I originally found it on I'm not Ann Coulter, I just play her on MySpace
Posted on 10/21/2009 3:06:35 PM PDT by Syncro
THE GRATING COMMUNICATOR
October 21, 2009
The Obama administration has attacked Fox News in order to prevent government corruption stories broken on Fox from bleeding into the other media, which are all-consumed with daily updates on Levi Johnston's Playgirl spread and Carrie Prejean's breast implants.
That's understandable. But I think the administration should have picked someone other than David Axelrod to deliver the claim that Fox News is "not really news," inasmuch as Axelrod was behind the leak of scurrilous allegations in Jack Ryan's sealed divorce papers when he was running for a Senate seat against Obama. Talk about vicious personal gossip.
Now that Fox has been branded an untouchable, the teacher's-pet media are jubilant.
In Newsweek, Jacob Weisberg wrote a column saying liberals should refuse to appear on Fox News, pointedly concluding, "And no, I don't want to come on 'The O'Reilly Factor' to discuss it." Considering that Weisberg is a 107-pound weasel with a speech impediment, this is on the order of Weisberg's announcing that he's not interested in appearing in the next "Ocean's Eleven" movie with George Clooney.
The strangest thing about all the invective against Fox is that it is happening in a world that contains MSNBC. At least Fox News primetime hosts, and many of their guests, know something about politics. MSNBC's primetime lineup presents an array of people who sound like earnest college kids who just walked up to a Common Cause table, and the sum-total of what they know about politics is what they read in the brochures.
In the past week, both Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have rolled out the Willie Horton ad, claiming that it marked the beginning of vicious personal attacks in politics, as opposed to what it was: The most devastatingly relevant campaign commercial in all of American history.
You can always astonish college kids by telling them the true story of Willie Horton. Among the jaw-dropping facts are:
-- In the '80s, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a prison furlough policy had to be extended to convicted murderers, who were ineligible for parole.
-- Even the Massachusetts Legislature, which contained about three Republicans, realized this was insane, and quickly passed a bill excluding first-degree murderers from the weekend furlough program. But in a desperate bid for the ACLU's Brain-Dead Liberal of the Year Award, Gov. Michael Dukakis vetoed the bill.
-- Horton, who was later released under this program, was in prison for carving up a teenager at a gas station and then stuffing his body into a garbage can. (He had already been convicted of attempted murder in South Carolina -- through no fault of his own, the victim survived.)
-- Even after Horton used his Dukakis-granted furlough to rape and torture a Maryland couple in their home for 12 straight hours, the Greek homunculus issued a statement reaffirming his strong support for furloughing murderers.
Read more at AnnCoulter.Com
Read the rest at AnnCoulter.Com
I originally found it on I'm not Ann Coulter, I just play her on MySpace
The Obama administration has attacked Fox News in order to prevent government corruption stories broken on Fox from bleeding into the other media, which are all-consumed with daily updates on Levi Johnston's Playgirl spread and Carrie Prejean's breast implants.LOL!
It would be interesting to actually the horrible Willie Horton ad. Is it available anywhere on line?
My favorite riffs from her column:
“In Newsweek, Jacob Weisberg wrote a column saying liberals should refuse to appear on Fox News, pointedly concluding, “And no, I don’t want to come on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ to discuss it.” Considering that Weisberg is a 107-pound weasel with a speech impediment, this is on the order of Weisberg’s announcing that he’s not interested in appearing in the next “Ocean’s Eleven” movie with George Clooney.
“The strangest thing about all the invective against Fox is that it is happening in a world that contains MSNBC. At least Fox News primetime hosts, and many of their guests, know something about politics. MSNBC’s primetime lineup presents an array of people who sound like earnest college kids who just walked up to a Common Cause table, and the sum-total of what they know about politics is what they read in the brochures.
