Weeks ago, Jesse Jackson accused GOP presidential candidate of "name calling" for referring to President Barack Obama as the "best food-stamp president in American history."  But last Saturday morning at his Rainbow PUSH forum, broadcast nationally on the Word Network, Jackson appears to have decided that being characterized that way isn't so bad after all.

As he often does, Jackson directed (video here) the audience to repeat his words of wisdom on the subject:

Say, it's an honor to be a food stamp president.  Food stamps feed the hungry.  Food stamps save the children.  Food stamps help the farmer. Food stamps help the truck driver.  Food stamps help the warehouse.  Food stamps help the store.  Food stamps hire people and feed people.  Food stamps save people from starvation and malnutrition.  Whenever you attack feeding the hungry, you undermine the moral authority of our faith.  Give President Barack Obama a big hand.  Show your love.  Show your appreciation.

So is what Gingrich called Obama an insult or a plaudit?  It's unlikely the mainstream media will ask Jackson the question or if he truly believes it's an honor for a president to oversee the addition of more than 10 million people to the food stamp rolls.  The sensitive souls who report our news loathe ever putting the Most Reverend Jackson on the spot.

Yesterday, NewsBuster Kyle Drennen detailed how NBC Today co-host Ann Curry fretted about the latest Kennedy scandal's impact on Caroline Kennedy.  "What about Caroline, who is still alive? " she asked John F. Kennedy mistress Mimi Alford.

Last night on Fox Chicago News, anchor Bob Sirott picked up on the same theme in his "One More Thing" opinion segment:

I wonder if she (Alford) feels guilty now about how President Kennedy's only living child Caroline might feel about her story?

Just a guess, but I imagine the daughter, now older than her father was when he died, didn't go into a state of shock.  Yet the mainstream media worry about her as though she were a teenager, like Alford was when the 45-year-old Kennedy took her virginity. 

 Sirott ended with:

So what does this do, if anything, to the Kennedy legacy? I agree with historian Doris Kearns Goodwin who says we have already factored in the idea there were other women in JFK's life, and after absorbing these stories it hasn't changed the fundamental liking the American people have for his memory.

I do wonder what Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Clinton are thinking about all this -- don't you?

Perhaps many have "factored in the idea there were other women" for Kennedy, but did they factor in a teenager?  Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and Bill Clinton shouldn't even be mentioned in the same context.  They've never been accused of jetting women in for their satisfaction.  Of directing girls to have sex with other men while they watched.   Of forcing a woman to inhale a sex drug.

Instead of worrying about how Caroline will take the "news," those in the mainstream media should ponder why it's taken decades - in this case close to half a century - for them to disclose what a shallow lout John F. Kennedy was.  If he hadn't been a liberal hero, it wouldn't have taken nearly so long.

It was a routine Saturday morning at Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH forum, broadcast nationally on the Word Network.  He was all over the map.  Jackson trashed Ronald Reagan, Barry Goldwater, Newt Gingrich, and Mitt Romney.  He warned that enterprises such as black funeral homes and black insurance companies are “under attack.”  He condemned a proposed change in Grammy Award classifications.  Jackson also spoke out against Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer, who, he said, “did the ultimate insult.  She put her finger in his (President Barack Obama) face.”  Jackson wants people to call and complain (video here):

Also, while it’s on my mind, Gov. Janice K. Brewer, the finger person.  Gov. Janice K. Brewer, who gave President Obama the finger, governor of Arizona, call 1 800 253 0883.  Keep that line real busy.  1 800 253 0883.  We’ll give you the number later a little later today and this week on the email number of her press secretary.  We want to keep Arizona. . . until she can put her hands in her pocket and have some good. . . do you know how insulting it is to put your finger in somebody’s face?  Try it with the cameras rolling, she knew the cameras.  She knew what she was doing.  She was telling him off.  She was cutting him down to his size.  She must never get away with that.  Even George Wallace did not put his finger in Dr. King’s face.  Say, enough is enough.

