Be with you in a sec. Gotta finish this bag of Cheetos. Man, what a mess down here in Mom's basement. Let's see, where were we? Barnicle. Right. Bloggers. Doesn't think much of us. On this evening's Hardball, decrying the decline of bi-partisanship, Barnicle put much of the blame on the blogosphere.
Subbing for Chris Matthews, Barnicle had as his guest historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The jumping off point was a clip of Obama saying he could imagine naming McCain as his head of Homeland Security. Barnicle wondered whether that was feasible in what he sees as a hyper-partisan age, and pointed the finger largely at bloggers. Kearns Goodwin suggested that despite the difficulties, she could imagine either of the candidates reaching out to his opponent. That prompted Barnicle to let loose on bloggers, casting them as largely a bunch of loons with too much time on their hands.
View video here.
MIKE BARNICLE: I don't want to be a downer here. And I don't want to appear too overly cynical, and I would love to see a day just as you describe where one candidate took the other into his cabinet and a new era of bi-partisanship did flourish. And yet we in a sense, and you can disagree with me or agree with me, live in a nation of 300 million newspaper columnists, many of them crazy people, with access to computers. And they blog all day long. And the separation, the ideological separation of these people is such that I don't know that bi-partisanship is still possible.
In fairness, Barnicle also put part of the blame on cable TV news. But he didn't label any of the cable-newers "crazy," despite the obvious infirmities of certain of his colleagues right there at MSNBC. For her part, Kearns Goodwin didn't entirely buy into Barnicle's notion that things are more partisan today than in the past. She pointed out that during Lincoln's time, a senator nearly killed an opponent on the Senate floor, presumably a reference to the famous incident [illustrated here] in which Congressman Preston Brooks beat Senator Charles Sumner with his walking cane.
To be serious for a moment, what really is Barnicle's point? Why would the increased flow of information facilitated by the internet decrease mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence? Isn't Obama's foreign policy based on the notion that hostilities can be averted if we would just talk to each other? Isn't that what blogging is all about?
OK, back to the Cheetos, and ttyl—one of my favorite Seinfeld re-runs is coming on.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Sounds like us bloggers are
August 6, 2008 - 21:33 ET by RukusSounds like us bloggers are hitting on a sore spot! The flac is always heaviest when your over the target! I don't have Cheetos, does Cheesy Poofs count? LOL!
"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"
Rukus...
August 6, 2008 - 21:40 ET by Clear thinkerDon't you just hate bloggers?
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm
We are just SO bad, ya
August 6, 2008 - 21:49 ET by RukusWe are just SO bad, ya know, the truth and all that stuff...
"Nuke 'em 'til they... oh hell, just shoot 'em!"
many of us
August 7, 2008 - 09:05 ET by TruthMongermany of us crazy:)!
jackass cafferty, KO, matthews - professionally trained journos ya see
i'm doing pop-tarts btw - it's morning here
MOM!!!!!!!!!!! MORE POP TARTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Truth
August 7, 2008 - 10:30 ET by rogue9772Of course, they despise being upstaged by people who didn't have the "professional training and schooling" they did. It's just wrong to think someone could go out and educate themselves and be a proficient thinker and writer.
It just defies the traditional elitist thought.
a wise man once
August 7, 2008 - 13:19 ET by TruthMongera wise man once said
"JOURNALISM IS THE OPIUM OF THE LIBERALS"
good tag perhaps - I'll give it a try
Journalism is the opium of the liberals
Orange Keyboard
August 6, 2008 - 22:04 ET by the strugglerRukus..,Inflating your tires correctly can save you 2.5 bags of Cheesy Poofs a month.Ha!
closing BSNBC would save
August 7, 2008 - 09:09 ET by TruthMongerclosing BSNBC would save billions of many things
most importantly - wasted time everyday correcting all of their incessant lying
"many of them crazy people,
August 6, 2008 - 21:36 ET by Blazer"many of them crazy people, with access to computers."
Sounds like another large MSM ship who's large hulk is twisting ,moaning and groining to the bottom of "Davy Jones Locker".
Gray Lady Down !!
"You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. We must be cautious. "
- Ben Kenobi on Liberals, and the MSM.
" The Cake is a lie."
Should these two people be taken seriously?
August 6, 2008 - 21:42 ET by GalvanicCorrect me if I'm wrong, but weren't both Barnicle and Goodwin caught plagerizing? I think Barnicle lost his job at the Boston Globe over it, and Goodwin was reprimanded by the university she was affiliated with.
They are certainly entitled to their opinions, but why should the media even broadcast them?
You're absolutely correct.
