AP Laments: 'GOP governors undermine Obama's agenda in states'

I suppose these evil Republicans were elected to implement Obama's agenda?

Their ranks swollen after the last election, Republican governors from Florida to Alaska are undermining President Barack Obama's agenda at every turn ahead of the Democrat's 2012 re-election campaign.

Some are rejecting federal money for high-speed rail. Many are fighting the president's health care law. And several are going after the Democratic Party's bedrock constituency, pushing laws that would weaken the power of unions.

Not that any Republican governor will acknowledge that this is politics at play - even if it is.

Gee, ya think?

Now that's some piercing insight from the National Political Editor. Imagine the chutzpah of these Republicans to try and thwart the radical agenda of the opposition party. What's gotten into them?

But left unsaid in interviews with governors attending this weekend's National Governors Association meeting was this: Republicans, particularly in places with many electoral votes, like the Midwest, are fully aware that stymieing Obama's plans in the states could weaken him just as he tries to make the case to the country that he should get a second term.

Poor Obama. It's almost as if he doesn't have a bully pulpit from which his Teleprompter can give daily speeches. How will he ever counter the ill effects of these evil men trying to ruin him?

AP: 'Obama Campaigning Quietly From the White House'

What? Campaigning quietly from the White House? Huh? When was the last time he was even in Washington? The guy's been campaigning nonstop for a month and they're telling us he's campaigning quietly?

Less than a week before Election Day, President Barack Obama is quietly using the power of his office to reach Democratic voters in a final effort to get supporters to the polls and nudge close races in his party's favor.

Though Obama is off the campaign trail for three full days this week, he's personally targeting key Democratic constituencies from the White House, holding conference calls with union activists and campaign volunteers, and doing interviews with radio stations that draw largely black audiences. He'll also target younger voters when he tapes an appearance on "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" on Wednesday.

The president will wrap up the week with a final campaign swing through five states where Democratic candidates are locked in tight contests.

It's a homestretch strategy based on how the White House believes the president can be most effective in an election in which his name is not on the ballot but his agenda is up for debate. According to a recent Associated Press-GfK poll, nearly half of likely voters say their votes for the House are intended to send a message about Obama.

White House officials say that while they still see value in the large rallies Obama has been holding across the country this month — he'll headline three more this weekend — they also recognize that with just six days until the election, many voters have already made up their minds.

Large rallies across the country, more to come, Jon Stewart appearances, and on it goes.

But according to these pinheads he's campaigning quietly. Shhh. It's almost as if he's invisible. A delicious thought, I might add.

First Americans, Second Reporters

During the last week there has been a lot of disdain heaped upon the Associated Press for releasing a photo showing the last moments of a Marine's life who was killed in Afghanistan. The condemnation of the AP is well deserved and points to a certain depravity on the part of the editors to decide to run with this photo.

The National Adjutant of the American Legion expressed it far better then I can, and in a message to its members did just that. While I would love to publish the entire letter here, it is too long for that.

My deep and abiding disagreement with AP in this matter stems not from the depiction of the terrible last moments of a brave Marine’s life. I have the utmost sympathies for that man’s family, and I do deeply feel their grief. What is so terrible to me about what AP has done here is to do this over the wishes of this man’s family. This removes the common decency from the equation. There are families, I honestly would have wanted mine to do so should I have fallen as such, who would accept the burden of their public grief if it meant that their country’s will to fight was bolstered. That is not a burden that every family can bear though, as we all deal with grief in our own ways. I was raised to respect the grief and burdens of others and not to intrude unduly. I was raised to support the people around me and that as much as anything else drove me to volunteer to become a soldier.

Here is a video of an interview with the slain Marine LCpl Joshua Bernard's father, who is a former Marine First Sergeant, discussing the decision of the AP to release a photo showing his son's last moments as well as his belief that the revised rules of engagement (ROE), and what part they may have played in the death of his son. The local news channel I got this from does not permit embedding of the news clip so please click the link.

I did find a clip from the Fox and Friends weekend show where they interviewed Mr. Bernard and in it he does mention the ROE, but doesn't give details which the previous interview I linked does. The fact that he expresses no surprise that the AP would do such a thing is a sad implication of the news media.