Being the pious, innocent, saintly man he is, perhaps the Most Rev. Jackson deserves a pass.  Maybe he doesn’t actually know the difference between giving someone the finger and waving one’s finger in another person’s face.   But does he really consider the latter to be “the ultimate insult”?  For a man who’s referred to Jews as “Hymies,” said in the last campaign that “Barack’s been talking down to black people” and that he would like to cut Obama's testicles out, and admitted to, as a young waiter, having spit into the food of white customers he didn’t like, Jackson has a remarkable notion of what comprises the ultimate insult.

Naturally, Jackson’s blunder will be ignored by the mainstream media.  He’s always given a pass.  But the very next time “the black view” is needed on a story, he’ll be front and center and ready for his close-up.  

On the Chicago Tribune's Web site today, columnist Clarence Page writes of "The umbrage card trick."  Page lights into GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich for assorted misdeeds, one of which is calling Barack Obama a "food stamp president":

Yet Gingrich's food stamp claim is misleading on several counts. For one, food stamp recipients increased during seven of President George W. Bush's eight years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The growth came largely because of policy changes that encouraged more participation by eligible Americans. But Gingrich is not about to let details get in the way of a chance to sound offended.

Page asserts Gingrich misleads "on several counts," but then doesn't cite them.  The food stamp program, now known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, is administered by the Department of Agriculture.  According to its figures, average food stamp participation during the Bush administration was 17 million in 2001 and increased to 28 million in his last full year as president.  That's certainly nothing to brag about.  But during Obama's three years in office, that number skyrocketed to 44 million by last year and was more than 46 million last October.

So how is Gingrich misleading on food stamps?  He's not.  The awkward truth that Page and other liberals are loathe to admit is that Barack Obama is the food stamp president.  After three years and trillions of dollars spent on his failed recovery schemes, the economy remains in shambles.

On yesterday's CNN Saturday Morning News, business correspondent Alison Kosik reported on Verizon Wireless's reversal of a day-old plan to charge some customers a $2 bill-paying fee.  Citing recent about-faces by Bank of America and Netflix,
Kosik concluded:

Now, there's no direct connection here, but I can't help but believe that the outrage that we witnessed in the Occupy movement around the country has encouraged consumers to band together and protest what they see as unfair.

The Verizon Wireless fee fight is another example of the growing power of U.S. consumers, especially when they take their case to the internet.

Like others in the mainstream media, Kosik seems determined to credit the Occupy movement with some positive accomplishment regardless of reality.  Forget all the crimes, disturbances, threats, and associated costs emanating from the
malcontents with no discernable agenda other than taking someone else's money.  Their motives are pure and, although the media can't identify a direct connection between their often contemptible behavior and consumer empowerment,
people like Kosik will say she believes there is one.

Guess what, Alison?  Consumers hold the upper hand in a free market.  It's been that way for years.  Look at what happened to the Ford Edsel in the 50s, Studebakers in the 60s, Betamax in the 70s, New Coke in the 80s, the McDonalds Arch Deluxe in the 90s, and HD DVDs in the last decade.

They're not around anymore - except perhaps on eBay - and the reason is consumers didn't like them.  The Internet is, as Kosik contends, playing a role.  Through Twitter and blogs and on-line petitions, feedback is relayed much more quickly to businesses.

Linking the outrage of Occupy's hapless wretches to increased consumer power is more than a stretch, though.  Even for
CNN.                  

There's good economic news today, at least for those who only scan headlines.  On USA Today's Web site, the headline is "Weekly jobless claims at lowest level in over 3 years."  Oh, happy day!  The president's stimulus is finally working.  But if you read the Associated Press story under the headline, the news isn't quite so sanguine:

The number of people seeking unemployment benefits rose last week after three straight weeks of declines to a level consistent with a modest pick-up in hiring.

That broader trend of jobless claims over the past month boltsters (sic) the view that job growth could pick up in 2012.

Weekly applications increased by 15,000 to a seasonally adjusted 381,000 the week ended Dec. 24, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The four-week average, a less volatile measure, dropped for the fourth straight week to 375,000. That's the lowest level since June 2008, before the financial and housing markets meltdown that precipitated a recession.

