LA Times Profiles 'Husky, Pony-tailed Blogger'

Somehow I doubt the LA Times will ever get around to profiling their bête noire Patterico. Instead hack columnist James Rainey slobbers over angry left Ponytail Man.

Back when he built his Little Green Footballs website into a favorite of the conservative right, Charles Johnson liked to write about the "Loony Left" and "Bush Derangement Syndrome."

He would pair accounts of extremist violence with sarcastic headlines about Islam, the "Religion of Peace." A 2006 anti-war rally in Washington went down as an "Idiotfest" and activist Cindy Sheehan "Mama Moonbat."

Imagine the surprise among conservatives to learn -- in a series of postings over nearly the last two years, and then in an official declaration of estrangement a little more than a month ago -- that their darling did not love them anymore. Maybe he never did.

Johnson's posting on Nov. 30, “Why I Parted Ways with The Right,” created a maelstrom in some corners of the blogosphere and the Twitterverse. Onetime hyperlinking pals have called him a tyrant and a traitor. Earlier, one had questioned his sanity.

It's a lot more than one. Of course Rainey is basically clueless as to who Ponytail Man really is and probably never even heard of him until he started trashing conservatives and sucking up to the left.

I won't pretend to have read enough of the husky, pony-tailed blogger's work to give a full report card on his tactics, or politics.

Yeah, but he's happy to label others.

In recent months, Johnson's jabs at right-wing icons have been more frequent. He now regularly takes digs at Fox News, vitriolic blogger Michelle Malkin and, with particular glee, Glenn Beck.

How has Rainey determined Michelle Malkin is a vitriolic blogger? Or is he taking the husky pony-tailed blogger's word for it?

Newspaper Circulation Crumbles

Sure, people are cutting back on non-essential purposes during a bad economy, but I suspect even if were were enjoying a robust economy many of these newspapers would still be losing readers.

But this is as bad as it gets. Check that. It'll probably get worse.

The Audit Bureau of Circulations released this morning the spring figures for the six months ending March 31, 2009, showing that the largest metros continue to shed daily and Sunday circulation -- now at a record rate.

According to ABC, for 395 newspapers reporting this spring, daily circulation fell 7% to 34,439,713 copies, compared with the same March period in 2008. On Sunday, for 557 newspapers, circulation was down 5.3% to 42,082,707. These averages do not include 84 newspapers with circulations below 50,000 due to a change in publishing frequency.

The percent comparisons are for the same period ending in March 2008. (All daily averages are for Monday through Friday.)

Daily circulation at The New York Times dropped 3.5% to 1,039,031. The Times' Sunday circ was down 1.7% to 1,451,233.

The Washington Post lost 1.6% of its daily circ to 665,383 and 2.3% to 868,965.

USA Today, as reported earlier this month, lost 7.4% of its daily circulation to 2,113,725 due to a decline in hotel copies.

Daily circulation at The Wall Street Journal was up a fraction 0.6% to 2,082,189, but this was certainly the exception, not the rule.

Daily circulation at The Boston Globe skidded 13.6% to 302,638 copies. Sunday decreased 11.2% to 466,665.

New York's Daily News was off 14%, but rival New York Post lost even more, at minus 20%. The Star-Ledger of Newark shed over 16%. Newsday, by comparison, lost 3%*.

Daily circulation at The Miami Herald fell 15.8% to 202,122. Sunday is down 13.1% to 270,166.

San Francisco Chronicle shed 15.7% of daily copies to 312,118. Sunday fell 16.5% to 312,118.

Tribune Co. papers rolled out highly touted redesigns in this period, but lost readers. The Chicago Tribune lost 7.4% of its daily circulation to 501,202 and 4.5% on Sunday to 858,256 copies. Circulation plunged at the Los Angeles Times at 6.5% of its daily circulation (Monday through Friday) to 723,181 copies. Sunday was down 7.4% to 1,019,388.