August 6, 2008 - 22:10 ET byYou're absolutely correct. It's sad that these two intellectual thieves sit around joking and laughing like two honest experts, deriding the likes of us ...
Plagerism details
August 7, 2008 - 06:05 ET by ThisnThatBarnicle was accused of taking witty comments from George Carlin's book "Braindroppings". When confronted by Globe Editor Matt Storin (in a phone call from his vacation hideway in Europe), Barnicle said he had never read Carlin's book. But then somebody found a pesky videotape of him on "Chronicle" promoting the book as "a yuk on every page." Oh, yeah, that, Barnicle said. He then explained that even though he was on videotape recommending the book, he hadn't actually read it.
And that's the reason Barnicle doesn't like bloggers -- it's simply too easy to get to the facts, and to instantly discuss anything that's been reported. Can't have that, you know -- all those pesky facts and stuff.
___________________________________
If you can read this, thank a teacher. If it is in English, thank a Soldier. - My barber
You are correct. Barnicle
August 6, 2008 - 22:14 ET by celatorYou are correct. Barnicle was canned from the Boston Globe for plagiarism and actually making up stories.
Kearns was even more brazen in her theft of of the written words of other authors. For her book The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, she was shown to have lifted entire passages from three other books. When caught, she admitted to the charge. She settled privately with the author of one of the books, Lynne McTaggert, who demonstrated that she had plagerized about a third of her book, Kathleen Kennedy: Her Life and Times.
She was accused of stealing entire passages from several other books for her No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The American Wafront During WW II.
The major media report only half the news. Why are they surprised they have only half the potential audience?
Galv... You are so
August 6, 2008 - 22:28 ET by bigtimerGalv...
You are so right!
Double your pleasure....Double your fun....
Two lefty plagiarists are better than one.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
Ahh...two plagiarists
August 7, 2008 - 08:46 ET by Red JeepThat is strange, 2 plagiarists commiserating over how the MSM and they included are no longer gatekeepers of the news because they are the professionals.
Call me
August 6, 2008 - 21:50 ET by DelsaCRAZY
many of them crazy people
August 6, 2008 - 21:54 ET by HypocriteHaterHow dare we 300 million people discuss current events together in a public forum! Why we should just keep our opinions to ourselves and let the professionals discuss the important topics.
By the way Barnicle, crazy people have just as much of a right to free speech as you do. Just ask the KOS kids!
The point is the left knows
August 6, 2008 - 21:55 ET by bigtimerThe point is the left knows that they cannot control us anymore with or from information.
It used to be just the Big Three...then came CNN and of course cable is in there...then along came the information highway, of course no matter whether you like him or not, we had people like Rush who was informing us and sounding just like somebody was speaking what we were and had been thinking forever....a much needed voice for our side of the aisle...then on to the blogs....
thank goodness....
Free at last...free at last...
they cannot get away with the things they have all these years, they cannot control us, the msm follows what is in the blogs anymore, a lot of them do...
Worry wart Barnicle, he is so done anyway, has been for years, although I have enjoyed him far more than Chris, he really needs to face it, get a clue, accept it...the networks no longer control us....the internet does though.
Be sure the govt is always looking for a way to get control of this too...and knowing them, they will eventually.
"America isn't the problem...America is the solution." ~ Rush Limbaugh
You may be right; I may be
August 6, 2008 - 22:16 ET by motherbeltYou may be right; I may be crazy.... (Billy Joel)
I'm sure there are some crazy bloggers. There are also some crazy reporters and commentators (Keith Olbermann, call your office!)
But did you ever hear these guys blame anyone in the "regular" media for the lack of bipartisanship? Hell, no!
But those bloggers....they ruin everything!
They only like the blogs
August 6, 2008 - 22:22 ET by Clear thinkerThey only like the blogs they can control!
It would not do to have the truth get out every once in awhile.
45 Communist Goals for America http://www.nationmakers.com/com_goals.htm
MIKE BARNICLE:...... live
August 6, 2008 - 22:24 ET by MidAmericaMIKE BARNICLE:...... live in a nation of 300 million newspaper columnists, many of them crazy people, with access to computers. And they blog all day long. And the separation, the ideological separation of these people is such that I don't know that bi-partisanship is still possible.
I guess he believes we have too much free speech. By reducing the number of opinions we could have bi-partisonship?
Actually the net has allowed us to return to a more robust form of democracy that we had before the rise of the msm and their concentrated control over information.
I love being a crazy blogger...moreso if it bothers liberals
August 6, 2008 - 22:25 ET by jefflebowskiI love giving my opinions on NB. I also love giving my opinions on angrywhitedude.com. I love it even more when some washed up old lefty complains about me.
