Anderson Cooper Apologizes For Not Pushing Shirley Sherrod On Breitbart Slavery Comment

Mediaite.com:

In an interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper last week, ousted USDA official Shirley Sherrod accused Andrew Breitbart of racism and supporting a return to slavery. On Thursday night, Cooper apologized to his audience for not questioning that claim and letting her “get away with saying things which cannot be supported by facts.”

In the opening of a segment regarding Sherrod, Cooper noted that it had been one week since his interview with her and, watching the video again, he realized he had let the comments slip by unnoticed. The comments were clearly offensively to Breitbart, who brought them up when asked by Newsweek whether he would apologize to her. Cooper apologized for letting the comment slip and promised that it wouldn’t happen again:

“In the course of that interview, I failed to do something that I should have. I believe in admitting my mistakes… She, of course, is free to believe whatever she wants, but I didn’t challenge her that night, and I should have. I don’t want anyone on my show to get away with saying things which cannot be supported by facts. I should have challenged her on what facts she believe support that accusation. That’s my job, and I didn’t do it very well in that interview, and I’m sorry about it. If I get the chance to talk to her again, I will.”

Shocking, but much respect to Cooper for admitting his screw-up, it's certainly something a certain MSNBC host would never do.

Chelsea Clinton To Spend $3Million On Wedding, Gets Little Crititism From MSM Media

YahooNews.com:

Imagine spending $250,000 on flowers. Or $20,000 on a cake. How does $15,000 to $20,000 for toilets sound?

Sounds like the first Wedding of the Century.

Wedding industry experts say that when Chelsea Clinton gets married Saturday at a private estate in upstate New York, the tab could hit $2 million, $3 million or more — a canape or two above the average $24,000 that most American newlyweds will shell out this year.

Most weddings host about 150 guests; the Clinton-Mezvinsky nuptials are expected to have 400 to 500.

Details have been notoriously scarce, but Sally Kilbridge, deputy editor of Brides, said industry insiders have gathered enough intelligence to sketch out roughly what sort of shindig the daughter of President Bill Clinton and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will put on when she marries her longtime boyfriend, investment banker Marc Mezvinsky.

Some estimates put the cost at close to $5 million, but Kilbridge said Chelsea Clinton won't let it get too extreme.

3 million! Are you kidding me?!? Where's all the liberal badmouthing about how ridiculous it is to spend such a crazy amount of money for a wedding? During a recession no less? George W. Bush only spent $100,000 for his daughter's wedding and the MSM critics were all over that. Then too Chelsea Clinton is such a pretentious douche that you just know there's little chance this wedding lasts longer than a couple of years.

Obama Hopes Charlie Rangel Can 'End His Career With Dignity' After Ethics Charges

Mediaite.com:

In a clip released by CBS News of their exclusive interview set to air on Sunday, President Barack Obama speaks out on the Rep. Charlie Rangel ethics scandal for the first time, calling the allegations “very troubling” and expressing hope that the long-serving Congressman will be able to “end his career with dignity.”

Sitting down with CBS Early Show anchor Harry Smith, the President had good things to say about Rep. Rangel’s tenure in Congress but showed concern about the recent ethics investigation taken out against him in response to several questionable personal financial issues. “I think Charlie Rangel served a very long time and served his constituents very well, but these allegations are very troubling,” he told Smith. He also pointed to Rep. Rangel’s age as another factor to be taken into consideration: “He’s somebody,” he told Smith, “who is at the end of his career, 82 years old, I’m sure that what he wants is to be able to end his career with dignity and my hope is that that happens.”

Newt Gingrich: Arizona Governor Jan Brewer Should Sue Feds

Newsmax.com:

In an exclusive Newsmax interview, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich backs Arizona’s new immigration law and says Gov. Jan Brewer “ought to promptly file suit against the federal government to make them pay for all the costs that Arizona’s dealing with — costs in schools, costs in prisons, costs in hospitals. If the federal government’s basis of it’s lawsuit is that it has sole responsibility, then it ought to have sole responsibility. If I were [Gov. Brewer], I’d present them with a bill for several billion dollars on behalf of the people of Arizona who are currently suffering because eof the incompetence and failure of the federal government.”

Levi Johnston May've Gotten Ex-Girlfriend Pregnant, Bristol Could Call Off Wedding

Now will Bristol Palin finally listen to her mother and just realize that this guy is a creep?

