Part 1:What is Media Matters?

You may not believe this,  but it is a very true story. Somewhere under a giant rock, located by the northern part of the Potomac river where it splits and forms a pattern that kind of looks like a wishbone, there is a secret lair filled with computers and television screens. The people who work there spend all day watching Fox news, reading conservative columnists; listening to talk radio and surfing the net trying to identify anyone who disagrees with a project that George (Spooky Dude) Soros is behind. The name of this nefarious organization is Media Matters and its mission is to lie —tell half-truths, let’s face it, they will do anything except deal with the facts in order to try and discredit anyone who disagrees with the “Dude” of “Spooky.”

Maybe I should walk back what I just said just a little. No it’s not true that Media Matters operates in a secret underground lair. It’s also not true that they work under a rock, it just sometimes seems they have to crawl out from under a rock to see the light of day. I am not even sure that they all work in an office filled with computers and TV screens, for all I know they are all freelancers.

The rest, lies, half-truths, ignoring the facts, and serving the “Dude” of “Spooky,” all that is the absolute truth. And on top of all that, they have a rule which says, “If a progressive and a conservative do the same exact thing, only the conservative is to be criticized.”

Today, Media Matters ignored the facts and told half-truths to try and discredit a piece I wrote called Groups Whose Quotes Used By Soros Group to Attack Glenn Beck, Repudiate Anti-Beck Effort, but my “relationship” with Media Matters goes back four months before that, back in October when Media Matters initiated their quest to brand Fox News’ Glenn Beck as an anti-Semite to deflect criticism of the progressive movement and it’s Sugar-Daddy George Soros.

Before continuing, I would be dishonest if I didn’t point out that listening to Glenn Beck’s radio show is part of my everyday routine. I don’t always agree with him, actually sometimes he makes me want to punch the laptop that streams the show, but he always makes me think, and always entertains

But I would be just as dishonest if I didn’t also point out that this spat with the Soros-controlled hit squad is not about Glenn Beck. False charges of Antisemitism are a particular hot button of mine. For some silly reason, every time I hear of someone being bullied with false bigotry charges I feel the need to act (and usually when I act, the bully’s anger is deflected in my direction).

Part 2: The Origin of a Smear or Who’s Smoking Dope?

The Media Matters hit job on Beck started in October during Beck’s three-day TV series outlining George Soros’ political network and looking at Mr. Dude’s background in an attempt to discern what drives his progressive policies. Part of the “Dude’s” biography covered his history as a currency speculator whose sometimes underhanded dealing brought down the British pound sterling. He has also been accused of triggering the economic meltdown of Southeast Asian currencies in 1997.

Beck claimed Soros “rolled the dice in ’97 in Asia, and many, including the Malaysian prime minister, believe it was billionaire speculator George Soros who helped trigger the economic meltdown that spread through Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.”

Media Matters took the fact that Beck related this story and invented some crazy, twisted logic. Try to follow this— since Beck mentioned Soros was accused of doing underhanded dealing by the Malaysian Prime Minister—and since the PM is a serial anti-Semite who once said Soros’ currency dealings were part of a Jewish conspiracy–and since Soros is Jewish—well then that must mean Beck must be a Jew-hater who believes that Jews run the banks. Understand? No, I didn’t think so. It reminds me of those weird questions you used to find on the S.A.T. exam. Remember? —Cat is to Dog as hamburger is to automobile and you would be scratching your head for a few days trying to figure out what the person who created the exam was smoking.

The problem with Media Matters charge (besides the fact that it isn’t true) is Beck did not mention or even hint at the word Jew in his discourse. In the Media Matters playbook that shouldn’t concern anyone because truth is a secondary consideration. When attacking the Media Matters claim, I pointed out if giving the title of underhanded currency speculator to George Soros made one an anti-Semite, there was going to be some real dirty looks when I next attended Shabbos services at Shul, since I have made similar accusations about Soros.

What I didn’t realize at the time, this was actually the beginning of “Spooky Dude” and his team of progressive cronies’ new strategy.

This is just the beginning of the story,as a 3,500 word case study, this is too long to read the full story in one sitting so I invite you to CLICK HERE and  read Part 3: Dumb and Dumberer and the conclusion Part 4: Four-Hundred Progressive Rabbis Choose Politics Over Faith/Attacked by a “Professional Blogger”

Media Matters, a George Soros propaganda organization masquerading as a media watchdog, is exhibiting its hypocrisy again. In an article titled Fox’s “Nazi” rhetoric also comes straight from the top, they took a comment by Fox News head Roger Ailes and used it as a starting point to attack almost every commentator on the network:

In a recent interview, Fox News chairman Roger Ailes referred to National Public Radio executives as “Nazis” with a “Nazi attitude,” and claimed “[t]hey are the left wing of Nazism.” Ailes’ employees at Fox News, particularly Glenn Beck, have also used Nazi and Holocaust imagery to smear President Obama, Democrats, and progressive figures.

