MSNBC Host: Obama More Conservative Than Reagan

MSNBC’s line-up of intellectual pygmies never ceases to entertain. This time, it’s a host claiming that Obama is actually more conservative than Ronald Reagan. Operating under the influence of extreme liberalism seems to be a growing problem at the network. Newsbusters.org has more.

Urgent – FCC Moves to Regulate the Internet

Please read this crucial information from CNS News. The power grab over the Internet is underway.

(CNSNews.com) – The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) voted on Thursday to begin the formal process of bringing the Internet under greater federal control – a move sought by both President Barack Obama and FCC Chairnman Julius Genachowski–even though federal law calls for an Internet “unfettered by Federal or State regulation.”

This step comes after the federal D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in April rebuked the FCC in its attempt to enforce a controversial regulatory doctrine called Net Neutrality, which would allow the government to prevent private Internet providers from deciding which applications to allow on their networks.

The court said that the FCC did not have the authority to prevent Comcast, specifically, from blocking certain peer-to-peer Web sites.

The FCC is now trying to reclassify the Internet to broaden its authority over the Web. Currently, the FCC only has “ancillary” authority, meaning it can regulate Internet access only in the process of regulating another service that it has direct authority over, such as television or cable. Read the rest of the article here and pass it on to a friend.

Time Praises “Kinder and Gentler” Christianity

Newsbusters reports on Time Magazine’s praise for the new “kinder and gentler Christianity.”

Young evangelicals seem to be cut from a different cloth than their forbearers, and that’s got the secular media praising the Lord.

In “Young Evangelicals: Expanding Their Mission,” Time contributor Amy Sullivan celebrated that the younger generation of evangelical Christians represent a “kinder and gentler” Christianity that defies the “fire-and-brimestone conservatism” associated with the older generation of evangelicals.

Sullivan reported that the applications to secular organizations like Teach for America have tripled among Christian universities, a much faster increase than from secular universities. “Internal surveys showed that more than half of incoming corps members said they were motivated by their faith to join Teach for America,” Sullivan pointed out.

But Sullivan’s piece on Teach for America turned into a critique of traditional evangelical leaders. See the rest at Newsbusters.

*Update* Dean of White House Press Corps: “Jews Should Get the H*** Out of Palestine”

Helen Thomas, “dean” of the White House Press Corps had a memorable quote recently. Jews, she said, should get the h*** out of Palestine. Here’s the video. See this malignant presence from the American media spew her anti-semitism in this video. But don’t expect her to lose her seat at the press corps over this.

*Update* The White House Correspondents Associating is reportedly weighing punishment for Ms. Thomas, her speech at a high school has been canceled and her former co-author refuses to work with her again.

New Bill Would Grant DHS Emergency Cyber Take-Over Rights

A new bill from Joe Lieberman would give the Department of Homeland Security “emergency cyber powers”, according to Wired.com.

Joe Lieberman wants to give the federal government the power to take over civilian networks’ security, if there’s an “imminent cyber threat.” It’s part of a draft bill, co-sponsored by Senators Lieberman and Susan Collins, that provides the Department of Homeland Security broad authority to ensure that “critical infrastructure” stays up and running in the face of a looming hack attack.

The government’s role in protecting private firms’ networks is one of the most contentious topics in information security today. Several bills are circulating on Capitol Hill on how to keep power and transportation and financial firms running in the event of a so-called “cybersecurity emergency.” Read the story from Wired.com.

CBS Finally Notes Terrorist Ties to Flotilla

Newsbusters reports:

After initially lagging behind the other networks in even mentioning the Gaza-bound flotilla’s connections to terrorist groups, on Wednesday CBS finally noted the existence of such ties, and on the same day NBC caught up with CBS in highlighting calls for Israel to end its blockade. Without directly relaying to viewers that the Israelis already allow tons of aid into Gaza on a regular basis, NBC’s Andrea Mitchell began her report: “Tonight there is worldwide pressure on Israel to end its three-year blockade of Gaza, except for the United States. The White House is simply telling Israel it must guarantee better deliveries of aid.” Read more.

Michigan Lawmaker Proposes Law to License Journalists

If you can’t control the press as you desire, you can always demand that they be licensed by the state. Unfortunately, this is not satire. A lawmaker in Michigan, Bruce Patterson, says journalists should be checked out and approved by the state. Even more outrageous, he thinks the state should decide if journalists are of “good moral character.” What, pray tell, would be considered “good moral character” in an age of legal child murder-51 million dead babies and counting, gay marriage and a multi-billion legal porn industry?

By Mr. Patterson’s required qualifications for “journalists”, including a journalism degree, the late Peter Jennings would never have qualified. This bill sounds like great kindling for Memorial Day barbecue grills. Print a copy off online, toss it in there with the charcoal and celebrate the freedoms our men and women have died for, including the freedom of the press. Read the story here at Foxnews.

NRB’s Craig Parshall: Government Should Not Control American Media

Washington, D.C., May 20– This morning, Craig Parshall, Sr. Vice President and General Counsel for NRB, addressed a Progress & Freedom Foundation event and answered the question: “Can Government Help Save the Press?” Parshall focused on the role the government should – and should not – play in media institutions, saying, “I see grave constitutional problems with the federal government presuming that it can, or should help a flagging media industry.”

