A new talking point coming from the Villagers today is that Obama's new team looks just like a McCain cabinet, God forbid. I surely doubt Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder or Samantha Power would have been named to a McCain team. It wasn't a surprise that Obama kept on Gates for the time being since we are in the middle of two wars and Gen. Jones has been a big Obama supporter so what the heck are they talking about?
There is a lot of work ahead as Obama assumes the presidency and the media really wants us to fight amongst ourselves. That is quite evident.
For the last few days, the blogosphere has been ablaze with speculation about the kind of damage Hillary Clinton could do to the Obama presidency if she becomes secretary of state.
Of course, for the last few days there's been comparatively little speculation within the blogosphere about what kind of "damage" Hillary Clinton could to the Obama presidency. It's been the mainstream media that's played up the "damage" angle and been childishly obsessed with pushing the "soap opera" angle of the story.
For the most part, lib bloggers have been treating the story seriously, like adults. We're still waiting for the Beltway pundits to catch up.
We've been writing much more about Lieberman if he actually bothered to read more than one blog. And if Hirsh wants to talk about damage being done, how about he take a good hard look at what the traditional media has done to our country?
As noted, we have no particular view on Hillary Clinton as Sec of State. But we do have a reaction to the pundit corps’ renewed Clinton/Gore-loathing: Things have reached the point where these sad life-forms are “objectively anti-American.” The nation is in a set of major messes; a new president is trying to pick the people he thinks will serve him best in a difficult time. But so what? Even in such a perilous time, the loonier members of the Dowd-Matthews axis can’t quit their Clinton-loathing. Nothing will keep them from this vast pleasure, the one pleasure of their sad lives.
It’s almost like they loathe the country itself. In the past, they’ve done astounding harm to that country through their aggressive Clinton/Gore-trashing -- especially when they worked so hard to put George Bush where he is. But even now, they refuse to abandon their childish games. Nothing will ever make them stop. They care about little else.
They did their very best to elect George Bush in 2000 and it took a stolen election to get it done. But then again, this is the traditional media we're talking about.
I know David Neiwert did a post on this segment already, but I had to chime in for a minute. First of all, notice how Wolf fawns all over Joe the Plumber? OK, the real problem I have is this: Why do I have to see Beck on CNN's most serious political show (The Situation Room) at all? What value does he add? His whole purpose was to try and make it seem like Obama is as bad as McCain. They already have segments devoted to ideologues already.
When he stares into the camera to give America and McCain advice it practically burns out my eye sockets.
BECK: Yes. No, I don't think he -- I don't think he did.
I mean, I thought he was good, but he had to be Ronald Reagan. And he's just not Ronald Reagan. And he's not -- look, he needs somebody to be able to look into the camera and be able to say, America, I get it. You don't trust me, you don't trust him, and the reason why is because we've been lying to you the whole time.
This whole government has been telling you half-truths and nontruths for long enough. So look, here's the bad news: Blah, blah, blah. And here's exactly what I'm going to do, and I mean what I say.
If he could have connected with the American audience -- -- and also, neither of them -- you know, the Republicans need to police the Republicans and the Democrats need to police the Democrats. They need to get the bad ones out, the ones who are involved in scandal and double talk and everything else. People need to unite.
McCain actually uses Joe in an ad...Another typical right wing trick late in the game. Joe would actually benefit mightily if Obama wins, but that doesn't matter to "Joe."
The MSM is finally doing a little research on another mistake by Rick Davis. Bloomberg writes a very detailed article and says:
Analysts said Wurzelbacher's circumstances have muddled McCain's effort to profit politically from the tax issue, making it unlikely ``Joe the plumber'' will have any more long-term benefit for his campaign than did the selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate.
snip
Before living in Ohio, Wurzelbacher was a resident of Mesa, Arizona, in McCain's home state, according to property records.
McCain gave Wurzelbacher an apology yesterday for throwing him into the spotlight.
Joe the Plumber's story sprang a few leaks Thursday. Turns out that the man who was held up by John McCain as the typical, hard-working American taxpayer isn't really a licensed plumber. And court documents show he owes nearly $1,200 in back taxes.
"Joe," whose name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was cited repeatedly in Wednesday night's final presidential debate by McCain for questioning Barack Obama's tax policy.
First there was Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, and now I bring you CNBC's The Decagon! The Ten headed behemoth. Watch out America! Pretty soon Pundit Zombies will rise....
FO writes to the C&L inbox after watching Tom on Meet the Press Sunday: "What is a "senior Republican" doing calling Brokaw for campaign advice?"
MR. BROKAW: Chuck, a very senior Republican was startled the other day when he called me and said, ‘What in the world is going on in Florida? Why are we in trouble there?’
