For one, Turner surely recognizes that those who want a limited government that focuses upon national defense merely see things a little differently than him, and that such disagreement is actually healthy.  Or not:

The Conservative Political Action Conference is as close as you can get to a skinhead convention in a nice hotel.

Yeah, that’s reasonable.  Turner’s assessment would serve as a revelation to people like, say, Allen West and Michael Williams.  As for us cracker redneck whiteys, we thought we disagreed with the president because he’s attempting to impose a far-left agenda based upon income redistribution, governmental involvement in countless aspects of life, and a weak foreign policy that doesn’t take threats seriously.  But Turner knows that it’s Obama’s complexion we don’t like:

Frothing at the mouth, has-beens like former Vice President Dick Cheney and former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, R-Texas, railed against the nation’s first black president.

If they’re has-beens, why not ignore them?  Perhaps the temptation to point out they dislike a president who happens to be black was too strong.  Plus, it served as one more chance for him to toss cheap insults, which might be considered his hobby:

Nasty wannabes like Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S. C., whined that President Obama is a “socialist” and said he governs “from a teleprompter.” Fox News’ Glenn Beck, a real skinhead, also wowed the 10,000 attendees last week.

An editor should have noticed that Turner called Beck a “skinhead” a sentence after referring to a U.S. senator as “nasty” for the crime of being a conservative.  But, as with the general public, maybe it was too painful for other News staffers to read entire paragraphs at a time.  The writer himself apparently failed to recognize the irony of his own spitefulness, which can’t surprise any poor soul who’s encountered his previous work.

It’s hard to pick out the most fun example of Turner’s ludicrous hyperbole.  Phrases he used to classify CPAC, such as “embarrassing idiocy” and “hypocritical plunderers,” are among my favorites.  That said, such characterizations pale in comparison to his summarizing claim that, “Republicans hope to harness these fears, suburban resentment against Obama’s overreach and, let’s face it, a measure of racial antagonism this November.”  That’s the winner, as it confirms Turner is the saddest type of journalist: a Keith Olbermann wannabe.  Should we similarly invite The Buffalo News hack to a Tea Party?  We can explain to him in person why he’s not very good at uncovering duplicity: 

Speakers auditioning at CPAC called for smaller government, more tax cuts and less spending. At the same time, Republican congressional leaders, who are now in the minority, are in the lead when requesting earmarks.

Does Turner realize that “Republican” and “conservative” aren’t synonyms?  Yes, it’s a rhetorical question.  It’s unfortunate Turner didn’t actually listen to Beck’s speech instead of lamely tossing accusations of supposed racial, racist racism.  If he had bothered to pay attention, he would have learned why the Fox News host thinks GOP officeholders have contributed to the mess precisely by not acting with fiscal restraint.

Turner should in fact be happy when Republican leaders spend like liberals.  But he’s too busy pointing out how much they totally hate minorities to notice.  He’s got interesting company.  Meanwhile, even the quick aside with which he closes his column deserves shredding:

Two great Obama moves last week: meeting with Tibet’s Dalai Lama over the ChiComs protests, and offering government help for nuclear power plants.

Turner failed to notice that the White House figuratively bowed to the “ChiComs” by insultingly steering His Holiness out the back door past a garbage pile.  I’d expect to be ushered through the back entrance if I visited the White House; of course, I’m not quite a spiritual leader.

And it seems that Turner can only get excited about nuclear power when the feds guarantee loans for the conglomerates.  Everyone’s aware of what government involvement does for the economy.   On the other hand, letting the industry compete in the free market is probably racist for some reason.

It will just be more of the same.  We’ve given up hoping that the News will ever strive for genuine editorial balance.  But at least they could deploy liberal columnists who stick to policy disagreements.  Instead, the rag features the rantings of a sad, demonstrably hateful little man who accuses anyone dissenting from his leftist views of being a diabolical, treacherous, swastika-wearing caveman obsessed with hating the president solely because he looks different than the previous presidents.  And Turner thinks CPAC patrons are fearfully intolerant?

The Buffalo Teachers Federation is poised to withdraw its support for Legislator Michele M. Iannello today after alleging she demanded the removal of Working Families Party volunteers campaigning for her because they were black.

