Former home secretary appeals to Labour voters, saying the Tories have ‘most to lose from a fairer voting system’ Alan Johnson, the former home secretary and Labour grandee, has accused the coalition of hijacking the AV debate to air its “petty tensions”, after a series of high-profile clashes between ministers over next week’s referendum. Johnson told the Guardian that the debate was “bigger than the Liberal Democrats” and appealed to Labour voters to back the alternative vote, claiming that a vote against reform was in effect a vote for the Conservatives. The cabinet will meet for the first time after the Easter recess on Tuesday, with coalition relations at a new low. On Saturday, Vince Cable, the business secretary, appealed to Labour voters to back AV to end Tory domination, and on Sunday Nick Clegg accused David Cameron of being part of “a rightwing clique who want to keep things the way they are”. The row culminated with the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, suggesting he may take legal action against some of the claims made by Tories during their campaign against AV. Johnson told the Guardian: “The issue in this referendum is bigger than the Lib Dems or petty tensions in the coalition. “People don’t care who is going to sue who, but people do want a better politics and what we should be doing is debating just how AV will improve our politics. “The no camp love these squabbles because it does their job for them. What Labour voters need to ask is who wants them to vote no most. It’s the Tories. They are bankrolling the no campaign because they know they have most to lose from a fairer voting system.” Menzies Campbell, the former leader of the Lib Dems, has warned against ministers letting AV become the issue that breaks the coalition, suggesting that the Tories could be using the row to distance themselves from their government partners in order to curry favour with disgruntled backbenchers. “Perhaps they will be satisfied by the notion that David Cameron is not rolling over in front of Nick Clegg,” he told the BBC. “Remember, this is a five-year agreement in a five-year parliament. The public would find themselves, I think, pretty cynical, if after a period of 12 months or 15 months, this were all to fall apart. But more to the point, the national interest, in whose name this coalition was forged, would be deeply, deeply damaged.” But the row appears to be rumbling on. Mark Pritchard, the secretary of the Conservative 1922 committee, said: “Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne should stop their whingeing. With each of them presiding over major government departments, they’ve never had it so good. “Their personal and political sacrifices are infinitesimal compared to those made by the hundreds of public sector workers losing their jobs each week and many Conservative colleagues who gave up ministerial office for the sake of the coalition.” The Labour leadership sought to stay out of the growing row between the coalition partners – Labour MPs are divided between the yes and no camps – but a source in the leader’s office questioned whether the coalition could continue after such public displays of division. “The key issue is going to be after 5 May: how are they, as a government based on political convenience rather than principle, going to be coherent and functional having been through this,” the source said. “They are going to have to pretend that everything is hunky dory in the rose garden again.” Downing Street sources from both coalition partners said they always expected the AV campaign to become “feisty”, but insisted that they could regroup after the referendum, regardless of the result – as they had done when they formed the coalition after the acrimonious election campaign. The Electoral Commission confirmed there was no law governing claims made during referendum campaigns, meaning that Huhne’s threat of legal action is unlikely to go ahead. On Tuesday the no campaign will seek to prove its cross-party credentials when the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, takes part in telephone campaigning alongside the former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett to campaign against AV. Alternative vote Alan Johnson Electoral reform Liberal-Conservative coalition Labour Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Former home secretary appeals to Labour voters, saying the Tories have ‘most to lose from a fairer voting system’ Alan Johnson, the former home secretary and Labour grandee, has accused the coalition of hijacking the AV debate to air its “petty tensions”, after a series of high-profile clashes between ministers over next week’s referendum. Johnson told the Guardian that the debate was “bigger than the Liberal Democrats” and appealed to Labour voters to back the alternative vote, claiming that a vote against reform was in effect a vote for the Conservatives. The cabinet will meet for the first time after the Easter recess on Tuesday, with coalition relations at a new low. On Saturday, Vince Cable, the business secretary, appealed to Labour voters to back AV to end Tory domination, and on Sunday Nick Clegg accused David Cameron of being part of “a rightwing clique who want to keep things the way they are”. The row culminated with the energy secretary, Chris Huhne, suggesting he may take legal action against some of the claims made by Tories during their campaign against AV. Johnson told the Guardian: “The issue in this referendum is bigger than the Lib Dems or petty tensions in the coalition. “People don’t care who is going to sue who, but people do want a better politics and what we should be doing is debating just how AV will improve our politics. “The no camp love these squabbles because it does their job for them. What Labour voters need to ask is who wants them to vote no most. It’s the Tories. They are bankrolling the no campaign because they know they have most to lose from a fairer voting system.” Menzies Campbell, the former leader of the Lib Dems, has warned against ministers letting AV become the issue that breaks the coalition, suggesting that the Tories could be using the row to distance themselves from their government partners in order to curry favour with disgruntled backbenchers. “Perhaps they will be satisfied by the notion that David Cameron is not rolling over in front of Nick Clegg,” he told the BBC. “Remember, this is a five-year agreement in a five-year parliament. The public would find themselves, I think, pretty cynical, if after a period of 12 months or 15 months, this were all to fall apart. But more to the point, the national interest, in whose name this coalition was forged, would be deeply, deeply damaged.” But the row appears to be rumbling on. Mark Pritchard, the secretary of the Conservative 1922 committee, said: “Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne should stop their