So contrary to what's suggested by the headline, last week's jobless claims weren't at the lowest level in over three years.  The four-week average, "a less volatile measure," is.  Last week, more people filed claims than the week before.

In fact, the Department of Labor reported that for the week ending December 24, the non-seasonally adjusted number of
initial jobless claims shot up by more than 69,000.

But why let that interfere with a great headline?

On yesterday's Rainbow PUSH Saturday Morning Forum, broadcast nationally on the Word Network, Jesse Jackson spoke of Christmas.  The activist, 1984 and 1988 Democratic presidential candidate, and former Clinton spiritual adviser told
(video here) of "non-Christian" merchants who "use Jesus to lure you in to Santa Claus's birthday party."  Here's what he said:

"This (Christmas) is a holy day for the poor, not a holiday for the merchants.  I once heard some people that I know say that when Christmas Eve is over, they have midnight services in the back of their shops.  These were non-Christian people I was, they say we, say every December 24th around midnight we have, we close our shops and we're not Christian but we start singing "What a
Friend We Have in Jesus." We use Jesus to lure you into Santa Claus's birthday party and unless you have the holiday spirit, which is his songs, his wine, and his stuff you're not welcome at the party of the man whose party it is.  This is, Christmas should be a poor people's holy day."

He then went on to say that Jesus was "born under the cloud of who is his Daddy?"

If Pat Robertson or any other former GOP presidential candidate had said something along these lines, you can bet it would have received considerable press coverage.  But this is Jesse Jackson, self-styled spokesman for the downtrodden and Leftist hero.  So he gets a pass from the mainstream media.

Christmas had been of particular interest to Jackson for many years.  In 1969, he announced his second "Black Christmas" boycott of white merchants.  According to the Chicago Tribune at the time, Jackson claimed his initiative would include "a parade and the appearance in Negro areas, hospitals, and jails of 'Soul Saint,' a black Santa Claus."

In their 1985 book "Jesse Jackson and the Politics of Race," authors Thomas Landess and Richard Quinn write of the Soul Saint "who, according to Jackson, came from the South Pole rather than the North Pole and lingered along the equator sufficiently to take up wearing a dashiki of black, with yellow, red and green trimmings — the colors of the flag of Ghana. Henceforth, the Soul Saint would preside over the season of Christmas, a black figure whose gifts were not toys or sugar plums but 'love, justice, peace, and power.'"

Who wants an iPhone as a gift when you can have love, justice, peace, and power instead?  Plus, you don't have to give your money to those non-Christian merchants who close their shops at midnight on Christmas Eve after a rough season of using Jesus to lure you into Santa Claus's birthday party.  Sounds like a win-win for the Rev.  But don't expect to see a story about it on network or cable news anytime soon. 

This morning the Chicago Tribune carries an Associated Press story headlined "Racine alderman is charged assaulting woman." The piece begins:

A Racine alderman has been charged with assaulting a woman  who worked for him.

Keith Fair was charged Monday with strangulation and suffocation, misdemeanor battery and disorderly conduct.

The woman and the 59-year-old alderman are in a relationship and she is employed by him as a
private investigator and a bartender, according to a criminal complaint.

He was driving her home early Friday when the two argued and  she pushed Fair's face, according to the complaint. Fair then grabbed her by the throat and began to punch her while squeezing her throat, according to the woman, who is pregnant.

Fair is - surprise, surprise - a Democrat, one who worked to elect Barack Obama president.  Sometimes, party affiliation
isn't worth reporting.  As we've seen time and again.

On the Chicago Tribune's Web site today appears Breaking News with the headline "Corruption sentencing delayed for Rezko, fundraiser for Blagojevich."  Tony Rezko, convicted on corruption charges, did indeed raise money for former Gov.
Rod Blagojevich (D-IL).  More significantly, however, he also raised many dollars for President Barack Obama in Obama's earlier political contests.

From a March 15, 2008 Tribune article:

Trying to put his past with Antoin "Tony" Rezko behind him, presidential candidate Barack Obama on Friday said he never thought the now indicted Chicago businessman would try to take advantage of him because his old
friend had never asked for a political favor.

