Michelle Malkin feature profile in latest TownHall Magazine

I spoke previously about the underrated landscape changing news that was the acquisition of Conservative blog HotAir by Salem Communications. One of the byproducts of that is this new profile interview of Michelle Malkin in TownHall Magazine, this interview was conducted by Ed Morrissey who acknowledges his favorable relationship with Malkin.

Townhall Magazine features Michelle Malkin

Townhall Magazine featured profile: Michelle Malkin
The next Townhall Magazine has quite a treat for readers, and quite a treat for me. Last month, the magazine asked me to write a profile of Michelle Malkin, the Boss Emeritus and my good friend, as their featured article of the month. After the sale of Hot Air (which celebrates its fourth birthday today!) to Salem Communications, I wanted to highlight an oft-overlooked aspect of Michelle’s success, that of a New Media entrepreneur, as well as a lightning rod for hate-filled attacks from the Left:

HotAir and Michelle Malkin host their own Conservative version of 'The View'

In big news for those interested on the business dealings of online media, Conservative blog HotAir has been acquired by Salem Communications strengthening their ownership of online conservative content.

Exclusive: Hot Air acquired By Salem Communications
... Mediaite has learned that leading center-right web site Hot Air has been acquired by Salem Communications for an undisclosed sum. Sources close to the deal claim that Michelle Malkin, the conservative pundit and sole owner of Hot Air, has been in talks with Salem for some time, but the announcement was timed to coincide with the Conservative Political Action Conference, which opens tomorrow in Washington D.C.

Hot Air is one of the biggest, most influential conservative sites on the Web and was launched on April 24, 2006, with Michelle Malkin as founder/CEO (though she remains editorially focused on her own blog MichelleMalkin.com and her own writing and television appearances.) Hot Air is managed on a day-to-day basis by editors Ed Morrissey and the mysterious AllahPundit, who are reported to be part of the deal in the sale of to Salem, and absolutely essential to the core value of Hot Air...

Michelle Malkin has written about the acquisition with one of the positive byproducts of the sale being the revisiting of noteworthy moments in HotAir's history. In particular this attempt by Malkin to craft her own conservative version of 'The View' featuring conservative women Mary Katharine Ham and Kirsten Powers both regular Fox News contributors. As well as La Shawn Barber, conservative blogger behind 'La Shawn Barber's Corner'.

The make up the show is similar to the View's, Michelle Malkin assuming the Barbara walters role and Kirsten Powers as the token liberal being the analog for Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

VIDEO: Vent with Michelle Malkin (June 20, 2006)

vent with michelle malkin 06-20-2006 @ Yahoo! Video

President Obama takes on GOP at Baltimore retreat

VIDEO: President Obama Full Q&A

Obama At House Republican Retreat In Baltimore: FULL VIDEO, TEXT
That's why I say if we're going to frame these debates in ways that allow us to solve them, then we can't start off by figuring out, A, who's to blame; B, how can we make the American people afraid of the other side. And unfortunately, that's how our politics works right now. And that's how a lot of our discussion works. That's how we start off
...
It's all tactics, and it's not solving problems.

President Obama traveled to a House Republican retreat in Baltimore to face tough question from a room filled with Republicans. President Obama engaged with his conservative counterparts for an hour and a half in what was described as "amazing theater" and "compelling political television".

The exercise was so successful that one of Obama's most strident critics, Michelle Malkin commended Obama with qualifications of course.

Transparency and openness, finally: The GOP & Obama Q&A show
It’s our own version of Britain’s Prime Minister’s questions and it’s been happening for nearly an hour live.

Hurry and tune in now on C-SPAN online if you aren’t near a TV.
Yes, Obama has shown some of his finger-wagging tendencies...

But the session has been most compelling — the most transparency and openness we’ve seen since the start of his term...

In response to readers: Yes, we got to see how thin-skinned and peevish he is in a sustained engagement/non-engagement with Republicans.
That’s a good thing, isn’t it?
Best takeaway, lecture-y line from Obama: “We’ve got to be careful about what we say about each other.”

Says the man whose operatives have smeared conservatives and Tea Party activists as racists, terrorists, and Neanderthals non-stop over the last year...

Judging by the title in this Huffington Post round-up one might conjure up this wrestling image

Obama Goes To GOP Lions' Den -- And Mauls The Lions
"Most people thinking about this would have thought 'ooh Obama is going into the lion's den," said Dee Dee Myers, Clinton's former press secretary. "But there was a great opportunity to jujitsu that. On one level it looked brave but on another he was the substitute teacher there, lecturing the audience.

"A lot of us have been waiting for that moment, a little more fight, a little more politics" she added. "He is in a political business and he has to pay attention to not just the substance but the politics."