I waited awhile to write about this matter in order to gather more information. I have not searched for the picture; some of us do not need to see such things to know that death--when delivered by weapons of violence--is ugly. I have seen my share; not the current conflicts, but during the time of sunshine and lollipops known as the Cold War. For folks with only a public school education, that was a time when Russia was known as the Soviet Union. It was a time when the United States engaged in conflicts in such places as Grenada, Haiti, Bosnia, Somalia, and Operation Desert Storm and suffered casualties at the hands of Islamic extremists at places like Beirut and the Khobar Towers, in failed rescue attempts for Americans held hostage in Iran and thousands of other engagements around the globe that went unnoticed.

Like the American Legion adjutant I too sometimes wondered about how those left at home would react should something happen to me, but one thing was always clear, I did what I did because I wanted to do it. Because somebody had to do it. Because once you join that Band of Brothers you can never truly leave it. LCpl Bernard died in the company of his second family, any attempt to use any such loss to further some sort of agenda meant to demean the effort they were engaged in is despicable.

The reason so many question the motives of the AP is because of the sorry state of affairs which exists in news media today. They continue to commit a death of a thousand cuts and seem incapable of solving the Gordian Knot they have tied themselves in.

AP Having Union Problems Of Their Own

Ya gotta love it. The unions in this country really are full of themselves and there is no industry safe from them. It seems that the AP has been in negotiations with a union since October, and just like the auto industry they are facing reduced revenue, like all news organizations and the union is basically telling them their revenue flow is not their concern and now meet our demands or we will shut you down.

Is there any longer any doubt that unions are bad for business?

The Guild and the AP have been bargaining since Oct. 21. There has been agreement on a handful of articles, but the sides remain far apart. AP proposed a wage freeze in the first year of a two-year agreement, followed by a two percent increase a year later. The Guild opened with a 10% wage increase proposal, but has indicated flexibility at the bargaining table.

The reporters are withholding their bylines from articles, whatever that means. Is having your name associated with an AP viewed as a positive in the journalism field? I guess it probably is.

Well good luck AP and no doubt you will be lining for your share of the bailout money thanks to the position that the union is putting you in.

The News Media Guild is Local 31222 of The Newspaper Guild-Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO. The Guild represents editorial, technology, and other workers in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The current agreement expired Nov. 30.

Oh yeah, are southern Republicans to blame for this too?

The UnAssociated Press

We, meaning bloggers, have been aware of the legal actions that the AP has threatened for using their photos. Now they are stepping up the campaign to include their news articles. There is a campaign underway to push back against them. Details are here. More information here.
Now I am not the owner of this blog merely a contributor, but I will certainly participate in this news black out. Remember it isn't just AP stories from their main site, it is any story from any source that has an AP byline.

Border Patrol Doing Its Job

Immigrants fear ID checks aboard ferry

That is the headline of the AP story. We all know what the truth is, but it isn't until four paragraphs into the story that we get the truth that is self evident to anybody with two functioning brain cells.

Perez - who does odd jobs, mostly landscaping - is one of perhaps dozens of illegal immigrants on the islands who have been essentially trapped since February, when the U.S. Border Patrol began checking IDs on ferry runs from the islands to the mainland.

Prior to this admission in the article they paint 'ol Pedro, er, excuse me, Perez as a law abiding citizen just trying to provide for his family and decrying his inability to get to the mainland for shopping and healthcare. They miss the part where he shouldn't be shopping or using American healthcare facilities in the first place since he is here illegally. He should be using those fine facilities in Mexico.

The Border Patrol began a crackdown in Feb on the illegals they catch on the ferries so at least something is working half assed right.

Others have taken the risk and paid the price: As of late May, 49 people had been arrested by the Border Patrol and face deportation. All but one were Latin American

Just go ahead and read the whole liberal-slanted, gut-wrenching, tear-jerking propaganda piece that is weak on factual information but chock full of sympathy for the illegals. Not that a newspaper would promote an agenda somewhere other then their editorial pages.

So take a minute to dab at the tear forming in your eye, and then send a letter of support to the Border Patrol and let them know you appreciate the good job they are doing and encourage to continue doing exactly what they are doing.

Healing the Racial Divide: The Fight Against Segregated Camping

While most of you enjoy your Memorial Day weekend, rest assured the media is feverishly toiling, looking to keep us as up-to-date as possible as we all enjoy ourselves.

