Hey, Howard Kurtz: Any Anonymous Fox News Employees Dissing Geraldo Rivera?

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Howard Kurtz of the Washington Post had a column yesterday in which he allowed anonymous Fox News employees to portray Glenn Beck as a liability to the network who “undermines their credibility.” To which I responded at the Hot Air Green Room:

OK, so Beck can be wrong and when he’s wrong, it looks bad for Fox News. On the other hand . . . Geraldo Rivera.
Why am I suspicious that Geraldo is among those “Fox journalists” most worried about Beck’s impact on their “credibility”?

You can read the rest of that. After I posted it, I got an e-mail from a reader:

I just read your article, Success, Envy and Glenn Beck and found the Geraldo digs extremely amusing. . . .
I met Geraldo when I was sixteen (am now 39). He was the featured speaker at our local MADD conference, and I was a SADD delegate from my highschool. Nancy Reagan was supposed to be the featured speaker, but alas, cancer surgery, so we were stuck with Geraldo. He walked into the Cajun Dome (Lafayette, LA) with escorted by State Troopers. Into a MADD conference. Because, y’know…those crazed anti-drunk driving mothers… He then proceeded to talk. And talk. And talk. Mostly about himself. It started to all sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher after a while, but I am fairly certain he talked about his past drug and alcohol use. I know he lectured the attending students about staying clean, which highly ticked us off. I mean, hey, we were the SADD delegates. Idiot. So, I got to meet him in person, and he came across as a total ass. But I got my picture in the paper with him, so not the total loss.
My opinion of him has not changed. When he comes on television, I switch channels. If you ever meet him, please tell him I remember meeting him, and that I watch Glenn Beck.

Sincerely,
Susan

Thanks, Susan.

Rep. Jim Jordan Speaks Out Against ObamaCare 2.0, Defends Tea Party

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Philip Klein of the American Spectator reports:

The House Budget Committee has voted down a Republican motion in support of the abortion language favored by Rep. Bart Stupak on a 19 to 17 vote, with three Democrats voting in favor of it. . . .
Rep. Jim Jordan offered the motion for Republicans . . .

Who would have thought this Congress and this administration would again attempt to ram through this health care bill using a partisan reconciliation process? Simply put, Mr. Chairman, the American people have had enough. They told Democrats “no” in August, “no” in September, they told them “no” at Thanksgiving, “no” at Christmas when they tried to pass this bill, they said “no” when Democrats wanted to do it by the State of the Union, and they’re going to say “no” tomorrow, when thousands of Americans come to Washington again to say, “Enough is enough.”
During the past year, I’ve traveled around our district, throughout Ohio, I’ve seen first-hand the emergence of a grassroots movement fueled in large part by the arrogant and out-of-control federal government. Millions of Americans from every walk of life have stood up, in many cases for the first time, to make their voices heard. They gather in town squares, they organize, they pray, and they’ve marched on Washington.
Far from the dangerous extremists the other side and the elite media may characterize them as, these are ordinary citizens — moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas — who believe that America is an exceptional nation. They are freedom-loving Americans who feel like their government is ignoring them. . . . They believe that there are ideals and principles that make this country unique throughout history and they see those principles being assaulted everyday in Washington.
— Rep. Jim Jordan, 4th District Ohio

That’s just about the best defense of the Tea Party movement I’ve seen by any politician, and I certainly hope Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) gets re-elected. Meanwhile, Democrats have prepared their talking-points for tomorrow’s protests, and Allahpundit says:

Show of hands — who’s going tomorrow? And among those of you who are, who’s still so ignorant about the basics of the bill after month upon endless month of Obama speechifying that you need some Democratic backbencher to explain it to you?

More at The Hill, with blog commentary from Weasel Zippers, Adam Brickley, Ace of Spades, Gateway Pundit, Left Coast Rebel and Another Black Conservative.

Your latest Zombie Health Care Cramdown headlines:

Smitty will be attending Tuesday’s rally on Capitol Hill and relaying reports with photos and videos to me for posting in near-real-time, so if you can’t make it D.C., don’t miss this coverage.

TUESDAY: STOP OBAMACARE 2.0!
CAPITOL HILL 9 A.M.
BE THERE!

 PREVIOUSLY:

Is There A Hint Of Rationale Amidst The Madness?

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by Smitty

Update: fixed HotAir link.

If the moves of the Democrats in Congress were not so despicable, one could nearly feel some sympathy, almost. They’ve worked so hard to drive the Progressive agenda, have so many special interests pulling their strings, that they have to pass something, anything, even if it’s a baby that aborts its own mother in the birthing.

So, given that heinous outcome, and the knowledge that the Faustian bargains that put you in power threaten the fabric of that very power, what do do? HotAir may offer a clue:

A former federal appellate judge appointed by Bush took to the Journal’s op-ed page today to declare the Slaughter strategy flatly unconstitutional, which means there’ll almost certainly be a court challenge to try to undo the legislation if they use this procedure to pass the bill. Given the potential downside of all that, I’m frankly amazed that they’re still considering it instead of simply biting the bullet and having an up or down vote on Reid’s bill.

One thing you could do is invent some parliamentary sleight-of-hand that, along with three shots of tequila, makes enough sense to get through the Congress, but is sufficiently riddled with Constitutional over-reach that the legislation won’t stand review.
That way, the Democrats can look to their owners and say: “Hey, we stopped at nothing to pass this,” while having poisoned the well enough to know it will be struck down.
Meh. I’m probably attributing too much intelligence to a bunch of Progressive religious fanatics.

