CNN Signs Former GOP Rep. J.C. Watts!!!

[im10ashus]

It's official. CNN has gone completely nuts!



CNN has found a new conservative commentator: Former Republican congressman J.C. Watts Jr. "will join CNN as a regular contributor to offer analysis on politics and policy for programs throughout the network," Jon Klein announced today.

Klein said: "J.C. is one of the most respected and effective conservative communicators in the nation's capital. We are glad to welcome him to the CNN team and look forward to his insightful contributions to our network."

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/cnn/cnn_signs_former_gop_rep_jc_watts_31043.asp

Edited to add additional link:

http://www.thecarpetbaggerreport.com/archives/6375.html

[Extend a Hand]

1. along with Bill Bennett and Gary Beck?!

what little news they used to offer is over with now

[EST]

6. Glenn Beck?

[Poiuyt]

33. Beck is going to be on CNN/Headline News prime time line up

[Lerkfish]

2. um...ok. Does anyone know how many LIBERAL commentators they have?

and what the ratio is?

[BamaLefty]

3. JC Watts

What a douche.

Hook 'Em Horns!

[Oceansaway]

10. hes butt ugly too...n/t

[ewagner]

4. Damn!

I already sent a f-off CNN letter to their Feedback section this morning.

And now

JC Watts?????

too much, just too much....

[im10ashus]

Who can keep up with them.

It's like they have morphed into Faux news in just a week. Well, the transition could be seen coming a mile away, but damn.

[butterfly77]

5. I've noticed that they are slowly getting rid of anyone that is liberal or

ask the hard questions,bye,bye Anderson Cooper! T

[ewagner]

13. Yeah...

Aaron Brown was too liberal for their tastes...even though I thought him to be middle-of-the-road.

[SoCalDem]

Julius Caesar`Watts... sheeez

yes..that's his real name.. no wonder he goes by JC..

CNN has jumped the universe..

[the_spectator]

21. Well that is rather grandiose!

On the other hand, Jesus Christ Watts would have been worse.

[Triana]

7. SO. Where is his LIBERAL counterpart then...

...WHO will provide counterpoints to his analysis?

(nobody, of course)

CNN = Faux Newz II

Also, how a person of color can be a Republican is BEYOND me. :wtf:

[SoCalDem]

16. republicans don't NEED counterparts.. only liberals must have "minders"

Remember C-span's "pat-ourselves-on-the-back-aganza" a while back.. Only Randi had a "counterpart".. The other "guests" had the whole chunk of time to themselves.

[rfranklin]

8. Is this guy still a loyal Republican?

after he realized that he was a marginalized token? A Step N. Fechit? A darkie in the minstrel show that is the "big tent" RNC?

[mitchum]

9. And the Mighty Wurlitzer plays on...

[reality based]

11. They've got their own little K Street project going don't they?

[still_one]

12. I haven't watched any of the media whores since 2004

there are plenty of other areas to get news that is NOT tainted with propaganda

[cry baby]

14. It's an election year and their side needs all the help it can get!

CNN jumped the shark a long time ago.

[Neecy]

24. you hit the nail on the head....

This flurry of rightwingers at CNN is all about one thing: the midterms. They know the GOP is going to take a beating and they're trying ot save their skins for AOL/Time Warner.

Repulsive.

[SaveElmer]

Why don't they just start broadcasting straight from the White House...

Would save them time, and it would be easier to keep their lips affixed to Bush's butt

[im10ashus]

23. LOL!

Good point. Perhaps we should recommend that to them. It would save them fax time. :-)

[NYCGirl]

15. Do they REALLY think this'll get them ratings? Their new pres. is

delusional. If people want to watch Fox, they'll turn to it.

[central scrutinizer]

17. maybe he will be able to afford his back child support payments

http://archive.democrats.com/display.cfm?id=112

Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK-4): Watts has risen to the #4 leadership position in the House by loudly championing "moral values." He is also the GOP poster boy for affirmative action, as the GOP's only black Republican. But Watts, a former football player, has spent years covering up his out-of-wedlock children.

[librechik]

20. yeah, we need 2 libs now, for balance

uhuh--hurrying to do that, right

:boring:

[WI_DEM]

18. When will CNN hire a liberal commentator?

We should all e-mail and ask them that.

[AX10]

19. and again: CNN= Fox "News"

.

[Elwood P Dowd]

22. The end is near for CNN

They are not going to steal viewers from Fox, and this plan to go right-wing will just cost them tons of liberal viewers. So who's going to watch their crap?

