Too bad for Hannity and his fringe viewers that the history books won’t reflect that. And I don’t mean the history books written by the dental hygienists on the Texas Board of Education.

No one knows yet. And those that claim one way or the other….are morons.

No one knows yet who is worst president in history? Obama isn’t even in the running – that title belongs to George W. Bush and he has no close second. Those that claim one way or the other …. are morons.

Maybe tomorrow night he’ll apologize for playing doctored tapes to smear an organization who sinned by helping poor people and worst of all, registering them to vote against his elitist friends.

Good thing Rachel played the FULL tapes; try it sometime, Sean. It’s called journalism and it’s different from flacking FYI.

Jim R:

Here we go again. I have to post this link here about 5 times a week. EVEN THE NEW YORK TIMES AGREES THAT THE ACORN TAPES WEREN’T DOCTORED OR EDITED IN A MISLEADING WAY:
_____

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/opinion/21pubed.html

Acorn’s supporters appear to hope that the whole story will fall apart over the issue of what O’Keefe wore: if that was wrong, everything else must be wrong. The record does not support them. If O’Keefe did not dress as a pimp, he clearly presented himself as one: a fellow trying to set up a woman — sometimes along with under-age girls — in a house where they would work as prostitutes. In Washington, he said the prostitution was to finance his future in politics. A worker for Acorn Housing, an allied group, warned him to stay away from the brothel lest someone “get wind that you got a house and that your girlfriend is over there running a house of women of the night. You will not have a career.”

FAIR said that in Brooklyn, O’Keefe and Giles seemed to be telling Acorn staffers that “they are attempting to buy a house to protect child prostitutes from an abusive pimp.” That’s right, but FAIR left out the part about their clear intention to operate a brothel, which the Acorn workers seemed to take in stride, with one warning: “Don’t get caught, ’cause it is against the law.”

The videos were heavily edited. The sequence of some conversations was changed. Some workers seemed concerned for Giles, one advising her to get legal help. In two cities, Acorn workers called the police. But the most damning words match the transcripts and the audio, and do not seem out of context. Harshbarger’s report to Acorn found no “pattern of illegal conduct” by its employees. But, he told me: “They said what they said. There’s no way to make this look good.”

_____

Even the guy HIRED BY ACORN to investigate what happened ADMITS that “They said what they said. There’s no way to make this look good.” Yet, everyday someone here tries to defend them and claim that they didn’t say what they said. It’s pathetic.

And Rachel didn’t play the “full tapes.” She didn’t play any of the tapes. She just lied about them, AS IS EVIDENCED BY THE NEW YORK TIMES.

Even Republicans are distancing themselves now from Fox News and their fringe far-right wing philosophies and the loons that barf it up on a nightly basis (Hannity, Beck, O’Reilly, et al)

You know…this is actually fascinating to watch; the right’s hysteria over President Obama.

I mean, we’re 15 months into his Presidency, and Obama’s been called a socialist, Marxist, Muslim, terrorist, Nazi, Hitler, and the Anti-Christ….

15 Months in!!!!

That Hannity goes for the “Worst President Ever” is actually predictable, because there’s no where left to go after you’ve developed a narrative that has your sheep-like audience convinced that Obama is “Satan’s Muslim Nazi son-in-law.”

Fox News is as much about entertainment as professional wrestling, however the danger for America is that many Republican voters, who flock to the channel like moths to the flame are not only believing the hysteria and demonization, but expect Republican elected officials to believe it as well, and act accordingly. That leaves little room for negotiation for Republicans on damn near anything because you can’t ever look good making a deal with “Satan’s Muslim Nazi son-in-law” and the party he’s in charge of.

–Cobra

Finch,

You’re willing to stake your reputation (albeit as much as one can on the anonymous internet) on the word of O’Keefe and Giles, two people you’ve probably never met, and a set of unedited videotapes you HAVEN’T SEEN personally in their entirety?

Aren’t you a lawyer? Would you put a witness on the stand and ask questions you don’t know the answers to before hand?

Just asking, man.

–Cobra

Cobra:

That’s actually a fair question. Let me give you a lawyer’s answer (and I don’t mean that in the perjorative sense that “lawyer” is usually used).

I assume everyone is lying unless and until the the truth of what they’re saying is fairly established. Do I trust O’Keffe? No, he strikes me a punk who would lie his ass off to get his way. But that gut instinct doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s lying here. Even people with a bias tell the truth at least some of the time.

