CNN Fails to Stop Fall in Ratings

By GottaLaff

Let's see now... CNN gets desperate and hires Erick Erickson. If you don't know who that is, here is a reminder from a previous post:

That was then.

This is now:

Health Care Suicide Bombers — Open Thread

Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)

Saturday, March 13th at 7:34PM EST

33 Comments

Precisely.

Some things never change.

Yes, that's who CNN hired to prop up their sagging ratings.

They might want to rethink their strategy:

CNN continued what has become a precipitous decline in ratings for its prime-time programs in the first quarter of 2010, with its main hosts losing almost half their viewers in a year. [...]

[Larry] King, whose show has been regularly eclipsed by Rachel Maddow’s on MSNBC (and is almost quadrupled by Sean Hannity’s show on Fox), is now threatened by a new host, Joy Behar on HLN (formerly Headline News.)

If by inviting RedState to the family, they're trying to compete with Fox, that won't end well either:

At the same time, Fox News, which had its biggest year in 2009, continues to add viewers. Greta Van Susteren’s show was up 25 percent from a year earlier. Bill O’Reilly, whose show commands the biggest audience in prime time with 3.65 million viewers, was up 28 percent, and Glenn Beck was up 50 percent from a year earlier.

Maybe if hotels, restaurants, etc. would carry MSNBC, we might see some real competition.

Sorry state of affairs all around.

Vintage 1969- RedState's/CNN's Erick Erickson: "Ted Kennedy plots our deaths..."

By GottaLaff

My pal Cube, who writes for the inimitable and always entertaining National Lampoon, has graciously given me permission to cross post a little something he put up earlier.

And what a something it is:

That was then.

This is now:

Health Care Suicide Bombers — Open Thread

Posted by Erick Erickson (Profile)

Saturday, March 13th at 7:34PM EST

33 Comments

Precisely.

Some things never change.

Congratulations, CNN, for hiring this very same Erick Erickson as a contributor.

RedState's Erick Erickson joins CNN: TWPNTOTV!!!*

By GottaLaff

When CNN had its old Sunday line-up, I used to post a regular feature that mocked them just as regularly.

They call themselves "The Best Political Team on Television." I referred to them as TBPNTOTV!!!... with three exclamation points to emphasize their emphasis on emphasizing their over-emphasized self-importance and self-congratulatory smugness.

I also tried to expose their not-exactly-fair-and-balanced approach.

And I used lots of snarky !!!!!!!!!!!!! Lots.

Just when I thought they couldn't get any worse:

Prominent conservative commentator and RedState.com editor Erick Erickson will join CNN as a political contributor, appearing primarily on CNN's new show John King, USA¸ the network announced Tuesday. [...]

"Joining CNN is like coming home, and being in Atlanta makes the decision right for me and my family," Erickson said in a statement.

Erick the Red feels as if he's "coming home" to CNN. That pretty much says it all.

Under Erickson's leadership, RedState.com has become the preeminent right of center community online. [...]

"Erick's a perfect fit for John King, USA, because not only is he an agenda-setter whose words are closely watched in Washington, but as a person who still lives in small-town America, Erick is in touch with the very people John hopes to reach," said Sam Feist, CNN political director and vice president of Washington-based programming.

So he's "in touch". That's the definition of "in touch": Erick the Red Erickson. That's how CNN's political director feels, that Erick is the "in touch" go-to guy.

Erick.

RedState.

Erickson.

Sam Feist, you are woefully out of touch.

And CNN has now hit bottom. Officially. Out of touch, out of mind.

CNN: TWPNTOTV!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*



*The WORST Political News Team on Television, with unlimited exclamation points.

UPDATE: Joeyess reminds me of a post I did back in 2009. Here's a sample:

And this is the unit insignia of the RedState Army's Strike Force:

Like many chickenhawks who struggle with what it means to be a man in the modern era, Erickson and the "soldiers" in his budding "Strike Force" have again tried to imitate serving in the military without actually having to don a uniform, pick up a weapon, or sacrifice much of anything at all.

Could that be any more embarrassing? Or offensive? Or childish? Or presumptuous?

And here's a photo that should have been included, of a typical soldier:


There. Now you're all updated.

RedState: "GOP Does Not Want A Black Man In The Senate"

By GottaLaff

Oh suh-nap! When the editor-in-chief of the big ol' right-wing website RedState-- even if he's being "sarcastic" (as he claims)-- comes out with a tirade like this, yikes.

Talk about the far white:

It is starting to get really disgusting.

First, the GOP said it needed diversity and chose the orange Charlie Crist over the Latino, Marco Rubio.

Then the GOP said it needed to do better outreach in the black community, so it ignored Michael Williams in Texas and tried to find a rich white guy to run for the Senate.

Now that Kay Bailey Hutchison has lost the Texas primary to Rick Perry without even making it into a runoff, the Washington, D.C. Republicans are scared to death a black man might actually get appointed to the Senate as a Republican. [...]

The fact remains that the GOP preaches diversity all the time and when presented with an attractive Latino and black candidate, they pass on both because they are too conservative.

Erick Erickson is calling the GOP too conservative.

