Free Republic

On Thursday, New York Times editor-in-chief Bill Keller hysterically accused the John McCain campaign of "wag[ing] a war" on the Gray Lady simply by issuing a clear and calm denial of Keller's smear. If that's true, then give Times public editor Clark Hoyt in the conscientious objector status. Hoyt wants no part of defending Keller or his journalists, which he makes clear in a stinging rebuke: The article was notable for what it did not say: It did not say what convinced the advisers that there was a romance. It did not make clear what McCain was admitting when he...

The White House sided with Sen. John McCain and accused The New York Times on Friday of repeatedly trying to "drop a bombshell" on Republican presidential nominees to undermine their candidacies. White House deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel... "I think a lot of people here in this building, with experience in a couple campaigns, have grown accustomed to the fact that during the course of the campaign, seemingly on maybe a monthly basis leading up to the convention and maybe a weekly basis after that, the New York Times does try to drop a bombshell on the Republican nominee. "And...

The embattled executive editor of the New York Times defended its John McCain story Friday with a novel explanation for the flood of critical e-mails the newspaper received: slow-witted readers. "Personally, I was surprised by the volume of the reaction," Bill Keller wrote in a Times Web site Q&A forum. Readers posted 2,000 comments and sent in 3,700 questions. "I was surprised by how lopsided the opinion was against our decision, with readers who described themselves as independents and Democrats joining Republicans in defending Mr. McCain from what they saw as a cheap shot," Keller added. The problem, Keller went...

New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has figured out why there was such a negative reaction to their sloppy hit piece on John McCain: their readers are dense. WASHINGTON - The embattled executive editor of the New York Times defended its John McCain story Friday with a novel explanation for the flood of critical e-mails the newspaper received: slow-witted readers. “Personally, I was surprised by the volume of the reaction,” Bill Keller wrote in a Times Web site Q&A forum. Readers posted 2,000 comments and sent in 3,700 questions. “I was surprised by how lopsided the opinion was against...

All three broadcast network evening newscasts led Thursday night with the New York Times story alleging an improper relationship by John McCain with a female lobbyist, but questions about the journalistic standards of the newspaper were given as much consideration as the allegations against McCain. All three ran a soundbite from Rush Limbaugh denouncing the paper while ABC and CBS featured establishment media observers who castigated the Times for basing a story on the feelings of unnamed sources: Ken Auletta on ABC and Tom Rosenstiel on CBS. “John McCain began his day answering questions about a story in the New...

I have two sources, both of whom wish to remain anonymous, that report to me that New York Times Editor Bill Keller was spotted in a dumpster last weekend in the Hamptons snorting crack cocaine and smothering a pair of cocker spaniel puppies with a pair of sweat socks. So now I’m reporting it to you. Wasn’t that fun? Of course this isn’t true – not that I know of, anyway – but it sure was easy to get out my laptop and write those words down so thousands of eyes could read them. Evidently, the “Old Grey Lady� possesses...

Using only his Bible as a guide top internet evangelist Bill Keller has a new website entitled “A vote for Romney is a vote for Satan.” Bill Keller the founder of the controversial “LivePrayer” program running for the last eight years is no stranger to controversy. He has confronted the gay activists, Planned Parenthood, Muslim groups and even posted a video response to Osama Bin Laden.

An American evangelist has jumped into the fray over the fate of a British teacher facing calls for death over a teddy bear named "Muhammad." Bill Keller, host of LivePrayer, has posted a video on YouTube featuring a pink pig named Muhammad after the Muslim prophet. Bill Keller of LivePrayer has named this toy pig after the Muslim prophet "Indeed Muhammad was a man of murder," the pig, voiced by Keller himself, states in the video. "He was a pedophile, having a wife at the age of six. And I came to find out that the Quran really is...

Switcheroo: American minister sends video to Osama Says he's damned to hell if he doesn't repent, convert -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: September 14, 2007 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2007 WorldNetDaily.com Bill Keller WASHINGTON – An American television evangelist has turned the tables on al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden – sending him a video message warning him to repent of his sins and convert to Christianity. "Osama, since you seem to be a fan of video messages, I thought this would be the best way to communicate with you," says Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based "Live Prayer" TV program as well...

