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Patrick Hruby

phruby@washingtontimes.com

Patrick Hruby was a writer for The Washington Times.

Articles by Patrick Hruby

Host Seth MacFarlane, right, and actress Kristin Chenoweth perform a song dedicated to the "losers" during the finale of the Oscars at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday Feb. 24, 2013, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Taking to Twitter: Everybody’s Oscar night in 140 characters

From the random salute to James Bond to the non-sequiturial "Chicago" revival to Seth MacFarlane's predictably fratty but unpredictably tedious stint as a host — dear Rob Lowe and Snow White: All is forgiven — this year's Oscars were even more tumefied and wearisome than usual.

February 25, 2013
**FILE** Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Linda McMahon (right) and husband Vince McMahon wait for delegate totals to be tallied during the Republican nomination at the Connecticut Republican Convention in Hartford, Conn., on May 21, 2010. (Associated Press)

Glenn Beck, Michelle Malkin cry foul at WWE Tea Party stereotypes

Introduced to a national television audience less than two weeks ago, World Wrestling Entertainment’s newest villains Jack Swagger and Zeb Colter embody every unpalatable Tea Party stereotype. Xenophobic at best, downright racist at worst, possessing truly terrible facial hair all the while, the two want nothing more in the world than to deport Mexican immigrants. As in: all of them. Unsurprisingly, actual conservatives and Tea Party supporters are less than thrilled.

February 22, 2013
This image provided by the Irvine Police Department shows Christopher Dorner from Jan. 28, 2013, surveillance video at an Orange County, Calif., hotel. More than 100 officers, including SWAT teams, were driven in glass-enclosed snow machines and armored personnel carriers in Big Bear Lake to hunt for this former Los Angeles police officer suspected of going on a deadly rampage to get back at those he blamed for ending his police career. (AP Photo/Irvine Police Department)

Hero-worship for a cold-blooded killer: The cult of Christopher Dorner

While Christopher Dorner's apparent death inside a burned-out cabin following a four-hour police siege likely came as a relief to many, some have hailed the 33-year-old fugitive ex-cop and former Navy reservist as a quasi-hero, an avenging angel striking out against police corruption and a system gone wrong.

February 14, 2013
PBS is the sole TV news outlet not distrusted by a plurality of respondents to a poll released last week. In 2004, host Jim Lehrer (seated) is shown on the set of PBS’ “The News Hour” with (from left) Margaret Warner, Ray Suarez and Gwen Ifill. (PBS and The News Hour via Associated Press)

Tuning in for news, laughs

How much do politically divided Americans distrust their television news sources? Let's count the ways.

February 10, 2013
North Korea's Unha-3 rocket lifts off from the Sohae launchpad in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, on Dec. 12. The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution condemning the rocket launch, imposing new sanctions on Pyongyang's space agency. (Korean Central News Agency via Associated Press)

New North Korean video depicts burning ruins of virtual U.S. city

If a new North Korean propaganda video has things right, the world may end with a bang — and also with an elevator music rendition of a popular Michael Jackson song. Coming amid increased atomic saber-rattling by North Korea and posted on state media website Uriminzokkiri last weekend, the video depicts a virtual city draped in the United States flag being attacked by missiles, its skyscrapers on fire and billowing smoke.

February 5, 2013
President Obama engages in target practice in a shot dated Aug. 4, 2012. (White House)

Obama’s skeet photo is one of many acts of high-profile photo theater

When the White House released a photograph Saturday that shows President Obama firing a shotgun at Camp David on Aug. 4, it was intended to back up Mr. Obama’s previous statement that “up at Camp David, we do skeet shooting all the time” — a claim met with skepticism, both real and playful, by many on the political right.

February 4, 2013
**FILE** Penn State coach Joe Paterno smiles as he walks the field before an NCAA college football game against Minnesota in State College, Pa., on Oct. 17, 2009. (Associated Press)

‘Truthers’ seek to exonerate late Penn State coach Joe Paterno, restore his reputation

Former Penn State and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Franco Harris recently hosted "Upon Further Review: Penn State One Year Later," a public forum that provided a critical look at the Sandusky investigation, former FBI Director Louis Freeh's scathing report on the scandal, NCAA sanctions against Penn State’s football program and media coverage of the story.

January 30, 2013
**FILE** Jennifer Tyrrell and her son, Cruz Burns, 7, are seen here on April 25, 2012, during a visit to New York. After a confidential two-year review, the Boy Scouts of America on July 17, 2012, emphatically reaffirmed its policy of excluding gays. One ongoing protest campaign involves Tyrrell, the Ohio mother of the 7-year-old Cub Scout, who was ousted as a Scout den mother because she is lesbian. (Associated Press)

Gays to National Geographic: Condemn Boy Scouts’ ‘anti-gay policy’ before new reality show

The Boy Scouts of America are once again coming under fire from a national gay rights group, this time via a protest of the National Geographic Channel. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation announced Wednesday that it is supporting an online petition asking the cable network to add a disclaimer to the start of each episode of the upcoming reality series "Are You Tougher Than a Boy Scout?"

January 25, 2013
Whether Lance Armstrong seemed contrite in his confession about doping is up to the viewers, Oprah Winfrey says about her interview with the fallen cyclist. (Harpo Studios Inc. via Associated Press)

Lawsuits and Lance Armstrong: Can litigation deter doping in sports?

By admitting that he used PEDs to dominate cycling and become one of the world's most marketable athletes, Lance Armstrong has weakened his defense in a series of lawsuits that could cost him more than $100 million — and may have provided an inadvertent blueprint for how to better deter high-profile athletes from doping. Forget public shame. Never mind competitive bans. Instead, get a lawyer. Then go after the money. .

January 16, 2013
Secretary of State Colin Powell looks April 4, 2002, on as President Bush makes a statement in the Rose Garden of the White House. (Associated Press) **FILE**

Colin Powell and the GOP: The end of the affair?

To the list of history's great break-ups — the continental rifting of Pangaea; the dissolution of the USSR; the split between Kim Kardashian and that tall doofus she married on television — add this: Colin Powell and the Republican Party.

January 15, 2013
** FILE ** Piers Morgan, host of CNN's "Piers Morgan Tonight," leaves the CNN building in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

Obama online petition site: Direct democracy or empty gesture?

Since September of 2011, the Obama administration has invited the public to petition the government at a “We the People” area of the official White House website, promising that when a petition receives enough support — currently 25,000 electronic signatures within a 30-day window — Mr. Obama’s staff will review the request and issue an official response. Many of the resulting petitions have been predictable. Others, however, are more eclectic.

January 11, 2013