Archive for the ‘internet/free speech’ Category

Films from Pam Geller’s Ground Zero Mosque Event

Posted: February 17, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, special events
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Pam’s site has the most comprehensive coverage here and here and here and here but I took a few films myself:

City Counselor Daniel Halloran

Nelly Braginsky.

Sally Regenhard

I have some stills as well:

Ilario Pantano

Ilario Pantano didn’t speak long but her got a roaring reception

Eileen Walsh

Eileen Walsh lost a son

Nelly Braginskaya

I would have very much liked to have known Nelly Braginskaya before she lost her son, she struck me as a person who was full love life.

Sally Regenhard

Sally also lost a son.

Rosaleen Tallon flanked by Joyce Boland and Eileen Walsh

It always seem to be the women who persists when other falter

Rosaleen at the podium

Rosaleen spoke first and I think her presentation was the strongest

A side panel shot

Also speaking was Rosa Leonetti of Smart Girl Politics. I don’t have film or photos but she raised important points such as:
“The Ground Zero mosque is not a political football.”
“Two Imans were replaced but they persist and so will we”
She also noted that people of the left have no problem trying to trace tea party funding but they don’t try to find where the money for the ground zero mosque is coming from.

One of the things that really shocked me was the statement that city counselors apparently said they opposed the Mosque privately but couldn’t support the 9/11 families publicly. I asked about this during the Q & A:

This event was scheduled at the same time as a Ron Paul event directly across of it. I don’t think this was a coincidence. Pamela fearlessness in speaking openly about things that others would like to forget makes some uncomfortable (just as Reagan’s calling the soviets an evil empire annoyed many) as she reports Salon.com being salon painted things a tad differently. I think it is significant that Pam embedded Elliott’s film and linked to it yet Salon didn’t deem it worthwhile to link to the video of Pam’s event so readers could see for themselves.

For the life of me I can’t understand Mayor Bloomberg support for these guys. As a man as comfortable as he is I don’t see what there is to gain.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Pam Geller is a national treasure I was proud to have her on my show and I’d be happy to have her back again. Like many others who have sounded warnings in times of crisis we ignore her at her peril, Luke 4:24 could be written about her.

Ladd Ehlinger at CPAC

Posted: February 17, 2011 by datechguy in fun, internet/free speech, primaries 2012, special events
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It was my pleasure to run into Ladd Ehlinger again at CPAC:

Ladd without a question made the most memorable and simply fun ads of the last political cycle. Such as:

and this:

and this:

As the next election cycle draws near, if you want to get your name out there, Ladd is the man to call

A smart move by NYU on Nir Rosen

Posted: February 16, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, media, middle east
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As you might have heard something horrible happened to Lara Logan in Egypt.

Lara Logan was attacked and sexually assaulted last Friday in Cairo’s Tahrir Square while filming a piece for “60 Minutes.”

The CBS report has the following details:

In the crush of the mob, she was separated from her crew. She was surrounded and suffered a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating before being saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers. She reconnected with the CBS team, returned to her hotel and returned to the United States on the first flight the next morning. She is currently home recovering.

Ace of spades expressed outrage:

…if I am not weary of a barbaric desert nomad culture of rape and outrage while carrying around a ton of chip-on-the-shoulder arrogance-hiding-profound-insecurity about it all.

Nir Rosen of NYU and the far left former embedded reporter for the Taliban decided that this was a good time to vent his spleen against this “war monger”

The initial tweet by Rosen stated, “Lara Logan had to outdo Anderson. Where was her buddy McCrystal.” From this tweet he went further, writing that he would have been amused if Anderson Cooper had also been sexually assaulted.

“Yes yes its wrong what happened to her. Of course. I don’t support that. But, it would have been funny if it happened to Anderson too,” wrote Rosen.

The two comments gave way to more. Rosen called Logan a “war monger” and expressed doubt that she was actually assaulted.

“Jesus Christ, at a moment when she is going to become a martyr and glorified we should at least remember her role as a major war monger” wrote Rosen.

“Look, she was probably groped like thousands of other women, which is still wrong, but if it was worse than [sic] I’m sorry.”

Usually when someone from the far left says something disgusting it is ignored expect by us on the right like the National Review :

But let’s just remember one thing going forward: Nir Rosen believed this was the right moment to let the world know that he “ran out of sympathy for her” and that we should “remember her role as a major war monger” and that we “have to find humor in the small things.”

Jim didn’t expect much from NYU on this but this time they acted:

From Karen J. Greenberg, Executive Director, Center on Law and Security

Nir Rosen is always provocative, but he crossed the line yesterday with his comments about Lara Logan. I am deeply distressed by what he wrote about Ms. Logan and strongly denounce his comments. They were cruel and insensitive and completely unacceptable. Mr. Rosen tells me that he misunderstood the severity of the attack on her in Cairo. He has apologized, withdrawn his remarks, and submitted his resignation as a fellow, which I have accepted. However, this in no way compensates for the harm his comments have inflicted. We are all horrified by what happened to Ms. Logan, and our thoughts are with her during this difficult time.

