The Nuge Takes Aim at the Supremes
The Supreme Court, that is.
In a letter released today, rocker Ted Nugent blasted four unnamed Supreme Court justicesthough presumably he means Justices Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg and Breyerfor dissenting in a ruling that overturned a Washington, D.C., law that had banned handguns.
Despite the victory for gun-rights supporters, the Detroit musician, hunting advocate and National Rifle Association board member unloads on the decision in a letter titled, “A ’Supreme’ Court? I Can Do Better.” Nugent sounds off on what he sees as the “lunatic fringe of anti-freedom Americans” who would place limits such as owner registration or trigger locks on the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
He writes: “When the evil King’s gangsters came to collect unfair taxes from Americans, we tossed their tea into the drink. When they came to disarm us into helplessness against their old world tyrannical ways, we met them at Concord Bridge and shot them dead till they quit treading on us. Any questions children? I didn’t think so.”
Included in the Motor City Madman’s epistle are Democratic Senators Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy, along with notorious dictators, mass murderers and non-U.S. citizens such as Adolf Hitler, Mao Tse Tung, Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein.
For his part, Senator Obama released his own statement about the Supreme Court ruling, which reads in part: “I have always believed that the Second Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures.”
Tributes Pour in for Tim Russert
The floodgates opened just moments after Tom Brokaw took to the air Friday afternoon to inform the TV-watching nation that his longtime friend and NBC colleague Tim Russert had died suddenly at the age of 58.
Out poured an endless number of heartfelt, albeit stunned, tributes from fellow journalists, network executives and, of course, the politicians whom Russert made it his business to fire the tough questions atall of whom he could also count as friends. (Well, if they weren’t all his friends, at the very least he had their deepest respect.)
Here’s a sampling:
Barack Obama: “I’ve known Tim Russert since I first spoke at the convention in 2004. He’s somebody who, over time, I came to consider not only a journalist but a friend. There wasn’t a better interviewer in TV, not a more thoughtful analyst of our politics, and he was also one of the finest men I knew.”
John McCain: “I am very saddened by Tim Russert’s sudden death. Cindy and I extend our thoughts and prayers to the Russert family as they cope with this shocking loss and remember the life and legacy of a loving father, husband and the preeminent political journalist of his generation.”
Bill and Hillary Clinton: “We were stunned and deeply saddened to hear of the passing today of Tim Russert…Always true to his proud Buffalo roots, Tim had a love of public service and a dedication to journalism that rightfully earned him the respect and admiration of not only his colleagues but also those of us who had the privilege to go toe to toe with him.”
George W. Bush: “Laura and I are deeply saddened by the sudden passing of Tim Russert. Those of us who knew and worked with Tim, his many friends, and the millions of Americans who loyally followed his career on the air will all miss him. As the longest-serving host of the longest-running program in the history of television, he was an institution in both news and politics for more than two decades.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger: “Tim was an American icon in the world of political journalism who could relate to everybody. His insightful commentary and tough but fair interviews helped millions of Americans better understand our political system…But Tim was not only one of the top journalists of his generation; he was a close friend, a warm and generous person and a wonderful family man.”
Maria Shriver: “Tim Russert was one of my closest friends and he was like a brother to me. He was not only a professional confidant but a personal one. He was always the first person to call me whenever anything happened with my family. And he always called me just to check in and see how I was doing and to encourage me.”
Diane Sawyer: “No one could see Tim in a room and not smile. He brought so much joy and curiosity and sheer vitality to all our lives. As a journalist, he would set out like a great explorer. You couldn’t wait to see what he discovered every day in the new world. He was a defining American newsman.”
Dan Rather: Tim had become an important part of our political process. He will be especially missed in this historic presidential election year. Tim Russert was a beacon of quality journalism. At a time when quality journalism is in increasingly short supply, Tim Russert was a leader for what is best in American journalism. He was tough but fair, pulled no punches, played no favorites. As an interviewer, he had few, if any, peers.
Here’s a clip of Russert on the other side of the table for a change, discussing his most recent book, Wisdom of Our Fathers, on The Daily Show:
Jimmy Kimmel’s Different Strokes for Barack Obama
Forget Hillary Clinton as Barack Obama’s running mate!
Jimmy Kimmel has another idea.
Find out who after the jump…
“I think it should be Gary Coleman,” Kimmel said at last night’s Celebrity Scrabble Doubles Tournament in Beverly Hills benefiting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “I mean, imagine Vice President Gary Coleman! He has some political experience. He ran for governor. He could be our man.”
Back in 2003, Coleman was a candidate for governor in the California recall election. He actually placed 8th in a field of 135 candidates with 14,242 votes!
