“Stunned” by White House’s dishonest rhetoric on equal pay…

Is anyone actually "stunned" by the Obama Administration's lies these days?

When the current administration isn't busy trying to divide Americans along race or economic lines, it plays the gender card.

Today's Presidential pep rally.     (via White House Instagram)

Today's White House efforts, namely to call attention to a specious view that most women are not earning a fair paycheck (because of their gender), has been dismissed by large numbers of economists. In addition, it's also been undercut by the administration's own actions: It doesn't pay women staffers at the same level that it does male staffers.

Of course, this is nothing new. The Bliss Index has reported on this fact, time and again. But the news sure surprised the news folks. Check out the following video:



From The Cato Institute's online magazine, Reason: "White House Press Secretary Jay Carney doesn't like when you apply the same logic governing wages in private businesses to his employer's own payroll. As President Obama prepares to sign an executive order addressing the gender gap in federal contractors' wages, critics have pointed out that female White House staffers make an average of 88 cents for every dollar male staffers earn."

The article by Elizabeth Nolan Brown continues: "Carney protested that this was misleading, because women and men holding similar positions at the White House are paid equivalent salaries. Because women outnumber men at the lowest levels of the employee chain, however, the average female salary at the White House is lower. Carney is right: It is misleading to average the salaries of men and women in widely varying positions and then use this as evidence that women are being discriminated against. That women disproportionately make up lower-paid positions may point to some broad, systematic gender bias, past or present, but it doesn't equate to outright sexist behavior on an employer's part."

Read more here... 

Ooops!

With just one awkward transition, CNN's Wolf Blitzer had folks doing double-takes as he reported on the Iranian nuclear deal Saturday night:

"I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting from Washington. The assassination of President Kennedy begins right now."

WHAT?!?!?

Blitzer's reference to a CNN documentary airing Saturday night about the JFK assassination 50th anniversary, was written and delivered in a very ham-handed way.

To say the least...

Before and after...

In this story by CNN, we learn that some folks are concerned that the TSA -- those wonderful folks watching out for us at the nation's airports -- are now intruding on the privacy of folks traveling by rail.

Apparently, the worrywarts aren't focusing on the big problem: the train protection teams (Visible Intermodal Prevention and Response - VIPR) aren't looking for possible bombs...that is before they can be brought aboard trains.

The CNN story's key quote:

"A high-profile example of VIPR's growing pains, transit officials say, is a VIPR-assisted passenger screening a year ago at Amtrak's station in Savannah, Georgia. Instead of screening passengers as they boarded trains -- which is standard security procedure -- officers were screening passengers as they were getting off trains. Security experts know that makes no sense, because potential terrorists probably would be interested in bringing explosives onto trains, not taking them off."

That's some fine security work there, folks!

And they call that other network "unfair and biased"

So someone with a different opinion is now a "wingnut?"

According to CNN Money’s headline -- above an analysis of GOP positions on debt-ceiling increases by reporter Jeanne Sahadi -- is the term, "wingnuts."

As we all know, that's purely objective, unbiased reporting/terminology.

You stay professional, CNN...

An old dog's old (and tired) trick...

Pelosi Playbook Play #435: When all else fails, blame Bush...

The class of '62...

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tells CNN's John King she blames George W. Bush for the recent Democratic loss.

You know you're in trouble (as a Democrat) when even CNN is calling you on it...

Busted in Tampa Bay...

In Florida's gubernatorial contest, it's been very tight - and at times quite nasty.

Last night in Tampa Bay during the final debated between Democratic candidate Alex Sink and her Republican opponent, Rick Scott, Ms. Sink cheated...openly and for all the world to see. (And thanks to the magic of videotape and the Internet, you can see it again, and again, and again...)

Prior to the match-up, the two - along with producers - agreed on a set of ground rules, one of which was "...no communication to the candidates from their teams during breaks." (CNN reports the aide who signed the rules agreement before Monday's debate was Brian May.)

