I give all but one of the GOP candidates an “F” for last night’s performance.

The very premise of the Republican presidential debate, hosted by NBC/Politico and broadcast by corporate welfare queen MSNBC proves that conservatives don’t understand the power the media is trying to exert over the next election.

It is an insult to the house of Reagan that MSNBC would try to pass itself off as a fair news organization with the eight Republican candidates giving the sneering, snobby and snide enemy a certain imprimatur of legitimacy.

The only reason the GOP is in a fighting stance in the 2012 presidential election is the Tea Party. The alternative narrative-drivers at MSNBC have spent much of the last two-plus years trying to frame millions and millions of patriotic and concerned Americans as violent, racist knuckle-draggers.

To dignify those habitual and unaccountable slanderers by appearing on that stage shows that apparently these Republicans and daily MSNBC punching bags don’t comprehend the scope of the media problem.

Barack Obama was elected due to the work of the media in 2008. Barack Obama will not cross the finish line in 2012 without the help of that same media–with MSNBC leaning forward as it pushes their wildly unpopular President from behind. (more…)

Comrades, many of you wonder why I blog at this hateful website and others owned by the notorious racist Andrew Breitbart. I do so in order to hold Breitbart and his minions accountable to the people, to make him suffer the “free speech” he purports to defend.

In his latest racist attack on black Americans, Breitbart has outdone himself, posting an outrageous video of the Rev. Al Sharpton hosting on MSNBC in prime time this past Tuesday.

In the video, the Rev. Sharpton attempts to utter the prophetic words: “Tonight is the measure of whether the country begins, in the state of Wisconsin, a national drive to push back, or whether we have more to go to build a movement of resistance. But resist, we must. We must, and we will, about that, be committed.”

The Rev. Sharpton was right: Republicans somehow held on to win in Wisconsin, and so resist we must.

Yet in Breitbart’s video–almost certainly doctored, given his history of deceit–the Rev. Sharpton is shown saying: “But resist, we much. We must, and we will much, about that, be committed.”

The video has gone viral, and Breitbart’s troglodyte teabagger terrorists are whooping it up like London hooligans, claiming that the Rev. Sharpton is incapable of hosting a television show, playing up a familiar and ignominious racist stereotype.

The racism is evident in the way Breitbart presented the Rev. Sharpton’s comments. He follows the footage of the Rev. Sharpton with the names and images of past anchors at NBC: “Huntley, Brinkley, Chancellor, Mudd, Brokaw, Williams”–each and every one of them a white male. He adds an image–surely photoshopped–from the Rev. Sharpton’s past, in which has been made to look overweight and shown wearing a ridiculous outfit.

Breitbart’s aim is clear. Not only does he want to remove a revolutionary, radical voice from the airwaves, but he also wants to destroy MSNBC’s well intentioned attempt to diversify its formerly all-white lineup. The fact that a few dark complexions have been scattered recently among the likes of Dylan Ratigan, Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz, Andrew Mitchell, Lawrence O’Donnell, and so on has infuriated Breitbart.

Even more outrageously, Breitbart has apparently managed to brainwash a few Uncle Toms from the National Association of Black Journalists to oppose the Rev. Sharpton. They echoed false media allegations that the Rev. Sharpton had a conflict of interest just because he had allegedly used his civil rights group to help approve a controversial merger between Comcast and NBC Universal after receiving money from Comcast.

But the joke is on Breitbart in the end. Because we progressives know how to deal with the most racist insults hurled at us by bigots of his deceitful sort. We appropriate their hateful terms, making them our own, stripping them of their racist venom and turning them into weapons against our very tormentors.

In posting that twisted video of the Rev. Sharpton, Breitbart has unwittingly provided us a new rallying cry: “Resist we much!”

Comrades! Stand up for MSNBC’s ongoing attempt at racial integration! Fight Breitbart’s racist attack against the Rev. Sharpton! Smash the traitorous Fifth Columnists from the National Association of Black Journalists! Demand a revolutionary media that organizes the progressive forces of our nation against evil corporations!

In the words of our now-favorite MSNBC host, let us build our movement of national resistance!

Resist we much!

Al Sharpton makes $700,000 per year to host his daily talk radio show for Radio One, a national, urban radio syndicate.  Al Sharpton makes $700,000 per year so that his daily radio show can broadcast in only 28 markets (only 15 of which are in the top 50 largest markets in America).  Al Sharpton makes $700,000 per year to host his daily talk show that has been on for six years and yet still has only cleared 28 markets in the country.  Al Sharpton makes $700,000 per year to host his daily talk show that does not rank in Talkers Magazine’s Top 100 “Heavy Hitters” which not only measures ratings, but also goes out of its way to reflect the industry’s diversity and influence.

In short, Al Sharpton makes $700,000 per year to host his daily talk radio show even though it is neither popular, widely distributed, influential or relevant.  Al Sharpton makes $700,000 per year to host his daily talk radio show because Al Sharpton has brought something else to his employer that is far more important than ratings.  More on that later.