RedState trying to jam Coakley phone banks

By GottaLaff

UPDATE: Republicans were prosecuted for doing this in 2002. (thanks for tweeting me the link, Bob Cesca)

The antics never end, do they? First Brown files a criminal complaint against the Massachusetts Democrats, then a video surfaces of Brown implying that Obama was born out of wedlock, and now this:

Erick Erickson has posted the addresses of Coakley phone banks at redstate.com. [...]

the comments make various suggestions to show up and disrupt the phone banks. A couple of examples:

Jot down there callback number… put it on autodial…
Reminisce about “the good old days”…
Ask about their grandkids and family and ask if they’re voting for coakley… are any of them in the military? Why not? What’s wrong with that…
when they eventually hang up start calling them back on autodial to talk…

Anyone have access to any robocall setups?
just a thought… Off to conventionland again in AM… Good luck up North next Tuesday-don’t forget to be ready to call shenanigans etc...

and

Post callers numbers so we all can call them back. We can tie them up more!

Please read the whole thing over at Kos.

As I said in my last post, and at the risk of sounding redundant, classy stuff. The question is, what is the Coakley campaign going to do about it?

RedState commenter: "Killing Tiller was the right thing to do."

By GottaLaff


These are the people who are offended by the phrase "clinging to their guns". These are the people who cherish the blastocysts, but not the child. These are the people who say things like the following, when an innocent man is murdered in cold blood. Here are some examples of their twisted, perverted logic:

I can’t help but to follow the logic. “Doctor” Tiller is committing late-term abortions, which by any sane person’s calculation is infanticide. This is murder. Through perversion of the law, this is permitted, despite it flying the face of the history of civilization. This has been tolerated for two decades, and nothing has happened to stop the killing. He would have continued to commit this crime.

I can’t escape the conclusion that killing Tiller was the right thing to do. I am uncomfortable with this conclusion because it’s dangerous. But nevertheless, it was the ethical thing to do. Tiller would have continued to take numerous lives. Nothing was going to stop him. So someone did stop him. And now fewer lives will be taken.

We celebrate the breaking the laws every time the media canonizes Rosa Parks. She broke the law. There is no question of that. The question is whether it was the ethical thing to do (it was.) We celebrate the Nazi resistance, we celebrate the Tiananmen Square uprising. I’m sure those were all illegal actions, yet were unquestionably the moral things to do. So how would killing a killer, when all options are exhausted, not also be the right thing to do?

You have to wonder if the reason why we have a legal system is in order to steal the oxygen from moral vigilantism. You have to wonder if the legal system breaks down whether vigilantism, when all other options fail, becomes a moral imperative.

Another Commenter:

I really dont care if it gets used against us.

Do we dismiss what this guy was doing because someone took the law in their own hands? Granted, we shouldnt take the law into our own hands. But if the left is going to paint a picture, then Id like to take the opportunity to paint the picture right back on late-term abortions.

IMHO, Denouncing does no good alone. The left doesn’t play fair.

And finally:

This is one idiot who should get the death penalty and it will be “proof” that all pro-life people are haters and killers, whereas for example dozens if not hundreds of ACORN vote cheaters are called isolated incidents not indicative of the good things the organization does.

Yeah, comparing this killer to ACORN is logical.

H/t: Gregg Mitchell

Red State: Jesus Would Have Approved Waterboarding

By GottaLaff

Red State sure has that whole compassion thing going for them, don't they? :

More pearls of wisdom from that bastion of politicized Christianist exceptionalism:

It’s likely even Jesus would have OK’d water boarding if it would have saved his Mom. He would’ve done the same to save his Dad, or any one of His disciples. For that matter, He even died to save all humans.

It’s obvious He would not be happy with those who voted for the candidate who kills because it’s above his “pay grade” to know if they’re alive. Checking the Commandments, killing innocents is against the 5th. Because pro-aborts don’t know for sure life does not exist at conception, they are still willing to risk that it’s not killing.

(h/t John Cole)

There's that tortured logic again (pun intended). Does convolution come naturally to these people, or is it learned? And if it is learned, how does one go about studying it? In books? Home schooling? In the Church of Our Lady of Sick and Twisted Rushpublics?

So, Jesus wouldn't be cool with killing babies in the womb but he'd be fine with torturing people? Yep, nothing says "Christ's love" like strapping a guy to a bench and drowning him to extract information.

Amen.

RedState's Big Silly Putty campaign against Kent Williams

By GottaLaff

Compare the sentiments that continue to fester at RedState to those of today's events that have been posted down thread. Which do you think America is more apt to embrace:

RedState.com to [Joeyess]
show details Jan 14 (2 days ago)

Alerts@redstate.com

joe:

We've had several missions for the RedState Army of Activists. You probably haven't noticed as we've primarily directed them to individual states.

This should be one for an individual state, but we need to take this nationwide and make it a national rebuke.

Meet Kent Williams. He is allegedly a Republican in Tennessee. The GOP took the State House in Tennessee and rallied to one of their own to be Speaker.