It means we're winning folks. Their numbers are tanking and ours are growing monthly. And it's killing them.
I think I'll do tomorrows blog about Mike Barnicle!
Jeff Lebowski
www.angrywhitedude.c...
pass the duct tape
August 6, 2008 - 22:27 ET by candanceYeah, I stopped reading after his lamentation that things are more partisan than they used to be.
That's like saying the sky wasn't always so blue or water wasn't always so wet.
I swear these people just make it up literally as soon as they start flapping their gums.
Aren't barnicles something one scrapes from boat hulls?
August 6, 2008 - 22:40 ET by R D HelmLOL-Yeah, I know, as I have only posted that same comment about Mike Barnicle about 1,437 times here at NB. Sorry, I still think it is funny. :-^)
Of course, now that a fair number of my NB friends apparently think I am one foot in the rubber room myself, I guess I now fit into Mike's insane little world.
Barnicle only has his boxers in a bunch over bloggers due to the fact that the MSM is dying a slow, hideous death, and bloggers have had more than a little bit to do with this.
And exactly under which rock did they find the plagiarist Doris Kearns Goodwin?
We are not going to save this country by being polite to those who are
working tirelessly (and succeeding right handily) at destroying it.
Yes, RD...barnicles are pesky mollusks
August 6, 2008 - 22:52 ET by BlondeAnd once one hauls the boat out of the water, become even more stubborn, smelly, and vile.
The media hates it that there are millions of us out here who can think and SPEAK for ourselves....it drives them bat****.
BTW....did you find me a Mustang yet? Mummy wants to know.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
you're right Blonde
August 6, 2008 - 23:00 ET by candanceThis all sounds like sour grapes that the people would dare get their news from some other source.
Popular blogs like NB, Michelle Malkin, and Drudge are monitered by the left and thus kept to very high standards of truthfulness...even more so than the MSM.
That's the free market at work - shaming liars out of business and establishing certain people as reliable sources based only on their track record. Barnicle hates to see such a practice suceed.
Shaming Liars
August 6, 2008 - 23:13 ET by BlondeMy young friend, you've hit the nail on the head.
I wish I knew what you know now, when I was your age.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
lol Blonde
August 6, 2008 - 23:22 ET by candanceIn my defense I do have the internet and grew up with talk radio being a staple.
Back in the wild days of the 70s and early 80s I bet it was a lot harder to find out the truth.
defense, C?
August 6, 2008 - 23:30 ET by BlondeMademoiselle....don't apologize.
You are going to be FIERCE when you're my age. Look out world!
And yes, 'tis true....the facts were hard to come by in my early adulthood. But...you play the hand you're dealt. Always.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
Blonde,
August 6, 2008 - 23:00 ET by R D HelmI'll get with you tomorrow on the 'stang.
Things have been a little, ahh, breezy around the dealership the last several days, if you get my drift. Lot's of changes under way.
Up-heavel galore, this is.
We are not going to save this country by being polite to those who are
working tirelessly (and succeeding right handily) at destroying it.
Thanks, RD
August 6, 2008 - 23:07 ET by BlondeI drove right past "Goreville" at 70 mph today (and yes, I'm serious...there is such a place). No way I'd ever stop THERE.
Oh...I know this is off topic....but my mum hollered (scared me to death!!!)...."there's an idiot with an Obama sticker". So we decided to count the Bambi & McCain Stickers....SCORE:
Bambi: 1
McCain: One Straight Talk Expess Bus.
Seriously, I am driving through fly-over country....did 450 miles today....and that was the sum total of the political commentary we saw. And we were looking.
Seriously, I see more "W" and "F'ing" stickers driving around South Florida in one day than I saw all day today.
Interesting, yes?
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
speaking of cars
August 6, 2008 - 23:15 ET byis the bird staying? and does it have a bumper sticker?
"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission"
Bruce
August 6, 2008 - 23:26 ET by BlondeDon't think so....and yeah, it has a bumper sticker..."when I grow up I want to be a Jag".
Seriously contemplating.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
J
August 6, 2008 - 23:29 ET bygood luck and good night
"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission"
Night all
August 6, 2008 - 23:34 ET by BlondeI shall continue the political tabulation as we make our way across the South (yay, home soon) tomorrow.
Remind me not to jump when my mom yells about Obama stickers, though. She seriously scared me half to death today, I thought I was going to hit a deer or something.
Catch you all manana.
David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive
'night, Blonde.
August 6, 2008 - 23:42 ET by R D HelmWe are not going to save this country by being polite to those who are working tirelessly (and succeeding right handily) at destroying it.
LOL-Dammit, J, I don't sell those!