He is moderating Tuesday's Presidential Debate so I think it's called "working the refs." I'd kind of like to know who that Republican is.
On Friday's Hardball, Chris Matthews interviewed his daughter, Caroline, as one of the student members of the group Concerned Youth of America, and just didn't bother mentioning the familial relationship. Apparently his daughter had asked not to be identified as such and, rather than interview another member of the group and thus preserve his journalistic integrity (heh), Matthews went right ahead anyways.
It's such a small-beer breach of what passes for journalistic ethics nowadays as to go almost un-noticed, although in the halcyon days of journalism it would probably have gotten him fired or at least earned the censure of his peers. It simply doesn't compare, though, with the likes of Andrea Mitchell reporting on the bank bailout plan - and blaming Obama for its failure - while married to Alan Greenspan and not making full disclosure of that fact before every report.
One of the jobs I do as a punditry critic is to check out the talking heads on TV after a major speech, debate, primary or whatever the hot event is that the networks all are covering. I sometimes like that more than the actual event. Anyway, what I noticed immediately after the debate was that Brit Hume was very disappointed there were no "sound bytes" to cover. He seemed a little bored. No glaring gaffes by McCain or Obama that they could then play endless loops about and reduce a very important event down to its lowest common denominator.
His all-star panel all felt the same. Fred Barnes, Nina Easton, Bill Kristol and Juan Williams all agreed. I saw the same on the other networks as well. As I checked around that sentiment seemed to carry over in the print world.
Obama will benefit from having the better sound bite of the night. Cable-news producers didn't have many to choose from for the endless analysis of the debate, but one clip they'll show will certainly be Obama's criticism of McCain on Iraq.
Now on substance, John Dickerson is correct. (one example) Obama was able to highlight a strength of his during the debate, but it really wasn't the kind of "sound byte' cable was looking for. They wanted a major league flub, or even better---a heated exchange between the two that had them glaring at each other and having to be separated by Jim Lehrer.
Have they been watching Obama all these many months? He doesn't operate like that. Would I love to see him attack more forcefully? Yes I would, but I won't be surprised if he never does...
Can't they just cover the event as it happens and report on it?
The national media has spent the week covering storm torn Texas' damage from Hurricane Ike. Something that appeared to fall off the radar though was the damage Ike left in other parts of the Midwest. Here in the Greater Cincinnati area, we were hit with high winds last Sunday, gusting upwards of 80 mph. These near hurricane force winds wreaked havoc on an area that isn't used to such weather systems.
By the time the winds died down on Sunday night, our area saw close to a million people without power. Ohio overall saw close to 2 million in the dark, and as of today there are still about ¼ million people without power in the state.
Luckily, I escaped damage to my home. I was without power for about 12 hours, phone for 4 days and internet for 6 days. There are others who weren't so lucky. The picture above is a couple miles from me where a tree ended up crushing a car. This was a common scene around Ohio, and cars weren't the only casualties. Four deaths were caused by the storm in the Greater Cincinnati area and numerous houses sustained massive damage from down trees and limbs.
However the story doesn't stop there. People ended up losing refrigerators full of food. Gas stations had hour long lines, what restaurants that were open were running out of food, and grocery stores had to throw away millions in stock (including Kroger, which is based out of Cincinnati). The saddest part is all the people on fixed income who had to toss away their food. Luckily, state and local officials are working to issue food stamps to these people so they can restock.
At least normalcy seems to be trumping the frantic week we saw. They are hoping to have power back on to all those affected by this Sunday and we might see a normal week of school and work around here. It did take me by surprise that the media was rather silent on this aftermath of Ike. I saw a blurb about it on the crawl of MSNBC in the middle of the week, but that was it. If you have any stories to share about this massive storm, please do so in the comments. It will be interesting to hear how other people weathered this past week in the area.
(Additional photos and video of the damage Ike left in the Greater Cincinnati area can be found here.)
Gawker slaps Drudge about the phony Oprah story. Like so many aspects of Sarah Palin's history, the Oprah story went contrary to logic and common sense.
As they say, it's too late though. The media have spoken. Truth be damned.
"American flags were proudly waved by the 75,000 people who joined Barack Obama at the Democratic Convention. John McCain should applaud that, but instead his supporters wrongfully took leftover bundles of our flags from the stadium to play a cheap political stunt calling into question our patriotism. On the same day he agrees to join Barack Obama at Ground Zero on September 11, John McCain attacks the patriotism of Obama supporters who so proudly waved the American flag at our historic event in Denver just days ago." ---DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney.
I'm really shocked they didn't find lapel pins too....
On the same day Barack Obama met with the conservative water carrier Bill O'Reilly on Fox News, the McCain campaign made it clear that Sarah Palin won't be talking to any of the media any time soon.
