that require public covering. It all seemed seedy, but small and trivial then, and looks even smaller and more trivial now. On the inexcusable side, his expose of Shirley Sherrod as a racist avenger didn’t survive the light of day: Breitbart may have been a white guy lost in interpreting colloquial black to black banter, but his confusion seemed willful and strategic.
Read the rest of… Artur Davis: Of Breitbart and Limbaugh
Was it fair when Al Gore – who actually had done more than just about any member of Congress to help make it happen – was pilloried for the line about “inventing the Internet” (despite it being a misquote)?
Fair when Gore was off by $50 or so in relating the price of his mother-in-law’s meds, and got castigated for it – even as Bush’s mostly unexamined references to his proposed tax cuts understated its size by $900 billion?
Of course not. Politics, like life, isn’t fair. The media – aided substantially by opposing campaigns – looks for a stylized fact that fits a developing narrative, and creates a caricature.
And it goes without saying that you couldn’t make up a story that better fits the narrative of a coldly (and cruelly) efficient Rombot than the Seamus story.
Point is, it’s not going away. Pet lovers vote – and even non pet-lovers find the story alarming. So I suspect you’ll see Dem-driven “protests” by dogs at Romney events throughout the summer and fall. And I suspect that they will overpower the concerted effort Romney and his family have been making for months to “humanize” Mitt via the contrived retelling of “warm, fuzzy Mitt” stories.
By Jonathan Miller, on Tue Mar 13, 2012 at 12:03 PM ET
In my latest column for The Huffington Post, “The Media’s Double Standard for Israel,” I argue that the American media too often places disproportionate attention on the flaws of radical Israeli extremists, failing to report them in the context of Israel’s broad and loving embrace of progressive values.
Whether or not you agree with me, I’d love to hear your point of view. And I’m excited to report that — thanks to the trailblazing technology of a Lexington-based startup, Punndit.com — today, I will be engaging in an interactive video debate with the RP Nation.
That means you! Please watch my video below, and underneath the video are instructions on how you can use the camera on your computer to record your 30 second take on the issue. And I will respond in kind.
Sound fun? Or at least worth trying? Watch below and join in!
Now it’s your turn:
When you are ready to begin your recording, click on the “Rec” button at the far left of the red line under the video. (The red line is called the “PunnBar”)
If this is your first time at Punndit, you will be prompted to sign in through Facebook or Twitter.
The Record button will change to a “Stop” button after recording begins. Clicking on Stop will end the recording and begin playback of the recording for you to review.
To submit your video then click the “Post and Save” button that will appear.
Your punns (videos) are limited to 30 seconds, so there’s a countdown recording clock that will show you how long your recording is running.
You can type in a title for your video response that will show in the PunnBar just below your thumbnail picture.
Be sure to share your video response with your friends through the social networking buttons available after your recording is finished.
Media victim? Seriously? He’s a media victim in the same way that Kim Kardashian is: every dollar they raise/make is due entirely to their shameless exploitation of media fascination with them as opposed to any iota of talent they might possess.
