Video- Rove accuses Obama of threatening critics, saying "my way or the highway" and "if you're not with me, you're against me"

Captionary: Rachel Maddow meets Roger Ailes

By GottaLaff

What I'd have given to be at this little do:

MSNBC's Rachel Maddow and Fox News chairman Roger Ailes were among the guests at last night's holiday party for tvnewsers at the White House.

Check this out:

Greta Van Susteren blogs about meeting Maddow for the first time and about who else was there:

Jake Tapper of ABC and his wife were there (my money is on Jake for getting the job as anchoring This Week on ABC now that George has gone to GMA and Jake would be great at it)

No. Nononono. Can we get one new liberal replacement host out of ABC? Just one? Just this once? Pretty please with ratings on top?

Sorry. Back to reality. I'd drifted there for a minute.

Video- McCain on Afghanistan : Who needs exit strategies?

Yeah, we didn't need an exit strategy in Viet Nam either.

Video- Greta Van Susteren Interviews Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton

Haven't had time to watch the whole thing yet, but I'm sure Hillary held her own.

Video- FOX's Greta Van Susteren Throws Glenn Beck Under The Fox News Bus

Well here's a thought from a commenter at YouTube that seems rather on the point-

I think this is real purpose of the whitehouse challenging Fox News. It makes real reporters question their own reporting and distance themselves from the far right. Even if they aren't biased it keeps them conscious of bias slipping in.

Video- Van Susteren airs video of Obama G8 photo shoot to counter "lying picture that's going around the Web"

I'm gobsmacked that she'd go thru the trouble to do the right thing.


Also see here for another video that makes it pretty clear what the President was doing.

Added- Here's the vid that show much more clearly what was going on.

What Does the Future Hold For Greta Van Susteren?

By GottaLaff

Think she'll re-up?

In today's NYTimes, Brian Stelter wraps up much of the chatter that's been out there about Fox News host Greta Van Susteren - about her husband advising Sarah Palin, and FNC hosting Todd Palin at the White House Correspondents dinner. But there's also speculation about Van Susteren's future with Fox:

Ms. Van Susteren's contract will end next year, if it is not renewed. Megyn Kelly, a morning co-host who is considered a rising star at Fox, is the leading candidate to replace Ms. Van Susteren at 10 p.m., according to three people with knowledge of the deliberations, which were intended to be private.[...]

[FNC SVP Bill] Shine said the depiction of Ms. Kelly as Ms. Van Susteren's replacement was "100 percent inaccurate."

Ms. Van Susteren declined to say how long she expected to stay at Fox, saying, "I really enjoy what I'm doing" but adding, "there's a lot more to life than this."

She's finally figuring out that there's more to life than working for bottom feeders, befriending horrific vice presidential candidates, and perpetuating lies? I'm so very impressed. My heavens, what a quick study you are, Greta.

Palin-Clinton alliance??

By GottaLaff



Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match...

John Coale, a Washington-area Democratic donor and onetime adviser to Sarah Palin, urged the conservative Alaska governor to use her political action committee to help retire the presidential campaign debt of Hillary Clinton.

Coale, a wealthy trial attorney and the husband of Fox News talk show host Greta Van Susteren, approached Palin with the improbable plan in February while in Alaska with his wife, who was taping an interview with the former Republican vice presidential nominee.

An outspoken Clinton supporter during the Democratic primary who switched his allegiance to the GOP ticket for the general election, Coale made his case to Palin at the Iron Dog snowmachine competition in Fairbanks, where Todd Palin was competing over Valentine’s Day weekend. His broader aim, say Palin camp insiders, was to help Palin develop a relationship with the former first family that he thought could bolster the polarizing governor’s standing with Democrats and independents.

Wouldn't she have to learn to speak in coherent sentences before, you know, the Clintons could even consider some sort of oddball alliance?

Palin was amenable to getting acquainted with the Clintons but was skeptical of using her PAC to help the former first lady.

She expressed concern to aides about Coale’s request that weekend and a few days later directed Meg Stapleton, an Alaska-based campaign aide, to tell Coale that she would not help retire Clinton’s debt.

Well, gee, gosh, that's not too reachy-outy of ya, doncha know too also moreover and how.