To understand the astounding salary that Sharpton receives to host what can only be described as a vanity show at this point, I contacted a veteran industry insider who wished to remain anonymous.  Their first response was “Al Sharpton has a talk radio show?”  I confirmed that he did and it’s been on the air for six years.  My contact said, “Who knew?”

Once past the initial shock that a radio syndicate actually turns over their microphone to the polarizing Al Sharpton (who many believe is anti-Semitic, a race-baiter and was proven to be a defaming liar in the Tawana Brawley case) my source confirmed that given the shows clearance and ratings the $700,000 salary is way beyond industry standards and makes no sense at all.  “He must be doing something else for them to justify that salary,” my source told me.

Yes, he must be.

As Wayne Barrett in the Daily Beast reports, it appears Sharpton provided Radio One a huge service by giving Comcast special “diversity protection” when the Comcast/NBC merger was under fire from the FCC.  As we reported here yesterday, Sharpton and his National Action Network assured the FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, (a political appointee put in place by Barack Obama after he rode to office thanks to Clyburn’s father’s support in the South Carolina Democratic primary) that the new Comcast/NBC corporate entity would bend over backwards to ensure “diversity”.  With the diversity protection firmly in place (thanks to $170,000 paid to Sharpton’s National Action network by Comcast over the past two years) the FCC voted for the merger thanks to Clyburn’s support.

One of the examples of Comcast’s commitment to “diversity” as noted in a memorandum signed by Sharpton and delivered to the FCC, was their huge ownership stake in TV One, a cable network aimed at the African-American community.  Comcast is part of TV One’s ownership team along with TV One’s single largest share-holder, Radio One, Sharpton’s radio syndicate.

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It looks like Al Sharpton will get the permanent hosting job from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM on NBC News’ cable station MSNBC. This is a curious move for NBC News for a couple of reasons. First, and foremost, Al Sharpton is just plain awful as a host. He can’t read a tele-prompter, he can’t speak extemporaneously, and he is awful at interviewing guests. You don’t have to take my word for it, see for yourself:

But his lousy on-camera performance isn’t the only strange thing about NBC News’ move (they hired Cenk Uygur, after all). It’s also strange because putting the NBC News brand on the line by associating it with a polarizing figure like Sharpton is dangerous and potentially devastating to NBC News’ journalistic reputation. Sharpton is accused of being a race-hustler and an anti-Semite, and worse for NBC News he is a known liar with a major defamation conviction on his record.

Why would a news organization like NBC News risk further tarnishing their brand by honoring someone with this record by giving him the honor of hosting a show, especially considering he has vowed not to criticize President Obama as we enter a presidential election season? The answer appears to be found at the highest levels of Comcast/NBC.

The Comcast/NBC merger would not have occurred if not for the approval of the FCC. One FCC commissioner, Democrat Michael Copps, voted against the merger saying that it would “erode(s) diversity, localism and competition”. The “diversity and localism” issue is something that had been a key concern for newly appointed FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn when she took her position early in the Obama Administration. And she held out her approval until she was certain that it would not be an issue.

She was swayed by a “diversity memorandum of agreement” signed by Sharpton and developed with help from his National Action Network. Clyburn, daughter of South Carolina congressman James Clyburn, said the diversity memorandum “will serve to keep the new entity (Comcast/NBC) honest in promoting diversity.”

As The Daily Beast reports:

Sharpton has a long and well-documented history of leveraging his civil-rights profile for his own benefit. Grabbing a prime-time anchor spot in exchange for cheerleading for a controversial merger would be the capper on that career. It’s gone remarkably unnoticed that Sharpton was the first major black leader to endorse the Comcast merger, which met fierce resistance.

It’s not like Sharpton was an early champion for the mega-media-merger out of the kindness of his heart. His political organization National Action Network (NAN) has received $190,000 since 2009, when the merger was first announced.

Also, Sharpton and NAN ferociously fought on behalf of James Clyburn in his struggle to retain a leadership position in the House when the Democrats were consigned to the minority earlier this year. The Democratic leadership created a position called “Assistant Minority Leader” so that he could retain the #3 position, something that does not usually exist for the minority party in the House. Subsequently, Comcast has donated over $10,000 to Rep. Clyburn’s political committees further assisting the father of the key FCC vote in favor of the merger, Mignon Clyburn.

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From Accuracy in Media’s Cliff Kincaid:

David A. Jensen, Vice President for Content Acquisition at Comcast, has reaffirmed that the cable giant is not negotiating to carry the late Osama bin Laden’s favorite TV channel Al-Jazeera.

Comcast, one of the world’s leading communications companies, has an annual meeting scheduled on May 11, 2011, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia.

In an email message responding to a request for a meeting on the subject, Jensen said that while “Comcast’s goal is to deliver as diverse and comprehensive a line-up as we possibly can, and we continually seek to improve the number and mix of the channels we distribute,” the fact is that “We do not have an agreement with this service that would permit us to carry Al Jazeera English on our cable systems and Comcast is not currently in active talks to complete such an agreement.”