August 6, 2008 - 23:32 ET by R D HelmJags, I mean. :-(
We are not going to save this country by being polite to those who are
working tirelessly (and succeeding right handily) at destroying it.
stang
August 6, 2008 - 23:21 ET byhere add zip
"You can not support the Troops if you do not support their Mission"
botg,
August 6, 2008 - 23:40 ET by R D HelmI sit about eight feet from one of these six days a week.
-There are six more just like it not much further away. :-)
We are not going to save this country by being polite to those who are
working tirelessly (and succeeding right handily) at destroying it.
J,
August 6, 2008 - 23:27 ET by R D HelmMe thinks much of middle America has kind of tuned out of this thing. I mean, its nothing but Obamamania 24/7.
Even with the hideously overblown support of 96% of the MSM, Obama isn't polling well among the meat-and-potato crowd. In many areas, he is sinking like a rock.
I think the dems are in a panic here, as their lame attempts at shaming "White America" into voting for this empty-suit aren't working outside of the lefty city-dwellers.
Buyer's remorse has got to be setting in now. :-)
LOL-I bet Broom Hilda is gleefully skipping along the halls of her domicile.
We are not going to save this country by being polite to those who are working tirelessly (and succeeding right handily) at destroying it.
Newsbusters on the Loony
August 6, 2008 - 22:49 ET by jdhawkNewsbusters on the Loony Left: 'Many of Them Crazy, With Access to Drive by Media'
Oh oh, it was bound to happen
August 6, 2008 - 22:53 ET by 10ksnookerLoss of control hits columists. Hey in the age of interactive, everybody is entitled to their opinion, instead of being limited to just reading yours.
My guess is most people find what other citizens have to say about any given subject, far more significant than what a columist has to say.
Wasn't Hillary Clinton
August 6, 2008 - 23:26 ET by wiwfWasn't Hillary Clinton hoping to give everyone their own computer eventually?
The Rocky Mountain Collegian: Illustrating Idiocy
Bloggers work....
August 6, 2008 - 23:33 ET by ScrapironMost bloggers work a full time job and blog on the side.
All Media hypes sit around with one thumb in their mouth and the other up they're butt waiting for the boss to holler switch, and then they put in they're 30 minutes on the air while worrying about the pink slip they know is coming when they're networks falls through the crack.
Soon you will see a lot of famous (in they're own mind) newscasters and reporters in person. They'll all be saying 'would you like fries with that'.
Old, Retired and glad of it.
What the Barnicle?!
August 7, 2008 - 03:30 ET by Rusty WeissIf anyone can attest to the power of craziness, it'd be a colleague of a guy like Olbermann and Matthews.
I think, therefore I blog!
August 7, 2008 - 04:54 ET by AmericanEnergistMr. Barnicle,
As an IT professional for over 25 years, if I didn't have access to a computer, I'd be toast.
Are you a moron? Do you think you have a monopoly because you are in front of a TVcamera? I s'pose so...but guess what - there's this little thing called YouTube. You may not have heard of it. The Net is basically putting you out of business and you can't stand it.
Here on the Net, there is an intellectual capitalism...If I write good content, I get visitors. Visitors bring me revenue. If I write crap and no one comes, I'm like the tree falling in the forest. Poof! I disappear and no one cares.
The difference is that I speak opinion and I do not veil that. You speak opinion and call yourself a journalist. I learned in HS about journalistic bias and...you sold out and now are becoming irrelevant.
www.ArmchairEnergist...
What's "Barnicle Mike" complaining about?
August 7, 2008 - 07:06 ET by Guy Arthur ThomasWhat's "Barnicle Mike" complaining about? Isn't this the UTOPIA that LEFTIES are always yearning for? A place where every citizen's voice is heard and every voice counts? Of course we know better. That LEFTIST rhetoric is only to sell their albums.
The answer to terrorism IS war. Next Please!
So we in the blogosphere
August 7, 2008 - 08:26 ET by fitzfongSo we in the blogosphere are the ones who brought incivility to politics? I wasn't even born when Tom Hayden, Bobby Seale, Jerry Rubin, Abbie Hoffman and the rest were putting the final nail in civility's coffin, so that 300 million "crazy people" line is a lame non sequitur.
But we in the blogosphere can boast one thing that this washed-up plagiarist cannot...at least our ideas are original.
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it." -Ronald Reagan
fitzfong.blogspot.com
Blogger gone mad: Napoleon
August 7, 2008 - 08:28 ET by dscottBlogger gone mad: Napoleon XIV
Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, starving the poor one gallon of ethanol at a time. Fill your tank with E85 and cull a village.