The Philadelphia Inquirer lost 13.7% of its daily circulation to 288,298. Sunday was hit just as hard, down 12% to 550,400. Daily circulation at its sister publication the Daily News fell 7.6% to 99,103. (At the end of March the Inquirer started distributing the Daily News within its pages. The change does not affect the circulation for this period.)

Daily circulation at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution plummeted almost 20% to 261,828. Sunday decreased 7% to 462,011.

The top 25 in circulation are listed here.

These plummeting figures can't be strictly blamed on newspapers losing readers due to a liberal slant, especially when the one paper you could say that has a conservative op-ed slant, the New York Post, dropped 20%. Since the Post is owned by News Corp. (as is the WSJ), I'd expect them to weather this. However, some of these newspapers are hemorrhaging so may readers and losing ad revenue at record rates they just may not survive with a print model. Moving strictly online is already being done with some large dailies and that may be the only avenue of survival at this point.

Linked at Instapundit. Thanks!

LA Times Reveals Contents of Explosive Political Tape

Oh wait, this one was potentially damaging to a Republican, so it was OK.

In the sanctuary of his Capitol office with an audio recorder rolling, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger describes Republican legislators as the “wild bunch” and, referring to a Latina lawmaker, casually says that “black blood” mixed with “Latino blood” equals “hot” – a fiery personality.

The governor is heard on a six-minute recording, obtained by The Times, of a meeting with some members of his inner circle last spring. At the time, Schwarzenegger was struggling to persuade Republican lawmakers to embrace his plan to place billions of dollars in borrowing on the November ballot.

It’s unclear why the session was taped, but Schwarzenegger occasionally records private meetings so that speechwriters, in particular, can keep a record of his thoughts and cadence. This audio recording mainly consists of relaxed banter among Schwarzenegger and a few aides, and it offers an unusually candid look at his administration when the doors are closed.

Via Drudge.

Funny, but when it comes to Republicans, they have no problems revealing contents of a tape.

But when it comes to Barack Obama, no can do. They're getting plenty of heat, but are trying to run out the clock for another six days.

Media bias? What media bias?

Instapundit links. Thanks!

More Restructuring at LA Times, 75 Staffers Redeployed to Unemployment Line

Stuff like this just breaks my heart. Though maybe Obama can redistribute some money to them from their corporate masters. I just hope the incriminating tape of Obama doesn't get lost while folks are packing up their belongings.

The Los Angeles Times plans to cut 75 jobs, or 10 percent of its news staff, a response to the world financial crisis that is exacerbating already painful advertising declines at U.S. newspapers.

The cuts are comparable in scale to some that the Times made on the business side of its operations last week, Editor Russ Stanton told employees in an e-mail message that the Times posted on its website on Monday.

"The growing economic downturn is forcing us to undergo another round of job reductions and cost cuts," Stanton wrote. "I appreciate your patience, understanding and cooperation during this difficult period."

It is the second round of news staff layoffs since a previous round was announced in July. The paper has offered buyouts and has cut back staff levels in its news operations from a high of some 1,200 a bit less than a decade ago.

A Times spokeswoman declined to comment on the news.

LA Times Trashes McCain's Military Record

It's not as if we're not at all familiar with John McCain's accidents as a fighter pilot. It's been well-chronicled for years. Curious though how we're treated to another long story from a mainstream media outlet just four weeks out from the election.

I'll assume the Los Angeles Times will soon have an in-depth profile of Barack Obam's years as a community organizer and all his mishaps and faults in judgment.

The LA Times is in possession of a tape of Barack Obama praising a PLO operative, as noted here, but won't release it. But they'll trash a patriot like John McCain.

Media bias? What media bias?

Speaking of the distant past, Obama plans to dredge up the Keating Five scandal from the early 1980's. No doubt the media will be happy to cooperate with that line of attack.

McCain-Palin spokesman Brian Rogers said: "The difference here is clear. John McCain has been open and honest about the Keating matter, and even the Democratic special counsel in charge recommended that Senator McCain be completely exonerated. By contrast, Barack Obama has been fundamentally dishonest about his friendship and work with the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers, whose radical group bombed the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol. Nor has Barack Obama come clean on his close friendship with Tony Rezko, a felon convicted on bribery charges who subsidized the purchase of Barack Obama’s home. It's obvious that Barack Obama is frantically attacking because he knows that most voters find these kinds of friendships, and the failed judgment they expose, to be unacceptable for our next president."