WASHINGTON – An American television evangelist has turned the tables on al-Qaida terrorist leader Osama bin Laden – sending him a video message warning him to repent of his sins and convert to Christianity. "Osama, since you seem to be a fan of video messages, I thought this would be the best way to communicate with you," says Bill Keller, host of the Florida-based "Live Prayer" TV program as well as LivePrayer.com in a message being posted to YouTube and 20 other major video sites in the U.S. as well as some 50 in the Middle East. Keller said his...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A Christian televangelist who harshly criticizes Islam and other religions said Friday that his late-night program is being pulled off the air because of pressure from a Muslim group. Earlier this month, officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations wrote a letter to the TV station's owners asking for an investigation of the show it broadcasts, "Live Prayer with Bill Keller." In a May 2 broadcast, the televangelist said Islam was a "1,400-year-old lie from the pits of hell" and called the Prophet Mohammed a "murdering pedophile." He also called the Koran a "book of...

Preacher says CBS 'caved' to demands of Islamic organization. A CBS television station in Tampa, Fla., has announced it is taking the ongoing "Live Prayer with Bill Keller" program, on the airwaves since 2003, off after the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations complained of the religious views Keller expressed.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- A Christian televangelist who harshly criticizes Islam and other religions said Friday that his late-night program is being pulled off the air because of pressure from a Muslim group. Earlier this month, officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations wrote a letter to the TV station's owners asking for an investigation of the show it broadcasts, "Live Prayer with Bill Keller." In a May 2 broadcast, the televangelist said Islam was a "1,400-year-old lie from the pits of hell" and called the Prophet Mohammed a "murdering pedophile." He also called the Koran a "book of...

Televangelist: I lost my show over Muslim remarks ST. PETERSBURG -- Televangelist Bill Keller may have finally met an opponent he can't out-talk. The controversial late-night Christian talk show host, known for his biting criticism of religious, political and pop culture figures, is going off the air. Keller, 49, says he ran afoul of the Tampa Chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations. The group calls Live Prayer with Bill Keller a hate-filled broadcast that damages Muslims and Islam. Earlier this month, CAIR asked CBS executives to remove Keller's nightly talk show from WTOG-TV Ch. 44, a CBS-owned station...

ST. PETERSBURG - For the first time in nearly five years, controversial Christian televangelist Bill Keller is going off the air. Keller - known for his vitriolic criticism of religious, political and pop culture figures - said Thursday his program was yanked in response to pressure from local Muslims. Earlier this month, officials from the Council on American Islamic Relations wrote to executives at CBS asking them to investigate Live Prayer with Bill Keller, an hourlong nightly program. In a May 2 broadcast, the televangelist said Islam was a "1,400-year-old lie from the pits of hell" and called the Prophet...

...Has Times editor gotten away with murder?Posted: September 22, 2006 1:00 a.m. Eastern If you blinked you would have missed it. I'm speaking of the news coverage about who really leaked Valerie Plame's identity as a non-covert CIA agent. The leaker, former Colin Powell aide Richard Armitage, was a vocal critic of the war in Iraq. Perhaps the media "overlooked" Armitage and his role in this scandal precisely because he shared their disdain for the war in Iraq. Did you happen to notice that Karl Rove, Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby didn't receive that same consideration – even though they...

SAN FRANCISCO Hewlett-Packard Co.'s beleaguered chairwoman Patricia Dunn was in decidedly friendly territory Wednesday night as she made her first public appearance since landing at the center of a corporate investigation gone awry. Dunn was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Bay Area Council, a politically influential business group. "All I will say about the maelstrom is that I look forward eagerly, in the near future, to setting the record straight and going back to leading my life as discreetly as possible," Dunn said during her acceptance speech. "And in the meantime, it wouldn't hurt if the Pope...

The Times' executive editor accuses the Bush White House of stirring up a "partisan hatefest" against the paper over its revelation of an anti-terrorist program that monitored international banking transactions. Deep inside New York magazine's front-page profile of Times Executive Editor Bill Keller (ludicrously called a "true centrist" by writer Joe Hagan) is this gem about his reaction to White House criticism of the paper's exposure of its tracking of international banking transactions for terror clues: "They pissed me off....I think the administration is genuinely distressed that we ran the story over their objections. I think they were embarrassed by...

