GOP vs. NPR

Republican lawmakers in the House want to pull all funding for the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which provides grants to NPR and PBS stations and serves as seed money for stations to raise money from listeners. This isn't the first time the GOP has gone after public broadcasting; this latest effort was spurred by the firing of NPR analyst Juan Williams over comments he made on Fox News.

On today's "To The Point," a discussion about what would happen if public broadcasting the loses the money, and a debate over whether the networks offer a valuable services, or biased news. Guests are Paul Farhi of the Washington Post; Laura Walker, president of New York Public Radio; Laurence Jarvik, author of "PBS: Behind the Screen"; James Rainey, media columnist at the Los Angeles Times, and Adam Thierer of the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. A link to the program, which was produced by Katie Cooper, is here.

The Twitter battle for the Right

Andrew Sullivan posted these tweets over at the Daily Dish. I've stolen them.

David Frum, for those who don't know the name, publishes the Frum Forum and is a former advisor to President George W. Bush, and a conservative reformer. Sarah Palin, I assume, needs no introduction.

Symbolic NPR vote fails, symbolism succeeds*

Republicans in the House of Representatives rushed their first big vote of the lame-duck session: An effort to cut funds to NPR over a recent decision to fire Juan Williams for his remarks about Muslims on the Bill O'Reilly show. The effort failed, as the New York Times reports.

Indeed, the vote was symbolic. Had Republicans really wanted to cut NPR they would have waited until January, when they will have the majority and will be able to get partisan legislation passed. Instead, GOP leaders determined that it would be better to throw some early red meat to their most conservative constituents, force Democrats to side with spending taxpayer money on the "liberal media," and avoid an early partisan fight that would paint Republicans as more interested in revenging a Fox New employee than in doing the public's business.

(Note: I am a producer at an NPR-affiliated station, KCRW, though I don't work for NPR.)

*Update: And speaking of Fox News, chairman Roger Ailes compared NPR executives to Nazis because the firing of Juan Williams brought the Holocaust to mind. Ailes later apologized, saying he was "angry" and chose the wrong word.

Here's his angry ad-lib:

“They are, of course, Nazis. They have a kind of Nazi attitude. They are the left wing of Nazism. These guys don’t want any other point of view. They don’t even feel guilty using tax dollars to spout their propaganda. They are basically Air America with government funding to keep them alive.”

California's center-left looking center-right

A new Field Poll has former eBay executive and Republican gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman far ahead of her primary challenger, Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner.

This comes as no surprise.

What does is the news that Whitman edges out Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown, who had until recently been seen as the overwhelming favorite going into November.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Whitman ... overtook Brown in a possible general election matchup, winning the support of 46 percent of likely voters compared with Brown's 43 percent, the poll found. Brown had led Whitman by 10 percentage points in the January poll and by 21 points in October.

Apparently, independent voters are leaning conservative in this election, which means Brown will have to step up his campaign earlier than he might have otherwise.

Trying to recall

Richard Mountjoy and nine others have launched a recall campaign against Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Claremont, the Sacramento Bee reports. Mountjoy, who's served in the Assembly ('78-'95) and state Senate ('95-'00) and whose son, Dennis, served in the Assembly, said he'll run for the seat if Adams is knocked out of office.

The internecine battle is rooted in Adams' vote for a budget bill in February that included taxes. Former GOP chairman Mike Schroeder and Atlas PAC head Lee Lowery, both of Orange County, are said to be the real power behind the campaign. Here's how Adams responded:

"The petition you hold is the creation of two very wealthy Orange County men who care less about our community and more about their own political ambitions. They want us to pay $900,000 in our hard earned tax dollars to pay for another election and their partisan political games...because Adams stood with taxpayers and working families and against their reckless agenda."

(That's Mountjoy up top, Adams below)

Monday links

A California GOP official wants to censure any Republican legislator who agrees to balance the budget through tax increases.

Alan Mutter explains why newspapers can't quit print yet (even the online juggernaut Politico relies on a printed paper to bolster revenue). Bill Keller, executive editor of the New York Times, agrees about print, and has more to say about newspapers here.

The managing editor of the Desert Sun of Palm Springs winds up shirtless along the highway.

Less is more colorful at the San Francisco Chronicle.

Eclectic surf

And a salami shall light their way ... Being your own big brother ... Death in the downturn ... GOP unbalanced ... Race in the storm ... Madoff in the mirror

Shorties

Pin the tale on Obama

The Four Apartments of Charlie Rangel

McCain and Nancy

LA Times LA Observed

Rebuilding the right, blog by blog

Smack on the Fannie

So long, Tom

The National Journal reports that Tom Tancredo has dropped out of the Republican presidential primary contest.

That's too bad. The Colorado Congressman embodies the ugliest instincts of the GOP. He is a monster and his being around reminded the others, especially John McCain, to try to act human.

Tancredo throws his margin-of-error support to Mitt Romney, the NJ reports.