O'Reilly Factor - Left-wing "reporters" met with John Kerry in Al Franken's apartment

03.22.04

[kcvl]

In an effort to galvanize the message Kerry wants to deliver in the time remaining, he convened a powerful roster of journalists and columnists in the New York City apartment of Al Franken last Thursday. The gathering could not properly be called a meeting or a luncheon. It was a trial. The journalists served as prosecuting attorneys, jury and judge. The crowd I joined in Franken’s living room was comprised of:

Al Franken and his wife Franni;
Rick Hertzberg, senior editor for the New Yorker;
David Remnick, editor for the New Yorker;
Jim Kelly, managing editor for Time Magazine;
Howard Fineman, chief political correspondent for Newsweek;
Jeff Greenfield, senior correspondent and analyst for CNN;
Frank Rich, columnist for the New York Times;
Eric Alterman, author and columnist for MSNBC and the Nation;
Art Spiegelman, Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist/author of ‘Maus’;
Richard Cohen, columnist for the Washington Post;
Fred Kaplan, columnist for Slate;
Jacob Weisberg, editor of Slate and author;
Jonathan Alter, senior editor and columnist for Newsweek;
Philip Gourevitch, columnist for the New Yorker;
Calvin Trillin, freelance writer and author;
Edward Jay Epstein, investigative reporter and author;
Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., who needs no introduction.

We sat in a circle around Kerry and grilled him for two long hours. In an age of retail politicians who avoid substance the way vampires avoid sunlight, in an age when the sitting President flounders like a gaffed fish whenever he must speak to reporters without a script, Kerry’s decision to open himself to the slings and arrows of this group was bold and impressive. He was fresh from two remarkable speeches – one lambasting the PATRIOT Act, another outlining his foreign policy ideals while eviscerating the Bush record – and had his game face on. He needed it, because Eric Alterman lit into him immediately on the all-important issue of his vote for the Iraq War Resolution. The prosecution had begun.

[Fledermaus]

Doesn't matter. Just wait until Bush let's loose his $100 to $150 million before the convention!

[kcvl]

NEW YORK (AP) -- Comedian Al Franken is baiting conservatives again, and this time he's bringing a bunch of friends to back him up.

"We're not ceding this territory anymore," Franken said during a conference call with reporters. "To their credit, the right wing has captured radio. We're going after them, and we're going after them hard."

Crows the AP & CNN

[Tamzee]

I'm kicking myself that I didn't send this in to Hannity or O'Reilly back in December when I first saw it...

[Fledermaus]

I don't think he can spew his hatred for three hours on radio without blowing up.

[NYCVirago]

But he did deliver some disappointing news for liberals hoping that his debut later this month as the anchorman for the Democratic Party's new radio network will permanently change the talk radio landscape. "I'm doing this because I want to use my energies to get Bush unelected," he told the Times. "I'd be happy if the election of a Democrat ended the show."

Freepers have been saying all along that this Air America is just a short-term plan to run Kerry infomercials 24-7 until the election. And now Franken essentially confirms it!

[BigSkyFreeper]

Send it to Rush. He's got a Stack Of Stuff devoted just to all things John Kerry. :)

[BigSkyFreeper]

I read a SF Chron article over the weekend that had a couple comments from some liberal program directors in SF, and they said that Air America is going about it all wrong. They'll have to spend several million dollars just in SF alone just to stay afloat. They also said that these people who have no clue about radio are destined to fail, and the network hasn't even debuted. Savage was the only Conservative quoted in the article, and he pretty much had the same thing to say.

[NYCVirago]

I read a SF Chron article over the weekend that had a couple comments from some liberal program directors in SF, and they said that Air America is going about it all wrong. They'll have to spend several million dollars just in SF alone just to stay afloat. They also said that these people who have no clue about radio are destined to fail, and the network hasn't even debuted. Savage was the only Conservative quoted in the article, and he pretty much had the same thing to say.

I'm quite sure that's all true. But they don't have to have a long-term plan -- they just want to get their liberal nonsense on the radio until November 2. The people funding the network don't expect to make money on this -- they're just using their money as a campaign donation to Democrats.

[NYCVirago]

I don't have a problem with the openly liberal and left-wing columnists like Eric Alterman being there -- heck, Alterman, to his credit, wrote about what happened at the meeting. It's the so-called objective journalists being there that is really disturbing.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I'm quite sure that's all true. But they don't have to have a long-term plan -- they just want to get their liberal nonsense on the radio until November 2. The people funding the network don't expect to make money on this -- they're just using their money as a campaign donation to Democrats.

You got that right. That was pretty much the gist of the article.

[BigSkyFreeper]

I'm kicking myself...

Easy! You don't want to pull a tendon or a hamstring kicking yourself around. LOL ;)

[lainde]

bttt

[MeekOneGOP]

haha ! Grilling him ...

[maica]

I am watching Imus (a very rare event) and Johathan Alter is accusing him of being part of the Bush Admin for challenging Alter's defencs of Richard Clarke. It is amazing.

I think I heard last night that Alter was one of the attendees at the Kerry confab in December.

He is such a Clintonphile.

[maica]

DON HEWITT ( Executive Producer, " 60 Minutes"): And they came to us because they were in big trouble in New Hampshire. They were about to lose right there and they needed some first aid. They needed some bandaging. What they needed was a paramedic. So they came to us and we did it and that's what they wanted to do. When I told Tim Russert that I was persona-non-grata at the White House, he said, "Why?" I said, "The Gennifer Flowers interview." He said, " You got him the nomination." I said, " I know that." As far as I know from the conversations I've had, Bernie Nussbaum knew that, Gergen knows that, Lloyd Cutler certainly knows it 'cause Lloyd had a hand in his coming on that night. You know it was strong medicine the way I edited it but he was a very sick candidate. He needed very strong medicine, and I'm not in the business of doctoring candidates but he got up out of a sick bed that night and walked to the nomination and as I said to Mandy, " You know if I'd edited it your way, you know where you'd be today? You'd still be up in New Hampshire looking for the nomination." He became the candidate that night.

I wonder how many viewers that night realized that 60 minutes had choices in editing that were favorable or unfavorable to Clinton!!! It was bad enough giving them the spot after the Super Bowl!

We must spread the word that 60 Minutes/CBS/Viacom is a branch of the DNC.

[Semper Paratus]

It's the so-called objective journalists being there that is really disturbing.

Like Jonathan Alter who was on Imus this morning staying on DNC talking points despite Imus's skepticism of Clarke's real motivation.

[Dog]

Check this out.

[arasina]

Morning BTTT

[kcvl]

bttt

[maica]

Thanks for the info on Franken... I knew I was seeing a great deal of him in the media lately but had no idea he had such constant and coordinated appearances :-(
****

As soon as the show is on the air, we will be seeing 'surprise' wonderful reviews by these same 'journalists' and editors. We could make a game like BINGO with the names on a card, to see who can spot the most endorsements first.