Villaraigosa Passed Over As DNC Speaker, LA Times Baffled

Seriously, they can't be this stupid. It's one thing to pretend that a daily onslaught of attacks is the reason why Barack Obama is cratering in the polls, but does the author of this have any memory dating back further than last week?

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa won't have a featured role at next week's Democratic National Convention in Denver, the political pep rally that can be a springboard for the party's brightest stars.

Villaraigosa was a national co-chair for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential bid. When she bowed out, the mayor was quick to toss his support behind presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama -- and was even tapped to introduce the Illinois senator at a convention of Latino leaders in July.

Uh, maybe the reason why is Villairaigosa not too long ago was busy tapping something else? Let's have a stroll down memory lane, shall we?

A Spanish-language newscaster who was suspended for two months after having an affair with Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa while reporting on him left her job at the station on Monday.

A KVEA-TV spokesman declined to elaborate why Mirthala Salinas did not show up to start her new assignment following the unpaid suspension.

"Telemundo and Mirtha Salinas have mutually agreed to end our employment relationship effective October 1," station spokesman Victor M. Franco said.

Just in case these verbal clues aren't helping jog any memories, here's a visual aid that might ring some bells.


You see that woman on the left? Yes, her. That's Ms. Salinas. OK, now the Mayor of Los Angeles, the aforementioned Mr. Villaraigosa, he's the guy on the right. He was, how shall we politely put this, banging Ms. Salinas while he was still married. It caused quite the stir. Heck, it even made news in the Los Angeles Times, which noted it wasn't his first affair.

Now I understand extramarital affairs are a given in certain communities (I'm talking about Democrats) and are often resume enhancers. However, in the current climate (see Edwards, John), Barack Obama is desperately trying to portray his party as (snicker) family-oriented.

Why else you think he keeps trotting his kids out for every photo-op (while pretending he wants privacy for them)?

Still, the Times tries to avoid the obvious.

Larry Gerston, a political scientist at San Jose State University, said he thought Villaraigosa was passed by simply because California is expected to be an easy win for Obama.

It makes more sense, he said, to have speakers from states that are up for grabs.

Which of course fails to explain why the Clintons, putatively from New York, will be speaking during 97% of televised proceedings.

GOP pollster and political consultant Arnold Steinberg of Los Angeles thinks the Obama campaign is making a mistake.

"He's the mayor of Los Angeles. I would think they would give him some more attention," Steinberg said.

"Maybe they thought it was easier to pronounce 'Richardson' than 'Villaraigosa.' "

No, maybe it was a lot easier to avoid having the audience sitting at home saying "Oh yeah, that's the mayor of LA, the one who was screwing the hot TV babe" and becoming distracted from the yummy brainmush of hope and change.

Another Media Quagmire: LA Times and Chicago Tribune Cutting Jobs

Look at the bright side. There will be fewer propagandists journalists gushing over Barack Obama.

Tribune Company newspapers like The Los Angeles Times and The Chicago Tribune will quickly cut costs — by printing fewer papers and employing fewer journalists — top company executives said on Thursday.

Samuel Zell, the chairman and chief executive of Tribune, and Randy Michaels, the company’s chief operating officer, revealed the cuts during a conference call with Wall Street analysts.

They also said the struggling company has looked at the column inches of news produced by each reporter, and by each paper’s news staff. Finding wide variation, they said, they have concluded that it could do without a large number of news employees and not lose much content.

What does that tell you about these people?

Mr. Michaels said of the changes, “This is going to happen quickly.”

Hurry. Time's wasting.

Gay Marriage Proponents Finally Find a Poll to Their Liking

If at first you don't succeed, just keep polling. Eventually you'll get your way. And when you do, it's time to celebrate. Who cares if the polling sample is hugely slanted left?