Bristol Palin's friends have told RadarOnline.com that she is heartbroken after finding out that her fiance Levi Johnston may have impregnated his ex-girlfriend, Lanesia Garcia. In fact, Bristol may be having second thoughts about going through with the wedding, although a Palin family representative said, "no official decision has been made."

Earlier in the week, the National Enquirer reported that Garcia was pregnant and she and Johnston were together when he was single last year. A source says that Johnston claims the baby isn't his, but that, "Levi is one of three possible fathers who were with Lanesia during the probable week of conception."

In 2008, Garcia talked to UK's News Of The World, revealing that she and Levi were in a three-year-long relationship before her then-best friend Bristol stole him away from her. Via PopCrunch:

Here's what Lanesia said at the time: "I didn't believe it, I never dreamt she was capable of doing that to me. But when I called her she just said, 'I'm so sorry, I couldn't help it. Levi and I are together now and I think he's the man for me.' I put the phone down and have not talked to her since. I was distraught for a year -- I missed Bristol desperately but also Sarah, who was like a second mom to me. Neither of them have tried to contact me, though -- which says something about how ruthless they can be. The phrase Sarah used comparing herself to a lipstick-wearing pit bull is spot on."

Liberal Activist Mary Frances Berry Admits Calling Tea Party "Racist" Is A Tactic, Not A Truth

WashingtonExaminer.com:

Ever since the NAACP began stepping up its attacks on the limited government movement through charges of racism against the Tea Parties, it’s become rather apparent that there was a concerted effort behind this rhetoric.

After reading the words of Mary Frances Berry, one of the more prominent leaders in the far-left black political scene, one need no longer merely surmise this. In an astonishingly frank email to Politico, Berry declares that the tea-partiers-as-racists meme is “an effective strategy for Democrats” despite the fact that she believes “there is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans.”

Here’s the full quote:

“Tainting the tea party movement with the charge of racism is proving to be an effective strategy for Democrats. There is no evidence that tea party adherents are any more racist than other Republicans, and indeed many other Americans. But getting them to spend their time purging their ranks and having candidates distance themselves should help Democrats win in November. Having one’s opponent rebut charges of racism is far better than discussing joblessness.”

Aside from the morality of knowingly advancing a blatantly false line of thinking, Berry and her cohort’s embrace of race-baiting has real implications for race relations as R. Dozier Gray, a member of the conservative black group Project 21 put it in a statement about Berry’s remarks:

“This willful and purposeful use of the race card for nothing more than political gain is toxic to race relations, and Mary Frances Berry must know that.  But she evidently does not care.  Based on her comment, political posturing takes primacy over whatever real issues regarding race that she might pretend are her calling cards.  I have seen this all before.  I find it shameful.”

All too true. It’s shameful also that the NAACP and other black groups with honorable achievements in days past would willingly shill for partisan politics.

Andrew Breitbart please call your office.

It's what left-wing grassroots leader Saul Alinsky taught his followers: "Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it." Now with an unpopular liberal President, an even more unpopular liberal Congress and November elections right around the corner, the slime on the Left are with no choice but to deflect from the issues and race-bait. The Tea Party movement has worked the Left's nerves to no end by energizing supporters of small government and they refuse to go away, forcing the Left to target it, as per Alinsky's method, with bogus charges of racism. Finally someone on their side has the guts to come out and admit it.

Obama Calls African Americans "Mongrel People"

Talk about a bad choice of words, yet no matter how much Barry continues to diss black people his popularity will remain high.

Source

Sheriff Joe Arpaio: I'll Enforce Arizona's Immigration Law

Newsbusters.org:

Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the controversial top cop in Maricopa County, Ariz., tells Newsmax he will jail any protesters who attempt to block his jail on Thursday when provisions of his state’s tough new immigration law take effect.

Arpaio also says it’s “great” if undocumented aliens react to the new law and his strict anti-illegal immigration agenda by moving back to Mexico or to the “sanctuary state” of California, and challenges President Barack Obama to invite him to the White House for a “wine summit” to discuss illegal immigration.

Arpaio, whose county includes most of the Phoenix metropolitan area, promotes himself as “America’s toughest sheriff.” He has limited county inmates to two meals a day, banned “sexually explicit material” in prison, reinstituted chain gangs, and set up a “tent city” as an extension of the Maricopa County Jail.

On Wednesday a judge blocked the most controversial sections of Arizona's new law and put them on hold. The law will still take effect on Thursday, but without some of the provisions that angered opponents — including sections that required officers to check a person's immigration status while enforcing other laws.

