President Bush bites the hand that feeds him.

It's not often that a politician unknowingly bites the hand that feeds him but this is a proud moment for me.  Not only does a politician do it, but the hand belongs to mega media tycoon and mega conservative Rupert Murdoch.

President Bush, whilst in the UK, gave an exclusive interview to Sky News Political Editor Adam Boulton.  Now, Sky News is part of British Sky Broadcasting, which is owned in part by News International, which is a subsidiary of News Corporation, and owned and run by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News Channel, who have been the most vociferous supporters of President Bush.

He bit Murdoch's hand when he accused Boulton of slandering America when Boulton referenced Guantanamo Bay and Abu Gharib.  The full interview is embedded below.

Conservative chairman facing standards inquiry

BBC News is repoting that UK Conservative Party chairman Caroline Spelman is to face an inquiry from the UK's Parliamentary Standards Commissioner into her use of MP's expenses to pay her nanny.

If the inquiry proves she misused her expenses, it will be another nail against the leadership of David Cameron.  The Conservative leader has been blessed with the same kind of media in-attention that John McCain has been blessed with.   Whilst in the US, that is a mix of conservative talk radio and newspapers, as well as the moderately conservative ABC News and the rather more extreme conservative Fox News Channel, over here in the UK, there are far less sources of conservative media, mostly the newspapers, although Sky News seems to have taken a slight conservative bias recently, but nowhere near as much as the conservative press. 

Cameron has largely been given a free-pass by most of the media, and it's a pass he's undeserving of.  Labour has been targetted many times by the conservative press, and not all of them have been justified.  It's about time David Cameron took some heat for things his party has done wrong.

After Tim Russert: Meet The Press with...?

So, the speculation has begun, as to who will replace Tim Russert, both as Moderator of Meet The Press, and as Washington Bureau Chief.  Much like Spud over at Inside Cable News, I think the roles will go to two different people.

I will concentrate on the on-air role of Meet The Press host, rather than the Washington Bureau Chief role.  So who do I think might be the next host?

Brit Hume - Host of Special Report on Fox News Channel and panelist on Fox News Sunday.  Also Washington Managing Editor for Fox News.  More likely for Washington Bureau Chief, but an outside chance for Meet The Press.

Bob Schieffer - Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News and Anchor of Face The Nation.  Has just signed a new long term deal, so unlikely to move from CBS.

George Stephanopolus - ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent.  Not considered a likely successor. 

Gwen Ifill - Senior Correspondent at PBS Newshour and moderator of Washington Week on PBS.  She spent 5 years at NBC before moving to PBS.  She could be one of the dark horses who actually might be a great choice.

Gordon Peterson - Anchor at WJLA and host of Inside Washington.  Another dark horse who could do a very good job.

Andrea Mitchell - A senior Washington correspondent at NBC News and looks the favourite to my eyes.  Would be as big a story as Katie Couric anchoring the CBS Evening News.

David Gregory - Senior White House Correspondent for NBC News.  Another favourite in the eyes of the media, though has his own MSNBC show and no immediate replacement seems likely.

Joe Scarborough - Host of MSNBC's Morning Joe.  Longtime host on MSNBC, perhaps a little too opinionated for Meet The Press.  Outside shot.

Chris Matthews - Host of Hardball on MSNBC.  Has long been seen as natural successor, but could be too opinionated and loud for Meet The Press.  Other factors against include talk of a possible run for the Senate in 2010.

Keith Olbermann - Host and Managing Editor of Countdown on MSNBC.  Can't see him moving across to Washington.  Also, too opinionated.  Factor in his favour though is he is seen as ratings gold currerntly on Countdown.  Still an outside shot for the show.

Tom Brokaw - Special Correspondent for NBC News and former anchor of NBC Nightly News.  Anchored the special edition of Meet The Press paying tribute to Tim Russert.  Has the style and gravitas to make the show work, but not certain whether he would want to commit to a regular weekly show.  Still, a good each way bet.

Chuck Todd - Political Director at NBC News.  Has only recently become more of a presence in front of the camera, mostly works behind the scenes.  More likely for Washington Bureau Chief than Meet The Press.

So, to summarise, I think it will either be Andrea Mitchell, Gwen Ifill or Gordon Peterson who will host, with Tom Brokaw as a good each way bet.  Certainly there are other possibilities, such as Judy Woodroffe, longtime CNN anchor and now spreads her time between the PBS Newshour and Bloomberg, or Dan Rather, who was famously sacked from the CBS Evening News, and now hosts Dan Rather Reports on HDNet, but none of these people or the tons of others I could list, seem to be a good fit for Meet The Press.

I look forward to finding out who will become Moderator on Meet The Press.  And as Tim used to say, "If it's Sunday, it's Meet The Press."

Tim Russert: 1950-2008

My first media encounter with Tim Russert was when NBC Super Channel arrived onto Astra 1 in 1995.  At the time, I knew nothing about what an American television network did.  So, NBC Super Channel was my first introduction to the world of American television networks. 

Meet The Press was something new to me.  A Sunday morning "Public Affairs" programme.  We had had Sunday morning political shows in the UK, but the term "Public Affairs" was new and confusing.  And whilst that confusion has lifted, I gained a respect for Tim and his love of politics.

For me, it has always been Meet The Press with Tim Russert, from NBC Super Channel to CNBC Europe, and then later to a downloadable podcast.  Meet The Press with Tim Russert was always a regular appointment.

The news of his death, is, quite understandably, a shock.  He was a consumate professional, a brilliant interviewer, and a wealth of knowledge and experience, almost encyclopedic, of the Washington political scene.

