This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
Week-ends (05/25/13)
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...
HEROES OF THE WEEK
Ingrid Loyau-Kennett
Rhonda Crosswhite ... MORE
Oklahoma tornado survivor
More Oklahoma heroes
Chefs with issues
Jerry Woods
The town of Temecula
Tom Sheehan
Doctors in Ohio
Mary Blakely
Eesha Khare
Sabrina Brady
Nina Agdal
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Sheldon Whitehouse, Democrat
Richard DeCoatsworth
Lizz Winstead
Scott Simon
Howard Dean
New York state legislators
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
”Will we be back? Absolutely. Oklahoma has gone through this a couple times, and we’re resilient, strong, courageous people. You know, you probably remember the [Oklahoma City bombing in 1995], which I was in office back then [as lieutenant governor], we went through a tremendous tragedy and loss of life at that time. Oklahoma City has rebounded. It has rebuilt. Oklahoma people are very strong, and they will make it through this, but we’re going to need a lot of prayer and a lot of support to get back on our feet.”
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin said that her state will rebuild, and she asked for prayers to aid the rescue and recovery from a devastating tornado.
"When it comes to yesterday's tragedy (tornado in Moore, Oklahoma), don't point to God. The problem is us. Climate scientists have been predicting for some time that human-caused global climate change would lead to a greater frequency of more powerful storms of all kinds. We've seen that with an increased frequency of more powerful hurricanes, stronger snow and rainstorms, and resulting '100-year' floods that happen now every few years.
"If Hurricanes Katrina, Sandy and the Moore tornado aren’t enough to get this country moving on the greatest threat to the environment and to humanity faced by the modern world, than you have to wonder what will.
"I'm not optimistic. Kids and teachers get slaughtered in a gun massacre in Connecticut, and this country does precisely nothing. Now there's carnage at a school in Oklahoma, and my bet is it will inspire no action on climate change.
"If there was such a thing as an act of God, I don't think she'd want the gunning down of innocent kids and teachers, and I don't think she'd spawn a killer tornado. I think she'd want us to change."
Dave Cieslewicz, liberal mayor of Madison.
“Members of this committee have accused me of providing false information when I responded to questions about the IRS processing of applications for tax exemption. I have not done anything wrong, I have not broken any laws, I have not violated any IRS rules and regulations, and I have not provided false information to this or any other congressional committee.
“And while I would very much like to answer the committee's questions today, I've been advised by my counsel to assert my constitutional right not to testify or answer questions related to the subject matter of this hearing. After very careful consideration, I have decided to follow my counsel's advice and not testify or answer any of the questions today.
“Because I'm asserting my right not to testify, I know that some people will assume that I have done something wrong. I have not. One of the basic functions of the Fifth Amendment is to protect innocent individuals, and that is the protection I am invoking today.”
Lois Lerner of the IRS, appearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. She was later put on administrative leave, government speak for paid vacation.
"So far, voters don't seem to be abandoning President Barack Obama over controversies gripping the Beltway world. But White House aides are tempting fate with their reluctant, piecemeal and contradictory disclosures of what they knew and when they knew it, especially about a report on the Internal Revenue Service's 18-month effort to target tea party and other conservative groups for special scrutiny. The aides either have forgotten or are unable to implement the basic lesson of scandal control in Washington: Get the full story out -- all of it -- as fast as you can before your critics accuse you of a cover-up or worse."
Howard Fineman, the Huffington Post
"A government of, by, and for the people requires that people talk to people, that we can agree to disagree but do so in civility. If we let the politicians and those who report dictate our discourse, then our course will be dictated.
“Why am I alarmed? Because two 'scandals'--the IRS tax-exempt inquiries and the Department of Justice's tapping of reporters' phones--have become lynch parties. And the congressional investigation of Benghazi may become a scandal in itself."
Donna Brazile
"In one breath Brazile urges everyone to be civil and respectful. In the next she labels her opponents with one of the most racially incendiary metaphors in the American lexicon. And note that she is casting government officials who abused their power as lynching victims."
James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal
"Democrats have been called-out at High Noon, and they have but two options. They can either join with Republicans to honestly investigate these matters, without malice or political motive, in order to uncover the truth; then take necessary actions, which may include removing high ranking officials (even Obama) from their positions – and ultimately claim credit for fixing the problem. Or, they can spin the facts, and obstruct congressional investigators at every turn, in an attempt to prevent the truth from being known. Truth or politics – that is the choice they face."
