Uh Oh. CNN Takes A Sharp Turn Toward Hell

Posted by on September 25, 2010 at 1:50 pm. 4 Comments :

Remember the old days when CNN was the dominant cable news network? Or the even older days when it was the only cable news network? I didn’t think so. It was a long time ago. Viewers today don’t appreciate how remarkable an achievement it was to launch a 24 hour news channel when nothing like it existed at the time.

Whether or not you like Ted Turner, you have to give him credit for being a pioneer, although given the state of cable news today, I’m not sure he’d want the credit/blame. However, he recognized the unique environment in which his experiment was born, and he further recognized the changes that took place in subsequent years that preclude anyone from ever doing the same (see My Beef With Big Media).

Now CNN is mired in third place, overtaken by a bombastic, right-wing, agenda-driven, Fox News, and a lukewarm, marginally liberal, MSNBC. So it should come as no surprise that the brass at CNN would be looking to shake things up in hopes of recovering their glory days. To that end, yesterday CNN announced that its president, Jon Klein, would be leaving the network. That, in and of itself, would appear to be a routine response to poor performance in the marketplace. The problem here is not that Klein is leaving. It’s who they are elevating to his post that is worrisome.

Ken Jautz, presently the head of CNN’s HLN (formerly known as Headline News Network) has been tapped to replace Klein. He is a brash, iconoclastic, executive who is more interested in ratings than journalism. But perhaps the most disturbing item on Jautz’s resume is that he is the man who brought Glenn Beck to HLN, and to television. Looking back at that millstone in broadcast media is one of the best ways of getting a handle on what may be in store for a Juatz-run CNN. Here is what he had to say upon hiring Beck back in January of 2006:

“Glenn Beck is the next piece of the puzzle,” said HLN prexy Ken Jautz. “Glenn’s style is self-deprecating, cordial; he says he’d like to be able to disagree with guests and part as friends. It’s conversational, not confrontational.”

If Beck is Jautz’s idea of cordial, I hope never to meet anyone he considers to be rude. What’s more, Beck is not known for having guests with whom he disagrees, friendly or otherwise. And the notion that he is not confrontational is absurd on its face. Calling the President a racist; charging that progressives are a cancer; tagging anyone with whom he disagrees a Marxist; declaring his hatred for Woodrow Wilson as well as 9/11 families; these are not behaviors generally associated with being non-confrontational. Jautz went on to say…

“As part of the continued evolution of the network, we wanted another primetime show,” Jautz said. “We didn’t look for a conservative, a liberal or anyone of a particular ideology. It was about getting the best talent that would resonate with the most viewers.”

Well then, it’s a good thing he wasn’t actually looking for a conservative. He would have ended up with a modern version of Attila the Hun (or did he anyway?). It should also be noted that his desire to find the “best talent” who would “resonate” with viewers, was unfulfilled. Beck’s show was a dismal ratings failure on HLN. He would not be a success until he moved to Fox News with its built-in audience of pre-cooked FoxBots.

Given the remarks Jautz made when taking over HLN and bringing Beck into the fold, it is fair to say that he was somewhat disingenuous with regard to his public appraisals. And he was similarly disingenuous in private. In the book “Common Nonsense: Glenn Beck And The Triumph Of Ignorance,” author Alexander Zaitchik noted that Jautz mislead his employers at the time as to his intentions in reforming the channel:

“Facing a staff weary of rumored changes, Jautz gently presented Blue Sky [his programming initiative] as a trial balloon. He promised that CNN standards would not be diluted in the makeover and that soon-to-be-hired Headline News personalities would not appear on traditional CNN news programming. He broke both promises.”

Indeed he did. Glenn Beck not only appeared on CNN, he was permitted to fill in as a guest host on Larry King Live. Taking into consideration the duplicity of Jautz’s comments when he assumed command of HLN, it might be prudent to take note of what he is saying now with regard to his promotion at CNN. Jautz was interviewed by The Wrap and said…

Q: Can we expect a tone change, or any sort of ideological shift?
A: I think that CNN needs to be as lively and engaging and as informative as it is known for its reporting.

Whatever that means.

Q: For a long time, Jon Klein resisted any sort of partisan programming — especially as expressed by the hosts. Can we expect to see more opinions — or at least opinionated hosts — under your watch?
A: CNN has always been about adhering to non-partisan programming in general. And it will continue to be.