What is most persuasive to me is the New York Times piece that I quoted, both in tone and substance. The New York Times is, obviously, a liberal paper. If they could prop up ACORN while attacking O’Keefe and, by proxy, Andrew Breitbart, I’m sure they would. When they publish something that works against the official liberal line on a story, I think it has a high indicia of credibility. It is, in legal parlance, an “admission against interest.” (There’s even an exception to the hearsay rule for that.)

Similarly, the Times article quotes the guy hired by ACORN to investigate the matter. Again, that guy has a financial interest in telling ACORN what it wants to hear. When he says, “They said what they said. There’s no way to make this look good,” that is, again, an admission against interest.

On the other side of the debate, you have Rachel Maddow. I have witnessed her lying on countless occasions. She is not making an admission against interest. She is telling her audience what it wants to hear.

You’re right. NONE OF US have seen the tapes. But looking at all the facts, I think it’s far more likely that the New York Times is, reluctantly, telling the truth and Maddow is, enthusiastically, lying.

Oh, Goody, a conservative citing the NYT to bolster their case. The NYT of Judith Miller planted stories so Cheney has something to “divulge” on Timmeh’s show to lie us into war, the NYT that withheld publishing for a year that the Bush Administration willfully violated FISA so as not to affect the 04′ election.

I’ll listen to sources like these, thank you, and Rachel:

Christopher R. Martin, professor of
journalism and communication studies at the University of Northern
Iowa, and Peter Dreier, E.P Clapp Distinguished Professor of Politics
and director of the Urban & Environmental Policy Program at
Occidental College , are co-authors of “Manipulating the Public Agenda:
Why ACORN was in the News and What the News Got Wrong.”

“The pattern we discovered in the 2007-2008 coverage of
ACORN resembled the formula that we observed in the flow of news
coverage about the hidden camera story.

We found that conservative “opinion entrepreneurs” –
primarily business and conservative groups and individuals – set the
story in motion, the conservative media (e.g., Fox News, conservative
talk radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh and his many local counterparts,
conservative magazines like the National Review, the Washington Times,
the Washington Enquirer, and the editorial pages of the Wall Street
Journal) heighten the sense of urgency with an unwarranted amount of
coverage, and the mainstream media report the same allegations with
largely the same conservative frames, usually without investigating
their veracity. ”

” 95.8% of the stories about ACORN’s alleged
involvement in voter fraud failed to provide deeper context, especially
efforts by Republican Party officials to use allegations of “voter
fraud” to dampen voting by low-income and minority Americans that were
already documented at the time. Thanks to a House Judiciary Committee
investigation that released in August 2009 more than 5,000 pages of
White House and Republican National Committee e-mails and transcripts
of closed-door testimony by Karl Rove, former Bush senior advisor and
deputy chief of staff, and Harriet Miers, former White House counsel,
we now have further evidence that Rove personally orchestrated an
attack on ACORN. He insisted that a number of U.S. Attorneys prosecute
ACORN for voter fraud, even if there was no evidence for it. When one
of them, David Iglesias, the U.S. Attorney in New Mexico, investigated
the situation and discovered that ACORN had not engaged in any fraud,
he refused to prosecute the group. Rove quickly got Attorney General
Alberto Gonzales to fire him, part of a pattern that ultimately led to
the resignation of Gonzales in 2007. ”

But as long as a MSM outlet like the Times reports stories the way the right wing wants them to, maybe they’ll lay off calling them anti-American.

Jim R:

If you really believe that the New York Times is a mouth-piece for conservatives, I suggest that you talk to your doctors about adjusting your meds.

Bill Adkins says:
April 6, 2010 at 10:23 pm
No one knows yet who is worst president in history? Obama isn’t even in the running – that title belongs to George W. Bush and he has no close second. Those that claim one way or the other …. are morons.

You perfectly prove my point. You have no way of knowing whether Obama will be great, mediocre, or a disaster yet you declare “Obama isn’t even in the running”. Total moron.

Jimmy Carter was the worst president ever. But give Obama time.

I’m an Obama supporter and even I would not say GWB was the worst POTUS ever. Sean Hannity is a fool and needs to read up on the histrory of US Presidents. Buchanan in my opinion is the worst POTUS considering what his actions or in-actions led to. No POTUS in the 20th century even comes close to that guy.

You however don’t expect intelligent dialogue or discourse from a determined hyperbolic demagogue like Hannity.

Finch: Did you watch Maddow’s show tonight?

Avereauxxi:

When she’s up against Lost? Sorry, brother, no way!

<>

Well of course you would. No need to read the rest of your dribble.

(supposed to be quoted above) Averreauxii says:
April 7, 2010 at 12:17 am

I’m an Obama supporter and even I would not say GWB was the worst POTUS ever.

