The Lame Stream Media

In a lame attempt to go undercover when it wasn’t necessary, a Dateline NBC reporter attempted to manufacture a story about Defcon 15 felonies. She was outed at the gathering and fled with other credentialed reporters and members chasing her down the street. Madigan, the NBC Producer for Dateline had no comment. Quite an interesting exchange. Check it out below.

Here is the full story from ZDNet’s George Ou :

Undercover reporter Michelle Madigan (Associate Producer of NBC Dateline) got a little more than she bargained for when she tried to sneak in to DEFCON 2007 with hidden cameras to get someone to confess to a felony. When DEFCON staff announced the “spot the undercover reporter” game and told the audience that an undercover reporter was taking video to catch someone confessing to a hacking crime, Madigan bolted from the conference premises followed by a pack of ~150 DEFCON attendees and reporters trying to photograph and video tape her. DEFCON officials never got the chance to bring Madigan on stage to offer her a press badge so that she could cover the rest of the event above board.

DEFCON organizers caught wind of this from undisclosed sources and casually contacted Madigan to see if she wanted official press credentials and a press badge to cover DEFCON. Reporters in the pressroom were then fully briefed on the situation before the “spot the undercover reporter game” so that they could cover the event.

According to Senior DEFCON official “Priest” who works for the Government in his day job, Madigan declined press credentials on four separate occasions (twice on phone and twice at DEFCON). Madigan proceeded to register as a regular DEFCON attendee and even told a DEFCON staffer that she was going to the bathroom to get her hidden camera ready. When a DEFCON goon (staffer) explained to Madigan that secret video taping wasn’t allowed, Madigan not knowing she was speaking to a goon replied that she didn’t think it wasn’t a problem. The staffer then followed Madigan around and watched her as she panned her hidden camera around the entire “Capture the flag” room to get unauthorized video of the members.

Madigan was apparently trying to do a shock piece for NBC Dateline to show middle America how criminal underground hackers had descended on DEFCON Las Vegas to learn tricks of the trade and how Federal Agents were tracking them down. When a DEFCON staffer spoke to Madigan posing as regular attendee, Madigan commented that people in Kansas (reference to middle America) would be very interested in what was “really” going on in DEFCON. DEFCON official “Priest” also had reason to believe that that Madigan was planning to out uncover federal agents attending DEFCON and expressed some serious concern about the safety and privacy of those agents. Because of this, staffers used this to lure Madigan to the room where they planned to out her instead in front of DEFCON attendees in the “spot the undercover reporter” game but Madigan bolted from the scene before her photo was put up on the projector.

The sad part of this story is that Madigan was given every opportunity to get a press pass and get access to any of the speakers and attendees above board. Even after the secret video taping she was offered a chance cover the rest of the conference with an official press badge. This is my second year covering DEFCON and I’ve never had any problems getting photos or video from willing attendees and speakers but that’s not what Madigan was going after. She wanted to paint a picture that would shock “people in Kansas” about DEFCON and that’s not what DEFCON is about. The Feds, Press, and hacker community have built up a level of mutual trust at DEFCON so that we have a place to talk openly and honestly. After taking an unofficial poll in the press room here, not one person appreciated Madigan’s antics.

h/t: Newsbusters

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Barack Obama and kindergarten sex education.

Here’s what we know for sure. Barack Obama thinks “age-appropriate” sex education for Kindergartners is a good thing.

His campaign has also told The Brody File that information about inappropriate touching would be a good idea.

But what else?

Nobody knows for sure but here’s an idea of what to expect. The Obama campaign refers The Brody File to some other types of Kindergarten programs that may give you an idea of what the Senator is talking about.

It may model something along the lines of what The Oregon Department of Education is doing.

They have the following guidelines for sex education for children in grades K-3, which include “understanding the difference between a good touch and a bad touch, understanding the names for body parts, personal hygiene, and “refusal skills.

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My cable system was so enthralled with the faux filibuster in the US Senate on C-Span2 that it aired VH1 at 8pm Tuesday evening instead.

The theatrics of the Democrat Party and Harry Reid lost some viewers in Florida.

A synopsis of the events in a nutshell:

Democrats whined.

Responsible Republicans chastised the whiners.