“I don’t blame Keith personally for this blatant distortion: He gets all his research material from Markos Moulitsas and other left-wing bloggers, so he can’t be held responsible for the content of his show. Keith’s principle contribution to the program is his nightly display of self-congratulation and pompous douche-baggery.
“In his coursework, he learned such skills as: Dramatically Turning to Camera, Hysterical Self-Righteousness, Pausing Portentously and Gravely Demanding Apologies/Resignations From Various Public Figures.
“The bloggers and Keith bring different skill sets to the game. They provide the tendentious half-truths, phony opinion polls and spurious social science, while Keith provides his booming baritone, gigantic “Guys and Dolls” suits and gift for ridiculous, fustian grandiloquence. Keith is far better equipped than, say, the pint-sized, girly-voiced, Frito Bandito-accented Markos Moulitsas to deliver the party line.
“Again, in fairness to Keith, he’s never been a “content guy.” He was a communications major. “
According to Anne, the original Willie Horton ad didn’t show the race of Willie Horton.
Here’s a link to what purports to be and certainly looks like the original ad.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/40623/historic-campaign-ads-willie-horton-1988
Quite obvious that Willie is black, not to mention scary looking.
Wonder what Anne is talking about.
Ann Coulter: THE GRATING COMMUNICATORAnn does have a way with words!
See also, from www.encyclopedia.com:
grating • adjectiveYup. That about sums him up.1. a grating noise
synonyms : rasping, scraping, jarring, scratching, grinding, creaking.2. a grating voice
synonyms : harsh, raucous, strident, screeching, piercing, shrill, squawking, squawky, squeaky, discordant, hoarse, croaky.3. a grating personality
synonyms : irritating, jarring, annoying, vexatious, irksome, galling, exasperating, offensive, disagreeable, unpleasant.
The dictionary ought to have Obama's PICTURE beside that listing. :o)
What Obama has just done is to make Fox News the 21st Century version of Radio Free Europe or Radio Marti.The public at large knows, or will know, that the other news networks have become the ‘State Run Media”,as Rush Limbaugh likes to call them, and will only run government propaganda.
Ann’s smirking about the appalling Olbermann’s college major is beneath her.
Rush Limbaugh is a college dropout and Mark Steyn is a high school dropout. Criticize the content of what people say, not their academic history, which is pretty thoroughly irrelevant.
Also, Sarah Palin’s degree is in Communications.
Maybe she means when Gore used Horton in an earlier campaign.
I think you are right. That looks like the ad as I remember it from those days.
From Ann’s column:
“Every informed student of the 1988 campaign knows that the Bush ad didn’t show Horton’s picture. And yet in Keith’s discussion of Bush’s allegedly vile, racist use of Willie Horton, he used a phony version of the ad, doctored to include a photo of Horton.”
I remember watching the Bush campaign’s Willie Horton ad (the one with the murderers going through the revolving door) and assuming that the furloughed murderer Willie Horton was white, since I already knew a black Willie Horton (the great DH for the Tigers) and this obviously was a different Willie Horton, and one from Massachusetts to boot. It wasn’t until all the hubbub about the “racist ad” came out that I learned that the furloughed murderer was black, as was shown on a picture included in a Willie Horton TV ad that was produced not by the Bush campaign, but by an independent group that supported Bush (or at least opposed Dukakis).
So while I have no idea what ad that buffoon Keith Olbermann aired on his show, he may have aired an actual ad from the 1988 race (produced by an independent group) that showed Willie Horton’s picture, and not a phony version of Bush’s ad doctored to include a picture of Horton.
Do we know what ad Olbermann aired?
See the post to which I am replying. There were (at least) two Willie Horton ads, and the Bush campaign’s ad (as opposed to the ad from an independent group) did not show a picture of Horton. However, I think that Ann may be incorrect when she says that Olbermann showed a doctored version of the Bush ad with the picture added (unless he was stupid enough to do so instead of showing the independent ad).
A picture of Willie Horton never appeared in the original ad. (In fact, all of the criminals shown in it were white.)