“...[T]he governor believes (and I concur) that using SarahPAC to pay down Hillary’s debt is not a prudent use of the money,” Stapleton wrote to Coale in a Feb. 17 e-mail, a few days after he made his pitch to the governor. “Contributors who chose between heating their homes and sending in a contribution because they believe in Sarah would be crushed.”

[...] Coale continued to raise the prospect of using SarahPAC to help Clinton, who was once public enemy No. 1 among the very Republicans who are Palin’s most ardent followers.

“He thought the Clintons could rein in some of the Democratic firepower aimed at her,” said a dumbfounded Republican privy to the discussion who advocated fiercely against the idea.

A former Clinton aide hadn’t heard of the plan but deemed it “not rooted in anything that would touch on reality.”

In other words, typically Palinesque.

Former President Bill Clinton placed a friendly call to Palin after the election, and Coale sought to use that as an opportunity to play matchmaker. [...]

It may not have mattered. Clinton spokesman Matt McKenna said Coale suggested that the former president and Palin get together, but the former president’s office declined

Some relationships just aren't meant to be.

VIDEO- Liz Cheney- It's Fundamentally Un-American To Threaten To Prosecute The Previous President

Photo: Todd Palin and Greta Van Susteren at the Big Do

By GottaLaff

"Nerd Prom" is Twitter’s endearing little tag for the White House Correspondence Dinner Big Doin's. There are Tweets galore from anyone and everyone who is attending. Somebody TwitPic'd the following photo.

Warning: If the thought of Todd Palin and Greta Van Susteren together turns your stomach, look away now.

GOP, re: Team Palin: "The gang that couldn't shoot straight" Greta Van Susteren is furious

By GottaLaff

My BuzzFlash guru, Mark Karlin, shared this little gem with me, along with that other Bachmann one down thread. He's got a million of 'em, folks. Get ready. It's time for another episode of "Republicans Eating Their Own":

Interviews with Alaska and Washington-based GOP political professionals who are familiar with the Palin operation describe the governor's team as a gang that couldn't shoot straight, a staff whose failure to execute basic political maneuvers too often entangles the governor in awkward and embarrassing situations that could have easily been avoided.

Fox News host Greta van Susteren and her husband, John Coale, came in for particular scrutiny.

Team Grabby McEarmarks? Awkward and embarrassing? No way! I'm shocked. She always seemed so together, so down-to-earth. So One of Us. What could have possibly gone wrong? Just ask ::drama sting:: Faux News' Greta Van Susteren (that links to the original post)-- "one of Palin's key missteps since the election was 'Taking advice from Greta and her husband.'":

On Sunday, Van Susteren responded on her blog, calling the article false and "silly" and calling out Politico reporter Jonathan Martin: "What is even more bizarre is that it is co-authored by Jonathan Martin who has been ON THE RECORD at 10pm and he never even called me to check one fact with me. Here is a picture of Jonathan Martin in case you have forgotten him from his many appearances on our show. ... Fact checking seems to be a lost art."

Greta denied she has ever offered Palin political advice:

Advice from me? huh? I am flattered someone would think people take advice from me but this is fanciful.

For the rest of Greta's extensive rant, go here. It's delightful in its irony. Imagine: A Faux News personality suddenly concerned about fact checking.

Fox's Greta Van Susteren's husband "guiding Palin's political image in Washington"

By GottaLaff

Fair and balanced, as always:

Yesterday, the Washington Post’s Chris Cillizza revealed one of the reasons that Van Susteren may have so much interest in and access to Palin. It turns out that her husband, John Coale, is one of “the figures charged with guiding Palin’s political image in Washington”:

Coale, a well-known Washington lawyer and the husband of Fox News Channel’s Greta Van Susteren, drew national media attention when he endorsed Sen. John McCain’s presidential bid in protest of the way in which Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who he backed in the primary, was treated. Coale, in an interview with the Fix, described himself simply as a “friend” of the Alaska governor but acknowledged that he suggested she start a leadership PAC and helped her navigate through some of the questions surrounding her family that lingered after the campaign. Others familiar with Palin’s political team insist that Coale has far more power than he is letting on — essentially helping to run Sarah PAC. Coale demurred on that front, noting only that he talks to Palin regularly and that she is a “fascinating person” who is “definitely not what the right thinks or the left thinks.”