The United States of America vs. Bill Keller How hard is it to be executive editor of the New York Times today? The White House calls him a traitor. He gets roasted every day on talk shows and blogs. The newsroom is losing faith. The paper is shrinking. And the worst part is that fighting back means overcoming his own nature... ...For a meeting without historical precedent, the president of the United States had called the Times to the White House to personally try to prevent a state secret from appearing in print—an exposé of the National Security Agency’s efforts...

New York Times reporter Judith Miller speaks during the 2005 SPJ Convention & National Journalism Conference in Las Vegas Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2005. Miller, who was jailed 85 days for refusing to reveal a source, defended her decision to go to jail to protect the source and told a journalism conference Tuesday that reporters need a federal shield law so that others won't face the same sanctions. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong) WASHINGTON -- In the latest fallout from the CIA leak investigation, reporter Judith Miller and The New York Times are engaging in a very public fight about her seeming...

The New York Times' public editor, Byron Calame, publishes a startling admision from Bill Keller regarding the publication delay of the most explosive story in his short reign as managing editor. Earlier, when Keller told people that the NSA surveillance story got delayed from December 2004 based on requests from the White House, speculation circulated that the story had actually gotten shelved before the presidential election. Now Calame confirms that Keller lied about the publication history of the Lichtblau/Risen effort: Keller has destroyed what's left of his paper's credibility. He lied to everyone about the timing of this publication, baldly...

Thomas Lifson made some interesting comments this morning, on RealClearPolitics.com: "...The print edition of the New York Times in its local metropolitan market is in serious decline. Management won't openly admit it in so many words, but circulation is declining and its advertising sales force is facing more competition from new media, while traditional advertisers like department stores decline. The future is bleak, so it is time to get their money out of a loser."Jacks Risko and I noted 5 months ago that, "The Times has seen its comparable core metropolitan circulation decline by 27% since 1993 (the first year...

In an op-ed that appeared in the New York Times on July 1, 2006, Dean Baquet (L.A. Times editor) and Bill Keller (New York Times executive editor) said: "…We, and the people who work for us, are not neutral in the struggle against terrorism. ... "…The New York Times has held articles that, if published, might have jeopardized efforts to protect vulnerable stockpiles of nuclear material, and articles about highly sensitive counterterrorism initiatives that are still in operation." They say they are “not neutral” in the GWOT, after all, they too are in the enemy’s kill zone. They infer they...

Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had the phone numbers of senior Iraqi officials stored in his cell phone, according to an Iraqi legislator.

My Letter to Bill Keller

Headline by headline, a trickle of news leaks on Iraq and the antiterror campaign has grown into a steady stream of revelations, and from Pennsylvania Avenue to Downing Street, Copenhagen to Canberra, governments are responding with pressure and prosecutions. The latest target is The New York Times. But the unfolding story begins as far back as 2003, when British weapons expert David Kelly was "outed" as the source of a story casting doubt on his government's arguments for invading Iraq, and he committed suicide.

" Protest Warriors " March against Anti-American National Security Leakers and Anti-Troop Liberal Media outlets .(and to Show Support for Our Troops!)

The top editor of the New York Times remains unrepentant about publishing stories exposing national security intelligence programs, saying he would do it again. "I think it's useful for us to discuss, to know about how our government is waging this war to protect us," said Bill Keller, executive editor of the Times, on CBS' "Face the Nation" program. "This was a case where clearly the terrorists or the people who finance terrorism know quite well, because the Treasury Department and the White House have talked openly about it, that they monitor international banking transactions. It's not news to the...

Bill Keller was on Face the Nation this morning. -----, and you have to see it to believe it. You know the utter arrogance you have seen in this man’s written defenses of his exposure of classified information? It comes across triple-strength on video. He says the White House has reacted strongly because it’s an election year, and it’s “red meat” to beat up on the New York Times. Also, the White House is just embarrassed that they can’t hold onto their secrets. Also, this wasn’t a secret anyway, because the terrorists knew about it. (He shows no sign of...

The Talk Shows Sunday, July 2nd, 2006 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.; NASA Administrator Michael Griffin; Lt. Col. Michael Colburn, director of the President's Own U.S. Marine Band. MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. FACE THE NATION (CBS): New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller; Sens. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., and Carl Levin, D-Mich. THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif.; actress and United Nations goodwill ambassador Mia Farrow.LATE EDITION (CNN) : Reps....

