Cable News Ratings for Friday, February 22, 2013

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1. Doug

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 1:28 PM

   Is it just me, or have Starting Point’s ratings ticked up (especially in the demo) over the past 2-3 weeks?

2. mary

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 1:28 PM

   Morning Joe beat by CNN. People are getting sick of that rhino I used to watch him but can’t stand him now

3. Ratboy

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 1:52 PM

   Anyone Suprised?

   Obama using fake Twitter messages in fight over gun control

   A Texas Republican on Monday said President Obama’s gun control campaign is a fraud based on fake messages over Twitter.

   Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Texas) accused Obama of trying to make support for his position look stronger than it really is by flooding Twitter with messages from people who don’t exist.

   “Obama’s anti-gun campaign is a fraud,” Stockman said. “Obama’s supporters are panicking and willing to do anything to create the appearance of popular support, even if it means trying to defraud Congress,” he added. “I call upon the president to denounce this phony spam campaign.”

   Stockman said that in response to Obama’s call for people to tweet their congressman in support of gun control legislation, he received just 16 tweets. But he said all of these messages were identical, and that a closer look at them revealed that only six were from real people.

   “The other 10 are fake, computer-generated spambots,” his office said in a press release. As evidence, he said these 10 tweets use default graphics and names, and have not engaged in any interaction with other people. Two of the tweets were sent at nearly the same time, and both follow just one person: Brad Schenck, Obama’s former digital strategist.

   Stockman also added that only one of the six tweets from real people is a constituent of his in Texas.

   “If you are a real person who contacted us about your support for the president’s anti-gun campaign, we are listening,” Stockman said. “We do not agree with you, but we appreciate your sincere opinions and encourage you to continue to contact us.

   “But the vast majority of the president’s supporters have no feelings because they fake profiles from spammers.”

   Stockman said Obama’s anti-gun activists “are trying to defraud Congress using the same scam that sells ‘male enhancement pills.’”

4. lbsles

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:13 PM

   ‘By All Means, Leave’: The Amazingly Blunt Response One State Rep. Gave a Citizen Who Wrote Him Opposing Concealed Carry in Schools

   Get out of here.

   That was one Wyoming state representative’s message to a resident who contacted him recently stating her opposition to a bill that would have allowed people with concealed carry permits to carry guns in public schools, colleges and sporting events.

   Rev. Audette Fulbright had emailed all state legislators, including Republican Rep. Hans Hunt, earlier this month to say she and her husband had just moved to Wyoming and were “seriously reconsidering” their decision amid the proposed expansion of gun laws.

   “Ample evidence has shown that schools and guns do not mix, and in particular, guns in the hands of amateurs/non-professionals is extremely dangerous, especially in any highly-charged situation,” Fulbright wrote. “To expose our children to greater risk in their schools by encouraging more guns on campuses is something that we cannot allow.”

   Fulbright also said she was concerned about “the profoundly serious dangers of fracking” and said the question of whether to leave was “wrenching to all of us.”

   “I know of other new-to-Wyoming families in similar contemplation. Your choices matter. It would be sad to see an exodus of educated, childrearing age adults from Wyoming as a result of poor lawmaking,” she wrote.

   Hunt’s response? “By all means, leave.”

   “I’ll be blunt,” he wrote back. “If you don’t like the political atmosphere of Wyoming, then by all means, leave. We, who have been here a very long time (I am proudly 4th generation) are quite proud of our independent heritage.”

5. lbsles

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:16 PM

   ‘Berettas Don’t Bluff’: Major Gun Company Threatens to Leave Maryland Over New Gun Control Proposals

   Beretta USA is threatening to leave Maryland over new gun control proposals, the Washington Post reports, and they would take hundreds of jobs along with them.

   “Why expand in a place where the people who built the gun couldn’t buy it?” Jeffrey Reh, general counsel for Beretta, asked.

   The Washington Post explains:

   Beretta, the nearly 500-year-old family-owned company that made one of James Bond’s firearms, has already invested more than $1 million in the [civilian version of a machine gun designed for special operations forces] and has planned to expand its plant further in Prince George’s County to ramp up production.

   But under an assault-weapons ban that advanced late last week in the Maryland General Assembly, experts say the gun would be illegal in the state where it is produced.

   Now Beretta is weighing whether the rifle line, and perhaps the company itself, should stay in a place increasingly hostile toward its products. Its iconic 9mm pistol — carried by every U.S. soldier and scores of police departments — would also be banned with its high capacity, 13-bullet magazine.

   [...]