American Glob links Mark Levin calling for Slaughter’s ouster.

My only quibble with Levin is that that he thinks that Slaughter is operating independently. I daresay she doesn’t pour coffee without checking with her overlords.

Ryan: ‘Extraordinary and Unprecendented’ Cramdown on ObamaCare 2.0; UPDATE: Rubber Stamp; UPDATE: Pelosi’s Lips Are Moving

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7 p.m. ET: OK, last update of the night and then — I promise — we’ll go back to blogging about Kate Winslett’s cleavage or Rielle Hunter or something more interesting than the Zombie Health Care Cramdown That Won’t Die. Video of Paul Ryan via Hot Air:

The good news: They still don’t have the votes. The bad news: Obama doesn’t care:

If Obama refuses to look at public opinion polls, then how can he profess to know what the American people want? And if he doesn’t care about polls, then how come the White House is circulating polls on Capitol Hill asserting that support for health care legislation is rising?

UPDATE 6:26 p.m. ET: Nancy Pelosi reminds the national press corps that she thinks Americans are a bunch of idiots:

House speaker Nancy Pelosi held a news conference with children’s advocates at the Capitol on Monday to push for the Democrats’ sweeping health care legislation. . . .
In a brief question-and-answer session, a reporter asked Ms. Pelosi about assertions by Representative David Dreier of California, the senior Republican on the House rules committee, that Democrats were engaging in legislative gymnastics to complete the legislation.
“It’s about accountability of the insurance companies; it’s about affordability for the middle class,” Ms. Pelosi said. “It’s not about gymnastics alone — except if that’s part of the wellness program that we have for our children.”

Translation: “We’re going to ignore any criticism you might have. It’s about what I say it’s about, you stupid morons.”

UPDATE 5:57 p.m. ET: Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) will vote NO. (Hat-tip: Virginia Right.) More cramdown blogging:

5:36 p.m. ET: I was just on the phone with Chris Cassone, and felt the need to explain that there are a zillion other things I’d rather be doing than blogging about the legislative progress of this damned health-care bill. (Ann Coulter in Vegas! ) But the Democrats are completely out of control, and I feel the obligation to pay attention — which is annoying, because there is nothing more boring than a Rules Committee mark-up hearing.

You know what this health-care cramdown is like? It’s like being trapped in the passenger seat of a Toyota doing 110 mph, driven by a dimwitted geezer who can’t find the brake pedal.

No wonder Democrats in swing states are running the other way.

UPDATE 4:52 p.m. ET: Philip Klein of the American Spectator:

As expected, the House Budget Committee just rubber stamped the “shell” health care bill with a 21 to 16 vote, sending it to the Rules committee, where all of the language will be stripped out and replaced with whatever deals Democrats have been negotiating behind closed doors. . . .
Two Democrats — Reps. Allen Boyd and Chet Edwards — voted against the bill and would have to be considered firm nos at this point.

That’s good news.

PREVIOUSLY: Rep. Paul Ryan on the Pelosi kabuki-dance: “This is an extraordinary and unprecendented abuse of the reconciliation process.”

Via Michelle Malkin who’s live-blogging the “Wreckonciliation.”

I was just on the radio for an hour with Ladd Ehlinger — his show is on WTKI 1450 AM in Huntsville, Ala. — talking about The 2,309-Page Scam That Will Live in Infamy.

TUESDAY: STOP OBAMACARE 2.0! BE THERE!

‘Dear Zionist Douchebag’?

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Jeffrey Goldberg at the Atlantic Monthly disengages from Sully:

Each time Andrew Sullivan writes negatively about Israel (which is to say, almost every day), my e-mail in-box becomes flooded with pleas that I respond. . . .
Yes, it’s upsetting that Andrew Sullivan . . . has become an anti-Israel propagandist. But it’s not my job to counter everything he says. He’s not particularly interested in hearing fact-based arguments that undermine whatever argument he happens to be making, in any case. . . .

(Yeah, ask Sarah Palin about that.)

So I’m unilaterally disengaging from this struggle. I pray, of course, that Andrew comes to see that his oversimplification of Middle East history and politics has caused real damage to real people, but it’s time for someone else to argue with him. . . .
I appreciate all of your letters (except those that begin “Dear Zionist Douchebag,” or, “Dear Self-Hating Jewboy Douchebag”), and I’ll figure out, as I go forward, what to do with this blog, but I don’t think that writing in anger is good for anyone. So here’s hoping that the Goldblog Unilateral Disengagement Plan goes better than the Gaza Disengagement Plan.

Goldberg actually came to my house a few weeks ago. He was doing some preliminary work on a possible article about the rise of the Tea Party movement and the populist revival within conservatism. He’s a nice guy with a good sense of humor, a pro-Israel, pro-America liberal who — like a lot of Jewish political journalists — has to fight against the persistent tendency of stereotyping.

It’s as if some editors say, “Oh, Jewish, huh? How about doing something about Middle East policy for us?”

Trust me when I say that, as a Southern evangelical Christian, I feel Goldberg’s pain over getting pigeonholed that way. It’s the journalistic equivalent of identity politics: The black reporter is supposed to write about race relations and poverty, the Jewish guy is supposed to cover the Middle East, the Catholic guy covers abortion, women are assigned to fashion, celebrity news and “women’s issues,” etc.

Excuse me for resenting this tendency. Too many years on the incest, moonshine and lynching beat, I guess . . .