Pesky Public Square /Americans involved in their Government
August 7, 2008 - 08:35 ET by lareeNote to Mr Barnicle, The kids are not going to get off your lawn :)
This is the new electronic public square, the best thing since sliced bread. I can see how pundits, who want to be the "vehicle" for the message, don't like the crowd drowning them out.
"Democracy" I am always reading and listening to how Americans are taking their freedom for granted, and not enough of us vote ect...so people are blogging and discussing. The only network that really has a problem with bloggers is NBCU. Media Matters for America and Daily Kos took over MSNBC. Pellegrino on Counter Punch called NBC Racist not enough diversity. Why? Only White Males have ever hosted MTP. Gwen Ifill wants the Gig so if they won't give you the position you want, you claim it is Racism or Sexism ? It looks like the Peacock is in free fall since Tim Russert died. Check out Chickaboomer Blog, I don't really care if Gwen Ifill gets the MTP gig I don't watch, I will watch Chris Wallace Fox News.
I agree with Mr Barnicle about this Blogger
August 7, 2008 - 08:42 ET by lareeRussert is gone and the vultures are going to pick the Peacocks bones.
http://www.counterpu...
Gwen Ifill the new host of MTP because she fits the quota?
Pellegrino writes a blog Ifill gets a gig hmmm
August 7, 2008 - 08:45 ET by lareehttp://chickaboomer....
No it has to be a coincidence /sarcasm
Mr Barnicle it isn't the Bloggers it is the Suits at NBCU
It isn't Blogging it is responding to Blogging
August 7, 2008 - 08:54 ET by lareeFirst NBCU fired Imus, then they made awhole lot of mistakes remember they were offering Paris Hilton a 1 million after she got out of jail, then there was going to be the Roise O'Donnell hour on MSNBC. Oh how about the Virginia Tech manifesto. Then Russert died and they are losing Jay Leno. They have made Imus, Shuster and Jay Leno apologize, there is no "Apololigizing" in Network or Cable teevee. They set a bad precendent. If you are a white male you have to apologize if you in anyway offend anyone by saying anything.
Now with the Pellegrino Blogging for diversity code put Gwen Ifill in the MTP host seat for Diversity. It looks like the NBC suits don't have a master plan and their situation isn't getting any better.
Isn't it past time for new leadership at the Peacock Network?
http://chickaboomer....
It isn't the looney bloggers it is the clueless network heads, that cave into their threats. This isn't really going on anywhere but NBC and MSNBC. The other networks won't "React" to crazy lefty blogging.
Mr Barnicle maybe it is time to change networks?
Listen! I am a graduate of Middle School...
August 7, 2008 - 08:43 ET by ThalpyListen! I am a graduate of Middle School and I take issue with Mr. Barnicle's comments about who knows what. It should be obvious to anyone that MSM "journalists" aren't going to find a cure for cancer any time soon ( IQ or lack of it gets in the way). As propagandists they excel, but as reporters of the facts, they fail.
Is bi-partisanship still possible? Of course it is; John McCain has been hugging and kissing on the Left for years, and see what it has gotten for him. The Left always favors bi-partisanship when it's going their way; otherwise, forget it!
Barnicle, Kearns, and their ilk would be better served if they would rein in on the pomposity. It is true that they write and speak well, but what are they saying?
"To be serious for a moment,
August 7, 2008 - 09:47 ET by Chris Norman"To be serious for a moment, what really is Barnicle's point?"
That he resents the competition?
McNotObama '08
Because the Mainstream Media won't objectively report anymore?
August 7, 2008 - 11:40 ET by lareeReally why is Blogging popular lets see this story isn't getting covered at all but there was a front page story basically accusing John McCain of having an affair with a lobbyist in the NYT. Bill O'Reilly has stated on more then one occasion that the Mainstream Media is corrupt that is an Understatement.
John Edwards does he or doesn't he only his hairdresser knows for sure.
http://townhall.com/...
Barnicle
August 7, 2008 - 13:07 ET by Ron_servativeI guess I was the only one that thought of Spongebob Squarepants when they saw the headline?
Cartoons, turn on the cartoons.
These two were at least Loony...
Do not question Barnicle
August 7, 2008 - 15:43 ET by Carl KolchakYou people who don't think like Barnicle had better not question him. In fact you all better get on board the Al Gore Love Train, or else! We don't like people who don't think like Barnicle and Company.
Signed
The Sigurimi
"Oh we make the standards and we make the rules
And if you don't abide by them you must be a fool
We have the power to control the whole land
You never must question our motives or plans -
'Cause we'll outlaw your voices, do anything we want
We've nothing to fear from the nation" 'Standards'