VIDEO: Kane chokeslams everybody in Royal Rumble 05!!

Air America closing down - Sam Seder, Michelle Malkin say their peace

Air America pulls the plug

Air America
It is with the greatest regret, on behalf of our Board, that we must announce that Air America Media is ceasing its live programming operations as of this afternoon, and that the Company will file soon under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code to carry out an orderly winding-down of the business.

The very difficult economic environment has had a significant impact on Air America's business. This past year has seen a "perfect storm" in the media industry generally. National and local advertising revenues have fallen drastically, causing many media companies nationwide to fold or seek bankruptcy protection.

Air America alum Sam Seder shares his thoughts on the company that launched him whilst providing its share of tumult

Nice Try
I'll probably have more to say on this in the future...

Contrary to the conventional wisdom Air America failed not because there was no market for liberal talk (all the big lib talkers still on air Miller, Schultz, Hartmann, Malloy and Rhodes are profitable or close to it)- it was because Air America owners- there were 5 in 6 years- listened to so-called radio consultants who were nearly hostile to the format but more relevantly stuck in the paradigm of a dying industry. Thats how you hire Lionel or Montel and fail to monetize your podcasts and online content.

Conservative Michelle Malkin shares her thoughts

Lib talk radio flops again: Air America goes bankrupt
The surprise isn’t that liberal talk radio network Air America announced it is going bankrupt today.

The surprise is that they lasted so long on fumes...

Sen. Franken hasn’t lobbied for a bailout, as far as we know. But don’t breath a sigh of relief yet. They’re still swinging the Fairness Doctrine noose. When they can’t compete in the marketplace, the Left will use the power of government to squash their competitors.

Update: January 25, 2010
Sam Seder appeared on the Brian Lehrer show to chat about the demise of Air America

And so it goes
I did a segment on WNYC about Air America,- it was pretty frustrating- it's always wonderful when people who don't do their homework are more than happy to push the most obvious and least informed narrative.

Go to the WNYC site and listen to the full conversation with Sam Seder and Ana Marie Cox here - Air America Folds

Michelle Malkin interviewed for the 'Daily Beast'

Lloyd Grove interviews Michelle Malkin for the Daily Beast. In setting up his conversation, Lloyd acknowledges Michelle Malkin's often humorless "concede-nothing" aesthetic in contrast to the likes of Ann Coulter. I've always wondered the same.

Ann Coulter's style of needling opponents always left room for people to think she might have been putting on an act. Like a wrestler or a performance artist? That is not to say that Ann Coulter is no less sincere than Malkin. Simply that Coulter, like Rush Limbaugh delivers her politics valuing that good humor and playful opponent-baiting makes for more digestible and entertaining theatre.

Michelle Malkin Has Feelings, Too
The last thing you’d expect Michelle Malkin to be is charming, funny, or vulnerable.

As an agent provocateur of the hard right—blogger, newspaper columnist, Fox News contributor and, for the past six weeks, queen of the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list—she can project a certain grim, off-putting intensity. In recent appearances on The View and the Today show to hype her latest anti-liberal screed—Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies—she was, by turns, shrill and smug, occasionally disciplining an unruly interrogator with a schoolmarmish "Read the book!" And unlike Ann Coulter, whose more outrageous remarks are usually mitigated by a sly grin, nobody ever wonders if Michelle Malkin is for real.

She is, unmistakably, dead serious.

The Daily Show: "ACORN - The Audacity of Hos". Jon Stewart softly zings Michelle Malkin haters

Conservatives are cautiously lauding Jon Stewart for his latest segment admonishing the Media for their poor coverage of ACORN's malfeasances. Stewart also gets conservative points for his zing of Michelle Malkin haters. This is not the first time Stewart has received praise for his fair-mindedness from conservatives. You will remember New York Magazine featured an article with testimonies from prominent conservatives commending Stewart for his intellectual curiosity and fairness, succinctly titled 'Why Neoconservative Pundits Love Jon Stewart'.

Read the comments like these on HotAir.com to find kudos given to Jon Stewart mixed with plenty of trepidation - Jon Stewart to media on ACORN: "Where the hell were you?"

... Wtf is going on that Jon Liebowitz is calling out the mainstream elite media on acorn? Enjoy the video, conservatives, but remain cautious. I smell a rat.

long_cat on September 17, 2009 at 12:43 AM

VIDEO: The Daily Show - The Audacity of Hos

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

JON STEWART: Where were the real reporters on this story? You know what investigative media, Where the hell were you? You know who broke this story? These two! You mean to tell me the two kids from High School Musical 3 could break this story with a video camera... and you got nothin'... I'm a fake journalist and I'm embarrassed these guys scooped me.

(clapping) Let's get to work people!

