Sarah Palin Avoiding CBS

November 23, 2009 — Ron Chusid

Hotline reports that Sarah Palin sure hold a grudge, even if not deserved, against CBS. You would think that someone trying to sell a book (and potentially pick up future votes) would be interested in as much media coverage as possible, but Palin is snubbing CBS. It’s not as if she actually has a day job any more. Hotline reports:

Anyone pining for a second meeting between Sarah Palin and Katie Couric is going to be sorely disappointed.

Sources tell Hotline OnCall that Couric’s producer sent two requests to Palin’s publisher for interviews during the “Going Rogue” book tour, and so far, Couric has been denied.

It’s not surprising — Palin has not agreed to sit down with more than a small handful of mainstream media interviewers — but the move looks to be part of a larger Palin blackout from CBS News and Entertainment.

Palin has two reasons to hate CBS and, unlike most conservatives, neither is named Dan Rather. In her case her objections to CBS come from Katie Couric and David Letterman. Palin has been avoiding CBS ever since her embarassing performance in her interview with Couric. Is it Katie Couric’s fault that Sarah Palin was ignorant on the issues and unable to answer her questions?

Palin is also staying away from CBS following the smear campaign from the right wing which twisted a joke made by Letterman. If Palin objects to jokes being told about her family, which is understandable, her concentration on avoiding Letterman is mistaken. Palin’s family was the target of all the late night comedians. Letterman made less jokes about her family than the other comedians and his actual joke about Bristol was far less objectionable than many of the other jokes told by comedians on other networks.

Posted in Humor and Satire, News Media, Sarah Palin, Television. Tags: , , , . No Comments »

Washington Post Reports On Support For Legalization of Marijuana

November 23, 2009 — Ron Chusid

The Washington Post is running a story entitled  Support for legalizing marijuana grows rapidly around U.S:

The same day they rejected a gay marriage ballot measure, residents of Maine voted overwhelmingly to allow the sale of medical marijuana over the counter at state-licensed dispensaries.

Later in the month, the American Medical Association reversed a longtime position and urged the federal government to remove marijuana from Schedule One of the Controlled Substances Act, which equates it with heroin.

A few days later, advocates for easing marijuana laws left their biannual strategy conference with plans to press ahead on all fronts — state law, ballot measures, and court — in a movement that for the first time in decades appeared to be gaining ground.

“This issue is breaking out in a remarkably rapid way now,” said Ethan Nadelmann, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance. “Public opinion is changing very, very rapidly.”

The shift is widely described as generational. A Gallup poll in October found 44 percent of Americans favor full legalization of marijuana — a rise of 13 points since 2000. Gallup said that if public support continues growing at a rate of 1 to 2 percent per year, “the majority of Americans could favor legalization of the drug in as little as four years.”

A 53 percent majority already does so in the West, according to the survey. The finding heartens advocates collecting signatures to put the question of legalization before California voters in a 2010 initiative.

At last week’s International Drug Reform Conference, activists gamed specific proposals for taxing and regulating pot along the lines of cigarettes and alcohol, as a bill pending in the California Legislature would do. The measure is not expected to pass, but in urging its serious debate, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) gave credence to a potential revenue source that the state’s tax chief said could raise $1.3 billion in the recession, which advocates describe as a boon.

The rest of the article is much like this. The point is not that there is any major news on the subject but that this summarizes the recent trend towards increased support for legalization. Having stories such as this in major newspapers does help to make support for legalization appear more respectable and does probably help this trend continue.

Posted in Drug Policy, News Media. Tags: , , . 2 Comments »
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