Democrats whined again….

etc.

Tracked to:  Hot Air ,  Michelle Malkin

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President Bush will not rule out a pardon for Scooter Libby.

The liberals’ heads are exploding as this is being written.

Bush has a constitutional right to commute or pardon anyone at any time he pleases.

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Congressman Harold Ford (D-Tenn) crashed his opponents press conference.

Tip to Ford’s campaign aides: keep the Prozac handy.

That was a well scripted question…..

Linked to: Hot Air

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The Wonkette gone wild.  The Moonbats have lost it again with badly photoshopped images of Michelle Malkin  published on their site.

They put Michelle’s face on a shapely body;  probably not  as attractive as her own. 

They can’t do it successfully with one of their own. You just can’t photoshop this image.
 

  Mother Nature did her own Photoshopping already.

Others reporting: Hot Air  

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This from Breitbart:

Ailes, appearing Monday at the summer meeting of the Television Critics Association, was referring to a weekend incident at the gathering in which Olbermann whipped out a mask of O’Reilly and gave a Nazi salute.

Ailes said Olbermann picks on Fox’s O’Reilly to boost his ratings.

"Clearly he has no viewers except those he gets when he attacks Fox News," Ailes said.

Of Saturday’s incident, Ailes said, "I really think that’s over the line."

During his "Countdown" show on MSNBC, Olbermann regularly tweaks O’Reilly. Olbermann has named O’Reilly his "Worst Person in the World" at least 15 times. The nightly "award" is Olbermann’s way of criticizing what he deems bad behavior.

Hoping that my work paid off trackbacks should be working now.

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Joe Wilson and his wife Valerie Plame are suing Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and a bevy of unnamed others for "gross invasion of their privacy" among other things.

This from the press release:

The suit accuses the defendants of violating the Wilsons’ constitutional and other legal rights as a result of "a conspiracy among current and former high-level officials in the White House" to "discredit, punish and seek revenge against" Mr. Wilson for publicly disputing statements made by President Bush in his 2003 State of the Union address justifying the war in Iraq.

The suit was filed nearly three years after Washington columnist Robert Novak disclosed Valerie Wilson’s classified CIA employment in a column he wrote on July 14, 2003, based on leaks from senior administration officials. It subsequently was confirmed, during Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s criminal investigation, that several top ranking officials in the White House leaked Wilson’s name and status with the CIA to Novak and other reporters.

The Complaint was filed in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by the international law firm of Proskauer Rose LLP, whose team is headed by Washington, D.C. litigation partner and privacy law practitioner Christopher Wolf. Noted Constitutional law scholar Erwin Chemerinsky, a professor of law at Duke University, is of counsel in the case.

As a result of Cheney, Libby and Rove’s conduct, the suit claims that the Wilsons have suffered violations of their rights guaranteed under the United States Constitution and by laws of the District of Columbia.

The Complaint specifies that each of the Wilsons has been deprived of their First and Fifth Amendment rights; each has suffered a gross invasion of their privacy; each has been impaired in pursuing professional opportunities; and that they fear for their safety and the safety of their children as a result of the wrongful public disclosures. In addition, the Complaint alleges that Valerie Wilson was impaired in her ability to carry out her duties at the CIA, and to pursue her career at the agency in further service to her country, as she had planned. While no specific dollar amount is requested, the suit seeks compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys’ fees and costs.

…

It sounds like Joe & Val are worried that their fifteen minutes of fame is on the wane. JPod is ecstatic with the lawsuit. This story will be fun to watch.

John Podhoretz is ecstatic with this lawsuit. 

Allah at Hot Air has all the details.

The Plame-Wilsons jump the Shark 

Captain’s Quarters delves into the specifics of the Complaint 

Linked To: Mudville Gazette 

Michelle Malkin 

Wizbang 

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This is a weekend open post .

 
Hat Tip To PTG via Michelle Malkin for the Poster

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Conservative Cat 

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Two New Jersey legislators are calling for the banning of Ann Coulter’s new book Godless from that state’s bookstores.

All this publicity is just helping the sales of the book skyrocket.  These Liberal geniuses are playing right into Coulter’s hands.

 Linked To: Sweetness & Light

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