Glenn Beck and Michelle Malkin instrumental in 9/12 Protest marches

September 12th was marked by thousands of people protesting around America most prominently Washington DC in what was dubbed the "9/12 protests", an extension of the Tea Party protests earlier in the year. Whilst I've remarked many times that 08' Presidential candidate Ron Paul has been the uncredited spiritual leader of the Tea Party movement. I haven't properly highlighted the important role pundits Michelle Malkin and Glenn Beck have played in mobilising the masses.

Michelle Malkin with popular websites MichelleMalkin.com and HotAir.com has a particularly grassroots and citizen-journalist aesthetic on her namesake blog despite a national profile from frequent appearances as Fox News contributor and NY Times bestselling book. Her blog frequently features photos and personal stories submitted by her readers which makes her site a good resource for such grassroots movements.

Michelle Malkin: Culture of Corruption

Glenn Beck also has a similar populist aesthetic, but in his case using the Television format. Using rhetoric like "we surround them", muckraking and a show format with frequent references to "upcoming major events and announcements" Beck has positioned himself as a crusader for the people.
Capitalizing on this movement, Glenn founded the '9/12 Project' with its 9 Principles and 12 Values. Jonah Goldberg writes:

Beck the Muckraker
Yes, I know some of my friends on the Right wring their hands about Glenn Beck. I don't so much. Not only am I grateful for his support of my book, I like the guy personally. Moreover, while he can be bombastic and over the top rhetorically (and we don't always see eye-to-eye), what makes his populism palatable to me (I'm not a big fan of populism) is that he's fundamentally a libertarian populist. He's not clamoring for the government to do more, he's clamoring for the government to do less. And that's the safest kind of populism there is...

VIDEO: Fox News' Glenn Beck Show: 9/12 Tea Party Protest in Washington, DC

Glenn Beck's 9/12 Coverage
GRIF JENKINS: Is this Anti-Obama, Anti-Government... Anti-Joe Wilson?
MAN IN CROWD: It's Anti Spending
WOMAN IN CROWD: We are actually saying pro-government but in the right way - where the people rule
MAN WITH CHILD: This is about freedom. This is about freedom for me, this is about freedom for my son. This is about doing the right thing. This government is not doing the right thing.

Watch protesters chant "Glenn Beck" and "Go home, CNN" during a live report to CNN Capitol Hill correspondent Lisa Desjardins. It's interesting to note that Glenn Beck started his TV career on CNN's headline News before migrating to Fox at the start of the year.

VIDEO: Tea Partyers Drown Out CNN Reporter During Live Report

Michelle Malkin appears on 'The View' to promote her new book

I stated in a previous post that Michelle Malkin will join the club of mainstream pundits once she goes through the rite of passage that is 'The View'. A club membership that eluded Mark Levin whose book was a New York Times bestseller despite not being able to promote it through the MSM circuit.

Michelle gives her summary of her View appearance on her site

Into the lion’s den: My encounter with The View
Best part: Every single member of the audience got a copy of the book!

Second best part: Whoopi Goldberg, who didn’t read the book, asserting that I called the administration the most corrupt ever in the book when I was on the set — and then waiting for me to leave to falsely assert that "that young lady" said it on the Today Show.

No, I didn’t. Here’s the video.

As I said on the show, my argument is that the Obama administration needs to be held to its own standards and rhetoric — and by that standard, it is one of the most corrupt in recent history — a point I made on the Hannity show last Monday when I launched.

You know you’ve won the argument when the ladies of the View are reduced to arguing how corrupt Team Obama is, and not whether.

VIDEO: Michelle Malkin on 'The View'

MICHELLE MALKIN: What I'm saying Whoopi is that you have to measure this administration - the principled foremost agent of everything fresh and clean, hope and change. Isn't what we were sold this last campaign? He rode in on a horse, a white horse taller than any other in recent memory. And you can talk to any young person who voted for Obama, they though they were going to get something fresh and clean. They got Tom Daschle, Bill Richardson, Joe Biden...

What is most startling about the video is how well Malkin controlled the floor, you could argue Joy and particularly Whoopi were sheepish. Malkin laid out her points with little rebuttal and the discourse was largely civil, Sherri asking the most poignant question from the view of a "first time voter". A stark contrast to Glenn Beck's outing on 'The View' where he was caught flatfooted and unable to project his true personality. AllahPundit agrees with Malkin's effective gameplan.

Bill Maher charges Michelle Malkin's book is premature, mocks Beck, Limbaugh and Coulter

VIDEO: Real Time - Bill Maher mocks Malkin for her new book

With fellow Blue pundit Rachel Maddow standing by, Bill Maher cuts a light promo on Michelle Malkin for releasing a prematurely critical book on the failures of the Obama administration. Maher makes his point by presenting faux critical books as released by conservative pundits Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck.