Why did NYU decide to act when Jim didn’t think they would? I’d like to think it is because they don’t like this kind of thing from their folks, however I suspect it is because Nir made one mistake, his choice of targets. Logan is a member not of the right or of Fox news but of the MSM, CBS to be exact.

The media will tolerate an awful lot of stuff if thrown against someone of the right, but if you go after one of their own (and until and unless she goes to Fox News she will be considered on of their own) they will object loudly. Thus NYU does the right thing and the smart thing and Nir Rosen is gone.

If you are a fan of Rosen I wouldn’t feel too sorry, it won’t be long before the media moves on and Mr. Rosen is once again teaching our youth on the evils of America.

My Andrew Breitbart Interview and the “Ladders” photo

Posted: February 14, 2011 by datechguy in internet/free speech, short films/interviews, special events
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In a classic case of horrible timing Andrew Brietbart came into the bloggers lounge just as my Radio show was about to start ( 10 a.m).

Since I had several pre-recorded segments I figured I might be able to grab him for a few minutes, in between, alas that was not the case as my windows were too small, he was however very generous with his time to everyone in the blogger, answered every question and never talked down to anyone despite his national prominence.

When the show was done I went to the lobby and Andrew was talking another group of fans, and again giving of his time. I approached him at that point and he was kind enough to ahem “sit” for an interview:

Well “sit” in a metaphorical sense. As soon as he agreed to be interviewed, he promptly jumped on a table and lay down thus:

Andrew Breitbarts "sits" for an interview at CPAC 2011

When I first saw the photo I instantly thought of this:

But Breitbart is entirely serious, his exposure of the Pigford case has prompted attack after attack from Media Matters desperate to make their twisted version of Breitbart the story. (Hey it’s what Soros pays them for). The problem for Media matters is that Pigford can’t really handle the scrutiny:

“I have to say in the beginning I was cautious…When Andrew called, I [said] ‘I hope you aren’t just trying to gin this whole thing up to make amends for [Sherrod],’” Schafer said. “But this is solid. I mean it is solid background they dug out people, files, times, and dates. They have put together a pretty impressive body of work.”

His presentation on Pigford was devastating:

* Tom Burrell, president the Black Farmers and Agriculture Association, of tells potential claimants what happened when the checks hit the streets: “Where did you get that new truck from? Why is Sears Roebuck visiting your house? … Something’s up.
* “This lawsuit is not a farming lawsuit, it’s a discrimination lawsuit. … Who wants to go through the process today? Get paid?”
* On the four questions that supposedly act as a test for claims in Pigford: “Look at the four questions like a baseball game … When do you get a score?”
* Stranahan then says that Burrell gives them the correct — and allegedly unchallengeable — answers that will win them a Pigford score. “Did he own land? Let’s suppose the answer is no. The judge is going to give you three more shots at it. … Did he ATTEMPT to own? … How does the judge know if you tried? [Laughter] … Congress set up a system … “everyone who says they tried [unintelligible] then you have to give them credit for it.”
* “The issue is not whether you farmed in 1965, but whether you were discriminated against in 1981-1996. … My sister said my daddy went to the USDA office between 1981 and 1996. … The judge says you get paid.”

With a republican House willing to follow-up on this stuff, the subject has to be changed so presto here comes the defamation lawsuit:

Shirley Sherrod has filed a lawsuit against Andrew Breitbart over a video released by the conservative personality that lead to her ouster as an official at the USDA.

Breitbart was served on Saturday at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), according to the New York Times: “In the suit, which was filed in Washington on Friday, Ms. Sherrod says the video has damaged her reputation and prevented her from continuing her work.”

The “We are Acorn Mighty Mighty Acorn” left are positively drooling over this but the ability to deflect one press conference for one day can’t compare to what is going to follow:

This seems like a dangerous play for Mrs. Sherrod, because now Andrew and the Bigs can depose her, her friends, get documents they couldn’t otherwise get, and conduct all manner of discovery on her. In other words, they have the power of the law to dig deeper into the scandal. In fact, it’s probably something Andrew has been dreaming about for months.

Or as his official release puts it:

Mr. Breitbart categorically rejects the transparent effort to chill his constitutionally protected free speech and, to reiterate, looks forward to exercising his full and broad discovery rights.

The real problem for the left is this. Breitbart’s under bright lights shows what he does as the legitimate reporting it is, its what he’s been wanting since day one. The left under light can’t say the same. Expect the left to quietly drop this suit when the heat of discovery process gets too hot for them and expect that to be a single line at the bottom of page F39 for the MSM. If their goal was to try to win one day of media then fine you accomplished that but like the national credit card that the left has been living on for decades, payment will come due WITH INTEREST and Andrew Breitbart will be collecting.

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