In a jaw-dropping appearance on MSNBC Thursday, McCain aide Nicole Wallace told Time's Jay Carney that the press wouldn't get a chance to take shots at the hockey mom turned McCain running mate.
According to Nicole Wallace of the McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether Sarah Palin can answer specific questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show -- the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on the campaign trail and in campaign ads.
Given the highly combustible mixture that is Palin's reed-thin resume, radical right-wing agenda and mushrooming portfolio of scandals, Team McCain's effort to field the first stealth vice presidential candidate in history comes as no surprise.
But for conservatives so found of countdowns and ticking clocks, the question now is: when will "Disappearing Palin" meet the press? Apparently, "Sarahcoulda," but won't talk to the media.
Every time I turn on the TV and watch CNN and FOX (my hotel doesn't get MSNBC) every Republican operative controls the dialog and direction of the panel discussion and it's disgusting. Just one example---Hillary Clinton gave a brilliant speech last night, but every Amy Holmes-type talking head throws as much cold water on the speech as he or she can. The result is that the Dem talkers spend the rest of the time disputing the outrageous claims made and thus the GOP controls the entire framing and the entire segment. It's shameful that the networks are allowing this to happen. I saw Jeffrey Toobin tell Amy that she was out of her mind with some of her comments and the discussion continues to that end. Soledad O'Brien comes back and says "well, that was a lively discussion." Oh, no it was not. It's a calculated ratf&@k. This is going on all day and all night.
Why is the Democratic Convention being ruined by these creeps? And why do all the networks allow it to happen? Why do we need them on in force to counter what is supposed to be our event?
I'm in Denver and it's a completely different atmosphere. Party unison abounds, but you'd never know it from watching TV. Karl Rove acts like the biggest troll known to man---making sure to point out every little detail he dislikes. Well, his mission is to get McCain in the White House. But he's the expert that Chris Wallace goes to for his "unbiased" take.
We learned last month that the Associated Press' DC bureau Chief Ron Fournier (pictured above, right, enjoying donuts with John McCain) is a huge fan of Karl Rove and the Bush administration and considered taking a job with the McCain campaign so when he stepped up to the plate for the GOP candidate this morning, it came as little surprise. The headline of his article says it all:
DENVER - The candidate of change went with the status quo.
In picking Sen. Joe Biden to be his running mate, Barack Obama sought to shore up his weakness - inexperience in office and on foreign policy - rather than underscore his strength as a new-generation candidate defying political conventions.
He picked a 35-year veteran of the Senate - the ultimate insider - rather than a candidate from outside Washington, such as Govs. Tim Kaine of Virginia or Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas; or from outside his party, such as Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska; or from outside the mostly white male club of vice presidential candidates. Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't even make his short list. Read on...
As if it were written by Rove himself and it begs the question - with the cloud of suspicion over Fournier's head, why did AP run with him? The Associated Press has a real problem on their hands. They can no longer be seen as an objective news outlet and Fournier is slipping easily into the role of poster child for media corruption and failure. He may not have taken an official job with the McCain campaign, but he sure doesn't mind donating his time and international platform to him. Contact the AP and let them know what you think about the article -- remember, be nice.
UPDATE (Nicole) I've been given a new contact for AP: Contact the Associated Press ... Kathleen Carroll (Fournier's boss) at kcarroll@ap.org or (212) 621-1500. Be POLITE, but be FIRM. Let them know that you don't want to see them serve as stenographers and amplifiers for pure spin by the McCain campaign.
UPDATE #2 (Nicole) FireDogLake has employed their LTE widget to make it even easier to complain about AP and Fournier's bias.
UPDATE #3 (Nicole) Majikthise asks if Fournier's extracurricular paid speaking engagements violate AP's rules for outside appearances of their journalist pool.
I’m not surprised Dan Bartlett is going to one of the networks; I’m surprised Dan Bartlett didn’t go to one of the networks sooner. (via TP)
Former Counselor to President Bush, Dan Bartlett, has joined CBS News as a political analyst. Bartlett will provide on-air analysis on a variety of political issues, “including at the Democratic and Republican National Conventions and beyond,” according to the press release.
Said CBS News & Sports president Sean McManus, “We’re very pleased to have Dan Bartlett join our team. We now go into the final stages of this fascinating political season with two analysts — Dan and Joe [Trippi] — who have had unique and extensive hands-on experience in major political campaigns and government.”
This is the latest part of a strange phenomenon of rewarding the Bush gang with high-profile opportunities at major media outlets. The Bush White House has been, for lack of a better word, a disaster for the country. From a journalistic perspective, these guys have been a nightmare — embracing almost comical levels of secrecy, propaganda, and media manipulation.
And yet, the moment presidential aides leave the West Wing, media outlets jump at the chance to put them on the payroll.