According to a Nexis search, starting on the day that Sarah Pac was announced, Van Susteren has never disclosed her husband’s behind-the-scenes role on air. Here is how she reported the announcement of Sarah Pac:

VAN SUSTEREN: Does Governor Sarah Palin have her eye on a presidential run in 2012? There’s one more clue tonight. The Alaskan governor has her own political action committee up and running–www.sarahpact.com went up on the web this morning. [...] [Fox News, 1/27/09]

Ironically, just last week, Van Susteren decried people thinking she’s “so close to the Palin family.” “The only way that I’ve met them is by interviewing them,” she said, never mentioning her husband’s relationship to Palin. [...]

On her show last night, Van Susteren dedicated an entire segment to criticizing David Letterman for making a joke about Palin and her family.

What more is there to say? We've all said it all a million times. Fixed Noise = Lying, misleading, secretive, hypocritical, excruciatingly loud propaganda machine.

Overwhelming

By GottaLaff

Sometimes there is so much wankery out there that I become overwhelmed and can't decide which wankitudage to post. Then it comes to me. I link, you decide:

• Jindal Rejects $90 Million In Recovery Funding That Would Have Benefited 25,000 Louisiana Residents

• Fred Kagan: ‘The Iraqis Were Not Bitching’ About Civilian Deaths Because They ‘Sort Of Accept’ Them

• Fleischer: On Iraq, ‘Saddam was the big liar.’

• Phil ‘mental recession’ Gramm attempts to resuscitate his reputation.

• Greta Van Susteren Falsely Claims Obama Has Only Visited States He Won: ‘It Looks Like A Reward’

(All links via Think Progress)

There. Now we can have one big group rant.

Greta snags Bristol

By GottaLaff

For those who are wondering when the wedding might take place, if ever, maybe you'll finally get your answer:

FNC's Greta Van Susteren has been on the Palin family beat both before and after the presidential election, and this weekend she was back in Alaska. On this trip, she talked to Bristol Palin as well, who talks about her new baby, the father, Levi Johnston, and more. It was Palin's first TV interview since the birth. The interviews air tonight on "On the Record" at 10pmET.

I shan't be watching. I never ever watch Fox. I'm sure clips will make their way on to TPC via YouTube. What did we ever do before YouTube?

Pitiful Palin's Big Publicity Blitz... and another ethics complaint

By GottaLaff

Sarah Pallin creates dust-ups faster than Peanuts' grimy little Pigpen. For what it's worth, Pigpen's a better communicator. He's also a lot cleaner than she is... also:

Complaint says she crossed line between job, self-promotion

As Sarah Palin settles back into her job as the state's chief executive, a new ethics complaint filed Tuesday says she's already improperly mixing her official duties and broader political ambitions.

The charge: That Palin broke state ethics rules by holding national television interviews about her run for vice president from the governor's office.

Oh dear. ::stifling giggle:: This just gets better and better. Looky who's involved! Hint: See last sentence in the following:

The complaint comes as Palin's personal life, her prospects as a future presidential candidate and everything she says and does continues to draw headlines.

Zane Henning, a North Slope worker from Wasilla, said he filed the complaint with the attorney general. He says Palin is promoting her future political career on state property, pointing in particular to the governor's Nov. 10 interview with Fox News Channel host Greta Van Susteren.

Nooooo! Not Faux News' very own Greta Van Susterenenenenenen! Heh... Heehee...chuckle... snort... guffaw! Hahahaaaa!!

The Palin camp, besieged by interview requests, said the governor was no longer a candidate at the time of interviews, but otherwise had little to say about the complaint.

Pallin', however, is so gosh-darned ethical that, well, doggone it, she won't be gettin' back to ya on this one:

"The governor will respect that legal requirement for confidentiality, even if others do not."

Signs of things to come: Hogging the spotlight? Really? Sarah?? No way. Say it ain't so, Pallin'!

Barbara Walters wanted to make Palin one of her "10 most fascinating people." Requests from news media, production companies and agents ring non-stop. They want Palin to sit down for interviews. Or to write a book about her life. Or host a talk show.

Ethics schmethics:

On Nov. 10, Palin appeared with Van Susteren on Fox News, sitting in her government office talking about anonymous accusations from within the McCain campaign on Palin's performance on the trail.

In the clip, now online, Van Susteren welcomes viewers, saying they're about to see Sarah Palin at home and at work.

"Governor, it must be fun to be back in your office here in Anchorage," Van Susteren begins.

It's great, Palin says.

"A lot of work to do, so it's good to be back."

Welcome home.