Really, CNN?

I just read this article from CNN on the unveiling of the Republican Obamacare replacement plan. On first reading, I counted nine--NINE!--errors in usage and mechanics. For fun, I'll reproduce below the sentences that contain errors. Can you find the mistakes? Pull out your red pen and have at it. If you find all of them, maybe you can get a job proofreading for CNN. They obviously need the help!

1. It also largely would keep Obamacare's protections of those with pre-existing conditions, but allows insurers to charge higher premiums to those who let their coverage lapse.

2. "President Trump looks forward to working with both Chambers of Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare."

3. The House plan would also retain the so-called Cadillac tax -- which has never gone into affect -- in order to hit the budget targets required under the maneuver used to pass the bill, called budget reconciliation.

4. Still, Republican leaders are committed to moving forward with major tenants of the legislation . . . .

5. The GOP bill also includes a provision to strip all federal funding for Planned Parenthood, which is something Republicans has vowed to do for years citing concerns over the use of taxpayer money for abortion services. (This one has two!)

6. Planned Parenthood has warned that cutting off their funding will have major impact on Medicaid recipients, millions of whom obtain health care services in their clinics. (Okay, I guess I'm being a little picky here. But still.)

7. Rep. Kevin Brady, a Republican from Texas and the House Ways and Means chairman, said in a written statement, "our legislation transfers power from Washington back to the American people. . . ." (Again, picky.)

8. Republican leaders have worked aggressively to forge consensus with their members in listening sessions and meetings behind closed doors in recent weeks, but the divides between conservatives and moderates, and those between moderates and lawmakers from states that expanded Medicaid under Obamacare are not going away.

Another

Another laugh-out-loud comment about the imploding Obama administration, this one from the ever brilliant Victor David Hanson:

"Sending creepy people out to say creepy things does not make sense, when a hit network loves showing Americans how these creepy people say creepy things."

Full article here.

Is a Payoff Coming?

President Obama Open to Newspaper Bailout

HT: Pajamas Media

OBS: The Obama Broadcasting System

So now the President is starting to shut out the White House Press Corps when he feels like it. In its place there is a presidential YouTube station as well as a White House Facebook page, Twitter updates, and who knows what else. The president will say it's all about transparency and access. I say it's all about micro-managing the dissemination of information. Welcome to Obama Nation, or is that Abomination?

Here are a few more thoughts from American Thinker.

Double Standard

Most conservatives would agree that most of our news media exhibit a liberal bias. But more and more I think they have moved beyond a merely liberal bias to a specifically Obama bias. Dick Morris (former Chief of Staff for Bill Clinton, now a political writer and commentator) was on The O'Reilly Factor last night after President Obama's press conference. He pointed out that last night's event was President Obama's third prime time press conference since taking office. He is basically having one per month. Bill Clinton, on the other hand, had only two prime time press conferences during his first term. Dick Morris said that the Clinton administration asked for more--would have liked more--but the networks wouldn't cough them up.

It seems to me that Obama is still in campaign mode and that these press conferences are as much about whipping up popular support and keeping the adulation quotient up as they are about answering questions. Moreso, in fact. I read an article this morning at American Thinker about the importance of Americans' fascination with celebrity to President Obama's popularity. Here's a key quote: "The emergence of Barack Obama marries American popular culture and American politics."

Considering the state of our popular culture in this country, that's a troubling thought indeed.

Yay, Fox!

The Fox network (not to be confused with Fox News) has announced that it will not be pre-empting its regular programming to broadcast the President's 100th Day press conference tomorrow night but will follow its normal schedule (which on that day and time means viewers will get to watch an episode of the series Lie to Me. I'll leave the sarcastic comments to my readers.)

I approve. The press conference will be broadcast on Fox News and a plethora of other stations (including, no doubt, ABC, CBS, and NBC as well as the other major cable news networks). Our president is all about freedom of choice, is he not? There will be plenty of other places to watch the press conference (and the ensuing media love fest). Good for the Fox network for giving viewers an alternative.

And Then There's This

Speaking of fascism, consider this:

"A lawyer involved with legal action against Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) told a House Judiciary subcommittee on March 19 The New York Times had killed a story in October that would have shown a close link between ACORN, Project Vote and the Obama campaign because it would have been a 'a game changer.'” (Source)

And then go read some more about Mussolini at Wikipedia, where you will find observations such as these:

"As dictator of Italy, Mussolini's foremost priority was the subjugation of the minds of the Italian people and the use of propaganda to do so; whether at home or abroad, and here his training as a journalist was invaluable. Press, radio, education, films—all were carefully supervised to create the illusion that fascism was the doctrine of the twentieth century, replacing liberalism and democracy."

"All teachers in schools and universities had to swear an oath to defend the fascist regime. Newspaper editors were all personally chosen by Mussolini and no one who did not possess a certificate of approval from the fascist party could practice journalism. These certificates were issued in secret; Mussolini thus skillfully created the illusion of a 'free press'. The trade unions were also deprived of any independence and were integrated into what was called the "corporative" system. The aim (never completely achieved), inspired by medieval guilds, was to place all Italians in various professional organizations or 'corporations', all of which were under clandestine governmental control."

