Online Media

A few weeks ago, just before GM's initial public offering went to the market (at the Washington Examiner; at BizzyBlog), I noted that Multi-Government/General Motors had spent the past several months shipping more cars than its dealers were selling, to the point where dealer stocks represented an unusually high number of days of dealers' sales. GM's December 1 press release made that trend…

A hacker who styles him "th3 j35t3r" -- The Jester in plain English -- has made quite a name for himself disabling jihadist websites and, more recently, the U.S. national security-threatening site WikiLeaks. While his methods are technically illegal, The Jester's motivations are patriotic, aimed at saving American lives on the battlefield. Yet in telling his story, MSNBC's Red Tape…

The Christmas season is "a tough time for supporters of abortion rights who have just as much excitement and take just as much joy in expecting a baby in their family as does everyone else, but end up feeling defensive and grumpy about the baby Jesus being hijacked for political gain." That's how former Catholics for Choice president Frances Kissling lamented the enthusiastic response of pro-…

In a brief entry at Newsweek.com entitled "What Repeal Will Mean," Eve Conant fleshes out some of the legal and cultural changes that allowing openly gay servicemen would entail. For example, how would this impact conservative chaplains whose faith condemns as sinful homosexual practice? But the last item Conant discussed seemed to me one that I've not heard in any of the coverage I've read…

"Senate GOP: Extend tax cuts or else," reads the teaser headline for an Associated Press story at SFGate.com, the website for the San Francisco Chronicle. [Screen capture posted after page break] "Republicans send letter to Harry Red threatening to block virtually all legislation until expiring tax cuts for wealthy are extended," an accompanying caption  insisted. In the corresponding…

CNN's Larry King provided more proof that his network does indeed "play favorites," contrary to the claim of their recent ad, by bringing on three liberals on his program on Monday to discuss WikiLeaks' latest document release. Daniel Ellsberg of the Pentagon Papers infamy praised Julian Assange as a "truth-teller," while Michael Hastings of Rolling Stone defended the website. Former Clinton…

While the media love to dismiss Republicans and conservatives as much less "diverse" than their Democratic and liberal counterparts, the midterm elections held a few weeks ago have brought to 10 the number of black or Hispanic Republicans who will either be governor, senator, or a House member representing a majority-white district, National Journal's Josh Kraushaar noted in a November 28…

The New York Times has taken an admirable stand on the potentially-criminal release of diplomatic cables by the online "whistleblowers" at WikiLeaks. Said one Times reporter: "The documents appear to have been acquired illegally and contain all manner of private information and statements that were never intended for the public eye, so they won't be posted here." Oh, wait. That wasn't in…

When I first saw this video at a non-Government/General Motors site, I said, "Wow, that's quite a spoof. Who did that?" It's not a spoof. It's for real. It's posted in the media section at GM's web site. Even diehard defenders of the GM and Chrysler bailouts have to wonder what in the world the folks who put together the 60-second ad were thinking. Here's the hype for the ad found at GM's…

I heard Rush mention this Caucus Blog item at the New York Times on his program today. It seems that the Times's Michael Shear is disappointed that Dear Leader is yet again caught up in a "distraction" ("Pat-Downs Ensnare White House in New Distraction"). It's headlined in the item's browser window as "Pat-Downs Ensnare White House in New Controversy." Interesting edit, don't you think? If it…

This is the sixth year I have looked into how the media treats these two topics: The use of "Christmas shopping season" vs. "holiday shopping season," and the frequency of Christmas and holiday layoff references. I have done three sets of simple Google News searches each year -- the first in late November, followed by identical searches roughly two and four weeks later. A graphic containing…

The Washington Post announced Tuesday that it has hired Commentary Magazine contributing editor Jennifer Rubin to write a blog on the conservative movement and the Republican Party. The move suggests that the Post has learned its lessons from the short run it gave blogger Dave Weigel, who resigned in June after emails surfaced showing him viciously attacking some prominent conservatives. The…

Apparently the sophomoric folks at Newsweek are getting a bit giddy during the short work week leading up to Thanksgiving. To accompany David Graham's November 23 The Gaggle blog post, Newsweek editors included a photo manipulation featuring the face of Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.) on the body of Adam in Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adam" The photoshop was inspired by a March 2009 comment…

Imagine the (justifiable) media and other outcry that would result if a previous presidential administration and congressional leadership had convinced gullible House and Senate members to pass a law which they weren't given time to read specifying the following about a new Military Spending Board. First, the Board appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate) sets a predetermined (…