I’ve written before of ESPN’s enforcement of policy concerning political speech. I’m sure you’ll be shocked to know that the selective condemnation extends to radio commentary as well. Don’t everyone gasp at once.

We remember how Rush Limbaugh had to resign from ESPN over a remark about Donovan McNabb that progressives insisted was racist.

Compare this to Mike Tyson’s recent appearance on ESPN’s Las Vegas affiliate. The show’s (called “Gridlock”) hosts, Mitch Moss, Seat Williams, and Pauly Howard laughed hysterically at Tyson’s remarks on air and on Twitter.

Some quotes from the nine minutes of frat boy #fail humor (shield thine eyes ye with sensitive constitutions!):

“You want her to be with somebody like Rodman, jigging up in there [inaudible] push her guts up in the back of her head, right?”

Just imagine Palin with a big ol’ black stallion, rippin’ just rippin. Everybody gotta get that out of their system …”

“She met the wombshifter.”

“I wonder what Palin would [inaudible] a poor black man on the street needs some assistance … I know she’d give Obama some love … I’m sorry! I’m not sorry!”

Mitch Moss says that Tyson never actually said “rape” (should we ask Whoopi? What’s rape rape?) so it’s cool.

One of this nation’s top businessmen goes straight after the President of the United States and the media can’t find the time to fit it in. I believe he used the “S” word … the “socialist” word … to describe Barack Obama, yep, that’s what I heard.

Normally the media love controversy and conflict, but for them, Steve Wynn hits way too close to home with his criticism of Obama.

In case you missed it (because apparently much of the media did,)  here it is.

Among other things, the CEO of Wynn Resorts said:

“And I’m saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime….Well, this is Obama’s deal and it’s Obama that’s responsible for this fear in America. We haven’t heard that type of talk except from pure socialists.”

The media, obsessed with the story of fraud in British journalism right now, doesn’t have the time to fit in this story of one of the top job creators in this country going after their Dear Leader. Of course, they have the time to do it and the space in their shrinking papers to cover it, but they choose not to cover it.

I have covered Wynn for 30 years in Las Vegas and this is not the first time he has gone after Obama. I wrote about his last rant back in April. Wynn correctly included the media protection of Obama in that rant.

(more…)

Oh, it’s the beginning of the holiday season so I am full of positive feelings and nice thoughts so it’s time to give credit where credit is due. Maybe I’m just full of turkey, but either way optimism is in the air.

Spending 30 years in local TV news has made me pretty cynical about the reporting. Much of what I have seen over the years has been documented here on BigJournalism and I have barely started getting into the silliness I have witnessed. The stories designed to scare women 18-54 into watching the next newscast and the foolish “investigations” into who might be stealing your recyclables from your curb before the refuse men get to it. Yes, the November ratings period just ended and local TV lost its mind once again. Not to fear, the February “book” is right around the corner.

Occasionally local TV news does a story that deserves recognition and when those moments happen they should be acknowledged. Jonathan Humbert of KLAS TV in Las Vegas uncovered  a “clean energy” bust in Nevada that cost taxpayers 8 million dollars. Stimulus dollars were used on the project and there were high hopes that wood chips would provide green energy, rehabilitate prisoners and – I’m guessing somewhere in there somebody professed that this project would help Save The Planet.

Of course, it did none of these things and this fraud could’ve/should’ve been spotted from the start.

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Looks like Democrats got the memo.

Last week I worked for Liberty.com and covered a protest at Sharron Angle’s office in Las Vegas where a dozen MoveOn.org protesters showed up to go after the Chamber of Commerce for taking foreign money and buying TV ads during this election campaign. Of course, there is no proof of the foreign money, but the accusation is there and that’s the main thing that matters.

So far, the activist old media, to its credit, is not buying the Democrats claim. Certainly, they could be a little more forceful in refuting it, and mocking it. I’m suggesting Saturday Night Live do a skit where the Democrats go after Girl Scout Cookies because of a possible infiltration of foreign money. They sell 200 million boxes of cookies a year, there has to be some foreign money in there somewhere. Possibly, maybe, could be, might be.