BILL MAHER: He's been in office, our President for 6 months and there is already a book by Michelle Malkin... look at this. This is not a fake book that we mocked up... 6 months in office!! and already we can make this judgment.It blows my mind because Bush always said "You can't judge me now. Only history can judge me".

The 3 mocked up books Bill Maher presented were
1) Clownfall: How Al Franken destroyed the Senate, bankrupted Minnesota and ruined ice fishing forever by Rush Limbaugh

2) Shitfaced: Obama's pathetic descent into Alcoholism by Ann Coulter

3) Painting with Poop by Glenn Beck

Michelle Malkin counters Maher on her site

When they can’t attack the message...
That’s it. Not a single refutation of a single fact in the book. Bill Maher can’t bring himself to open it and read what’s in between the covers. Why? Because he and all of his enablers in Hollywood, D.C., and Manhattan are in a state of denial about Obama’s Culture of Corruption. They don’t want to hear it, see it, or smell it. Unlike many brave whistleblowers who worked in the Obama trenches and who have seen the light, the liberal elites don’t want to know the truth.

Maher sneers that Obama has only been in office six months.

Hey, Einstein: That. Is. The. Freaking. Point.

Pundit Roundup on "Birthers" (Barack Obama birth certificate scandal)

Rush Limbaugh's take on speculation over Obama's Birth certificate

What's the Difference Between God and Obama?
RUSH: What do Obama and God have in common? Neither has a birth certificate. How do they differ? God does not think he's Obama. And there's another difference between God and Obama, and that is that liberals love Obama.

Ann Coulter's take on the "Birthers"
Ann Coulter: "Obama Birthers" Are Wrong

ANN COULTER: Lou Dubbs... is wrong on this issue. And I do want to point out that every conservative publication from 'Human Events'... dealt with this because it was raised as an issue and said there's nothing to it. So for CNN or MSNBC... bringing this out as an issue - it's just a few cranks out there..."

Bill Maher on the "Birthers"

'Birthers' must be stopped
And there's nothing anyone can do to convince these folks. You could hand them, in person, the original birth certificate and have a video of Obama emerging from the womb with Don Ho singing in the background ... and they still wouldn't believe it.

Which raises the question: Why, in this country, is it always the religious right that won't take anything on faith?

Michelle Malkin's on the "Birthers"

Kooky Politics
I believe Trig was born to Sarah Palin. I believe Barack Obama was born in Hawaii. I believe fire can melt steel and that Bin Laden’s jihadi crew — not Bush and Cheney — perpetrated mass murder on 9/11. What kind of kooky conspiracist does that make me?

Michael Medved and his opinion of the "Birthers"

THE BIRTHERS by Steve Benen
"crazy, nutburger, demagogue, money-hungry, exploitative, irresponsible, filthy conservative imposters" who are "the worst enemy of the conservative movement." He added, "It makes us look weird. It makes us look crazy. It makes us look demented. It makes us look sick, troubled, and not suitable for civilized company.

Stephen Colbert and his take on the "Birthers"

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Womb Raiders - Orly Taitz
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Tasers

STEPHEN COLBERT: ...Barack Obama is a terrible President, we have to get him out of office by any weird loophole we can make up. ... "Birthers" - I don't like that term. It implies that Barack Obama was birthed. We have no proof that that ever happened. I want to be able to stick my finger in the President's bellybutton and produce some lint then I will believe he was birthed. Until then don't call us "birthers."

Update:
Glenn Beck's take on speculation over Obama's Birth certificate
VIDEO: Even Beck and his radio crew think "birthers" are "stupid" and "morons" who sound like "flat earthers"

GLENN BECK: ...There would be civil war. If you don't think the ACORN's of the world would stand up and say "Awww you're just going after him cuz of his race, whatever". That's exactly what would happen. There are other things we should concentrate on. Who cares about the birth certificate thing. The time to do that was, you know during the election. Now what do you say we pay attention to - "he's appointing communists!".

Michelle Malkin appears on the 'Today Show' with Matt Lauer

Michelle Malkin is doing the rounds on TV promoting her new book 'Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies'.

There is no formula that determines whether a pundit is suitable for mainstream TV. Conservative media monitors like RadioEqualizer made the observation that certain pundits were being shunned because of their strident conservatism. Mark Levin, who's book 'Liberty and Tyranny' consistently remained in the number one slot for the New York Times Bestseller List being the most recent example of this. Conversely it was argued that "useful" or "reasonable" conservatives like Joe Scarborough who were willing to attack their party were more welcomed on mainstream programming.