But in a 90-minute interview with Tribune reporters and editors, Obama disclosed that Rezko had raised more for Obama's earlier political campaigns than previously known, gathering as much as $250,000 for the first three offices he sought.

In a November, 2008 telephone call with his chief-of-staff that was recorded by the FBI, Blagojevich expressed his displeasure with the president-elect:

BLAGOJEVICH I thin-, you know, it's really, I get that I'm a big boy and I can handle that, but it's really f***ing galling, this guy is more Tony'd up than I am. And it's almost like they f***ing conspi-, made a concerted effort and they got the Chicago media to f***ing make me wear Rezko more. To f***ing dilute it from him.

More Tony'd up than I am.  Looks like at least some of the Chicago media are still helping Obama distance himself from Tony Rezko. 

Forget those polls.  In the mainstream media, there's always good news  for President Barack Obama.  So it is on the Minneapolis StarTribune's Web  site.  An Associated Press article appears  under the headline "Voters weathering economic downturn sticking with Obama — because they like him" and includes this heartening news:

People who have lost their jobs or homes during Obama's  presidency nonetheless say they want him to succeed and, what's more, they're  working to help re-elect him because of the affinity they feel for him.

And how did the AP arrive at this conclusion in its 31-paragraph  story?  They talked to people, that's how.  Specifically, the article  includes quotes from two, count'em, two women who have lost their jobs, one  woman who has lost her house, and one woman who has a law degree but "cobbles  together work as a caterer, cake decorator and office manager."  The AP  supplemented its exhaustive research by talking to a few Democratic operatives,  to assure an objective and complete analysis no doubt.

Let's see. There are currently  14 million unemployed Americans, an increase of  2.4 million since Obama took office.  Last year, foreclosure filings  were reported on a record 2.9 million properties.  Yet the Associated Press interviews four people  and reports they and others hit by the Obama Depression are "working to help  re-elect him."  Guess they just couldn't find anyone who isn't.

Yes, indeed.  There's always good news for Obama.  The mainstream  media would have it no other way.

In recent years, various media outlets have established self-styled truth squads to "fact check"  politicians.  Today on CNN Newsroom anchored by Brooke Baldwin, correspondent Tom Foreman examined statements made at last night's GOP presidential candidate debate.  One was former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's criticism of Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s support for a law allowing children of illegal immigrants to qualify for in-state tuition at public universities and colleges.  Romney said: "Four years of college, almost $100,000 discount if you're an illegal alien to go to the University of Texas. If you're a United States citizen you have to pay $100,000 more."
     
Foreman's verdict was that Romney's assertion was correct, but faulted him because he didn't mention other states have similar programs:

FOREMAN: If you were an out of state student, you would pay an additional around $23,000 to go there, so over four years that, would add up to about $100,000 break as an in-state student. What he doesn't mention, however is that Texas is not alone. Sure, he wants to punch Rick Perry with this. But California does this, New Mexico does it, Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, Maryland, I can't remember them all.

BALDWIN: So not just Texas.

FOREMAN: A whole bunch of them. The bottom line, there are a good number who do the same thing. Some states don't allow it. But for him to present it in a way as if it's just Texas doing it, that's really one of those things that's a little misleading and more along the lines of being true but incomplete. So I think we're going to see an awful lot of this Brooke as this whole campaign goes on. Campaigns always cherry-picking their information.

The thing is, they often have a valid point to make, but they can't resist just shoving aside everything that doesn't fit. That's why we have this barbecue to throw them on later.

BALDWIN: Keep that truth-ometer handy, Mr. Foreman. Thank you very much. Have a good weekend to you.

Contrary to Foreman's claim, Romney did not "present it in a way as if it's just Texas doing it."  His opponents don't include the governors of Illinois, Nebraska, Kansas, or Maryland.  They do include the governor of Texas, and it's eminently appropriate for candidates to discuss each other's records without providing "complete" information on everyone else who isn't a candidate.

Foreman couldn't just admit that Romney was accurate.  No, Romney's argument had to be found "a little misleading and more along the lines of being true but incomplete."  Seems like Mr. Foreman's "truth-ometer" needs recalibrating.          

