In the flurry of news this week, you may have missed another body tossed under the insatiable Obama bus: Internet Czar Susan Crawford.

The Obama administration has faced a vocal and growing opposition to the radical so-called net neutrality advocated by folks like Crawford and FCC Chair Julius Genachowski. Bi-partisan opposition, I hasten to add. The radicals in the administration, whose views are shared by the President, in true czar fashion avoid honest debate on the issue at all costs. Even, it would seem, internally.

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As Moe foreshadowed on Tuesday, SENATOR Barbara Boxer decided to make an end-run around Republicans on the Senate Enviromental and Public Works Comittee by voting on cap-and-trade legislation with no republicans present. The Briefing room reports today on the SENATOR’s rule-breaking:

Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) today on Fox News said that committee rules dictate that at least two members of the minority must be present when meeting. Boxer held a vote on the legislation, which passed 10-1, but no Republicans were present for the vote.

Republican members of the committee have been boycotting the hearings all week because the legislation has not yet been scored by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“That was unprecendented, I think the bill is dead,” Inhofe told Fox.

Inhofe points out that SENATOR Boxer rammed this through despite objections from 6 ranking members of other committees. As Moe noted, there is virtually no chance Boxer’s bill will survive now. SENATOR Boxer may have torpedoed her own bill, so great was her lust to quash debate and mow over any republican objection, in keeping with this Congress’ current SOP.

All of which is pretty funny to have in the press day after the SENATOR’s office released the following statement on her website:

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USA Today this week ran a shocking story which revealed just how easy it was to buy one’s way into cherry appointments, reporting that 40% of his top bundlers have been awarded administration posts. Moe Lane highlights all the other perks and benefits being showered on “the money” as well.

Today Big Government highlights something worth reiterating.

USA Today goes on to report that one top-level fundraiser apparently awarded with a plum job is Federal Communications Commission Chairman Julius Genachowski.

The paper reports that Genachowski raised more than $500,000 for Obama—which critics charge may have helped him “buy” a position that now puts him at the center of one of Washington’s most heated policy debates, namely that regarding net neutrality.

Genachowski, a strong proponent of the policy and a darling of far left groups like Save The Internet, has recently garnered criticism for what some see as an effort to ram net neutrality through with little to no debate. The proposed policy has recently become the focus of criticism and concern from everyone from internet service providers to groups typically regarded as Obama administration-friendly, such as the Asian American Justice Center, National Council of La Raza, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the National Urban League. 72 House Democrats and three Democratic Governors have also raised concerns about the proposed policy.

And Genachowski isn’t the only net neutrality proponent buying in.

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Over the last few days there has been an explosion of stories regarding a Fox News report that claimed Fox was, initially, deliberately snubbed by the Treasury Department. Only after other networks in the press pool objected to the exclusion was Fox added to the list of participants, with Major Garrett eventually conducting the interview in question. From Fox:

The Obama administration on Thursday failed in its attempt to exclude Fox News from participating in an interview of an administration official, as Republicans on Capitol Hill stepped up their criticism of the hardball tactics employed by the White House.

Pushback on the story was immediate. The contrary narrative was that in no way was Fox ever deliberately excluded from anything, and by no means did the “real” networks ever defend Fox. From Talking Points Memo:

The network pool crew noticed Fox wasn’t on the list, was told that they hadn’t asked and the crew said they needed to be included. Treasury called the White House and asked top Obama adviser Anita Dunn. Dunn said yes and Fox’s Major Garrett was among the correspondents to interview Feinberg last night.

The story included a statement from the Treasury department that said there was “no plot to exclude Fox News, and they had the same interview that their competitors did. Much ado about absolutely nothing.”

After Talking Points Memo and other outlets began to question the details of Fox News’ initial report, the online left in blogs and on Twitter seized on this as an example of dishonesty on the part of Fox. Salon.com editor Joan Walsh went so far as to refer to it as a “hoax” on her twitter feed, a sentiment in common with some at DailyKos. Washington Monthly’s Political Animal blog declared “Fox News surely knows that this ‘controversy’ is not what it appears to be, but the network pushed it anyway, hoping to score some cheap points and desperate to position itself as a victim.”