The appearance of Michelle Malkin on the 'Today Show' may put that theory to bed. Michelle who is often compared to Ann Coulter, is one of the most outspoken and relentless critics of the mainstream media and all things liberal. It proves that the metric for determining what makes a pundit suitable for mainstream TV consumption remains elusive. A 'Today' Show appearance is usually followed by a sitting on the 'The View' and perhaps a late night appearance on 'Letterman'.

"Controversial" pundits like Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck have experienced all or part of this journey. An appearance on 'The View' like some people have hoped might herald Michelle Malkin's place alongside these mainstream pundits.

VIDEO: Michelle Malkin talks with Matt Lauer about

Obama's "Culture of Corruption"

Eric 'Mancow' Mueller adamantly tells Keith Olbermann "Waterboarding stunt was not a hoax" as Gawker.com insists

VIDEO: Mancow Waterboarding hoax?

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

KEITH OLBERMANN: I would think that knowing you briefly, if it was a hoax it would have been a much better hoax than this one, Mancow from Chicago's WLS once again in bizarre circumstances
MANCOW: I play pranks all the time, that's the irony here
OLBERMANN: And this isn't one of them
MANCOW: This was real
(note: Mancow's wife and daughter are constantly in frame in the background)

The last time a 'hoax' was accused in punditry was during a fainting on Glenn Beck's program. In that instance, Glenn Beck's constant theatrics made people doubt the authenticity of the fainting episode. In this instance, Mancow's reputation as a juvenile prankster and the reporting from Gawker fuelled the fire.

Did Erich 'Mancow' Muller Fake His Waterboarding for Publicity?
Yesterday we showed you video of Erich "Mancow" Muller, a Chicago-based right-wing shockjock, appearing as a guest on Keith Olbermann's show to discuss his being waterboarded. He claimed it led to an ideological conversion! But now a tipster has provided information that suggests the whole thing may be a hoax.

Read Gawker's response to Keith Olbermann's dressing down of its "sloppy" investigative reporting - Mancow's 'Waterboarding' Was Completely Fake

Again just like in wrestling this often happens because of the constant way they fold reality unto itself. Interesting that this hoax has come on the heels of the anniversary of Owen Hart's death, where the legendary wrestler tragically died in a live stunt that had many wrestling insider's and fans initially dismissing it as another "wrestling work" - a staged event to fool audiences. Even to this day "staged on-air deaths" remain a recurring storyline in wrestling.

Listen to wrestling pundits hoaxes or "works" within wrestling storylines. From the 'May 24' episode of LiveAudioWrestling

JOHN POLLOCK: A lot of fans at that time when that happened on PPV (on-air death), the natural reaction of any wrestling fan is that its an angle (a wrestling storyline) and you look at some the stuff they were doing at that time in 1999 and that really wasn't out of the realm of possibility for WWE to do something like that

Michelle Malkin VS Bill O'Reilly over HotAir blog smear - CrooksAndLiars joins the fight

Michelle Malkin VS Bill O'Reilly - Anatomy of a showdown courtesy of HotAir. It's worth noting Malkin is a frequent contributor to the O'Reilly Factor. HotAir.com is a popular conservative blog founded by Malkin.

We begin with O'Reilly's "smear".

VIDEO: O'Reilly on blog coverage of Sonia Sotomayor

Video: O’Reilly smears Hot Air
Ah, there’s nothing like yanking a comment out of context and using it to smear the entire site, even though neither Ed nor I have ever referred to Obama as "Hussein." Bonus points to O’R for referring to the comment in question as a "blog posting" even though it’s anything but. And before our lefty commenters ask, yes, I have defended Kos from similar charges.

Now Michelle Malkin's response

VIDEO: Michelle Malkin - Is Obama targeting Republican Chrysler dealers?

Michelle: Thanks for smearing our site, O’Reilly
Sit back and marvel as the boss segues righteously from a rant about whether Obama is targeting Republican-owned Chrysler dealerships for closure into an indictment of big-media denigration of blogs, using last night’s sandbagging on the Factor as an example. The obvious questions at this hour: Will taking a shot at him on air force him to respond tonight? And how long will we have to wait for the inevitable retaliatory Jesse Waters ambush interview outside Michelle’s home?

Update: CrooksAndLiars, a liberal counterblog joins the fray softly agreeing with HotAir but also showing little sympathy for its founder Michelle Malkin

"Hot Air" and Michelle Malkin get a taste of their own medicine: Bill O'Reilly smears them
I do agree with Hot Air that O'Reilly smeared them, but I have no sympathy for them, because Michelle Malkin is the queen of using this tactic. Malkin then went on Fox and complained, and righties are asking for a retraction from BillO. Good luck with that, and too bad. You set this up, and now you get to taste what you cooked.