But more than that, Tim Russert shared his roots, his background with all of us, and you saw and felt just where he came from.  He was an "everyman" with the razor sharp lawyer's intellect. and the insights of someone who worked inside the Washington political machine, but never lost his grounding in what was real, what mattered outside the bubble of Washington politics.

As a journalist, he's an inspiration.  As a person, he couldn't have been more balanced.  Journalism has lost a real pro, and humanity has lost an everyman.  Tim Russert was just 58.

Campaign to boycott MSNBC over Clinton... from Canada???

Inside Cable News is reporting a story about a website set up to promote a boycott of MSNBC, the cable network, and NBC News over what they see as the unfair treatment that NBC and MSNBC gave New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton during the race for the Democratic Party nomination, a nomination that Barack Obama won.

But a little trip to Whois.net is very revealing, in a strange kind of way.  The site is registered via a company that specialises in hiding the identities of those who register with them.  This leads me to believe that this site is a hit job, put together by someone who has something to hide.

Perhaps it's a hit job by Clinton supporters who dislike Obama, or by Republicans trying to damage Obama by association, or perhaps it was a Fox News or other similar Murdoch organ attacking GE through it's NBC subsidiary and also attacking Keith Olbermann through MSNBC.  Remember there were reports about high level meetings between top brass at Fox News and GE, over the whole Keith Olbermann vs Bill O'Reilly feud.

Whatever it is, the company that it is registered with, called Domain Privacy Group Inc., is based in... Toronto, Ontario, Canada!!! And according to Whois.net, the domain was registered on Super Tuesday, February 5 2008.  The first allegations of bias against Clinton at NBC and MSNBC came on February 7th, two days later!  I smell a rat.  This seems to be a pre-determined plan, which was designed to try and overturn the positive sentiment towards Obama, not just in the media, but in the country.  So far, that campaign, mostly by the likes of Rush Limburger Limbaugh, has failed.

Whoever is behind this, they should do the honourable and decent thing and come clean about it.  Own up to this website.  But I seriously doubt anybody will, cos their motive will be revealed to be dishonourable and malevolent.  This kind of sniping, whether it relates to Obama or the media, in unnecessary, unwarranted, and most of all, a blatant, out and out lie! 

They want you to...

"...FIGHT BACK against the completely unacceptable, unprofessional, reprehensible, over-the-top actions, attitudes and behaviors of MSNBC/NBC and their on-air employees and talking head pundits..."

Take out MSNBC/NBC and replace it with Fox News Channel, and you'd be nearer the mark. 

This kind of hit job is unacceptable, reprehensible, over the top and completely shameless.  It does nothing for political discourse and as for attacking the media, well, what an easy target for you to pick.  Your candidate, Hillary Clinton, was behaving in a manner that was more like a Republican, than a Democrat.  And whoever you are behind this website, if you consider yourself to be a Democratic Party supporter, I urge you to pull your website now.  It does nothing for party unity, and even less for your country.

Toronto Dominatrix challanges criminalising prostitution

Toronto's all news radio station 680 News reports that a Toronto dominatrix who was raided back in 1994, is pushing for a review into the criminalisation of prostitutionm in Canada.  She talks about her time as a streetwalker and as a dominatrix, and how she felt safer working out of her "bondage bungalow"

Whilst I certainly don't feel prostitution should be promoted, I feel that the women caught up in prostitution are sometimes victims and should not be criminalised.  Those who force women into prostitution however, should face the full weight of the law and justice on their shoulders.

The world of the Dominatrix is different again.  These women are providing a diferent kind of service, which by the way does not involve sex usually.  These are people who are in control of their lives and are not engaging in criminal activity.  I see no reason to attempt to criminalise them at all.

A form of legal prostitution should be considered, one that keeps both the workers and the clients safe from prying eyes of the more unscrupulous parts of the media and away from unwanted prying eyes of other kinds.  It also needs to keep the workers out of the hands of pimps who seek to profit from the workers and keep them poor. 

It's a complex matter, and has to be handled delicately, not with the usual political mentality of a bull in a china shop.  Whilst I support her aims, I fear that the usual political point scoring mentality will prevent a real solution to the problem emerging.  I have been wrong before, and I would love to be proved wrong this time, but I won't hold my breath waiting...

Worst Person In The World: Rupert Murdoch

The Fox-ifier in Chief, Rupert Murdoch, gets the Friday award for confirming an old rumour.  Now you're wondering if Keith Olbermann has finally flipped his wig.  Well not really, since it concerned Keith in the first place...

 

 

Dishonourable mention to Michelle Malkin, who was all over Rachael Ray wearing what looked like "jihadi chic" to Michelle, but has so far said nothing about a similar scarf that Megan McCain, Senator John McCain's daughter has been seen wearing.  Two words.  Double standards.

Worst Person In The World: Dunkin' Donuts

Dunkin Donuts was the winner on Wednesday for giving in to the right wing blogosphere and especially Michelle Malkin.

 

 

DIshonourable mention to Bill O'Reilly who continues to attack NBC News when really he should be going direct - up against Keith Olbermann.  We all know that is his real target, but he keeps missing.

Worst Person In The World: Senator Joseph Lieberman (I-CT)

Tuesday's Worst Person In The World is Republican Independent Senator Joe Lieberman, who has been seen working with Republican presidential candidate John McBush McCain. 

 

 

Dishonourable mention to ex-Factor fox and lunatic fringe right wing blogger Michelle Malkin for going overboard on a Dunkin' Donuts ad showing Rachael Ray wearing a scarf which the right wing accuse of being "Jihadi chic".  It's not, though.  It's just a scarf.  Lighten up, Michelle.