{"id":1170,"date":"2009-01-08T15:48:43","date_gmt":"2009-01-08T23:48:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1170"},"modified":"2009-01-08T15:48:43","modified_gmt":"2009-01-08T23:48:43","slug":"news-blights-january-8-2009","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1170","title":{"rendered":"News Blights: January 8, 2009"},"content":{"rendered":"

Item 1:<\/a> The host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews<\/strong>, has decided not to join the race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. In doing so he has resisted a groundswell of support from hard-of-hearing misogynists throughout the state. Some reports suggested that Matthews was only floating the campaign as a means of enhancing his contract negotiations with MSNBC. If so, it worked for MSNBC, because Matthews will be re-signing for less than half of his previous salary.<\/p>\n

Item 2:<\/a> Dr. Sanjay Gupta<\/strong>, chief medical correspondent for CNN, has been chosen by President-elect Barack Obama<\/strong> as the next Surgeon General of the United States. Dr. Gupta is a practicing neurosurgeon and an effective communicator. He is also a shill for pharmaceutical corporations and a critic of universal healthcare. He famously debated Michael Moore<\/strong> on the Larry King Show about the accuracy of the movie Sicko. Now he will be Obama’s spokesperson on matters related to expanding healthcare to the 47 million Americans who are not presently covered.<\/p>\n

Item 3:<\/a> Congressman Mike Pence<\/strong> and Senator Jim DeMint<\/strong> have introduced bills in their respective bodies to prevent the FCC from reinstating the Fairness Doctrine. The Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009<\/em> has been expressly drafted to prevent something that no one has proposed. In fact, Obama<\/strong> has stated his opposition<\/a> to re-imposition of the Doctrine. That hasn’t stopped right-wing fear mongers from firing off panicky op-eds and fund raising appeals.<\/p>\n

Item 4:<\/a> Sarah Palin<\/strong>, bless her heart, is still providing more chuckles per pound than any of her contemporaries. She sat down for an interview with a rabidly conservative activist who runs a web site dedicated to insulting Obama<\/strong> supporters. The discussion included a fair bit of whining about her treatment by the press, including her assertion that she wanted to ditch Katie Couric<\/strong> after the first round of talks, but McCain’s strongmen forced her back into the lioness’ den.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Item 1: The host of MSNBC’s Hardball, Chris Matthews, has decided not to join the race for the U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania. In doing so he has resisted a groundswell of support from hard-of-hearing misogynists throughout the state. Some reports suggested that Matthews was only floating the campaign as a means of enhancing his contract […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,4],"tags":[183,151,483,482,481,381],"class_list":["post-1170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-news","tag-barack-obama","tag-chris-matthews","tag-jim-demint","tag-mike-pence","tag-sanjay-gupta","tag-sarah-palin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-iS","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":802,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=802","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":0},"title":"Chris Matthews Plays The Obama\/Osama Card","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/18\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This video is from the first minute of tonight's Hardball. Is it really so hard to get this right? Or is Chris Matthews sucking up to the Clinton camp? After numerous slurs, insults and misogynistic rants, perpetuating the Obama\/Osama association may be Matthews' version of an apology.","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10399,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=10399","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":1},"title":"MSNBC Puts Ed Schultz Back On Weekday Schedule","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/19\/2013","format":false,"excerpt":"In a surprisingly fast turnaround, MSNBC has shaken up their weekday programming to make room for Ed Schultz who was bumped to weekends just six months ago. MSNBC president Phil Griffin wrote this in a memo to his staff: \"This move will help us enhance the flow of our weeknight\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1280,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1280","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":2},"title":"The Figment Of The Center-Right Imagi-Nation","author":"Mark NC","date":"5\/27\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Throughout much of last year's presidential campaign, and right on through the first weeks of Barack Obama's administration, the media has persistently peddled the falsehood that America is a center-right nation, politically and socially. Now Media Matters has published a study (full pdf here) that thoroughly debunks this notion, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1773,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1773","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":3},"title":"FreedomWorks Boycotts MSNBC Over New Right Doc","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/17\/2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday Chris Matthews hosted a documentary look at the Tea Party, right-wing militias, Republican extremists, and other components of what he calls \"The Rise of the New Right.\" It was a generally adequate compilation of the genesis and evolution of the year-old \"movement\" to take our country back - to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":799,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=799","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":4},"title":"The Clinton\/Shuster Affair Winds Down","author":"Mark NC","date":"2\/14\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Word has it that David Shuster, who was suspended for using a common colloquial that is even featured in the title of a popular television show on MTV, will be returning to the air on February 22. What's more, Hillary Clinton, who has been railing about Shuster's comment, and threatening\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Election"","block_context":{"text":"Election","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=152"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":826,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=826","url_meta":{"origin":1170,"position":5},"title":"Tucker Carlson: A True Washington Story","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/10\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"MSNBC is FINALLY taking a needed step, and not a moment too soon. David Gregory will replace Tucker Carlson. Now, instead of suffering through election season with an obnoxious dimwit, we will actually have some informed dialog and insight. I would have preferred Rachel Maddow, but MSNBC is trying to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}