Democrats have reached a new low in going after Republicans because it really is all they’ve got. They don’t want to talk about the economy, jobs, a failed “stimulus,” and a very unpopular “healthcare” bill. The media says they love to see candidates “stick to the issues” and ignore the foolishness, well, this is a great opportunity for the next three weeks for the media to “put up.” Make the Democrats stick to the issues of this election and focus on what the voters want. (more…)

REP. CHARLES RANGEL: Good morning, kids.  I’m your Uncle Chollie in Washington.  I help your Uncle Sam take care of you and your family.  Today, I’m here to introduce a very special person.  He’ll explain how you–our youngest citizens–can partner with him to make America a country we can all be proud of once more.  Or for the first time.  Whatever. Girls and boys, the President of the United States.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Thanks, Uncle Chollie.  Hi kids, it’s me, President Obama.  I enjoyed our visit last year.  Lots of your teachers asked if I would speak again this year, preferably for the last hour of the school day every Friday until June.  I’ve agreed, because I know how much you need your sleep.

Don’t worry, I’ll still have plenty of time to fix the broken country George Bush left me.  Like my Saturday radio speeches to grownups, these talks are all taped in advance when I’m not playing golf, so all I do is read what somebody else wrote and then I read it off these marvelous inventions we call TelePrompters.

Anyway, in weeks to come, we’ll discuss fun topics like Hot Czars™, the souped-up, small-scale vehicles my Michigan auto company will build for kids who are into power trips; and we’ll play Tic Tax Dough, a new Monopoly-like board game developed by a youngster in my cabinet named Timmy Geithner.  A special treat: the First Lady will sub for me one day next month and tell you a story about the Keebler Elf’s plans to turn you into a gobblin’. (more…)

JournoList: How do you explain why members of the media, led by an employee of the Washington Post named Ezra Klein, put their political beliefs above their jobs, their careers and even their country? They are liberals first.

Ezra Klein, JournoList founder

The group now exposed is part of the JournoList, Obama’s little secret warriors during the last campaign, made it very clear, they are liberals first.

Why did Chris Hayes of The Nation urge his colleagues to ignore Reverend Wright’s tirades against America? Real reporters love this provocative, juicy stuff. Ask Mel Gibson. Instead, Hayes wrote this, ripping the Bush administration so that it would somehow make Obama/Wright look better:

Our country disappears people. It tortures people. It has the blood of as many as one million Iraqi civilians — men, women, children, the infirmed — on its hands. You’ll forgive me if I just can’t quite dredge up the requisite amount of outrage over Barack Obama’s pastor.

Chris Hayes, JournoList member

I think the “disappears” people is a reference to rendition. The act of capturing a prisoner, putting him on a plane, taking him to a foreign country where he would presumably be subject to torture during interrogation. If memory serves, President Bill Clinton was the one who started that plan and Obama continues it to this day. Chris—how do you feel about that issue with Obama being the perp? You okay with that? Liberals first. (more…)

Drudge Report readers woke up this morning to the news that GOP senatorial candidate Sharron Angle won the Republican primary last night in Nevada.  Associated Press writer Michael R. Blood’s linked piece on Drudge represents the MSM’s template in its upcoming biased reporting against Angle, and other conservative GOP candidates.  It’s all in the language.

Blood’s piece begins:

Nevada Republicans Tuesday picked tea party insurgent Sharron Angle to take on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid…

“Tea party insurgent.” Blood’s lede links a broad citizen movement with a word that connotes roadside bombs and civilian casualties. Angle is a…

…conservative renegade who wants to turn Washington on end.

Not just a “conservative,” but a “conservative renegade.” When John McCain was a “maverick” – a label first given him by the New York Times – he was the GOP favorite of much of the MSM.  When Barack Obama promised to turn Washington end, he was a “transformational candidate.”  Sharron Angle, though, is a “renegade.” The spin is in the chosen language. (more…)

Who’s your daddy? Sounds like Barack Obama wants that role. Or perhaps mommy, I’m not sure.

