You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (2423)

PLAYS: (7342)

The media and conservatives are going to be falling all over themselves today to claim that Sunday's murder of Dr. George Tiller was an "isolated incident."

Never mind, of course, that the killer -- one Scott Roeder -- was formerly a Freemen who was arrested in the 1990s for possessing bomb parts. Never mind that he was someone who had been filling his head with far-right propaganda for decades.

And never mind that Dr. Tiller was made into a national cause celebre, accused of "executing babies" by none other than Bill O'Reilly and the crew of far-right transmitters at Fox News.

No connection there, folks! Move along, move along.

Three years ago, O'Reilly and his ambush-crew specialist, Jesse Watters, went hard after Tiller, accusing him of wantonly murdering babies because he performs late-term abortions:

Bill summarized in a heartfelt Talking Points Memo on Friday, November 10th: "If we as a society allow an undefined mental health exception in late-term abortions, then babies can be killed for almost any reason... This is the kind of stuff that happened in Mao's China and Hitler's Germany and Stalin's Soviet Union... If we allow this, America will no longer be a noble nation... If we allow Dr. George Tiller and his acolytes to continue, we can no longer pass judgment on any behavior by anybody."

Including, evidently, murderous extremists. And, as you can see in the video above (from 2006), O'Reilly similarly accused anyone who refused to buy into his accusation of coddling killers:

I don’t care what you think. We have incontrovertible evidence that this man is executing babies about to be born because the woman is depressed…if you don’t believe me, I don’t care…You are OK with Dr. Tiller executing babies about to be born because the mother says she’s depressed.

O'Reilly later attacked Kathleen Sebelius for her refusal to prosecute Tiller. And he kept it up. As recently as this spring he again spent a segment excoriating Tiller as a murderer.

Priscilla at Newshounds ran through the file in March:

Continue reading »

I have to admit, I was a little proud of the Late Nite Music Club being one of the only music blogs to have maintained an American Idol-free season, but I'm breaking the streak. There's plenty to be found about AT&T's nefarious dealings on the other part of this site, but it looks like we can add one more item to the pile.

NYT:

AT&T, one of the biggest corporate sponsors of “American Idol,” might have influenced the outcome of this year’s competition by providing phones for free text-messaging services and lessons in casting blocks of votes at parties organized by fans of Kris Allen, the Arkansas singer who was the winner of the show last week.

Representatives of AT&T, whose mobile phone network is the only one that can be used to cast “American Idol” votes via text message, provided the free text-messaging services at two parties in Arkansas after the final performance episode of “American Idol” last week, according to the company and people at the events.

There appear to have been no similar efforts to provide free texting services to supporters of Adam Lambert, who finished as the runner-up to Mr. Allen.

It's very tempting to try to build some horrible plot from the very top of AT&T to derail the sexually ambiguous (and clearly more talented) Lambert's train, but I'm going to keep such wild speculation in the mere realm of the noddingly acknowledged. If this turns out to be true and coordinated, expect the public outcry to be more charged than one would expect in an "election" with stakes so seemingly low. A miniature culture war played out in the final days of 'Idol', and since the vote disparity between 'Idol' competitors isn't revealed, torches and pitchforks may make their way out to try to pry some answers.

Some solace for Lambert and his fans: Season 5 competitor Chris Daughtry's credible rock act has a multi-platinum disc. Winner Taylor Hicks is currently in a Los Angeles production of Grease. I think you'll be just fine, Adam, no matter what AT&T did to you.

You can view this video right here by getting the latest version of Flash Player!

DOWNLOADS: (1352)

PLAYS: (3777)

Bill O'Reilly has a plan for the Republican Party to get its mojo back: Go after Bruce Springsteen!

Seriously.

O'Reilly last night, in his Talking Points Memo segment, cites a remark Springsteen made at the Pete Seeger tribute concert the other night:

At 90, he [Seeger] remains a stealth dagger through the heart of our country's illusions about itself. ... He sings all the verses, all the time. Especially the ones that we'd like to leave out of our history as a people.

This incensed O'Reilly -- who nonetheless spotted an opportunity therein:

Now, Bruce Springsteen is not a PhD in political science, obviously. But his snide reference to America defines how the far left sees this country. And you know what? Most liberal and conservative Americans disagree with him.

So let me spell this out to that even the Republican leadership can understand it. Get solutions to problems. Explain your Culture War positions clearly and without spite. And most important, stick up for America! Because the Democrats are certainly not doing that. Use that strategy, GOP, and you'll get back in the game.

He repeats the point a little later with Karl Rove:

All right, but the Democratic Party has been very successful in demonizing the Republicans as a bunch of people who, uh, say no to everything, ah, are bigoted, you know, because of their social issues of gay marriage and illegal immigration. And they've been very, very successful in doing that. And I would say now that conservatives are on the defensive. And the Republican Party certainly is.

Continue reading »