Former GA Congressman Bob Barr
"The AP, IRS and Benghazi matters represent a scandal not of presidential wrongdoing, but of presidential indolence, indifference and incompetence in discharging the duties of chief executive. Barack Obama revealed to us in recent days is something rare in our history: a spectator president, clueless about what is going on in his own household, who reacts to revelations like some stunned bystander…What we have here, it appears, is a government out of control and a president clueless about what is going on in that government. And that is the best case."
Pat Buchanan
“They purposefully and willfully misled the American people, and that’s unacceptable. It’s part of a pattern of deception. They’ve released 100 emails, but there are thousands of documents that we still need to see. The truth gets colder as time goes on, so we need to stay vigilant.”
Representative Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican, saying behind the scenes, House Republicans are frustrated by the White House’s evasiveness, and the calls for impeachment will likely increase.
President Obama has “built up an atmosphere of guerrilla warfare. This is the problem with this entire situation [with the AP], with the IRS, with Benghazi: you have all these situations — all these unprecedented scandals — yet the president knows nothing about it.”
Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus
"There is an old saying in Washington: 'It's not the crime, it's the cover up' that does the damage…The interesting thing about these scandals is there is something for everyone to be concerned about. Benghazi attracts the attention of the national security group. The IRS gets noticed by conservative and good government groups. And, of course, the D0J getting private phone records of reporters gets under the skin of one of Obama's strongest support groups - reporters."
Rich Galen, a journalist who writes at Mullings.com.
“Frankly, I’m offended by the tone and tenor of this hearing. I’m offended by a $4 trillion government bullying, berating and badgering one of America’s greatest success stories. Tell me one of these politicians up here who doesn’t minimize their taxes. Tell me a chief financial officer that you would hire if he didn’t try to minimize your taxes legally. Tell me what Apple has done that is illegal.”
Sen. Rand Paul during Tuesday’s Senate subcommittee hearing on Apple’s offshore tax practices. Instead of grilling Apple CEO Tim Cook on the computer giant’s legal tax practices, Paul said, Congress should have pulled a giant mirror into the chamber and put itself on trial. The Kentucky Republican went even further, saying that Congress should apologize to Apple for creating the kind of tax code that “doesn’t compete with the rest of the world.”
“We will have him round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”
Golfer Sergio Garcia, joking that he would invite his American rival, Tiger Woods around for a meal. The Spaniard made the remark at the European Tour Player of the Year awards on Tuesday night. Appearing on stage with the rest of his Ryder Cup team-mates, he was asked in jest by the evening’s host, American Steve Sands, if he would be inviting Woods - with whom Garcia has had a long-running feud - for dinner at next month’s U.S. Open in Merion.
“The comment that was made wasn’t silly. It was wrong, hurtful and clearly inappropriate.”
Tiger Woods responding to Garcia.
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
The London terror attack.
IRS went after 83-year old granny, a WWII vet hero.
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
Race and voting.
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
One-sided coverage of the gay Scout issue.
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
Anthony Weiner pulls a boner.
No, no, don't do that!
9-1-1 call.
For $1,2000...
That's it for Week-ends.
We close with the latest from NewsBusted.
Week-ends (05/18/13)
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...
HEROES OF THE WEEK
Cleveland officers
CURE
Melissa Torrez
Emma Paulson
Anthony Espada
Maureen Renaghan
Florence Powell
Stephen Nunez
Christopher Newbury
Vince Young
Robert Kinney
Alayna Adams' dad
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Manhattan moms
Florida's Department of Transportation
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"Today, the people who find frequent fault with the eminently faultable record of Barack Obama aren’t presented as dissenting patriots; they don’t get the glowing Cindy Sheehan, Move On or Occupy Wall Street treatment; rather, they’re smeared as haters, bitter white men, racists, reactionaries, menacing, potential terrorists (darn that inconvenient fact that attacks, killings, and terror keep coming from crazies, lefties, and lovers of 'the religion of peace,' not from Tea Party members).
"But anyone who yells about the massive spending, surging national debt, about unconstitutional power grabs, job loss, sky high dependency on government, obscene programs in the heart of Mexico to promote food stamps to prospective immigrants, about gun running to Mexico that killed hundreds, about a war on traditional energy, or a Big Brother explosion of regulations of commerce, or billions in corrupt grants to corrupt cronies, a train wreck of a hijacking of health care, outrageous neglect of embassies in the hottest hot spots, cowardly neglect of attacks, transparently dishonest cover-ups of incompetence (incompetence is the only thing that’s been transparent in this administration) or, about…well, you get the idea…"
Shawn Mitchell, former state Senator in Colorado who has a private law practice in Denver.