Mediaite Matters is so quick to post stories against the tea party, I wonder if they will post anything about this:

Black Tea Party Activists Called ‘Traitors’

It says “Video Below,” but there’s no video.

Someone should fix that.

Finch: I asked because it was obvious you did not watch her show. The tapes with respect to the Cali-ACORN sting were obviously edited to remove context and that was what she was “proving” on last night’s show.

germ: Try again and this time, please make some sense.

Well i think we can’t blame any one with out knowing the truth.Obama has done whatever he said and he knows very well what he is doing.I m not saying Obama will necessarily encourage all the evils but his affinities and leanings will may do that.
Farmville Expert

Averreauxxi:

Okay, I found the 12 min clip form last night’s show on line. What is clear is that it is Maddow who is now purposely distorting the truth in order to serve her political agenda.

In her 12 minute piece, she makes three claims: (1) O’Keffe didn’t dress as a pimp; (2) the San Diego office called the police; and, (3) they didn’t claim to be a pimp and prostitute in the Los Angeles office.

Number 1 and 2 are true, but her claims are taken out of context themselves. First, O’Keefe did not dress as pimp, but he certainly did present himself as one. Here’s what the New York Times said on that point (in the link I provided above):
_____

Acorn’s supporters appear to hope that the whole story will fall apart over the issue of what O’Keefe wore: if that was wrong, everything else must be wrong. The record does not support them. If O’Keefe did not dress as a pimp, he clearly presented himself as one: a fellow trying to set up a woman — sometimes along with under-age girls — in a house where they would work as prostitutes. In Washington, he said the prostitution was to finance his future in politics. A worker for Acorn Housing, an allied group, warned him to stay away from the brothel lest someone “get wind that you got a house and that your girlfriend is over there running a house of women of the night. You will not have a career.”
_____

I think The New York Times is right here, and Maddow is wrong. Who cares what he wore? O’Keefe presented himself as pimp. Now, to be clear, O’Keefe went on television dressed in the pimp outfit and implied that that is what he wore into the ACORN offices. That was wrong, and clearly it was indulging the story for effect, but it does not take away from the wrongdoing that ACORN committed.

Second, Maddow makes much of the fact that the San Diego office called the police on O’Keefe. The problem is that she misleadingly implies that ALL of the ACORN offices called the police. Sorry, but that’s not true. The truth is that 2 of the 7 offices that O’Keefe visited called the police. That’s not a very good batting average when you’re dealing with aiding a child prostitution ring. Again, Maddow implies that ACORN is completely innocent in this whole affair when, in fact, 5 out of the 7 offices were willing to help set up the child prostitution ring.

Third, Maddow is just plain lying about Los Angeles. She says that O’Keffe never claimed that he was pimp or that they were trading in underaged girls. That is false. Here’s the part of the transcript from Los Angeles Maddow didn’t play last night:

_____

James: Could we speak to you just a little more? LaVelle (Acorn): Sure. James: Help tell you about our situation? We’d love to speak with them. LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. James: But, LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. James: we just we just trust ACORN because LaVelle (Acorn): No problem. James: someone, someone referred me and said that you guys are really helpful LaVelle (Acorn): Right. James: in, in the housing situation. So, that’s why we’re more comfortable speaking with someone. I mean LaVelle (Acorn): Mmm hmm. James: But I don’t know if you could tell her some of the other things too? I don’t know if
13
Los Angeles
this is something that they would Hannah (Eden): I, yeah, I’m not sure okay, um, there’s also 12 girls LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. Hannah (Eden): that have recently come to Los Angeles LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. Hannah (Eden): from El Salvador. LaVelle (Acorn): Mmm hmm. Hannah (Eden): Um, that the pimp here LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. Hannah (Eden): wants control of. LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. Hannah (Eden): And there’s a, a thing going on for control of these girls. They’re between the ages of 12 and 15. LaVelle (Acorn): Mmm hmm. Okay. Hannah (Eden): And part of the reason why I want housing LaVelle (Acorn): Mmm hmm Hannah (Eden): is so that I can take the girls. LaVelle (Acorn): Help them. Hannah (Eden): Help them. Um, yeah. And help take them into the house. I know I’m, I’m, I’m not you know old enough to be their mother, obviously, but somehow shield them and also let them be able to work here. I mean they’re, they’re in the line they’re, they’re prostitutes. LaVelle (Acorn): In the line of fire. Hannah (Eden): They’re, they’re, they’re prostitutes. LaVelle (Acorn): Okay. Hannah (Eden): They’re underage in America, and I at least if they’re gonna work here and work with me
14
Los Angeles
LaVelle (Acorn): Right. Hannah (Eden): they won’t be subjected to that LaVelle (Acorn): To that Hannah (Eden): guy. LaVelle (Acorn): Yeah. Yeah. Hannah (Eden): So, that’s why I need the house.