On MSNBC's Political Nation Friday evening, host Al Sharpton interviewed Ryan Grim, Washington bureau chief for The Huffington Post.  They spoke about House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH):

GRIM: So, you`re right, the record that he is amassing is probably one of the most extreme records that a House Speaker has put up in decades.

SHARPTON: Well, based on your last statement, he being probably the most extreme Speaker we`ve seen in decades, should President Obama even bother negotiating with him?

GRIM: No, he probably shouldn`t. He should do the opposite approach.

If these guys really think Boehner is probably the most extreme speaker in recent history, they must have mighty short memories.  Does the name Nancy Pelosi sound familiar, Reverend Al?

She served as speaker from 2007 to 20011.  Before the election that brought her to power, she said she didn’t “really consider ourselves at war” with terrorism.  That may partially explain her votes as the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee.  In the years prior to 9/11, despite her having inside knowledge of the threats confronting the U.S., she regularly voted against intelligence funding.

Dependably pro illegal immigrant, pro abortion on demand, and pro big labor bosses, Pelosi voted more liberal on social policy issues than 96 percent of her colleagues, according to the nonpartisan National Journal.  Her grade from the National Taxpayers Union for the year before Democrats took control of the House was an F, as it had been for the entire previous decade.

Her extremism even extended to for the Boy Scouts.  The president of the U.S. serves as honorary president of that organization.  In 2000, she and ten other members of Congress wrote to President Clinton, requesting he resign from the Boy Scouts because of the organization’s “unacceptable” policy of banning homosexuals from leadership positions.  Out of over 200 House Democrats, fewer than a dozen Democrats signed the letter.  Pelosi was one of them.

As speaker, she shoved through ObamaCare, about which she remarked, "We have to pass the bill so you can find out what is in it."  She pushed Obama's stimulus.  These are but two of the many reasons why the national debt increased from $8.7 trillion to just under $14 trillion during her term as speaker.

In light of all this, John Boehner is probably the most extreme speaker we've seen in decades.  The Rev and Grim should take their comedy routine on the road.  They'd probably have a bigger audience.

Next week, President Obama will unveil his jobs plan.  Details haven't been revealed, but that didn't make a difference today on CNN's American Morning.  Anchor Carol Costello announced the day's "talk back" question and anchors Ali Velshi and Christine Romans promptly chimed in:

COSTELLO: So today's talk back question -- doesn't bode very well, does it? The question is President Obama's jobs plan DOA before it is even unveiled? Facebook.com/americanmorning. I will read your comments later this hour.

VELSHI: Let's hope it is not DOA.

ROMANS: I hope not.    

Not knowing the specifics, Velshi and Romans express hope that it isn't dead on arrival.  Suppose it's a repeat of Obama's disastrous stimulus program.  That's a distinct possibility, with insiders such as ABC's George Stephanopoulos reporting Obama "wants the government to invest in clean energy and new construction projects."  Oh, and provide government-sponsored training to the jobless "while allowing them to still collect their unemployment benefits."  Sound vaguely familiar?

It doesn't matter.  Sight unseen, Ali and Christine are already worried about Obama's proposal.  Last year Ali held up a cake and sang "Happy Birthday" on the stimulus's "first birthday."  Maybe he and Romans can host a shower for Obama's new and improved plan next week.   I'll bring the diapers.

Wednesday on CNN's Piers Morgan Tonight, Morgan interviewed GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum.  The host spent considerable time on Santorum's views on homosexuality.  Confirming the candidate is a Catholic, Morgan asked if he believes homosexuality is a sin.  Santorum stated he subscribes to his Church's teaching that it is.  Morgan asked how Santorum would react to learning one of his sons is gay and after listening to his response:

MORGAN: I guess one of the reasons it's troubling and difficult for people to come out is because of the level of bigotry that's out there against them. I have to say that your views you espoused on this issue are bordering on bigotry, aren't they?