Nevertheless there are reports that opponents of the new law plan to block Arpaio’s jail on Thursday in an act of civil disobedience.

“There’s a rumor that they’re going to block our jails down the street,” Arpaio says in an exclusive Newsmax interview.

“You know what? They’re not going to block our jails. They’re going into the jail if they block our jail. I’m not going to succumb to these demonstrators keeping law enforcement from booking people in our jail. So we may have to take some action.”

Charlie Rangel Accused Of 13 Congressional Ethics Violations

HuffPo.com:

House investigators accused veteran New York Rep. Charles Rangel of 13 violations of congressional ethics standards on Thursday, throwing a cloud over his four-decade political career and raising worries for fellow Democrats about the fall elections.

The allegations – which include failure to report rental income from vacation property in the Dominican Republic and to report more than $600,000 in assets on his congressional financial disclosure statements – came as lawyers for Rangel and the House ethics committee worked on a plea deal.

One was struck, people familiar with the talks said, but Republicans indicated it was too late.

The deal between the lawyers will have little meaning if the committee members don't approve it, and Republicans said at the proceeding they were insisting on going forward with a trial. The panel is evenly divided between Democrats and Republicans.

"Mr. Rangel was given multiple opportunities to settle this matter. Instead, he chose to move forward to the public trial phase," said Rep. Jo Bonner of Alabama, the senior Republican on the ethics panel Chairman Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., has made clear that she wants the committee to be unanimous – leaving little chance for agreement without Rangel capitulating on virtually all counts.

"This leadership team will create the most honest, most open, and most ethical Congress in history” – Nancy Pelosi

Shirley Sherrod To Sue Abderw Breitbart

NYDN.com:

Ousted Agriculture Department staffer Shirley Sherrod said Thursday she plans to sue the conservative blogger who falsely portrayed her as a racist.

"I will definitely do it," Sherrod said at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in San Diego.

Sherrod said Andrew Breitbart knew what he was doing when he posted a doctored video that made it appear she was boasting about mistreating a white farmer.

"I knew it was racism, and no one had to tell me that," she said. "Right will win the end."

Breitbart, still "hasn't apologized," Sherrod added.

"I wish he had come here because I would really like to talk to him," she said. "He has to know that he was targeting me."

Breitbart accepted an invitation from the NABJ to offer his side of the racially-charged story but the two sides could not come to an agreement on the final details, sources said.

There was no immediate response from Breitbart to Sherrod's announcement that she was taking him to court.

I don't see how she wins esp. considering that Breitbart made it clear from the beginning that it was the NAACP that he was going after with that tape, not Sherrod. Then too libel is extremely hard to prove and since she admittedly did at one point have racist thoughts, doesn't Breitbart point (that the NAACP has a double standard when it comes to racism) hold true considering the fact that the audience clapped after Sherrod spoke of the bias she had against that white farmer she mentioned?

Judge Strikes Down Key Provisions Of Arizona Illegal Immigrant Law SB1070

CNN.com:

A federal judge has blocked one of the most controversial sections of a tough Arizona immigration law, granting a preliminary injunction Wednesday that prevents police from questioning people about their immigration status.

That provision of the law requires police to "make a reasonable attempt to determine the immigration status of a person stopped, detained or arrested" if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that the person is in the United States illegally.

U.S. District Judge Susan Bolton's ruling, in response to a motion filed by the federal government, came with scant hours to go before the law goes into effect.

She also blocked provisions of the law making it a crime to fail to apply for or carry alien registration papers or "for an unauthorized alien to solicit, apply for, or perform work," and a provision "authorizing the warrantless arrest of a person" if there is reason to believe that person might be subject to deportation.

This is a win-lose for both the Obama administration and Gov. Jan Brewer. The judge struck down the most controversial parts of SB1070: illegals having to walk around with their papers and cops being able people's immigration status. Then too, while the ruling is a temporary injunction, if you read the whole thing Judge Susan Bolton seems to think that the DOJ has made enough of a case that could see the law blocked in its entirety. A key win for Jan Brewer and all other opponents of illegal immigration is that a ban on so-called sanctuary cities stands, as does making it a crime to pick up day laborers who are illegal immigrants. The parts of the law dealing with sanctions for the hiring of illegal immigrants also goes into effect Thursday.