_____

The full transcript and complete audio are available here:

http://biggovernment.com/acorn/

Rachel Maddow is lying again. The New York Times is right: “There’s no way to make this look good.” But that is exactly what Maddow is trying to do, and she’s trying to do it through lies and manipulation of the evidence.

“Christine says:
April 7, 2010 at 12:05 am
Bill Adkins says:
April 6, 2010 at 10:23 pm
No one knows yet who is worst president in history? Obama isn’t even in the running – that title belongs to George W. Bush and he has no close second. Those that claim one way or the other …. are morons.

You perfectly prove my point. You have no way of knowing whether Obama will be great, mediocre, or a disaster yet you declare “Obama isn’t even in the running”. Total moron.”

So, you’re saying I can’t say it because we must let history decide upon the demise of the nation? Your rules, not mine. Obama isn’t even in the running because he’s performed well and not even come close to committing a blunder. Bush, on the other hand, has a record of blunder and screwup unequalled by any president in history, to include Buchanan. To drop all blame for 1861-1865 on Buchanan is oversimplifying to the nth degree. Bush on the other hand took a nation at the height of its success and turned it to shit. Heckuva effing job. If you can’t see that, Christine, apply for SSI and hopefully they’ll assign you a responsible payee.

Bill:

Your position is obviously absurd, if for no other reason than because Obama’s only been President for a year. Even if you want to defend everything he’s done to date, you have no idea what he’s going to do tomorrow, or a year from now, or two years from now, or (God forbid) six years from now. Forget the political debate, you are claiming clairvoyance! And if you’re willing to go to such absurd lengths to make your claim, it’s obvious that you’re not making a reasoned or objective assessment.

The judgment of history comes faster than it once did, to be sure, but I still think it is too early to call W the worst of the presidents. He may well be in the running. Buchanan is certainly “worthy” as is Harding. Harding simply had the fortune of dying early in his term.

It does seem that Raygun is toddling off to mediocrity and W to a far worse place, but we can wait a bit to make that final. Interestingly, Poppy seems headed for a rehabilitation.

Good moaning, Mr. Finch.

By your standards, finch, as well as Christine’s we must wait until 2050 or beyond and include the (could it be?) Britney Spears Administration.

No, Bill, by my standard you have to wait until at least 2013 or 2017 (depending on whether Obama gets reelected). Again the fact you’re willing to even argue that Obama’s presidency is/was/will be a success after just one year is a prima facie absurdity. It shows that you’re not basing your judgment on facts because the relevant facts haven’t even happened yet. No matter happens, no matter what Obama does, you’ll be arguing that he was a great President.

And that, in turn, shows that your judgment of Bush as the worst President of all time isn’t based on the facts either.

We have a long history in America of journalists, “newsmen” not being educated in their field and not being all that well educated, period. That worked out reasonably well because tenacity and discipline were the keys to success. There was an ethical standard, a work standard, involving uncovering facts.

We have no similar standard for commentary. Many of our commentators are uneducated or undereducated and unskilled. They are certainly undisciplined in their undertaking. Beck, Hannity and Limbaugh are prime examples. None of them are sufficiently educated to offer informed opinion, they are not well read and, frankly, they are not all that bright. They are “personalities” who uncover themselves through spouting. They are not committed to uncovering facts, and facts often do not suit their primary purpose of entertaining. I don’t have any problem with that, but anyone seeking facts or news from these people is as foolish as they are.

Obama the worst president ever? That’s hilarious even by Hannity’s standards.

As time goes by, I think it will be safe to say that Dubya will be considered the worst U.S. president ever, no matter what the right wing whackadoodles like Hannity and AnnonymousFinch will whine and cry about.

Hannity is the very definition of Fat and Stupid! Don’t hate the tall, tanned, good looking one. He’s so not Bush which is why we love him!

