There Are White Sovereign Citizens?

Well this goes to show how our views on some things are crafted by events close to home.

"60 Minutes" recently did a piece on a group of people who refer to themselves as sovereign citizens. With the exception of mentioning Wesley Snipes who they say spouts some sovereign citizen rhetoric and the picture on a phony driver's license of a black women you would have come away with the impression that this group is a band of white domestic terrorists.

I was very surprised. Around Georgia we have had several sovereign citizens make the news but they have always been black. I always thought this was sub culture within the African American community.


So while CBS leaves the viewer with the impression of a far right wing libertarian group, dare we say close cousins of the Tea Party folks, for years I always thought it was a black community phenomenon. Wonder why they left our sovereign citizens out of their reporting?

State-Controlled Media: CBS and Washington Post Receiving ObamaCare Slush Fund Money

I guess this is no big deal. After all, these two impartial bastions of the mainstream media have been entirely fair in their critique of the government takeover of your health care.

Oh, wait...

Two mainstream news organizations are receiving hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars from Obamacare’s Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) — a $5 billion grant program that’s doling out cash to companies, states and labor unions in what the Obama administration considers an effort to pay for health insurance for early retirees. The Washington Post Company raked in $573,217 in taxpayer subsidies and CBS Corporation secured $722,388 worth of Americans’ money.

“It is fine with me if they continue covering the ObamaCare debate,” said Rep. Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, in an e-mail to The Daily Caller. “When NBC used to cover energy issues, they identified themselves as a subsidiary of General Electric. CBS and Washington Post just have to disclose that they are subsidiaries of the Obama Administration.”

This is wonderful. GE, which owns NBC, isn't even paying taxes while their chairman is an Obama economic adviser, and now CBS and the WaPo are being subsidized by Obama. Apparently none of the rest of Obama's pom-pom media have any problem with this.

Important Question Facing the World: Where's Katie Couric Going?

Next to the crisis in Japan, the slaughter in Libya, and Obama's basketball picks, is there a more pressing matter facing the world today than which network gets to throw money at Katie Couric in return for abysmal ratings?

CBS News may face a future without Katie Couric.

So what?

Just as the world focuses on a catastrophe across the globe, and some smaller ones here, comes another round of "What Will Katie Do" stories in advance of her contract expiration in May.

At this point, the ongoing drumbeat about what she'll do - which seems to have gone on now for three years - may just be the longest goodbye in history.

So far, the only job not the subject of a Couric trial balloon is writing this column - at least not yet. And it will stay this way until Couric actually speaks for herself.

If she's leaving, then the only game that matters will start - who will get the seat?

Let's stop dancing around the issue: CBS News executives could put a cantaloupe behind the desk and get similar Nielsen ratings to what they're getting now.

No knock on Couric, she is a superstar and a talented journalist, but when it comes to the ratings, there's little evidence that her being there or not will change the fate of "Evening News."

She's a "superstar" and a "talented journalist"? Where is the evidence of that? If she was such a star, why is nobody watching and why aren't CBS executives tripping over themselves to lock up such a talented journalist?

CBS/NYT Poll Spells Almost Certain Doom for Democrats

Forget all that nonsense Democrats have been been peddling about some surge in interest for their candidates in the midterms. If this CBS/New York Times poll is any indication they're about to be swept away in a historic tsunami.

Critical parts of the coalition that delivered President Obama to the White House in 2008 and gave Democrats control of Congress in 2006 are switching their allegiance to the Republicans in the final phase of the midterm Congressional elections, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Republicans have wiped out the advantage held by Democrats in recent election cycles among women, Catholics, less affluent Americans and independents; all of those groups broke for Mr. Obama in 2008 and for congressional Democrats when they grabbed both chambers from the Republicans four years ago, according to exit polls.

The poll found that a greater proportion of women would choose Republicans over Democrats in House races than at any time since exit polls began tracking the breakdown in 1982.

So Obama and the Democrats have lost women, Catholics, the less affluent and independents. What's he got left other than kook fringe bloggers?

The poll does not measure the strength of individual candidates in specific districts, where indeterminate factors like voter turnout and even weather can affect Election Day results. And, taken nationally Thursday through Tuesday with interviews of 1,173 adults, the poll did not ask about United States Senate contests, as 14 states do not have Senate races this year (The poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points).

But it does offer a clear indication of party strength at the end of what has been a particularly intense and hard-fought mid-term election season with more bad news than good for Mr. Obama and his party.

Overall, 46 percent of likely voters said they would vote for Republicans and 40 percent said they would support Democrats.

A higher percentage of Americans continue to have a more favorable opinion of the Democratic Party than of the Republican Party, with 46 percent favoring Democrats and 41 favoring Republicans. But the Republicans’ current favorability rating in The New York Times/CBS poll reflects its highest level since September, 2006.

However, disapproval of Congress remains near its highest level in the history of The Times/CBS poll – 76 percent of respondents disapproved, 14 percent approved and 10 percent expressed no opinion.

Say farewell, Queen Pelosi.

The poll results are here. Worth noting, and the Democrats better take notice or they'll get wiped out in 2012 as well, is by 55-36% people want smaller government. A scant 11% think the economy is better since Obama took office, 53% don't think Obama has a plan to create jobs.