During his recent visit to Las Vegas, one of the gems of wisdom that Barack Obama shared with the audience at Green Valley High School is to tell us to floss.

President Obama took audience questions, they were not broadcast widely by the media and they seemed fabricated. The first four questions had to do with healthcare. The second question came from a dentist and Obama took it upon himself to tell the people in attendance to make sure to floss. Twice he said it. Floss.

What have we elected here? My parents told me to floss—my wife sometimes reminds me to floss, and occasionally I do it on my own. Did we elect a President of the United States of America to tell us to floss? (more…)

I’ve interviewed many celebrities, politicians and sports stars over the years. I’ve grilled George Soros, been threatened by Mike Tyson and had fun with Jason Alexander. I’ve never interviewed a President of the United States, but I’d welcome the opportunity and the responsibility. Who wouldn’t? During his first year in office, Barack Obama did 158 “exclusive” interviews. I don’t know how you do 158 “exclusives,” but basically that means he sat down, one-on-one with everybody from Katie Couric to Al Jazeera. Al Roker never got an exclusive, but there’s plenty of time this new year to make that happen.

Since many people have gotten on that “exclusive” list, I’d like to give it a shot. We can do it when he comes to Las Vegas, or I’d foot the bill to fly to his place in D.C. to make it happen. If the President wants the questions in advance, I’d tell him to read this column, I’ll put some of them here. I’ve never been one to put questions in writing before I do an interview, certainly not for the person I’m interviewing, and I’ve never really even done it for myself, so this is rather unique for me to put this much planning into an interview.

But if I had fifteen minutes with the President, I’d ask him some question that he’s probably never been asked by my friends in the activist old media who have actually gotten the opportunity to talk to him and pretty much wasted it. So, here goes, my questions for the President: (more…)

In politics, as in all of life, things are not always as they appear.  Consider the possibility that President Obama’s most recent dissing of Las Vegas may not have been just another casual faux pas.  Let’s review the action.

Round 1: It all started back in February 2009 when Obama made this disparaging jab about Vegas followed by Senator Harry Reid’s defense of Obama from the floor of the Senate.

Some Nevadans were dissatisfied with Harry’s response.  When the President came to a Reid fundraising event in Vegas in May 2009, he and Reid didn’t receive a completely warm reception. (more…)

During his recent State of the Union speech, the President issued a call for civility in America. Forget the fact that he once made a joke about Special Olympics kids and his Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel recently even called his fellow liberals “f-ing retards.” The President sounded good when he scolded America for its negative tone.  Oh, he also attacked Las Vegas again:

You don’t go buying a boat when you can barely pay your mortgage. You don’t go blow a bunch of cash on Vegas when you’re trying to save for college.

As a long-time Las Vegan and a parent of a special-needs child, I sometimes wonder if the President of the United States of America is out to get me.  I’m not the paranoid type, but I’m fitting all the profiles that he likes to attack.  Thank God Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman gave the president what for over his most recent attack on my city:

He’s not our friend. I don’t know about Nevada, but Las Vegas, he’s sure not our friend.  He has a real psychological hang-up about the entertainment capital of the world.

Everybody says I shouldn’t say it, but I’ve got to tell you the way it is. This president is a real slow learner. (more…)

The Chicago media is having trouble picking a winner out of the line-up of likely suspects for the Machine’s chosen candidate for Barack Obama’s old, hardly even used U.S. Senate seat.  The dragnet doesn’t include anyone with an impressive rap sheet of accomplishments. So what’s up? Is the Machine sputtering?

The Illinois primary election for U.S. Senator is February 2. Senator Roland Burris isn’t running. No money. No support. No surprise.  After what the disgraced Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s hand-picked seat warmer had to go through just to get credentialed, it’s no wonder he just wants to pack up and go home to his monuments.

And the recent victory by Scott Brown in the Massachusetts special election for the U.S. Senate certainly has put the fear of God into party hacks from sea to shining sea. So, who’s the Machine’s candidate among the leading suspects? Here’s the line-up. (more…)