Maybe this is one of the areas where Bush's illegal spying has paid off.

[applegrove]

25. Fine. That way - Liberal Commentators can actually say the truth.

We have nothing to fear but truth suppression.

[stillcool]

26. another nail in the coffin....

of televised news. That horse is dead, and it's time to get off.

[SillyGoose]

27. That's 3 conservative commentators hired in the last week or so.

Who the hell are their liberal commentators? The only one I see once in a while is Paul Begala.

[wiley]

28. Unbelievably messed up!

J.C. Watts?

[Rex]

29. What? You thought we were heading back to the beaten path?

We still have a ways to go before we hit rock bottom in this country. We're getting there! :(

[CottonBear]

30. They had to get a young, balck GOP guy 'cause FOX got a new one recently.

It's a race to the bottom of the MSM cesspool.

[mzmolly]

31. The media is getting desperate. Their guy is about to be impeached

when we take back the house.

[quinnox]

32. WTF What is with all the new conservative hires?

"CNN - now even closer to Fox news for your viewing enjoyment"

This is getting ridiculous, J.C. Watts is a total stooge for the republicans. Yea, I'm sure there will be a lot of insightful analysis there! <rolls eyes>

[spanone]

34. Another reason to tune out. But by all means, let them know.

Television lives and dies by viewership.
http://www.cnn.com/feedback/forms/form1.html?39

[renate]

40. Thanks for that link--I used it

There's already one FOX channel too many.

[Trish1168]

35. They must want lower ratings

I can't watch Fox any more. If they copy Fox, I'll stop watching CNN too.

I wonder if they'll fire Lou Dobbs. He is doing a good job of getting the truth out of the corporate takeover of Amerika.

[Sugarcoated]

36. Oh, cripes

On the good side, he's a lousy debater. He often just spews talking points and doesn't make sense. On the negative side, he's got a loud mouth that will roll over dissenting opinions. Typical Republican of today

[chat_noir]

37. when you contact CNN...

The state of Oklahoma filed liens against him for his 1983, '84 and '86 income taxes. He was late in paying property taxes for 1992, '93 and '94. In 1994 he did not declare $14,320 of his wife's earnings on his federal income-tax return. Sheri Lynn Reed, an employee of Watts's Esquire Management company in 1995, sued Watts when he failed to pay her salary. Ultimately she was awarded more than $13,000 in back wages and penalties.

In 1996, J.C. Watts took a personal loan of at least $15,000 and as much as $50,000 from Jerome Ansel, a Florida real-estate tycoon whose generous contributions to the Republican Party have earned him a place on the GOP's Team 100 of valued donors. Charles Lewis, executive director of the Center for Public Integrity, noted: "It's always worrisome when lawmakers get money personally from their campaign donors. In our research over the years, conflict of interest increases tremendously when someone goes down this road."

Darlene Watts, the Congressman's 35-year-old youngest sister, has no more in common with her brother's upright Republican persona than does their father. Darlene is known on the streets of Oklahoma City as "Chocolate." The woman's criminal record includes a 1996 arrest for "engaging in an act of lewdness." Chocolate had been picked up while working at PB's, an Oklahoma City strip club where the entertainers were ostensibly accepting food stamps in exchange for table-dances.

While Darlene's sentencing on the lewdness charge was still pending, officers raided the house where she was living, discovering marijuana, rolling papers and methamphetamine residue. She was also charged separately with trafficking methamphetamine to an Oklahoma City man who provided the drugs to undercover agents.

Through a spokesman, Representative Watts claimed to be "very concerned about his sister," but contrary to his family-comes-first stance, admitted he had not seen her in more than a year.

Darlene Watts surrendered to authorities and was jailed on December 31, 1997. Her brother, the Congressman, let her sit behind bars for an entire month. When J.C. ventured to see his sister in the lockup on January 31, 1998, he and a staff photographer from the Daily Oklahoman turned the visit into a photo opportunity.

http://www.tylwythteg.com/enemies/Watts.html

The author of the article has this caveat on the information provided:

Remember it is best to investigate on your own when looking at allegations about anyone. Don't believe us, think for yourself and investigate for yourself!