Meanwhile, Sex and the City star Willie Garson had some more personal matters on his mind Thursday night. He’s in the process of trying to adopt a child through Los Angeles County.
“I’m asking for a two to four-year-old,” he said. “I don’t need an infant.”
It hasn’t been easy. “I started in October,” Garson said. “I understand why people give up and do private or international. They really put you through it here.”
McCain Isn't the Only One Who Watches Army Wives
John McCain and Barack Obama know where the votes viewers are.
The second-season premiere of Lifetime’s Army Wives, featuring testimonials from both presidential contenders, soared to the top of the cable ratings.
The Sunday hourlong averaged 4.5 million viewers, per Nielsen Media Research. That’s up nearly 30 percent over the show’s opener last year, the network said.
Overall, Army Wives finished second among all scripted shows, behind an original episode of USA’s Law & Order: Criminal Intent (4.53 million).
Launched in June 2007, Army Wives focuses on civilians who are married to the service, literally. Familiar faces Kim Delaney (NYPD Blue) and Catherine Bell (JAG) are among the stars.
On Sunday, McCain and Obama, themselves familiar faces, were seen in individually taped segments, with both paying tribute to real-life military families.
Republican McCain did his Democratic challenger one better, saying he knows Army Wives has a “lot of twists and turns” because his wife “Cindy makes me watch with her.” Earlier this spring, the 71-year-old professed to “never miss an episode of The Hills.”
No word on whether Obama plans to start beefing up his viewing habits to keep up with his apparently remote-savvy opponent.
Here are other ratings highlights for the TV week ended Sunday:
- One thing bigger than Army Wives was the presidential campaign itself. CNN’s coverage of Obama’s historic, nomination-clinching night speech averaged 4.7 million viewers, making it cable’s top prime-time broadcast.
- The rise of Obama, if not the fall of Hillary Clinton, also made a big night for MSNBC, which averaged 3.5 million viewers for the same hour of coverage.
- Fox News Channel viewers apparently were more interested in what Bill O’Reilly thought of the Obama speech than in the speech itself, as an O’Reilly Factor that aired the night after the address was the network’s top-rated telecast, with 2.8 million viewers.
- The second-season opener of History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers (3.9 million) was cable’s most watched reality show not starring Obama, McCain or Clinton.
- In broadcast TV, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers were good for ABC’s business. The first two games of the NBA Finals (first place, 13.5 million for Game 2; second place, 13.4 million for Game 1) were up from last year, though down from the last time the Lakers costarred in the series in 2004.
- CBS’ Million Dollar Password (fifth place, 9.62 million) edged Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance (seventh place, 9.56 million for Wednesday’s episode; 10th place, 9.3 million for Thursday’s episode) and Hell’s Kitchen (ninth place, 9.36 million) as the week’s most watched summer show.
- On Thursday, the freethinking folks of CBS’ Swingtown (14th place, 8.6 million) outdid the horror mongers of NBC’s new anthology series Fear Itself (41st place, 5.3 million).
- Even more impressive, Swingtown finished in the top 10 among envious young adults, aged 18-49.
- The series-clinching Game 6 of hockey’s Stanley Cup Finals (24th place, 6.8 million) was up a mere, oh, 111 percent from the sport’s last Game 6 in 2006, NBC said.
- Even more impressive, both Game 5 and Game 6 of the Stanley Cup series finished in the top 10 among 18-to-49-year-olds.
- The two NBA Finals games, by the way, were the two most-watched shows in that apparently diverse demographic.
In the network races, CBS won the week in total viewers, averaging 7.2 million viewers; Fox, which didn’t air basketball, hockey or Swingtown, managed nonetheless to capture the flag among young adults.
In a rarity, all four networks were up in viewers when compared to the same summer week last year.
In cable, USA (2.6 million) was the most watched prime-time network, followed by Disney Channel (2.1 million) and TNT (1.9 million).
Here’s a look at the 10 most-watched broadcast network prime-time shows for the week ended Sunday, according to Nielsen Media Research:
- NBA Finals Game 2 (Los Angeles vs. Boston), ABC, 13.5 million
- NBA Finals Game 1 (Los Angeles vs. Boston), ABC, 13.4 million
- Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9.81 million viewers
- 60 Minutes, CBS, 9.8 million viewers
- Million Dollar Password, CBS, 9.62 million viewers
- CSI, CBS, 9.6 million viewers
- So You Think You Can Dance (Wednesday), Fox, 9.56 million viewers
- House, Fox, 9.4 million viewers
- Hell’s Kitchen, Fox, 9.36 million viewers
- So You Think You Can Dance (Thursday), Fox, 9.3 million viewers