However, I do not believe that “facts-only” programming … it will not work. Viewers, if they’re looking for just the news, they can get that anywhere now. The news that happened that day, they probably know already. They want context, perspective and opinion. And we’re going to give that to them. As long as it’s non-partisan, in the aggregate, from all ends of the spectrum.

In other words, we will continue to be non-partisan except when we’re being opinionated. And none of those pesky “facts” that clutter up the news.

Jautz did improve the standing of HLN. But he did it by ramping up the volume with shouters like Beck and Nancy Grace, and by diving head-first into the tabloid world of pop culture and celebrity gossip. Could that approach help to restore CNN’s prior leadership? Who cares? It isn’t what anyone who truly cares about responsible journalism would want.

And that’s the problem with contemporary corporate media: It is more interested in serving the shareholders than in serving the public. Unless Jautz has recently had a revelatory transformation, CNN has taken a giant step backwards by giving him the reins to the network. The prospect of the man who launched Glenn Beck’s television career running a cable news network is troubling, to say the least.

In related news, NBC/Universal has announced that it’s chief executive, Jeff Zucker, will also be leaving his post. This is an entirely different situation than the one at CNN. NBC is presently the number one network in evening news, morning news, and Sunday news. CNBC is still the top business channel. Plus, under Zucker’s reign, MSNBC moved up from third place to second. The staffing change at NBC is due to its imminent acquisition by Comcast. It remains to be seen who will be replacing Zucker.

Sometimes these sort of changes are merely shifts designed to put a new management’s imprint on the merged entity. But Comcast has baggage that makes it important to keep an eye on them. And they will have an unprecedented range of influence as a result of the merger. Stay tuned.

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Sarah Palin Pimps Glenn Beck’s Phony News Site

Posted by on September 24, 2010 at 1:37 pm. 5 Comments :

The Tracy and Hepburn of 2010’s right-wing elitist set, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, just can’t get enough of one another.

Sarah Palin was the first guest on the first show Glenn Beck aired on Fox News. He interviewed her again last January when he revealed what he wrote in his diary about her:

“Tomorrow, I meet Sarah Palin and family for the first time. I’m actually a little nervous — as she is one of the only people that I can see that can possibly lead us out of where we are.”

He continued…“OMG, I hope she likes me back.”

Palin reciprocated by attending his Acute Paranoia Revival Show in DC. Then he re-reciprocated by trodding up to Alaska for a for-profit 9/11 memorial with tickets ranging up to $225.00.

Now Palin continues the love affair with a double Twitter shout out for Beck’s phony “news” site The Blaze:

#1: Log on 2 “theblaze.com” & change the course of information gathering in America! Site helps truth be told;we’ve had to put up w/LSM too long

#2: Rock your news-gathering world! Take a look at this new website recently launched called The Blaze. Let’s change…

What a joke. Palin has called herself a journalist despite never having had a real job as one. The best she can claim is that she read sports scores for a weekend broadcast on a local station in Alaska. Now she thinks Beck’s online circle-jerk qualifies as news.

Beck has also called himself a journalist. But he’s also said that he isn’t one (typical Beckian doubletalk). The Blaze is his attempt to cash in on the sort of revenue generated by Drudge, Huffington, Breitbart, etc. When he announced the site he said that he had hired the best journalists he could find. But if you click on the headlines, most of them lead to articles posted elsewhere on the Internet. There is virtually no original reporting on the site.

The right-wing noise machine is well known for its insulated PR practice. Stories spin through Drudge, National Review, Fox Nation, Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, and back around through them all a few times. The Blaze is just a new destination on the map.

The fact that Palin committed two precious tweets to fluffing this waste of bandwidth just affirms the circular nature of their media. They just keep inventing new ways to tie up their disciples in a maze of conservative propaganda.


Stephen Colbert Speaks Truthiness To Power

Posted by on September 24, 2010 at 11:30 am. 2 Comments :

This morning the House Sub-committee on Immigration, Refugees, and Border Security, received testimony from Comedy Central’s Stephen Colbert (video below). Colbert was invited to relate his experience as a corn-packer (irony noted) for all of one day on behalf of the United Farm Workers.

This spectacle was reminiscent of Colbert’s legendary performance before the White House Correspondent’s Association. He remained in character throughout his testimony and questioning from committee members. He even corrected Lamar Smith (R-TX), who asked if the work he did on the farm was harder than being a comedian/entertainer, by answering that “It’s absolutely harder than punditry.” And while he actually addressed serious subjects and made profound points regarding immigration and labor policy, his most biting comments were directed at congress itself:

“I participated in the UFW’s ‘Take Our Jobs’ campaign. One of only 16 people in America to take up the challenge. Though that number may increase in the near future as I understand many Democrats may be looking for work come November.”