"The Internal Revenue Service recognizes that we should have done a better job of handling the influx of applications by advocacy groups. Mistakes were made, but they were in no way due to any political or partisan motivation. We are — and will continue to be — dedicated to reviewing all applications for tax-exempt status in an impartial manner.”
Acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller. He later apologized and was fired.
“It is almost inconceivable to imagine that top officials at the IRS knew conservative groups were being targeted but chose to willfully mislead the committee’s investigation into this practice. The blatant disregard for which the agency has treated Congress and the American taxpayer raises serious concerns about leadership at the IRS.”
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.)
“The question is, how stupid do they think we are? Just imagine if the George W. Bush administration had IRS underlings, out in Cincinnati of course, saying, ‘We're going to target groups with the word 'progressive' in their title,’ we would have all hell breaking loose.”
Conservative columnist George Will
“People are pretty mad — mad that government has not taken what we do seriously. When the news broke yesterday…people were outraged and disgusted. No one was yelling and screaming, but it was like, Are you kidding me!?”
An unidentified Associated Press reporter. Reporters across The Associated Press were outraged over the Justice Department’s sweeping seizure of staff phone records - and they say such an intrusion could chill their relationships with confidential sources.
"It's outrageous. It's totally inexcusable...the object of it is to intimidate people who talk to reporters. There's no excuse for it whatsoever."
Liberal reporter Carl Bernstein on the AP scandal. Bernstein was one of the two reporters who broke the Watergate story.
"The Heritage Foundation recently issued a comprehensive report showing that Sen. Marco Rubio's plan to instantly legalize 11.5 million illegal immigrants would add $6.3 trillion to the nation's budget deficits over the next 50 years. Currently, the average illegal alien gets about $24,721 in taxpayer-funded benefits and pays about $10,334 in taxes. After full legalization, they will be eligible for a whole new panoply of government benefits such as direct welfare payments, Obamacare, Social Security and Medicare. Heritage concludes that the total government benefits to these former illegal aliens will then rise to about $43,900 per household, while the taxes paid by them will increase only modestly to around $16,000. Rubio says Heritage's report is all wrong because it fails to use 'dynamic scoring.'
"The sentence ends there. It's like when Obama responds to questions about Benghazi by saying it's a 'political circus,' or liberals say their position on abortion is that 'it's a complex issue.' What isn't political? What isn't complex? Those aren't answers; they're deflections."
Ann Coulter
"I think we are heading for a worse economic crisis than we had in 2007. You're going to have a collapse in the dollar...a huge spike in interest rates... and our whole economy, which is built on the foundation of cheap money, is going to topple when you pull the rug out from under it. The crisis is imminent. I don't think Obama is going to finish his second term without the bottom dropping out. And stock market investors are oblivious to the problems. We owe trillions. Look at our budget deficit; look at the debt to GDP ratio, the unfunded liabilities. If we were in the Eurozone, they would kick us out."
Peter Schiff, best-selling author and CEO of Euro Pacific Capital
“It's going to be very interesting to see if the Drive-Bys will cover the verdict, given how studiously they have Gosnelled the actual case. Do you know what to Gosnell is? What is to Gosnell? What does that mean? Gosnelled is the New Media term meaning ignored or aborted with prejudice.”
Rush Limbaugh
"He said if we have chocolate bullets, nobody would get hurt and nobody would be sad. I'm going to start crying again because he was so insightful."
Barbara Rankin, the reading specialist at the Downtown Montessori Academy in Milwaukee, describing a letter written to Vice President Joe Biden by 7-year old Myles Nelson, a second-grader at the school.
“Dear Myles, I'm sorry it took me so very long to respond to your letter. I really like your idea. If we had guns that shot chocolate, not only would our country be safer, it would be happier. People love chocolate. You are a good boy, Joe Biden."
The vice president’s response to Myles.
"Have you ever been recognized by an association of writers as Journalist of the Year? If you ever are, and I read about it, I will congratulate you, not try to poop on your recognition."
Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke in a response to the Journal Sentinel’s Dan Bice. Bice wrote a column critical of a group that named ClarkeThe Sheriff of the Year for 2013.
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
Sarah Hall Ingram, the IRS commissioner who once oversaw the division that processes tax-exempt organizations, now heads the IRS office responsible for overseeing the new tax laws in ObamaCare.
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
Black Christian leaders call for abortion investigation.
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
OJ wants out of jail.