Last week it was this news:

Times Poll: Californians narrowly reject gay marriage

Of course, as Patterico points out by narrowly they mean 19 points. That headline, by the way, is the fourth incarnation.

Now today, something called the Field Poll comes out with--surprise!--a poll completely contradicting the LA Times, and we have a swing of 28 points.

Naturally, trumpets are blaring.

CALIFORNIA MAJORITY BACKS GAY MARRIAGE: Field Poll director calls results a milestone

In a dramatic reversal of decades of public opinion, California voters agree by a slim majority that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry, according to a Field Poll released today.

By 51-42 percent, registered voters said they believed same-sex marriage should be legal in California. Only 28 percent favored gay marriage in 1977, when the Field Poll first asked that question, said Mark DiCamillo, the poll's director.

Decades of public opinion? How about public opinion from last Friday?

A statewide Los Angeles Times/KTLA Poll released last week showed different results: 54 percent of registered voters said they would support the initiative that would change the state Constitution to ban same-sex marriage.

"When we get results that we think are surprising, we double- and triple-check our numbers, and that's what we did here," said DiCamillo. "Everything in this poll is consistent internally."

It's not unusual for two polls to have conflicting numbers, said Steve Kinney, a veteran GOP pollster.

"It's all in the methodology, who you actually talked to and whether they accurately represented that state as a whole," he said. "But even if you have confidence in your numbers, you're always scared if you come up with something totally different. Are you wrong, or is the other guy?"

In the end, the obvious discrepancy and dubious nature of polling won't matter a bit. Even if the majority do not want gay marriage, it'll be shoved down their throats anyway.

Naturally, at the home office for leftwing hate, they're typically understated and reach out to their opponents.

Californians STRONGLY In Favor of Gay Marriage

The right-wing haters who are likely to qualify their iniative [sic] may have overplayed their hands. Not only are they on the wrong side of history, on the wrong side of Arnold, but they are hoping for a yes vote in a state that loves to vote no on initiatives.

Of course, if you refer to the poll, you see under ideology a full 70 percent of those sampled consider themselves middle of the road (53-35%), moderately liberal (72-23) or strongly liberal (85-11))and they overwhelming favor gay marriage. If you look at the 30% considered moderately conservative (61-32) or strongly conservative (85-11).

When broken down by party, the sample is 43% Democrat, 33% Republican, 24% non-partisan. In other words, Republicans are outnumbered 67-33%. Los Angeles County and the San Francisco Bay Area comprise 46% of those polled.

In other words, this poll doesn't even come close to a fair representation of the population. Granted, California is a blue state, but you cannot possibly claim a poll where left outnumbers right 70-30% as valid.

LA Times Gets Bamboozled

The LA Times ran a story the other day based on fabricated documents, but that isn't news to anybody familiar with the mainstream media. The real shocker in this story is that now they actually admit they did it and apologized

The Los Angeles Times apologized for using documents that were apparently fabricated in a story implicating associates of Sean "Diddy" Combs in a 1994 assault on rapper Tupac Shakur.

"The bottom line is that the documents we relied on should not have been used," Editor Russ Stanton said in a story posted Wednesday night on the newspaper's Web site. "We apologize both to our readers and to those referenced in the documents ... and in the story."

Pulitzer-prize winning reporter Chuck Philips, who wrote the story, and his supervisor, Deputy Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin, also apologized.

The apologies followed an investigation launched by Stanton after The Smoking Gun Web site reported earlier in the day that the paper was conned by a prisoner who doctored the documents.

Looks like the "Dan Rather School of Journalism" is alive and well; i.e., run with any junk you can make up and see if others can prove you are wrong. At least they did not try the "fake but accurate" line of garbage.

You might well wonder why the MSM seems to have a habit of running these bungled stories. This may be a hint:

The story and related features on latimes.com attracted nearly 1 million hits -- more viewers than any other story on latimes.com this year, the newspaper said.

It is becoming clear that the MSM is simply becoming a forum for rumors and half-baked theories, all in pursuit of hits and readership.

The MSM, printing all the stories that fit their agenda.