   In testimony this month in Annapolis, Reh, who oversees the plant, warned lawmakers to consider carefully the company’s future. Reh pointed to the last time Maryland ratcheted up gun restrictions in the 1990s: Beretta responded by moving its warehouse operation to Virginia.

   “I think they thought we were bluffing” in the 1990s, Reh said. “But Berettas don’t bluff.” ?[Emphasis added]

   Lawmakers are justifiably concerned that Beretta– which won a contract in 1985 to produce the standard sidearm for all U.S. military personnel and has shipped more than half a million guns to the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines, according to the Washington Post– will leave its well-known home in Maryland.

   “I think they’re going to move,” Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert) commented. “They sell guns across the world and in every state in the union — to places a lot more friendly to the company than this state.”

6. Stan T.

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:19 PM

   I just heard CNN say no one cares who’s idea sequestration was, or who moved the goal posts….well, CNN would have cared if it were the Republicans instead of Obama….just saying…

7. lbsles

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:19 PM

   What’s the White House Doing Now That Has an NBC News Journalist Shocked?: ‘This Just Looks Bad’

   Another random act of good journalism.

   President Obama’s 2012 campaign manager Jim Messina in January became the national chairman of Organizing for Action (OFA), a group closely affiliated” with “insider liberal organizations” funded by the likes of billionaire philanthropist George Soros, TheBlaze reported.

   And considering the fact that Messina is the president’s former campaign manager, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that his group would have access — and the ability to offer access — to the White House.

   Well, let’s back up for a second. It shouldn’t be that big of a surprise — but for some in traditional media, it’s a bit unnerving.

   Citing a recent New York Times report that claims OFA is offering donors access to the President Obama, MSNBC’s Chuck Todd sounded both surprised and disappointed Monday morning.

   “Excuse us? This just looks bad,” Todd said, adding that the president is “ceding the moral high ground.”

   He continued, noting the president’s history of decrying the influence of money in politics.

   “This is how a bad system gets worse,” Todd added. “I wonder what candidate Obama would say about this.”

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ngyckoSYu0&feature=player_embedded#t=0s

8. lbsles

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:21 PM

   People with $7K Worth of Food Stamps? The State Where This Is Happening Might Surprise You

   http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MrTEy_uQRRY#t=0s

9. lbsles

   Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:23 PM

   C. Everett Koop, ex-surgeon general, dies in NH

   C. Everett Koop, who raised the profile of the surgeon general by riveting America’s attention on the then-emerging disease known as AIDS and by railing against smoking, has died in New Hampshire at age 96.

   An assistant at Koop’s Dartmouth institute, Susan Wills, said he died Monday in Hanover, where he had a home. She didn’t disclose his cause of death.

10. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:29 PM

    Gaining Momentum: Now 44 Gun Companies Have Stopped Selling to Law Enforcement In Anti-2nd Amendment States

    Feb. 23, 2013 8:50am Mike Opelka

    The list of companies that have stopped selling firearms and ammunition to law enforcement agencies in states that are restricting the Second Amendment has more than doubled since Wednesday and is more than five times larger than just one week ago. There are 44 companies on our list, with more being added as we receive notification. Here are the additions since Wednesday:

    •Barrett Firearms
    •Exile Machine
    •Tier One Arms
    •Bravo Company USA
    •Primary Weapons Systems
    •Crusader Weaponry
    •Top Gun Supply
    •Kiss Tactical
    •Clark Fork Tactical
    •OFA Tactical
    •One Source Tactical
    •Templar Tactical Arms
    •NEMO Arms
    •Old Grouch’s Military Surplus
    •Big Horn Armory
    •Midway USA
    •CMMG Inc
    •Rocky Top Tactical
    •Badger Peak
    •Controlled Chaos Arms
    •SRT Arms
    •Norton Firearms
    •Citizen Arms
    •Evolution Weaponry
    •Doublestar Corp
    •JCW Industries
    •Huntertown Arms

    http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/02/23/gaining-momentum-now-42-gun-companies-have-stopped-selling-to-law-enforcement-in-anti-2nd-amendment-states/

11. Letmethink

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:34 PM

    Wow Early Start/Starting Point beat Morning Joe. Is Solidad OBrien gone yet?

12. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:35 PM

    obumbles lying again

    Obama warns sequestration cuts will hurt non-existent federal department

    Feb. 25, 2013 5:02pm Meredith Jessup

    If you have been following the debate over sequestration at all, you’re likely familiar with President Obama’s extreme scare campaign, warning that homes will burn and children will starve — you know, all while the country’s wealthiest giggle over champagne and caviar. Among these, the president has also used a report from the Office of Management and Budget — a report that warns the National Drug Intelligence Center could lose $2 million from its $20 million budget.