Democrat Governor Ed Rendell: Obama On "The View" Like Going On Jerry Springer

Mediaite.com:

Tomorrow President Obama will make history by becoming the first sitting president to appear on a daytime talk show. This is perhaps less exciting than it might have been were Obama not such a ubiquitous presence in the media. However considering it comes on the heels of the Shirley Sherrod debacle (perhaps, intentionally so) Obama’s appearance on The View will likely provide at least some good soundbites.

But is it a good idea? Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell does not think so…to put it mildly. Here is how he described the appearance on Morning Joe yesterday. [Watch below].

“I think the president should be accessible, should answer questions that aren’t pre-screened, but I think there should be a little bit of dignity to the presidency…“I wouldn’t put him on Jerry Springer either, it is different a little bit. But I think the president of the United States has to go on serious shows.”

Al Sharpton Defends Corrupt Democrat Charles Rangel

Birds of a feather...

Reverend Al Sharpton predicts a "political bloodbath" in Harlem if New York congressman Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) needed to be replaced. "We were getting ready to celebrate his retirement, not have to get ready for a public hearing," Sharpton said.

Source

Elton John Slams Musicians Who Boycott Arizona Over SB1070 Law

FOXNews.com:

Never one to back out of a performance to make a statement, music icon Elton John offered some choice words for his fellow musicians who choose to boycott Arizona over the SB 1070 immigration law.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, while performing at his sold-out concert at the Tucson Arena, he said:

"We are all very pleased to be playing in Arizona. I have read that some of the artists won't come here. They are f***wits! Let's face it: I still play in California, and as a gay man I have no legal rights whatsoever. So what's the (expletive) with these people?"

John is known for not giving into outside pressures when it comes to playing concerts in politically charged environments.

Last month, he ignored calls for a boycott of Israel, playing in Tel Aviv amid debates about an aid flotilla.

"Musicians spread love and peace, and bring people together. That's what we do," he said of artists like Elvis Costello and Santana, who canceled performances in Israel. "We don't cherry-pick our conscience."

Leave it to an ignorant artist or celebrity more concerned about their image than actual facts, to not understand how boycotts do more harm than good by hurting small businesses.

Jon Stewart: ‘Andrew Breitbart May Be The Most Honest Person In The Entire Story’

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Lost in Race
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Mediaite.com:

A bewhiskered Jon Stewart returned from his recent two week vacation and addressed the latest political news controversy: the scandal surrounding former USDA staffer Shirley Sherrod’s unfair dismissal after allegations of racist comments were revealed to be out of context. Stewart spared no one complicit in the whole clusterf*ck, save one unlikely participant: Internet provocateur Andrew Breitbart, the individual who first published the heavily edited video of Sherrod’s comments. Say what?

After railing against Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack for saying that Sherrod’s dismissal “should have been done in a more personal way, with far more thought and far less haste,” he then mocked the NAACP for claiming to have been “snookered” and the White House’s unique non-apology apology. Shockingly, however, Stewart appeared to give Andrew Breitbart a pass – not for his actions, per se, but rather his candor in admitting his agenda five months back:

Stewart: First of all, Fox News is too busy with their black panther hard-on to bother much with this. And Andrew Breitbart, the guy who leaked the edited tape, may be the most honest person in this entire story. This is what he said five months ago:

Bretibart (from file footage): I want to be in the history books saying I took down the institutional left.

Stewart: See he didn’t say “I want to be in the history books a aparagon of honesty,” he didn’t say “I would like to be in the Museum of Broadacsting, and to be known by children around the wold as Arnold B. Truthington of Accuracy Lane.”

No ,he said out loud “I want to bring down the institutional left.” So if you are on the institutional left, and you see the package from him, watch the whole (bleep) tape. How is that snookering?

While many in the media have lambasted Breitbart for his part in this story – and much of that has been deserved – Stewart makes a rather brave point. Breitbart has always been clear with his agenda, so no one should be shocked when it is effective. Lesson learned?

Damn, hate to admit iot but I'm starting to like Jon Stewart more and more.

MSNBC's Contessa Brewer Hits Andrew Breitbart for Appearing at Political Fundraiser, But She's Done the Same

Newsbusters.org:

On Monday's News Live, MSNBC's Contessa Brewer expressed incredulity at the revelation that journalist Andrew Breitbart will be appearing at a Republican fundraiser. "I mean, really? Is he going to be a good fund-raiser for the Republicans?" 


Reporter Richard Wolffe lectured, "Because if he is that much of a political activist that he is raising money for the RNC, then he is not quite the journalist he describes himself as." 

