Pure scum, we may need a fairness doc just to keep these imbisels of the air

"Television is a freak show" Bernie Goldberg

Anonymous is a real piece of shite...always has been, always will be...a disgrace to this country, complete embarrassment.

"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh

 http://www.salon.com/media/media960718.html

THE LIARS CLUB

Joe Klein is not only a disgrace to his profession, he may be nuts, too.

By DAVID CORN

WASHINGTON D.C. --

I witnessed the wrath of Anonymous, and it was not pretty.

Yesterday, Joe Klein, who regularly uses his Newsweek column to berate President Clinton as an unreliable, immature, promiscuous baby-boomer, confessed that he was, after all, the author of the novel "Primary Colors," the purportedly "thinly-veiled account" of Clinton's 1992 campaign. Klein, who had repeatedly and adamantly denied that he was Anonymous, finally acknowledged that he had lied -- to his workmates, to his friends and to the public he professes to serve.

Klein's forced admission -- which came only after the Washington Post got the goods on him -- reminded me of an ugly scene I uncomfortably sat through a few months ago. The setting was the bar at the Wayfarer Hotel in Bedford, New Hampshire, the unofficial drinking capital for the media corps that had flooded the Granite State for the Republican primary.

That night I was at a table with Jacob Weisberg, the political scribbler for New York magazine. We were gossiping about fellow journalists, when Klein passed by. He spotted Weisberg and came to a stop. That week New York had published a piece about how a literary expert had used a computer program to pinpoint tell-tale similarities between Klein's bylined writings and "Primary Colors." Weisberg had written a sidebar noting that there were other reasons to suspect Klein. The author of the book, Weisberg reported, was knowledgeable about New York politics, a onetime Clintonphile who now felt betrayed, and a man obsessed about the subject of race. All these attributes fit Klein.

Klein was enraged. He launched into a blistering attack on Weisberg. Why hadn't New York -- where Klein once had been the political columnist -- called him, he yelled, for a comment? (A comment which, obviously, would have been a lie.) "Thanks, thanks, a lot, Jacob," he said with bitter sarcasm. "That was real nice." Klein's face was red. His eyes steely. He wouldn't let Weisberg talk. "And that bit about being obsessed about race -- I really liked that. Do you think being concerned about an important national issue is the same as being obsessed?" How could the magazine do this to him, he demanded to know, playing the wrongly accused to perfection.

Increasingly wound up, he charged Weisberg with possessing no class and making improper use of off-the-record information. Getting meaner, Klein said Weisberg was gaining a reputation in journalistic circles as an unlikeable fellow not worthy of a dinner-party invitation. (I know of no evidence of this and find Weisberg entirely likable.) When Weisberg tried to squeeze in a word, Klein shot him the look of daggers and hissed: "You don't understand. This is the very last time you and I will ever speak. The last time."

I had rarely seen such a display of unrelenting anger. Weisberg turned white. Finally, Klein huffed, "By the way, this is off-the- record. You do know what off-the-record is, Jake, don't you?" Then he stormed off. (Since I do not believe public outbursts can be placed off-the-record ex post facto, I do not feel bound by Klein's parting comment.)

Until his explosion, I was a member of the it's-probably-Klein school of thought regarding the identity of Anonymous. But this performance made me question that theory. How could he have been that upset -- and so vicious in attacking a colleague's story on the subject -- if he was indeed Anonymous?

Now that we know the truth, I am even more curious about that episode. Was Klein just being a good actor? Or had the strain of deceit gotten to him? Maybe he had adopted a schizophrenia that allowed him to live his lie -- that is, until he went to deposit his royalty checks in the bank. Or perhaps he would do almost anything -- including mistreating a colleague -- to protect his cover.

Yesterday Klein defended his previous denials -- such as the one in which he said he would stake his "journalistic credibility" on his statements that he was not Anonymous. He likened such statements to "lying to protect a source." That's an odious comparison, and one which gives the protection of sources a bad name. Klein's con job can only contribute to the already too-high level of public cynicism regarding journalists and journalism. Media consumers will be right to ask, "What else is he (and they) lying about?"

Even more disturbing was the response of the top brass at Newsweek. Was Klein fired on the spot for lying to the public while on the magazine's payroll? No. In fact, editor Maynard Parker, who knew of Klein's dirty little secret for a year, lashed out at the critics, advising all those concerned about the ethics of the situation to "get a life." Should someone so dismissive of honesty in journalism be at the helm of a news magazine?

Richard Smith, Newsweek's left-in-the-dark editor-in-chief, is also standing firmly behind his writer, noting, with a straight face, that Klein "has held himself to the highest standards of integrity." Asked if Klein felt bad about misleading other journalists -- including his own colleagues at Newsweek who published a story about Anonymous's identity that Parker knew to be wrong -- Smith said that Klein "agonized over it," especially when the New York magazine story appeared last February. There was little sign of either agony, or remorse, from Klein at his news conference yesterday.