The most popular quote, though, was from White House spokesman Josh Earnest, who told TPM that “this White House has demonstrated our willingness to exclude Fox News from newsmaking interviews, but yesterday we did not.”

“Simple as that,” said Talking Points Memo. Only it turns out, not quite.

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Earlier this year I outlined the phases of the evolution of the Obama “message.” Here they are again, with another update.

Throughout the campaign and on into January of this year:

February’s phase II:

March and April “World Apology Tour” theme:

.

So now we come to the latest stage in the evolution …

October’s “Fox isn’t news” love us or else media assault:

.

Consider this an OPEN THREAD.

Last night on Countdown, Keith Olbermann covered the WCPAC confrontation between John Ziegler and David Keene. Amid the obligatory and well-worn “chuckling about the end of conservatives as we know them” routine Keith likes to trot out 9 or 10 times per episode, he suggests that perhaps Ziegler is just “defending his own crush.” You get that? See Palin is a woman. So people who support must want to bed her. If you think that is an unusual or out of character point of view for Keith, well … think again.

Mediaite’s Tommy Christopher asked Ziegler for a comment on the segment. His response is priceless. Well, not exactly “priceless” … here’s an excerpt (emphasis added):

This may shock people, but my defense of her is not even politically based. It is motivated purely by the level of unfairness of the coverage of her. I honestly believe that I would have reacted the same way if she were ugly and a Democrat (not that it would have ever happened to her if that was the case), but I can understand why Olbermann couldn’t possibly understand such principled consistency or being motivated by something other than one’s own self interest and/or what they feel in their pants.

I will make this offer to Olbermann. If he has me on the show to debate Palin-related issues, live, for a full hour, I will pay his favorite charity $100,000, which is more than any profit I am ever likely to make from my film “Media Malpractice.” This offer is 100% real.

Will Keith man up? Doubtful. But I’ll tell you one thing if he does, I’m cooking popcorn, setting the DVR, and wearing my three-wolf moon shirt because THAT, sir, is what you call must-see TV.

There has been no small amount of buzz on the right the last few days in the wake of Western CPAC. There were two dramas this weekend, one decidedly more dramatic than the other, which are both symptomatic of some deep problems with the conference and, generally, with the state of activism on the right.

The less dramatic of the two involved my friend Ed Morrissey of Hot Air. While participating in a “New Media” panel, Ed was ambushed by another panel member who accused him of “rudeness” for disagreeing with an earlier presentation in an article published at Hot Air. More bizarrely, the “New Media’ panel member proceeded to belittle the importance of new media, urging people to “pick up the phone.” It is certainly worth noting that the panel member, Christopher Carmouche, is in the fax blasting business. Yes. Really. A number of bloggers and attendees speculate that Carmouche “donated” his way onto the panel.

Which is a pretty good segue to the much bigger drama to come out of this weekend: Ziegler vs. Keene.

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RRRAAAACCCCIIIIISSSSSSTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That’s what the MSM had to say in comments about Rush Limbaugh’s recent bid to purchase the St. Louis Rams. According to some guy I overheard at the mall, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs suggested that Limbaugh owning the Rams “is exactly the same as slavery, but fatter.” And then there’s what Helen Thomas probably said, “Rush to what window? With a ram? Where’s my sweater?”

So in honor of the controversy, I’ve compiled a top ten list of some completely ridiculous but totally true and not fake quotes of famous people who are not (or so they claim) Rush Limbaugh. These are, like, so teh true. For really real. Really. No … really.

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This is an open thread so you can talk about anything. And if you can’t think of anything, well … I’ll give you a topic: Obama was denied the Olympics, then he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Each is hilarious and terrible in different ways. Discuss.

Bring the funny, but keep it clean (cough speciallist cough). If you choose to post an image or photo, please properly attribute the source. I created the thread header.