whingeing. With each of them presiding over major government departments, they’ve never had it so good. “Their personal and political sacrifices are infinitesimal compared to those made by the hundreds of public sector workers losing their jobs each week and many Conservative colleagues who gave up ministerial office for the sake of the coalition.” The Labour leadership sought to stay out of the growing row between the coalition partners – Labour MPs are divided between the yes and no camps – but a source in the leader’s office questioned whether the coalition could continue after such public displays of division. “The key issue is going to be after 5 May: how are they, as a government based on political convenience rather than principle, going to be coherent and functional having been through this,” the source said. “They are going to have to pretend that everything is hunky dory in the rose garden again.” Downing Street sources from both coalition partners said they always expected the AV campaign to become “feisty”, but insisted that they could regroup after the referendum, regardless of the result – as they had done when they formed the coalition after the acrimonious election campaign. The Electoral Commission confirmed there was no law governing claims made during referendum campaigns, meaning that Huhne’s threat of legal action is unlikely to go ahead. On Tuesday the no campaign will seek to prove its cross-party credentials when the culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, takes part in telephone campaigning alongside the former foreign secretary Margaret Beckett to campaign against AV. Alternative vote Alan Johnson Electoral reform Liberal-Conservative coalition Labour Polly Curtis guardian.co.uk
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The sister of a Maine woman whose infant daughter was found in a car in New Hampshire says she believes her sister persuaded the person who forced her from her vehicle to leave the child behind. (April 25)
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The sister of a Maine woman whose infant daughter was found in a car in New Hampshire says she believes her sister persuaded the person who forced her from her vehicle to leave the child behind. (April 25)
Continue reading …Miraculously, no one was killed by the Friday night tornado that ripped through the St. Louis airport . But that doesn’t make the experience, captured by security cameras and reported by KMOX , any less terrifying. (Hat tip to Gawker for the find.) How is it that—even though 2,700…
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‘Rio’ maintains its nest atop the box office, royal wedding guest list announced and Emma Watson to leave Brown. (April 25)
Continue reading …‘Rio’ maintains its nest atop the box office, royal wedding guest list announced and Emma Watson to leave Brown. (April 25)
Continue reading …Fox News Gives Frank Luntz A Full Hour To Sell Fear and Loathing of Government
April 25, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Until about 2 months ago I never, ever watched Fox News. Never. What little I knew about them came from the clips here on C&L in posts (I’ve been a C&L reader since 2005). I knew they were horrible because of those clips. But a few months ago I decided the time had come to face the Fox beast head-on and really see if it was as bad as I thought it was. I discovered it was worse. And the Frank Luntz/Sean Hannity special on the “real voters of America” has to be one of the worst examples of it. In this Hannity propaganda piece special, they claim to have compiled an audience of voters who are a blend of Obama voters and conservatives. They’re careful to note that they’re Obama voters, not Obama supporters. There is a difference. Assume the audience is a group of ultra-conservatives, conservatives, and conservative independents who crossed over to vote for Obama. The premise is to deal with why people hate government, feel disconnected, have no confidence in Congress. The true goal, in my opinion, was to reinforce why people hate government. To bring on Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan and their insane plans for this country under the pretense of understanding voter anger is absurd. To bring on 18 tea party freshmen Congressmen just makes them bigger lying liars than they already are. And to cap it off with Jeb Hensarling and Rob Andrews just proves that it’s not about any sincere effort to bring “government and the people” together. It’s about giving Republicans free air time to sell their odious plans with Frank Luntz guiding the discussion with handheld meters of approval or disapproval. Suffice it to say, whenever a Republican opened his or her mouth, the HappyMeter went up to 100%. If a casual viewer were to flip through channels and land on this special, they’d think that every American on the planet stays awake at night wondering how their precious little babies will pay off the national debt, that there’s only one party in Congress, and there are no alternatives other than to lower taxes on the rich and end Medicare and the entire social contract which has worked so well up till now. Which is, of course, exactly what these evil men want people to think. I don’t often call people evil, but what is going on right now in the media at the hands of Fox News is evil. Pure, bold, propaganda. Click here to view this media I have one final clip for you. In this one, they play a commercial which ran in Wisconsin, sponsored by unions. In particular, watch the reaction lines, which start out quite low and rise. Predictably, Democrats approve of it and Republicans disapprove. But when the audience is asked to react, there isn’t one Democrat speaking. Only conservatives who loathe — abhor — unions. There isn’t enough hyperbole in the English language to express how dishonest this segment is. It isn’t until one audience member speaks up and says he’s a teacher and resents the suggestion that he doesn’t work hard that any “liberal” voice is heard. Luntz sums up this segment by saying he understands why Wisconsin looks and sounds like it does. Oh really? Because I really don’t think his understanding and mine come even close to being the same. Here’s what I really want to know. Of the most vocal tea party members in the audience like the woman in this union segment who practically spits venom when she talks, how many of them are high-level operatives and how many are just “ordinary citizens”? I’m betting they might have “forgotten” to disclose that information. The show concludes with Luntz claiming a Citizens United ad run back in January against deficit spending is universally popular with his “bipartisan audience.” And just for good measure, he points to paintings of Lincoln and Reagan as evidence that our country has been far more divided than it is right now. There appears to be no bottom low enough for them to scrape.