Dr. Frank Wright, President & CEO of NRB, has consistently stressed the importance of this issue. “Having met with FCC officials on this matter, I would not call into question the rectitude of their intentions. But it seems to me that the words ‘excessive entanglement’ do not begin to describe the danger of allowing the government to set standards for and provide funding to the very people tasked with holding that same government accountable.”

NRB has been a strong voice providing solutions that support free market principles and aid a free press. “The best thing the government can do, particularly regarding non-commercial broadcasters, is to un-strap them from the yoke of unreasonable or illogical regulations that impact their ability to raise revenue, and to serve the public interest,” said Parshall during his remarks this morning. “As for commercial broadcasters, the FCC should refrain from additional regulations, like localism, or expansion of the ‘public interest’ obligation, that intrudes into the content of broadcasters.”

“The Founders envisioned a horizontal relationship between the press and the people – the media being among the people, responsive to them in the pragmatic economic sense, and being on the same plane as them in terms of being privately owned and operated,” continued Parshall. “But the idea of creating a form of super-funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as a means of insuring adequate coverage of news and information would be anathema to our Founding Fathers. At best, it smacks of a vertical relationship with the public, where one special form of press is viewed as an adjunct of the government. And at worst, it gives the specter of a 21st century version of Pravda.”

Adam Thierer, President of The Progress & Freedom Foundation, moderated this morning’s discussion. In addition to Parshall, other participants included: Ellen P. Goodman, Distinguished Visiting Scholar for the FCC Future of Media Project; Charlie Firestone, Executive Director, Aspen Institute Communications and Society Program; Kurt Wimmer, Partner, Covington & Burling; Andrew Jay Schwartzman, Sr. Vice President and Policy Director, Media Access Project; and Robert Corn-Revere, Partner, Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.

About NRB

The National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) is a non-partisan, international association of Christian communicators whose member organizations represent millions of listeners, viewers, and readers. Our mission is to keep the doors of electronic media open for the spread of the Gospel. In addition to promoting standards of excellence, integrity, and accountability, NRB provides networking, educational, ministry, and fellowship opportunities for its members. Learn more at www.nrb.org.

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AIM: Washington Post Sells Access to Policy Makers for Profit

Accuracy in Media reports the following disturbing news:

Obama Official and Post Journalist Headline $175 a Seat Event

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2010―At the Washington Post annual meeting on May 13, AIM editor Cliff Kincaid intends to question company brass about a new $175 a seat scheme to sell access to federal and state policy makers and Post journalists. The paper previously came under fire for considering the sale of seats to an exclusive off-the-record dinner at the home of Post publisher Katharine Weymouth that would have gone for as much as $250,000 each. “The price has changed, the principle has not,” said Kincaid. “The Post is still selling access.”

Kincaid said that tickets to a Washington Post Live discussion, “The Business of the Beltway,” being held on May 18 at Tysons Corner, Virginia, are $175 each. The fee gets you access to an event featuring White House economist Austan Goolsbee, Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell, and Pulitzer-prize winning Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein. The event, also advertised as being “attended by Publisher Katharine Weymouth and Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli,” is sponsored by Bank of America, Verizon Wireless, and other companies.

It is not clear how much money these companies are paying to sponsor this official Washington Post event.

The Post says that the audience will consist of “the region’s most influential business leaders and CEOs” and acknowledges on a company web site that the events “are intended to generate revenue as well.” This is a “worthwhile extension of our journalism,” the paper insists.

An advertisement for the event that appears on page A15 of the Wednesday, May 12, print edition of the Post, invites people to watch and listen online but says nothing about the price of $175 that is required to attend in person (if you are important enough to be invited). The logos of the company sponsors are at the bottom of the ad.

The $175 includes a subscription to a new Post publication called Capital Business, described as the “insiders’ guide” to the Washington business community.

“It looks like you have to be an insider to attend,” noted Kincaid, “and that category most likely includes lobbyists, association executives and other high rollers. This event is not journalism in any way. It is selling access to the Post and politicians for a profit.”

“I understand that the Post is facing financial problems,” Kincaid added, “but isn’t this a questionable way to make money – by using Post personnel as bait to lure in the big names and the big money?”

Kincaid is urging regular Post subscribers to show up at the Tysons Corner event and try to get in for free. “That is,” said Kincaid, “if we can find out where the ‘high-profile’ event will actually be. The precise location has not been disclosed in any official announcements of the event. It is apparently known only to the insiders.”

Accuracy in Media is a citizens’ media watchdog organization whose mission is to promote fairness, balance, and accuracy in news reporting. Founded in 1969, AIM is the oldest non-profit press watchdog group in America. For more information, please visit www.aim.org.

Leftist Media Ooze with Love for Supreme Court Nominee

Newsbusters reports on the media’s response to the latest Supreme Court nominee from Barack Obama:

In quite a contrast to the immediate tagging of the Bush and Obama Supreme Court nominees as “conservative” (and that includes Sonya Sotomayor), on Monday night ABC and NBC refrained from applying any ideological description to Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan while CBS snuck in one. CBS’s Jan Crawford declared “her career has put her solidly on the left,” but contended “she will have significant conservative support among academics and lawyers” and warned “that support alarms some liberals.” Read the story here.