The top editor of the New York Times said if he had it to do again, he would still publish his newspaper's controversial expose of a secret program monitoring global bank transfers, despite outrage from the Republican White House and members of Congress. Speaking on CBS television's "Face The Nation" program Sunday, Times executive editor Bill Keller said he did not regret his decision to run the story, which was condemned on Thursday in a vote by the Republican-led House of Representatives in a non-binding resolution. "I think it's useful for us to discuss, to know about how our government...

The battle of Midway Island was the turning point of the Pacific War. Victory at Midway was possible because the U.S. had broken the Japanese naval code. The Chicago Tribune spilled the beans in a story that ran under the headline: "NAVY HAD WORD OF JAP PLAN TO STRIKE AT SEA." President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was furious. He knew that if the Japanese read the story, they'd suspect their codes were compromised, and change them. The president "initially was disposed to send in the Marines to shut down Tribune tower," wrote Harry Evans. "He was talked out of that, then...

Weekend Talk Show *Preview* for 7/1 and 7/2/06 (not the live thread)The main message is the Sunday Shows.  Message 1 will be the Saturday Shows and message 2 will be the show guest links post.  Then I'll post the ping list.ABC This Week (George Stephanopoulos) Meme: Bush was wrong on all the issues McCain is right onThe Supreme's smack down the Bushies (who cares if it endangers the country, it's NEWS!!!) Topics: Hamdan, Immigration, and Iraq Guests Senator John McCain, Republican - Arizona He's BAAAAACKMcCain's back and Georgie's got himIt's such a tragedy that President Bush didn't listen to Saint...

After remaining mum for the past week, even as controversy swirled around newspapers' revealing the banking records surveillance program, the Wall Street Journal editoral page weighed in today. Although the Journal published its own story just hours after The New York Times -- which has taken the most heat -- its editorial defended its own action while blasting the Times. It even included a personal slam at Times' publisher, Arthur O. Sulzberger, Jr. and said the Times did not want to win, but rather obstruct, the war on terror. Sulzberger responded this afternoon: "I know many of the reporters and...

Dear Bill Keller: Remember me? We met in the elevator here at The Oregonian recently. Your decision to expose a secret program to track terrorist funding got me to thinking I had better write and apologize. I don't think I was sufficiently deferential on our brief ride together. I treated you like the executive editor of The New York Times who used to work for The Oregonian. I had no idea I was riding with the man who decides what classified programs will be made public during a war on terror. I had no idea the American people had elected...

For a moment, let's flashback to a hypothetical conversation being held on May 15, 1944. We break in on a phone conference between the Roosevelt administration and a managing editor of the New York Times. The White House is pleading with the nation's so-called "newspaper of record" not to publish some information leaked to the publication regarding the June 5th 1944 planned invasion of Hitler's Fortress Europe/Normandy. The White House representative contends releasing the story will cost the lives of thousands of Allied soldiers. The managing editor of the New York Times responds by saying, it's in the best interest...

[ed. - Our dilligent dumpster divers on 43rd Street have located the first draft of Bill Keller's patient  explanation of the New York Times' ethics policy. Related: In New York, Scrappy Newspaper Struggles For Survival]From the Desk of Bill KellerExecutive Editor, The New York TimesWith my hectic schedule of Pulitzer committees and Columbia Journalism School symposia, I don't always have time to answer my mail as fully as etiquette demands. Lord knows I'll be in the Audi headed to a Friday night ACLU cocktail benefit in the Hamptons when my Blackberry starts beeping and I have to pull over on...

Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, suggested in a letter to readers this week that the newspaper's decision to reveal the existence of a secret government program tracing international banking records in pursuit of terrorists had nothing to do with politics, only good journalism. We don't buy it. Those who defend the newspaper say the revelation of the monitoring program lets the public know about the intensity of the government's scrutiny of private individuals. The media, it's true, should act as a check on government power. But in this instance, there is no suggestion that the program...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Tuesday blasted U.S. media for exposing details of highly secretive intelligence programs and asked the Bush administration for a formal damage assessment. Sen. Pat Roberts (news, bio, voting record), a Kansas Republican, asked U.S. intelligence chief John Negroponte to report particularly on any damage to President George W. Bush's domestic spying program and another secret program by the Treasury Department that tracks private bank records. "Numerous, recent unauthorized disclosures of sensitive intelligence programs have directly threatened important efforts in the war against terrorism," Roberts, a staunch White House ally,...