    There’s just one problem: the NDIC doesn’t exist anymore. As Reason’s Matt Riggs points out, this federal agency shuttered its doors last June.

    “Might there be other errors in the OMB’s report?” Riggs wonders.

    .

13. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:36 PM

    Brace yourselves for higher medical insurance costs that will hit young and old alike as a result of President Obama’s nationalized health care mandates.

    Younger, healthier people, many of whom voted for Mr. Obama in droves, will see their insurance premiums climb sharply as Obamacare demands that insurers provide them with more medical coverage than they want or need.

    Older Americans and retirees already are seeing a steep rise in their insurance bills, too. Businesses great and small are either curtailing their employee health care plans or dropping them entirely in anticipation of rising costs.

14. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:38 PM

    In 2012, late-night talk host Jimmy Kimmel used Oscar night to reflect on the many genres of films and diversity of characters that make movies so entertaining. In a flash of brilliance, he compiled them all into one dramatic and comedic romantic action thriller, “Movie: The Movie.”

    This year, he’s worked his magic again, following last year’s roaring YouTube success with an epic sequel, “Movie: The Movie, 2V” — a masterpiece that truly rivals any of this year’s Academy Award nominees.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ICMOybwDFN0#t=0s

15. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    Good news here

    Forget threats of furloughed workers or reduced security at embassies.

    Here’s what might be the most powerful incentive yet for members of Congress to come up with a deal to avert the sequester: the head of the Air Force today warned that the spending cuts that will go into effect March 1 could cause the military to eliminate those lovely miljet flights that lawmakers enjoy.

    Members of Congress adore flying on Air Force jets, particularly for overseas trips — there are no security lines, check-in is a breeze, the service couldn’t be better, and it’s business class-only.

    But if the government-wide cuts aren’t thwarted and the military has to pinch pennies, lawmakers might have to kiss those perks goodbye, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told the crowd at the Air Force Association’s winter conference in Orlando, Fla., we’re told.

16. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:41 PM

    Re: Michelle Obama at the Oscars
    Feb. 25, 2013 10:04am Meredith Jessup

    50003Full disclosure: I pride myself on the fact that I didn’t watch the Oscars last night. In general, I feel no need to watch celebrities in Hollywood get all dressed up to celebrate and honor… themselves. What a cause.

    That said, I’ve seen the news clips of first lady Michelle Obama’s cameo and commentary about her wardrobe, so I feel like I’m all up-to-speed. I tend to agree with WaPo’s Jennifer Rubin who doesn’t complain that Obama “hijacked” or “crashed” the show, but rather points out how weird and unnecessary it was:

    It is not enough that President Obama pops up at every sporting event in the nation. Now the first lady feels entitled, with military personnel as props, to intrude on other forms of entertaining (this time for the benefit of the Hollywood glitterati who so lavishly paid for her husband’s election). I’m sure the left will holler that once again conservatives are being grouchy and have it in for the Obamas. Seriously, if they really had their president’s interests at heart, they’d steer away from encouraging these celebrity appearances. It makes both the president and the first lady seem small and grasping. In this case, it was just downright weird.

    No one, it seems, gets within a mile of the White House with any sense of restraint. No one there would dare suggest nearly half the country didn’t vote for him and doesn’t much like him and might want to be left to their small daily pleasures. (Greta Garbo said it best.) And no one there is apt to explain that the White House, the military and the first lady (not this one in particular) are institutions bigger than the Obamas and their e-mail list.

    Still, it would have been grand if the lefty-maligned “Zero Dark Thirty” (which showed the nasty interrogation techniques her husband deplored) had won Best Picture. Unfortunately, that sort of perfect karma happens only in the movies.

17. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:43 PM

    US has 13m more people since 2007 — and 3.2m fewer jobs

18. RedBarSoup

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:43 PM

    Gotta love mindless sheep like lbsles who makes us Americans look so smart!

19. usa8888

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:44 PM

    This just in: Michael Steel, former RNC Chairman, says La Pierre’s lack of logic regarding backgroud checks, is absurd and not the thinking of NRA members. He says La Pierre just wants to put more blood money in his pocket from the gun mfrs. Wayne was all for background checks 10 years ago and no is 100% against them. Why? Nobody Knows

20. lbsles

    Posted February 25, 2013 at 2:46 PM

    New NRA ad mocks Joe Biden’s gun advice

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7icttUa9GU&feature=player_embedded&list=PL7D5C264552294B54