Yet, those exact words could be put to Brewer. On July 24, she was the featured guest at a fundraiser in Kentucky for gay rights. This despite the fact that the anchor has also reported on gay rights for MSNBC. On the July 12 News Live, she wondered why American politicians weren't "taking a stand" on ending Don't Ask, Don't tell.


Brewer lectured, "Why aren't more American leaders itching for a fight on gay rights?" Wouldn't this be the type of journalistic contradiction that Brewer and Wolffe were complaining about? 

At Saturday's event, which took place in Kentucky, Brewer asserted, "I've never taken a public stand on a controversial issue. Gay rights are civil rights. Gay rights are human rights and given the invitation to speak, I could not, in good conscience, remain silent."

Yeah, a well-paid white female journalist who works at a lily-white, cable news network should definitely understand a thing or two about "civil rights". Selective "OUTRAGE!" anyone?

Jen Keeton, College Student Kicked Out Due To Christian Views

WND.com:

A lawsuit against Augusta State University in Georgia alleges school officialsgraduate student in counseling the choice of giving up her Christian beliefs or being expelled from the graduate program.  essentially gave a

School officials Mary Jane Anderson-Wiley, Paulette Schenck and Richard Deaner demanded student Jen Keeton, 24, go through a "remediation" program after she asserted homosexuality is a behavioral choice, not a "state of being" as a professor said, according to the complaint. 

Also named as defendants in the case that developed in May and June are other administrators and the university system's board of regents. 

The remediation program was to include "sensitivity training" on homosexual issues, additional outside study on literature promoting homosexuality and the plan that she attend a "gay pride parade" and report on it.

It's no longer about just tolerance, it's accept and embrace.

Obama To Take Timeout From Running Country And Appear On "The View"

ABCNews.com:

President Obama will become the first sitting U.S. president to visit a daytime TV talk show when he tapes an interview Wednesday with ABC's "The View." 

Obama is appearing as part of the show's "Red, White & View" series, which has featured prominent American politicians and discussions on current political issues. Vice President Joe Biden made a guest appearance in April. 

The president will take the hot seat among the show's five female hosts, who represent a range of backgrounds and political views, at a time when his administration grapples with challenges from the economy to the BP oil spill. 

Obama's approval ratings have hit new lows, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC News poll. Nearly six in 10 Americans say they lack confidence in the president to make the right decisions for the country, and a majority doubt his handling of the economy.

The President of the United States should be too busy to appear on a talk show, but then, maybe if Barry continues to pursue a television career, he'll have less time to screw up the country.

illegal Immigrants Flee Arizona Ahead Of Crackdown

Reuters.com:

Nicaraguan mother Lorena Aguilar hawks a television set and a few clothes on the baking sidewalk outside her west Phoenix apartment block.

A few paces up the street, her undocumented Mexican neighbor Wendi Villasenor touts a kitchen table, some chairs and a few dishes as her family scrambles to get out of Arizona ahead of a looming crackdown on illegal immigrants.

"Everyone is selling up the little they have and leaving," said Villasenor, 31, who is headed for Pennsylvania. "We have no alternative. They have us cornered."

The two women are among scores of illegal immigrant families across Phoenix hauling the contents of their homes into the yard this weekend as they rush to sell up and get out before the state law takes effect on Thursday.

The law, the toughest imposed by any U.S. state to curb illegal immigration, seeks to drive more than 400,000 undocumented day laborers, landscapers, house cleaners, chambermaids and other workers out of Arizona, which borders Mexico.

This is how the MSM keeps using empathy when reporting on the drama surrounding Arizona's SB1070. They just can't accept that "illegal" means illegal or the fact that U.S. laws on illegal immigration are less strict than 90% of the laws within countries around the world. If you want to live in the U.S. do it the right way, hundreds of thousands of people do it every year, there's no reason more can't.

Politiks As Usual: In The News 7/26/10

New York Times Defends Publishing Leaked Military Records

Why Are We Discussing Racism?

Hugo Chavez Threatens To Cut Off Oil To U.S.

Top Ten Most Left-Biased American Journalists - #1: Helen Thomas

The Blame Stream Media And The Sherrod Charade

HuffPo Gets Religion Wrong Again

John McCain Has The 'Big Mo' In Arizona Race

Liberals, Conservatives Agree: Re-Imposing The Death Tax Designed To Penalize Wealthy

Cases Where Race Spurred A Rush To Judgment

Evangelical Lutheran Pulpits Welcome Non-Celibate Gay Pastors

Oliver Stone: 'Jewish-Dominated Media' Prevents Hitler From Being Portrayed 'In Context'

Chris Christie Interview: Talks GOP, "Jersey Shore"

The best hope for the future of the GOP come November and in 2012 is to pay attention to this man whenever he speaks.

