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Palin Book: Feminists Jealous of Sarah's Rise
Tweet Share on Facebook October 26, 2009 Comment (182)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Talk about timing. With former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin readying the release of her own 432-page campaign tell-all, Going Rogue: An American Life
, now would be the perfect time to pop out another Palin book, and that's exactly what Weekly Standard's Matthew Continetti has done with The Persecution of Sarah Palin.
With his 226-page defense of Palin and slap-down of the media coverage she has faced since being selected by Sen. John McCain as his 2008 veep, Continetti is likely to ride the next wave of Palin frenzy that will accompany her book release set for November 17. If you like Palin, it's a good read. If you don't, well, check it to see what the other side thinks of the potential 2012 presidential candidate. We won't review it here because Whispers just received the book earlier today. But here are some highlights:
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Tom Hanks to Give Veterans a USO-Style Tribute
Tweet Share on Facebook October 26, 2009 Comment (2)By Anna Mulrine, Washington Whispers
Visitors to the National World War II Museum in New Orleans next month are in for a new "4-D, multisensory experience." Its new film, Beyond All Boundaries, to be shown in the museum's new state-of-the-art theater, aims to give viewers a "you are there" feeling, from the sensation of snowflakes during the Battle of the Bulge to the gut-churning rumble of tanks across Europe. Executive Producer Tom Hanks got involved with the museum (called the National D-Day Museum until it was designated by Congress in 2004 as the country's official World War II museum) through the late historian Stephen Ambrose, who was an adviser to the actor while he was shooting Saving Private Ryan. Ambrose didn't charge for his assistance; instead, he asked for Hanks's help with fundraising for the museum. He got it. Hanks also recruited pals Brad Pitt, Tobey Maguire, and Patricia Heaton to do voice-overs for the new documentary, which draws on oral histories and old film reels to share the saga of America's World War II vets.
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Afghanistan, Healthcare, New Orleans Drag Obama Down
Tweet Share on Facebook October 23, 2009 Comment (3)Pollster John Zogby updates our weekly Obama Report Card with a grade on the president's performance. Zogby uses his polling, expert analysis, and interaction with major players to come up with a grade and some comments that capture how he see's the president's week ending.
John Zogby on Week 40:
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Rats Prove Obama is Focused
Tweet Share on Facebook October 23, 2009 Comment (131)Don't question President Obama's focus. Consider: For his upcoming book Inside Obama's Brain, author Sasha Abramsky talked to many Obama friends and found this story. In Chicago, Obama started at a law firm located next to a Thai restaurant with a vermin problem. One day, during a meeting, Obama took a call as two rats entered the room. One ran up his leg. Firm partner Judson Miner tells Abramsky, "While we were all distracted by the rats, he focused on his conversation, finished his conversation, and then picked up on the conversation that we were having about the rats."
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Campaign Pushes for Product Placement Regulation
Tweet Share on Facebook October 22, 2009 Comment (4)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
There's a new campaign to call product placements in TV and radio shows what they are: paid ads. Like when Simon Cowell gulps from a big Coke on American Idol, or a Morning Joe guest sips Starbucks. A group of child and public advocates, churches, and Hollywood figures called Truthful Media is calling on the Federal Communications Commission to regulate embedded advertising in TV shows. Their effort is winning attention on Capitol Hill, where some senators have expressed interest in joining. It's so bad, says the group in a letter to new FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, that CW teen drama One Tree Hill had 2,575 product placements last year—nearly 50 per week.
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Activist: Obama Should Focus on Cap-and-Trade
Tweet Share on Facebook October 21, 2009 Comment (6)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
Hollywood environmental activist Ed Begley Jr. is starting to wonder if the administration is ready to take on energy and global warming. First, the star of the quirky Living With Ed, which shifts to Planet Green October 21, thinks President Obama should focus on the cap-and-trade and energy legislation in Congress. "I think he needs to turn up the heat on this," says Begley, whose show focuses on his extreme enviro lifestyle. "The big battle, the healthcare issue, I guess he's putting all his focus on that right now," he says. And Begley raises an eyebrow at the elbowing aside of former Obama green adviser Van Jones, who left after his harsh comments about Republicans hit the airwaves. "I think he's a very good man. I never found him to be divisive," Begley says of Jones. "He's a very all-inclusive guy who welcomes everybody to pull together and do good things." Still, he thinks Obama's doing well in a job he would never take. "Oh, God, that seems like the worst job in the world. I don't know how a guy as smart as Obama would want to do that. It is just amazing to me. It just seems like the worst job to have."
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5 Conservatives to Watch for 2012 Presidential Race
Tweet Share on Facebook October 20, 2009 Comment (120)With this summer’s heated town halls and tea parties against big government still fresh in their minds, conservative activists are looking for leadership from Washington to take charge of the grass-roots battle cry against Democrats. Key conservatives tell Whispers that there are five lawmakers poised to lead the conservative populists, perhaps all the way to the 2012 or 2016 presidential campaigns. One is in the Senate:
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Under Armour Suits Up for Wounded Warrior Project
Tweet Share on Facebook October 20, 2009 Comment (93)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
The Wounded Warrior Project, which works to help injured soldiers, is picking up a major partner today from the sports world: Baltimore's Under Armour. The sports clothing outfitter tells Whispers that it is designing special football uniforms to be worn by the University of Maryland and University of South Carolina at games in November that are expected to draw celebrities and politicians, possibly as high as the vice president.
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Michael Jackson Is Still Helping the World
Tweet Share on Facebook October 19, 2009 Comment (50)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
To many, he was the King of Pop. To critics of his lifestyle and quirks, he was Wacko Jacko. But to those in the nation's capital and worldwide focused on the plight of the hungry in Africa, Michael Jackson was the ambassador of hope. And the proof—legal documents handing to USA for Africa the profits from the 1985 hit "We Are the World" that he and Lionel Richie wrote—is going up for auction. "He was a bigger philanthropist than most people gave him credit for," USA for Africa Executive Director Marcia Thomas says of Jackson, whose death in June shocked the world. "He didn't do it for the credit. He did it because he felt it was the right thing to do."
" 'We Are the World' marked what at that time was a high point in rich-world concern about poor people in the developing world," adds Nancy Birdsall, president of the Washington-based Center for Global Development. "That sort of awareness helps to open the way not only for more effective foreign assistance but for other changes in policy, such as trade and migration, that can have a big impact on poor people's lives," she adds.
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Former McCain, Obama Aides Schmidt and Plouffe Join at University of Delaware
Tweet Share on Facebook October 19, 2009 Comment (7)By Paul Bedard, Washington Whispers
In an unusual alliance fostered by their alma mater, the top aides to 2008 presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama are joining forces to build a new political center at the University of Delaware. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe and McCain campaign manager Steve Schmidt are working to develop the university's first Center for Political Communication, a coup for the Blue Hens, who also count Vice President Joe Biden among their alumni.
