If the loony MSM were viewing Joe Lieberman's primary loss to leftist, Ned Lamont, in any more a convoluted manner, they would be crosseyed, tonguetied, and hogtied. I mean, the backflips they are making to explain this story are so magnificent that it'd make any Circ de Soleil acrobatic clown green with envy.

Our intrepid Time/CNN political analyst, Mike Allen, has tried on his colorful leotards to spin Joe's loss into the newest GOP dirty campaign trick for the 2006 midterms in his titled, "Why the Republicans Are Loving the Lieberman Loss".

It is amazing how every article about politics seem to start with the emotional underpinning that the Republicans are somehow merely scheming, or are just capitalizers, dirty tricksters or looking for "weapons" to get votes. Could it be that a Republican here or there might actually be serving his true principles by highlighting an issue? Nah, don't be ridiculous. It's sure to be just some kind of angle or trick!

What's the advantage to a multiple page media story?

How many readers read beyond the title let alone the first few paragraphs?

The WP "security mom story" uses all of page one to lie to the reader about loss of support of this sector of voters. One must "turn the page and read half-way down for facts which repudiate the claim.

PAGE ONE

Republicans Losing The 'Security Moms' WP

CLINTONVILLE, Ohio, Aug. 17 -- Married women with children, the "security moms" whose concerns about terrorism made them an essential part of Republican victories in 2002 and 2004, are taking flight from GOP politicians this year in ways that appear likely to provide a major boost for Democrats in the midterm elections, according to polls and interviews.

If we did not have Fox News and were forced to endure another source of TV news, what would it be? I would have to say ABC because they do have John Stossel out there. I would like to know TV news outlets only and YES there is a gun to your head and NO you can't choose death! :)

...during a week's vacation in Connecticut. Thanks to the readers who made my first week posting here so rewarding.

In the wake of the recent NSA surveillance ruling by judge Anna Diggs Taylor, two noteworthy and purportedly professional sources of anti-Bush rhetoric, the New York Times Editorial Page and blogger Glenn Greenwald, revealed themselves to be little more than shallow-thinking, un-democratic outcomes-based demagogues, as opposed to political commentators interested in good law, or objective truth.

via Instapundit: ADAM LIPTAK in the New York Times: "Even legal experts who agreed with a federal judge’s conclusion on Thursday that a National Security Agency surveillance program is unlawful were distancing themselves from the decision’s reasoning and rhetoric yesterday. . . . Discomfort with the quality of the decision is almost universal, said Howard J. Bashman, a Pennsylvania lawyer whose Web log provides comprehensive and nonpartisan reports on legal developments."

Did the MSM get together and decide this would be Bad Economics Saturday?  As I noted here, the New York Times emitted an editorial this morning grimly imagining a downturn despite the good economic news.

Over at the Boston Globe, Robert Kuttner has chipped in with More than Wal-Mart.  While applauding the efforts of Dem politicians to go after the country's biggest retailer, Kuttner claims that isn't nearly enough.  He wants much more government regulation of the economy, and higher taxes for the 'rich'.

Annotated excerpts:

"[Wal-Mart's] wages and health benefits are dismal.  Wal-Mart batters down wages."

Greetings friends,

As a series i shall be periodically enlightening those of you who are unfamiliar with certain biases the media is currently facing.

First today i provide for you an image of the presenters of the news we all watch. Encompassing CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN.

I was sent this link to my email by an unknown source, presumably anti-jewish, but it did make me think. Further to my thinking i believe i need more opinions, perhaps an objective view from you could help me.

I pose this question to you all and with great pleasure i await your educated comments:

"From these images i give you, is it possible to infer that - because the majority of the presenters - are jewish, they will, to a certain degree be biased when it comes to matters involving Israel???"

From Mediacrity:

The Palestinian kidnapping of Fox news correspondent Steve Centanni and camerman Olaf Wing is now in its fifth day, and it's interesting to note the flabby response from both the media and so-called journalism "protection" organizations -- which are usually quick to condemn Israel and the U.S. authorities in Iraq.

The usually garrulous Committee to Protect Journalists issued a tepid statement expressing "concern," and the media generally has kept its distance. The New York Times, typically, buried a tiny reference to the kidnapping in a news roundup two days later. Obviously the Times was hoping that Centanni would be swiftly released, and delayed mentioning the kidnapping in the hope that it could report news of his release at the same time. Mustn't upset the myth of Palestinian moderation!

Read the rest.