Howard Dean Admits He Doesn't Care About Facts, Smears FOX News As "Racist"

HotAir.com:

Via Mediaite. Sure, it’s technically true that Fox didn’t air Breitbart’s Sherrod video until after she’d resigned, but Dean-o’s after Larger Truths here. A mystery: If he’s intent on pushing this line in order to score a few points on the enemy in the last few hours of this week’s Sherrod news cycle, why on earth would he do it on Fox? CNN would have let him get away with it and MSNBC would have cheered him on. Instead, by trying it on Wallace, he walks into a rhetorical doorknob.

Another question per his insistence that what Fox did with the tape was “absolutely racist”: Is Dean suggesting that O’Reilly and Hannity wouldn’t have aired an embarrassing excerpt from a speech delivered by a white liberal? I recall Glenn Beck having a field day with that clip of the very white Anita Dunn talking about Mao. The liberal line on Fox, I thought, is that they’ll use any weapon to hand to attack the left and Obama, not just lefty minorities. This one’s more effective, I guess, however true or untrue it may be.

Maureen Dowd Thinks Obama Needs More Black People Around Him

Mediaite.com:

Apparently Maureen Dowd has grown tired of calling President Obama a girl. This week Obama’s problem is a a black one. Again. 

It must be said that, if nothing else, MoDo is brilliant at taking the week’s news and shaping it into a catchy talking point that will dominate the Sunday shows and at least a few days of morning shows in the week to come. Whether or not Dowd offers any insight or enlightenment regarding the issue at hand long ago seemed beside the point. Here is the latest: “The Obama White House is too white.”

Not one to let Peggy Noonan have all the ‘grown-up’ fun, Dowd adds salt to the wound by implying that Bill Clinton never found himself in this predicament because he “never needed help fathoming Southern black culture.” Which, as Joan Walsh points out, may be the first nice thing Dowd has said about the Clintons in…a very long time. 

Dowd, and Congressman James Clyburn whom she quotes, believe that the solution to Obama’s too white White House problem is that he needs to surround himself with more black people:

“The president’s getting hurt real bad,” Clyburn told me. “He needs some black people around him.” He said Obama’s inner circle keeps “screwing up” on race: “Some people over there are not sensitive at all about race. They really feel that the extent to which he allows himself to talk about race would tend to pigeonhole him or cost him support, when a lot of people saw his election as a way to get the issue behind us.

Concludes Dowd in typical form: “The president shouldn’t give Sherrod her old job back. He should give her a new job: Director of Black Outreach. This White House needs one. ”

Funny that a far-Left loon like Maureen Dowd would be pointing this out, but it's about time somebody said it. When it comes to how non-diverse his cabinet is, much less those he's chosen to surround himself with (from Joe Biden on down), Barry really does have an image problem. Too bad the MSM hasn't had the guts to say what surely has crossed the mind of many in the Black community at large: where's the representation? Look up and all you see is Eric Holder and we all saw how a low-level 'sista' like Shirley Sherrod got treated by some of Barry's lily-white cabinet members. But then this is a President who has long made it clear that he wants nothing to do with race and because he's a Democrat he can get away with it.

John Kerry Docks Luxury Yacht In Rhode Island To Avoid Massachusetts Taxes

BostonHerald.com:

Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress, dodged a whopping six-figure state tax bill on his new multimillion-dollar yacht by mooring her in Newport, R.I.

Isabel - Kerry’s luxe, 76-foot New Zealand-built Friendship sloop with an Edwardian-style, glossy varnished teak interior, two VIP main cabins and a pilothouse fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage - was designed by Rhode Island boat designer Ted Fontaine.

But instead of berthing the vessel in Nantucket, where the senator summers with the missus, Teresa Heinz, Isabel’s hailing port is listed as “Newport” on her stern.

Could the reason be that the Ocean State repealed its Boat Sales and Use Tax back in 1993, making the tiny state to the south a haven - like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Nassau - for tax-skirting luxury yacht owners?

Cash-strapped Massachusetts still collects a 6.25 percent sales tax and an annual excise tax on yachts. Sources say Isabel sold for something in the neighborhood of $7 million, meaning Kerry saved approximately $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $70,000.

 They have no shame. None.