From the Associated Press:

The federal government hired a New Orleans man for $18,000 to appraise whether news stories about its actions in the Gulf oil spill were positive or negative for the Obama administration, which was keenly sensitive to comparisons between its response and former President George W. Bush’s much-maligned reaction to Hurricane Katrina.

The government also spent $10,000 for just over three minutes of video showing a routine offshore rig inspection for news organizations but couldn’t say whether any ran the footage. And it awarded a $216,625 no-bid contract for a survey of seabirds to an environmental group that has criticized what it calls the “extreme anti-conservation record” of Sarah Palin, a possible 2012 rival to President Barack Obama.

The contracts were among hundreds reviewed by The Associated Press as the government begins to provide an early glimpse at federal spending since the Gulf disaster in April. While most of the contracts don’t raise alarms, some could provide ammunition for critics of government waste. (more…)

It seems that some within the Mainstream Media have been trying to send the American public a clear message, “It is time for you to get over the 9-11 attacks.”

A majority of Americans have always seen the attacks of 9-11 as being on par with the attack upon Pearl Harbor since the dual attacks happened within our nation.

The members of the Mainstream Media always saw the attacks as the defining moment of the much-hated Bush Presidency. Now that another of President Obama’s teachable moments has blown up in his face, some of the Mainstream Media have sought to portray the growing opposition to a Community Center/ Mosque, two blocks from Ground Zero as an issue of racism and religious freedom.

From the Daily Kos to Fox news Contributor Bob Beckel, 9-11 victims, first responders and Americans have been attacked for not supporting the project and/or not simply getting over the attacks some nine years later. The Daily Kos went as far as to compare car accidents to 9-11 boasting that, “It was only 3,000 people come on, as more people die in car accidents yearly! (more…)

Thank goodness the activist old media has something to distract them from the disaster being created by the Cold Hearted Social Engineer in the White House.

They have Hurricane Katrina to talk about again.

This week marks the 5th anniversary of the hurricane and disaster caused by George W. Bush. Whew! Thank goodness, they can start talking about Evil Bush again. (Yes, RFK, Jr., said Bush caused the hurricane by derailing the Kyoto Protocol thus increasing CO2 pollution—he also predicted an onslaught of hurricanes to follow Katrina because of George W. Bush.)

NBC is planning a special Meet the Press from New Orleans on Sunday to no doubt bring up their favorite issue, George W. Bush and his horrible failures.

Since we are now five years beyond the hurricane, let me tell you what the true disasters of Katrina were, and these are the things that the media will likely intentionally miss in their anniversary analysis. Some of us spotted these at the time, but now that the media now has the advantage of hindsight (which is supposed to be 20/20) so they only way they get it wrong now is if they want to get it wrong. (more…)

Jersey City pimp Allen E. Brown was recently sentenced to 18 years in federal prison for trafficking underaged prostitutes. Perhaps he would have gotten off had he simply claimed in court that he wasn’t dressed as a pimp when operating his prostitution ring.

For the past nine months, Media Matters for America has obsessively defended ACORN’s video-verified role in helping James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles set up a brothel for pubsescent sex slaves on the basis that James was not dressed as a pimp and that Hannah was not dressed as a prostitute — as she was in my creative b-roll portion of the videos — when entering the offices.

Despite the audio-recorded conversations in which Hannah was indisputably introduced as a prostitute requesting ACORN’s assistance in establishing a brothel, in which almost all ACORN workers approached offered their assistance — in Media Matters’ eyes, the wardrobe factor automatically rendered the damning investigation a “practical joke” and a “hoax.”

But while they laughed at the apparently trivial reality of a taxpayer-funded organization enabling underaged sex slavery, when O’Keefe set up in New Orleans what was actually intended as a practical joke to be taped and put up on YouTube as a minor radar-blip project to punctuate his more serious investigations — the left was not laughing. (more…)

In our continuing effort to help the MSM get its facts straight about what happened in New Orleans, we offer this video from Fox News today:

This type of journalism is going to continue.

UPDATE after the jump.

****

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana has filed a court document admitting that James O’Keefe did not intend to tamper with the phones at Mary Landrieu’s office, or commit any other felony.

Oh — and the good folks at the Department of Justice don’t particularly want you to know that. This post reveals that, at O’Keefe’s hearing, the Assistant U.S. Attorney tried not to read that part of the document in court. What’s more, the U.S. Attorney pointedly omitted this critical information from their press release.

The news of the Government’s admission broke yesterday, when Big Journalism’s Larry O’Connor reported that a court document filed in James O’Keefe’s criminal case bearing the title “Final Factual Basis” contains the following language:

In this case, further investigation did not uncover evidence that the defendants intended to commit any felony after the entry by false pretenses despite their initial statements to the staff of Senatorial office and GSA requesting access to the central phone system. Instead, the Government’s evidence would show that the defendants misrepresented themselves and their purpose for gaining access to the central phone system to orchestrate a conversation about phone calls to the Senator’s staff and capture the conversation on video, not to actually tamper with the phone system, or to commit any other felony.

