Media Matters new gay rights initiative names staffer

SLDN's Comm Director Trevor Thomas joins Socarides, Eleveld at Equality Matters
This evening I received an email from Trevor Thomas, the ace Communications Director at Servicemembers Legal Defense Network announcing his move to Equality Matters, the new rapid-response LGBT venture of Media Matters for America. He will serve as Programs Director alongside President Richard Socarides and online editor Kerry Eleveld; he starts at EqM on January 24th. (MetroWeekly): Socarides: "He is an incredible advocate and forthright spokesperson. We are excited he has agreed to join us ...

Media Matters Calls On Murdoch To Rein In Beck, Palin
In a letter delivered to News Corp.CEO Rupert Murdoch Monday afternoon, and obtained by TPM, Media Matters founder David Brock says the time has come for Fox News to take responsibility for its programming. Specifically, Brock is calling on Murdoch to make Sarah Palin and Glenn Beck tone down their Rhetoric on threat of termination -- or to be complicit in acts of political violence. "Beck and Palin are two of Fox's most recognizable figures," Brock writes. "Before this heartbreaking tragedy i...

Media Matters For America Calls Out Rupert Murdoch, Fox News, Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin
David Brock (r) and friends. (Hey, is that Bawney Fwank I see?) Oh please. Now David Brock has his panties in a bunch because Beck used vampire imagery and compared him to a “smelly kid in third grade.” (Media Matters) — Today, in response to the tragic shooting in Arizona and the increasing focus on the tone of political discourse, Media Matters for America founder and CEO David Brock issued an Open Letter to News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch asking him to rein in Fox News persona...

Vitriol spinners losing the battle for hearts and minds?
The view from our front porch at daybreak this morning: Deck cranes of the container ship "West Bay" out of Hong Kong catch the sun's early rays dockside at Eastern Minerals across the street. "It looks like the vitriol spinners are losing the battle for hearts & minds," we just twittered," referencing a brand new CBS News poll that finds "Most Americans Feel Rhetoric, Tucson Shooting Unrelated": Overall, 57 percent of respondents said the harsh polit...

Beck claims 'I don't use [violent rhetoric] on or off the air': Oh really?
Beck claims 'I don't use [violent Rhetoric] on or off the air': Oh really? It sure seemed that everyone -- and I mean EVERYONE -- at Fox News was focused yesterday on beating down the horrifying idea that somehow Fox News' incendiary rhetoric might have played a significant role in fomenting Saturday's horrifying tragedy in Arizona. Of course, Glenn Beck -- being one of the chief purveyors of said incendiary rhetoric -- was out there leading the attack, devoting his entire hour to...

Catholic school board to reconsider ban on gay-straight groups
Sarah Boesveld, National Post · Monday, Jan. 10, 2011 An Ontario Catholic School Board will revisit a policy that bars gay-straight alliance groups, enacted under pressure from Catholic bishops but which has since provoked international criticism. Gay Rights supporters said Monday that the Halton District Catholic School Board’s ban on the gay rights groups, which try to educate and forge a common understanding among gay and straight teens, is ill-advised and antiquated. The ban ̵...

murdoch gets letters
and let's hope he takes action on this one. David Brock calls on murdoch to tone down the violent Rhetoric. ...you have the power to order them to stop using violent rhetoric, on and off of fox's air. if they fail to do so, it is Incumbent upon you to fire them or be responsible for the climate they create and any consequences thereof. - Media Matters...

Payday with a new boss
ALBANY -- Larry Schwartz takes home more state money than Gov. Andrew Cuomo does. In fact, the former secretary to Gov. David Paterson -- now a "senior adviser" tasked with reforming the Budget process -- makes more than everyone else in the administration's inner circle. That's because Cuomo's order to reduce the new pay for incoming staff members by 5 percent did not apply to Schwartz or other holdovers from the Paterson administration. That means Schwartz retains his $178,000 Salary from his ...