Interestingly, though Media Matters is correct in saying that the use of Nazi analogies by Ailes was not appropriate, they don’t bother to challenge the facts or sentiment of the statement.

More important, however, is the utter hypocrisy of the Media Matters case; if they were truthful with themselves and their readers they would recognize that the same, inappropriate language comes from the progressive world. And it all starts with the movement’s leader and sugar-daddy, George Soros.

Oct. 16th is Boss’ Day, This post is in honor of the good Bosses I have had:

As I slouched in my easy chair last night, watching Spiderman II with my son, it occurred to me that Peter Parker’s boss, J. Jonah Jameson, the publisher of the Daily Bugle is what I always imagined a boss to be when I was growing up: a gruff, cigar chomping, get the job done without caring whose feelings were hurt, type of guy. On TV and in the Movies, managers lived by the rule “real bosses don’t ask for opinions.” Although I have to admit when Jamison did evolve a bit when moved to LA to become Assistant Police Chief Will Pope in the series The Closer, he also became nicer boss.

All of the TV shows I grew up with featured bosses just like Jameson, who were feared as much as respected. The narcissistic Alan Brady of the Dick Van Dyke Show, Larry Tate on Bewitched or the unscrupulous money hungry banker, Mr. Drysdale from the Beverly Hillbillies, was what I thought a boss would be when I started working. Even Lou Grant fit into the category, he’s the man who once said, “that’s cute…I hate cute!”

A few years ago, Fox tried to push that boss image even further with My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss. In this show, graduates from major business schools competed for a $250,000 salary and the “honor” to work for a mean, despicable, SOB of a boss. The twist was there wasn’t a real job involved and the “boss” was just a very good actor. Each week contestants were abused and humiliated for our amusement. They competed with each other so that the next week the archetype mean boss can abuse them further.

Though I have been out of work for over two years, for some reason, sitting in my chair watching Spiderman swing across buildings, I began thinking about bosses. It was nice to realize that the prototypical boss, imagined as a child (and displayed in Fox’s fake reality show) is a not what I adopted as a style once I had become a boss. My management style was not like any of those grumpy stereotypes, not because it seems that TV bosses got nicer (all three CSI bosses for example, are scrupulous and nice people), nor was it because of any formal training, as a manager I was always thrown into fire and told to do my best. I received management training as a kid, on the days when I couldn’t watch as much TV. It was a program my parents enrolled me in, one they schlepped me to each Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday.

You see all of my management training was from an unusual source. In fact, all I really needed to know about being a manager (and an employee), I learned in Hebrew School. Management wisdom was not found on the seven TV channel available when I was growing up, nor in an executive self-help book. It was all right there in Mr. Gefter’s Torah class. It’s still there for all the people to look. These are the things I learned from my teachers in Hebrew school:

• ·Who you work with is more important that what you are making. Lot traded being close to his uncle Abraham for the fame and fortune of a judgeship in Sodom … eventually that turned out to be a dead end job.

• Do not tolerate office gossip. Despite all of her good deeds during the exodus from Egypt, Miriam got in trouble for criticizing her boss (Brother Moses) behind his back.

• Delegate, delegate, delegate. The section of the Torah where the Ten Commandments are given is not named after the great revelation at Sinai; it’s named after Moses’ father-in-law, Yitro. The reason Yitro is given the honor, because that is the section where Yitro taught his son-in-law that if he doesn’t delegate and find time for family, he would burn out.  (By the way, you should also know that the Torah uses seven different names for Moses’ father-in-law; Reuel, Jether, Yitro, Hobab, Heber, Keni and Putiel. This is important because If you ever see this guy with seven aliases, I would not recommend taking a check from him)

• Balance makes for better workers. The Torah tells us that employers and employees alike should take off one day a week, the Sabbath. This day’s purpose is to lose touch with the work world, and those work pressures and worries in order to find balance in your life by getting in touch with your kids, family, and friends.

• It’s OK for a boss not to know the right answer. When the daughters of Zelophe asked Moses a real stumper about real estate and inheritance law, he didn’t try to fake his way through it. Moses said I don’t know let me check with top management (God).

• Stand up for what is right even if it is not popular. After the Golden Calf, Moses said whoever is with God come with me, the Levites answered the call, and they got a big promotion out of it.