Smith, at least, ought to suspend Klein until after the election and perhaps Parker, too. But he won't. Meanwhile, Klein's book publishers are treating the tawdry spectacle as the publicity coup of the year. As Larry Kirshbaum, president and chief executive editor of Warner Books, which is publishing the paperback edition of "Primary Colors," crowed, "The notoriety and the controversy that will now swirl around it again is very helpful. 'Primary Colors' has become once again a media event."

Over at CBS News, where Klein is a commentator, the mood is not as genial. Appearing on the network last February, Klein flat-out lied to the audience and said, "It's not me." Angry CBS News executives are weighing whether or not to can Klein. Their decision will reportedly be based in part on whether a backlash against Klein develops. It's the weather-vane school of journalistic ethics.

Klein owes a profound apology to the viewers of CBS and the readers of Newsweek, who also deserve an apology from Smith and Parker. He owes an apology to those journalists who try to increase the amount of truth in the world and now are undermined as a class. By the way, he also owes an apology to Weisberg.

But don't hold your breath, Jake

The five liberal members of the SCOTUS found that the Geneva Accords covered combatants who wage war outside those Accords. That finding gives cover to idiots like Klein to accuse this administration of "crimes". The mindset these people have will harm this country and result in a death toll which may be hard to fathom. Without the use of the authorities in the Patriot Act and reading the plain language of the Geneva Accords (as well as our Constitution!) we will not ferret out the next, perhaps nuclear, attack. Where will the justices and Klein stand then? Or, is it possible the court will reverse itself now that there is a "responsible" President in office?

  There is a reason to his insanity.  He needs George Bush and George Bush is leaving the scene.  These people need War Crime Tribunals so they can continue spewing their hatred for all things Bush.  Without George Bush and the democrats in charge of everything where can they focus the hatred that they have become addicted to? 

Joe Klein must believe this is the one thing, he can hang around George Bush's neck, that will doom his legacy.  I have news for Mr. Klein, Abu Ghraib was nothing until the press blew it up.  Here we were, as a nation, being forced by the courts, not to admit something happened and deal with it, but to allow our news organizations to post the pictures of what happened.  It was an old story, where nothing happened then came the pictures. 

After the pictures were out, how many people were beheaded by the savages we were fighting?  Did CBS television take any responsibility for them, did Joe Klein and Time Magazine take any responsibility for them. 

It was said, by Al Qaeda in Iraq that these beheadings were in retaliation for Abu Ghraib.  I believe the Richard Perle beheading was before the Abu Ghraib story came out, which made the media hounds look more foolish, at least to me.  I mean here we are, putting panties on prisoner's heads, while the bad guys are beheading people.  Am I the only one that wants to yell at guys like Joe Klein and ask about the proportionality of all of this.   

Election 2008-God's way of showing us that elections count.  

The "many legal scholars" to whom Klein refers are, to a one, hate filled left wing hacks who either don't know the truth or are lying about the Iraq war. It doesn't matter which, because their venomous drivel has hurt America and the world.

Given their terrorist status, al Qaeda and the Taliban were illegal war combatants, which means they did not qualify for certain protections under the Geneva Convention. Period. Klein has been warped by his colossal delusion and hatred into a stupid, stupid human being. He is a disgrace as both a human and a journalist, as are all the David Schusters in the MSM who promote this madness.

  My status was on the back of the military ID I carried.

  Not one, NOT ONE, of the guys that were captured by AQI or other insurgents lived to tell the tale. THEY WERE BRUTALLY TORTURED and killed. Real torture with power drills and hot irons and pliers. So badly tortured that we have yet to learn what exactly was done. This is to protect the families.

 John McCain knows torture. He has lived with the physical results  of real torture for 40 years. 

 Once again, I have to state the obvious. The Geneva Convention is a TREATY. To be bound by a treaty, you must sign it.

Article 3

In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties 

Excerpt from the memo date 7Feb2002 

3. Of course, our values as a nation, values that we share with many nations in the world, call for us to treat detainees humanely, including those who are not legally entitled to such treatment. Our nation has been and will continue to be a strong supporter of Geneva and its principles. As a matter of policy, the United States Armed Forces shall continue to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva 

5. I hereby reaffirm the order previously issued by the secretary of defense to the United States Armed Forces requiring that the detainees be treated humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva.

TO SUM UP THE MEMO:

 We don't have to treat our prisoners in the GWOT as we would under the Geneva Convention but we will anyway.

Klien is right. God Damn that McChimpyHiter! *

Sincerely,

a Veteran of a 1000 psychic wars.

* oh wait. I think I got that wrong. Let me get back to you. 

Time is living on borrowed time.....they'll be out of business soon.  They'll drag down Newsweek with them and we'll be shed of both of these socialist rags.

They may stick around in a smaller form, kind of like the Greensheet.  But they won't be a major player. 

Conservatives need to step up with a magazine of our own.  In a few short months, Americans will be begging for an other than government point of view.  That is, it they wake up in time.  It'd be a welcome change.

plea with a note regarding their coverage of the admin. It is a postage fee they will have to pay. 

Joe Klein is an embarrassment to American journalism.  Make that, what has become of American journalism.  He should be in jail for treason.

Liberal, partisan hack.   And big-time loser.

What happened to all of the posts that were here?  There's a huge section missing, I believe.  I only asked because I was one who posted...