Plenty of blame to go around, but we know who the guilty party is already
Good, but overlooked, news about the Deficit -- from Media Matters. "Revenues through December totaled about $531 billion, $43 billion more than in the same period last year. Most of that net increase stems from higher withholding of individual Income Tax and social Insurance Payroll taxes, which rose by $33 billion (or 8 percent) in the First Quarter because of strengthening economic conditions. Revenues also increased because individual tax refunds were lower than the abnormally high am...

Barbara Walters: I cant shake the feeling that this isnt Sarah Palins fault
Via the Daily Caller, it’s depressing that we have to give Barbara credit for making an exceedingly rudimentary point — namely, that it might be hard to fully comprehend the motives of a guy who’s willing to smile for his Mug Shot after shooting 19 people. Once upon a time not so long ago, the left understood that. Remember Media Matters’ reaction back in September to the nut who went berserk at Discovery Channel HQ in the name of Environmentalism? Quote: “Discove...

Open thread for night owls: More than rhetorical violence
In mourning for those who lost their lives in the Tucson massacre Saturday: To the survivors, including Congresswoman Giffords, go our wishes that their recoveries be swift and complete. President Obama has asked for a memorial moment of silence Monday at 11 a.m. Eastern time. • • • • • At Talk to Action, the Veteran watcher of white supremacist and anti-semitic groups Chip Berlet writes, The Becking of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. An excerpt: From a moral viewpoint R...

A Challenge To Glenn Beck: Will He Cool His Paranoid Anti-Government Rhetoric?
On Sunday, federal officials charged Jared Lee Loughner on two counts of Murder and three counts of Attempted Murder in Saturday’s shooting rampage in Tucson, AZ that critically wounded Rep. Gabriel Giffords (D-AZ) and killed a Federal Judge and a Giffords Staffer, among others. In the wake of the tragedy, many are wondering what motivated Loughner — whether he was a mentally-ill lone wolf vigilante or inspired by something else. Information coming out about Loughner portrays the ...

Citizen Soros: Manipulating the Media (Part 1 in a Series)
He has conquered the world of finance and remains firmly on top of it. He writes bestselling books. He dominates leftist Philanthropy. He co-founded the Democracy Alliance, an ultra-secretive Billionaires’ club that wants to transform America into a European-style Socialist state - or worse. He owns the Democratic Party. Now George Soros, who also fancies himself a philosopher, is positioning himself as a media Magnate in order to continue his assault on America’s values and institutions

When Violence Comes From the Right, Media Hear No Evil
Despite the work of media Watchdog groups like Media Matters, and groups that track right-wing Extremism, like the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, the corporate media insist on ignoring the influence of the Far Right’s toxic rhetorical drumbeat of hatred and anger in promoting a political context where violence can break out. “At a time like this, it is terrible that we do have to think about politics, but no matter what the shooter’s motivations wer...

Massacre, Made in America
Truthseeker, have you ever seen a website run by a Democrat that is ripe with incendiary "don't retreat -- reload!" Rhetoric while displaying a national map peppered with gun-sight crosshairs and shooting targets hovering over the districts governed by their opponents? Giffords was a literal target of Sarah Palin and the Teabaggers and she knew it, as Giffords herself remarked on MSNBC before the last election, "We're on Sarah Palin's 'targeted' list, but the thing is, the way she has it depic...

Dan Conston leaving RPOF
Wunderkind spinner Dan Conston is leaving his communication director post at the Republican Party of Florida to become the Communications Director for Chief Deputy Whip Peter Roskam of Illinois, for whom he worked in 2009 and 2010. Unlike his predecessor, Conston, 25, had the luxury of being the spokesman for the party during a right-leaning election when the party dominated at the polls. Conston also didn't have to praise either former Republican Gov. Charlie Crist or former RPOF chair Ji...

Branstad to disclose inaugural donors; transition transparency questioned
Gov.-elect Terry Branstad will release the Donors who will cover the $300,000 in expenses for his inauguration on the day he takes the oath of office, a spokesman tells The Iowa Independent. But as the new administration aims to maintain its promise of more transparency, The Des Moines Register reports Sunday that Branstad has released only a fraction of the transition e-mails requested by the paper compared to his predecessor. Branstad’s staff turned over 309 e-mails, where Gov. Chet Culv...