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
This ban doesn't hold up.
That's it for Week-ends.
We close with the latest from NewsBusted.
Week-ends (05/11/13)
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...
HEROES OF THE WEEK
Charles Ramsey ... MORE.
Angel Cordero
Oak Creek, WI police officers
Michael Salame
Lilly Cracknell's doctors
Miss Minnesota
Erin Day and others
Ryan Howard
Teddy Kremer and the Cincinnati Reds
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Ariel Castro
The State Department
The IRS
Dr. LeRoy Carhart
Scott Compton
Debra Farinella
Naked Pope
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
"I knew something was wrong when a pretty little white girl ran into a black man's arms."
Charles Ramsey, a neighbor who was credited with helping Amanda Berry escape after a decade-long captivity in Cleveland. Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were also held captive. Ramsey became a media darling after a series of colorful interviews.
"Secretary of State Clinton called me along with her senior staff ... and she asked me what was going on. And, I briefed her on developments. Most of the conversation was about the search for Ambassador Stevens. It was also about what we were going to do with our personnel in Benghazi, and I told her that we would need to evacuate, and that was she said that was the right thing to do.”
Gregory Hicks, a former top diplomat in Libya delivered an account at a Congressional hearing of the chaotic events during the deadly assault on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi last September, with a 2 a.m. call from Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and confusion about the fate of U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens.
"I was stunned. My jaw dropped and I was embarrassed."
Gregory Hicks, responding to the talking points used by UN Ambassador Susan Rice on the Sunday talk shows in which she said the attacks appeared to be associated with demonstrations in Egypt and Libya over an anti-Islam video. Rep. Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., said Rice's comments contradicted statements by Libyan leaders and others who called the attacks pre-meditated assaults by terrorists. Gowdy said Rice's comments "perpetuated a demonstrably false narrative."
“It was the saddest phone call of my life, when he told me Ambassador Stevens had passed away.”
Gregory Hicks about the phone call he received from the Libyan prime minister.
“Has that ever happened where lawyers get on the phone prior to a congressional delegation investigating? Have you ever had anyone tell you, ‘Don’t talk with the people in Congress coming to find out what’s what?’”
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) questioning Hicks. Jordan told the committee that Hicks had previously been informed by a lawyer at the State Dept. not to cooperate with the House investigation and not to speak with Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah).
“Never.”
Hicks responding to Jordan’s question.
“It matters. It matters personally; it matters to my colleagues. My colleagues at the Department of State. It matters to the American public to whom we serve. Most importantly, it matters to friends of Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, who were murdered on Sept. 11, 2012.”
Eric Nordstrom, who was responsible for overseeing the agency that secured the consulate prior to the Benghazi attack, began choking up as he spoke in his opening statement about the loss of fellow co-workers. His voice cracking, Nordstrom praised the committee for continuing its probe.
“Clinton still has the gall to say 'it wasn't me, it was them.'"
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, choked up at a hearing on Benghazi as he lamented the four deaths in Benghazi and accused Hillary Clinton of ducking blame for inadequate security.
"These witnesses deserve to be heard on the Benghazi attacks, the flaws in the accountability review board's methodology, process and conclusion.”
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, insisted that the investigation is necessary despite Democratic and administration complaints.
“I think the dam is about to break on Benghazi. We’re going to find a system failure before, during and after the attacks. We’re going to find political manipulation seven weeks before an election. We’re going to find people asleep at the switch when it comes to the State Department, including Hillary Clinton.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham
“During the 2008 Democratic Presidential primaries, former Secretary Clinton ran an ad attacking nominee Barack Obama for his lack of wisdom and experience in a foreign crisis – and touting her own. It has become known as the '3:00 A.M. call.'
"I commend Chairman Issa for holding Wednesday's hearing to try to bring more clarity to what actually happened in Benghazi. As more and more facts regarding Benghazi are painfully extracted from the Obama administration, this much can be ascertained: Benghazi was a failure of leadership by President Obama – before, during, and after the pre-planned terrorist attack that killed four Americans. Absent evidence to the contrary, it appears President Obama failed to fully engage, take command and act - instead delegating his responsibilities as Commander in Chief to others. His administration then embarked on a narrative for the attack that was disconnected from reality and initially misled the American public. Benghazi was President Obama’s 3:00 A.M. moment and he failed that test of leadership. What difference, at this point, does it make? Leadership - or lack thereof - before, during, and after a crisis, always makes a difference.”
US Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI)
"There is something called Benghazi going on. And I think the Democrats now are starting to worry about it. I started--I got calls from a number of Democrats yesterday trying to undermine Greg Hicks's testimony, saying he wasn't demoted, etc. So I think they feel that some damage was done by those three witnesses on Wednesday."
NBC’s Lisa Myers
"I don't think there's a smoking gun today. I don't think there's a lukewarm slingshot."
Rep. Mark Pocan, D-WI on the Benghazi hearing.
"So where’s your thirst for truth, America? Why aren’t we outraged? Maybe because, as White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, 'Benghazi happened a long time ago.' Maybe Carney should ask grieving family members wanting answers and longing for closure how long it’s been since their loved ones lost their lives in Benghazi. Or maybe we are at a point in this country where a politician’s political aspirations trump everything else.
Week-ends (05/04/13)
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In...
HEROES OF THE WEEK
The remaining three
Gordon Besaw
Shakil Afridi
Paul Goldschmidt
Collegno's Pizzeria in New York
VILLAINS OF THE WEEK
Dana Sartor
Ramineh Behbehanian
Tom Ammiano
Those who govern high school sports in Ohio
Bloomington High School in California
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
“I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, ‘I'm different.’ If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.”
NBA star Jason Collins became the first active player in a major American team sport to come out as gay in a Sports Illustrated article.
“In a land of freedom we are held hostage by the tyranny of political correctness.”
A tweet by Washington Redskins QB Robert Griffin III following Jason Collins’ announcement.
“All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shaking my head) ...”
A tweet by Mike Wallace of the Miami Dolphins reacting to Collins. He later deleted the Tweet and posted: “Never said anything was right or wrong I just said I don't understand!! Deeply sorry for anyone that I offended.”
“I’m a Christian. I don’t agree with homosexuality. I think it’s a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is. L.Z. [Granderson, a gay sportswriter and ESPN contributor] knows that. He and I have played on basketball teams together for several years. We’ve gone out, had lunch together, we’ve had good conversations, good laughs together. He knows where I stand and I know where he stands. I don’t criticize him, he doesn’t criticize me, and call me a bigot, call me ignorant, call me intolerant.”
ESPN’s Chris Broussard when asked for his personal opinion on Collins’s comments.
"An ABC News-Washington Post survey shows that well over 70 percent of Americans want the surviving accused bomber of the Boston Marathon to be executed if found guilty in a court of law.
"Executed, as in the vicious manner in which he and his brother allegedly took innocent lives at was to be a happy and joyous athletic tradition.
"Executed, as in the cold-blooded manner in which they assassinated a security guard at MIT.
"Executed, as in a carefully planned, methodical elimination of life and limb -- something the accused may understand all too well.
"So now here is the real question: Does anyone really believe that President Obama would favor the execution of this young man if he were convicted of the serious charges he faces?"
Matt Towery, author of "Powerchicks: How Women will Dominate America"
"That the Tsarnaev family, a group exhibiting behavior rarely seen outside of meth-infested trailer parks, came to this country and took, then left and left these children behind is a disgrace. That so many on the political left have even entertained the idea, now being pushed by Mama Tsarnaev, that America is somehow to blame for their radicalization is an even bigger one."
Columnist Derek Hunter
"Speaking of the Boston terrorist attack, how long do you think it’ll be before the Leftists and their co-belligerent compadres, the Muslims, start whining about building a mosque close to the finish line of the Boston Marathon? I’ll give it … eh … six months. One-year tops."
Columnist Doug Giles
"At a press conference this week, the president proved once again that he doesn't understand how his law threatens Americans' jobs, their care and their paycheck…we know the health care law is weighing down our economy and hurting job growth. We can't allow this frail economy to become the new normal. Nearly 22 million Americans can't find a job or the full-time work they want. Millions more have quit looking altogether. Now, even more working Americans are seeing their hours cut because of the unreasonable burdens of the president's health care law. The culprit is a requirement in the law that companies with more than 50 full-time workers provide expensive one-size-fits-all health insurance. Some small businesses have stopped hiring in order to stay below that number of employees. Others are cutting full-time workers back to part-time status — less than 30 hours a week…The economy can't grow until we get Americans back to work. People can't get back to work if there aren't more jobs. Employers aren't hiring because of the health care law."
John Barrasso, a Republican and a physician, is the junior senator from Wyoming.
"On April 30, 1789, at the Federal Hall in New York City, George Washington took the Oath of Office as the first President of the United States. He and the members of both houses of Congress then assembled in the unfinished Senate Chamber where Washington took less than 20 minutes to deliver the first inaugural address. Precisely two hundred and twenty five years later – at the same time of day – the 44th President of the United States wandered into the White House Press Briefing Room for a surreal 48-minute exchange with members of the media.
