On MSNBC a moment ago, Harold Ford Jr. just asked, “Can Romney recover from his association with private equity?” The demonization of the free market is complete. This is, of course, in the context of a discussion of the Republican primary. Keep reading this post . . .
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‘Can Romney recover from his association with private equity?’
Travel website Kayak, the second company to be publicly identified as having yanked their advertisements from the TLC reality show “All-American Muslim,” apologized Wednesday for how it dealt with the situation. “We handled this poorly,” read the statement from Kayak chief marketing officer Robert Birge in an explanation of why they pulled their support. “We would not want anyone to think that we caved to hatred.” Kayak confirmed it would no longer be advertising after it was listed on the conservative Florida Family Association’s website as one of the more than 60 companies boycotting the show. Hardware giant Lowe’s also sparked massive controversy over the weekend with its decision to pull its advertisements from the show, which chronicles the lives of several Muslim-American families living in Dearborn, Mich. But Birge insisted the show’s subject matter wasn’t the reason it chose to stop advertising. Instead, he said it was because of the way TLC misrepresented the show to advertisers. While Kayak “deemed the show a worthy topic,” he blasted TLC’s handling of it. “[A]ny reasonable person would know that this topic is a particular lightning rod. We believe TLC went out of their way to pick a fight on this, and they didn’t let us know their intentions,” he said. “That’s not a business practice that generally gets repeat business from us.” Birge also tried to soften the decision by saying the company wasn’t necessarily “pulling” their advertisements, but rather choosing not to renew their campaign when the show returns in January. Other companies, including Campbell Soup and Sears Holdings — which owns Sears and Kmart — disputed the Florida Family Association’s claims they withdrew their ads in protest of the show’s content, the New York Times reported . “Unfortunately, this decision comes across as bending to bigotry. It also appears that we did not support people who deserve support as people and as Americans,” Birge said. “For that, I am profoundly sorry.” “Lastly, I watched the first two episodes. Mostly, I just thought the show sucked,” he said. “Based on our dealings with TLC and the simple assessment of the show, I decided we should put our money elsewhere. Apologies again.”
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‘The Show Sucked’: Kayak on Why it Yanked its Ads from ‘All-American Muslim’
Hardware retail giant Lowe’s has pulled its commercials from all future episodes of TLC’s reality TV show “All-American Muslim,” the chain said this week. The conservative Florida Family Association has been leading a campaign to get retailers to pull their advertisements from the show. On Tuesday, it posted an email from a Lowe’s representative who said Lowe’s will no longer be advertising during “All-American Muslim,” which chronicles the lives of several Muslim-American families living in Dearborn, Mich. “While we continue to advertise on various cable networks, including TLC, there are certain programs that do not meet Lowe’s advertising guidelines, including the show you brought to our attention. Lowe’s will no longer be advertising on that program,” the Lowe’s representative said. In a post on its official Twitter feed Friday, Lowe’s wrote in response to another tweet: “We did not pull our ads based solely on the complaints or emails of any one group. It is never our intent to alienate anyone.” A Lowe’s spokeswoman later elaborated to the Hollywood Reporter , saying, “We understand the program raised concerns, complaints or issues from multiple sides of the viewer spectrum, which we found after doing research of news articles and blogs covering the show. We based our decision to pull the advertising on this research and after hearing the concerns we received through emails, calls, through social media and in news reports.” A TLC spokeswoman declined to comment to the Hollywood Reporter on the issue, but said, “There is strong advertising support for the show.” The Florida Family Association, which called the show “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values,” has been encouraging supporters to email retailers whose commercials have aired during the show. The group claimed it has not seen this strong a response to any other issue in its 23 years of existence. You can view a list of the retailers it’s targeting here . Lowe’s decision to pull its ads garnered several angry responses online: One Twitter user who goes by the name @LawyerAsif wrote : “your actions did alienate people and you knew it would. Will you next consider KKKs demands to pull ads from BET?” Twitter user @Renstr81 wrote : “Racism is alive and strong in the 21st century. Won’t be shopping here!”
