Contrary to many posts, ABC News Vlogging Star Amanda Congdon is still with the network for now. She reports on her blog...
Wow. A girl goes on vacation for a week (my first week off in over a year– I was in production on Christmas!) — and look what I come back to! Whew. Contrary to some reports, AC on ABC WILL resume next week, as I mentioned in my most recent episode. However, I’ve decided not to continue at ABC once our year together is up (and it ain’t up yet) in favor of a new, innovative project that will take every ounce of my time and energy. Brian Stelter over at the New York Times has some accurate coverage.
Thanks to everyone who has written me… I appreciate all the supportive emails, myspace messages, etc. I’m excited (kinda giddy actually) for what’s ahead– should be interesting. In the meantime, see you next week on ABC for a special military-themed episode.
I hope ABC comes to a moment of clarity and gives Amanda more involvement in how their news reporting is done. One can only hope...
This question for the CNN/YouTube Republican Debates is based on an article I found in the Houston Chronicle and dated May 23, 1996. In the article, which I present below and has this link: Houston Chroncle Ron Paul Article .
9:16 PM 5/22/1996 Newsletter excerpts offer ammunition to Paul's opponent GOP hopeful quoted on race, crime By ALAN BERNSTEIN
Copyright 1996 Houston Chronicle Political Writer Texas congressional candidate Ron Paul's 1992 political newsletter highlighted portrayals of blacks as inclined toward crime and lacking sense about top political issues.
Under the headline of "Terrorist Update," for instance, Paul reported on gang crime in Los Angeles and commented, "If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be."
Paul, a Republican obstetrician from Surfside, said Wednesday he opposes racism and that his written commentaries about blacks came in the context of "current events and statistical reports of the time."
Selected writings by Paul were distributed Wednesday by the campaign of his Democratic opponent, Austin lawyer Charles "Lefty" Morris.
Morris said many of Paul's views are "out there on the fringe" and that his commentaries will be judged by voters in the November general elections.
Paul said allegations about his writings amounted to name-calling by the Democrats and that his opponents should focus instead on how to shrink government spending and reform welfare.
Morris and Paul are seeking the 14th Congressional District seat held by Greg Laughlin of West Columbia. Laughlin lost the Republican primary to Paul, a former congressman and the Libertarian Party's 1988 presidential candidate.
Paul, writing in his independent political newsletter in 1992, reported about unspecified surveys of blacks.
"Opinion polls consistently show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action," Paul wrote.
Paul continued that politically sensible blacks are outnumbered "as decent people." Citing reports that 85 percent of all black men in the District of Columbia are arrested, Paul wrote:
"Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal justice system,' I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal," Paul said.
Paul also wrote that although "we are constantly told that it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers."
A campaign spokesman for Paul said statements about the fear of black males mirror pronouncements by black leaders such as the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who has decried the spread of urban crime.
Paul continues to write the newsletter for an undisclosed number of subscribers, the spokesman said.
Writing in the same 1992 edition, Paul expressed the popular idea that government should lower the age at which accused juvenile criminals can be prosecuted as adults.
He added, "We don't think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That's true for most people, but black males age 13 who have been raised on the streets and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such."
Paul also asserted that "complex embezzling" is conducted exclusively by non-blacks.
"What else do we need to know about the political establishment than that it refuses to discuss the crimes that terrify Americans on grounds that doing so is racist? Why isn't that true of complex embezzling, which is 100 percent white and Asian?" he wrote.
In later newsletters, Paul aimed criticism at the Israeli government's U.S. lobbying efforts and reported allegations that President Clinton used cocaine and fathered illegitimate children.
Stating that lobbying groups who seek special favors and handouts are evil, Paul wrote, "By far the most powerful lobby in Washington of the bad sort is the Israeli government" and that the goal of the Zionist movement is to stifle criticism.
Relaying a rumor that Clinton was a longtime cocaine user, Paul wrote in 1994 that the speculation "would explain certain mysteries" about the president's scratchy voice and insomnia.
"None of this is conclusive, of course, but it sure is interesting," he said.
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Someone wrote that his statements were "true." Well, that's not so at all. The studies Paul reffers to are unidentified and anyone believing this is looking for some "emprirical" reason to hold a racist viewpoint. Racism is a mental illness that must be treated and eliminated. Congressman Paul must deal with this question of racism because it's based on material produced by him and his campaign.
Moreover, Paul has White Supremacist David Duke as a supporter and gives interviews to the John Birch Society. Yikes.
I was so upset with Bill O'Reilly, I made the video and sent this email..
Bill,
Hey, I like your show, but I gotta tell you your editorial about Blacks and your restaurant visit was one of the most unfortunate and stupid comments I've ever listened to.
Look, racism is both a mental illness and un-American. Moreover, not every Black person comes from "The Ghetto" but your take gives fuel to stupid uneducated people to essentially say racist comments.
Why not tell people, especially kids, that those who are successful -- really successful have all kind of friends and are intelligent enough to see them as individuals.
