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by TChris
When U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia spoke to high school students yesterday about the importance of protecting constitutional rights, he may have forgotten that freedom of the press is one of those rights.
During Scalia's speech at the high school, U.S. Marshal Melanie Rube demanded that a reporter with The Associated Press erase a tape recording of the justice's remarks. Rube also took a tape recording made by a reporter with the Hattiesburg American.
At an earlier appearance before a college audience, Justice Scalia told television reporters to leave.
Did Justice Scalia have a reason not to want his remarks reported accurately? Perhaps the Justice recalls that he had to recuse himself from the Pledge of Allegiance case after publicly commenting on the lower court decision at a Knights of Columbus rally.
Via Wonkette we learn that Fear and Loathing 2004 is coming....gonzo journalist Hunter Thompson will be joining the campaign trail to write a book about the 2004 elections.
Thompson voted for Ralph Nader in 2000. But he made it clear he favors Kerry this time, and plans to train his savagely satirical rhetoric on Bush, providing the Secret Service lets him anywhere near either candidate.
Hunter is recuperating from a broken leg and finishing an article on Lisl Auman, whose felony murder conviction appeal is under consideration by the Supreme Court. Hunter has been a steadfast supporter of Lisl, who was sentenced to life in prison without parole under the felony murder rule for the killing of a police officer even though she was sitting in the back of the patrol car when the shooting occurred. The shooter, after killing the officer, then killed himself. Hunter is responsible for getting NACDL, former Sen. Gary Hart and Minn. Gov. Jesse Ventura to support Lisl.
Which New York Times op-ed columnist are you? Take the quiz. Jeanne D'arc of Body and Soul is Maureen Dowd. We're Bob Herbert:
You are Bob Herbert! You're not the most sparkling writer, but one of the most solid and selfless on the Op-Ed staff. You focus on New York politics, the poor, race issues, and civil liberties. You like to quote others, and rarely place yourself in your columns. You keep it real. Seriously.
Friday night's "Majority Report," the Air America Radio show hosted by Janeane Garofalo and Sam Seder, will be re-broadcast this afternoon at 3PM ET. You can listen via the internet . Guests are Gov. Dean, Al Franken, Helen Thomas, and Bill Scher from Liberal Oasis.
Update: We hear Richard Clarke will be on Al Franken's show Monday, noon-3pm ET, but it's not on their website so don't hold us to it.
Who's that mustachioed, 62 year old man cavorting with models in the new Victoria Secrets lingerie ad on tv? None other than Bob Dylan. (WSJ, subscription only.)
Mr. Dylan once sang of "Advertising signs that con you/Into thinking you're the one/That can do what's never been done/That can win what's never been won/Meantime life outside goes on/All around you" in his 1965 song "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)." Now, some fans are distraught: "I'm going to have to go blow my brains out," says John Baky, curator of a collection of Dylan material housed at Philadelphia's La Salle University.
Dylan's purported purpose: To introduce his music to the 18 year old crowd and "freshen his fan base." Whatever it takes to keep his music alive and on the airwaves is A-okay by us.
Update: The LA Times (free subscription required) begins a weekly series of articles about songwriters. This week it profiles Bob Dylan.
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Bump and update: We posted this a day early. Via Skippy, we learn that Julia of Sisyphus Shrugged has posted the full schedule and station details for Air America. The New York Times reports on today's launch here. The fun starts at noon, ET.
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original post 3/30 12:06 am
Liberal talk radio station Air America hits the airwaves Wednesday. If you aren't in one of their starting cities, you can tune in on the internet here. The cities are: New York (WLIB 1190), Chicago (WNTD 950), Los Angeles (KBLA 1580) and San Francisco (to be announced).
Janeane Garofalo will be on for 3 hours every weeknight. Other prime talkjocks include Al Franken (whose show will be called "The O'Franken Factor") and Lizz Winstead (The Daily Show) and rapper Chuck D, who will have a weekend morning show. Bobby Kennedy will have also have a weekend show.
Update: Atrios will be making an appearance on Wednesday's opener.
[Edited to correct date to Wednesday.]
Liberal Oasis today has an exclusive interview with Craig Unger, author of "House of Bush, House of Saud". Mr. Unger talks about:
- "The Great Escape", how 140 Saudis were ferried out of the US by the White House after 9/11 before key figures could be interrogated
- Are the neocons right on Saudi Arabia?
- The Clinton record on cracking down on the Saudis.
House of Bush, House of Saud:The Secret Relationship Between the World's Two Most Powerful Dynasties
Janet Jackson discusses her Super Bowl breast-baring incident with David Letterman tonight. She says it was an accident, and CBS told her not to go to the Grammy's. CBS used its censor power for Janet's Letterman appearance, and censored she got. Her offensive word? "Jesus."
She'll also appear Wednesday on "Good Morning America" on ABC, which has instituted a five second tape delay of her performance.
Last week we wrote about House of Bush, House of Saud, the new book about the relationship between George Bush and the Saudi Royal Family. Now, Eric Boehlert, writing for Salon, tells us that a British publisher has dropped the book, fearing lawsuits from the Saudis.
From the book's website:
House of Bush, House of Saud begins with a single question: How is it that two days after September 11, 2001, even as American air traffic was tightly restricted, a Saudi billionaire socialized in the White House with President George W. Bush as 140 Saudi citizens, many immediate kin to Osama Bin Laden, were permitted to return to their country? A potential treasure trove of intelligence was allowed to flee the country-- including an alleged al-Qaeda intermediary who was said to have foreknowledge of the 9/11 attacks. Why did the FBI facilitate this evacuation, and why didn't the agency question the people on the planes? Why did Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of most of the hijackers, receive exclusive and preferential treatment from the White House even as the World Trade Center continued to burn?
by TChris
If the late night talk show hosts either shape or reflect the mood of the country, John Kerry can take comfort in the fact that he is ridiculed less than the President.
In Washington, of course, everything must be studied and scrutinized. So the Center for Media and Public Affairs has divined that Bush remains the biggest late-night target -- the butt of 213 jokes from Jan. 1 through March 9 -- compared with 53 for Kerry (who barely beat the 43 jibes aimed at Dennis Kucinich). Even in February, when Kerry was surging to the nomination, it was Bush hands down, 121 to 25.
Even Jay Leno is taking hard shots at Bush.
"President Bush admitted that his prewar intelligence wasn't what it should have been," Jay Leno said. "We knew that when we elected him."
Ouch!
Leno and the other late night comedians make fun of Kerry's hair, appearance, and alleged flip-flopping, but 94 percent of the jokes about intelligence, and 89 percent about honesty, have been told about Bush. It will be a long campaign season for the President if the trend continues.
by TChris
As TalkLeft recently reported, Air America Radio, a network with a progressive perspective, will go on the air March 31. One of its key ingredients is Al Franken -- the left's answer to Dennis Miller. This in-depth profile of Franken in The New York Times Magazine gives an overview of the network and of Franken's prospects for success as a talk radio host.
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