Selfless, they are.

Now what better time to bring to our attention to one of the deep dark secrets that stains America's collective soul: the stark, grim racial divide that exists at campgrounds across the fruited plain.

The throngs filling campgrounds across America this weekend will include hardy outdoors types and those who prefer creature comforts, but they'll have at least one important thing in common: Nearly all of them are white.

A small but committed group of campers is trying to change that by growing a generation of black campers, one person at a time.

If you think this is an Onion parody, trust me, it's not.

Getting more blacks into the woods would mean breaking decades of stereotypes and overcoming a long-standing leeriness that members say many have about camping. Bad things happen to black people in the woods, the story goes, and they can't afford recreational vehicles.

Good grief.

It never occurred to me when I was camping with black friends they were breaking racial stereotypes. I'll let them know next time we're toasting to what a mean, racist country this is.

In another earth-shattering discovery, AP notes that blacks and whites (gasp!) often have varying tastes in music.

Gladys Curtis of Houston is active in both NAARVA and mostly white camping groups, and she has noticed at least one difference between the way the races camp.

"When we go to the (white) rallies we hear a lot of country and western," said Curtis, president of a black camping group from Texas. "We've had a Motown review, big band, blues. Not a lot of country."

Who knew?

Massive WaPo Blunder

We're so used to the relentless media bias that we've come to expect it on a daily basis. Considering the amount of times they screw up, the mainstream press unwittingly has become a boon for bloggers over the past several years. Today we have a whopper from the Washington Post and a lengthy "correction" that soon followed.

Of course, they were spoonfed the misinformation by none other than the unctuous Carl Levin.

A Feb. 9 front-page article about the Pentagon inspector general’s report regarding the office of former undersecretary of defense Douglas J. Feith incorrectly attributed quotations to that report. References to Feith’s office producing “reporting of dubious quality or reliability” and that the office “was predisposed to finding a significant relationship between Iraq and al Qaeda” were from a report issued by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in Oct. 2004. Similarly, the quotes stating that Feith’s office drew on “both reliable and unreliable reporting” to produce a link between al-Qaeda and Iraq “that was much stronger than that assessed by the IC [Intelligence Community] and more in accord with the policy views of senior officials in the Administration” were also from Levin’s report. The article also stated that the intelligence provided by Feith’s office supported the political views of senior administration officials, a conclusion that the inspector general’s report did not draw.The two reports employ similar language to characterize the activities of Feith’s office: Levin’s report refers to an “alternative intelligence assessment process” developed in that office, while the inspector general’s report states that the office “developed, produced, and then disseminated alternative intelligence assessments on the Iraq and al Qaida relationship, which included some conclusions that were inconsistent with the consensus of the Intelligence Community, to senior decision-makers.” The inspector general’s report further states that Feith’s briefing to the White House in 2002 “undercuts the Intelligence Community” and “did draw conclusions that were not fully supported by the available intelligence.”

All the gory details are laid out in painstaking detail at Captain's Quarters, Hot Air, NRO's Media Blog, Michelle Malkin, Forward Movement, Sister Toldjah, Ace of Spades, 7.62mm Justice, Right Voices, and the Political Pit Bull.

The AP screwed this up as well, as noted by Power Line.

Reuters is still spinning as best they can.

Let's see how quickly the tinfoil hat crowd translates "inappropriate" into "illegal".

Let's see how quickly the talking heads retract their commentary on this. I won't hold my breath.

Bogus AP Report on Iraq Outrage

Michelle Malkin has returned from Iraq and has reports in the NY Post today as well as at her site.

The AP has a serious credibility problem, needless to say.

While Bryan and I were in Iraq, Curt of Flopping Aces and Bob Owens pressed forward on the Jamil Hussein angle. Whether the AP used a pseudonym for Hussein or not, and whatever the fickle Interior Ministry is now saying, Hussein's information clearly cannot be trusted. As bloggers have emphasized, Hussein was a single source for dozens of other AP stories about atrocities across a wide swath of Baghdad. And as AP executive Kathleen Carroll herself underscores:

"AP runs hundreds of stories a day, and has run thousands of stories about things that have happened in Iraq."

Or rather, things that their questionable sources and local stringers have told them have happened in Iraq.

Others on the story: Confederate Yankee, Jules Crittenden and LGF.