Caption:... Hezbollah members began distributing US$12,000 in crisp cash bills Friday to those who lost their homes in the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Now that Hezbullah has suddenly morphed into a philanthropic organization, we learn from this photograph that they are distributing approximately US$12,000 to the needy in areas destroyed by Israel. Of course, what is our intrepid photographer obviously not curious enough to know? Well, that Hezbullah has already been dinged for counterfeiting U.S. currency:

One of the most prominent and influential members of the Hizballah terrorist organization, along with two of his companies, was designated by the Treasury Department today under Executive Order 13224. Assad Ahmad Barakat has close ties with Hizballah leadership and has worked closely with numerous Islamic extremists and suspected Hizballah associates in South America's tri-border area (TBA), made up of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. . . .

Once again, it's left to the Blogosphere to ask the questions the media isn't interested in asking.

UPDATE 11:59 EST: I've collected some photographs of what's proving to be the world's newest charity. They are quite amusing.

UPDATE 13:35 EST: Ok, just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, we're now being introduced to Hezbullah Engineering, presumably the only company in the world that can deal with those nasty Zionist craters. The transparency of the anti-American, anti-Israeli press is really starting to shine.

UPDATE 19-AUG-2006 11:50 EST: MechEng has pointed out that $100 bills should have a security seal embedded in them roughly where the Treasury seal is on the front, yet on the wires, we see the silhouette of a bill that does not appear to have such a thread. While not 100% conclusive, I'd say it definitely raises the possibility that these are, quote, "Phonier than a New York politician!"

When the New York Times originally broke the story of the NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program, the rest of the media leapt to the bandwagon, and immediately began referring to President Bush's "Domestic Surveillance Program." One of the forums where this has been particularly egregious is CBS' The Early Show. Well, the last 7 months and all of the discussion has done nothing to change the view of the program held by CBS. There were two separate comments in a 30-second news snippet from Tracy Smith that were either inaccurate or incomplete, and, of course, they were inaccurate or incomplete in a manner that made the program sound worse than it is.

The first was the continued mis-labeling. The program is not, despite the mainstream press' continued insistence, a "domestic" surveillance program. The NSA is not monitoring American's domestic calls without warrants, or at least, if they are, that has not been made public. That's not what the program being talked about covers. The NSA is monitoring overseas communications of suspected terrorists and terrorism supporters. If some of those communications are into the United States, they're continuing to monitor. That doesn't make the conversations "domestic."

Talk about your party pooper! Like a disgruntled waiter spitting in the champagne back in the pantry, The NY Times editorial this morning, Hold the Champagne, approaches parody status in its attempt to find the cloud on the silver lining of the economy's good performance.

The Times began by comically scolding investors for "almost certainly overreact[ing], pushing up stocks and bonds as if all was right with the economy" in reaction to the news that inflation had been lower than expected. And if anyone should know about stocks going down, it's the folks at the NY Times who have watched the Times' own share price droop steadily downward over the last year.

After devoting two front-page stories this week making a mountain out of the molehill of Sen. George Allen joshing with fellow Republicans about a Democrat opposition researcher's haircut, calling him "Macaca," the Washington Post put the story back on top of the front page Saturday with the headline "Allen Flap May Give A Boost to Webb: Reenergized Va. Democrats Gain Support."

Could we be any more transparent in using our front page as an advertising vehicle for the Democrats? The headline is a little incomplete. It could read: "Allen Flap May Give A Boost to Webb: We're Certainly Trying Hard to Make It So." And the subheadline could be "A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes."

According to reports, a trendy Chicago suburb voted “the sexiest suburb in America” may be on the verge of banishing from its venues of commerce those not conforming to arbitrarily contrived body aesthetics.

Lane Bryant, a retailer known for marketing clothing to full-sized women, has been denied the opportunity to open a store in a development called “The Village Of Oak Park”.

Before the hypercapitalists decide to slit my throat as they are wont to do whenever anyone dares to question a decision made by big business, it must be noted that the decision to deny Lane Bryant the retail space was not made by a private sector firm or entrepreneur but rather by the committee managing the village, an entity quasigovernmental in nature.

The bureaucratic mouthpiece for the community association told the press that, “Lane Bryant is not the kind or quality of shop that is desire for development,” and, “We want a more broad based retailer benefiting the village, rather than a niche market.”

Original caption:

Women journalists (L) attend a news conference in Riyadh in this October 27, 2002 file photo. They are few in number but determined to make their mark - women journalists in Saudi Arabia have fought hard to get where they are and say they have more than proved themselves the equal of men. To match feature MEDIA SAUDI WOMEN REUTERS/Ali Jarekji/Files (SAUDI ARABIA)