Everyone knows that comments on blogs do not equal what I or any other blogger means when they post. I never even curse in my posts (who would have guessed, since I'm a dirty f*&king hippie). And if Malkin wants an apology she should start by apologizing to all of us first.

Bill O'Reilly returned to the air with a light apology to Malkin whilst asserting his "maverick" persona by not backing down to his conservative critics.

VIDEO: Bill O'Reilly apologizes to Michelle Malkin and HotAir (sort of)

BILL O'REILLY: Wow Ms Malkin is upset because I did not identify the "Hussein" comment was made by a civilian not her or her staff and that's true. I should have been more precise. But we often cite hateful civilian comments on blogs and say they should be edited like we do on billoreilly.com that's the point...

The 'Tax Day Tea Parties' are about the people. Not about Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh or Michael Steele

With her popular blogs HotAir.com and Michellemalkin.com, Malkin is arguably the single most influential blogger and "Internet community organiser" in the world. This was evident in the successful turnout for the Tax Day Tea Parties. Michelle Malkin downplays her considerable role in shepherding the movement, focusing the limelight on the grassroots who should be Centrestage.

VIDEO: Neil Cavuto interviewing Michelle Malkin during the Tax Day Tea Parties

MICHELLE MALKIN: ... That's why I'm not onstage because it really is about the grassroots here and as you'll notice Neil, neither [RNC Chairman] Michael Steele nor ["Defacto Conservative leader"] Rush Limbaugh are speaking at a Tea Party today...
I think it's the most effective way of communicating to the White House which apparently isn't aware of what is going on today. Apparently the White House has said that it is unaware of what's happening. Listen, look. You can't deny the existence of the outrage and the anger at both parties in Washington

Read Rush Limbaugh on the "origins" of the movement:

Frightened Liberals Sling Mud at Grassroots Tea Party Movement
The truth is, these tea parties are a completely grassroots movement. There is no specific leader or origin. I mean, you might be able to say that Rick Santelli of CNBC on February 16th talking about a tea party led to this, and you might want to say that somebody in the media, or there are politicians trying to claim credit for it, which is standard operating procedure. Some media people are trying to claim credit for it, that's standard operating procedure as well.

- View the Rick Santelli rant which is seen as the main catalyst for the Tea Party demonstrations
- Read about Michael Steele being rebuffed from speaking at a Tea Party rally
- Read about the White House allegedly not being aware of the Tea Parties
- Read Glenn Reynolds' (PJTV, Instapundit) illuminating piece on the "smart mobbing" phenomena that fueled this movement.

Tax Day Becomes Protest Day
In the old days, organizing large groups of people required, well, an organization: a political party, a labor union, a church or some other sort of structure. Now people can coordinate themselves.

We saw a bit of this in the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns, with things like Howard Dean's use of Meetup, and Barack Obama's use of Facebook. But this was still social-networking in support of an existing organization or campaign. The tea-party protest movement is organizing itself, on its own behalf. Some existing organizations, like Newt Gingrich's American Solutions and FreedomWorks, have gotten involved. But they're involved as followers and facilitators, not leaders. The leaders are appearing on their own, and reaching out to others through blogs, Facebook, chat boards and alternative media.

The APF well represented in the Top 10 list of anti-Barack Obama conservatives

Top 10 Anti- Obama Conservatives (2009)

The Telegraph UK recently featured a "Top 10 list of Anti President Obama conservatives". It comes as no surprise that 5 of the Top Ten were talkers on the American Pundit Fighting roster:
1. Rush Limbaugh
3. Sean Hannity
5. Michelle Malkin
7. Michael Savage
8. Ann Coulter

Each conservative on the list is given a light profile and includes a notable quote. My personal favourite, this profile for Sean Hannity that features a "wrestling like" promo

Top 10 anti-Barack Obama conservatives
3. Sean Hannity

The Fox News and talk radio host pursued Barack Obama relentlessly during the election campaign and has not let up since the Democrat's victory. Through sheer force of will, Hannity pushed Obama's William Ayers association into the political mainstream and he will undoubtedly remain one of the president's tormenters-in-chief for the next four or eight years.

Asked recently about Hannity, Obama said he was prepared to meet him. "I didn't know he had invited me for a beer, but I will take that under advisement...I'm always good for a beer," the president said.

Hours later, Hannity said he appreciated the president's gesture. "It seems like he's opened the door that he wants to meet with me," he told his listeners. "Now if he does, I would go on your behalf." Book a ringside seat and prepare for a YouTube classic if it ever happens.

Tucker Carlson booed at CPAC. Michelle Malkin feels it was deserved

Speaking on the first day of CPAC 2009 (Conservative Political Action Conference), Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson was roundly booed for his tacit support of the 'New York Times'. A favourite target of the right for it's supposed liberal bias.