Iannello, a Kenmore Democrat also running on the Working Families line who is locked in a tough race with Republican challenger Kevin R. Hardwick, denies the accusations. She said she objected to Working Families requests by door-to-door canvassers asking voters to sign a pledge promising to vote for her, prompting a split with the party.

“It’s just a difference of opinion,” she said.

But BTF President Philip Rumore stands by the charges and asked the union’s Executive Committee to convene today to rescind support for Iannello and adopt a neutral position in the race.

“She demanded we terminate the two African-Americans. She said she did not want them, and insisted,” Rumore said Tuesday. “This one canvasser has worked white neighborhoods before and been very successful, and in this day and age it’s just awful.

“This is against everything this organization stands for,” he added.

My gut feeling tells me that she demanded the removal of volunteers campaigning for her who happened to be black, not “because they were black.” There is a difference, and considering how haphazardly charges of racism or even anti-Semitism are made these days, I think Iannello deserves the benefit of the doubt here.

If it turns out I am wrong, then I’m wrong… but charges of racism are quiet serious and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Too often such charges are made erroneously and people end up with ruined reputations that I am not about to jump on Iannello over these allegations unless more information comes out proving her explanation to be wrong.

Collins has already apologized for what he called “a poor joke,” delivered during a speech at the county Republican Party’s annual fundraiser in the Adam’s Mark Hotel.

That’s when the county executive referred to French seer Nostradamus’ prediction that the world would experience three Antichrists in conjunction with the Apocalypse, whose origin is the New Testament’s Book of Revelation.

Collins then said it’s generally accepted that the first was Napoleon, the second Hitler, and that he was “pretty sure” the third is Silver, an orthodox Jew from Manhattan.

The county executive said this in the context of Silver as part of Albany’s “three men in a room” budget process, in which the Assembly speaker, the State Senate majority leader and the governor make most budgetary decisions.

Okay, not even that funny, and Collins should know better to make a joke that includes a Hitler reference, but I have to say it is really sad the way some are trying to take Collins down over it.

On Twitter, Buffalo Rising said Collins’ comments were anti-Semitic. WNYMedia called him an anti-Semite. I expected as much from the left-wing WNYMedia, they’ll do anything to take down a Republican. But, there was clearly nothing anti-Semitic about the joke. Was it poor taste? Sure. But, I’ve seen and heard plenty of things that were in poor taste from politicians and pundits on both sides, that have been far worse in context, that no one cries over. Yet, some keep saying that this is somehow gonna destroy Collins’ political future.

Several folks in the WNYMedia network have been beating the “Collins is an anti-Semite” drum, but they are hardly ones to criticize for lack of propriety. Their bloggers incessantly refer to tea party protesters with the pornographic term “teabaggers.” Yeah, real classy, real appropriate.

Just as Obamalovers unable to defend his policies accuse his critics of being racists, Collins’ haters would love to label him an anti-Semite. But let’s get real here. Opposition to Obama’s left-wing policies isn’t racism, and an inappropriate joke that certainly had no anti-Jewish connotation to it is not anti-Semitism. Plain and simple.

If they want to know about real anti-Semitism, they can ask someone like me, who grew up Jewish, who knows what it’s like to see his synagogue vandalized with swastikas, or has been to concentration camps in Poland and seen the inside of a gas chamber. You don’t have to convince me that Chris Collins made a bad joke, but don’t try to tell me it was anti-Semitic. Please. Trying to exploit the whole situation for a political ends doesn’t make the nutjobs at WNYMedia experts on what anti-Semitism really is.

Okay, maybe I shouldn’t expect much from them. But, politicians and party leaders aren’t much better.  Len Lenihan is also seeking to exploit the Collins gaffe by exaggerating it:

Democrats such as County Chairman Leonard R. Lenihan, however, were quick to pounce on a political foe who has so far proved immune to most partisan attacks. He callled it “one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard an elected official say.”

