Braceletgate Update: Left, White House Actually React to Silly ‘Doubtful’ Theory

On Monday, I floated a theory about the purple bracelet Robert Gibbs was wearing on a couple Sunday talk shows.  I wondered if it had any connection to a similar purple bracelet SEIU heavy Andy Stern had worn at some point.

The silly theory, which I called “doubtful,” solicited a reaction that surprised even me.  Besides Robert Gibbs himself tweeting about it, I scored the lefty trifecta: MediaMatters, DailyKos and a blogger for Salon.com all responded.

A rash of hysterical e-mails also came through.  Consider this gem:

Really Mr. Olson, REALLY? While I’m aware you wingnuts are not the brightest bulbs around, and the fact you are associated with the huge steaming pile of moron known as Breitbart indicates you are quite possibly mentally retarded…

Or this:

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Tags: Andy Stern, Bart Stupak, Chicago Way, Daily Kos, founding fathers
Posted Mar 16th 2010 at 12:09 pm in Big Labor, Congress, Healthcare, Obama | 90662181 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/kolson/2010/03/16/braceletgate-update-left-white-house-actually-react-to-silly-doubtful-theory/Braceletgate+Update%3A+Left%2C+White+House+Actually+React+to+Silly+%E2%80%98Doubtful%E2%80%99+Theory2010-03-16+19%3A09%3A09Kyle+Olson

The President’s ‘Tiger’ Moment: Obama Apologizes For His Indiscretions

Good evening, and thank you for joining me.  Many of you in this room are my friends.  Some of you are members of “Organizing For America,” formerly called “Obama For America,” and before that “Operation PUSH.”

Many of you know me.  You have cheered for me.  I miss those days.  I just want to say to each of you, simply and directly, that I am deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior.

I was unfaithful.  I consorted with Republicans.  I engaged in bipartisanship.  What I did is not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame.

As you know, I am trying to get a health care reform bill through Congress.  In so doing, I made a reach-around across the aisle.  I avoided talk of a single-payer system.  I watered down and then removed the public option.  I took out the death panels, benefits to undocumented immigrants, and federal funding for abortion that our critics so callously and falsely observed were in the bill.

I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you.  I have made you question who I am and how I could have done the things I did.  I am embarrassed that I have put you in this position.

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Tags: Daily Kos, David Gergen, firedoglake, Moveon.org, netroots
Posted Feb 28th 2010 at 3:15 pm in Obama, Political Humor, Politics | 78386103 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jherricane/2010/02/28/the-presidents-tiger-moment-obama-apologizes-for-his-indiscretions/The+President%27s+%27Tiger%27+Moment%3A+Obama+Apologizes+For+His+Indiscretions2010-02-28+23%3A15%3A24John+K.+Herr

Are We a Center-Right Nation?

Last Tuesday, Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas wrote an op-ed in The Hill claiming the center-right nation was a myth. In the article he points out that it is impossible for it to be a center-right nation due to the fact that there are strong democratic majorities in the House and the Senate. He also cites Gallup polls claiming that even though 40% identify themselves as conservative, it is not a majority. It is unclear if he is trying to convince us, or himself, that we are not a center-right nation.

It is true that there is a strong liberal majority in the House and Senate. However, that cannot be explained to the fact that this nation leans to the left. Moulitsas makes no mention to the fact that without Obama at the top of the ticket, conservatives have done very well. In the special runoff election a month after Obama was elected, Saxby Chambliss was elected with 57 percent of the vote, nearly 10 more percentage points then he had a month earlier in the general election. Or the stunning victory of Scot Brown in MA by 5 percentage points to win a seat that had been  inhabited by a Democrat for 47 years. He also pays no mention to the fact that Virginia, who has two Democrat Senators and voted for Obama in 2008, elected a strong conservative by a margin of 19 points in 2009. He also ignores the fact that in New Jersey they elected a Republican governor.

In the election of 2006 and 2008 voters wanted change, but they did not want the major change that the Obama administration is trying to achieve. Obama won the election by running on conservative ideals like cutting taxes and cutting spending.  In fact, Obama’s plan to tax people that made over $250,000 was a highly contested issue in the election. The American people did not vote a complete government takeover of health care.