…and…

“Now, I’m not a fan of the government doing anything. But I’ve got to ask, why isn’t the government doing anything? Maybe this ag jobs bill will help. I don’t know. Like most members of Congress, I haven’t read it.”

…and…

“I trust that following my testimony, both sides will work together on this issue in the best interest of the American people. As you always do.”

It’s telling that the last quote may have been the biggest laugh line of the day. Apparently the notion that congress has the public interest at heart is hysterical. However. like the Washington press corps, the residents of congress expressed mostly nervous laughter and exhaled broadly when it was all over. Steve King (R-IA) was one of those who was not particularly amused. He objected to Colbert’s appearance before, during and after the hearing. Said King…

“Maybe amnesty supporters should spend less time watching Comedy Central and more time considering all the real jobs that are out there that require hard labor and don’t involve sitting behind a desk. If they did, they would realize that every day American workers perform the dirtiest, most difficult, most dangerous jobs that can be thrown at them.”

What a testament to the Republican agenda for American workers. King is proud of the fact that some Americans are forced to “perform the dirtiest, most difficult, most dangerous jobs that can be thrown at them” That’s exactly what King and his colleagues want, and what their policies would ensure. It’s a statement that defines the GOP plan for American labor. And it’s precisely why Colbert was brought before the congress to raise the profile of an issue that has been all but forgotten by congress and the media.


The GOP Pledge To America Is An Allegiance To The Past

Posted by on September 23, 2010 at 4:39 pm. 19 Comments :

The Republican Pledge to America is just another lousy product from GOP, Inc. It is nothing more than a rehash of their failed programs from the past.

Already the reception the Pledge has received is decidedly negative – from both sides of the aisle. While Democrats correctly point out that the Pledge is old news and leftovers, Republicans like Erick Erickson and Neil Boortz are criticizing it because it doesn’t go far enough (into Delusionland). This Pledge has managed to disappoint everyone, and it did so by design. John Boehner, the Pledge’s Godfather, introduced the Pledge by saying…

Boehner: “We are not going to be any different than what we’ve been.”

That’s comforting. And to prove it, the Pledge’s development was overseen by a former lobbyist for some of the nation’s most powerful oil, pharmaceutical, and insurance companies. Same old same old GOP.


Fighting Back Against Fox News: A Righteous Example

Posted by on September 23, 2010 at 12:28 pm. 1 Comments :

Robin Carnahan, the Democratic candidate for senate in Missouri, is being sued by Fox News for airing an ad that includes a few seconds from a Fox broadcast. As I previously reported, Fox has no case. The doctrine of Fair Use permits the reproduction of segments of copyrighted material, particularly in works of commentary and political expression. What’s more, Fox’s complaint is selective in that they have failed to assert protection for similar property when it is being used by Republicans. Now Carnahan has responded to Fox’s suit by launching the Fight Fox Fund:

Fox News has filed a lawsuit against Robin’s senate campaign.

They demanded we stop playing our new ad above because it features a clip from one of their shows…where they challenged Congressman Roy Blunt on his Washington record and ties to convicted felon lobbyist Jack Abramoff – and now they’re suing us to make us back down.

Well, we’re not backing down; and we’re not giving up. Not against Fox News, and certainly not against Congressman Blunt. We’re staying on TV and fighting back.

Nicely played. This is the sort of response that should be standard practice when confronted by bullying from Fox News and other right-wing media. Fox has more than confirmed their reputation as the public relations arm of the Republican Party. Their corporate parent gave a million dollars to the Republican Governor’s Association. They give hours of free airtime to GOP candidates who use it as a campaign platform and for fundraising.

Media Matters estimates that Fox recently provided Delaware GOP senate hopeful, Christine O’Donnell, with over a million dollars worth of airtime. Nevada’s GOP senate candidate, Sharron Angle, has admitted that she only appears on networks that allow her to raise money. Sarah Palin’s advice to Republican candidates is to “speak through Fox News.”

Fox News has no credibility as a news network. It is openly advocating for Republican candidates and far-right policies. Carnahan’s Fight Fox initiative should be adopted by her Democratic colleagues as well as the rest of the progressive community. Because no matter how hard they fight against their political opponents, if they don’t take the fight to Fox they are letting their biggest threat get off scot free.