During one of the breaks, Ms. Sink's make-up artist brought her a smartphone with a message from her team on it. Reportedly, the message read: "The attorney who [w]on the Sykes suit said alex sink did nothing wrong. Tell not to let him keep talking about her," CNN said. The text referred to Scott’s attacks on Sink for "improprieties" that occurred while she was a member of the auditing board of Tampa-based Sykes Enterprises.

According to the Washington Times, Scott mentioned the violation of the rules "to a CNN staffer regarding what he believed Sink was doing during the break. He didn't mentioned the incident after they were back on-air but his campaigned issued a media statement later calling Sink a cheat."

The clip below clearly shows Sink taking the smartphone and reading the message. She makes no effort turn it away.

When the misconduct was revealed, Sink - who has made "accountability" one of the cornerstones of her campaign - quickly took responsibility for her actions.

Just kidding...

No, according to numerous wire and news services, "Sink has fired a staffer who broke the rules by trying to coach her during a debate. Sink said in a statement that she 'immediately removed' from her campaign an aide who tried to communicate with her via a cell phone text message shown to her during a break in Monday night's debate. That broke ground rules that both campaigns had agreed to beforehand."

That's the kind of accountability voters are looking for!

Ground Zero Mosque...

I recently paid a visit to the infamous "Ground Zero mosque" (aka: the Cordoba House, since renamed "Park 51") to see with my own eyes what is really happening there.

To begin with, the former Burlington Coat Factory building - destroyed by wreckage from one of the jets hitting the World Trade Center on 9/11 - is fairly unremarkable. It is just down the street (two blocks) from Ground Zero and definitely within its "sphere of influence," as government regulators and bureaucrats are want to call proximity.

There are low-level protests taking place on a daily basis, and pro- and anti-mosque debates spontaneously ebb and flow in front of the building.

The daily debate (and protest) in front of Park 51 (aka: the Ground Zero mosque)...

The larger debate, nationally and globally, continues on. During tonight's edition of the John Batchelor Show, we discussed the issues with journalist Claudia Rossett (as well as her recent article, "Ground Zero Mosque: The Bombast of Imam Feisal.")

The mosque's neighborhood (Ground Zero is at the center of photo/end of street)...

During the John Batchelor Show, I was alerted to breaking news: the mosque's "imam" was on CNN's Larry King Show (being hosted by Soledad O'Brien), blaming politicians for the uproar. From CNN:

Asked why he wanted to build the center on the planned spot, Rauf noted he's already run a mosque about 10 blocks from ground zero for many years.

When asked about the feelings of families of 9/11 victims - such as those who might claim that their relative's remains have yet to be found at the site, Raufsaid: "This is not that spot. This is not ground zero proper. No one's body is in that location."

"I'm very sensitive to those feelings," he said. "As an imam - as any religious person does - we have to minister to the pain and hurt ... in our communities. This is part of our intention."

During the show, a producer emailed me the following (telling) note:

"The Imam Rauf just yelled at Soledad O’Brien, "This is Not Sacred Ground…There are strip clubs there!” So much for the bridge –building."

So much, indeed...

Some of the materials laid out in front of the building by pro-mosque protesters (including pro-Cuba and Che Guevara items)...

Additional Ground Zero mosque video:

This...is CNN...

From TVSquad.com:

On Monday's 'Rick's List' (weekdays 3PM ET on CNN), gaffe-prone host Rick Sanchez stepped into it a bit when he referred to Barack Obama as the "The cotton-picking president of the United States."

Sometimes you've got to wonder...where are the grown-ups over there? (And can you imagine what would have happened had this slip-up occurred at Fox News?)

Desperately seeking...

...an editor (or someone who actually knows the news)...

(via Inside Cable News)

Memorial Day post (No.1)

"Where Iraq and Afghanistan war dead came from"

Over at LAObserved.com, blogger Kevin Roderick shares this item from CNN:

CNN's website has an interactive map of all 5,485 U.S. deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan, each dot loaded with personal information and corresponding to a dot on war zone maps. "It's been a privilege to work on this project for seven years but it's a privilege that I wish didn't exist," CNN's Douglas Wood says in a blog post about the project.