OPEN THREAD

Over the course of the last year, the Obama administration has taken on an increasingly hostile tone towards critical press. During the campaign, of necessity, it was more muted (although not nonexistent, as conservative reporters discovered).

Since the inauguration, however, the practice has become more frequent and more sophisticated. Time reports that the White House has decided they are going to be a “player” in how the press is won.

So a new White House strategy has emerged: rather than just giving reporters ammunition to “fact-check” Obama’s many critics, the White House decided it would become a player, issuing biting attacks on those pundits, politicians and outlets that make what the White House believes to be misleading or simply false claims, like the assertion that health-care reform would establish new “sex clinics” in schools. Obama, fresh from his vacation on Martha’s Vineyard, cheered on the effort, telling his aides he wanted to “call ‘em out.”

Time calls it a “take no prisoners” stance; a war. And this war has a general: Anita Dunn. Dunn is the White House communications director and a longtime Obama advisor. She’s been a heavy-weight Democrat strategist since the 80s.

As with the citizen reporting system and many other such initiatives, censorship 2.0 is strongly internet focused. Mediaite characterizes Dunn’s new role as being the White House’s “own Glenn Beck.” She is aggressive, and is the brains behind using the White House blog as a vehicle for attacking Fox News. Dunn has crafted this adversarial pose, and stands by it. Something which would certainly disappoint a formerly vocal critic of such tactics: Anita Dunn.

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The House voted today to block a resolution to remove Charlie Rangel from his chair on the Ways and Means committee. With 6 complicit Republicans, House Democrats prevented both a vote and any further debate by sending it to die in committee. The resolution, brought by Rep. John Carter (R-TX), essentially vanishes now, because, as Rep. Carter pointed out via parliamentary inquiry, the committee has no obligation to consider or debate it any further. The full text is below the fold and I’ll update with video when I can.

The roll call is here. The guilty Republicans are: Walter B. Jones (NC), Peter King (NY), Tim Murphy (PA), Don Young (AK), Dana Rohrabacher (CA), and Ron Paul (TX), with King, Rohrabacher and Young having also voted yea to end debate and hold the referral vote. (If I understood the procedure correctly.)

UPDATE
Some clarification on why there were two votes, and why the totals were different, from Rep. Carter’s office:

“The first vote eliminated any chance for debating the resolution, and the second vote was to refer it to the ethics committee. So it could be said that three people wanted to hear the debate but then they voted to refer it to the ethics committee.”

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Consider this an open thread. (Oh, and if you aren’t familiar with the genre, here you go.)

Update: See also here.

I love these little now and then moments, don’t you?

HuffPo Now:

Protesters have taken to the streets of Pittsburgh in opposition to the Group of 20 summit taking place Thursday and Friday. The protests have turned violent, the AP reports, with demonstrators rolling trash bins towards police, and officers firing tear gas back. Read more here.

Check out this slideshow of protesters and vote on your favorite protest tactic. Any creative ones that stand out to you, or have you seen these all before?

And are you going to any G-20 protests? Send us your photos! We will publish the best ones of the HuffPost.

Dude, the anti-capitalism party is turning violent. Teh awesome. Vote your fav!

I guess it’s like Spring Break, but with more marijuana and less coherence. Also they replaced the wet t-shirt contest with a waterboarding demonstration. Plus, I hear for a few beads the gals will show their … ignorance of global markets. Man, I can’t wait for the “Greenpeace Gone Wild” videos. Wait. On second thought … yes I can.

Anyway, that’s the now. Let’s look at the then, eh?

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Last week I flew to Oakland, California. I’ve been to Cali before, but never that far north. In Oakland, I met up with the American Liberty Tour, which consisted of two RVs, ten people, and one message, diffuse though it may be.

As we headed north to Sacramento, my first tour stop, I saw the Golden Gate Bridge away in the misty distance. One more great American symbol for my list. A small thing, but a good start.