Continue reading …Fox News Gives Frank Luntz A Full Hour To Sell Fear and Loathing of Government
April 25, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Until about 2 months ago I never, ever watched Fox News. Never. What little I knew about them came from the clips here on C&L in posts (I’ve been a C&L reader since 2005). I knew they were horrible because of those clips. But a few months ago I decided the time had come to face the Fox beast head-on and really see if it was as bad as I thought it was. I discovered it was worse. And the Frank Luntz/Sean Hannity special on the “real voters of America” has to be one of the worst examples of it. In this Hannity propaganda piece special, they claim to have compiled an audience of voters who are a blend of Obama voters and conservatives. They’re careful to note that they’re Obama voters, not Obama supporters. There is a difference. Assume the audience is a group of ultra-conservatives, conservatives, and conservative independents who crossed over to vote for Obama. The premise is to deal with why people hate government, feel disconnected, have no confidence in Congress. The true goal, in my opinion, was to reinforce why people hate government. To bring on Eric Cantor and Paul Ryan and their insane plans for this country under the pretense of understanding voter anger is absurd. To bring on 18 tea party freshmen Congressmen just makes them bigger lying liars than they already are. And to cap it off with Jeb Hensarling and Rob Andrews just proves that it’s not about any sincere effort to bring “government and the people” together. It’s about giving Republicans free air time to sell their odious plans with Frank Luntz guiding the discussion with handheld meters of approval or disapproval. Suffice it to say, whenever a Republican opened his or her mouth, the HappyMeter went up to 100%. If a casual viewer were to flip through channels and land on this special, they’d think that every American on the planet stays awake at night wondering how their precious little babies will pay off the national debt, that there’s only one party in Congress, and there are no alternatives other than to lower taxes on the rich and end Medicare and the entire social contract which has worked so well up till now. Which is, of course, exactly what these evil men want people to think. I don’t often call people evil, but what is going on right now in the media at the hands of Fox News is evil. Pure, bold, propaganda. Click here to view this media I have one final clip for you. In this one, they play a commercial which ran in Wisconsin, sponsored by unions. In particular, watch the reaction lines, which start out quite low and rise. Predictably, Democrats approve of it and Republicans disapprove. But when the audience is asked to react, there isn’t one Democrat speaking. Only conservatives who loathe — abhor — unions. There isn’t enough hyperbole in the English language to express how dishonest this segment is. It isn’t until one audience member speaks up and says he’s a teacher and resents the suggestion that he doesn’t work hard that any “liberal” voice is heard. Luntz sums up this segment by saying he understands why Wisconsin looks and sounds like it does. Oh really? Because I really don’t think his understanding and mine come even close to being the same. Here’s what I really want to know. Of the most vocal tea party members in the audience like the woman in this union segment who practically spits venom when she talks, how many of them are high-level operatives and how many are just “ordinary citizens”? I’m betting they might have “forgotten” to disclose that information. The show concludes with Luntz claiming a Citizens United ad run back in January against deficit spending is universally popular with his “bipartisan audience.” And just for good measure, he points to paintings of Lincoln and Reagan as evidence that our country has been far more divided than it is right now. There appears to be no bottom low enough for them to scrape.
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Katie Couric will finally announce that she is leaving the “CBS Evening News” this week, the New York Times reports. Couric’s departure from the anchor chair has been all but official, as network executives and Couric herself have not been shy about dropping hints of a transition. “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley is widely believed to be the choice to replace her. The Times says that Couric will make her announcement before she flies to London for the royal wedding. If Couric announces her departure this week, it would put an end to months of speculation and reports about her future with CBS—as well as to the constant questions Couric has had to deflect about her next move, whether from David Letterman, Barbara Walters or Matt Lauer. One thing is still not certain: where Couric will go next. She has admitted that she is looking seriously at launching her own syndicated talk show, and has been fielding many offers from different companies. But she has not said which company she will choose, or given any real details about what a talk show would look like.
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