Political News and Election Info

All “Islamophobes”? They ignored the 9/11 Rally of Remembrance, too — not surprisingly. “MRC Study: ABC, CBS and NBC Tilt Ground Zero Mosque Debate by Smearing Americans as ‘Islamophobic,’” by Rich Noyes for NewsBusters , September 15: By a wide margin — 66 percent to 29 percent, according to the most recent ABC News/ Washington Post poll — the public is opposed to building that proposed $100 million Islamic cultural center near the site of the destroyed World Trade Towers. This is not a lightly-held opinion: more than half (53%) told ABC news they are “strongly opposed” to building it near Ground Zero, vs. only 14 percent who report being “strongly” in favor. (Scroll to Question 30 .) So in the face of such obvious public sentiment, are the big broadcast networks reflecting such public sentiment in their coverage? Or are journalists implicitly repudiating their viewers by touting accusations that opposition to the mosque is motivated by America’s supposed “Islamophobia”? To find out, MRC analysts reviewed all 52 stories about the Ground Zero mosque on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening newscasts from August 14 through September 13 — the first month after President Obama propelled the issue into the headlines with his remarks at a White House dinner. The results show that the networks have tilted in favor of mosque supporters and against public opinion, with more than half (55%) of all soundbites or reporter comments coming down on the pro-mosque side of the debate, vs. 45 percent for opponents. Even those overall numbers fail to show how the debate has grown increasingly tilted over time. During the first week (August 14-20), the networks actually provided more visibility to mosque opponents — 55 percent of soundbites, vs. 45 percent for mosque supporters. But in the following weeks (August 21 to September 13), the networks’ coverage lurched in the other direction, with mosque supporters receiving a 63 percent to 37 percent advantage…. There is much more. Read it all . Honest Ibe Hooper of Hamas-linked CAIR, among others, makes an obligatory appearance.

Read the original:
ABC, CBS, NBC ignore vast opposition to Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero, heavily feature pro-mosque spokesman (including Hamas-linked…

Jonathan Rauch, National Journal : But, tea partiers say, if you think moving votes and passing bills are what they are really all about, you have not taken the full measure of their ambition. No, the real point is to change the country’s political culture, bending it back toward the self-reliant, liberty-guarding instincts of the Founders’ era. Winning key congressional seats won’t do that, nor will endorsing candidates. “If you just tell people to vote but you don’t talk about the underlying principles,” Martin says, “you just have to do it again and again and again, in every election.” What will work, they believe, is education: DVDs on American history; “founding principles” training; online reading lists; constitutional discussion groups; cultural and youth programs. In Tennessee, says Anthony Shreeve, an organizer there, groups are giving courses on the Constitution and “socialism and the different types of isms,” bringing in speakers from around the state. “Our members have gotten more involved and learned about our local government, how it works, and what kind of influence we can have,” Shreeve says. “Education has been the biggest thing.” Not coincidentally, the educational coordinator is among the Tea Party Patriots’ handful of paid employees. “Our real mission,” says Sally Oljar, a national coordinator, “is education and providing resources to grassroots activists who want to return the country to our founding principles. We recognize that’s going to require a cultural change that will take many years to accomplish.” Many years? How many? “We have a 40-year plan,” Meckler says. “We don’t want to raise another generation of sheeple.” One hears again, there, echoes of leftist movements. Raise consciousness. Change hearts, not just votes. Attack corruption in society, not just on Capitol Hill. In America, right-wing movements have tended to focus on taking over politics, left-wing ones on changing the culture. Like its leftist precursors, the Tea Party Patriots thinks of itself as a social movement, not a political one. Centerless swarms are bad at transactional politics. But they may be pretty good at cultural reform. In any case, the experiment begins. The times, they are a-changin’… Oh. And OUTLAW!