VIDEO: CPAC - Tucker Carlson tries to defend the New York Times, gets booed

As the Washington Independent reports, the timing of Tucker's charge was made more awkward as an advertisement for PajamasTV (online conservative news) seemed to illustrate Tucker's unpopular point.

Conservatives Confident Their Day Is Coming
Carlson finished his speech ("thank you for indulging me") and the day was gaveled to a close. The image on the giant screens in the Omni Shoreham’s ballroom changed to an ad for PajamasTV, which promised "analysis" of the news-just the thing that Carlson had criticized. In a parody of Apple’s "I’m a Mac, I’m a PC" ads, a staid-looking man in a suit played "mainstream media" to a hip young man’s "PajamasTV."

"It’s my job to tell you the facts," said Mainstream Media.
"Yeah, like Dan Rather got it right about President Bush’s service record," said PajamasTV.

Influential blogger and Pajamas TV presenter Michelle Malkin echoed the sentiments of the jeering CPAC crowd. Michelle, who has spearheaded reporting that has successfully entered and challenged the mainstream news cycle disabuses Tucker of the notion that the right don't do any reporting of their own. Listing her newest contributions:

The whitewashing of Gary Locke — and why Tucker Carlson deserved to be booed
I was amused to read about Tucker Carlson’s finger-wagging to conservatives at CPAC yesterday — apparently repeating the canard that the Right doesn’t do reporting like the vaunted New York Times and needs to stop "just analyzing things based on what the mainstream media has reported."...

Today my syndicated column reports on the truth about Gary Locke’s ethics-tainted record, which you can find in blogs, but not in the New York Times...

Michelle eases up slightly, by giving some credit to Tucker before the final uppercut

It’s one thing to see left-wingers pimp the myth that conservatives don’t do reporting. But to have a Beltway conservative show up to CPAC and lazily engage in such uninformed sanctimony? Funny thing is: Carlson was a terrific reporter in the early days of his own career... before he went on to become one of those many, you know, professional analyzers of things. Do as he says, not as he does.

He deserves all the boos he got.

Fox News: Glenn Beck with Laura Ingraham and Michelle Malkin

Fox News' latest addition Glenn Beck has made quite a splash in recent weeks. Below are two posts from liberal blog 'Crooks and Liars' and conservative blog 'Hot Air' headlined by Glenn Beck.
Video: Glenn Beck on with Laura Ingraham

Beck-Ingraham duet on Fox: Incoherent ideological babble has the ring of Newspeak
- by David Neiwert from CrooksandLiars
I dunno about you, but I blame Jonah Goldberg for Friday's exchange between dueling wingnuts Laura Ingraham and Glenn Beck -- in which Ingraham came off looking really sane in comparison:
"BECK: We are really, truly, stepping beyond socialism and we're starting to look at fascism. We are putting business and government together!

INGRAHAM: Glenn, you're throwing a lot of terms around, and I'm going to play devil's advocate, because this is fair and balanced. Now, moving from socialism to communism, that's, that's a pretty big leap -- socialism, obviously, the economic system, communism the political system..."

Can you tell whether they're talking about fascism, socialism, or communism? Or are these all just basically one big mushy concept to Beck? This kind of incoherence-unto-meaninglessness is indeed the hallmark of Goldberg's work on these subjects.

Video: Glenn Beck - The Road to Socialism

The reddest red-meat roundtable evah
- by AllahPundit of HotAir
The boss (Michelle Malkin), Glenn Beck, Star Parker, and a guy who used to lead the Club for Growth, egging each other on about how new entitlements lead inevitably to socialism? Good lord. Toss in a few exchanges about Palin and Darwinism and this would be the greatest Hot Air clip of all time.

I can only assume that, with Colmes gone, the Foxies have decided to abandon all pretense and dump the liberal panelists, too. Farewell, Bob Beckel, we hardly knew ye!

Barack Obama's inauguration: Uniters, Critics and party poopers

Rush Limbaugh and the Punditocracy on Barack Obamas' Inauguration

Today is a historic occasion. The inauguration of Barack Obama, America's 44th and first African American President. It is also a transfer of power from an outgoing Republican President to a newly elected Democratic President. The theme of unity which was set by Barack Obama's campaign and his fabled 'pragmatism' has carried on to the politicians and candidates who have been critical of Obama.

Glenn Beck speaks to unsuccessful GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin via HotAir

Palin’s got a fee-vah and the only prescription is more Hopenchange
SARAH PALIN... he does have, I believe a strong desire. A since idea to bring this country together under an umbrella of of optimism and hope and I look forward to working with him on that.

