News Roundup for 7/30/09

Clear Channel says no

-Headline of the day-
"Syndicating Sarah Palin, Part 2: The Next Rush Limbaugh?"

Turns out the answer is probably not. "My own sources say much what they said when asked about a TV show for Palin: Don't think so," writes Paige Albiniak for Broadcasting & Cable. "While you might assume Palin would be a better fit for conservative radio than the less partisan world of syndicated broadcast TV, my sources say the country's biggest radio conglomerate, Clear Channel, has already passed on her."

The problem? No one thinks she can handle a three hour show. They're probably afraid she'll quit halfway through, so she can go finish the show in other ways. Tina Dupuy at FishbowlLA took a moment to explain the problem with Radio Sarah.

"Yeah, radio would have been a great fit for Palin," she writes. "You couldn't see her but you could hear her. She's a looker people, not a talker. We recommend silent films maybe or miming. Something where abnegating is an asset -- like a nicotine patch spokesperson."

In related news, FOX put out a poll on what Sarah should do now that she's not the Governor of Santa's Village. The winner? Homemaker at 32%, compared with president at 6%. That's not surprising, since the poll also shows that 51% have a negative opinion of her.

So, if you're holding your breath waiting for Sarah Palin's Wingnut Radio Rodeo, you should probably start breathing again. It doesn't look like that's going to happen.

Ditto for "President Moose-O-Lini." (Broadcasting & Cable)


-A little too honest-
New York Daily News wanted to find out whether Rudy Giuliani was running for Governor of New York in 2010. "The only way I could get elected governor is the way I got elected mayor -- things have to be so bad... I got elected mayor, I believe, on the theory of -- it can't get worse," Rudy said. "So if it gets to that point, maybe I'll decide."

So, what it'll take to get Giuliani in the governor's mansion is a widespread belief that things couldn't possibly get any worse if people elected him. Wow, it's really amazing that he wasn't the GOP nominee in 2008, isn't it? (Political Wire)


-Bonus HotD-
"Pete Session's blimp flies into a storm."

Texas Republican Rep. Pete Sessions doesn't like earmarks. If earmarks were a person, Sessions would commit a hate crime. He hates them that much. According to his website, earmarks are "a symbol of a broken Washington to the American people."

So it's a little hard to square his embrace of one of the screwiest earmarks out there. According to the report, "[I]n 2008, Sessions himself steered a $1.6 million earmark for dirigible research to an Illinois company whose president acknowledges having no experience in government contracting, let alone in building blimps." It's hard to see what sort of "research" we need to do into blimps -- I mean, they're pretty simple, aren't they? Maybe $1.6 mil handed to Jim G. Ferguson & Associates for "research" was to figure out how the hell you build a blimp. I don't know.

But the super-shocking part of all of this is the fact that Jim Ferguson and his associates gave money to Session's campaign!

I know. It's so surprising. "FEC records show that Ferguson contributed $5,000 to Sessions’s leadership PAC in October 2007," we're told. "Overall, Ferguson and his father have given $18,500 to GOP lawmakers over the past six years."

Did I mention that Sessions runs the house campaign arm of the Republican party? That makes the $18,500 for GOP candidates smell a little corruptiony. The whole thing gets progressively crazier and more complicated, involving a trigger-happy Sessions aide -- Adrian Plesha -- at one point. He got paid $446,000 for lobbying for Ferguson. Plesha also created a fake Democratic committee to attack a Democratic rep in a re-election campaign. Seriously, the guy's a douche. Imagine Karl Rove, except having served 18 months' probation and 120 hours of community service for a weapons charge and 3 years probation, 160 hours of community service, and having paid a $5,000 fine for lying to elections officials. A wonderful public servant -- unless you consider that Plesha's almost a parody of what people think is wrong with the Republican party.

The whole thing gives me a headache. This was a lot funnier when I started and it was just about freakin' blimps... (Politico)