• When a manager loses control of his people, then maybe it’s time for him to move on. Sure he hit the rock, but by the time God told Moses his mission was done, the Jewish slaves that he started with were dead. Their children had become a new nation, raised in the wilderness not under an Egyptian’s whip. Moses had a hard time relating to this group, calling them rebels. While the people loved their leader, God know they needed fresh blood. But God’s love for Moses was so strong, he told Moses he was fired for the “sin” of hitting the rock a tiny infraction– because he didn’t want to hurt Mo’s feelings by saying that had lost touch with the people.

• Protect your people at all costs, even if it means arguing with God.  We remember Abraham for arguing with God,  trying to protect Sodom and Gomorrah, “even if there are only 10 good people.” Abraham gave birth to nations. The only humans Noah tried to save were his own family and quite possibly because of that, all nations were destroyed during his watch (and that’s on top of blocking his neighbor’s driveway with a big boat).

· Probably the most powerful management lesson I learned in Hebrew School was about decisiveness. Three thousand years ago, Moses and twelve tribes of freed slaves stood on the shore of the Reed Sea bracing for an attack by the army of their former masters. As they began to pray, God said to Moses, enough praying, do something! Moses took action, leading the twelve tribes across the sea as one nation, proving that a decisive leader who trusts in God and works with a unified team can work miracles.

It’s been more than 40 years since I went to Hebrew school. I now have more than five channels and no longer have to sit two inches from the TV so I can change channels at will. It’s been even longer since biblical times, but it still stands that God is one great manager of people and that the Bible makes one heck of an HR manual, and the best part of it all, unlike Hollywood you don’t have to pay residuals.

Since I don’t have time to write about every candidate out there or to tell the TRUTH about some of the Democrats running for Congress, Below is a list of some of those candidates, hot linked to articles explaining a bit of why you shouldn’t  vote for them. Click a name below and learn why you should be voting for their opponents.  (Some of them are so bad they needed two articles).

J. Christian Adams is the DOJ official who resigned as an  Attorney in the Voter Rights Division of the Department of Justice to protest the racism, perjury, and obstruction of justice surrounding the DOJ’s dropping of the election day 2008 voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther party. When Mr. Adams testified, he accused he assistant attorney general for civil rights, Tom Perez, when he testified about the dropping of the case. Today Judicial Watch released documents obtained in a FOIA request that adds to the list of lies that Perez may have made. The data..

….details a series of emails between Assistant Deputy Attorney General Steve Rosenbaum and Deputy Associate Attorney General Sam Hirsch, who was described by Slate magazine as a “DC election lawyer who represents a lot of Democrats” prior to joining the Justice Department.

In other words a very political appointee. The summary provided by the DOH

…. describes eight email exchanges between Rosenbaum and Hirsch, taking place on April 30, 2009, the day before the Justice Department reversed course and declined to pursue much of the Black Panther case. Listed among the email correspondence:

An “Email Chain with Attachments” from Rosenbaum to Hirsch dated April 30, 2009: The email chain includes “…a detailed response and analysis of the proposed draft filings in NBPP (New Black Panther Party) litigation…The response includes a candid assessment of legal research and raises questions about the case law and proposed relief….This document also contains attorney discussion, opinions, and analyses of the draft documents and case law.”

These records contradict testimony by Assistant Attorney General Perez, before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on May 14, 2010. During the hearing, Perez was asked directly regarding the involvement of political leaders in the decision to dismiss the Black Panther case.

COMMISSIONER KIRSANOW: Was there any political leadership involved in the decision not to pursue this particular case any further than it was?

ASST. ATTY. GEN. PEREZ: No. The decisions were made by Loretta King in consultation with Steve Rosenbaum, who is the Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General.

Perez also suggested that the dispute was merely “a case of career people disagreeing with career people.”

Rosenbaum is no “career people”

“These documents show the Obama Justice Department’s decision to drop the Black Panther case was certainly political and potentially corrupt,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “The Black Panther decision is a scandal for the Obama administration and it merits serious attention by investigators. Assistant Attorney General Perez seems to have been less than candid in his sworn testimony when he said no political appointees were involved in the decision. This scandal has just gotten a whole lot worse for the Obama Justice Department.”

Mr. Fitton is going a bit to far when he says these documents prove that dropping the case was political, to be honest, they are no smoking gun.  But when added to the charges by Mr. Adams, it does show a pattern of misinformation coming from Mr. Perez.