Thanks,
-- Zennie Abraham, Jr. Chairman and CEO http://www.sbs-world.com Sports Business Simulations 510-387-9809 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lz9MsdETJX8
Well, the battle-lines are drawn both in Jena, LA, and in the 2008 Presidential Race. I've come to believe racism is both mental illness and un-American. Here's Vernon Jordan's take.
The candidates for the Republican party's presidential nod are building quite a track record--of snubbing prospective voters. This week the four leading candidates--Fred Thompson, Mitt Romney, Rudolph Giuliani and John McCain--added the PBS-sponsored debate at Baltimore's historically-black Morgan State University to their "I'll-pass" list. That list now includes the National Urban League, Univision, the Spanish-language television network, the National Association of Latino Elected Officials and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. It's getting to be a long list.
But perhaps it's those of us who are dismayed by these displays of camapign cowardice that just don't get it.
Perhaps the GOP candidates are following the same script the Bush administration has used for governance: be irresponsible.
Or perhaps, they're developing a new paradigm for how a political party contests elections. Perhaps they want to test that you actually improve your chances of winning by snubbing entire groups of voters, and that in a nation whose voting pool is becoming more and more diverse, you make it clear you want just the votes of whites.
Republicans love to talk about Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan, presidents whom they hold up as having met the tests of greatness. Is this what Abraham Lincoln would do? Is this what Ronald Reagan would do?
Republicans also used to talk about their welcoming all Americans into the party of the "big tent." But actions speak louder than words. The actions of the Republican candidates make it clear the big tent has a whites-only sign over the entrance.
Dan Rather Suing CBS News for Violation of Contract
ALSO BY THIS AUTHOR... $70M Suit Names Moonves, Redstone, Heyward
By Marisa Guthrie -- Broadcasting & Cable, 9/19/2007 6:14:00 PM
More than one year after Dan Rather left CBS News under a cloud for a flawed report on President Bush’s National Guard service, the former face of CBS News is suing CBS, its corporate parent and his former superiors at the news division.
In a $70 million suit filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan Wednesday, Rather, 75, alleged that CBS violated his contract by giving him precious little airtime on 60 Minutes, where he remained as a contributor after being forced to step down as anchor of the CBS Evening News in March 2005.
The suit alleged that CBS made him a “patsy” and that the network caved to “right-wing” pressure to get rid of him, and it also contended that CBS damaged Rather’s reputation by commissioning a “biased” investigation into the 60 Minutes II report.
Richard Thornburgh, who was an attorney general in the first Bush White House, was one of the panelists tasked with examining the National Guard segment.
The suit -- which seeks $20 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages -- named CBS CEO Leslie Moonves, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone and former CBS News head Andrew Heyward.
“These complaints are old news and this lawsuit is without merit,” CBS said in a statement.
CBS -- which recently settled a lawsuit with deposed shock jock Don Imus (to the tune of $20 million, according to published reports) -- will likely fight the Rather suit, according to sources.
Rather's attorney, Martin Gold, said in a statement that CBS "intentionally damaged" Rather's reputation by sacrificing "independent journalism for corporate financial interests."
He added that the goal of the suit was to "further" the principle of an "independent press."
If Rather is "successful," added Martin, "he intends to donate substantial sums to furthering these ideals."
But industry veterans are skeptical about Rather's chances of prevailing in his suit.
CBS' "only obligation is to pay him," says an industry insider well versed in contractual law. "They are not obligated to keep him on the air. If he thought they were wrong, he should not have taken their money; he should have walked out the door and immediately sued them."
The 60 Minutes II report-- which aired in September 2004, mere months before the presidential election -- posited that President Bush received preferential treatment that kept him out of combat in Vietnam while in the Texas Air National Guard. But the report relied on what turned out to be forged documents.
Three producers -- Mary Mapes, Betsy West and Josh Howard -- were forced out at CBS for their part in the disputed segment.
According to a report by The New York Times, Rather’s 32-page suit lawsuit paints him as little more than a narrator of the National Guard broadcast -- a perception at odds with his reputation and the recollection of others involved.
Rather, said Howard, now vice president of long-form programming at CNBC, “worked the phones. He talked to sources. He was in the room with the so-called document experts. He argued with us over every line of the script. I can’t imagine how he at this point can say he was just the narrator.”
After he left the CBS Evening News in March 2005, Rather’s contract called for him to become a “full-time correspondent” on 60 Minutes II and, after that broadcast was canceled in May 2005, on the original edition of 60 Minutes. But Rather’s suit contended that the eight pieces he did for 60 Minutes paled in comparison to what regular 60 Minutes correspondents did.
Rather officially left CBS News in 2006. He is now anchoring a series of news specials for Mark Cuban’s HDNet.
Rather did not return a detailed message for comment Wednesday.
I agree with Don Hazen in AlterNet.org to a certain extent that porn's rampant, but he leaves out the way the Internet's used to fuel our desire to see porn. Also, this is painted as a male-only issue, where women too search for porn.
I think the idea's he expresses are outdated and not without a certain "male guilt" complex. What people forget is part of the way we're wired -- lust -- is the backbone of the reproductive process.
Now to be sure, he's writing about extreme porn -- whatever that is -- and that's not something I'm personally familar with. Perhaps he is.
Personally, this photo of Michelle Lin's enough for me.
