Via the Left-wing Politico (we read it so you don’t have to):

“Hank Williams and what he is going through now, I think it’s a very clear illustration of a greater societal problem and that is the hypocrisy on the left — the liberals who can throw these stones at a conservative and they knowing that they’re not going to be held accountable,” Palin said on Sean Hannity’s radio show Thursday. …

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Classy response from the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and GOP presidential candidate.

Bottom line, Janeane Garofalo doesn’t believe a Black man can or should think different from her, and if he does, he’s either corrupt (taking a pay off) or crazy (suffering Stockholm Syndrome); and that kind of thinking makes Garofalo the one with serious racial issues.

Of course, both she and Keith Olbermann have gotten away with this because our corrupt MSM is too busy screaming racist at those on the Right who use such sinister phrases as “basketball,” “food stamps,” and “dark clouds.”

None of this should be surprising, though. After all, this is the same MSM currently freaking out over Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry’s faith after spending all of 2008 assuring us that The Man Who Would Be President’s attendance for 20 years in a racist church run by his mentor — a racist, anti-American demagogue — didn’t matter.

Within seconds of Michele announcing she’d decided to launch a bid for the Republican nomination for President of the United States, it became clear that not one iota of liberal negativity toward conservatives has abated.

Over the past few days, the rock world has joined the fun by publicly stepping forward in an effort to send a message to the latest object of targeted political ridicule, Michele Bachmann. The goal is to drive home the point that liberal rock musicians disapprove of both Bachmann’s politics and her audacity in thinking she actually has a chance to send honorary rock star Barack Obama back to Chicago.

Following Alec Baldwin’s Twitter tirade, Tom Petty, a Mad Hatter in sunglasses, decided it was his turn to deny Bachmann, without explanation, the use of one of his hit songs. Petty is so anti-GOP he forbade Michele Bachmann from playing  “American Girl” as a musical backdrop to her announcement to run for president.

Apparently, the last thing Tom Petty wants to be associated with is writing the signature anthem that could accompany a female Republican candidate on the trip from Minnesota to the White House.  So, to prevent that from happening, the rocker sent a three-word message to Michele: “Cease and desist.”

It’s doubtful that Tom Petty would decline $275 per person ticket proceeds based on who concertgoers supported in the last election. Yet, rock musicians who refuse, due to partisan politics, to let conservative candidates use songs for campaign backdrops forget that many of their fans are conservatives.

It’s no secret: Tom Petty isn’t a fan of the Right. When George W. Bush ran for governor of Texas, the genial GWcomplimented the songwriter by using “I Won’t Back Down” as a campaign song. The unappreciative Petty had his publisher warn the campaign that using the ballad could send a false impression (Heaven forbid) that Petty endorsed Bush, and ordered the gubernatorial team to pull the song.

Tom Petty is one of a large herd of liberal singers and songwriters who sell their wares like capitalists on steroids to anyone and everyone, but when a conservative candidate identifies with one of their songs, out of fear of being perceived as leaning to the right hawkers of concert T-shirts and tacky glassware suddenly become all partisan and possessive.

Yet when Democrats like Black Socks Spitzer of New York and John “My-Wife-Has-Cancer-While-I’m-Having-an-Affair” Edwards used Heartbreaker music as campaign anthems, Tom the Petty fully endorsed both Lotharios using the extremely apropos “Won’t Back Down” ditty.

The “You Can Call Me Al” and “Don’t Stop” crews are proud to have signature songs associated with Al “Crazed Sex Poodle” Gore and impeached adulterer Bill Clinton, but Sarah Palin shaking hands and hugging babies in time to “Barracuda” irked female rock group Heart so much that the duo threatened a lawsuit if Sarah didn’t pick another tune.

Truth is, in the world of rock and roll, the liberal malady is endemic. In the 1980’s, Bruce Springsteen took on the Gipper over Reagan’s use of the song “Born in the USA.” During the 2004 presidential election, in an effort to save the USA from a second Bush term, Bruce partnered with über-liberal left-wing group MoveOn.org to headline a star-studded caravan of whiners in a Vote for Change Tour.

The 2004 MoveOn.org/rock-and-roll effort failed and Bush won reelection, which proves there are more Republican voters than liberals realize.  If, as a group, conservatives boycotted downloading music from iTunes and stopped buying concert tickets, many artists who feel comfortable insulting Republicans for sport would definitely take a hit in the pocketbook.

Then again, one has to wonder if someone like Bruce Springsteen even comprehends the concept that the people he slurs with his political invectives have the monetary power to affect The Boss’s bottom line.  After all, didn’t Springsteen say Obama “speaks to the America I’ve envisioned in my music for the past 35 years”?