Doctors: Giffords "Holding Her Own"
In this March, 2010 photo provided by the office of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Giffords poses for a photo. (AP) Erica Hill spoke to Dr. Michael Lemole, chief of Neurosurgery at University Medical Center and one of Congresswoman Giffords' surgeons. C.J. Karamargin, Communications Director for Rep. Giffords, talks to Erica Hill about the congresswoman's condition and the other Staffers who were shot. Dr. Jennifer Ashton spoke with Erica Hill in Tucson, Ariz on Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' brain wounds ...

Capitol Notes: 33 governors seek health care flexibility
Gov. Bob McDonnell is one of 33 governors and governors-elect asking President Barack Obama and the House and Senate leadership to ease requirements placed on State Governments through the health-care overhaul. "In these difficult fiscal times, we understand that the Federal Government cannot provide new sources of Taxpayer Dollars to assist the states," reads the letter circulated by the Republican Governors Association, of which McDonnell is vice chairman. "Therefore, our only option is to req...

The Six Victims Killed in Saturday's Shooting
As the investigation continues into 22-year-old Jared Lee Loughner, the main suspect in the Tucson shooting of Congresswoman Giffords, Dean Reynolds reports on the other Victims. Rep. Giffords Heavily Sedated after Attack (CBS/ AP) From a judge to a janitor, the victims killed in Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Ariz., targeting Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords were all caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds reports that C.J. Karamargin, Giffords' commun...

Giffords staff member among those killed
(CNN) - Gabe Zimmerman, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' director of community outreach, was among those killed Saturday in the Arizona shooting, Giffords' Communications Director C.J. Karamargin confirmed to CNN. Zimmerman was in Tucson with Giffords conducting a "Congress On Your Corner" event, which is an opportunity for constituents to meet their representatives. Zimmerman was a Tucson, Arizona, native and engaged to be married. "An unthinkable tragedy occurred at our Congress On Your Corner event t...

Sheriff Identifies Shooting Victims
The Arizona Republic reports: The Victims from Saturday’s Mass Shooting in Tucson have been identified and they include, an aide to Giffords, a Federal Judge and a 9-year-old girl. Two members of Rep. Gabrielle Gifford’s staff also were wounded in the attack. The Giffords aide was identified as Gabe Zimmerman, her community outreach director; the 30-year-old was engaged to be married. U.S. District Judge John Roll, 63, the chief judge for the District of Arizona, was killed while a...

Suspect Arrested in Threat to Democratic Rep. Michael Bennet
Authorities responded Monday to a threat against Sen. Michael Bennet's (D-Colo.) Denver office, Bennet's spokesman said. The FBI and U.S. Capitol Police arrested an individual suspected of making a threat to the Colorado Democrat's state office, said Adam Bozzi, the senator's Communications Director. "We can confirm that there was a threat against Senator Bennet's office and that the FBI is working with the Capitol Police to have arrested the individual responsible for the threat," Bozzi said in...

'It's Like Something Out of a Horror Movie'
I wonder if the kook left will blame this horrific crime on Sarah Palin. Seems to be the popular thing today.New York was a home away from home for Carlos Castro. The popular Portuguese gossip columnist and gay Activist would fly in for the city's star-studded Fashion Weeks and had instructed his family and friends that when he died, he wanted his ashes scattered in Manhattan. In late December, the 65-year-old writer flew in for what was supposed to be a romantic getaway with his new lover, a ch...

Protests Over Gay-Only Toilets In Brazil...
By AFP - As Brazil geared up for its annual carnival festivities, a dispute broke out over toilets for the exclusive use of gays and transvestites in samba schools readying for the event. Protesters claim the recent designation on the premises of Unidos de Tujuca, one of the top Rio de Janeiro samba schools preparing a parade for the March 4-9 carnival, resembles the forced separation of blacks and whites in the past. "They are carnival Apartheid!" Claudio Nascimento, the head of a government an...