Christine O’Donnell – Witch Senator For Delaware

Posted by on September 22, 2010 at 3:03 pm. 5 Comments :


By now most of you have heard of the Republican candidate for senate in Delaware, Christine O’Donnell. You have probably also heard that she has confessed that she “dabbled in witchcraft” when she was younger.

Now you have the opportunity to show your support for this Shrewish-American and help to expand the diversity of the United States Congress. O’Donnell would become the first Witch in Congress (that we know of) and bring representation to a disenfranchised minority that has been the victim of discrimination since the first Pilgrims put match to pyre.

The bumper stickers (shown above) are now available for purchase. You can even get the economical 10-Pack so that all of your vehicles display your pride in Occult worship and its contribution to American culture. And you’ll probably still have some leftover for your friends and neighbors. There are also fashionable T-Shirts available if you want to express yourself in style.

Don’t let this opportunity pass you by. When will there be another chance to send a qualified Witch to Washington? This will be an historic election.

O’Donnell is already working her magic. She will actually make herself disappear for the remainder of the campaign. She announced on the Hannity show on Fox News that she will not be doing any more national media. That suggests that she will be doing more local media in Delaware, but somehow, I doubt that will come to pass. She has a cauldron of questions to answer about her flighty past and qualifications to serve in the senate. The locals have the same questions for her as the national press does. And the national press will undoubtedly cover any appearances she makes at the local level. So what’s the difference? Therefore, poof — she disappears — just like Sarah Palin, Rand Paul, Joe Miller, and Sharron Angle.

So join the Broom Brigades today before it’s too late. There hasn’t been a candidate so bewitching since Mary Carey ran for governor of California. And remember to vote on November 2nd. Because if you don’t, she may turn you into a Newt.

She’s done it before.
Newt Gingrich

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Who Is Stupider: Glenn Beck Or His Viewers?

Posted by on September 21, 2010 at 4:07 pm. 11 Comments :

Today’s episode of the Glenn Beck program on Fox News was one of the best examples of the celebration of ignorance that defines his show and his appeal. It is downright mind-boggling how anyone can take this garbage seriously.


From the very beginning he reaches for the most egregious numbskullery. He begins the program by calling Delaware senate candidate Chris Coons a Marxist. He doesn’t bother to explain the genesis of that insult, but I happen to have heard his explanation previously. It concerns an article Coons wrote twenty years ago in college that described his return to the U.S. from a humanitarian trip to Africa. Here is what Coons wrote:

“I spent the spring of my junior year in Africa on the St. Lawrence Kenya Study Program. Going to Kenya was one of the few real decisions I have made; my friends, family, and professors all advised against it, but I went anyway. My friends now joke that something about Kenya, maybe the strange diet, or the tropical sun, changed my personality; Africa to them seems a catalytic converter that takes in clean-shaven, clear-thinking Americans and sends back bearded Marxists.”

Every rightist media outlet, including Fox News, jumped on the last few words of that excerpt to twist it into what they called an “admission” from Coons that he was a Marxist. Of course, it would require someone with the comprehension skills of a fern to arrive at that conclusion. Coons clearly stated that it was his friends who were joking about his change of heart and ultimate reemergence as a Democrat. Neither he nor his friends regarded him as a Marxist. Nevertheless, that’s the demonstrably false accusation with which Beck opened his show.

The next imbecility Beck alighted upon concerned his assertion that someone (progressives, Obama’s czars, Raelians) was orchestrating a global redistribution of wealth that was focused on the international oil trade. At the peak of this incoherent rambling Beck pointed to the fact that we in America get our oil from Saudi Arabia and they get our money. Then he actually asked why that is. His answer, surprisingly, was not the obvious reality that Saudi Arabia and the Middle East is where most of the world’s oil is located, and if we want some we have to buy it from them. No, his answer had something to do with a cabal designed to “redistribute” our wealth to the Saudis. That’s a conspiracy theory that doesn’t even measure up to bad episode of the X-Files. And if he’s so disturbed by American dollars ending up in Saudi wallets, then why is he so hostile to developing alternative sources of energy that can be produced domestically? In the very same rant he alleged that that was also a conspiracy.