Even still, the liberal Step Away From the Song list goes on and on: Pretty boy Jon Bon Jovi told Sarah Palin not to use “Who Says You Can’t Go Home.”  The Foo Fighters and Van Halen dissed John McCain; Bruce Hornsby felt Sean Hannity’s use of his song “The Way it Is” shouldn’t be the way it is; and rock group Rush informed Rand Paul he’s no “Tom Sawyer.”

By now, Republicans should know better than to provide ammunition for the left by failing to stringently follow copyright laws and respect property ownership rights. Yet, a politically partisan situation still presents an opportunity to learn a profound lesson for those on both sides of the political aisle.

Liberal musicians should understand that having a fan base largely made up of those without the ability to pay $1.99 to download a song or lay out close to three bills for a concert ticket isn’t going to ensure their rock star lifestyle for very long.

For those heartbroken by Petty Heartbreaker, conservatives must take their eyes off the “Yes We Can” free-for-all where liberal politicians sway and wave in time to music amidst showers of balloons filled to capacity with Democrat hot air.  It’s time to realize the same standard does not and will never apply to Grand Ole or Tea Party candidates. Just because liberal musicians become gazillionaires with the help of Republican fans doesn’t mean those same rich rock stars will show appreciation by treating conservative candidates with respect.

For those on the right, the salient point is this: liberal politicians are never denied rights to artists’ theme songs; quite the contrary, they are encouraged to use them. Conservatives politicians should not be so naïve as to assume similar rules apply to the likes of Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann.

With that in mind, Bachmann and Harley-riding Barracuda Palin should rethink forgoing the mud wrestling fight Michele claims the media is itching for and hit the ring to work out which lady will seek permission to claim Carrie Underwood’s “All-American Girl” and whose anthem will ultimately be conservative rocker Kid Rock’s “Born Free.”

Lowe, who is now a registered independent, had once been a big supporter of the Democratic Party.  In fact, he appeared at the Democratic National Convention in 1988 to support candidate Michael Dukakis.  It was at the convention that his infamous sex tape was created.

By the way, great news!  Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World has been hovering between #1 and #2 on the Amazon Bestseller’s List in Non-Fiction, and between #10 and #12 Overall. Congratulations, Andrew!!!

Check out Andrew’s list of upcoming appearances and other press coverage.

Check out Andrew’s list of upcoming appearances and other press coverage.

Brought to you by award-winning writer and director Stephen Bannon, Generation Zero is the first film in the “Tea Party Trilogy,” which also includes Fire from the Heartland and Battle for America.  Featuring financial and cultural experts, authors, and pundits, including Lou Dobbs, Lawrence Kudlow, Tobin Smith, Victor Davis Hanson, Shelby Steele, Charles Krauthammer, Dick Morris, and Newt Gingrich, Generation Zero exposes the untold story of how the mindset of the Baby Boomers sowed the seeds of economic disaster that will be reaped by coming generations. Sean Hannity did an exclusive one hour special on Generation Zero, and the documentary has received extensive media acclaim.

This month, the Obama Administration will be making decisions that will have a major impact on the future of our country and economy.  From the upcoming debt ceiling fight to a possible government shutdown, March 2011 will be a big test to see if we can restore America’s fiscal sanity.  Generation Zero will give you the perspective needed to see how we got into this financial mess in the first place and what we can do about it.  Our leaders have a chance this month to address it before the next crisis occurs, if only they will listen.

Looking at things on paper, it appeared it wouldn’t be long before Hannity would be forced to come begging and pleading for a menial position on Morgan’s staff.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the actual squaring off of Morgan’s show with Hannity’s: namely, Morgan’s guest lineup betrayed the fact that he believes the American people want to spend another hour of their night watching Hollywood elites get tossed softball questions by a host who’s consumed with reminding us he came here from across the pond.

In other words, to date, Morgan’s plan to beat Hannity includes interviews with Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, and Kim Kardashian, among others. When we consider the fact that Hannity’s offerings have included salt-of-the-earth folks like Sarah Palin and down to earth commentary from the ever-present “Great American Panel,” it’s little wonder that Morgan is getting shellacked in the ratings. (Yes, Morgan is beating MSBNC’s Rachel Maddow, but that’s no feat.)

The lesson here is the same one that Hollywood elites refuse to learn from plummeting box office ticket sales and which politicians from the ruling class are still denying in the wake of the November 2, 2010 midterm elections: the American people are as sick and tired of seeing elitists and pontificators on the big screen as they are with having them in legislative offices (and this carries over to the television we watch).

Thus, while Morgan’s fourth show drew roughly 1.03 million viewers, Hannity’s continued to draw about twice that number.

Tellingly, Morgan recently sought to steady his floundering ratings by interviewing none other than Howard Stern. I don’t know if they talked about the demented topics that usually please Stern’s fans on satellite radio, but one thing’s for certain: Morgan made a one time trade of elites for a train-wreck in hopes that the old adage is true and people wouldn’t be able to turn away.