This news, which O’Connor relayed at the end of a post about Media Matters’ dishonesty, is a significant piece of news that deserves its own post. It is especially noteworthy because this paragraph comes from a version of the facts that the Government has agreed to by way of stipulation. The document contains the following language showing the Government’s agreement: (more…)

Attorney-client communications are among the most sacred in the American system of jurisprudence, so when James O’Keefe’s lawyers noticed at least two instances of privileged communication between them and their client appearing in the media, they wrote to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jan Mann in New Orleans: “O’Keefe materials improperly provided to media.”

The information that I have confirmed was disclosed to the media appears to be intentionally calculated to foment negative public opinion against Mr. O’Keefe, presumably in an unethical effort to prejudice any criminal proceedings… a clear violation of Chapters 1-7.500 and 1-7.600 (E) of the United States Attorneys’ Manual as well as a prosecutor’s ethical obligations…

When O’Keefe and three others were arrested in January, his computer and cell phone were seized under the completely false premise that they were surveillance devices, and it appears that they are the source of the documents. If true, as O’Keefe’s lawyers note, this would constitute an outrageous violation of law-enforcement ethics as well as “severe prosecutorial misconduct.”

The letter follows:

The mainstream media and much of Hollywood have more in common besides fierce loyalty to liberalism. They both rarely deviate from their scripts. The media, like actors and actresses, loyally follow their script to promote a liberal agenda. They filter content based on their political ideology, ignore news that conflicts with their key message and use code language to create heroes, villains and spark action among their loyal fans.

During the Obama campaign, the American media let the world know how they operate. They have not deviated from their script, and now try to marginalize the Tea Party Movement.

The template used by mainstream media describes the Tea Party Movement as a group of racist, intolerant, and violent white people is just more lies and propaganda. The left follows the old totalitarian prescription: “If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it.” So allow me to tell you a story the liberal media doesn’t want you to hear. I will compare and contrast Tea Party activists versus liberal activists.

I had the honor of speaking at the greater New Orleans Tea Party Tax Day rally last week with well over 1,000 other patriotic Americans. Each speaker spoke about love for country, our Constitution and liberty. There was no violence, rather passionate people who are critical of the decisions being made and want to exercise their constitutionally protected right to peacefully organize and voice their opinions. While walking through the crowd I met flight attendants, accountants, retirees, insurance salespeople and stay-at-home moms. These aren’t violent people seeking confrontation. Until recently, they hadn’t been politically engaged because they were busy going to church, working, paying taxes, obeying the law, raising families, volunteering and living their lives. However, the liberal massive power grab has given them the no choice but to get involved. The Tea Party Movement has provided a vehicle for them to voluntarily take time away from their lives to peacefully and passionately voice their concerns.

What about liberal activists? (more…)

The tragedy of the unprovoked attack on Allee Bautsch and Joe Brown in New Orleans recently is intensified by the media’s near-silence on the matter. In another example of its no-enemies-to-the-left mentality, the MSM has gone to ground. Not a word is issued in print condemning the attacks. No reporters are calling members of Congress, the White House or the head of the DNC for comment. No talking heads on television are pulling their chins and wondering if there’s a “climate of hate” loose in the French Quarter.

What we have here is effective MSM news blackout on a vicious, and most likely politically motivated attack. Has the fourth estate falling into such a swoon with the progressive talking points, that they too believe like the attackers that Ms. Bautsch was a “lil blond b*tch” and thus deserved the beating she got?

Does the local press in New Orleans not want to dig into the works of local progressives and their propensity for violence? Does the complete lack of fitting the narrative of “right-wing violence” keep the press far from watchdog mode and squarely in lapdog mode?

Here we have a beautiful 26-year-old woman who has pins and screws keeping her leg together. We have her boyfriend with a broken jaw and nose. At what point does the media become a willing accomplice, through its silence and utter lack of curiosity, in these crimes? (more…)

Last Friday night in New Orleans a female political operative named Allee Bautsch and her boyfriend, Joe Brown, were attacked and seriously injured by a vicious group of crazed cowards who shrieked insults while pouncing.  After the pummeling, the petite woman and her boyfriend were left, collectively, with a compound leg fracture, a concussion, a broken nose and broken jaw. Here’s part of the police report:

According to investigators, the victims were walking from a function at a restaurant in the 400 block of Royal Street . When they entered the 600 block of Saint Louis Street , three to five Caucasian males made derogatory comments to the 25-year-old female and her 28-year-old male friend. When the male victim turned towards the group of men, one or more of the suspects struck the victim several times. At some point the female victim fell to the ground and screamed. The suspects then fled on foot. Officers in the area heard the female screaming and responded to the scene and broadcasted a description of the suspects and requested Emergency Medical Paramedics. As the female was waiting for EMS , she used her purse as a pillow. When the victim was in the ambulance, she discovered her purse was missing.

The female was transported to a hospital where she was treated for a broken leg. The male victim was also transported to the hospital and was treated for a mild concussion, fractured jaw and nose.