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Tags: center-right, conservatism, Daily Kos, Markos Moulitsas
Posted Feb 9th 2010 at 9:01 am in Culture, Politics | 7230290 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/tthurman/2010/02/09/are-we-a-center-right-nation/Are+We+a+Center-Right+Nation%3F2010-02-09+17%3A01%3A02Todd+Thurman

Anatomy of a Beat-Down Part 1: Why Kenneth Gladney Was Beaten, And by Whom

On August 6, 2009 two Service Employee International Union (SEIU) leaders and a volunteer for Organizing for America (OFA) assaulted Kenneth Gladney outside of Rep. Russ Carnahan’s Town hall meeting on health care.  The perpetrators were arrested at the scene of the crime, and three months later charges have finally been filed.

Much has been said in the past three months about this incident.  Here at Big Government calls have been made for justice, for formal charges and mostly for the mass media to follow the story and delve into the government’s role in this violent attempt to intimidate and silence dissent.  We can no longer wait for the establishment journalists to connect the dots and bring to light the insidious relationships between the SEIU, OFA, Russ Carnaham’s office and the Obama Administration.

Was this assault merely a flare up of tempers during a heated exchange of rival political camps?  Or was it a coordinated attempt to silence the scores of protesters who had been so effective at swaying public opinion against the President’s health care scheme?  Today, Big Government will bring to light documents that read like an instruction manual for the SEIU forces in St. Louis the evening of August 6^th.  We will also show that on the very same evening of the St. Louis assault, an almost identical scene played out in Tampa Bay, Florida.  Also involving SEIU and OFA.  Also resulting in hordes of union members shouting down and physically evicting protesters from a U.S. Representative’s Town hall meeting.  Finally, we will introduce all of the various players in leadership roles at these organizations, what they said in instructing their members in how to fight back against the Town hall protesters, and how these individuals all connect to each other and to the Obama Administration.  As I said, we’ve been waiting for the “Real” journalists to do this, we’ve waited long enough.

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Tags: Big Government, Daily Kos, DNC, flag@whitehouse.gov, government-run health care
Posted Nov 30th 2009 at 2:06 pm in Big Labor, Featured Story, Healthcare, Tea Party, Uncategorized | 38458138 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/sright/2009/11/30/anatomy-of-a-beat-down-part-1-why-kenneth-gladney-was-beaten-and-by-whom/Anatomy+of+a+Beat-Down+Part+1%3A+Why+Kenneth+Gladney+Was+Beaten%2C+And+by+Whom2009-11-30+21%3A06%3A11Larry++O%26%2339%3BConnor

How the MSM Might Survive: Come Out of the Ideological Closet

Whenever reading Politico, everything should be washed through this filter. You must always keep in the front of your mind that this supposed “news” organization took the time to dig up and publicize dirt on a private citizen whose only sin was asking a perfectly reasonable question of a public figure. Politico’s warning to the everyday American was clear: get in the way of our guy and we will summon all our resources to publicly humiliate you. This all goes to prove that Politico is nothing more than a digital version of the Dinosaur Media — and just as clueless and dishonest as their unholy brethren, especially when it comes to explaining why their counterparts are drowning in the tar pits of obsolescence.

To hear Politico tell it, CNN’s stuck in humiliating fourth place behind FOX, MSNBC and their own Headline News because they’ve made the mistake of not appealing to the great unwashed who prefer partisan bickering and echo chambers:

With the proliferation of media across platforms these days, there’s less shared knowledge among people, who are increasingly heading to niche outlets for information. At the same time, there’s a large appetite for the new media world where the MSM gatekeepers no longer hold as much clout, and “he said, she said” journalism gives way to strong point of view. …

There’s no doubt that the over-the-top, and politically partisan, hosts are having more success attracting viewers on nights when there’s no major news event. (more…)

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Tags: ABC, Breitbart's Bigs, CBS, CNN, Daily Kos
Posted Nov 2nd 2009 at 12:03 pm in Media Criticism, Politics | 24210107 Commentshttp://biggovernment.com/jjmnolte/2009/11/02/how-the-msm-might-survive-come-out-of-the-ideological-closet/How+the+MSM+Might+Survive%3A+Come+Out+of+the+Ideological+Closet2009-11-02+19%3A03%3A18John+Nolte