BILL KELLER ISN'T VERY BRIGHT, or else he thinks you aren't. How else to explain this passage in his apologia for the Times' publication of classified information about the terrorist financial surveillance program: "Some of the incoming mail quotes the angry words of conservative bloggers and TV or radio pundits who say that drawing attention to the government's anti-terror measures is unpatriotic and dangerous. (I could ask, if that's the case, why they are drawing so much attention to the story themselves by yelling about it on the airwaves and the Internet.)" I realize that the Times' circulation is falling...

The New York Times strikes again. The dynamic reporter duo behind last December’s expose of the National Security Agency’s terror monitoring program struck again last Friday, revealing details of another surveillance program while again ignoring personal pleas from the White House not to publish. Eric Lichtblau and James Risen, the same team that handled the harmful N.S.A. “domestic spying” scoop, had Friday’s lead story on a program involving surveillance of bank records of an international banking cooperative, the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications, or SWIFT. In doing so, the Times may well have crippled another counter-terrorism program, this time...

Letter to the Editors of The New York Times by Treasury Secretary SnowMr. Bill Keller, Managing EditorThe New York Times229 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036 Dear Mr. Keller:The New York Times' decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide. In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists...

Fox News video The O'Reilly Factor Pres. Bush takes on The NY Times and other committed left-media

Mr. Bill Keller, Managing EditorThe New York Times229 West 43rd StreetNew York, NY 10036 Dear Mr. Keller: The New York Times' decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide.  In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists to the methods and sources used to track their money trails. Your...

Mr. Bill Keller, Managing Editor The New York Times 229 West 43rd Street New York, NY 10036 Dear Mr. Keller: The New York Times' decision to disclose the Terrorist Finance Tracking Program, a robust and classified effort to map terrorist networks through the use of financial data, was irresponsible and harmful to the security of Americans and freedom-loving people worldwide. In choosing to expose this program, despite repeated pleas from high-level officials on both sides of the aisle, including myself, the Times undermined a highly successful counter-terrorism program and alerted terrorists to the methods and sources used to track their...

June 26, 2006BILL KELLER ISN'T VERY BRIGHT, or else he thinks you aren't. How else to explain this passage in his apologia for the Times' publication of classified information about the terrorist financial surveillance program: Some of the incoming mail quotes the angry words of conservative bloggers and TV or radio pundits who say that drawing attention to the government's anti-terror measures is unpatriotic and dangerous. (I could ask, if that's the case, why they are drawing so much attention to the story themselves by yelling about it on the airwaves and the Internet.) I realize that the Times' circulation...

The following is a letter Bill Keller, the executive editor of The Times, has sent to readers who have written him about The Times's publication of information about the government's examination of international banking records: I don't always have time to answer my mail as fully as etiquette demands, but our story about the government's surveillance of international banking records has generated some questions and concerns that I take very seriously. As the editor responsible for the difficult decision to publish that story, I'd like to offer a personal response. Some of the incoming mail quotes the angry words of...

In an update to a previous post titled Do As I Say, Not As I Do, I directed everyone to a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) editorial titled, Our Rotten IntelligenCIA. Today, Bill Keller, Executive Editor of The New York Times (NYT), responded to the above WSJ editorial. (snip) The most ridiculous thing that Bill had to say was this: To believe that aggressive journalism is driven by liberal partisanship requires an awfully selective memory. (Ask Bill Clinton. Ask Congressman Mollohan.)Is Bill Keller out of his mind? Seriously, is he taking crazy pills?

Most American newspapers, including yours and mine, try hard to separate the curiosity-driven world of reporters and editors from the ideology-driven world of editorial writers and columnists. The news and opinion departments operate under separate management, and they play by different rules. When editors like me disagree with our counterparts in opinion-land, we tend to keep it to ourselves. Still, I imagine a lot of people on the news side of this divide were appalled by your editorial attack April 26 on the patriotism and professional integrity of journalists and government officials who talk to them ("Our Rotten IntelligenCIA," Review...