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Go to www.wonkette.com for the addies and links to these New York and
Washington paper gossip columns:
“Hitler does better among Jewish voters than Zell Miller does among
Democrats.” — Pollster Frank Luntz, explaining the fierce negative reaction of John Kerry supporters in a focus group he conducted during Tuesday night’s debate when Vice President Cheney mentioned the Democratic senator from Georgia
• CNN seems to be going to lengths to ensure that Daryn Kagan, its
midmorning anchor, doesn't touch news regarding her sweetie pie,
Rush Limbaugh. Yesterday Limbaugh lost an appeal on his medical
records case, and Kagan abruptly tossed the story to early afternoon
anchor Kyra Phillips. Said a CNN spokesman: "We value the trust our
viewers place in us and this is the right way to handle it, plain
and simple."
CNN handles Rush delivery with care
It was a moment right out of a Hollywood romantic comedy. "Breaking
news from Florida," CNN anchor Daryn Kagan announced yesterday from
Atlanta, shortly after 11 a.m. "For more on that, let's go to my
colleague, Kyra Phillips." As Kagan tossed to Phillips, she looked
admirably composed. That's because a Florida appeals court had just
added to the legal woes of Kagan's boyfriend, Rush Limbaugh -
upholding law officers' seizure of his medical records in a
prosecution investigation of whether he illegally obtained
painkillers.
"Rush Limbaugh's nightmare," CNN correspondent Susan Candiotti
called the situation in the taped package that followed. A few
minutes later, CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin opined: "Limbaugh
isn't out of the woods. He's deeper in the woods."
Finally, Phillips tossed it back to Kagan. Understandably, she
looked a little rattled. CNN underwent scrutiny months ago when The
Washington Post reported that married news exec Eason Jordan had
been dating frequent on-air guest Mariane Pearl, widow of murdered
journalist Daniel Pearl.But yesterday's was an intriguing coincidence, not an ethical conflict, and CNN spokesman Matt Furman
E-mailed me: "CNN reported the story in a way that avoided even the appearance of a conflict of interest. Daryn Kagan handed off to another anchor, Kyra Phillips, who reported the story fully along with CNN's legal analyst Jeff Toobin and reporters John Zarrella and Susan Candiotti. When the Limbaugh report ended, Kyra tossed it back to Daryn. "We value the trust our viewers place in us, and this was the right way to handle it, plain and simple."
The briefing
SEAN VANITY? Did Fox News star Sean Hannity break a speaking
commitment in St. Louis tomorrow because the organizers couldn't
provide him with a sufficiently luxurious private jet? That's the
allegation in yesterday's Student Life, the undergraduate newspaper
of Washington University, site of tomorrow night's presidential
debate. The paper claimed Hannity, who'd waived a reported
$100,000 speaking fee, canceled the appearance because "he can't
fly in style." But Hannity told me yesterday that safety, not vanity,
prompted him to scrap the engagement. Hannity said he was spooked in
August 2003 after a Learjet 35 - on which he had flown dozens of
times - crashed in Groton, Conn., killing the two pilots. "I had
been scheduled to fly on that very plane two days later," Hannity
said. "After that, I promised my wife, Jill, I would never fly on
a private jet without first thoroughly checking out the equipment
and the pilots. I don't want my two young children to be fatherless.
I really prefer to fly commercial anyway, and I'm flying commercial
to St. Louis on Friday." He said making a 10 a.m. appearance would
have made a corporate jet necessary event organizer Ruth Hollander,
a law student, told me that after a private donor provided $20,000,
Hannity was offered a variety of aircraft - all Learjets - but
Hannity argued there wasn't time to vet them. In any case, he said
he's planning to return to St. Louis "at my own expense" to make
a free appearance sponsored by his affiliate radio station.
POLITICAL PSEUDOSCIENCE? UCLA neuroscientists have been studying
what seem to be actual physiological differences between the
brains of Republicans and Democrats.
Rolling Stone reports that when the UCLA study started in the spring,
researchers noted that the amygdala - an almond-size region of the
brain associated with strong emotions such as compassion and fear -
went wild in Democrats when they viewed President Bush's 9/11
television commercials. But Republicans showed barely any amygdala
activity. "It's certainly not that they don't care," said psychiatrist
Joshua Freedman, but their lack of response may just reflect their
world-view: "The world is a dangerous place, terrible things happen,
and you have to be strong." By August, however, Republican amygdalas
began firing at the sight of smoldering Ground Zero scenes.
Neurologist Marco Iacoboni explained it doesn't necessarily mean
Republicans were going soft: "It's possible they now fear the
election, or feel they may lose the White House."
Meanwhile, small wonder young people are still having trouble voting.
Drew Carey is not even going to bother to pull a lever come Nov. 2.
Why? The comic feels the country is run by powerful groups that
control whatever candidate he might vote for. "Quit pretending that
it matters, would you? Can you vote for all the nefarious cabals
that really run the world? No. So f- it," Carey told Reason magazine.
And Penn Gillette told the mag the "moral thing" is not to vote,
adding: "I'm undecided (always the stupidest position)." But
Gillette noted that a friend would give him 100 bucks if he votes
for George Bush, so he might do that. Duh. Thankfully, Jake
Gyllenhaal hasn't lost his passion. "Politics is getting sexier
to young people," he told us at Monday night's ACLU benefit. "But
voter registration forms need to be places where young people are
going to see them."
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