Long story short: it didn’t work. Hannity’s substance and America-first approach to life and his art are demolishing Morgan’s pretense and esotericism as soundly as conservatives trounced liberals on November 2, 2010.

They nearly threw their backs out.

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In SNL’s opening sketch, we see the truly talented cast return to the “Tina Fey Doctrine.” This Doctrine, responsible for SNL’s dark ages, gives priority to the given political agenda du jour, while resting “comedy” firmly on the backburner. SNL decided to open with its weakest sketch in recent memory, by attacking Fox News.

Major Failure ensued.

The talented Bobby Moynahan was set to impersonate Sean Hannity. Always a gamer, with a chubby, Belushi-like charm, I was sure he’d knock it out of the park. The pretty Nasim Pedrad was slated to do Michelle Malkin. Nasim is one of the strongest female cast members to have been brought to SNL in recent years, acting as a refreshing change of pace from Kirstin Wiig’s “I’m so repetitive and annoying that it’s funny!” schtick. This was going to be epic…

…And then something happened.  As the sketch began, the key players weren’t doing impressions at all. Like unenthusiastic teenagers on their last Halloween runs, they might as well have just showed up in street clothes with a drugstore mask. When it came time to do impersonations, they didn’t even give it an effort. Even more offensively, they weren’t even trying to be funny. Not a single, genuine belly laugh to be had.  And believe me, I’m no tough audience.  Give me a couple of beers and a whoopee cushion, and I am one entertained bumble.

The sketch did serve to perfectly encapsulate what is wrong with the entertainment industry. Conservatives are always willing to give the leftist establishment’s content a look and a chuckle when it’s warranted. It becomes a problem only when the political agenda is so repetitively blatant that it sucks out any fun to be had in the first place.

Even worse, later in the episode, Anderson Cooper made a guest appearance declaring his baby blues to be a “national treasure.”  No Mr. 360, four hundred thousand viewers on a good day and dead last in your timeslot does not a national treasure make.

It should be noted, that there was one funny component to the sketch, however. Bill Hader’s hilarious impression of the ragin’ Cajun himself, James Carville. How fitting it is that when parodying an ally on the left, SNL can once again focus on the funny.  With no pre-emptive agenda to push, Bill Hader simply used his James Carville impression as a vehicle to entertain, instead of a platform to attack.

A comedy show… being entertaining?

Now there’s an idea!

Essentially, Jon Stewart’s entire disingenuous complaint and subsequent attack comes down to Palin referring to the shooter as “apoliticial” and ”perhaps even left-leaning,” a perfectly reasonable statement for the Governor to make in light of what we’ve learned about Loughner over the course of the last week. Her point is nowhere near accusatory, she’s simply pointing out the irony of it all.

But Stewart isn’t interested in being reasonable or fair. He has a president and an agenda to satisfy, he has that day’s Two Minutes of Hate to serve up to the population, and so he drops Palin’s perfectly reasonable observation into his Palace Guard Spin Machine and, to the delight of the “objective media,” removes it, polishes it with some smug mugging, and then places it on the same moral plane as those who accused her of inciting the Tucson murder.

No, really, that’s what he does. Watch it again.

Stewart’s willfully Newspeaking the word “hypocrisy.” He’s purposefully and dishonestly slipping into the narrative the objectively false notion that Palin’s reasonable assessment of Loughner’s politics is no different than her doing to the Left what the Left did to her — accusing them of inciting murder.

Stewart’s own words:

“There must be a word for complaining vociferously about a wrong being done to you whilst casually committing said wrong yourself.”

See what Big Brother did there?

That is a lie, but a beautifully crafted one.

The wrong done to Palin had nothing to do with an objective observation regarding Loughner’s political philosophy, the wrong done to Palin was in accusing her of inciting someone to commit a mass murder. Did Palin accuse the Left of inciting murder? No. But Stewart’s rhetorical spin makes it sound as though she did.

The rest of the video is typical Jon Stewart. Watch Jon Stewart freak out over political rhetoric! Watch the Left’s Dancing Smirk Bear unfairly shred a woman while denouncing the coarseness of our politics! Watch Stewart deliberately miss the point of Palin’s “they won’t shut me up” statement!

If you think about it, there really is a sinister Big Brother quality to Stewart, a man who imperiously stares down on his political rivals instructing them to “speak” in a certain way. He may not disappear you, but his threat is still a serious political one. Those not in compliance with his rules regarding political speech will face the spreading of talking points laced with satiric character assassination.

Stewart plays for keeps and because of the power he holds and his willingness to wield it ruthlesly, our political class finds him as intimidating as any member of the Thought Police.  

Well, God bless her, except for Sarah Palin.
What Stewart does in the video above is so devious and well thought out that I had to watch it a couple of times before the Matrix became visible. And you’re welcome for saving you from having to do the same.