So an orthodox Roman Catholic who adheres to his faith's determination that "homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered" borders on bigotry.  Not Morgan, however:

MORGAN: Well, I'm a Catholic, too. I just think, unfortunately, we're in a different era. We're in a modern world. And the fact --

Morgan didn't say why he thinks it's unfortunate we're in a different era or why he claims to be a Catholic while rejecting Church teaching, but he didn't really need to.  Fellow CNN anchors were prepared to do the heavy lifting.

On today's American Morning, a clip was played of Santorum saying, in part, "Piers Morgan called me a bigot because I believe what the Catholic Church teaches with respect to homosexuality, I'm a bigot."  Anchors Carol Costello and Ali Velshi were not going to let that go unchallenged:

COSTELLO: In all fairness Piers did not call Santorum a bigot but said we live in a different era and views about moment sexuality (sic) have certainly changed.

VELSHI: That was their point of disagreement where Piers said, I'm also Catholic and I think these views should evolve. Rick Santorum says I don't think that's true. But that was the extent of it in the interview. So if you didn't watch the interview, you just watched that second part, you may think it was a different interview.

Ah, so the Church's views on homosexuality should evolve because Piers Morgan believes they should.  Someone had better get the word to Pope Benedict XVI pronto.  At the same time, perhaps Costello can explain how saying someone's views border on bigotry isn't the same as saying he's a bigot.  Don't tell me there's a strict constructionist at CNN, even if it only pertains to grammar.    

Yesterday on CNN's The Situation Room, the story of President Barack Obama's uncle's arrest on charges of driving under the influence was reported.  Make that Barack Obama's half-uncle, as anchor Wolf Blitzer and correspondent Brian Todd identified him that way at least nine times.  Todd even presented a wall chart detailing "a complicated and very fascinating family tree." 

CNN and Blitzer haven't always emphasized Obama's precise relationship with other relatives.  From The Situation Room of April 12, 2011:

BLITZER:And President Obama's sister is speaking out about Donald Trump and the birther controversy. Stick around. You're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

The sister is Maya Soetoro-Ng, who is the president's half-sister.

And from May 17, 2010:

BLITZER: Lisa Sylvester is monitoring some of the other top stories in THE SITUATION ROOM right now. What do you have Lisa?

LISA SYLVESTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi Wolf. Well a U.S. immigration judge says President Obama's Kenyan aunt is allowed to stay in the United States. The ruling ends a six-year battle over her status. Zeituni Onyango is the half sister of the president's late father. She applied for political asylum in 2002 because violence in her homeland.

Zeituni Onyango is actually Obama's half-aunt, although not described in that manner.

On the same day, anchor Richard Liu on CNN Newsroom:

LUI: OK, checking our top story this hour.

Just in, a U.S. immigration judge says President Obama's Kenyan aunt can stay in the United States, ending a six-year legal battle. Two government sources confirmed the ruling will give legal status to Zeituni Onyango.

 Here's a portion of Todd's report on yesterday's The Situation Room:

TODD: CNN has done many stories investigating that so called birth issue and we've never found any evidence that the president is not a natural born American.

But the president has a complicated and very fascinating family tree. I'll try to run it by you here. His grandfather was married three times. His third wife, a woman named Sarah Onyango, is the one who gave birth to the half-uncle who is in question in this case. That is the president's half-uncle.

Now, it's his sister, Zeituni Obama, who as we mentioned in the piece, involved in that legal case she was denied asylum in 2004 and then was granted the right to stay in the country legally last year. That's half-aunt, half-uncle on the father's side from the grandfather's third wife.

Now, remember, this family tree is only on Mr. Obama's father's side of the family. That's what makes this so fascinating. So his grandfather's second wife is the one who gave birth to Mr. Obama's father, Barack Hussein Obama Senior. And then he had -- was the father who was married to Ann Dunham who gave birth to President Obama. So we wanted to show you kind of the different people on the family tree just on the father's side of the family.

You've got the grandfather having different wives, and Mr. Obama's family also had three different wives and a partner. So a lot of people to keep track of just on Mr. Obama's father's side of the family -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Brian Todd with a good explanation of that side of the president's family.

Looks like when an Obama is in trouble, CNN feels the need to get fastidious about who's who in the family tree.