[oasis]

38. J.C. may have left congress but he never left the plantation.

:puke:

[AspenRose]

49. Oooooh you used the "P" word!

I'm gonna go tell. ;-)

[Jeanette in FL]

39. Who cares

I haven't watched CNN for a long time. Occasionally, I would tune into Lou Dobbs or Anderson Cooper, but on the whole, their news sucks. It is nothing like the days when it was first formed. So good for them. Now they can fight over the viewers from Fox.

Anyone with a brain does not need CNN for news or balance. Let them die a quick death.

[alfredo]

41. I wrote them and told them that I have watched CNN and HLN since

the beginning but now I watch MSNBC because I feel they at least try to show both sides of an issue.

[txindy]

42. Wasn't it Watts' father who made the remark about voting?

Something along the lines of, "A black person voting for a repub is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders."

:rofl:

[BeachBuckeye]

43. You are correct.

[Faygo Kid]

44. Disgusting. CNN is out of control. Money talks; Faux News makes money.

Therefore, CNN must outFaux Faux. It won't work, but it will cheapen public discourse. Again. Anyone want to ask me why I said in 1994 that Rush Limbaugh was the most dangerous person in America? Our Republic is finished.

[chat_noir]

45. J. C. Watts' company is a lobbying firm

Republicans take over K Street

Some of the top Republicans in the 107th Congress are about to see their one-year statute of limitations on lobbying former congressional colleagues expire. These include former House majority leader Dick Armey and Republican Conference Chairman J. C. Watts of Oklahoma. Some say they expect to do much the same work they did in the Congress, but for a lot more money.

Mr. Watts has set up his own public affairs and lobbying practice with two former aides.


http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0829/p01s01-uspo.html?usaNav







http://cspan.politicalmoneyline.com/cgi-win/x_bna_lookup.exe?9/30/2003



Former Congressman J.C. Watts to lobby for UKB

Monday, April 18, 2005

Former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, who was the only African-American Republican in Congress, will lobby on behalf of the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokees.

Watts will represent the tribe on economic development issues -- but that doesn't include gaming. "That's above my pay grade," Watts told The Oklahoman.

The 10,000-member UKB is a rival to the much-larger Cherokee Nation.

http://www.indianz.com/News/2005/007657.asp


Black Farmers and Agriculturalists, a trade association of African-American farmers, has hired African-American former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.) and his namesake firm to lobby on agricultural legislation. The team also includes Elroy Sailor, an African-American and former deputy chief of staff to the House Republican Conference.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/Business/092005_bottom.html

[chat_noir]

46. Did Watts violate lobbying one-year rule?

Oversight of lobbyists found lax

A check of the records by the Globe found many misstatements or apparent violations of the law, ranging from late filings to the disclosure that a former member of Congress was lobbying Congress the year after he left office.

Former Representative J.C. Watts, Republican of Oklahoma, is one of five people his firm, J.C. Watts Companies, listed as having lobbied the House and Senate on behalf of college football in 2003 -- an apparent violation of rules that bar departing members from lobbying their former colleagues for one year after leaving office.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2006/01/16/oversight_of_lobbyists_found_lax/?page=full

[kathy14-0]

47. at least he will balance out the liberal voice on CNN

when someone finds out who that liberal voice is let me know.

[chat_noir]

48. maybe this J.C. Watts lobbying deserves it own thread

I keep finding more information....

Anyone else one interested? If so, try following the money.

http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/profile.aspx?act=firms&year=2003&lo=L001957


FMWatch:

http://www.publicintegrity.org/lobby/profile.aspx?act=clients&year=2003&cl=L001704

[Kahuna]

50. My email to CNN..

Go fuck yourselves. :grr:

[JAbuchan08]

51. There are 20 commentators and five "moderators" for every journalist

Oh and most of these commentators are conservative.

[qanda]

52. Why do they keep bringing out all these black Conservatives

When the numbers don't represent the amount of blacks who are conservative in America?

[Catrina]

53. Wow, another rightwing shill? CNN must have a death wish. I just wrote

to inform them that we cancelled our cable subscription and wished them 'good luck'. I also told them we will be participating in a boycott against their sponsors.

I have to search for that list, and will send it to everyone on my list ~ at least one other friend has now cancelled her subscription also.

Life is so much better since I have not been screaming at the tv screen. It feels good to cut their funding even by a small amount. I hope the boycott suggested today, grows and grows. It's really painless to cut them off ~ far less difficult than I thought it would be.

[im10ashus]

54. My "subscription" comes with CNN as part of basic cable.

I just skip right past their sorry channel. I can always delete their channel from the remote, I suppose. :-)