…. Tom Perez, has testified repeatedly that the “facts and law” did not support this case. That claim is false. If the actions in Philadelphia do not constitute voter intimidation, it is hard to imagine what would, short of an actual outbreak of violence at the polls….Most corrupt of all, the lawyers who ordered the dismissal – Loretta King, the Obama-appointed acting head of the Civil Rights Division, and Steve Rosenbaum – did not even read the internal Justice Department memorandums supporting the case and investigation. Just as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. admitted that he did not read the Arizona immigration law before he condemned it, Mr. Rosenbaum admitted that he had not bothered to read the most important department documents detailing the investigative facts and applicable law in the New Black Panther case…

Not reading the file qualifies King and Rosenbaum to be members of Congress, but it is awful hard to make decisions about a legal case without reading the file.  The head of the Voting Rights Section of the DOJ Christopher Coates got so angry at Rosenbaum for making the decision without first reading about it, he threw the file at him. For the file toss, Coates was stripped of his responsibility and transfered to South Carolina.

Mr. Perez also inaccurately testified to the House Judiciary Committee that federal “Rule 11″ required the dismissal of the lawsuit. Lawyers know that Rule 11 is an ethical obligation to bring only meritorious claims, and such a charge by Mr. Perez effectively challenges the ethics and professionalism of the five attorneys who commenced the case. Yet the attorneys who brought the case were voting rights experts and would never pursue a frivolous matter. Their experience in election law far surpassed the experience of the officials who ordered the dismissal.

These are very serious charges being brought forward by Mr. Adams. Charges that strike at the very heart of our American republic. He is reporting that equality before the law and freedom from racial discrimination is not offered to all Americans, and that an Assistant Attorney General of the Department of Justice has not testified honestly, a charge backed up the Assistant AG getting caught in another lie.  I wonder if this is what the President meant by “Change you can believe in.” Looks as if the New Black Panther Case is about to heat up once again

• Prohibition on lifetime limits
• Restrictions on annual limits
• No Co-Pay on coverage of preventive services
• Extension of dependent coverage up to age 26
• New internal and external appeals processes
• New rules regarding coverage for emergency services
• Prohibition on pre-existing condition exclusions for children

Based on their track record, the White House probably doesn’t realize for an insurance company to remain solvent, when costs go up they need to find a way to pay for it.

According to the Wall Street Journal,

The NY Times is trying to play that old game “Monkey See, Monkey Do.” Earlier in the week President Obama made House Minority leader John Boehner public enemy number one in his effort to save the Democratic Party from total electoral disaster this November. Surprise, Surprise today’s NY Times features an anti-Boehner hit piece. And continuing the NY Times hit piece tradition, all of the “hits” are supplied by an anonymous source.

According to this NY Times source, a DC lobbyist, that supposedly is party of a group that regularly meets with the congressman:

One lobbyist in the club — after lauding each staff member in Mr. Boehner’s office that he routinely calls to ask for help — ticked off the list of recent issues for which he had sought the lawmaker’s backing: combating fee increases for the oil industry, fighting a proposed cap on debit card fees, protecting tax breaks for hedge fund executives and opposing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions.

Now look at that list for a second, they are all positions that any conservative Republican who believes in smaller government and keeping the government off the backs of industry, would take. Think about it. Does the NY Times really expect us to believe that Boehner opposed “cap and trade” because of some lobbyist.  As a registered Republican, if the Minority Leader supported “cap and trade” I would have personally driven to Washington to take away his Conservative Republican secret decoder ring. Cap and trade, is anti-business, expands government and raises taxes, Boehner’s opposition is a “no brainer.”

Byron York reported that

Boehner spokesman Michael Steel says he received a fact-checking email from Times reporter Eric Lipton Friday evening asking if Boehner did in fact oppose the cap on greenhouse gases, the tax change for hedge fund executives, the debit card fee cap, and increased fees on oil and gas companies. “Yes, that is correct,” Steel responded to Lipton, adding “I can tell you why, if you care.” Steel says he received no further notes from Lipton.

….”They were offered the opportunity to find out if this was true, and they chose to rely instead on the word of an anonymous lobbyist,” says spokesman Michael Steel. “They intentionally refused to get the information to prove that this allegation was false.”

That may be true Mr. Steel but the NY Times has a lot invested in this President.  After all they made up a story about his opponent John McCain having an affair, and even printed an op-ed from candidate Obama but wouldn’t let McCain respond. The “Old Grey Lady” threw journalistic integrity out the window a very long time ago, why would you expect them to be fair now?

