Day: 7/15/2010

Tucker Carlson vs. Keith Olbermann: Master Of Your Domain

Posted by on July 15, 2010 at 1:35 pm. 3 Comments :

Tucker Carlson - Biggest LoserIf there were a contest for Most Pathetic Pundit, Tucker Carlson would get the Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been a recidivist failure on PBS, CNN, and MSNBC. After being canceled more times than a Shane MacGowan dentist appointment, Carlson was picked up as a pity play by Fox News, an organization he previously called “…a mean, sick group of people,” but for whom he now dutifully performs his organ-grinder monkey routine.

Now Carlson is proving that he is not merely an incompetent boob, but a hypocritical jerk as well. With the brashness of a child delighted at his ability to pull the wings off a fly, Carlson has announced that he, and his web site the Daily Caller, has acquired ownership of the domain name KeithOlbermann.com:

“This is part of our long-term growth strategy,” added Publisher and CEO Neil Patel. “Our future acquisition targets include several other annoying cable news commentators.”

Daily Caller - CrybabyThat seems like a brilliant business plan, and in keeping with their mission, having been founded by one of the all-time annoying cable news commentators, Carlson himself. On today’s front page of the the Daily Caller is a big, close up photo of Olbermann beneath an all-caps headline shouting, “CRYBABY.” The sub-head says, “Keith Olbermann threatens legal action against TheDC.”

This is a typical case of cybersquatting, wherein someone takes possession of an Internet asset that belongs to someone else. Domain names are subject to laws that protect intellectual property, trademarks, and copyrights. The hypocrisy comes into play when you learn that just two years ago. Carlson pursued a complaint against someone squatting on his domain name. He filed his complaint with the World Intellectual Property Organization and won a decision to reclaim his name. The complaint said in part…

Complainant states that he is “an internationally famous television news anchor and author, most famous for his role as anchor of the eponymous televised newsmagazines Tucker (MSNBC) and Tucker Carlson: Unfiltered (PBS), as well as for his role as co-host of Crossfire (CNN).” Complainant states that his television debut came in 2000 as co-host of The Spin Room (PBS) and that he has also appeared on television as a contestant on Dancing With the Stars (ABC), the Tonight Show With Jay Leno and Late Night with Conan O’Brien. Complainant states that his writings “are regularly featured” in Esquire, The Weekly Standard, The New Republic and The New York Times Magazine. And, Complainant states that he has appeared as an actor in various television shows and movies.

Apparently Carlson is “internationally famous” for getting canned repeatedly. It is also notable that just a couple of years ago it was Carlson who was the crybaby. His complaint conveniently outlines the very same arguments that Olbermann could make to retrieve ownership of his domain name. He even damages his own case by confessing that he intends to use the name for a commercial purpose.

As an added bonus, Carlson implied that Olbermann would be infringing on his First Amendment rights if he were to sue Carlson for the name. Of course, having to turn over the name does not in any way restrict Carlson from speaking. Especially since the name is only being used presently to pull up the Daily Caller home page. And accusing Olbermann of violating his rights would also be admitting that he violated the rights of the party he sued to get his name back.

So go ahead and cry about it, Tucker. You are only affirming your place in history as a miserable louse with no talent, intellect, or ethics. But most of us already knew that.

Fox News: The Republican Fundraising Network

Posted by on July 15, 2010 at 9:52 am. 1 Comments :

In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network, Nevada Republican senate candidate, Sharron Angle, revealed how the right works hand-in-hand with conservative media to advance, not just their agenda, but their candidates. Answering a question about whether she has been dodging the press, Angle explained her media strategy and what she believes is the purpose of campaign interviews:

“The whole point of an interview is to use it – like they say “earned media” – to earn something with it. And I’m not going to earn anything from people who are there to badger me and batter, you know, use my words to batter me with.”

There you have it. According to Angle, candidates do not engage the media in order to disseminate their message or to inform voters. They do not subject themselves to inquiry in order to connect with people and make a case for support. The whole point is to make money. Therefore, there is no reason to take questions from anyone other than friendly reporters and sympathetic talk show hosts.

When pressed as to whether restricting her appearances to places like Fox News creates the impression that she is avoiding neutral or potentially adversarial outlets, Angle explained her reluctance to grace the “mainstream media” with her presence:

“Well, in that audience will they let me say I need $25 dollars from a million people – go to Sharron Angle.com – send money?”

So if you want to interview Sharron Angle you first have to agree to permit her to pitch her candidacy. If she can’t exploit your newspaper or TV station to raise money, you are useless to her. And the interests of the voters, who simply want the information they need to make an informed decision, are irrelevant.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the goto network for people like Angle is Fox News. She has made numerous appearances there where she did peddle her web site and beg for donations. And it isn’t just Angle. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Marco Rubio of Florida have pretty much set up campaign desks at Fox. It is a relationship that has proven to be quite fruitful. Even when the candidates are not on the air, their Fox representatives like Sean Hannity, Dick Morris, Laura Ingraham, etc., will carry the ball for them.

Last year, former White House Communications Director, Anita Dunn, called Fox News “the communications arm of the Republican Party.” Now we have evidence that it is also their fundraising arm as well.