“Victory has a thousand fathers”

Last week, Joe “Plugs” Biden appeared on CNN’s “Larry King Live” to talk about all of the wonderful things the administration is doing.

Among the accomplishments Plugs said Team Obama deserved credit for was…wait…wait…wait…Iraq! Yes, that dusty killing field that General David Petraeus & the Surge essentially cleaned out despite opposition from…wait…wait…wait…the Democrats.


Coupla great guys...

According to the LA Times, here’s what Joey Plugs had to say:

“I am very optimistic about -- about Iraq. I mean, this could be one of the great achievements of this administration. You're going to see 90,000 American troops come marching home by the end of the summer. You're going to see a stable government in Iraq that is actually moving toward a representative government. I spent -- I've been there 17 times now. I go about every two months -- three months. I know every one of the major players in all the segments of that society. It's impressed me. I've been impressed how they have been deciding to use the political process rather than guns to settle their differences.”


Larry King in better days...

Pretty amazing. Especially since the previous administration handed the success to the current one on a silver platter (on the way out).

BTW, during the interview with The World’s Oldest Living Fossil, Biden did not elaborate on what all the administration's other "great achievements" were so far.


Joey Plugs visits Mesopotamia...

What’s really interesting, though, was what happened shortly thereafter when the White House Press Corpse called the administration on Plugs’ claim.


Telling it like it is...

The following is supplied by a source within the Press Room who asked to remain unidentified. (The “Robert” and “MR. GIBBS” is Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. The “Q” is an unidentified journalist in the Press Room.)

Q: Robert, the Vice President last night said that Iraq could end up being one of the President's great achievements. Given that the Vice President was in favor of a partial partition of the country and the President opposed the surge that helped stabilize it, how is that one of the President's great achievements?

MR. GIBBS: Well, putting what was broken back together and getting our troops home, which we intend to do in August of this year.

Q : But the Status of Forces Agreement to bring troops home was signed before the President took office.

MR. GIBBS: Something that -- something that I think the political pressure that the President, as a then-candidate, helped to bring about.

Look, I think that we will long debate Iraq. We will long debate whether at a very important moment in our efforts to root out terrorism particularly in Afghanistan and on that border region with Pakistan, whether we took our eye off the ball. I think historians will debate that long after we're gone. I think they will come likely to the conclusion that no single event took our eye off of what needed to be done in order to -- in order to occupy a country that, until we got there, didn’t have a single member of al Qaeda.

So, look, obviously -- look, the Vice President has been deeply involved in fixing the political process there so that elections can be held and so that our troops can come home as scheduled this summer.

Obviously.

Falling down

Today's collection of "oops"...


They've fallen and they can't get up...


CNN, which invented the cable news network more than two decades ago, will hit a new competitive low with its prime-time programs in October, finishing fourth – and last – among the cable news networks with the audience that all the networks rely on for their advertising.


Oscar-winner/former Scientology “showpiece” tells his former co-Xenuites, so long.


Legends of the Fall, Part deux?



Why is this man smiling?

Biden's popularity plunges; lower than Cheney's:Vice President Joe Biden's favorable rating has fallen to 42 percent in a new Gallup poll, down from a high of 59 percent just after last year's election. Biden's unfavorable rating in the new poll is 40 percent, up from 29 percent last November. (Eighteen percent of those surveyed say they have no opinion of Biden.)

The ink-on-pulp industry continues its death spiral.

When Massachusetts attorney general Martha Coakley, running for the Democratic nomination to fill Ted Kennedy’s U.S. Senate seat, was asked about her lack of foreign-policy experience during an interview this weekend, she explained/offered her credentials: “I have a sister who lives overseas, and she’s been in England and now lives in the Middle East,” Coakley said, adding she has traveled but declining to say where. Sounds like a governor from Alaska who was taken to task...nah.
(h/t: National Review Online’s “The Corner”)