I'm sitting at home, watching Hannity & Colmes, and guess what?
The New York Times is going to print a story linking McCain to a female lobbyist, implying an affair took place. Link To Drudge's Story
Now it starts. The MSM knows McCain is going to be the GOP nominee, so time to attack with all the ammo they've been holding back.
This is just the Tip Of The Iceberg.
UPDATE h/t -botg Or maybe this is the Horn of the RINO? ;-)
Thanks a lot RINOs.
An interesting thing happened during MSNBC's coverage of Tuesday's primaries: Keith Olbermann humiliated Chris Matthews as studio employees laughed in the background (video after the jump).
As the campaign coverage waned late into the evening, Matthews was interviewing Barack Obama supporter Kirk Watson (D), and was trying to get the Texas state senator to list some of the Illinois senator's legislative accomplishments.
Unfortunately, no matter how many times Matthews asked Watson to name something of importance Obama has done since getting elected to the Senate in November 2004, Watson refused, leading to a very indignant "Hardball" host :
NBC Channel 10 News of Philadelphia, PA has given us a perfect example of how the media misuses words in order to illegitimately blame things and people who are otherwise blameless. This particular story really shows how the media manipulates... or is, perhaps, just plain illiterate at the very least.
The headline begins us on our journey of media manipulation and nonsense. With the proclamation that "French Fries To Blame For SEPTA Station Gang Beating", we are supposed to be informed that "French fries" are at fault for a beating. I guess it wasn't the gang-banger punks that were responsible, huh? It was the "French fries"? Already the news piece shies blame away from the humans responsible to an inanimate object; the French fries (a favorite poly in the "gun violence" meme, by the way).
Oh, but it doesn't stop with just an illogical, misleading headline. The very first few paragraphs caries us further on our journey into absurdity.
The financial sector must “burn, baby, burn” to teach financial professionals a lesson about priorities and motives, according to a reporter-turned-columnist for The Washington Post.
Steven Pearlstein, a one-time reporter for the Post who now pens a column for the newspaper, wrote February 20 that “the best thing that could happen to our economy is for a dozen high-profile hedge funds to collapse; for investment banking to enter a long, deep freeze; for a major bank to fail; and for the price of a typical Park Avenue duplex to fall by 30 percent.”
“For only then,” Pearlstein wrote, “might we finally stop genuflecting before the altar of unregulated financial markets and insist that Wall Street serve the interest of Main Street, rather than the other way around.”
He didn’t explain how hedge funds collapsing or banks failing would help Americans. Instead, he opted to cheer for a situation that would see millions of people suffer, admitting his was a “harsh and vengeful solution, and there will be lots of collateral damage.”
The reporters at ABC's "Nightline" continued to outdo themselves in their glowing adoration for Senator Barack Obama. Correspondent David Wright, filing a story on Tuesday about the swelling crowds at the Democratic presidential contender's rallies, advised viewers to think of the events as "Springsteen concerts, but the tickets are free."
Describing those who waited outside in the cold for such a rally, he bubbled, "...Everyone waited patiently, because inside...they felt the warm glow of hope." Wright even wondered if the candidate can "redeem politics from mere partisanship."
Back in 1986, Time and other news organizations attempted to whip up hysteria about a new firearm on the market, the Glock 17, attempting to state that it could pass easily though airport metal detectors, and therefore become a favored weapon for terrorists or hijackers
The manufactured Glock hysteria was of course false; the barrel, slide, sights, and of course the pistol cartridges themselves are made of dense metals, and the promised "new guns made entirely of plastic" have never materialized on the consumer market.
Yesterday I ran across another attempt to create a false hysteria, this time about painted guns. Yes, really. (video below page break)
When it comes to Islam, the approach of too many media outlets seems to be to avoid questioning authority. Whether this attitude stems from fear (as in the case of Lawrence O'Donnell), ignorance, or plain old-fashioned political correctness doesn't really matter because the end result is the same: when extremist Islamic groups like the Council on Islamic Relations say "jump," far too many news organizations say "how high."
It's not asking for much, really. When, for instance, other religious groups (be they Catholic, Mormon, Jewish, etc.) make complaints, the usual procedure is to talk to the person or group being accused and allow them to tell there side of the story. It's basic journalism. It appears, however, that St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Tim Townsend doesn't believe that, at least when the complaint involves CAIR making allegations against the conservative blog Little Green Footballs. Let's take a look:
Fidel Castro Resigns. That’s a fantastic headline, and should be cause for celebration. But just because the doddering dictator is stepping aside doesn’t mean that Cuba’s abandoning tyranny. And just because he’s leaving doesn’t mean the media are dropping their fictions about Castro, the Cuban "president." Glancing at a TV set, I caught this CNN screen graphic: "Fidel Castro Resigns: Cuban Pres. Rejects New Term." Where on earth is the media’s regard for accuracy?
A "new term"? This murderous despot has only had one, long, abusive term, and it’s lasted 49 years. Anyone who says otherwise, that the Cuban "parliament" would be setting another "election," is not just a useful idiot, he’s simply an idiot.
In a July 12th NewsBusters article I noted that the Chicago Sun-Times made a move to revitalize their diminishing subscription numbers by turning back time and returning to its liberal roots. That sentiment was captured by Cheryl L. Reed in a statement she made after being promoted from the paper's book editor to the new editorial page editor.