But the overwhelmingly idiotic premise espoused by Beck today was a frighteningly dumb mischaracterization of the role of unions. He defined their purpose as having something to do with providing equal benefits and security. He said it was about evening out the differences between strong workers and weak ones. The truth, of course, is that unions are there to even out the differences between strong companies and the labor force that would be far weaker were it not for collective bargaining.

Beck’s version of unions is to protect workers from themselves. Reality’s version is to protect workers from greedy employers. But Beck continued his clueless analysis by castigating former union leader Andy Stern for recognizing that the struggle for worker’s rights is now a global struggle. This is an argument that Beck has tried to make many times before. He simply doesn’t understand that by improving labor conditions in South America or China, it benefits American workers by making them more competitive and raising their wage scales. If Chinese workers make only $1.50 a day they will always be a threat to American jobs.

The sad part of all this isn’t that Beck is an ignoramus. After all, he’s made a fortune on his asininity. It’s his viewers for whom I sympathize. The poor slobs actually believe everything he spews. They will repeat it to their friends. They will thump their chests with pride as they disgorge his factless bromides, never realizing that they are making asses of themselves.

In the end, the question in the headline of this article isn’t really important. What matters is who is hurt most by this festival of feeble-mindedness? The answer is that the cumulative effect of this mass dispersion of nonsense is ultimately harmful to the country, to the practice of democracy, and to the very people who suffer from the greatest exposure to it – his viewers.


Jimmy Carter Gets Fox News

Posted by on September 20, 2010 at 6:35 pm. 15 Comments :

Appearing on the NBC Nightly News, former Pres. Jimmy Carter demonstrated that he still has keen insight into the state of modern media:

Brian Williams: How do you think it came to be that such high numbers of people believe that this American-born Christian President is either foreign born or a Muslim or both?

Pres. Carter: I think the number one factor is Fox News. It’s totally distorting everything possible concerning the facts. And I think their constant hammering away at these false premises about our incumbent President has a major impact on the consciousness of America. A lot of well-meaning people, including many of those in the Tea Party movement, believe what is said in this constant hammering away by Glenn Beck and by others who have no regards for the truth.

I have nothing to add.


Sarah Palin’s Shout Out To White Nationalist Group?

Posted by on September 19, 2010 at 3:12 pm. 10 Comments :

Sarah PalinSarah Palin, the Queen Bee of the Tea Party Crusaders, appeared in Des Moines Friday night to lend a hand to the Iowa Republican Party. As usual, she used the front of that hand to scrawl jingoistic talking points and the back of it to slap Democrats.

However, some of her remarks may have extended beyond the typical Palinese, right-tuned, dog whistle, into a rather disturbing appeal to a repulsive, racist and violent band of neo-nazi cultists:

“I don’t know how the machine works. I don’t really know who they are who strategize and organize up in that hierarchy in the GOP machine…

I don’t know who organizes the efforts that is needed to put obsessive partisanship aside when it gets in the way of just doing what is right for the American people and those internal power struggles that need to be set aside for the good of The Order.”

Let’s just set aside her absurd claim that she, as a former governor and candidate for Vice-President, has no connection to the inner workings of GOP machine politics. I’m more interested in what she means by “the good of The Order.”

Commonly used, the phrase “the order” is associated with totalitarian regimes that demand subservience and single-minded acceptance of the decrees of entrenched dictators. It refers to the social benefits of enforced conformity and obedience. It represents a philosophy wherein the order of tyranny is preferable to the chaos of democracy. It is highly unusual that an American political figure would employ that phraseology and its underlying implications.

Even more disquieting is that The Order is also the name of a notorious and violent white nationalist organization. It was founded in 1983 by Robert Mathews, a Mormon convert (like Glenn Beck) and fan of the white supremacist group, Aryan Nations. It’s name was inspired by a similar group in William Luther Pierce’s racist and anti-Semitic novel of race-war, “The Turner Diaries.” The Order’s primary goal was to carve out an Aryan state in the Pacific Northwest. They financed their operations with robberies and counterfeiting, and they were responsible for the murder of Alan Berg, a Jewish radio talk show host in Denver.

Palin’s comments were a part of a prepared speech, so this was not an extemporaneous gaffe where she may have meant to say “for the good of the party (or the country).” This was a very explicit reference to something that must have some meaning for her. But given the known meanings that I cited above, it’s hard to imagine that she has some other definition of which only she is aware. Which leads to the possibility that this was a deliberate communication to a specific subset of her followers.