Naturally, considering this is a media poll, it's stacked against Republicans, which leads us to believe things may be even worse next Tuesday than anyone expects. Only 28% of those polled identify themselves as Republicans, with 37% Democrats and 31% independents. So you have 68% not identifying themselves as Republican yet they're heavily favored on Tuesday. Self-identified liberals and moderates make up 56% of those polled, with 38% conservative; again, Democrats should be very worried based on the makeup of those polled.

Update: According to Gallup it looks even worse.

Gallup's recent tracking of the generic ballot for Congress has shown the Republicans with substantial leads over the Democrats among likely voters, in part because the underlying registered voter population leans Republican in its vote choice. Compared with previous elections, that tilt is an extraordinary positioning for the Republicans, who typically do no better than tie the Democrats among registered voters. The GOP's position is further enhanced by the generally strong proclivity of Republicans to turn out to vote, which appears to be even greater than usual this year.

Gallup keeps pointing toward a 40% turnout compared with presidential elections. I suspect that number will be much greater.

There's No Escaping Him: Couric to Interview Obama Before Super Bowl

For a week now we've heard all the whining from the left about the pro-life ad including Tim Tebow and his mother running during the Super Bowl and how politics doesn't belong on Super Sunday. Well, could somebody let CBS know we're sick of seeing Obama every time we turn on the television?

Super Bowl Sunday will be a busy one for CBS anchor Katie Couric, but she will be far from the game.

“I’m very excited about going to the Super Bowl,” said Couric, who will anchor the “CBS Evening News” Friday from Miami. “I wish I could stay. I have an appointment with the president. That’s a good excuse.”

Before the game, Couric will conduct a live, 12-minute interview with President Barack Obama at the White House. She also offers an interview with New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees.

Couric said on Wednesday she was still formulating her questions for Obama but had solicited queries via Twitter, Facebook and local stations.

“I want it to be a good, substantive interview, but it’s the Super Bowl audience,” Couric said. “I want it to have the appropriate tone.”

I'm sure it'll be the typical Couric fluff, such as "Why are you so awesomely awesome, Mr. President?"

Hopefully by Sunday we'll see a detailed programming schedule so I know exactly when to turn to another channel to (hopefully) avoid Obama and ruin my good time.

OK, Dan, You Can Go Away Now

The thing that wouldn't leave may no longer have a choice.

New York's highest court on Tuesday declined to hear an appeal by former CBS Evening News anchor Dan Rather of his lawsuit against CBS Corp.

In a brief summary order, the New York Court of Appeals denied Rather's motion to file an appeal of a lower court's decision in September dismissing Rather's claim.

A lawyer for Rather didn't immediately return a phone call seeking comment on Tuesday.

Rather had alleged in part that CBS violated his contract by failing to provide him enough airtime on "60 Minutes" or "60 Minutes II" after removing him as anchor of CBS Evening News in March 2005 following a controversy over a 2004 report about President George W. Bush's service in the Texas Air National Guard.

Appeals Court Tosses Rather's Suit Against CBS

The disgraced former CBS news anchor has finally been given the heave-ho by an appeals court today. Hopefully now he'll slither off into obscurity.

Bad news for Dan Rather: His $70 million lawsuit against CBS is no more.

In a 19-page decision made public Tuesday, a state appeals court dismissed the legendary newsman's suit against CBS.

Rather, 77, sued the Tiffany network in 2007 after his career at CBS collapsed in the wake of a "60 Minutes II" report about former President George W.Bush's Vietnam-era military service.

The folksy newsman accused CBS executives of caving to Republican interests, coercing him into a public apology after the controversial report aired in September 2004.

The report claimed "high-level political influence" kept Bush out of combat by securing him a cushy spot in the Texas Air National Guard during the Vietnam War.

As recently as Sept. 21, lawyers for Rather said he would be vindicated and that Bush's military service would be proven to be a sham.

Rather is fortunate he and his odious producer, Mary Mapes, were never prosecuted for their perfidy.

Oddly enough, Rather still manages to draw a paycheck today from the obscure HDNet, owned by Mark Cuban.

Maybe He Should've Called Her a Terrorist And Wished Kidney Failure Upon Her

I thought these comments were over the top to begin with and now CBS golf analyst David Feherty has apologized.

"Despite how the conflict has been portrayed by our glorious media, if you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice, and Harry Reid and bin Laden would be strangled to death."

Feherty, a former Ryder Cup player who grew up in Northern Ireland, has gone to Iraq over Thanksgiving the past two years to visit with U.S. troops, and he created a foundation to help wounded soldiers.

"This passage was a metaphor meant to describe how American troops felt about our 43rd president," Feherty said in a statement. "In retrospect, it was inappropriate and unacceptable, and has clearly insulted Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid, and for that, I apologize. As for our troops, they know I will continue to do as much as I can for them both at home and abroad."

Feherty has lived in Dallas the past dozen years. Along with working for CBS Sports, he writes a monthly column for Golf magazine and has written four books, the last one titled, "An Idiot for All Season."

Maybe he should pretend to be a liberal and claim the satire defense? That usually seems to work. Or better yet, why doesn't he get a free pass like amateur comedian Wanda Sykes? After all, her comments about Rush Limbaugh the other night had them rolling in the aisles.