MSNBC host Ed Schultz is being sued by a broadcast engineer in the NBC News Washington Bureau who claims he helped Schultz get into TV.
Michael Queen is suing Schultz in federal court for at least $100,000, claiming he paved the way for Schultz’s MSNBC show. Queen claims he approached Schultz in January 2008 and asked him if he had anybody helping him try to land a TV show.
“No,” Schultz is quoted as saying in the complaint. “Now you’re it!” Queen set up the taping of a “McLaughlin Group”-style program at WUSA-TV, the CBS affiliate in Washington, DC.
Schultz’s lawyer, Jeffrey Landa tells TVNewser, Queen initially represented himself as Michael Anderson, so as not to run into problems at NBC. Schultz eventually reimbursed Queen $12,000 for the pilot expenses. “Ed paid him in full for every cent he spent,” says Landa. “We’re going to aggressively defend against [the suit] and aggressively counterclaim.”
Landa says there was never a contract between Schultz and Queen. “There is one email that Ed sent years ago that basically said if Queen got him the show on WUSA, he wouldn’t do the show without him,” says Landa. But that show never got picked up.
Al Tompkins at Poynter analyzes the interview style Steve Kroft employed during his 60 Minutes interview of President Obama on the bin Laden raid. An excerpt:
Kroft is aware he used a lot of closed-ended questions, and he did it on purpose because of time pressures and because of how this President answers questions.
“I have interviewed him before and you don’t want to ask him open-ended questions — you get long answers,” he said.
Kroft explained, “It is difficult to interrupt the President — it is not something I particularly like to do. The thing about this president is he will give you his thought process if you ask him about it. He will explain the complexities that weigh on his mind.”
To sum up the story, Koch donated some money to a bunch of schools, and in exchange, asked for some input on who the university hired.
Not sure how Mother Jones justifies this as an “assault” when the universities didn’t have to take the money in the first place.
Another assault seems to be bank holding company BB&T demanding Florida State University students read Atlas Shrugged:
In addition to funding two slots, Koch has also donated nearly $500,000 for graduate fellowships. So far only BB&T, the bank holding company, has joined the effort, with its foundation pledging $1.5 million over 10 years. The money is being used to hire an instructor who is not eligible for tenure; BB&T had no control over the hire, Rasmussen said.
A separate grant from BB&T funds a course on ethics and economics in which Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged is required reading. The novel, which depicts society’s collapse in the wake of government encroachment on free enterprise, was recently made into a movie marketed to tea party members.
Umm, more information please. How did our friendly Yemeni a) travel to America (on what type of visa) and b) why was the state of California nice enough to issue him an identification card? San Francisco Chronicle:
A Vallejo man holding a Yemeni passport tried to break into the locked cockpit of an American Airlines flight bound for San Francisco before crew members and passengers, including two retired law enforcement officers, were able to subdue him, authorities said Monday.
Rageh Ahmed Mohammed Al-Murisi, 28, who was carrying a California identification card in addition to his Yemeni passport, was wrestled to the floor of the Boeing 737 near the end of the four-hour flight Sunday night. He was charged in U.S. District Court in San Francisco with interfering with a flight crew and is scheduled to appear in court today with an Arabic interpreter.
Al-Murisi, 28, suffered minor injuries as a result of being tackled, but no one else was injured, and flight safety was not compromised, authorities said.
San Francisco airport police Sgt. Michael Rodriguez said it’s not clear what Al-Murisi had in mind and that the suspect had no known ties to terrorism.
The incident began about 8:50 p.m. when American Airlines Flight 1561, carrying 156 passengers and six crew members from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago, was about a half hour from landing at San Francisco International Airport, authorities said.
The MSM seems to be conflicted. On the one hand, the Bush administration in no way helped contribute to the death of bin Laden and team Obama deserves full credit. On the other hand, they just couldn’t seem to book enough of the former administration’s officials on the Sunday shows to discuss its significance, with the result that former Bush admin. officials outnumbered Democrats by a 3:1 ratio. Rachel Maddow was noticeably annoyed in pointing this out:
The ratings from this past Sunday are in, and they’re not looking good for the Donald. Celebrity Apprentice’s three hour special (its previous episode was cut short by the news of bin Laden’s death) was down 23% from last week, drawing only 7 million viewers.
Michelle Obama has chosen to invite the rapper Common to perform at the White House Wednesday evening, and he is expected to lead rap workshops with school children prior to his performance, which is part of a greater event showcasing America’s poets, musicians, and artists.
Common’s lyrics have referenced killing policemen and have called for the burning of George W. Bush. Maybe he’s not the best choice to be teaching school kids?
Phi Beta Cons BA Mixed Blessings
Although we have learned that college grads have a better record of intact marriages than do non-college grads, at least in . . .Go
The Agenda Stray Links 05.10.11
* Ross Douthat riffs on whether Mitch Daniels is angry enough for Republican primary voters. Is there not a place . . .Go
Bench Memos Judge Chen Confirmed
Today the Senate confirmed magistrate judge Edward Chen to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California by . . .Go