We are returning to our liberal, working-class roots, a position that pits us squarely opposite the Chicago Tribune -- that Republican, George Bush-touting paper over on moneyed Michigan Avenue. We're rethinking our stance on several issues, including the most pressing issue facing Americans today: Bush's war in Iraq.
The dean of journalism at Northwestern University seems to have gotten himself in a bit of a sticky wicket, as it were. Apparently, John Lavine, the dean of the Medill School of Journalism, has been indulging in the use of unattributed and unnamed sources in his columns for the Medill alumni magazine and 16 NU journo instructors aren't very happy about it. Not only are they not happy about it, but according to the Chicago Tribune they are demanding that the dean prove that he didn't make his quotes up out of whole cloth.
You know the journalist's favorite source, don't you? It's the "unnamed source," the "anonymous quote" and the famed "deep throat" sources that journalists make out to be "protecting" from discovery. This sort of source has a long history in the kind of journalism of whistleblowers or muckrakers that have been increasingly popular since Watergate. But, everyone knows that you cannot base a factual story solely on the anonymous source. There must be other things, other sources, other proofs backing up these unnamed sources or the fact in question becomes an allegation instead of a proven truth. Naturally, employing unnamed sources too often damages the veracity of any story -- as well it should.
Los Angeles Times's L.A. Now blog today picked up on reporter/former L.A. mayoral mistress Mirthala Salinas:
Her rise through the ranks at Telemundo was swift. Her fall following the disclosure of an affair with Antonio Villaraigosa, mayor of our fair city, was a spectacle. And now she's back - on the radio this time. Hoyinternet.com is the first with the news:
The same day CNN’s Allison Flexner, an one-time producer of Cuban stories, apparently issued a memo instructing how the "resignation" of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro was to be covered, CNN’s chief international correspondent Christiane Amanpour neatly matched one of the points made in the memo during two segments on Tuesday’s "American Morning."
During the first segment, which was six minutes into 7 am Eastern hour, Amanpour heralded Cuba being "a leader in many things such as education, health care -- all of those things that it has been able to bring to its people, but not the fundamentals" such as "openness, freedom, the ability to have enough wherewithal, and, you know, the same kind of bread and butter issues that everybody all around the world wants."
Yes, I know. He is unelectable and is against the war. To bad cause he would have done wonders to give us our country back.
For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Is Hillary toast?
Maybe more important: Is it okay for conservatives to really enjoy her getting clobbered, and relish in the thought that this could be the last we hear about her being president?
Or, does the belief that she would be easier than Obama for McCain to beat trump such thinking, and we conservatives should desperately be hoping she can still pull this out somehow?
It appears now that Barack Obama is the favorite to win the Democrat nomination for president, media are reluctant to use Hillary Clinton's "vast right-wing conspiracy" tag.
Apparently, the new strategy when someone on the right says something someone on the left doesn't like is to blame it all on the "Rough Republican Attack Machine."
At least this was the way Time editor-at-large Mark Halperin defended Michelle Obama from talk radio and conservative blog reaction to her disgraceful remarks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday (emphasis added throughout, h/t NBer imaU2fan):
Here is a story that is fairly recent and it is perfect for our ongoing game of "Democrat or Not." One Susan Freeman, a secretary in the office of North Carolina's Attorney General has been hauled in after a routine traffic stop by police in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She wasn't driving on an expired license, didn't even have a broken tail light. But she did have $150,000 in illegal drugs -- 31 pounds of marijuana and one and a half pounds of cocaine -- hidden in her car.
So far, I've seen two reports about this incident, both from TV websites. NBC 17 from Raleigh/Durham gives us an account and so does News9 of Oklahoma City. Both stories mention that this Susan Freeman works in the NC Attorney General's office, but neither name that politician or his party.
With the symbolic passing of the torch - from Fidel Castro to Raul Castro - comes hope of changes in Cuba, well at least among some in the media.
Even though no one is predicting Cuba to usher in a new wave of Adam Smith-style capitalism, there might be some changes according to ABC's "World News with Charles Gibson."
"[H]e's talking about significant reforms - liberalizing trade, economic reforms designed to ease poverty in a country where the average person earned $19 a month in the hope of consolidating his own power," ABC correspondent Jeffrey Kofman said on the Feb.19, 2008, ABC "World News with Charles Gibson."
Tim Russert: "Will you run in 2008?"
Hillary Clinton: "I have no plans to run for president."--NBC's "Meet the Press," 9/15/02
Really? According to a prominent supporter and Arkansan who's known her a long time, Hillary's apparently always had her sights set on the Oval Office.
Retired General Wesley Clark, a member of Team Hillary, appeared on today's Morning Joe and had this exchange with host Joe Scarborough.
View video here.
We've already seen in this election cycle a real sensitivity in the Obama-ogling media to any suggestion that Obama be mischaracterized as a Muslim. But will the media allow the Obama campaign to have it both ways, as Muslims voice hope that his upbringing in Islamic Indonesia will allow him to bring the echoes of detente to the "so-called war on terror"? Agence France Presse reports:
Delegates at a US-Islamic forum voiced support on Monday for U.S. presidential hopeful Barack Obama, although some warned against expecting any radical policy change irrespective of who captures the White House.
Obama, who is vying to become the first black president of the United States, won overwhelming support in a mock election by more than 200 American and Muslim delegates at the US-Islamic World Forum in the Qatari capital. His Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and Republican candidates won only a handful of votes.