More stupid than say, Senator Robert Byrd saying “seen a lot of white n****rs in my time. I’m going to use that word”? Or Senator Dick Durbin comparing the Bush admintration and the military to the Nazis, gulags and Pol Pot. Or, let’s choose another more recent example, Florida Democrat Rep. Alan Grayson who said Republicans wanted people to die quickly and likened the current health care system the holocaust. Grayson may be Jewish, but that was just a despicable comparison, far worse and more deliberate than what Collins said.

Speaking of Grayson… What did WNYMedia have to say about his stupid and offensive remarks? Not much, except for one post with embedded videos of Grayson’s disgrace, with his seal of approval. And yet WNYMedia wants to judge Chris Collins?

Of course, you can read a lot into the things they don’t say as well. They are obviously no stranger to national issues, but they were curiously silent about Roman Polanski when he was arrested. Why, when they are so quick to judge people on the right?  There was a mad rush of left wing celebrities flocking to the defense of the pedophile, and not an ounce of criticism of their political kin. It’s amazing how politics deflects their moral compass so easily.

I understand they have a political agenda, but that doesn’t entitle them libel. Calling Chris Collins an anti-Semite is wrong, especially when they excuse or approve of worse behavior from people who share their political agenda.

Chris Collins is a good guy, and even has Jewish heritage (he had a Jewish grandfather) so let’s cut the “Collins is an anti-Semite” nonsense.

Gov. Paterson blamed a racist media Friday for trying to push him out of next year’s election – launching into an angry rant that left even some black Democrats shaking their heads.

“The whole idea is to get me not to run in the primary,” Paterson complained on a morning radio show hosted by Daily News columnist Errol Louis.

He suggested that Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the country’s only other African-American governor, also is under fire because of his race.

“We’re not in the post-racial period,” Paterson said.

It’s not Paterson’s (or even Deval Patrick’s) rock bottom poll numbers. It’s obviously a racial thing. It must be right? And just to be clear, Deval Patrick’s problems in Massachusetts have nothing to do with race, but everything to do with broken promises. Unlike Paterson, Patrick was elected in a landslide. But, Patrick failed to deliver the “hope” and “change” he promised. That is buyer’s remorse. Plain and simple.

As for Paterson, he clearly has a different situation. He wasn’t elected governor. Many feel that when he filled the vacancy left by Eliot Spitzer that he was in over his head. It seems obvious to most who are paying attention that Paterson hasn’t done a good job. I thought he showed promise in the beginning, but he just lacks the leadership, and has become a liability for New York Democrats statewide.

That is why he is being called on to abandon his campaign.

It is a sign of desperation to play the race card. It is easier to accuse your adversaries of being racists than to make the case for your own position or candidacy. Paterson also suggested that opposition to his ridiculous health care plan is racially motivated. Apparently Americans can’t legitimately oppose government-run health care… they just oppose it because Obama is the head cheerleader. Why is it that proponents of Obamacare can’t argue the facts of the bill, they just attack the opponents, and call them racists? It’s a cop-out. It’s a sign of their inability to defend themselves, their positions, and their record.

If Paterson, Patrick, and Obama each lose their reelections, it won’t be because of race. It will be because each, despite their own inexperience, were given the benefit of the doubt and failed to demonstrate real leadership.

New York Gov. David Paterson is getting rave reviews as one of the Gridiron Dinner speakers over the weekend.

The Gridiron dinner is an off-the-record dinner with journos and pols who sing songs, do skits and make fun of each other in the great wide open.

Paterson’s speech was certainly no exception. Even though he became governor of New York in quite a surprising fashion, it’s not the governor title that he wants, apparently.  Paterson’s real goal, he said, is to follow in Barack Obama’s footsteps and be President of the United States, because: “Once you go black, you don’t go back.”

Any politician, regardless of his or her party, ought to be judged on their record, not on their race. If Comrade Obama fails miserably, it will be a reflection of his incompetence – not his race. I find it insulting that Paterson, even as a joke, implied that the performance of one politician reflects that of another solely on racial 

Now, some might say I am overreacting, but let’s say that Comrade Obama is defeated in four years by a White Republican. And let’s say that Republican, at a White House Correspondents’ Dinner joked “I guess once you go black you can go back.”

Think about it.