"The difference in these two presidential presentations, separated by two and a quarter centuries is stark – and alarming – for what was said, left unsaid and the manner in which they were conveyed. Observers described Washington’s delivery as 'humble,' even 'anxious.' Some – noting more than a dozen references to 'prayer,' 'divine blessing,' 'providence' the 'Almighty Being' and the 'Great Author of every public and private good' – said the new president was 'reverent.' None of those match the demeanor of Barack Obama during this week’s séance. Instead of invoking the favor of God, our Head of State sought to fix blame for his failures."
Oliver North
"Say what you will about the methods and strategies of Bush’s war on terror. At least he waged it, and he never failed to identify the enemy by name. Obama fans grow frustrated that despite killing bin Laden, keeping Guantanamo open and launching the (brief) Afghan surge, the 44th president does not carry the image of a brave protector of America. That is because we cannot truly fight terror unless we recognize where it comes from. When Obama wants to protect our lives with the same energy he expends protecting Muslim feelings, we will be instantly safer."
Syndicated radio talk show host Mark Davis
"Maybe I should just pack up and go home. Golly."
President Obama when asked about his second term failures.
"I'm very comfortable with the decision they’ve made right now based on solid scientific evidence for girls 15 and older. I'm very comfortable with contraception. I think it is very important that women have control over their healthcare choices and when they are starting a family. That is their decision to make. And so we want to make sure they have access to contraception.”
President Obama on Thursday told reporters he is "comfortable" with a Food and Drug Administration decision to allow girls 15 years of age and older to buy the morning-after pill (Plan B) over the counter.
“NBC Nightly News deliberately censored the grisly details of abortionist Kermit Gosnell’s alleged crimes. Claiming that they’re ‘too gruesome’ to be discussed on television is absolute nonsense. NBC News covered the Casey Anthony child murder trial 12 times on Nightly News in 2011, including multiple graphic descriptions of that crime. If they can talk about Caylee Anthony’s body decomposing in the trunk of a car, they can talk about Gosnell ‘snipping’ spinal cords to kill babies born alive. The difference is that the details of this murder trial raise serious questions about abortion, the liberal media’s most sacred cow.”
Brent Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center.
"What’s the big deal?
"I mean, why are we surprised that an abortionist and his staff would, behind the walls of an always-lethal abortion clinic, commit one of the most horrific serial killings in American history? What did you think abortionists do, heal people?
"Why are we taken aback that there was no oversight, no regulation, or that Planned Parenthood, though privy to the clinic’s filthy, medieval conditions, refused to report it to the Department of Health?
"You didn’t really buy that whole 'women’s health' nonsense, did you?
"Sucker.
"And why are we stunned that the mainstream media have spiked a story with all the bloody and salacious newsworthy trappings that – had abortion not been involved – would have filled the news cycle 24/7?
"You think some now-barren, 40-something copy editor who’s had five abortions wants to draw attention to its grisly reality? You think she wants to be reminded of her own string of dismembered little choices? No, better to sip appletinis with the boys down at the National Press Club and pretend it never happened."
Matt Barber, an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. Barber is Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action and serves as Associate Dean and Adjunct Assistant Professor of Law at Liberty University School of Law.
"If you want to understand the nature of the contemporary America right now, the relationship between the media and Obama and America, Obama is Nero, media is the fiddle and we are Rome."
Greg Gutfeld, political satirist, humorist, magazine editor, blogger, and FOX News panelist.
“And of course, the White House press corps is here. I know CNN has taken some knocks lately, but the fact is I admire their commitment to cover all sides of the story just in case one of them happens to be accurate.”
President Obama at the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner.
“To anyone not working in investment banking, these are extremely expensive tickets.”
Gary Bongiovanni, editor-in- chief of Pollstar, a concert-industry magazine commenting on the Rolling Stones’ tour that kicked off in Los Angeles on Friday. Pairs of $600 floor seats were still available Thursday at the Staples Center arena.
OUTRAGE OF THE WEEK
In WI, sex offenders living free on taxpayer dime.
Arrest in Texas.
Illegal aliens and food stamps.
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE WEEK
Black, Hispanic families have suffered worse economically under Obama.
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE WEEK
"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE WEEK
They call this art?
I'm not buying it.
He decided the grass needed cutting.
That's it for Week-ends.
We close with the latest from NewsBusted.