OOOOH Ann. We are not worthy.
Yup. That about sums him up.Ooops!The dictionary ought to have Obama's PICTURE beside that listing. :o)
Next time, I better read Ann's ENTIRE column before posting!It appears that the "Grating Communicator" that Ann is savaging in this week's column is Keith Olbermann.
Sorry. I guess that HE is "grating", too.But, seriously, I cannot imagine that ANY dictionary would illustrate their listing with a "nobody" like Olbermann.
(I don't know. I never watch his show. Does ANYBODY?)
Maybe my memory is off, but wasn’t it GORE who first used the commercial against Dukakis in the primary fight for the nomination presidential nomination?
“Also, Sarah Palin’s degree is in Communications.”
What? Carrie Prejean got breast implants?
BTW, before reading the column, I also thought that the title referred to Obama. Only after I finished reading it did I think “wait, she didn’t mention Obama . . . ohhhh, *Olbermann* is the “grating communicator . . . .”
Shut up, Ann!
( Guess I am feeling “cranky”.)
It's nice to know that I'm not the ONLY one that made the leap from Reagan to Obama. ("GREAT" Communicator to "GRATING" Communicator.)
The Kenyan Usurper is a socialist, and a maroon -- but at least he's the PRESIDENT. (Sort of.)
Who is this Olbermann guy -- that Ann would devote so much time to fisking him??
Beginning on September 21, 1988, the Americans for Bush arm of the National Security Political Action Committee (NSPAC), under the auspices of Floyd Brown, began running a campaign ad entitled "Weekend Passes", using the Horton case to attack Dukakis. The ad was produced by media consultant Larry McCarthy, who had previously worked for Roger Ailes. After clearing the ad with television stations, McCarthy added a menacing mug shot of Horton, who is African American. He called the image "every suburban mother's greatest fear."[citation needed] Additionally, although Horton actually went by "William", the ad's creators changed his name to "Willie."[10] The ad was run as an independent expenditure, separate from the Bush campaign, which claimed not to have had any role in its production.[11]On October 5, 1988, a day after the "Weekend Passes" ad was taken off the airwaves, and also the date of the Bentsen-Quayle debate, the Bush campaign ran its own ad, "Revolving Door", which also attacked Dukakis over the weekend furlough program. While the advertisement did not mention Horton or feature his photograph, it depicted a variety of intimidating-looking men walking in and out of prison through a revolving door.[12] The commercial was filmed at an actual state prison in Draper, Utah, but the individuals depicted — thirty in all, including three African Americans and two Hispanics, were all paid actors.
FWIW, the first add with the scary Black guy did not run in Massachusetts, and probably not in Connecticut either (where Ann is from). In any case it was not run by the Bush campaign.
I saw that, thank you. I was going to say that there was probably more than one ad.
I love this woman’s mind. She has unique and relevant perspectives. Her comments are a bit too acerbic for use in debate, but she sure puts a frame around it.
Perhaps as a contradiction, I also love Sarah. Sarah communicates like a leader. Simple, concise and to the point. Exactly what us Joe six packs can get behind.
Ann’s smirking about the appalling Olbermann’s college major is beneath her.That is a reference to an older column of hers. Relevant excerpt:
Olbermann relentlessly attacked low-level Bush administration employee Monica Goodling for not going to a name-dropping college, saying—approximately 1 million times—that she got her law degree "by sending 100 box tops to Religious Lunatic University."So it is some kind of a standing joke, and he deserves it.I would venture to say that the students at Goodling's law school at Regent University are far more impressive than those at the Cornell agriculture school—the land-grant, non-Ivy League school Keith attended.
I wouldn't mention it, except that Olbermann savages anyone who didn't go to an impressive college. As it happens, he didn't go to an impressive college, either.
If you've ever watched any three nights of his show, you know that Olbermann went to Cornell. But he always forgets to mention that he went to the school that offers classes in milking and bovine management.
