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University Advice to Women Being Raped: Vomit or Urinate
University Advice to Women Being Raped: Vomit or Urinate
The Young Turks Guest Catches Breitbart News’ Ben Shapiro In ‘Friends Of Hamas’ Lie
Breitbart News Editor Ben Shapiro spent a good part of his Wednesday being kicked around over his report on imaginary group “Friends of Hamas,” and their alleged ties to former Sen. Chuck Hagel and a Daily News reporter’s dry sense of humor. Shapiro, for his part, stood by the story, if “Whether the information I was given by the source is correct I am not sure” can be considered “standing by” a story, but as a guest on Wednesday night’s edition of The Young Turks pointed out, Shapiro appears to have busted himself in a lie even as he tried to double down on his “reporting.”
One of the great mysteries of former Senator Chuck Hagel’s (R-NE) contentious pending confirmation as Secretary of Defense has been solved. A “Breitbart News” story published two weeks ago, entitled “Secret Hagel Donor?: White House Spox Ducks Question On ‘Friends Of Hamas,’” raised questions about the gullibility of Republicans like former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and current Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), as well as The National Review’s Andrew McCarthy, and Fox Business’ Lou Dobbs. No one could quite figure out the imaginary group “Friends of Hamas’” origin story, however, until The New York Daily News’ Dan Friedman revealed that he accidentally invented them by sarcastically asking a Republican Senate aide if they had anything specific on Hagel’s speech-giving past, perhaps ties to the “Junior League of Hezbollah, in France,” or “Friends of Hamas?”
Friedman’s Senate source admitted sharing the question with others, which is how the “information” appears to have gotten to Shapiro the next day. His Feb. 6 report cited “Senate sources” (an attribution looser than your average Ex-Lax binge) alleging that the reason for Sen. Hagel’s refusal to comply with a deep-sea fishing request for financial disclosures “is that one of the names listed is a group purportedly called ‘Friends of Hamas.’”
Once called out by Friedman, Shapiro published a response that totally contradicted Friedman’s account by not contradicting any of it, and revealed, in the process, that gullible Senate scrubs travel in packs of at least three:
Our Senate source denies that Friedman is the source of this information. “I have received this information from three separate sources, none of whom was Friedman,” the source said.
On Wednesday night’s The Young Turks, host Cenk Uygur and guest Max Read (awesome pen name, even if it’s real) of Gawker criticized the media for not having bothered to debunk the two-week-old story, with the notable exception of Slate’s Dave Weigel. Several conservative media and political figures amplified the story, without bothering to even Google “Friends of Hamas,” and as Cenk pointed out, will pay a price of exactly nothing for that failure.
Read also caught a glaring inconsistency in Shapiro’s defense of his reporting, noting that in his first report, Shapiro is “citing Senate sources, plural sources,” whereas in defending that report on Wednesday, “he acknowledges that he only had one source. He’s actually lying in his first article.”
Well, that all depends on what your definition of “source” is. True, Shapiro only cites a single direct source in that second article, but he does claim that his source has three sources, too, by the transitive properties of that old shampoo commercial, doesn’t Shapiro now have, like, a million sources, at least one of whom is Kevin Bacon?
Here’s the clip, from Current TV’s The Young Turks:
Sensing weakness, Karl Rove’s critics pounce
For the first time in a dozen years, Karl Rove’s critics smell blood.
After his electoral wipeout in November — and motivated by years of resentment that’s spilling over — Rove’s credibility within his own party is at an all-time low.
His ability to sell donors on his new endeavor, the Conservative Victory Project, took a beating with a rollout in The New York Times, the newspaper conservatives love to hate.
(Also on POLITICO: Rove defends himself against attacks)
Just this week, a tea party group grafted his image over a Nazi in an email pitch. Newt Gingrich, who spent much of 2012 lambasting Rove and the rest of the GOP establishment, faulted Rove for trying to handpick candidates. And last week, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad spoke publicly about phoning Rove to tell him his latest venture was ill-conceived.
Such open season on Rove would have been unimaginable even six months ago, as the Crossroads groups he co-founded cruised along to a $300 million fundraising goal. But that was before November, when a bad election night was capped by a bad Rove performance on Fox News — a call heard ‘round the world as he insisted the presidential race, which the cable network had just called for Barack Obama, was far from over.
He’s been re-signed by Fox, which guarantees him a powerful bully pulpit going forward. But, while it might be a stretch to say he’s gone from guru to goat, he will have to spend months making a case to skeptical donors, several Republican fundraisers conceded.
(Also on POLITICO: Tea party group pictures Rove as Nazi)
“He’s got a donor backlash and he’s got an activists backlash,” said one prominent Republican donor. Several people who cut big checks to Crossroads feel burned, this person said, adding some believe Rove is letting his group off too easy with his insistence that the problem last year was bad candidates.
“This idea that he’s the curator” of the Republican Party has taken a beating, said the donor. Further, the donor said — echoing sentiments made by others — the Times story about the Conservative Victory Project made both Crossroads and Rove a focus, as opposed to the process of picking candidates. And it set CVP up in direct opposition to another major conservative outside group, Club for Growth, that has been able to tout electoral successes.