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Lowe‘s Pulls Its Ads from TLC’s ‘All-American Muslim’
Representatives from the Liberty University Law School have been “un-invited” by Western Washington University to a law school information fair for the public university’s undergraduates. Liberty University is the largest non-profit university in the nation and largest Christian university in the world. The Bellingham Herald writes on why WWU decided to bar Liberty from the information fair: “The change happened after some Western students and staff brought up concerns that Liberty ‘openly discriminates against LGBTQ identified people.’ After reviewing Liberty’s non-discrimination policy, WWU officials decided that the policy was against Western’s and therefore the schools shouldn’t be represented on campus.” Liberal groups are claiming victory after 100 of the university’s 13,800 undergraduates signed a petition to rescind the invitation to Liberty. The student who led the opposition reportedly met with the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Washington. Change.org writes in the “How We Won” blog post: “Every year Western puts on the Law School Info Fair. This year the infamously homophobic Liberty University was invited to attend. Liberty was founded by none other than Jerry Falwell (the guy who blamed 9/11 on queer people and called a Teletubby gay). Good ol’ Jerry’s ideology spread to his university. They expel queer students, mark students down for taking pro-gay stances on tests, and encourage reparative therapy, which has been recognized as both ineffective and harmful by the American Psychological Association.” The Western Front , the WWU student newspaper, writes that administrators were concerned that the invitation retraction would make WWU vulnerable to legal charges but believe the university’s nondiscrimination policy includes sexual orientation and gender identity. Thus allowing the administration to “protect students from hostile or intolerant academic situations.” Liberty has reacted strongly to WWU’s actions, as the law school’s Dean has said WWU’s invite retraction “raises serious First Amendment concerns.” Dean Matthew Staver replied to the letter that Liberty received from WWU by warning the public university that he has already been granted permission from Liberty’s chancellor to take whatever legal action necessary to protect the university’s First Amendment rights. The Western Front writes: “‘The school does not change its position,’ Staver said. ‘We will not just simply do nothing.’ Liberty University School of Law is approved by the American Bar Association and its nondiscrimination policy has been approved by the association’s standards, Staver said. No other school has denied Liberty access in its more than 40 years of existence, he said.” WWU administrators had invited Liberty’s recruiting staff and other representatives to be briefed on WWU’s nondiscrimination policy, as The Western Front writes “in hopes of Liberty understanding what it could do to be invited in coming years.”
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WWU Takes Back Liberty University Law School Fair Invitation Because School ‘Openly Discriminates Against LGBTQ Identified People’
See, ” Cain’s support dips after sex accusations: poll “: Allegations that Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain sexually harassed women in the 1990s have begun to damage his bid for the White House, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found. The poll showed the percentage of Republicans who view Cain favorably dropped 9 percentage points, to 57 percent from 66 percent a week ago. Among all registered voters, Cain’s favorability declined 5 percentage points, to 32 percent from 37 percent. The survey represents the first evidence that sexual harassment claims dating from Cain’s time as head of the National Restaurant Association have taken a toll on his presidential campaign. A majority of respondents, 53 percent, believe sexual harassment allegations against Cain are true despite his denials. Republicans were less likely to believe they are true, with 39 percent thinking they are accurate. “The most striking thing is that Herman Cain is actually seeing a fairly substantial decline in favorability ratings toward him particularly among Republicans,” said Ipsos pollster Chris Jackson.
Update: As we await the release of the accuser’s statement via her lawyer…her lawyer gives another drip of info that seems to substantiate Cain’s side of things. The settlement agreement between the National Restaurant Association and a woman who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment was reached in September 1999–and was not signed by Cain himself,
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Will the Media’s Attack on Cain Be Successful?
Joel Bennett, the lawyer for one of the former employees of the National Restaurant Association who accused Herman Cain of sexual harassment, spoke to Wolf Blitzer live on CNN moments ago. Bennett said that in his legal opinion, what occurred between Cain and his client met the legal definition of sexual harassment. But despite repeated questions from Blitzer, he refused to specify what the alleged actions were, and he said his client would not be appearing to shed any further light on the matter. Keep reading this post . . .
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With No Specifics to the Accusations, Herman Cain Wins This Fight
A third woman who worked at the National Restaurant Association raised concerns about what she took to be unwanted sexual advances by GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain when he was the group’s president.
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Cain Faces a New Accusation
Lots of developments in the Herman Cain sexual harassment scandal. CNN has this, ” Attorney for Cain accuser: Cain is lying .” Also, at Los Angeles Times , ” Herman Cain accuser wants to talk, her lawyer says “: One of Herman Cain’s accusers wants to be heard. Her lawyer told the Washington Post on Tuesday that she is ready to tell her side of the ongoing saga involving allegations of sexual harassment while Cain was head of the National Restaurant Assn. in the late 1990s. But, the lawyer, Joel Bennett, said the woman remains bound by the confidentiality agreement she signed as part of a settlement of her claim with the association. “It is just frustrating that Herman Cain is going around bad-mouthing the two complainants, and my client is blocked by a confidentiality agreement,” Bennett told the Post. “The National Restaurant Assn. ought to release them and allow them to respond.” In an appearance Tuesday evening on Fox News Channel, Cain demurred when asked whether the woman should be given a chance to provide her version of events. “There are legal implications if the restaurant association waives that. I just found out about this today — there are legal implications” he said, adding that “we can’t answer that right now. It’s too soon.” Cain was asked on Fox whether he had breached the agreement by discussing the allegations publicly, thus freeing the woman to talk. He said he hadn’t because he had never identified the name of the one woman who’s complaint Cain says he recalls. At New York Times , ” Cain Accuser Got a Year’s Salary in Severance Pay .”
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Herman Cain’s Accuser Speaks Out