But wait! Don’t waste your time — if you’re Googling for this item on CNN, New York Times, Wa-Po, MSNBC, Huff-Po,  ABC,  Salon, CBS, etc. — that is.  There was little, if any, coverage of the attack to be found.  Instead, you have to look here to get the details. (more…)

FOUR MEN CHARGED WITH MISDEMEANOR OFFENSE OF ENTERING FEDERAL PROPERTY UNDER FALSE PRETENSES

NEW ORLEANS, March 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Joseph Basel, age 24, Stan Dai, age 24, Robert Flanagan, age 24, and James O’Keefe, age 25, were charged in a one-count bill of information with entering real property of the United States under false pretenses, a misdemeanor, announced the U. S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana.

According to the Bill of Information, between January 20, 2010, and January 25, 2010, Flanagan, Basel, O’Keefe, and Dai met on several occasions.  During their meetings, they discussed, among other things, possible scenarios in which they would talk with members of the staff of Senator Mary Landrieu inside of her New Orleans, Louisiana office, in the Hale Boggs Federal Building, and record the interaction using audio and visual equipment.  As a result of this planning, on January 25, 2010, Basel and Flanagan entered the Senator’s office dressed as telephone repairmen, said they were following up on reports of problems with the telephone system, engaged in conversation with the staff members, and pretended to test the phone system.  O’Keefe, who had also entered the office, recorded the interaction between Basel, Flanagan, and the staff members.

If convicted, Flanagan, Basel, O’Keefe, and Dai each face a maximum term of six (6) months in prison and a fine of $5,000.

The United States Attorney’s Office reiterated that the Bill of Information is merely a charge and that the guilt of each defendant must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

The investigation of this matter was conducted by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Deputy Marshals with the United States Marshal’s Service.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan Ginsberg.

In their February 9 column on BustedHalo.com, “Tricks Are For Kids,”  conservative Catholic writers Dawn Eden and William Doino, Jr. joined the herd of pious finger-waggers who have taken to the high ledges to point at James O’Keefe, upon his recent arrest in New Orleans.

In an interview with Matt C. Abbott of RenewAmerica.com, Ms. Eden blasts the work of O’Keefe, Hannah Giles, and Lila Rose of Live Action Films (O’Keefe’s partner in the Planned Parenthood investigations):

We noted that Alinsky’s tactics ran directly counter to St. Paul’s dictum that we cannot do evil that good may come. Live Action’s work, like O’Keefe’s, uses the means of lying and deception in order to accomplish a good, which in their case is pointing out the lying and deception of Planned Parenthood.

About the ACORN investigation, she continues:

Was it really necessary to have an undergrad disguised as a scantily clad prostitute to expose the organization?

Well, it worked, didn’t it? With an enveloping sigh of disdain, Eden and Doino write: (more…)

Today is the day that I have been invited to go on MSNBC for the very first time.  At no point during the ACORN story was I put on the hot seat to defend the work of James O’Keefe.  My thesis from day one has been that the mainstream media is biased in favor of the left and MSNBC is its most obvious case study.

So when MSNBC led the charge on Tuesday against James O’Keefe when he and three others were arrested in New Orleans at Senator Landrieu’s office, it came as no surprise that the cable network seized upon a narrative that presumed O’Keefe’s guilt, falsely extrapolated that he was being charged with felony wiretapping and instantaneously coined and repeated endlessly the new buzz phase, “Watergate Jr.”

Thus it came as no surprise to me that Keith Olbermann’s super sub, David Shuster, called me early Wednesday.  ”Watergate Jr.” pushed MSNBC to send Shuster down to New Orleans to own the destruction-by-media of James O’Keefe and anyone in his proximity.  I immediately told Shuster that I had been getting emails about his absurd, over-the-top and rush-to-judgment journalism.  He told me that I had him confused with Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann, that he has “no horse in this race.”  He asked that I come on his show and that he would give me a fair interview.  He proceeded to send me the following emails to formalize the request.  See below (emphasis mine):

As you see, Shuster is attempting to lure me into this story based upon the false premise of his objective neutrality.  Notice he says, “As I said, I don’t have a horse in this race.”  A simple Google search of David Shuster and James O’Keefe immediately finds that Shuster went into a Twitter frenzy to tar and feather James O’Keefe and propagated what are now provably false lies about the Landrieu case.

See below:
(more…)

MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann broke from his self-described pattern of not offering commentary, and called for an end to the media’s self-imposed editorial silence concerning the U.S. government’s response to a terrible natural disaster.

Okay, it was a different disaster during a different administration. But did you hear what he said? A week into the Hurricane Katrina recovery he declared that,

But now, at last, it has stopped getting exponentially worse…and having given our leaders what we now know is the week or so they need to get their acts together, that period of editorial silence I mentioned should come to an end.

As the chaos of recovery efforts in and around New Orleans became the big story, old media commentators fired barrages of harsh rhetoric toward President Bush and members of his administration directly involved with disaster relief. Never mind what part of that criticism was justified, and what part was driven by political preferences. It was a blend. (more…)