To be sure, Rove remains a serious figure within the party — one who a number of donors still respect immensely — as evidenced by how few people would criticize him on the record.
politico
GOP Cat Fight! Newt vs. Karl Rove – VIDEO
“Newt Gingrich is not pleased with Karl Rove’s latest strategy for the Republican Party.
In an op-ed published by conservative magazine Human Events on Wednesday, the former House speaker and Republican presidential candidate spoke out against the Rove-backed Conservative Victory Project, an offshoot of Rove’s American Crossroads super PAC that aims to block fringe candidates from winning GOP congressional primaries.”*
It’s establishment Republicans vs. Tea Partiers. Newt Gingrich is back, trying to pick up the Tea Party base by taking shots at Karl Rove and his method. Is he still upset with Mitt Romney getting GOP backing in the 2012 elections? How is Gingrich not “establishment?” Cenk Uygur breaks it down.
Harry Reid on running again in 2016: ‘Sure, why not?’
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he’ll run for a sixth term in the Senate in 2016 — though it doesn’t sound like he’s given the bid much thought at this point.
“Sure, why not?” he responded when asked by a Nevada reporter if he’ll run again.
Reid, who won a hard-fought reelection battle in 2010, will be 76 by 2016.
He refused to speculate on whether Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R) would run against him. Sandoval, a popular governor who is Hispanic, would likely be Republicans’ best chance at the seat in the Democratic-trending state.
Source: The Hill
Donald Trump: Twitter account was hacked
Donald Trump probably wants to scream and shout.
Trump says his Twitter account, which has more than 2 million followers, was hacked Thursday, with the unknown hacker Tweeting out a lyric by rapper Lil Wayne, who is featured on Will.i.am featuring Britney Spears’ track called “Scream & Shout (Remix).”
“These h—- think they classy, well that’s the class I’m skippen,” reads the lyrical Tweet at 11:41 a.m. and was quickly deleted.
Trump’s spokesman Michael Cohen said that authorities are investigating.
Trump also Tweeted about the incident.
politico
Pope Benedict Sought Immunity for Sex Abuse Crimes Before Resigning
Pope Benedict Sought Immunity for Sex Abuse Crimes Before Resigning
By a 65-34 vote the Virginia House of Delegates on Wednesday passed a measure that would mandate voters show photo ID
By a 65-34 vote, the Virginia House of Delegates on Wednesday passed a measure that would mandate voters show photo ID at the polls.
Senate Bill 1256, sponsored by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, would also require the state to provide free photo ID to voters who do not have such identification.
The bill now moves to the desk of Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has not commented on the legislation during the session. If McDonnell signs it, the U.S. Department of Justice would also have to sign off on the proposal before it would become law in 2014.
Virginia would then become one of just a handful of states that have strict photo ID laws, joining Georgia, Indiana, Kansas and Tennessee. Mississippi, Pennsylvania, Texas and Wisconsin have passed similar legislation that is pending.
“Today’s victory is a long time coming,” said Obenshain, who first introduced photo ID legislation in 2005. “SB 1256 will ensure that every legal vote counts and that those votes are not diluted by fraudulent votes. More importantly, this will buttress voter confidence in the integrity of our election process,” he said.
Before reaching the House, Obenshain’s bill had passed the Senate 21-20, with Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling casting the tie-breaking vote.
Democratic leaders are urging McDonnell to veto the measure.
“We are the world’s leading democracy and should be setting the standard for free and fair elections,” said Del. Charniele L. Herring, D-Alexandria, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
“Today, House Republicans delivered a major setback to Virginia’s democracy and made it harder for Virginians to vote, including seniors,” Herring said. “Governor McDonnell should veto this extreme anti-voting bill and work to make sure that the commonwealth’s elections remain open and accessible to all qualified voters.”
timesdispatch
GOP Senators Urge Obama To Drop Hagel Nomination – Read The LETTER
A group of Republican senators on Thursday sent President Obama a letter, urging him to withdraw the nomination of Chuck Hagel for defense secretary.
“It would be unprecedented for a Secretary of Defense to take office without the broad base of bipartisan support and confidence needed to serve effectively in this critical position,” the senators wrote. “Over the last half-century, no Secretary of Defense has been confirmed and taken office with more than three Senators voting against him. Further, in the history of this position, none has ever been confirmed with more than 11 opposing votes. The occupant of this critical office should be someone whose candidacy is neither controversial nor divisive.”
Sens. John Cornyn (R-TX), Jim Inhofe (R-OK), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Roger Wicker (R-MS), David Vitter (R-LA), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Mike Lee (R-UT), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Marco Rubio (R-FL), Dan Coats (R-IN), Ron Johnson (R – WI), Jim Risch (R-ID), John Barrasso (R-WY), Tom Coburn (R-OK) and Tim Scott (R-SC) signed the letter to the President.
Source: TPM
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