Read more from the original source:
“How Tea Party Organizes Without Leaders”

New Jersey Transit enforces Sharia: burning the Qur’an is not against American law. It may be obnoxious, but it is not illegal, it harms no one, and if we don’t stand up for freedom of expression now, we will surely lose it. Free Expression Death Watch Alert: “Koran burner Derek Fenton booted from his job at NJ Transit,” by Alison Gendar, Kevin Deutsch and Pete Donohue for the New York Daily News , September 14 (thanks to all who sent this in): The protester who burned pages from the Koran outside a planned mosque near Ground Zero has been fired from NJTransit, sources and authorities said Tuesday. Derek Fenton’s 11-year career at the agency came to an abrupt halt Monday after photographs of him ripping pages from the Muslim holy book and setting them ablaze appeared in newspapers. Fenton, 39, of Bloomingdale, N.J., burned the book during a protest on the ninth anniversary of Sept. 11 outside Park51, the controversial mosque slated to be built near Ground Zero…. “Mr. Fenton’s public actions violated New Jersey Transit’s code of ethics,” an agency statement said. “NJ Transit concluded that Mr. Fenton violated his trust as a state employee and therefore [he] was dismissed.” Fenton was ushered from the protests by police on Saturday and questioned, but he was released without charges. “He said, ‘This is America,’ and he wanted to stand up for it, in a Tea Party kind of way,” a police source said. Another police source said Fenton described himself as a “loyal American” exercising his “right to protest.”… “Good for him for burning the Koran,” neighbor Jacqui Marquez, 40, said. “Everybody’s entitled to their opinion … by firing him, they’re sending a message that there’s no freedom of speech. They’re completely wrong for doing this.”… If Fenton was fired for burning the Koran while off-duty, his First Amendment rights probably were violated, Chris Dunn of the New York Civil Liberties Union said. “The Supreme Court has recognized a constitutional right to burn the flag. As reprehensible as it may be, burning the Koran would be protected as well.” Good for the NYCLU.

Go here to read the rest:
Sharia at New Jersey Transit: Man fired for burning Qur’an

Another day, another scandal for the Congressional Black Caucus. Now Sanford Bishop, a Georgia Democrat, has been accused of awarding scholarships from the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation to family members. Specifically, his stepdaughter and wife’s niece. And no one can scream racism on this one, because the details come straight from the records of the non-profit group itself. Politico.com has the details: Sanford Bishop wants to educate America's youth. Especially if they're his relatives. Bishop is the second Democrat found to have funneled Congressional Black Caucus Foundation scholarship funds to relatives, threatening to turn the program into a larger political problem for the party. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) recently paid back $31,000 to the foundation for scholarships that she improperly awarded to various relatives and children of a top staffer. Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J.), chairman of the CBC Foundation, has promised an “extensive audit of the scholarship program” run by the organization. Bishop, though, also appears to have favored family members with CBC scholarships. In 2003, Emmaundia Whitaker, the niece of Vivian Creighton Bishop, who is Bishop’s wife, was awarded an education scholarship. She was also given a similar award in 2005. And in 2003, Aayesha Owens Reese, the congressman’s stepdaughter, was granted an education scholarship as well. As much as we enjoy condemning Congressman Bishop, we figure this is just the tip of the iceberg. He’s probably no more corrupt than the rest of the leeches in Congress – black, white, yellow, brown, green and purple. There’s just too much money floating around Washington, DC. And too much temptation for these little gods to skim a little off the top for themselves. Source: Politico.com

Go here to read the rest:
Fraud of the day: Another Congressional Black Caucus member accused of giving scholarships to relatives

“This is the face of the United States of America”: Mike Gallagher is an American radio host and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Mike Gallagher Show, a nationally-syndicated radio program that airs throughout the United States on Salem Radio Network. According to Talkers magazine, Gallagher is the eighth most-listened-to radio talk show host in the United States.

Read the rest here:
Video: The 911 FDI/SIOA Rally of Remembrance: Mike Gallagher