Williams had other plans. He made a deal with the Democrats, betrayed the Republicans, and got himself elected Speaker. He then put a Democrat in the number two spot.

On opening day of the legislature the outgoing Democrat Speaker of the House stood behind Williams whispering directions in his ears.

It's clear he's a weak mind and will be putty in the hands of the Democrats.

Here's the assignment:

Kent Williams' address is 126 S. Main Street, Elizabethton, TN 37643.

Go here and send Kent Williams some silly putty. Let's put in his hands a pretty accurate representation of what he is.

http://astore.amazon.com/reds0b-20?%5Fencoding=UTF8&node=9

Sincerely yours,

Erick Erickson
Editor, RedState.com

I'm pretty sure RedStaters already have enough Silly Putty on hand, since kneading flesh-toned goop is most likely one of their more common and challenging pasttimes... that and Sit 'n' Spin for their more advanced members.

What an effective ploy, sending along eggs and eggs-worth of putty, especially the silly kind (how apt) to the Tennessee Speaker, a "bad" Republican (original post here). Apparently, he's not a silly enough Republican.

How could this brilliant idea fail? It's inspired! I'm sure minds will be changed, Williams will see the light, and once again, all will be well in RedStateLand.

This is typical of how Bush followers problem solve.

Maybe we should deluge them with Crazy Glue. It might help seal their mouths, since they've already sealed their fates. And hey, they can relate easily to the product name.

H/t: Joeyess for sharing this e-mail in Comments.

Conservatives boycott Fox

By GottaLaff

"This thread would do really well at Daily Koz. They think this is a great idea. They even have the artwork ready…" Yes, that’s [Mark's] artwork posted by a Freeper.

Via our pal Mark at News Corpse, we find that Bloggers at Free Republic (aka Freepers) are leaving comments, and what comments they are! They're mad and they're not gonna take it any more. Wardrobe Barbie has been betrayed, and the Freepies are standin' up for their gal!

The treatment of Sarah Palin by Fox reporter Carl Cameron and others has incensed them to the point where they are vowing never to watch again. [...]

• I propose that we punish the FOX Network for its hatchet job on Sarah Palin. For one week beginning at 3:00 PM today no one tunes them in. We will demonstrate the power of conservatives when their ratings plummet dramatically. Will you join me? [FYI: their boycott will have no affect whatsoever on the ratings unless a significant number of them are Nielsen families]
• I’m done with Teevee. Let them all go to hell.
• I am with you all the way my friend…i hope FOX goes off the air…hate em now…
• It would be easy. Nearly every show on FNC is unwatchable these days. ….for quite a while, in fact.
• fauxNEWS - We Distort, You Comply
• too late………I wrote them off months ago
• GO TO EVERY RIGHTWING BLOG AND TELL THEM TO TURN OFF FOX.
• Tell him he’s no better than the “smear merchants” and “bombthrowers” he holds in such contempt. Allowing Carl Cameron to spew unmitigated hearsay and garbage without one shred of supporting evidence or fact makes O’Reilly just as bad as the supermarket tabloids.
• Life without FOX is good.
• It’s not a secret that 81% of Fox News reporters and employees donate money to the Democratic party - that’s a crazy high number for an allegedly conservative TV channel. It’s no secret to the gay community that Shepard Smith is “one” of them.
• FOX now SUX bigtime!
• Screw them too. I have watched very little since their recent maniacal swerve left.
• If FOX wants me back they will bring on Glenn Beck and Rush. I have had it with weasels like Hannity and O’Reilly.[Beck is on the way]

And looky here, kiddies! The Freepers have company!

The folks at RedState are weighing in as well with Operation Leper:

We’re tracking down all the people from the McCain campaign now whispering smears against Governor Palin to Carl Cameron and others [...] We intend to constantly remind the base about these people, monitor who they are working for, and, when 2012 rolls around, see which candidates hire them. Naturally then, you’ll see us go to war against those candidates.

This may become a new Democratic spectator sport. Maybe we should build a coliseum.

RedState Co-Founder Can't Bring Himself To Vote for Gramm-pa McCain

By GottaLaff

This has got hardy-har-har written all over it:

RedState co-founder Joshua Trevino writes on his blog that he can't bring himself to vote for the Republican ticket:

In the end, I couldn't do it. My California ballot arrived in the mail today, and I opened it fully intending to vote for John McCain. I filled out the state propositions first -- yes on 8, no on everything proposing a new bond or new spending -- then the local offices, straight Republican excepting Kevin Johnson for (nonpartisan) Sacramento mayor. Finally, the vote for President of the United States: an academic exercise in California, where Barack Obama will surely win by a crushing margin. But good citizenship demands voting as if it matters. Do I believe in John McCain? Not as much as I used to. Do I believe in Sarah Palin? Despite my early enthusiasm for her, now not at all. Do I believe in the national Republican Party? Not in the slightest -- even though I see no meaningful alternative to it. So, my choice for President in 2008, scrawled in my ballot as an act of futile protest, is Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. If nothing else, I am confident this is the first of several votes I will cast for him in years to come.

His vote won't matter here in California where Obama will win, as he pointed out, but it's dee-lish anyway.