American Morning's John Roberts speaks to former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney

MITT ROMNEY: This is not the Barack Obama we thought we knew
He's been already reaching out... he's very much following the speeches he's given on his campaign... he's showing a pragmatic bent... that's the direction we'd like to see.

While politicians have a pragmatic interest in commity, Pundits do not. Pundits are judged on their rhetoric alone so they have the luxury of being more idealistic and ideologically pure. Whilst the tone of unity might linger in the political class certain Conservative are setting their own tone in their opposition and skepticism of Obama.

Prominent conservative talkers Rush Limbaugh and Michelle Malkin expressed objection to the mood of fealty and conservatives "caving in"

Obama naysayers speak out
"Jan. 20 has turned into a schlock inauguration, (where) every last moocher has come to cash in on Obama," says the conservative blogger and pundit. "There are some of us who want to bang our heads against the wall."

While most Republicans now in office are saying all the right things about Tuesday's proceedings... some conservatives can't quite get themselves in the "We Are One" mood...
On his radio show last week, Rush Limbaugh railed against "people on our side of the aisle who have caved and who say, 'Well, I hope he succeeds. We have to give him a chance.'"

"Why?" Limbaugh demanded. "They didn't give Bush a chance in 2000. Before he was inaugurated, the search-and-destroy mission had begun...

Rush Limbaugh continued his theme as the conservative counterweight on his show

The Last Man Standing Refuses to Join the Cult of Barack Obama
The reason why this program's audience is going to skyrocket is because we're going to be the only ones doing this. We're going to be the only ones not in the tank. We're going to be the only ones that have not throw in the towel of responsibility and objectivity. We're the ones that have not joined the comet, the cult, the ones not heading to the Hale-Bopp comet!

Barack Obama President Elect: What the pundits have said

Michelle Malkin on Obama as President elect

The One ascends; McCain concedes
Well, it’s official. Barack Obama has been elected President of the United States. Fox and NBC have called the race.
It’s a historic moment.
Congratulations.
Here’s my promise to you: As long as I can still publish a blog and speak my mind openly about the next denizen of the White House, I will.

Mark Levin on Obama as President elect

Obama's Night
On FOX, they're giddy about the Barack Obama election. On MSNBC, they're crying. This country faces serious challenges with an Obama election and such a large Democrat majority. I can't get caught up in Obamamania — I couldn't before and I can't now. This is a historic election, but I am more concerned today than yesterday about the nation's future because of the policies Obama himself said he would pursue. And we conservatives have much work before us...

Hugh Hewitt on Obama as President elect

Congratulations To President-Elect Barack Obama
It is an extraordinary thing, an achievement that will be recognized a hundred years hence, that Barack Obama has won the White House. Even those of us who opposed him, and who will no doubt be opposed to many of his policy objectives over the next four years, must pause and say congratulations on an improbable, amazing rise.

Sam Seder on election night


More pundit APF pundit roundups as they come to hand.

In other news...

Coleman vs. Franken: Recount looms
One of the most bitter U.S. Senate races in Minnesota history remains deadlocked more than 10 hours after polls closed across the state.

With all but a small handful of precincts reporting in, Republican Sen. Norm Coleman and DFL challenger Al Franken remain in a virtual tie and the contest appears headed for a certain recount.

Third Presidential debate - Pundit Roundup with Full video

Presidential Debate III: Barack Obama VS John McCain

As is ritual after every debate - a roundup from the APF pundits (all conservatives so far)

Michelle Malkin on the final Presidential Debate

Debate wrap-up: Senator Government vs. Johnny Mac and Joe the Plumber
Joe Wurzelbacher the Plumber was a heaven-sent gift for the McCain campaign, and for once, McCain didn’t flub the opportunity to rub the infamous “spread the wealth around” line in Obama’s smug face. Obama’s tin-ear response? Citing his billionaire “friend” Warren Buffett!
The best line of the night may have been unplanned (or maybe not)? In jabbing Obama’s spend-spend-spend plans, McCain called him “Senator Government.”

Mark Levin on the final Presidential Debate

Something New
He's not going to change his position on some issues where we conservatives disagree with him tonight, but he is scoring big.

Hugh Hewitt on the final Presidential debate

The Joe The Plumber Debate: McCain Scores and "Senator Government" Stumbles
Thank you, Joe W., America's plumber, wherever you are. He must be a Browns fan.
McCain scored big with the Joe the plumber exchanges, and with the campaign tactics exchange. ... McCain accomplished more in just the first half of the debate than he did in the first two debates total, and the second half was just as good for him. "Spread the wealth" is now the Obama brand, and that can move the polls.

Read Hugh's patented Presidential Debate scorecard

VIDEO: Third and final Presidential Debate between Barack Obama and John McCain