Of course Obama is the “Worst President Ever”. He took Bush’s record high deficit and tripled it. He passed Commiecare. He has destroyed the ecomony and extended the recession. His playbook is the 10 Pillars of Communism by Karl Marx (From the Communist Manivesto) He has either already immplamented them already or he is working on it: 1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes (LAND TAKINGS BY GOVERNMENT, GOVERNMENT OWNED LANDS, ABUSIVE PROPERTY TAXES). 2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax. (DONE) 3. Abolition of all rights of inheritance. (PARTIALLY DONE and Getting worse) 4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels. (THIS HAS BEEN DISCUSSED AND THEY ARE WORKING ON IT) 5. Centralization of credit in the banks of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly. (DONE) 6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the state. (THE FCC HAS BROAD POWERS IN THIS AREA AND THEY ARE WORKING ON IT NOW) 7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the state; the bringing into cultivation of waste lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan. (THE FARM BILL HAS ACCOMPLISHED SOME OF THIS)
8. Equal obligation of all to work. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture. (PEACE CORPS, JOB CORPS, ETC. ARE LEADING TO THIS) 9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of all the distinction between town and country by a more equable distribution of the populace over the country. (PARTIAL-LAND USE PLANNING, KELO RULINGS, ETC.)
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production, etc. (DONE)

Could I ask, American Cowboy, where did you find a screed from which to cut and paste which was so filled with typographical, spelling and grammatical errors, and so devoid of facts? Is this some militia newsletter?

Let’s face it Hannity is a political attack dog. Never once have I heard him say a good thing about this president. It hardly seems reasonable that anyone would say Obama is the worst president 18 months into his term unless he is attempting to discredit him and destroy him.. Hannity may mean well, who knows, but in my opinion he has managed to loss all credibility with his viewers, at least from this viewer’s perspective.

So, (White) Royal, I guess you mean that O’Reilly is qualified to offer his opinions, since you’re using education as the measuring stick. Bill attended Marist College till junior year, then went abroad and attended Queen Mary College at the University of London. He returned to Marist for senior year and got a B.A. in history. He taught English and history, then got an M.A. in journalism from Boston University. He also has a Master of Public Administration from Harvard. Much more relevant to journalism than Olbermann’s agriculture degree, for example. Never knew you were an O’Reilly fan, King.

HANNITY IS A FOOL ….HE APPARANTLY FORGOT THERE WERE 2 BUSHES IN BETWEEN REAGAN AND OBAMA. GEORGE W BUSH HAS “OFFICIALLY” BEEN DECLARED THE WORST PRESIDENT IN HISTORY WITH A 36% LIFETIME APPROVAL RATING.
ALL HE DOES (HANNITY) IS SPEW HIS OPINIONS OUT AT HIS KOOL AID DRINKERS.
OF COURSE HE TRY TO IMPOSE THEM AT WHOEVER ELSE MIGHT BE LISTENING.
HIS ENTIRE SHOW ARE ANTI-OBAMA RANTINGS WITH NO MERIT, EXCEPT OTHER RIGHT WINGERS HE HAS ON HIS SHOW STROKING HIS EGO. HOW MANY TIMES IS HE GONNA HAVE CARL ROVE NEWT GRINGRICH AND RUDY GIULIANI ON …OH AND OF COURSE ANN COULTER.
THERE IS ONLY ONE WORST SHOW THAN HANNITY- THATS THAT IDIOT MARK LEVINE -A NAZI LOVER.

HEY THAT AMERICAN COWBOY IS GLENN BECK IN DISGUISE….HAIL HITLER

I can’t think of anyone worse in my lifetime and that includes Tricky Dick Nixon. This president is definitely a one-termer and will be a Lame Duck after the November elections. Thank God!

Predictably Libs just recite whatever the DNC talking points are and never let facts interfere with their stupidity.
Obama has been shown to be incompetent and destructively hyper partisan repeatedly but the libs don’t care. The economy remains weak and will get worse next year, he failed to get the Olympics, the Gulf is destroyed, 60% of American taxpayers want Obamcare repealed including 37 state governments.he hires despicable anti American Communists, (Dunn and VAN JONES,) a pedophile,( Jennings) to work in the White House. A one termer like Jiimmy Carter, another terrible president. Here’s a great article by a famous shrink who’s been treating libs for years.:

Dr. Rossiter says the liberal agenda preys on weakness and feelings of inferiority in the population by:

* creating and reinforcing perceptions of victimization;
* satisfying infantile claims to entitlement, indulgence and compensation;
* augmenting primitive feelings of envy;
* rejecting the sovereignty of the individual, subordinating him to the will of the government.
The roots of liberalism – and its associated madness – can be clearly identified by understanding how children develop from infancy to adulthood and how distorted development produces the irrational beliefs of the liberal mind,” he says. “When the modern liberal mind whines about imaginary victims, rages against imaginary villains and seeks above all else to run the lives of persons competent to run their own lives, the neurosis of the liberal mind becomes painfully obvious.”