Palin also addressed the media in her speech:

“We have got to hold the press accountable when you know that they’re making things up and telling untruths. We have got to do this together. And, by the way, I’m the biggest proponent of freedom of the press in this country, our young men and women in uniform willing to fight and die for our constitutional rights, including that right to that free press. It’s why I’m hot on this lamestream media issue. It’s why I’m adamant that they tell the truth. How dare anyone disrespect our troops’ sacrifice by claiming the right to print and to say anything, without a corresponding responsibility to truth?”

In an award winning feat of false association, Palin connects what she regards as dishonesty in the press with disrespect for the troops. If you gave her the chance she would connect everything from jaywalking to bed-wetting with disrespect for the troops. And if not telling the truth was the measure of one’s respect, she would be guilty of high treason.

How dare she anoint herself as the arbiter of what people have the right to print and say? She is one of the biggest purveyors of disinformation on the current political scene. And to make this even more surreal, she also thinks she can decide who is, or is not, a journalist:

“And in this kind of strange, unaccountable day of anyone and everyone getting to claim that they are a journalist, you have got to ask yourself, who are they really, when the media uses, say on deep, deep background, anonymous sources to cowardly attack someone, their record, their intentions?”

She has presented herself as a journalist in the past. Although she did eventually obtain a degree after attending five or so colleges, the only job she ever held was on a local weekend newscast reading sports scores. She demonstrates her total ignorance of journalism by disparaging anonymous sources, a rare but necessary part of reporting. Even worse, she obviously doesn’t know that sources on “deep background” are always anonymous.

All told, this was another atrocious Palin speech that exposed her as a laughably bad media analyst. But the truly shocking revelation was her affinity for The Order, and whatever that phrase means to her. Because, intentional or not, it’s going to resonate with the sort of militia-minded hate groups that populate the Wyoming woods.


Tea Party Convention: Failure To Launch [Update]

Posted by on September 18, 2010 at 3:51 pm. 3 Comments :

The Tea Party Nation appears to be coming apart. Plans for the National Tea Party Unity Convention have been in turmoil since it was first announced last February. Their original date was in mid-July, but that was scuttled for a variety of reasons that all sounded like excuses to me. So they rescheduled for October. At the time I wrote that the convention’s prospects were dim and I predicted their demise.

“This looks bad for the Tea Party Convention and for the Tea Party in general. If they can’t whip up enough excitement to populate their big ‘unity’ conference, they are going to have a hard time motivating voters who are not nearly as engaged as the sort of people who flock to these gatherings. Time will tell if the rescheduling has the desired effect. If not, the next press release we see may be the one announcing that the convention was canceled.”

Tea Party CrusadeGuess what? The web site for the convention is gone. Disappeared. Ceased to be. There is no remnant of it or explanation. There is no announcement of its demise, nor that of the event. The site and the convention have dissolved into the ether. There is also no mention of the event on the site of its sponsor, Tea Party Nation. (Here is a cached copy of the convention web site).

Raven Brooks, the executive director of Netroots Nation, dug a little further and confirmed the that Tea Partiers have indeed been left high and dry. He called the hotel who told him that “the room block had been canceled and the Mirage had no record of the event.” Netroots Nation, it should be noted, recently held a very successful convention in Las Vegas. Perhaps the Tea Party Nation would like to contact Brooks and get some advice on how it’s done.

I also called the Mirage and they told me the same thing they told Brooks. In addition, I asked if the event had been canceled or if it had never been scheduled in the first place. They told me that they had no contract at all for the event. The cached copy of the convention web site has the Palazzo as the event’s hotel, although that was the first location in July. The October booking was for the Mirage. I called the Palazzo anyway and they also had no record of the event.

This is beginning to sound like a scam. The promoter, Judson Phillips, was broadly criticized when he mounted his first convention for turning the Tea Party movement into a for-profit affair and for paying Sarah Palin $100,000 to read platitudes off of her hand. So it would be interesting to find out what will happen to any registration fees that were collected for the convention (at $400.00 a pop)? Were the speakers, who included Sharron Angle, Lou Dobbs, and Andrew Breitbart, paid for committing to appear? Will the sorry dupes who shelled out for hotel room deposits or airfare just have to eat their losses?

Back in June I wondered about the possibility of a future press release announcing that this convention would be canceled. I guess I gave them too much credit because it appears they’ve decided to just pretend it never existed. That’s pretty much what we’ll be saying about the Tea Party in a couple of years.