In Sacramento, we listened to Chuck DeVore speak to a townhall meeting. If you are like me, you never dare to hope the Boxer’s or Pelosi’s of the world could see ballot box defeat … the disappointment would be too crushing. Let me tell you something: go listen to DeVore for ten minutes and you’ll believe. This is a man who can unseat Boxer. He just needs your help. Campaigns take money, time, and effort. As activists, that’s our job.

This is how the tour began for me, and this is how the idea of it really coalesced in my mind. What are we doing here? Some have asked, some have answered. But I think I’ve got a pretty good handle on it.

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This year has seen a surge in conservative activism like I’ve never seen in my adult life. Many of you here at Redstate have been a part of that. We’ve been to tea parties. We’ve donated money to candidates and to causes. We’ve spoken up at the town hall meetings. We gathered in Atlanta. We emailed and called capitol hill. We acted.

Next week, for many people, the activity, the protests, and the activism will reach a peak. The President is speaking to schools, and the people are speaking back. We’ll be keeping our children home. We’ll be marching on Washington. And we’ll be rallying around the country throughout the week.

I plan to be a part of the activism next week. I’ll be at one of the biggest planned rallies outside DC, in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ll follow the march, meeting fellow activist conservatives and, most importantly, participate in training and discussion about what’s next for conservatives who want to be active in our movement. Please read on …

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Keep ‘em home.
That should be the motto of every conservative with children in public school on the 8th of this month. That’s the day the President will be invading every classroom that will have him with what is being billed as a general, innocuous “stay in school, do your homework” message for public school students across the country. And if there’s one thing we have all learned, it’s that we can trust the Obama administration to say what they mean and mean what they say. Right?

Why should the presidential morning announcements concern parents? Well that list is too long for a complete accounting, but let’s talk about just a few of the big reasons.

First off, Michelle Malkin walks us through the materials distributed to schools to accompany the president’s instructions address, as well as listing some of the luminaries involved in Obama’s education plans. I would excerpt, but you really want to read the whole thing. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

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When a polarizing figure dies, there is sometimes an impulse to ignore courtesy and to instead viciously attack. The glowing tributes can create a visceral push-back instinct. But upon the day of a man’s passing, respect for the pain of his loved ones, and yes, even his ideological fellows and followers, is a proper thing. There is no shame in allowing a day for the mourning of others.

Now, that does not mean it is not appropriate to criticize. It’s not even to say that on the very day you cannot reconfirm your distaste for the deceased. No, when a polarizing figure dies, even in the short hours following the news, it is to be expected and tolerated that those who oppose him will say so. Again, it’s a pushback against what may be historically inaccurate, hagiographic, rhetorical excess on the part of his dedicated fan base, as well as against any attempt to score political points with a perceived martyr. That’s understandable.

But what is not right, and certainly not classy, are the vicious and nasty personal comments celebrating the loss that others are feeling. Let me give you some examples:

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Erick and Dan both pointed out last week that Cap and Trade legislation was meeting resistance from Democrats. This week, we have some revealing commentary from former Democratic Senator from Colorado, Timothy Worth. Worth was a “climate-change negotiator” during President Bill Clinton’s administration and currently runs the UN Foundation. Worth is a supporter of cap and trade. Let’s let him tell us about it in his own words. From Bloomberg:

“The Republicans are right — it’s a cap-and-tax bill.”

“That’s what it is because they are raising revenue to do all sorts of things, especially to take care of the coal industry, and it makes no sense.”

“What has happened is it’s gotten out of control.”

What? Democrats are using a climate scare as an excuse for government intrusion well beyond the scope of the issue at hand, broadening their power and diminishing that of the private sector and the individual? Come on.

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Sometimes rhetoric gets out of hand. We all know this. There is a difference between disagreeing with someone and villainizing them as Hitler 2.0. So when you paint the President as a monster causing the death of innocents, and the media as his Goebbels, are you inciting violent reaction? Sometimes, apparently so.

I shot the shocking video below myself. I have not editing the foul language so please be warned: not safe for young ears.

Like me, you’ve been hearing about an angry mob. Well it exists. Watch this, then read on for important eyewitness details.

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