Referring to AIM, Jensen added, “We have heard from many of your organization’s members about this subject, and have communicated this same response to them.” Indeed, one of our members had confirmed this fact.

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We at AIM have recently renewed efforts to persuade companies such as Comcast from adding Al-Jazeera English to their cable TV lineup. As if long standing links to international terrorist organizations were not enough, Al-Jazeera has consistently shown its true colors with recent coverage of events across the Middle East.

We watched as the network openly promoted the Islamic Army in Iraq. We shared outrage over the channel’s attempts to cover up the violent abuse suffered by CBS reporter, Lara Logan. We documented how American tax dollars continue to be funneled into programming that has alarming potential for domestic terror threats. On Sunday, we uncovered Al-Jazeera’s shameful reluctance to cover the ongoing detainment and possible torture of Sultan al-Khalaifi, a brave blogger who speaks out against human rights violations in Qatar.

It is time for action.

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From Accuracy in Media’s Cliff Kincaid:

The U.S. media propaganda campaign in favor of Al-Jazeera getting on more American television networks, stations and cable systems has reached Time Magazine and The Washington Post. But the shocking truth about this Arab government-funded “news” network may still get out through congressional hearings arranged by Rep. Peter King, chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security.

Time has a story, “Why the U.S. Needs Al Jazeera,” by Ishaan Tharoor, who claims, that “… millions across the world, including many first-time viewers in the U.S., have marveled in recent weeks at Al Jazeera English’s impressive coverage from the front lines of the protests currently shaking the Middle East.”

A different opinion is provided by Florida broadcaster Jerry Kenney, who compares Al-Jazeera to an arsonist who, after setting a fire, records the inferno and then brags about the film footage. Hundreds have died in the violence in the Middle East egged on by Al-Jazeera. AIM’s “Terror Television” DVD showed captured terrorists saying they came to Iraq to kill Americans because of the words and images on Al-Jazeera.

Could the same thing happen here if Al-Jazeera English reaches more American Muslims, who don’t speak Arabic, with inflammatory words and images making America out to be the enemy and villain in the Middle East?

Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) released a statement on Thursday in response to the arrest of a Saudi national suspected of plotting terrorist attacks in the U.S. The top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee said, “This plot is yet another example of radicalized extremists working to do us harm from within our borders. I am alarmed at the growth of homegrown terrorist plots.”

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So much for objectivity. One of the FCC stipulations of the Comcast – NBCU merger was the incorporation of non-profit journalism centers into NBC newsrooms. They are charged with maintaining and increasing local news coverage, the regulation based on the relationship between KNSD-TV and VoiceofSanDiego.org.

KNSD airs the segments, but really can’t take all the credit for them. They are largely the work ofVoiceOfSanDiego.org, a local nonprofit journalism center that has been sharing news tips, co-producing and supplying content to the station for several years.

[...]

Under the terms of the FCC order approving Comcast’s takeover of NBCU, at least half of NBC’s 10 O&Os have to find a nonprofit news center with which to work within the next year. The order cites the KNSD-VoiceOfSanDiego.org alliance as the model for what it would like to see in other NBC markets.

Proponents of the growing nonprofit news movement are hoping that NBC’s FCC-mandated efforts will bear fruit and encourage other commercial TV stations to seek out nonprofit partners.

There’s just one problem with this: Voice of San Diego is a member of INN (Investigative News Network) which is funded by the Open Society Institute, the URL of which is “www.soros.org.” Yes, these “non-profit” journalism centers are funded by George Soros.

You don’t think that may cause just the slightest conflict of interest? The man whose goal is to omit conservative voices from the airwaves, who pays people to do nothing but follow Fox News all day long and write froshy diatribes on it. The man whose idea of “open and tolerant” is to use the words against anyone who would disagree with his self-classified brand of “openness and tolerance” by promoting free dissent as closed and intolerant.

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Here’s a flashback for you.  Olby in 2008 saying he doesn’t vote as a “symbolic gesture”:

Previously at Big J:

Olbermann Suspended from MSNBC Indefinitely

Last night– which likely will be seen by future historians as the beginning of the end of the Obama Administration — seems as good a time as any to reach back into ancient history ( that would be Monday, when the Democrats had a 60-40 seat advantage in the U.S. Senate and still held “Ted Kennedy’s seat”) — and let the man who regularly spews vitriol upon anyone he considers “The Worst Person in the World,” the man whose sneering visage practically defines “enraged moonbat,” the super-special “Special Commentator” who –

Aw, shucks.  Let him speak for himself, and so behold the face of the tolerant, diverse, peaceful Left in action — and realize that this is what they really think of you, America:

After which disgraceful performance, the distinguished graduate of Cornell Cow College “apologized” last night by doubling down on his slur and his sexual innuendos and then adding: (more…)