"Mussolini launched several public construction programs and government initiatives throughout Italy to combat economic setbacks or unemployment levels. . . . He also combated an economic recession by introducing the 'Gold for the Fatherland' initiative, by encouraging the public to voluntarily donate gold jewelery such as necklaces and wedding rings to government officials in exchange for steel wristbands bearing the words 'Gold for the Fatherland.' . . ."

"Mussolini pushed for government control of business: by 1935, Mussolini claimed that three quarters of Italian businesses were under state control. That same year, he issued several edicts to further control the economy, including forcing all banks, businesses, and private citizens to give up all their foreign-issued stocks and bonds to the Bank of Italy. In 1938, he also instituted wage and price controls.[31] He also attempted to turn Italy into a self-sufficient autarky, instituting high barriers on trade with most countries except Germany."

"After the March on Rome that brought Benito Mussolini to power, the Fascists started considering ways to ideologize the Italian society, with an accent on schools. Mussolini assigned former ardito and deputy-secretary for Education Renato Ricci the task of 'reorganizing the youth from a moral and physical point of view'. Ricci sought inspiration with Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting, meeting with him in England, as well as with Bauhaus artists in Germany.The Opera Nazionale Balilla was created through Mussolini's decree of April 3 1926, and was led by Ricci for the following eleven years. It included children between the ages of 8 and 18, grouped as the Balilla and the Avanguardisti."

Okay, I'm done. Time to go back in to denial mode and pretend all of this isn't happening. Heard any good jokes or seen any good movies lately?

Give This Woman a Promotion (and a Raise)

From what I understand, the Obama campaign has said they will no longer grant interviews to this Florida television station--seems the questions asked by their anchorwoman didn't get passed through the MSM filter. I can't help wondering--is the Obama campaign's reaction to this interview a sign of how they will deal with the press if we have an Obama administration? Ask the wrong questions and you get blacklisted?

I bet Joe the plumber could give us some thoughts on that one.

Double Standard

While the mainstream press was careful to keep Americans informed about Barack Obama's recent European trip, they somehow can't find time to tell us about President Bush's arrival in South Korea to a massive pro-Bush and pro-America demonstration. You can read more about it (and see pictures and video) at Gateway Pundit.

Haditha

As a bookend to my recent post on the Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Boumediene, please read this column about the so-called Haditha "massacre" by David Harsanyi of the Washington Post. Seems our Marines are getting exonerated left and right. But is the left wing press reporting it?

Harsanyi writes,

"Now that foreign terrorist suspects have the right to habeas corpus, maybe U.S. Marines will be extended the courtesy of a trial before being smeared as cold-blooded murders."

Click here to continue reading.

Nitpicking

Every once in a while the English teacher in me just has to surface . . . .

All day long today in news reports on Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign funding "troubles" (I use quotation marks because there is some question about whether the whole thing was staged or real), I have repeatedly heard the statement--from news anchors, analysts and Hillary herself--that she had to "loan" her campaign money.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! "Loan" is a noun. "Lend" is a verb. So you take out a loan, you ask for a loan, you apply for a loan, you are turned down for a loan . . . but you lend someone money (or better yet, someone lends it to you). To say that you loaned your campaign money (as Hillary did) is just bad diction.

Sorry--this kind of stuff pains me, and today it was so pervasive that it gave me a bona fide grammar headache. But writing about it is like taking a pill. I feel better now!

Thompson: The (Largely) Untold Story

My state will hold its primary vote on February 5 as part of Super Tuesday. For months now I have been looking at the GOP candidates, trying to settle on one I could enthusiastically embrace. Although that never really happened, I decided last week that the top-tier (and thus viable) candidate that best represented my beliefs was Fred Thompson, and I was pulling for him to stay in the race so that I could give him my vote. But I will admit that Fred never struck me as having the passion for the job that I think Americans want to see, and I worried about his ability to cast a vision and get people behind it. In short, I just wasn't sure if he was up to leading not only the conservative movement but the country.

Now I think the facts, told by Carl Cameron of Fox News (who covered Thompson during the primary campaign), have borne out what my gut was telling me all along. If you are (or were) a Thompson voter, you will want to read this.

Deja Vu

Does anyone--anyone?--remember what our country was going through 10 years ago at this time?

In case you've forgotten, here's a little walk down memory lane.

Do we really want to do this again?

Oh, and here are some thoughts about how the mainstream media covered the whole mess, including this chilling observation about our supposedly free and independent press in this country:

"But in recent decades, we have all been forced into the same news community, and not by choice. Few now live in cities served by more than one daily newspaper, all of which tend to offer the same set of national and international stories. This has happened largely because of the economics of newspapers, the impact of TV news, and the dominance of a network of newspapers that, under the banner of the “Associated Press,” operate as a competition-suppressing cartel. The single set of national stories we now receive are hatched each night in a front-page-coordinating phone call between the New York Times and Washington Post, which is then dutifully copied by other outlets."

HT: Pajamas Media