Jeff Dunetz is editor of the Political Blog The Lid, a contributor to American Thinker, Big Government,Big Hollywood, Big Journalism, and Big Peace, and a Red State diarist

Everyone remembers where they were when they found out about the attacks on 9/11. I was sitting in my office when I received an IM from my brother telling me of the first crash and urging me to turn on the TV (I worked for Nickelodeon at the time and had a TV in my office). Turning on the set I saw what I thought was a replay of the crash, but it wasn’t a replay it was the second plane.  My entire team crammed into my offices and stared in disbelief as we heard about the attack on the Pentagon, and then each of the twin towers crash to the ground.  Just thinking about it brings back memories of fear and confusion.

As soon as it was announced the bridges and tunnels were re-opened, I rushed out of my office and began to drive home. My wife begged me not to because of fear of another attack, but like many of those close to the attack, I needed to be with my family.

The streets of Manhattan contained only a few cars, we are moving slowly because they were packed with dazed people trying to make their way out of the city. It was a surreal picture, almost like one of those movies where Godzilla attacking Tokyo. The 59th Street Bridge was crowded the same as the streets, dazed people, struggling to get off that tiny island and onto the safety of the Borough of Queens. Gazing out from the bridge to what was soon to be known as ground zero; there was an impenetrable curtain of black over the East River. Even with the car windows closed, breathing was different; the air had a “smoky” taste and a texture like sand paper.

I made it home to my family and even drove into the city the next day into work. My memories of the drive home on 9/12 were just as vivid not because of another terrorist incident, but because of something I heard on the radio.

Per my usual practice, I spent my drive home listening to NY Sports radio station WFAN. Because I left early, I was able to listen to the PM Drive stars, Mike Francesa and Chris Mad Dog Russo whose biggest entertainment value was they seemed to really hate each other; there was an undercurrent of tension on air. But on 9/12 these two agreed. These two launched a fact deprived commentary blaming both Israel and American Jews for the attack on America the day before. That was not even the worst part, Russo said and Francesca agreed that American Jews needed to prove their loyalty as Americans; choose between Israel, which Mike called “a failed experiment,” and the U.S.” The two bigots thought Jews in America should take a loyalty oath to the country to prove that they were loyal to the US and not Israel.

How Did WFAN react to this blatant Antisemitism? One would think that they would have reacted very strongly, after all this is the station that six years later fired Don Imus, who at the time was their number one money-maker, for calling the Rutgers girls basketball team “nappy-headed hos.” Sadly WFAN reacted by sweeping it under the rug while the pair of bigots denied it ever happened ( despite the fact that other listeners including NY Post columnist Phil Mushnick heard the offensive comments).

The ADL was flooded with calls and in a rare moment of sticking to their mission, the ADL sent a letter to the station which said in part:

“Since September 12th, ADL offices in the tri-state area have been flooded with calls complaining about comments made by “Mike and the Mad Dog” show hosts Mike Francesa and Chris Russo. The complaints focus on the hosts suggesting the motive behind the World Trade Center attack is U.S. support for the State of Israel or, more importantly, suggesting a divided loyalty for American Jews between our country and Israel.”

As of November 2009, the ADL never received a response from their letter:

“From: ADL Media [mailto:ADLMedia@adl.org]
Sent: Tuesday, November 03, 2009 11:42 AM
Subject: RE: Abraham H. Foxman’s letter to WFAN in 2001

As far as we can recollect, we had no response from WFAN”

To this day the two (who Don Imus called Fatso and Fruit loops) deny that this incident ever happened. When the NY Post’s Mushnick wrote about the incident in the weeks after 9/11, the sports talkers used some of their radio time to express their denial.

Mushnick wrote in 2002:

“… Francesa’s claim that I fabricated quotes, then attributed them to him is a total lie because I never quoted either Francesa or Russo in that column. I couldn’t quote them because WFAN claimed that it did not tape that particular segment.

But I did hear them – first-hand, not “second or third-hand” – then wrote a column critical of them for characterizing the 9/11 attacks as the fault of Israel, and by extension, American Jews……The fact that no tape was, in Francesa’s words, “ever found” – he failed to mention WFAN’s claim not to have taped the segment I wrote about – was used by Francesa, Monday, as proof that I fabricated a story about him.”

Like most Americans who suffered through those horrible days, the sounds, tastes and pictures of the horrible attack on America are embedded in my memory. On 9/12 most Americans, stood united against the hatred of al Qaeda. But here in New York, two sports casters on WFAN chose not to stand united against hatred, they chose to create even more hatred. I am told that they continue to deny what thousands of people heard with their own ears. I couldn’t tell you for sure since I haven’t listened to WFAN since 9/12/01 (where Francesa remains), nor have I tuned to Chris Russo’s year old sports channel on Sirrus/XM.