Indeed, Keith is constantly lying about his nonexistent "Ivy League" education, boasting to Playboy magazine, for example: "My Ivy League education taught me how to cut corners, skim books and take an idea and write 15 pages on it, and also how to work all day at the Cornell radio station and never actually go to class."
Except Keith didn't go to the Ivy League Cornell; he went to the Old MacDonald Cornell.
Keith, are you feeling the love?
Ann does this to Olberman because in the past he tried to make it sound like the school he went to was a big liberal arts school in the east when it wasn’t.
Who is this Olbermann guy -- that Ann would devote so much time to fisking him??Now I know.
Olbermann is NOTHING. He's just a convenient FOIL, to allow Ann to showcase her expertise on Willie Horton.
Ann WROTE THE BOOK on Willie Horton -- literally.You can read part of the chapter about the "Willie Horton" FACTS -- from Ann's book Godless (via books.google.com) -- here:
Godless: The Church of Liberalism
I’m not an expert but I think AC is referring to the Bush campaign ad, which did not feature a photo of Horton; ie, a different ad than the infamous WH ad which was not (I think) produced by the Bush campaign.
Share with your friends and give Keith a tingle up his leg.
Obama’s 7 Lies In Under 2 Min.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UErR7i2onW0&feature=player_embedded
See post 25. Your claim appears to be inaccurate.
The ORIGINAL WH ad, with obviously black Willi’e picture shown, was run by a purportedly independent group, not by the Bush campaign.
The campaign later ran a “revolving door” ad with a number of scary men, most of whom were white, but some were black or hispanic.
Ann does that because Mr. Olbermann has at times past talked about his degree from Cornell. What he doesn’t say is that it was from the ag. school; not the Ivy League school
PRICELESS!
" Keith provides his booming baritone, gigantic "Guys and Dolls" suits and gift for ridiculous, fustian grandiloquence.
Aint it da truth!
Way to go Ann.
This is a serious protest tool. I, myself have refused to date Sharon Stone because of her views.
Know what? I like the “Before” better!
Oh, B.S.
Fisking?
Fisking?LOL!
From wikipedia.org:
...The term fisking, or to fisk, is blogosphere slang describing a point-by-point criticism that highlights perceived errors, or disputes the analysis in a statement, article, or essay.[1] Eric S. Raymond, in the Jargon File, defined the term as:
A point-by-point refutation of a blog entry or (especially) news story. A really stylish fisking is witty, logical, sarcastic and ruthlessly factual; flaming or handwaving is considered poor form.The British newspaper The Observer defined fisking as "...the practice of savaging an argument and scattering the tattered remnants to the four corners of the internet (named after Robert Fisk of the Independent, whose columns are considered soft targets)"[3]Named after Robert Fisk, a British journalist who was a frequent (and deserving) early target of such treatment.[2]
-- snip --
"Fisking" was coined by right wing bloggers in December 2001, following a short three-paragraph attack by Andrew Sullivan[7] in response to a The Sunday Independent article written by Fisk earlier that month that recounted Fisk's beating at the hands of Afghan refugees in Pakistan.[8]
Though the term was not coined by Sullivan at that time, it appeared soon after on Instapundit and Sullivan's weblog.
Willie Horton was first exposed by Al Gore.
Neither one of those links is to the original Republican party ad of 1988. I saw it personally; it WAS a picture of a revolving door with “criminals” (race could not be readily determined) coming and going.
The videos you linked to were produced by an independent group.
I’m so sick and tired of rinos.
With that paragraph she punched Obama and when she pulled her fist back she elbowed the pressitudes in the nose.
Agree.
Ann’s “smirking” has context and history.
She is brilliant.
If you read the article, that is not the original ad. The original ad didn’t have Horton’s picture, it had a revolving door of criminals, all of whom who were white.
Once again, the left’s information is “FAKE, but accurate”.
MOLON LABE
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